Since the days of Alexander the Great, binge drinking has been a very popular past time - leading to him apparently killing a friend and burning down Persepolis while drunk.

Those are some Great shoes to fill.

Yet, governments, schools and the media have repeatedly tried to teach us of binge drinking's dangers. 

Dartmouth University has taken the lead, instigating a new nationwide policy to curb heavy drinking by their students.

Pour me another glass.

Binge drinking is defined as "the consumption of five or more drinks in a row by men — or four or more drinks in a row by women — at least once in the previous 2 weeks. Heavy binge drinking includes three or more such episodes in 2 weeks."

Seems I don't know anyone who isn't a heavy binge drinker.

Do you think this definition should be changed or should we change people's attitudes? Or should you follow HPD's no fools guide to drinking a lot but not dying?  . . read more

The Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, came out last week and made two gaffes at the Vietnam War Remembrance Day. The first was when she said that General Giap, Vietnam's iconic war hero, was dead. The second was when she said that the Vietnam War "is just a page in the history books".

Some of the actors might have passed on (not Giap, who turned 100 yesterday) but the history isn't dead. 

For the Vietnamese it hangs over everything, appearing in literallly every single state owned newspaper every day as if it happened yesterday. For veterans on either side it also seems inconsiderate to consign it to dead history, it is very much a living memory and it will live on, long after they've gone.

Maybe it would have been better to remember them by not saying it was time to forget.  . . read more

With the Gaddafi regime on the verge of collapse, the world is waiting for the money shot - an image of a shackled or dead dictator paraded through the streets as a lowly criminal.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard wants to see more, she wants to see the man brought before an international criminal court; a nice thought but looking through the history of fallen dictators, let's just say "justice" is pretty unlikely to happen.

Dead, deposed or distant is all you really have to hope for, so let's hope too much blood isn't spilled in getting one of these results.

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First, we must define social inclusion and exclusion. The concept of social exclusion is now starting to make it into mainstream public debates, helped along by the forthright advocacy of organizations like the Brotherhood of St Laurence, the St Vincent de Paul Society and others. Second, we must find a new way of governing, a new approach to building partnerships to set goals and targets and meet them.

Third, we must ensure that core government programs improve social inclusion so that chronic health and low educational attainment doesn’t hold anyone back. Fourth we need to maximise employment for the socially excluded. And finally we must enter into accountable social inclusion partnerships with state and local governments, the private sector and the community sector. . . read more

Poor Julia has had quite some issues of late. All that trouble with the Indian killings had given poor Julia a great headache. After all, her diplomatic skills are as pathetic as if Kevin Rudd were trying to grow a moustache.

All those denials, all that effort to avoid the situation, had really taken her out of her comfort zone.

But now, Julia felt right at home.

Yes! Now is my time to shine. Now is my time to show Australia that I can be a true leader!

"It's a scandal!” mouthed Julia "I think we want to see a lot of the Boxing Kangaroo, particularly now that we've had this ridiculous ruling. So, yes, boxing kangaroos everywhere.

" Phew, Julia thought to herself, and smiled happily. I’ve done it – saved a flag with a boxing kangaroo on it from persecution by the Olympic committee, for the honour and glory of my country.

For this is what an Australian leader does!

Pout for Australia!

Our country doesn’t elect ministers and cabinets to further Australia’s place in the world, to handle tense diplomatic negotiations with an overarching developing superpower, to strive to achieve the best for Australia and its inhabitants.

No sir! All Australian voters really want is a mascot with a large mike.

“And I’ll give it to them”, thought Julia “this is what I got into politics for”.

For what on Earth do people expect?

It’s as if they want her to answer the tough questions all the time. Come on everyone!

She’s just Julia!

Who do you think she is?

The Deputy Prime Minister?  . . read more

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Apologising is a uniquely human action, it involves taking responsibility for a mistake and admitting you erred. In someways it also involves asking for forgiveness.

Kevin Rudd, Australia's former PM who was sacked by his own party last year, apologised last night for "killing" his Emissions Trading Scheme which he says brought about his downfall.

Whether this is true or not, his apology echoes another one he made in his first week in government. That "sorry" was to the aboriginal people of Australia who since British colonisation were oppressed, marginalied and literally stolen from their families. 

His apology in that instance was personal and was seen almost universally as a positive step towards reconciliation and healing. It didn't lead to a better livelihood for indigenous Australians and has to be seen now as a symbolic act without much substance behind it.

Hopefully this second apology for failing on climate change can lead to asking for real forgiveness by making some real progress.    . . read more

There are only a few times when somebody should lose their right to free speech- for Julia Gillard on the issue of Indian students- this is one of them.

It began right after this week's killing of Nitin Garg when we were treated to her robotic drone of a voice which sounded a tad unsympathetic when she said that:

"To say it's a race-based crime is not only premature, but stupid".

She followed that up by dismissing India's travel warning to Australia, saying:

"In big cities around the world we do see acts of violence from time to time; that happens in Melbourne, it happens in Mumbai, it happens in New York, it happens in London"

How fantastically irrelevant.

India is annoyed because their citizens are dying in Australia in what looks from the outside to be a concerted, racist attack. At the moment the media and the police have absolutely no reason to prove it isn't.

We haven't heard from any attacker, we've heard no motive, we have so little information.

No wonder families thousands of miles away are a little scared.

And that's why Gillard should shut-up.

A sensitive (and clever politician) would understand how emotionally charged an issue this is, and would realise that spouting political non-charlance will only inflame a story based on feeling rather than facts.

Instead of sounding like emotionless cardboard, why didn't she say something like?:

"Due to last year's terrible spate of racist attacks directed at Indian students we have every reason to believe this homocide may have been affected by Mr Garg's Indian ethnicity".

"We will wait till a police investigation can confirm this, but at the moment we are treating this as the beginning of a new wave of hate crimes that will be stopped...."

Also, for a country that prides itself on its tough skin why are the police and government getting so ancy about a pretty bland and obvious cartoon?

Especially a cartoon that makes a pretty good point.

Let's look at the facts:

- In Melbourne the police have known for over a year that Indian students have been disproportionately represented in official assault and robbery figures.

- Analysis of these figures led police to say that Indian students were being regarded as 'soft targets' for would-be attackers.

- If this is true, then the attackers are making a distinction based on race.

- The Oxford Dictionary defines racism as "the belief that there are characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to each race"

- If the police want to discount this, and try to argue that these recent attacks are not race related they look like idiots.

-The KKK are racist idiots.  

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Reading it can give you a sense of hopelessness, a sense of powerlessness that is very similar to the experience people feel after talking to Peter Garrett’s office. People in the solar cell industry, people with “illegal” e-bikes who send in submissions that are never even acknowledged and writers like myself have all felt this. We know that real change needs micro steps as well as macro plans but Labor “environmentalists” are so glued to “the big picture” they can’t see how they are not only going backwards and disappointing us but also taking incentive away from real people to give to big corporations who will not deliver anything but profits to themselves. As the Oils once sang “Brave faces… fall silent… got those tears in their eyes”. Does it make sense to you, Peter?  . . read more