Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

"Reports suggest that the small readership this sometime column has attracted has been anticipating further extracts both from the diaries and the despatches of that intrepid clerical spy, Jonathon Yorick DD. For the delay I apologise but I have been much troubled by the dating in Yorick’s manuscripts. For the record, I have had recourse to the following: Evatt  H.V. Rum Rebellion A Study of the Overthrow of Governor Bligh by John Macarthur and the New South Wales Corps 1938 Angus & Robertson Publishers, Australia; Wannan, B Early Colonial Scandals; The Turbulent Times of Samuel Marsden 1962 Lansdowne Press Melbourne; and the incomparably boring left-wing, nation-building twaddle of Manning Clark." Malcolm B Duncan

"One of the more surreal sessions at this year's World Economic Forum in Davos had oil industry experts explaining how the melting of the polar ice cap - which is occurring faster than anyone anticipated - represents not only a problem, but also an opportunity: vast amounts of oil may now be accessible." Joseph E Stiglitz