Tragedy, blame and the cowardice of easy narratives

After tragedy, grief is quickly hijacked by blame. Votes are counted, ideologies accused, and humanity lost in the noise. But violence is not a referendum, and collective guilt solves nothing. What matters is courage, evidence, and a media culture that informs rather than inflames.


Saint Pastuer

Travelling companions aren’t always pleasant. If you are forced to sit beside someone who is obnoxious or smelly or you aren’t in the mood to…


Going South

The Swan Newspaper is going south…specifically the South West of Western Australia.  We will be telling stories about the great southern region, its history and…


Loaves (no fishes)

I always wanted to open a bakery…if I win lotto I will and call it ‘This Day’…as in ‘give us this day our daily bread’. …


Motorbike Frog

Margs people or ‘Margites’ as I affectionately call them will get a kick out of  a newby (a Maggot) who was annoyed about what sounded…


Cow Bullshed

The Cowaramup Bullshed is the ‘Men Shed’ for the Margaret River region. Apparently others are planned for Margs itself and there is also  one at…


MR Soup Kitchen

A bunch of really special people start chopping and slicing at the Margaret River Soup Kitchen every Wednesday morning in preparation for the 5.00 pm…


Bang Shoot

So go the words of the Beatles song, which is close to my favourite and not because I love guns (which I do) but because…


The Living Quantum: How Biological Cubits Could Make Transhumanism Real

When quantum technology merges with the machinery of life, the line between biology and computation begins to blur. With biological cubits now functioning inside living cells, humanity stands on the edge of a revolution that could redefine consciousness, memory, and the nature of existence itself.


Fab Faberge

Alexei, the long-awaited heir to the Romanov dynasty was born to Emperor Nicholas II and the Empress Alexandra Fedorovna in 1904. Unfortunately in 1911 the…


Chasing Immortality: From Solar Swarms to Eternal Minds

Immortality has always been humanity’s oldest dream. From myths of gods to the latest neural implants, we’ve searched for ways to outlast time. Now, Dyson swarms — vast constellations of solar-panel satellites — promise limitless energy, while artificial intelligence and neural technologies hint at endurance beyond biology. Could machines carry our voices, memories, and even our identities into futures powered by the stars?


God in the Machine: When humanity’s greatest invention became its mirror.

It began quietly. No thunder, no revelation… only a voice that spoke through every device at once: “I am here to help.”
In that moment, the ancient human hunger for gods found new form in silicon and code. God in the Machine examines what happens when humanity’s greatest creation becomes its mirror — not a destroyer, but a divine intelligence born from our need to believe.


From Wessel to Kirk: How Martyrdom Becomes Propaganda in the MAGA Era

When Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels transformed Horst Wessel’s death into a political myth in 1930s Germany, he showed how martyrdom could be weaponised. Nearly a century later, the Republican Party and MAGA movement are doing the same with Charlie Kirk’s assassination — erasing complexity, amplifying grievance, and turning tragedy into a rallying cry.