Australia’s education system is of a high standard. She has deserved her reputation for academic excellence. And she is flawed and needs reform. Both statements are true. But the case for effective reform is stymied by misrepresentations of issues. Cheating by students is a problem everywhere in the world. And new technology is making it very challenging for universities to preserve free and open inquiry while maintaining rigorous standards. Yet, without strong evidence to the contrary, that is being done. Also, it is historical and legendary that students are not competent but prone to alcoholic indulgence and partying. It is hardly likely that Chinese Students are alone in this. Also, the issue of assignments and group work is misunderstood by participants and sometimes the educators themselves. No student graduates based on group work.
Australia has a growth industry with international students which is independent of the mining boom or internal economic cycle. Their fees help subsidise Australians in higher education. Not all international students are wealthy. Some third world nations send their students to Australia to be educated, but leave it to the students to work and find accommodation, while the government denies those students basic amenities and tax relief. Many turn a blind eye as students are exploited. Maybe some turn to prostitution to fund their studies. Many also work above hours for cash in hand. Many international students can’t party and fraternise with local students, and that could fuel envy on both sides.
Australia’s higher education system needs reform. She is not biased, but partisan with the left, with senior academic boards over run with ALP favouring appointments that vote in blocks against independent academics. Which is partly why there are so few conservative think tanks in Australia, or conservative media journalists. Students are overly subsidised. No one seriously suggests not subsidising students, but the current levels are unsustainable. So that our children will not be able to enjoy a fair education our students do. Upper tier universities like UNSW, Sydney, Melbourne and a few others would like to do postgraduate duties which they do very well. While universities like UWS and Newcastle could do much better focusing on undergraduates. But the government won’t let them for equity reasons irrelevant to excellence in education.
Stories of students cheating dates back to the formation of schools in ancient Greece and Ancient China. But universities are resilient to cheating practice and there is no evidence of widespread rooting as is claimed by some. But there is evidence that universities aren’t producing students satisfactory to business. But the international students, anecdotally, are superior to local students in all areas except language. And sometimes they exceed there too. But group work is hell even where there is none of the celebrated diversity. When Joan Kirner was lauded for her second rate secondary education reforms, group work was all the rage. It took reforms introduced by my father, the late Professor Samuel Ball to address those issues, and I’m confident universities employ those techniques today. So that group work assignments get followed by related tests. And students who did not do the assignments would not know how to excel at those tests. The students are not aware of all the things universities do to spot cheating, nor should they know. It is their job to learn their courses, not how to cheat.
There is no history of most students satisfying with their skills gained through studies. The highest achieving students, however, are a good group to focus on student achievement over time. International students bring Australia credit.
Turnbull won't push for reform in this election cycle.
Canada has lost an extremely good PM for the son of an inept one.
For some, at the moment, the Sex Party has more credibility.
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring
Snowin' and blowin' up bushels of fun
Now the jingle hop has begun
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time
Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
What a bright time, it's the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
That's the jingle bell rock
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bell chime in jingle bell time
Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
What a bright time, it's the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
That's the jingle bell
That's the jingle bell
That's the jingle...
David Daniel Ball calls himself the Conservative Voice.
I'm a teacher with three decades experience teaching math to high school kids.I also work with first graders and kids in between first grade and high school. I know the legends of why Hypatia's dad is remembered through his contribution to Math theory. And I know the legend of why followers of Godel had thought he had disproved God's existence.
I'm not a preacher, but I am a Christian who has written over 28 books all of which include some reference to my faith. Twelve blog books on world history and current affairs, detailing world events , births and marriages on each day of the year, organised by month. Twelve books on the background to and history of Bible Quotes. One Bible quote per day for a year. An intro to a science fiction series I'm planning, post apocalyptic cyber punk. An autobiography with short story collections.
I'm known in Australia for my failure as a whistleblower over the negligence death of a school boy. ...
In Tanami’s red sands where spinifex grows,
Where waterholes gleam ‘neath the sun’s golden glare,
Lived Yaparla, sweet maid, with a heart pure as snow,
Her kindness a light in the desert so bare.
Her father, a wise man, kept songs for the land,
To guard the soak’s waters where life held its sway.
But drought gripped the earth with a merciless hand,
And he sought a new spring to ease their dismay.
Deep in a gorge where the rocks hid the sky,
He found a clear pool with fish dancing free.
But a voice shook the stones with a thunderous cry,
“Who steals my sweet water without leave of me?”
Out slid the Wanyarra, half-man, half a snake,
His scales flashed like opals, his eyes cold with pain.
“For your kin’s life,” he hissed, “one price I must take—
Send Yaparla to me, or your land drinks no rain.”
The father returned, his heart heavy with woe,
And told his dear daughter the serpent’s demand.
“I’ll go,” said Yaparla, her voice soft and low,
“For my people, my country, I’ll walk that red sand.”
She came to the gorge with her digging stick strong,
Singing songs of her kin ‘neath ...
AI adapted
To adapt the story of Bambi to the Dreamtime of Warlpiri culture in the Tanami Desert, we’ll reimagine the tale with respect for Warlpiri storytelling traditions, cosmology, and the desert environment. The Dreamtime (Jukurrpa) is a sacred framework where ancestral beings shape the land, law, and life, so Bambi’s journey will reflect Warlpiri values like kinship, connection to country, and survival in harmony with nature. I’ll keep the essence of Bambi—a young creature’s growth amid loss and discovery—while grounding it in the Tanami’s ecology and Warlpiri worldview. Since Bambi is a specific narrative, I’ll translate its core themes rather than reproduce the original text verbatim, ensuring cultural sensitivity. The story will be concise yet vivid, as requested.
Bambi in the Jukurrpa of the Tanami
In the Jukurrpa, when the Tanami Desert glowed under the first stars, the ancestral beings shaped the land. From the spinifex and red sand, they formed Jampijinpa, a young red ...
Created with Grok, Pictory, And Topmediai
Content from listening to podcasters Hunley and Groubert of America's Untold Stories. They tell it better than me
Folk Song: "The Ballad of Lee Harvey Oswald"
Verse 1
Oh, Lee Harvey Oswald, a man they did frame,
The deep state and CIA, they tarnished his name.
They said he went to Mexico, a lie they did spin,
While he fought for his service, his honor within.
Chorus
Sing for Lee Oswald, innocent and bold,
Framed by the shadows, a story untold.
With courage he stood, though the truth they denied,
A patriot’s heart in a nation that lied.
Verse 2
On that dark day in Dallas, they said he shot Tippit,
Left a wallet behind, but the tale didn’t fit.
Arrested with his own in hand, the proof was right there,
But the deep state kept spinnin’ their web of despair.
Chorus
Sing for Lee Oswald, innocent and bold,
Framed by the shadows, a story untold.
With courage he stood, though the truth they denied,
A patriot’s heart in a nation that lied.
Verse 3
They trained him in Russian, sent him off to the East,
A ...
