OLYMPIC FEVER!

It seems the Olympics were here just the other day . . . and now they're back.

What are the factors that elevate a performance, and a person, beyond the everyday?

This column makes an attempt to discern the elements that propel individuals to greatness, both at the Olympics and in their everyday lives . . .

KILLING INFORMATION

One of the vital ingredients to adequate decision making is good information.

Without this we are reduced to groping around blindly.

This makes the stupidity of AusAID's cancellation of a contract obtaining relevant intelligence in Afghanistan bizarre, as this column in todays Canberra Times attempts to make clear . . .

THE GREEN JUGGERNAUT?

Has the Green electoral juggernaut finally been halted?

If so I argue it is because they have stopped being a conservative, environmental party and changed to become a party of the hard left. . .

DEFENCE SPENDING

Being in Opposition allows a politician to be critical. 

But managing to find the answers is another thing entirely, as this column dissecting a recent Tony Abbott speech in Washington suggests . . .

A WINNING COALITION

The aim of politics is to build a winning coalition, but unfortunately this insight appears to have escaped the Labor Party. 

The other political requirement is compromise, but this time it's the Greens that appear to be unaware of   the requirement . . . 

FEMINISM ONE

I made a significant mistake in this column. I accidentally suggest, three-quarters of way down, that the really important things in existence are "living the good life, having children, and being a real contributor".

Of course you don't need to have children to live a good life, and I apologise for the implied linkage . . .

AMBITION

People may enter politics for altruistic reasons, but personal and political ambition is always there.

This post considers the conflicts that will be worked out over the ensuing months until parliament resumes again: Gillard vs her party; Abbott vs Turnbull; Labor vs Greens.

This is somewhat different from the piece that appeared in the Canberra Times on Tuesday . . . 

RHETORIC AND REALITY

Sorry, thought this was posted earlier but there seems to have been a problem.

Nic.

There's an increasing divide between the war and the words surrounding what's actually happening.

This column displays two instances of the divergence . . .

THE WORLD DIDN'T END

Which do you prefer; which is worse.

It's either the third day of the Carbon Tax or the sixth day since the government failed to do anything about the asylum seekers . . .

This column, for a change, examines the failure of rhetoric from the Opposition, rather than the failed policy making of the government . . .