Australian society has never really been a cohesive entity. In the past its various socio-economic, religious, ethnic, cultural, and political factions have simply hung together largely through a sense of xenophobia about the outside world (read Asia) rather than a commitment to national unity based on shared values and mutually beneficial interests. But today xenophobia Continue reading »
politics
Trump speaks to media about the intent to clear out Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan, while Hamas responds. Google Earth updates its visuals to reveal the apocalyptic landscapes in Gaza. Holocaust survivor Gabor Maté speaks of the longest ethnic cleansing operation in our history. Trump reveals the intent to ‘clear out’ Palestinians from Gaza to Continue reading »
The FBI trawled NSA records without a warrant to investigate a man suspected of trying to join a terror group, prosecutors admit.
The post FBI’s Warrantless Search Ruled Unconstitutional in a Blow to Government Spying appeared first on The Intercept.
Grassroots support can help many refugees find their feet. Working with very stretched organisations to support refugees. Safety is a primary concern. Right now, the goal is securing a safe flat for M to live in. M is a 17 year old female refugee who was harmed as a child on Nauru. Her father was Continue reading »
Australian political leaders and their mainstream media backers are in moral outrage mode. Anti-semitism they say is rife, infectious, getting worse and must be stamped out. At first sight these claims seem plausible. They are made in response to the burning of a synagogue, a child care centre, to a Jewish community leader’s home being Continue reading »
Donald Trump’s return to power for a second term has sent ripples across the globe. On his first day in office, he wielded executive authority with vigour, signing many executive orders, including withdrawing the US from the Paris Agreement for the second time. This move reversed the country’s climate commitments yet again, signalling Trump’s prioritisation Continue reading »
Wars, like that being waged currently by the Zionist terrorist government of Netanyahu are the destructive and mindless outworking of dualism; about winners and losers. ‘We unequivocally condemn the October 7th, 2023 heinous attack on Israel by Hamas’. And it’s absolutely right that we do. The attack was evil and indefensible, although understandable in the Continue reading »
I have been reading Stan Grant’s beautiful new book, Murriyang song of time (Bundyi: Sydney 2024). There is in it a sentence pertaining to the Uluru Statement of the Heart and the subsequent failed Referendum. Stan Grant says, poignantly, that ‘the Uluru Statement spoke from the afflicted to a nation that has never loved us.’ Continue reading »
“I do hold the view that the luckiest thing that happened to this country was being colonised by the British,” he said. “Not that they were perfect by any means, but they were infinitely more successful and beneficent colonisers than other European countries.” – John Howard, October 26, 2023. In confirmation of our erstwhile prime Continue reading »
At the end of this month we farewell Aran Martin, after over two years as our editor. From early February, Sam Varghese will be acting editor of Pearls and Irritations. Sam previously acted as editor when Aran Martin went on paternity leave late last year, smoothing the transition. Aran is leaving us at the end Continue reading »