politics

Created
Sat, 05/08/2023 - 04:54
Campaigners for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament believe the referendum may be just 75 days away, and have urged supporters to step up, and be “loud and proud” in championing a yes vote. Many universities and health organisations are doing just that. This week the Australian National University hosted a panel Continue reading »
Created
Sat, 05/08/2023 - 04:55
Pearls and Irritations is unmistakably the work of John Menadue, one of postwar Australia’s most distinguished, humane and indefatigable servants of the public good. I urge you to consider offering it your support. Almost every morning the first website I turn to is Pearls and Irritations. There are several reasons why. Although the balance of Continue reading »
Created
Sat, 05/08/2023 - 04:56
Ten years ago, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority wrote in a submission to the federal government that 1.2°C was a key threshold for the Reef. Beyond that, there would be a rapid deterioration in the extent of hard coral cover. The terrible reality is that we are already at 1.1°C of global warming Continue reading »
Created
Sat, 05/08/2023 - 04:57
In focusing on Scott Morrison’s shocking record in government, and/or on his pathetic and self-pitying response to Commissioner Holmes’ Robodebt report, we must not lose sight of the fact that Morrison is symptomatic of a great deal of what is so terribly wrong in contemporary Australian politics. He is not the cause of what is Continue reading »
Created
Fri, 04/08/2023 - 22:30

In his indictment of Donald Trump for conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, the special counsel Jack Smith makes a glancing reference to the Gettysburg Address. It is not, however, the one delivered by Abraham Lincoln on the Pennsylvania battlefield in 1863. Smith cites, rather, a public event in the ballroom […]

The post Invasion of the Democracy Snatchers appeared first on The New York Review of Books.

Created
Fri, 04/08/2023 - 01:04
by Brian Czech

When the name “Putin” is uttered—from now until the end of human utterance—the first thing that should come to mind is hundreds of thousands (and counting) of dead and wounded. Putin has turned a verdant, peace-seeking country into a hell-scape of suffering, including starvation. Let’s not overlook the Ukrainian casualties, now or ever.

Now, Putin is taking an even deeper stride into the annals of infamy by orchestrating one of the most despicable episodes of wanton waste in history: his attack on Ukrainian grain stocks and infrastructure.

Created
Fri, 04/08/2023 - 04:50
Instead of serving markets, we should have markets serving our needs for a fairer, greener world. Enter social stock exchanges – the institutionalisation of doing good. The US Federal Reserve has raised interest rates again, but the mood in the stock markets suggests that, after a mild recession, it may be time again for wine Continue reading »
Created
Fri, 04/08/2023 - 04:51
It’s been devastating, even if no one’s paying attention. Three months of fighting in Sudan between the army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Force (RSF) has left at least 3,000 people dead and wounded at least 6,000 more. Over two million people have been displaced within the country, while another 700,000 have fled to neighbouring Continue reading »