Antisemitism is an ancient European pastime. But post-World War II we have seen the birth of the Antisemitism Industry – people who have made it their job to call out antisemitism, even where it might not exist. Last week, Israel’s ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon told The Guardian that he was ‘very sad’ about the Continue reading »
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The Left, and certainly a number of broadly defined progressives, have a strange affinity towards violence and conflict. When the absurdly labelled Global War Against Terror was declared by the semi-literate US President George W. Bush, the use of torture and resort to illegal invasions had the support of such noted liberal figures as Michael Continue reading »
One wonders what our legendary generals and our volunteer soldiers in many wars would have made of the dithering and dissembling at the top level of the Australian War Memorial on how it deals with the Australian Frontier Wars, a defining part of our Australian history. The Australian War Memorial has lost its way. Here’s Continue reading »
Slow progress in cleaning up the mess after decades of Coalition neglect and economic mismanagement in immigration, labour relations, school education and economic structure, opinion polls reveal a restive electorate. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues. This is the last Continue reading »
“What happened here in the Northern Rivers [in 2022] with Lismore as the epicentre has to be recognised as one of the worst disasters the nation has ever seen,” says Lismore City Councillor Elly Bird. The scale of the floods was immense: Australia’s “biggest natural disaster since Cyclone Tracy in 1974, the second-costliest event in Continue reading »
As Hong Kong gears up for both Christmas and the following Lunar New Year celebrations there is plenty to look forward to in this dynamic city. And against this happy backdrop we are also awaiting the start of the long-delayed trial of Jimmy Lai , of Apple Daily fame, under the much quoted National Security Continue reading »
It’s a mess and it’s getting messier It appears that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s honeymoon is coming to an early conclusion. The Freedom Caucus is hopping mad that he allowed the Defense Authorization Bill to pass with Democratic votes, a big no-no signifying that the bill was obviously much too good. According to Puck’s Tara Palmieri, they accused Johnson of going behind their backs and using a “page ripped from the Boehner playbook” referring to the former speaker who, like Kevin McCarthy, was also chased out of the job for passing bills with Democrats. Palmieri reports that a senior GOP aide told her that “people are turning on Mike fast; he won’t make a decision” because he wouldn’t choose between two competing bills. And apparently it has finally occurred to them that his lack of experience and expertise might be a problem, quoting the same aide saying, “his operation is minor league compared to Kevin’s team. At least they knew what they were doing and how the place ran. Mike’s team has no idea what they’re doing, and it’s pissing people off.
The completeness of the Ricardian victory is something of a curiosity and a mystery. It must have been due to a complex of suitabilities in the doctrine to the environment into which it was projected. That it reached conclusions quite different from what the ordinary uninstructed person would expect, added, I suppose, to its intellectual […]
After an eight-year hiatus, our Column Contest triumphantly returned (thanks in no small part to the support from our Patreon members). We received over 400 entries. As with past contests, this year’s group featured many worthy winners. After much deliberation, we’re excited to announce the three grand-prize-winning columns. They are, in random order:
“Chronicles of a Catsitter” by Mai Tran
Mai Tran began catsitting in 2021 while they were on pandemic unemployment, often staying overnight in people’s homes. Tran has now cared for twenty-two cats and traveled to ten apartments all over New York City, observing the interior lives of cat owners and appeasing their neuroses. From home vet visits to black eyes to refugee cats, “Chronicles of a Catsitter” documents Tran’s most memorable days on the job.
“Sorry Not Sorry” by Laurence Pevsner
A column about why we’re sick of everyone apologizing all the time—and how the collapse of the public apology leaves little room for forgiveness and grace in our politics and culture.
Wouldn’t you rather try Hopium? Many of us have them in our lives or in our families, people who over the Trump years slid from left to right. For some it was the terror and isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. For others it began sooner than 2020. Most are unknowns, but they often follow better-knowns down the rabbit hole. Michelle Goldberg considers the phenomenon in light of an In These Times essay by Kathryn Joyce (“The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking and the New Gospel of Adoption“) and Jeff Sharlet (“The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War“) and with a little help from Naomi Klein’s “Doppelganger.” Goldberg writes: There have been plenty of high-profile defectors from the left in recent years, among them the comedian Russell Brand, the environmentalist-turned-conspiracy-theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and the journalist Matt Taibbi, a onetime scourge of Wall Street, who was recently one of the winners of a $100,000 prize from the ultraconservative Young America’s Foundation.
The judgment of Justice Fancourt establishes a clear link between the ‘criminal media nexus’ of corrupt cops, journalists and the murders of Stephen Lawrence and Daniel Morgan to feature in trials next year
As the overall crown court backlog hits a record 67,000, Byline Times can reveal the number of ‘RASSO’ cases waiting to be heard has more than tripled in five years
Clay Higgins is on the case Brandi Buchman’s offering was the first thing that popped up on the hellsite this a.m. Clearly, former Louisiana lawman Rep. Clay Higgins, perpetually in high dudgeon (I love that phrase), is enjoying his moment in Lara Logan’s Truth in Media spotlight. “The Cajun John Wayne,” the man who accused the FBI of sending “ghost busses” filled with agents to Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6 to impersonate Trump supporters and spark the riot, has “done his research.” Again. Higgins insists that the Biden administration has weaponized the government (MAGAs love that phrase) to track Trump supporters. Higgins is gonna gear up, lock and load, expose ’em, flush ’em out, nip it in the bud: “I’m telling you, we’re in uncharted waters as it relates to the weaponization of our government against the American people. I am not frightened of these people. I’ve spent my life serving others, and I love my country. This thing is not going to just slip away. They’re not going to take us without a fight.
The difference between 'transitioning away' and 'phasing-out' fossil fuels is significant, writes Stuart Spray
Nafeez Ahmed argues that, despite mixed feelings about the COP28 agreement, it marks a real step forward
Paul Niland analyses the disinformation contained within a Republican Senator's TV interview
Rightso! Novels. My three runaway favourite novels this year, which I recommend to you wholeheartedly, are Rumaan Alam’s Leave the World Behind, Vajra Chandrasekera’s The Saint of Bright Doors and, friend of this parish, Francis Spufford’s Cahokia Jazz. Cahokia Jazz I want to write something dedicated about, and imminently, so let me tell you about […]
In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: Sandman, James Gunn/DCU, SNL, Chucky, Charlie Hunnam/Green Arrow, Reacher, Doctor Who, Good Omens 3 & more!