Are There 10 Million Too Many People in Australia
Big corporates and both sides of government are continuing to push the ‘endless growth’ scenario. Those at the top of the financial tree stand to gain and politicians can point to the figures showing increased GDP and claim we’re all benefiting. But are we? Population growth has profound impacts on quality of life, not just […]
It’s About Kim Jong-Un and That Bomb!
Kim Jong-un isn’t crazy. Anything but. A crazy person wouldn’t be able to get the attention of the world the way he has. He knows exactly what he’s doing and we’re playing his game, by his rules because he not only has the bomb, he might just be willing to use it! North Korea is at […]
Give Me Back My Club… Now!
I took my 12 year old son to his regular Saturday basketball match yesterday. His team lost – against a team that they have previously beaten multiple times. My son played a good game. Both the coach and the team manager praised his effort. In fact, as usually happens, he scored around 30% of the […]
Is It Tyres or Tires? Either Way, It’s a Massive Problem for All of Us!
In the 10 years to 2016, a total of 878.82 MILLION passenger cars and commercial vehicles were produced globally. Even if we assume that none had more than four tyres (most large trucks have at least 10 excluding the trailer) that’s well over 3.5 BILLION tyres. If we assume that each vehicle goes through just two […]
20 Seriously Cheap Countries to Live in (And Why You Wouldn’t)
Update as of August 2023: What a difference six years can make! Obviously, the world has undergone enormous changes since this article was first published. The pressures of every day life in highly developed countries often cause us to ask a simple question – why? Why am I living like this? Why don’t I have […]
The 10 Most Expensive Cities to Live In – 2017
Financial comfort has a whole lot less to do with ‘what you earn’ than it does with what you have left when your living expenses are paid! There are cities where the vast majority of residents are in a constant battle to stay ahead and there are others where most residents are able to live in […]
America is Regressing into a Developing Nation for Most People
Income and wealth inequality is accelerating in all Western nations. It’s certainly not a new phenomenon since wealth – and power – has been concentrated throughout history. But in a brief hiccup in time, the Industrial Revolution lead to a broadening of both the income and asset base of nations. As individual incomes and wealth […]
How to Find Coffee That Does Not Cost the Earth!
Between 1990 and 2010, the total area of land used to grow coffee reduced from 11.1 million hectares to 10.2 million yet total production increased by 36%. This is the result of the intensification of agricultural practices and the development of sun-hardy varieties. Shading forests are now cleared felled and replaced with these new coffee varieties. As […]
What Those Expiry Dates Really Mean (And Why They Are Killing Your Budget)
Everything you buy has one. Meat, fish, olives, bread, milk, ketchup and even vitamin supplements. Expiry and ‘best before’ dates are ubiquitous but exactly what do they mean and why are they costing us a fortune? Admit it… you check the ‘best before‘ or expiry date on all your prepackaged foods and then try to select the […]
Is there a future for the Great Barrier Reef?
The Centre for World University Rankings recently rated James Cook University as the world’s # 1 research centre for Marine and Freshwater biology research. That suggests to me that we should ‘listen up’ when the university’s researchers tell us the Great Barrier Reef – comprising some 2,900 individual reefs, 900 islands and stretching over 2,900 kilometres – […]