Today: Friday, March 12, 2010


Charles Laffiteau's Bigger Picture

Last update: Wednesday, March 3, 2010, 10:50 | By: Charles Laffiteau

Last month I wrote about President Obama’s stepping into the lion’s den of his Republican opponents in a debate without precedent. Well last week I got a chance to witness a similar political debate involving the President and his adversaries.

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What happened to gender equality?

Last update: Wednesday, March 3, 2010, 10:50 | By: Robert Carry

Two women are sitting in an office eating Maltesers, discussing the caloric content of their snack. “Only 180 calories?” says a blonde 30-something. “I don’t feel naughty at all now!” With that, she stands up and flashes her chest at a passing male co-worker. The man, struck dumb by the sight, throws the documents he was carrying in the air and tumbles to the ground.

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Charles Laffiteau\'s Bigger Picture

Last update: Thursday, February 25, 2010, 11:01 | By: Charles Laffiteau

Ah, New Orleans! The Crescent City, the Big Easy, the birthplace of American jazz and the home of the world-famous Mardi Gras (or Fat Tuesday) celebrations – the final day of the ‘Nawlins’ winter social season before Lent begins.

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Give a chance to the disadvantaged

Last update: Thursday, February 25, 2010, 11:00 | By: Robert Carry

Robert Carry: From the Home Front All sections of Irish society have been hurt by the death of the Celtic Tiger and the arrival of our ever-worsening recession – some more so than others.

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Charles Laffiteau's Bigger Picture

Last update: Thursday, February 18, 2010, 00:11 | By: Charles Laffiteau

I’m sitting here in my brother’s office in Dallas, Texas, gazing out the window at a foot of snow. It’s by no means the first time I’ve ever seen this much snow in the States – but this is Dallas, where any amount of snow is extremely rare, and even then only gets 1-2 inches of the white stuff.

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Screening is the best solution

Last update: Thursday, February 18, 2010, 00:10 | By: Robert Carry

Robert Carry: From the Home Front It’s two years since I applied for a one-year working holiday visa for Australia. And rather than being the straightforward, exclusively online affair I was expecting, it turned out to be a little more complicated.

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Charles Laffiteau's Bigger Picture

Last update: Thursday, December 17, 2009, 20:44 | By: Charles Laffiteau

I wonder if those on the left who are critical of President Obama’s decision to send more American troops into Afghanistan have seriously considered what might happen if America simply pulled out of the country. Do they honestly think the Taliban insurgency would collapse?

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Dóchas dismayed at Govt backtrack on aid

Last update: Thursday, December 17, 2009, 20:43 | © Metro Éireann

Dóchas, an umbrella group for Ireland’s development NGOs, has expressed disappointment at the Government’s decision to further slash the overseas aid budget.

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Charles Laffiteau's Bigger Picture

Last update: Thursday, December 10, 2009, 16:51 | By: Charles Laffiteau

This week I want to applaud President Obama for his dealings over what America should do in Afghanistan. While I have no idea if his new strategy for the country will succeed, I think he has made the best and most moral decision possible under the circumstances. I can already hear the angry protests from my left-leaning friends here in Ireland and back in the States. But I have my reasons.

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Trouble in paradise

Last update: Thursday, December 10, 2009, 16:50 | By: Robert Carry

My stint in Aus-tralia came to an abrupt end recently when an opportunity to spend some time in my old stomping ground of Thailand presented itself – how could I refuse? A mate of mine I’ve been very close friends with since we were kids was to get married on the southern holiday island of Phuket – and being just the one continent away, there was no way I could miss it.

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Charles Laffiteau's Bigger Picture

Last update: Thursday, November 12, 2009, 13:44 | By: Charles Laffiteau

The first week of November brought with it mid-term elections for members of the US House of Representatives, who must run for Congress every two years, as well as polls for smaller positions throughout the country. In contrast to last year’s Presidential election, these odd election years tend to be exclusively focused on local, city and state political concerns rather than national politics.

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Meaning from tragedy

Last update: Thursday, November 12, 2009, 13:43 | By: Robert Carry

Last week a phone call came from the editor of the Irish Echo, a Sydney-based newspaper geared towards Australia’s massive Irish community, which I had freelanced for on occasion. There was an important press conference about to get underway, he said, and he wanted me to cover it.

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Charles Laffiteau's Bigger Picture

Last update: Thursday, November 5, 2009, 09:26 | By: Charles Laffiteau

Last week I said that I agreed with the concept that actions speak louder than words. Many of those who disagreed with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama have cited the same to support their views. But while I have a great deal of respect for many of the political analysts who feel this way, I still strongly disagree with them.

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Race: a thorny issue

Last update: Thursday, November 5, 2009, 09:26 | By: Robert Carry

I was on a bus here in Sydney a few days ago when three Indigenous Australians – also known as Aboriginals – got on. The two men and one woman looked middle aged, were shabbily dressed and clearly drunk. They mumbled loudly between themselves and glared aggressively at fellow passengers. After a couple of stops they eventually staggered off, and I could see them stumble into a park as the bus pulled away.

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Charles Laffiteau's Bigger Picture

Last update: Thursday, October 22, 2009, 04:24 | By: Charles Laffiteau

Back in the States, the reaction of many political pundits to our President’s Nobel Peace Prize has been anything but congratulatory. Conservative talk show demagogues even went so far as to make comments that if uttered by a liberal or Democrat would have been considered downright unpatriotic.

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A storm in a teacup

Last update: Thursday, October 22, 2009, 04:24 | By: Robert Carry

A popular Austral-ian TV variety show called Hey Hey, it’s Saturday made headlines recently when it included a segment featuring a group of people from various ethnic backgrounds with Minstrel-esque black facepaint impersonating the Jackson Five. It prompted columnists and talk show hosts to puff up their chests and begin the finger-wagging national self-analysis: ‘Is Australia a racist country?’

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Charles Laffiteau's Bigger Picture

Last update: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 02:48 | By: Charles Laffiteau

As many of you are aware, I am a lifelong member of the US Republican Party. I joined the party while I was still in high school – before I was even allowed to legally vote. And through the years I have raised money for and campaigned on behalf of numerous Republican candidates for local, state and national offices. I haven’t always liked or agreed with many of the positions taken by the politicians I’ve supported, but I’ve also never voted for a Republican simply because they were a member of the party.

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Exploitation, Oz style

Last update: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 02:47 | By: Robert Carry

Just over a week into my new career as a vineyard pruner, things were looking grim. Our merry band had been promised several months of continuous work on a number of vineyards, but we were soon close to finishing our first plot and details beyond that were sketchy.

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