It was during the Bosnian War that the BBC's Martin Bell and his colleagues developed the concept of Journalism of Attachment. While war correspondents stretching back to William Howard Russell a century and a half earlier had reported the good and evil of war, it was this new generation that took sides and, effectively, became unarmed combatants on behalf…
Far East in deep water
If the motto of the United States is "In God we trust", the motto of Australia should be "No worries". We northern hemisphere folk who, unlike our antipodean friends, have summer in the summer and winter in the winter believe that, come Christmas, an Aussie's problems boil down to finding room for another shrimp on the barbie while his guests…
Pole position
Several years ago we went on a family trip to Holland. Sitting in the front passenger seat of the taxi taking us south from Schiphol, I tried to keep the driver's attention while the kids re-enacted the Second World War in the rear of the van. Observing that signs on the motorway to Uit appeared over…
Composing tax laws
Returning to the gym last weekend after a fortnight, literally, off the treadmill, my rendition of "I'm back" in a passable Austro-Californian accent failed to register any reaction on the face of the young lady manning the reception desk. Instead, she merely ordered me to furnish my annual medical certificate that covers them if I suddenly keel over pulseless on…
One small step for Mitt
Neil Armstrong, who died last week, was one of my childhood heroes. It was not that I aspired to be an astronaut - I was a sedentary kid for whom "space" was what separated the sofa from the TV set - but I knew how to recognize greatness when I saw it. There were plenty of…
Tax Break 