We all have strength enough to endure the misfortunes of others.

Back around 2010, I wrote this article on Aboriginal Art in Australia, focusing on the artist Gordon Syron. It was originally published on the "Home Page Daily" website, I've since found an original copy for this website.

Gordon Syron is an Aboriginal artist who understands the market better than most, having run an art gallery in conjunction with his partner Elaine. It's a closed shop - particularly for Aborigines. Gordon : "the whites have stolen our land - and now they're trying to steal from our culture as well.".

Coming up on Tuesday on "Roving Spotlight", we'll have Ian Rose from the Support Assange and Wikileaks coalition. Also, I'll point out that today ( Sunday 30th October ), I'll be at Speaker's Corner in Sydney from 1pm to 3pm ( at least, even though it normally starts at 2pm ). You can find out more about speaker's corner here. But, back to the show ... We'll have a comment from Prof. Noam Chomsky when he was in Sydney, talking about teenage girls and mobile phones. We have a review of how "Cambridge Analytica" came about.

Coming up on Tuesday, "Roving Spotlight" will cover a range - Ukraine saturation coverage, resource wars, Tariq Ali's book "Bush in Babylon" on the Middle East - particularly Iraq. There's also an extract by Christopher Hitchens, talking about the sins of the Catholic Church. Also the settlement of "New Italy".

A first bulletin - 17th October 2022 Rather than making the odd update to the front page, I thought I'd put out a regular short bulletin. Here I'll be pointing out recent articles, past articles, and also radio work coming up and past radio work. For the present, I'll point out that on the show on the 18th of October, I'll have two guests - Nicky Danesh, talking about the Iran situation, and Rita Mac on the Optus hack, data security and similar.

This is the text of a speech I gave to the Ryde-Hunters Hill Flora and Fauna Preservation Society on the 7th of May. I was asked to comment on environmental issues, and hope I did a decent job of that.Hello, I'm John August Fusion/Pirate party candidate for Bennelong. Within Bennelong, I often bushwalk, and have walked here from Cressy Road, I've been on your local walking tours, and have also sometimes dropped in on your outpost down the way. I'm also getting involved with the Lane Cove bushcare group, so have an additional interest in the area.

So, I need to denote preferences, much as we all say "you can choose your own preferences", it seems obligatory. Notably, Labor has been kind enough to put me at 3rd, and I need to do my bit. But, in the fine John August tradition, I can't just make a list, much as know people would put forward that list without the thinking behind it, and say "Aha! Look at John August's preferences! What does that tell you!". But that assumes someone can be bothered ...Previously, in the Pirate Party, preferences were determined by a vote amongst all members.

I'm receiving multiple similar emails from different people about the same set of causes. Sites like getup.com , dogooder.com and advocacysender.com These sites offer to back causes, monetising your desire to change the world for the better. That's quite a reasonable thing to do. But there's a lot more to the picture. While politicians traditionally took letters from constituents moderately seriously, and also petitions, the rise of internet based petitions has debased the currency. There's something in the investment you make in writing a letter, or signing a petition.

Here's the speech I gave recently to the Eastwood Chamber of Commerce on the 11th of April. At the time, I made the point of recognising that there can be good people in the Liberal Party, and good candidates , but that was in the broader context of the Morrison Government and its record. For sure, I did not want to directly have a go at the Liberal Party candidate next to me. Trying to further illustrate this duality, I noted that Menzies increased the pension and decimalised currency - but also took us to Vietnam and invited the Brits to test their nukes in our backyard.