http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/john-silberberg/ John is a Master Mariner.  He’s also a freelance writer and photographer.  In his case, freelance is code for part-time, without qualifications.  If his plans ever work, his words and pictures will provide the lifestyle to which he wishes to become accustomed.  In the meantime, he drives ships and tells his crew what to do.  He thinks he’ll be at sea for a long time.  A proud Tasmanian, he enjoys hearing jokes about Tasmania, because the people that tell them never visit.  It’s a terrible place anyway, so stay away. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-myth-of-the-man-eater-is-a-great-white-lie/ Quint would be pleased. The professional shark-hunter from Peter Benchley’s novel Jaws would raise a glass and toast the WA government’s decision to authorise the destruction of the shark responsible for a diver’s death at Rottnest Island last week. And just like in Jaws, there’s community hysteria, a loss of reasoned thought, at the idea there is a man-eater waiting in the shallows off the coast. This reaction is admirable and understandable. The loss of a life through misadventure is tragic. Often the casualty is in their prime and their loved ones are always devastated. Our unreserved sympathies go out to those left behind in what must be the worst imaginable circumstances. No act or sentiment can ever fill the hole left in their lives. feedback@thepunch.com.au (John Silberberg) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-myth-of-the-man-eater-is-a-great-white-lie/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-myth-of-the-man-eater-is-a-great-white-lie/#item6987 Mon, 24 Oct 2011 02:00:08 +0000 John Silberberg | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Cheap-travel-is-only-as-painful-as-you-make-it/ In this great age of cheap flights and package holidays, we’re all travellers. We’re on life’s journey, seeking our destinations and finding ourselves along the way. The mere mention of travel should conjure images of the well-to-do, flitting off around the globe, sipping cocktails in first class, and then floating through immigration to a waiting limousine, all the while looking as if they’ve just stepped out of a salon. Or at least that’s what travel companies want us to believe. All too often, reality falls short. There are delays, screaming babies, long queues, security checks (my belt doesn’t usually “go off”), cancellations and airplane food. And that’s before you arrive. You deplane to find the air conditioning in the arrival hall is dead, only two of the fifteen customs booths are staffed and you smell like a nightclub in the daylight. feedback@thepunch.com.au (John Silberberg) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Cheap-travel-is-only-as-painful-as-you-make-it/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Cheap-travel-is-only-as-painful-as-you-make-it/#item6555 Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:35:31 +0000 John Silberberg | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/it-couldve-been-ashes-to-ashes-dust-to-dust/ To fly, or not to fly, that is the question/Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of disgruntled travellers/Or to take flight against a sky of troubles/And by opposing, end them? Like Hamlet, airlines face a lose-lose situation.  Do they cancel flights at the expense of customer good will or risk planes falling out of the sky from catastrophic engine failure?  Because, let’s be honest here, there are no good plane crashes.  In June 1982, Capt Eric Moody and his crew were flying from Kuala Lumpur to Perth when all four engines on their British Airways jumbo jet failed.  Without knowing it, they’d flown into a volcanic ash cloud.  For the next 13 minutes, the lives of the 248 passengers and 15 crew were in the balance.  Without engines, they were ditching into the sea.  That they restarted the engines and saved 268 lives is well known and dramatised on TV shows.  But what if the outcome was different? feedback@thepunch.com.au (John Silberberg) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/it-couldve-been-ashes-to-ashes-dust-to-dust/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/it-couldve-been-ashes-to-ashes-dust-to-dust/#item6088 Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:39:59 +0000 John Silberberg | Author bios | The Punch