The PR Blog

Vietnam is proof that Adam Smith had the formula right: free markets are the key to defeating poverty.

Phung Xuan Vu was just eight years old when he accompanied his brother to the food distribution center. His belly hurt from hunger, and he was anxious—filled with worry that he would lose his food voucher or be chastened by the officials distributing food.

“The officials were not friendly. They were bossy and had power,” Vu recalled decades later. “We felt that we had to beg for food that was rightfully ours.”

Vu’s family was poor, but not by local standards. They owned a bicycle, something not all families in Vietnam could say. Yet waiting for hours for food was difficult.

In the book The Bridge Generation of Viet Nam: Spanning Wartime to Boomtime, Vu recalled how schoolchildren, weak and thirsty, would wait hours on end in the heat for food rations only to get cheated by officials, who would mix rocks in with the rice to fool the scales.

“That made us angry, but we could not fight or argue with the officials,” Vu told authors Nancy Napier and Dau Thuy Ha. “What could we do, as children?”

WikiLeaks released a statement which said Assange was en route to Australia.

"Julian Assange is free. He left Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of 24 June, after having spent 1901 days there," the statement published to X on Tuesday morning (Australian time) said.

"He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stanstead airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK."

About bloody time! 

One thing that I am wondering however, is the timing. Why now? just before the British elections? Before the first presidential debate? Just when Australian Labor is in its death throes? Call me cynical but I feel that this is a political move.

But I am sure that when he touches down in Australia, he will kiss the tarmac. But so much to ask and so much to understand. And what was the plea deal about? Keep quiet and you can be free?  If that was " the deal ", who could blame him? 

Think on this: " ... once telling the truth has become a crime, we will all be living in tyranny.” 

As the announcement of the VP pick from the Trump team comes ever closer, it is worth reflecting on the man whose name is still on the list as a front runner: Dr Ben Carson.

I have enormous respect for this man. I suppose my only criticism is that he is too nice, too kind, too decent. And isn't that a shame that the very things that we admire in men can be seen as shortcoming in our politicians? 

Does he have enough of the mongrel? Enough of the fighter instinct? Enough sneaky, cunning, street-smart wickedness to thrive and survive in politics? After all, it is a murky arena. Should something happen to Trump, could he take over and survive the rough and tumble of politics, where knives are out and backstabbing and betrayal are rife? 

Could a decent, kind, caring and loyal human being survive the Lions den that is Washington? 

Or, more to the point, are these the very attributes that America so desperately needs at this time? No one could doubt Dr Carson's integrity. The left would be looking for a needle in a haystack to come up with dirt on him. 

Is he the one man who could lead by example and show the underprivileged, the down and out, the hard working betrayed voter that anything is possible if you live a good life? 

Wouldn't it be amazing? 

Does anyone read the labels on food anymore? The classic is the sustainably sourced  Australian or New Zealand fish. Or the packaged in Australia. Next time you go to the supermarket, read the label on the bacon. 99% of it is proudly " made in Australia from 90% imported ingredients or similar. 

The strange thing is that we now import clothing, metal and solar panels from China that were only created because China uses, heaven forbid, Australian coal, Australian cotton or Australian rare metals. Funny that. In many cases, using local, sustainable slave labour. But I had better not elaborate on that point or I will be hauled off to a gulag somewhere for re-education. 

The bottom line is that we import things that would be impossible to make, were it not for the Australian exports that enabled their manufacture. Now, we deprive ourselves of wealth in order to promote the growth of Chinese wealth. How is that Australian?  Let's face reality: it is unAustralian to be Australian these days.  

Meanwhile, Australians are homeless and suffering from horrific price increases to save the planet. Or is it really about the planet? Because it seems to me that China is making a killing out of the deal.  Take the global import of one commodity we could all well have done without. The WuFlu. Hasn't that worked out well? 

The story of what became arguably Britain's last stand as a major global military power.

World history has recorded a lot of rulers who have attempted to use a small war to gain a popularity boost but overestimated the strength of their forces and reaped disaster instead of triumph. One of the clearest examples of this was the late 20th century conflict in the Falkland Islands.