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In mid July 2016 Wendy and I took flight again to Europe. Those who follow these travel diaries will note that part of out trip last year was cut when Wendy's mum took ill. In particular we missed out on a planned trip to Romania and eastern Germany. This time our British sojourn would be interrupted for a few days by a side-trip to Copenhagen and Roskilde in Denmark.
In 1960 the Russians shot down an American U-2 spy plane that was overflying and photographing their military bases. The U-2 Incident was big news when I was in High School and I remember it quite clearly.
The Incident forms the background to Bridge of Spies a 2015 movie, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance from a screenplay written by Matt Charman together with Ethan and Joel Coen that centres on these true events.
Spielberg and the Cohen Brothers. Who could miss it?
The stereotypical Australian is a sports lover and a gambler. Social analysis supports this stereotype. In Australia most forms of gambling are legal; including gambling on sport. Australians are said to lose more money (around $1,000 per person per year) at gambling than any other society. In addition we, in common with other societies, gamble in many less obvious ways.
In recent weeks the Australian preoccupation with gambling has been in the headlines in Australia on more than one level.