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Society

Global customer service is no customer service

I’ve just had another of those messy customer service experiences that only serve to remind us just how diminished the concept of customer service has become. And why global customer service is not the way to go, despite the ever increasing trend towards it. The general situation was one we are all far too familiar [...]

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Why saints and science shouldn’t mix

ABC television’s Q&A program earlier this week started with discussion about the canonisation of Mary MacKillop and ended with debate about climate change. Which of these topics do you think the following response, from Greg Hunt, the shadow minister for climate action, environment and heritage was in relation to? “I think the answer for me [...]

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Why yelling at the football is good for you

Excuse me while I BIRG. It’s been a busy few weeks of escape, eustress and esteem-building. Now, my team having claimed the ultimate prize in Australian sport, the AFL premiership, I need to take the time to relax and, well, BIRG. “What the …?” I hear you say. Let me explain. BIRGing is the term [...]

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Celebrating the unexpected in a wash’n’wear world

There is nothing quite like watching – and being a part of – the chaos of modern life when things don’t quite go to plan. So it is in the aftermath of last Saturday’s drawn AFL Grand Final. After two hours of the toughest, most high pressure and most entertaining Australian Rules football you will [...]

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Jamie Oliver’s Political Revolution?

For the last few weeks our family has been engrossed by Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, in which the ever-energetic British chef takes on the might of the entrenched American diet in the small city of Huntington, West Virginia. Its ‘David and Goliath’ meets Super Size Me as Jamie seeks to reprogram what would seem to [...]

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Invisible victims of an invisible disaster

What must it feel like to be the invisible victim of an invisible disaster? Natural disasters are a part of life. At least they become so for the many people around the world who find themselves affected by one. Whether storm or fire, flood or earthquake, there can be nothing worse than find your life [...]

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Black Saturday is not over yet

Last week I had the opportunity to visit some of the people who had been affected by Victoria’s 2009 Black Saturday bushfires. As always, these sorts of visits leave me in a reflective mood. This time I was particularly struck by the disparity between the perspectives of those directly affected by a disaster and those [...]

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In support of Christine Nixon

The Victorian community and media can be wonderful, but they do sometimes disappoint. Seldom is that more the case than right now with the vicious and ongoing attack on the credibility of former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Christine Nixon. I have felt very uncomfortable about this from the start, though my discomfort peaked this [...]

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How Australian Idol is killing climate change action

It has suddenly dawned on me why climate change denial is so numerous and so strident. The fault lies with none other than Australian Idol. Well perhaps not just Australian Idol. Dancing with the Stars, It Takes Two and all their so-called ‘reality’ brethren are equally to blame. There was a time, ‘back in the [...]

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The debate we have to have … more of

Last night I had the opportunity to witness a real debate. The occasion was an IQ2 debate at Melbourne Town Hall. Six experts – three on each side – took turns to argue for and against the proposition that Australia should embrace nuclear power. The highlight of the evening was that, according to before and [...]

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It’s True: The World is Simpler than We Think

Always nagging in the back of my mind is the notion that the world is a lot more simple than we tend to make it. (It is because of this that, over the years, I’ve been an advocate for simplicity.) To see how complicated we imagine life to be, take a look at the Self-Help and [...]

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