In a small dark and windy lane in Leith in Edinburgh I got into a conversation with an artist painting a bright yellow mural of a young woman on a wall. The artist told me she was painting Bisan, a young journalist, who opens all her posts with – “Hey everyone, this is Bisan from Continue reading »
politics
When do shared values become shared interests? Australia’s relations with India have accelerated exponentially. The nearly century-long pattern of discovery and rediscovery of India by the Australian polity is now history. Durable knots are being tied across the spectrum of political, economic, and social issues. No one-night stands anymore. It is all so reminiscent of Continue reading »
“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.” —Franklin D. Roosevelt. We must educate and act urgently on these problems. The continuing decline of the life support system of ecosystem services and biodiversity is a crisis needing urgent, Continue reading »
The South China Morning Post recently published an illuminating article on China’s policy towards ethnic minorities, with a particular focus on Inner Mongolia that has strived hardest to assimilate its Mongols with the rest of the Chinese population to promote a single national identity. But does China’s policy reflect the assimilation policies towards First Nations Continue reading »
Thucydides has Pericles, the great Athenian statesman and strategist, observe that “Mastery of the sea is no small matter”. The Defence Minister should have been mindful of Pericles’ words as he launched the Enhanced Lethality Surface Combatant Fleet (ELSCF). Or he might have recalled Pericles’ caution that “I am far more afraid of our own Continue reading »
The US senses that the clock is running rapidly down on its power. The question in Washington regarding war with China is not if, but when–and how. In many traditions, when you paint or sculpt a Buddha, the eyes are the very last part to be painted. It’s only after the eyes have been completed Continue reading »
With the impending retirement of the first Politician to hold 5 secret ministries at the same time as being the country’s PM, Scott Morrison, Australian’s are being urged to put out their secret ministries as a sign of respect for... Read More ›
The approval of Julian Assange’s extradition is not only morally wrong, it appears to be wrong in law, and serious questions should be asked of the UK Home Secretary, as well as the Australian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and the former incumbents of those positions. This follows a barely reported revelatory exchange between the Continue reading »
China’s contrasting political repression and economic development in Tibet and Xinjiang does not hold a candle to US-sponsored state terrorism by Israel against the Palestinian people. Sometimes I wonder whether politicians in Washington are not humanoids preprogrammed by some master alien race to wreak havoc on earth. It’s simply hard to imagine lawmakers who are Continue reading »
In October last year, Time Magazine reported a serious lift in poverty levels across America. You can read the full chilling report here. General poverty in the US has almost doubled (to 12.4% or around 40 million), while child poverty has more than doubled, since 2021. Briefly, the cost-cutting, non-renewal of critical government support programmes Continue reading »