Search Results
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We are avoiding the truths set out on Gaza by the International Court of Justice
Our World gets worse and worse, reflected in inhumane, racist, behaviour. And what for us – Australians – is really bad is that we, as represented by our political leaders, and our media, are totally complicit in genocide. Continue reading »
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Drafting the first laws to govern AI
Yesterday the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, Ed Husic, released a discussion paper proposing a set of ‘mandatory guardrails’ for the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Science Fiction fan, Richard Creswick thinks he beat the Minister to the punch. Continue reading »
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The democracy metanarrative
In its strategic competition with Russia and China, the United States has constructed a metanarrative based on democracy versus authoritarianism (i.e. good versus evil). Continue reading »
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The sound of enforced silence
Our censors, as the record shows again and again, have no special concern about acting in a serious manner. Power has no such obligation. Continue reading »
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A ‘liberal Hawk’ is a Hawk nonetheless. Time to focus less on the ‘liberal’, more on the ‘Hawk’
“Since it was impossible to change the politics of the system, it became necessary to change the type – or stereotype – of the person in charge of carrying out the policy.” Fidel Castro, in Obama and the Empire, 2012. Continue reading »
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A movement to suspend Israel from the UN needs a country to take the lead
In the United Nations General Assembly, the Israeli ambassador at the time, Gilad Erdan, used a paper shredder to destroy pages of the UN Charter, saying that countries who back Palestine’s bid to join the UN are “shredding the UN Charter with your own hands”. (May 10, 2024) Meanwhile, a push by some Palestinian civil Continue reading »
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Good teachers: how to ensure they remain within the system
The American poet e.e. cummings once observed that good teachers provide a mirror for their students, reflecting back to them valuable attributes that hitherto they’ve not been able to recognise for themselves. This precious pedagogical gift is treated with indifference — even contempt — by far too many Australian politicians, bureaucrats, opinionated media aficionados, and Continue reading »
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Pearl or Irritation? The Kantian imperative and the case for dissent
The Pearls and Irritations platform, with its commitment to fact-driven critique, exemplifies dissent as a profound act of civic engagement. Immanuel Kant, the renowned Enlightenment philosopher, offered a powerful defence of this kind of loyal, evidence-based dissent. Continue reading »
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The United States and its allies need to avoid caricaturing China in their foreign policies
Nicholas Ross Smith, from the University of Canterbury, argues that the temptation to essentialise China as simply being a Xi-led CCP monolith that will stop at nothing to re-integrate Taiwan and seek global domination overlooks the complexity of domestic politics in China. Basing policy on a simple caricature of China is a recipe for disaster. Continue reading »
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Tucker Carlson and Jeffrey Sachs confirm mainstream Western media mostly a shabby cabaret
A recent, comprehensive social-media interview has provided an acute reminder of how hard it now is to imagine certain flagship, Western current affairs programs drowning their cherished war-drums in a lead weighted bag and applying themselves to investigating pivotal geopolitical challenges with intelligent thoroughness (as Four Corners can still manage (see:Inside Iran: The proxy war Continue reading »
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Will Australia be off to war in the Middle East again?
There is a disturbing void in Australian political debate about the prospects of another regional war in the Middle East. Continue reading »
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Confronting censorship: on media bias and the war in Ukraine
Editing a book about the media and the war in Ukraine taught me first-hand lessons about censorship. It also confirmed that the Western media’s pro-elite bias is as strong as ever. At an academic conference in Europe in the summer of 2023, I witnessed how several audience members shouted at one of the speakers. That’s Continue reading »
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How human rights are disappearing before our eyes
The moral distinction between liberal democracies and dictatorships is being flattened by the carnage in Gaza. Continue reading »
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Keating was wrong. Australia is already the 51st state of the US
Paul Keating is wrong when he says that Anthony Albanese risked making Australia the 51st State of the United States of America. Not so! Australia is already the 51st State of America, in all but name. Continue reading »
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Anwar stands his ground on foreign policy – Asian Media Report
In Asian media this week: Malaysian PM ignores Western critics. Plus: deadly attacks in impoverished Pakistan province; Myanmar trafficking syndicates now a global monster; Chinese spy-plane violates Japan’s air space; Zelenskyy plans peace summit in Global South; chance for Harris to change course on China. Continue reading »
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What Albert Camus might think about Palestinian suffering and the West’s responsibility for it
Zionism has followed the twisted logic of a long line of modern ideologies that ended up committing mass murder. Continue reading »
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Advocates for nuclear power should heed the lessons from Kursk
On 22 August, Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned of the deadly effect a military attack on Russia’s nuclear power complex at Kursk would have on civilian communities in Russia, Ukraine and potentially across Europe. He had previously warned of the consequences of such attacks on Ukraine’s nuclear reactors at Zaporizhzhia. Continue reading »
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Evil fruit of seeds sown long ago – what makes Gaza genocide different?
