THE proud boilermakers and ship builders who carried their huge union banner through Sydney's streets almost 100 years ago might have been surprised by their modern-day equivalents.

Afresh wave of protests is sweeping Iran in the wake of the death of the dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri. Opposition sentiment that had been dormant since the violent post-election clashes in June has reignited in recent days.

This is an extract from David Malouf's essay On Experience, which appears in The ON-nibus, published by Melbourne University Press, RRP $29.99; available now.

JAMES RUSE has topped the HSC performance list for the 14th consecutive year, but private schools in the eastern suburbs have pushed two other government selective high schools out of the top 10.

I AM on holiday in Mooloolaba, Queensland. Surrounded by beach twiglets with iPhones. I wonder whether my parents looked upon me at the age 14 with the same despair.