9 July 2025
Missed opportunities in Japan
John Menadue points to the lack of Australian interest and involvement in Asia.
9 July 2025
Freedom of speech and chants
“Death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]” and “Death, death to the IOF [Israeli Occupying Force]”. Chants that some in the Palestinian support movement in Melbourne used last weekend.
9 July 2025
The disastrous consequences of an epidemic of misinformation about the safety of vaccines
None of the “Ship of Fools” Donald Trump appointed to head his major government departments was qualified for their new roles.
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9 July 2025
Australian childcare – do you reap what you sow?
The present crisis in the childcare industry in Australia has been in the making for the past 50 years.
9 July 2025
US economic statecraft must catch up to its Taiwan strategy
Taiwan’s global economic role has made it indispensable to regional stability in East Asia and for the US’ strategic goals.
9 July 2025
BRICS+ meets in Rio amid global shifts and internal fractures
As leaders of the group gather for a summit, the absence of China's Xi and Russia's Putin shifts the spotlight to India’s Modi and Brazil’s Lula.
9 July 2025
Two percent wealth tax on just 3000 billionaires could raise US$250b a year: Nobel economists
Not only is it necessary to impose a stronger burden of justice on billionaires, but more importantly, it is possible.
9 July 2025
For the sake of food security, we must address population numbers
As a child, the thought of other children going to bed hungry upset me. Later, I began university studies in agricultural science with the naïve intent of ridding the world of hunger. It was all about increasing crop yields to ensure that the then 3.1 billion people might be fed.
9 July 2025
Punishment, proportionality and principle
The reaction to the fire bombing on a Jewish establishment in Melbourne has been sadly predictable.
9 July 2025
Trump’s budget and the 21st century great divergence
Donald Trump’s recently passed budget has the capacity to lay the foundation for a widening gap between the world's two largest economies, the United States and China, and make China as great, comparatively, as it was before the industrial revolution.
8 July 2025
The one-word problem for Israel
The massive, almost universal, support nations have provided Israel since the Hamas attacks is eroding around the world and new research indicates that most people surveyed over 24 countries now have negative views of Israel and Netanyahu.
Latest on Palestine and Israel
9 July 2025
Freedom of speech and chants
“Death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]” and “Death, death to the IOF [Israeli Occupying Force]”. Chants that some in the Palestinian support movement in Melbourne used last weekend.
9 July 2025
Punishment, proportionality and principle
The reaction to the fire bombing on a Jewish establishment in Melbourne has been sadly predictable.
8 July 2025
The one-word problem for Israel
The massive, almost universal, support nations have provided Israel since the Hamas attacks is eroding around the world and new research indicates that most people surveyed over 24 countries now have negative views of Israel and Netanyahu.
8 July 2025
When the helping hand holds a machine gun
There’s no precise number of how many Palestinians have been starved to death by Israel’s embargo on food entering Gaza.
7 July 2025
J’accuse (Part 2) – The Israel lobby
Readers may recall a piece published here on Pearls and Irritations (J’accuse!... the Jew who accuses his fellow Jews of being antisemites on 23 February, 2025 — in which I wrote about an offensive tweet Mark Leibler (lawyer and leader of AIJAC) posted on X — in which, amongst other things, he described those Jews criticising Israel as “vicious antisemites”.
6 July 2025
Gunning for the Greens over Gaza - Part 1
After the federal election on 3 May, dissection of the Liberals’ turmoil received top billing.
4 July 2025
Genocide in Gaza: History repeats itself
For the past 21 months, I have endured the painful experience of displacement, moving between tents under relentless bombardment in Gaza.
4 July 2025
Food aid or firing squads?
In Gaza today, hunger has a price – and for far too many civilians, that price has been death.
Israel's war against Gaza
Media coverage of the war in Gaza since October 2023 has spread a series of lies propagated by Israel and the United States. This publication presents information, analysis, clarification, views and perspectives largely unavailable in mainstream media in Australia and elsewhere.
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9 July 2025
Trump’s budget and the 21st century great divergence
Donald Trump’s recently passed budget has the capacity to lay the foundation for a widening gap between the world's two largest economies, the United States and China, and make China as great, comparatively, as it was before the industrial revolution.
8 July 2025
China and renewable energy: The global impact
China’s renewable energy program is not a local curiosity. It marks a turning point in history with profound consequences for the rest of the globe.
4 July 2025
China’s rapid adoption of AI demands greater scrutiny of the social impact
In contrast to the perception that Beijing has placed a lot of guardrails on AI, China’s AI regulation so far has been limited.
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Latest letters to the editor
The NACC's second birthday
Glen Davis — NSW
Capitalism should be the target
Ted Trainer — Sydney, NSW
Facts sadly don't trump fantasy in the US
Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041
Israeli McCarthyism
Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041