Articles written by David Ireland

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About me - David Ireland

Semi retired post graduate. Business/teaching background. Seeking meaningful contribution in early retirement. I am the author of "Golf According to Flapgum" presently available through amazon and other internet resellers. Have a look! Read some of my golf

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Creative Writing > Poetry Poetry: Nothing: 5 of 97
Nothing, not even a blankNothing must really be somethingSomething cannot be nothing at allIf something is nothingthen nothing can be something tooIf I think of nothing and you ask,I'm really put to taskMy answer might be nothingbut it is something because it is an answernothing is the answer which is something too!Something ... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Politics, News & Issues (Other) Do people tend to base election votes more on emotion or reason?: 4 of 69
In order to make any decision, people must be apprised of the pertinent facts. In politics, the most difficult commodity is the TRUTH! It appears that the "spin doctors" can hold sway on almost any topic but whether they actually represent the party line is another matter altogether.For the most part, we tend to listen to the... More..
Creative Writing > Humor Humor: Life: 23 of 343
This story is a real life account of trip that was undertaken by a friend of a friend in Australia a few short years ago.Bill, a single man in his mid sixties was a t a bit of a loose end so he decided to travel by car to visit his daughter and granddaughter. His granddaughter was going to be playing in a hockey grand final a... More..
Personal Finance > Stock Market Market correction: A time for a shopping spree: 1 of 7
Ready, Steady, GO! In the current economic climate there is much too much negativity. As the value of stock portfolios goes through the cycle of re-adjustment, stockholders panic. This panic is, for the most part, a short term reaction to a real time market valuation of the assets held in stocks.What we have witnessed over th... More..
Personal Finance > Stock Market IPO basics: 1 of 7
There is nothing too difficult in understanding an Initial Public Offering of a company. A fairly formal process is undertaken, usually to offer to the public, via share purchase, the opportunity to own a part of a company. In the vast majority of cases, I.P.O's are for the transition of a company from private ownership to pu... More..
Personal Finance > Investing Basics 2008: When to invest in financial companies again: 2 of 13
The only means by which any investor should legitimately make a stock purchasing choice is through the process of detailed research. It is not sufficient to guess that things will not get much worse and that there is more blue sky potential than downside risk. Companies do fail. These companies become worthless. There are man... More..
Celebrations & Holidays > Wedding Budget Saving money on your wedding: 3 of 18
Having just been through the process of planning a wedding with my daughter, I can see where many of the over-runs in the wedding budget occur but the problems can really start well before this.The very first step must surely be to determine the amount of dollars that are available to be spent. This should take into account t... More..
Education > Secondary School Issues Public schools should impose mandatory drug testing on students: 4 of 23
I am a qualified teacher who began in the mid 1970's. Most will recall that this was the decade when every moral tenet was openly challenged by the social engineers.While this process led to some effective outcomes in terms of challenging historically accepted norms, it failed to recognize that some form of morality or human ... More..
Health & Fitness > Aging & Longevity Should elderly patients be cared for by family members or by health care professionals?: 8 of 39
Perhaps it might be best to define the term elderly for the purpose of this debate. In the context, it appears that the term really means unable to live independently. If this is the case then the consideration of, on whom the onus of care falls, will largely involve ascertaining the pertinent facts as they relate to the indi... More..
Education > Education (Other) Should public school children wear uniforms?: 21 of 100
Having worked in both public and private schools I can only say that climate appropriate uniforms WIN by any measure. The debate can be broken down into ECONOMICS, CONVENIENCE, SCHOOL PRIDE, CONTROL and PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT.The economics of uniform are indisputable. Both my children wore uniforms to school for their secondary... More..