The campaign to ‘punish’ enemies of the USA and Israel shows that states which argue from strength have no wish for justice – merely revenge. Response? Vengeance? Punishment? Retaliation? Holding to account? Culpability? Justice? Choose your euphemism in the fight against ‘terror’. Following the death of some US military personnel on the border of Syria Continue reading »
politics
In most democratic western countries, certainly in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand, politics manifests as a duopoly. Why is it that in spite of cultural, racial and social divisions the world over, personality takes precedence over policies? Decisions about which party to vote for is more often than not based on the perceived Continue reading »
In December, an impressive young Papua New Guinean named Jason Siwat, the director of the refugee program for the Catholic Bishops Conference of PNG and the Solomon Islands, travelled to Canberra bearing two important documents. The first was a letter from the bishops to Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil asking the government to urgently bring Continue reading »
If anyone ever imagined that commemoration of our war dead was not an opportunity to make political points look no further than the Daily Last Post ceremony at the Australian War Memorial at the recent opening of Federal Parliament. We need to honour any Australian who died in war and remember those who came back Continue reading »
How germs made history. Greenhouse gas emissions keep rising but USA and Europe are still the major causes of global warming. Measles and malaria banish Muhammad and Mao Move over Alexander, Attila, Genghis Khan, Hannibal, George Washington, Napoleon and all your attention-grabbing mates. We’re rolling out the red carpet for Yersinia pestis, Variola major, Continue reading »
One of the weirdest things happening in the world today is the way US officials keep insisting that they are not at war with the groups they’re dropping bombs on in the middle east, and that they do not seek conflict with the people they are attacking. Shortly after another massive round of attacks on Continue reading »
The diplomatic recognition of the Taliban government in Afghanistan on January 31, 2024 by China must be bracketed with two other far-reaching regional policy moves by Beijing in the post-cold war era —the Shanghai Five in 1996 — later renamed as Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in 2001— and the Belt and Road Initiative announced by President Continue reading »
As the Lunar New Year approaches, many Chinese families clean the front door of their home and hang poetry around it. This is a rich and age-old Chinese tradition, both cultural and religious. Chinese couplets (duilian 对联) are a pair of calligraphed sentences written in traditional Chinese that hang on the two sides of a Continue reading »
How our cost of living can be eased with a Woolworths-AGL-Qantas merger, government promises political donation reform before 2045 election, Dutton’s vision of a zero-government Australia. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues. Taxation – beyond Albo’s tweaks Looking beyond the Continue reading »
Any Australian parent and grandparent would be aghast by the actions of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Victoria Police involving an investigation into a 13 year old autistic boy who was charged in 2022 with terrorism offences. The boy had an IQ of 71. During questioning before a senate inquiry, the AFP argued the Continue reading »