A Cooking Poem (Suitable for Dominicans)    I look, and want to ring right out – “There’s nothing like a Brussels sprout!” I trow Saint Thomas did agree: His forte was identity.    When Thomas flourished, he would sing About the “is-ness” of each thing; Although – too true – things needn’t be: Expressing act and potency Creation is, contingently.    Still (Great…

Mao’s legacy Bill James (News Weekly, November 2, 2019), in his reply to my letter (News Weekly, October 19, 2019) tells us that “life expectancy in China rose from 35-40 years in 1949 to 65.5 years in 1980”. He also tells us that “facts remain facts”. I agree. However, there are facts other than statistics, and, besides, how factual are Chinese statistics of…

Media portrayal of the NSW and Queensland bushfires as “catastrophic” erroneously implies that they are unprecedented, whereas droughts make bushfires inevi­table in Australia’s highly flammable eucalypt forests. Certainly, threats to life and property have increased as more people build a “house among the gum trees”, but that’s more the reason to manage fuel loads around settlements and towns. Contrary to claims by the…

PARTICLES OF FAITH: A Catholic Guide to Navigating Science by Stacy A. Trasancos Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, Indiana Paperback: 192 pages Price: AUD$34.95 Reviewed by John Long Until recently, if anyone asked me where to start in learning about science’s historical and philosophical links to Christianity, I would refer him to Fr Stanley Jaki’s book Savior of Science. Now…

THE POLITICS OF THE COMMON GOOD: Dispossession in Australia by Jane R. Goodall NewSouth, Sydney Paperback: 304 pages Price: AUD$32.99 Reviewed by Brian Coman Most schemes of political improvement,” said Dr Johnson, “are very laughable things.” To which one might reply that they are laughable only so long as they remain theoretical. If they happen to be put in to…