These massacres bring us closer to the central questions that the inquiring mind might ask about the Gaza genocide. Continue reading »
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Ukraine, Russia and the West
It would be fairly uncontroversial to describe Ukraine’s recent military advance into Russia’s Kursk region as a deliberate provocation. Kyiv’s claim that it was intended chiefly to prod Moscow towards a negotiated peace, if true, appears to ignore Vladimir Putin’s tendency to stick to his guns in the face of embarrassments. Continue reading »
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Labor on the AUKUS battleground
One of Lyndon Johnson’s sage pieces of political advice was that one should never get into a piss fight with a skunk. Kamala Harris should take note. But so should Anthony Albanese, who is inadequately equipped for an argument over AUKUS and the submarine deal with his predecessor Paul Keating. Continue reading »
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Would Harris adopt the militarism of the failed Biden Doctrine?
Past experience of Donald Trump is fuelling intense anxiety among the allies and partners of America; that oddly fearful collection of wealthy supplicant states. As Trump’s prospects of electoral success seem to fade, the issue becomes, will Kamala Harris carve out a different foreign policy path as president from Biden’s failed doctrine? Continue reading »
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Fiddling while the world teeters on the brink
We need a no-holds-barred attack on corporate power to meet global threats. Continue reading »
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Bangladesh on the spot
If the interim government formed after the departure of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina holds a fair election, the people will find out if political Islam is a dispensation they wish to vote for. Continue reading »
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Dutton, racism and electoral popularity
About 10 years ago, I found myself in the office of a Coalition Senator in my role as President of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network. I and my delegation received a generous reception. At that stage the Senator did not hold an office on behalf of the Liberal Party which would now automatically prevent them Continue reading »
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Dutton, Gaza and why we need an emergency protection framework
Peter Dutton’s politicised dog-whistling about visas for people fleeing the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza ignores the devastation and extreme risk for innocent civilians trapped in a violent conflict. Continue reading »
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Accusations of US regime-change operations in Pakistan and Bangladesh warrant UN attention
The very strong evidence of the U.S. role in toppling the government of Imran Khan in Pakistan raises the likelihood that something similar may have occurred in Bangladesh. Continue reading »
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Campaign to keep Israeli cycling team out of Tour Down Under
Earlier this year the Adelaide-based Australian Friends of Palestine Association planned and delivered a campaign to protest WOMADelaide, Adelaide’s premier music festival. The board of this festival had defended and lauded Zionist supporter, Ziggy Marley, and promoted political activism from a Ukrainian group. Meanwhile a Palestinian group, 47 Soul, was disinvited from this event. Our Continue reading »
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What will our US alliance get us into from November?
A Trump administration, and even a Harris one, will pose new challenges for Australia: sycophancy or independence? Non-alignment or more complicity in US wars? Continue reading »
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Wars and the interests served
A recent article by Michael MacKinley provides an accurate reflection on the (lack of) value placed on human life by those who propagate war. It brings to mind a statement of the past that, to paraphrase, states “a bayonette is a weapon with a working man on either end.” Continue reading »
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Tackling the issues swept aside by mainstream media
Pearls and Irritations is one of the few media with an independent voice left in Australia that is willing to focus on issues of substance. May their voice grow stronger! Donor, August 2024 Continue reading »
