The 2020s was once described by former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd as a “decade of living dangerously”. He was talking about the bilateral tensions between the U.S. and China. I would suggest that it’s a dangerous decade in large part because the collective west, led by the neocon political elite in Washington, are experiencing Continue reading »
politics
John Menadue has had a long and distinguished career in both the public and private sectors. These days he’s an active blogger – holding and advocating strong views on a range of issues. In this conversation he discusses Australia in 2016 which he says is a far better place than the one he grew up Continue reading »
After due consideration of the main criticisms, the Labor Government’s rejigged Stage 3 tax cuts seem to be a good way of responding to the cost of living crisis without adding to the Budget deficit and inflation. The details of Labor’s redesigned Stage 3 tax cuts are now well known. What seems to have received Continue reading »
A principal instrument of U.S. foreign policy is covert regime change, meaning a secret action by the U.S. government to bring down the government of another country. There are strong reasons to believe that U.S. actions led to the removal from power of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan in April 2022, followed by his arrest Continue reading »
I regard the changes made to the carve-up of GST revenues among the states and territories by the Morrison Government in 2019, with the support of the then Labor Opposition, and continued (indeed extended) by the Albanese Government, as possibly the worst Australian public policy decision of the 21st century thus far. But very few Continue reading »
The bill defunding the U.N. agency that distributes humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees could be on the House floor in under two weeks.
The post Republicans Move to One-Up Biden and Permanently Defund UNRWA appeared first on The Intercept.
A new report shows Norfolk Southern spent $2.3 million to lobby the government in 2023.
The post One Year After East Palestine, Some Senate Republicans “Haven’t Looked” at Rail Safety Bill appeared first on The Intercept.
Our leading humanitarian and civic institutions, including major medical institutions, refuse to denounce Israel’s genocide in Gaza. This exposes their hypocrisy and complicity. There is no effective health care system left in Gaza. Infants are dying. Children are having their limbs amputated without anaesthesia. Thousands of cancer patients and those in need of dialysis lack Continue reading »
A Syrian friend in Damascus was commissioned to translate Bridge of Clay, a tender, beautiful novel by Australian author Markus Zusak. As it is not an easy novel for a Syrian who has never lived in Australia to translate, my friend and I have had quite a few WhatsApp calls to discuss tricky bits in Continue reading »