China keeps building infrastructure in other countries that is needed by those other countries. Surely this is sinister. But all is not lost. As Joe Biden wonders if cannibals may have eaten his uncle Ambrose during World War II, Washington discovers remarkable new instruments in its geopolitical tool kit. American local and geopolitical behaviour today Continue reading »
politics
The Guardian obituary of John Pilger last year did not mention his views on the war in Ukraine. John Pilger, the renowned Australian journalist who passed away in 2023 at age 84, was a vocal critic of Western foreign policy and media propaganda. As early as 2014, Pilger presciently warned about the dangers of the Continue reading »
Words and phrases used to define, classify, and order our world, combine to tell a good story. That story, told often enough, seems normal. But that story can hide, ignore, and distort, reinforcing unhelpful beliefs and stereotypes. This is what’s happening with stories about skills and occupations. Every week multiple reports are published by governments, Continue reading »
Today the International Criminal Court has been officially called to investigate Ursula von der Leyen for complicity. Reasonable grounds exist to believe that the unconditional support of the president of the European Commission to Israel – military, economic, diplomatic and political – has enabled war crimes and the ongoing genocide in Gaza. The Hague (The Continue reading »
The High Court decision in the ASF17 case removed the apparent driver for the government’s sledgehammer immigration removal legislation. There is little evidence that the legislation would work as intended. A sledgehammer is not much use for a problem which is more akin to undoing a couple of tight screws. The government should drop the Continue reading »
I can not think of a greater tragedy in existence than to allow the greed of a few to destroy all life on earth. “What is it going to take?” It’s the question I whisper as I do the dishes. It’s the question that ticks along in my mind with the indicator at traffic lights. Continue reading »
We must make it clear to the current Israeli administration that our nation can no longer accept its actions and certainly do not “share its values “ Since January 26, 2024 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has urged the State of Israel to respond to its responsibilities as a democracy and United Nations member Continue reading »
For Australia, the urgent challenge is when will we act independently and not be associated with war crimes and genocide. With unaccustomed speed, the international courts have risen to the occasion, responding to global outrage at Israel’s devastation of Rafah and its Defence Force’s murderous assaults on Palestinians. But Australia has not. This week, Western Continue reading »
When asked to compare life in apartheid South Africa with conditions in occupied Palestine, Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s judgement ran counter to prevailing orthodoxy. People make the comparison, said Tutu, but life in Palestine is far more brutal and repressive than in apartheid South Africa. A moral equivalency argument, that one side is no Continue reading »
Hours ago Israel bombed a refugee camp in Rafah, an area Israel designated as safe four days ago, setting it ablaze – tents housing families and including the UNRWA office. You won’t see images of the horror visited on scores of people who have been killed though we can’t know exactly how many yet. The Continue reading »