Spent the last few days in Washington and Wednesday flew back to Los Angeles from where I will fly back to Sydney later today. Staying once again with J and her partner at their property in Inglewood, LA. Many a trip down memory lane was had over the last few…

Spent a few days in The Big Apple. Worked — most mornings and some afternoons —in The Bean On Broadway where the latte was embarrassingly weak (even with extra shot) but the wifi was stable. Trade-offs are everywhere. Customers were asked to limit one’s stay during busy times but, understanding…

So, … while still in Brunswick, I spent Monday morning 20 minutes on the phone to friggin SSA … trying to reach a live person. Ha! Ended up being told, by some automated voice, that I needed to call back since I called outside office hours which would start at…

Arrived on the East Coast after a six-hour red-eye flight from LAX to Boston Logan on Tuesday morning. Got a late seat assignment in row 7, and an empty seat next to my window seat, on a plane close to full capacity; managed to sleep much of the time. …

I lived in the USA for two decades, between 1981 and 2000, visited frequently (while working in Berlin and Prague) in the decade after, and infrequently since 2009 when I cancelled my permanent residency in the USA — “Are you sure?”, the Munich consulate officer asked me somewhat incredulously —…

Last Saturday’s Aussie federal election has re-shaped the political landscape and did so quite dramatically. For the better, I’d argue. For sure, Albanese is right when he says, “The Australian people have voted for change.” As it looks right now, “Albo” will lead a government that is likely to have…

Morrison is an opportunist of the highest order. He is driven by focus groups rather than principles. The only principle he follows seems his lust for power. Morrison is not just an opportunist — the evidence (here and here and here and here and here and here and here) suggests…

(February 13–20) Omicron and how to live with it / Pandemic normality in the land of Oz (and New Zealand and Europe) / Win for the EC and von der Leyen and most likely for the EU / Omicron and how to live with it Germany, France, and several other European countries are soon headed the Scandinavian way (see last week’s Oz4Dummies) of abandoning various civil-rights restrictions, and no minute too early. Germany has also, effective immediately, taken off its list of countries classifed as high-risk about…

(February 6–13) Omicron and how to live with it / Pandemic normality in the land of Oz (and New Zealand and Europe) / Morrison on the ropes? / Omicron and how to live with it In Europe Denmark, Norway, and Sweden have ended their Covid restrictions and others are about to head in that direction. To no one’s surprise, a flurry of articles, blog entries, and twitter threads accompanied these developments.