Writer
John Queripel
John Queripel is a Newcastle-based historian, theologian, social commentator and published author of four books. His latest book, 'In Wisdom and in Passion: Comparing and Contrasting Buddha and Christ' has just been released. His blog may be found at www.johnqueripelblog.com.Substack / https://johnqueripel.substack.com
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Christmas: Beyond the fantastical
One of the fondest memories we carry is of how when we were young, the world was infused with magic, especially at Christmas. We would wake on Christmas Day surrounded by the gifts Santa Claus had mysteriously placed there. Continue reading »
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The AUKUS delusion just got worse
Much has been written in these pages about the AUKUS delusion: Of how it was haphazardly and secretly put together by Scott Morrison to wedge the then Labor Opposition, about the elasticity of its costings, the improbability of Australia ever acquiring any of the proposed submarines, the enormous cost of the project, the effectiveness of Continue reading »
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Does Australia really want to be the “tip of the spear”, projecting Western power?
AUKUS, increasingly seen as a dud deal, though an expensive one, with a $368 billion price tag, stands as the clearest example of the cognitive dissonance besetting the Australian body politic. Continue reading »
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We’re right behind you: The AUKUS delusion
The series Blackadder, set in World War 1, was full of farce built around black humour. In the final episode it has been determined by High Command to send those involved to go “over the top” in a hopeless race toward German machine-guns. The night before they are visited by their commanding general who pompously Continue reading »
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NATO ‘sabre-rattling’ at the gates of Asia yet again
It has been said, ‘the barbarians are at the gates,’ but with NATO they have already stormed the citadel, and having done so they now want to spread their madness to Asia. Continue reading »
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The Assange non-verdict: the threat remains
The champers toasting the release of Julian Assange was delightful after many years of struggle against his clearly unjust indictment and years of imprisonment. I am sure we all enjoyed sipping it. After the excitement and sweetness has assuaged however, a certain bitterness still remains, a cold realisation just what his plea bargaining signifies. Continue reading »
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The US and Western allies commit to another forever war
Ho hum, the US has just committed itself to another ‘forever war.’ Its faithful obedient Western allies, like puppies wagging their tails, have fallen in behind. One would think they would tire, or at least learn lessons from, the game. Seemingly not. Continue reading »
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Western decline: Denial and anger at China’s vitality
In her work, ‘On Death and Dying’ Elisabeth Kübler-Ross wrote of the stages one goes through on being told one is dying. She called these ‘Five Stages of Grief,’ of adjusting to reality: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Continue reading »
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Australia abandons Nuremberg principles as post-war international order crumbles to ruin
A legal ruling in Australia this week sentencing military whistleblower David McBride to 5 years imprisonment for disobeying orders to expose war crimes has stood the principles established at the Nuremberg trials on its head. Continue reading »
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Even-handed? No. Just inane
I think if I hear again, in some attempt at a supposed even-handedness an interviewer ask a representative of the Palestinian people in this terrible time, ‘do you also oppose the actions of Hamas on 7th October?’ I will puke. That is not a pleasant prospect. Continue reading »
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Russia: A steel wall against the West
In 1942, a Finnish sound engineer Thor Damen, secretly recorded 11 minutes of a conversation between Finland’s Commander-in-Chief, Carl Gustaf Mannerheim and Adolf Hitler, without the latter’s knowledge. Continue reading »
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Zionism ≠ Judaism
The collapsing of the two categories, Judaism and Zionism to become synonymous seems to me to be a very dangerous, even foolish thing to do. Yet, to my amazement it seems many Jews are doing precisely that. It would be fair to say that such is representative of the deeply conservative Jewish establishment in Australia. Continue reading »
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Two boats and hysteria is unleashed
According to the evening news, Australia stands on the precipice of one of the greatest security threats to Australia since World War II, with the Imperial Japanese Army in the Owen Stanley’s overlooking the lights of Port Moresby. A few dozen impoverished, bedraggled refugees right up there with the Imperial Japanese Army as threat! It Continue reading »
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China: learning from Canute
Regularly, Western media claims that China’s run is near an end and that collapse is just around the corner. So constant has this become, it is like a broken gramophone record. Recently predictions of this collapse have been couched around the indebtedness of some major players in the Chinese property market. The ‘inevitable collapse’, however, Continue reading »
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Genocidal Israel, condemned by words and actions
In the indictment brought against Israel by South Africa in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh KC asserted it was, ‘the first genocide in history where its victims are broadcasting their own destruction in real time in the desperate, so far vain hope that the world might do something.’ Continue reading »
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Western democracy: failure of system
Western nations are always ready to proclaim their system of governance as superior, particularly in regards to China, dismissed as being authoritarian. Increasingly however, ‘western liberal democracy’ finds itself under scrutiny with trust in government falling. Continue reading »
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UN Secretary General throws support behind G77 and global multipolarity
The meeting of the Group of 77 developing countries (G77) plus China, held last month, 15-16 September in Havana, Cuba, passed with little note from our mainstream media, despite being attended by more than 100 countries, with thirty-one heads of state and 12 vice presidents present. That such should pass largely unnoticed by them however, Continue reading »
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The referendum: So little asked, so graciously, but seemingly too much
Why do so many of my fellow non-Indigenous Australians seemingly have such a deep aversion towards the Aboriginal peoples of this land? Sadly, I am compelled to ask that question as we approach a referendum asking for constitutional recognition of Australia’s First Nations and an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to parliament. Continue reading »
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In the grim dark face of military madness
Increasingly I keep finding myself singing, even humming or whistling the old Graham Nash song, ‘Military Madness,’ sometimes hardly aware that I am doing so. Continue reading »
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Resistance to Western geo-political order: building brick by BRICS
The just completed 15th BRICS Summit, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, has made some momentous decisions which will greatly effect the global geo-political order. Continue reading »
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A refusal to see: Blindness to the global order
The accepted norm of Western dominance of the global order is now over. The difficult matter for those in the West to accept is that the mantle of leadership is not being passed from one Anglo-Western power to another of the same ilk, but rather one neither Anglo, nor Western, and dare I say it, Continue reading »
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Hiroshima remembered: When will we ever learn?
To be here in Hiroshima, invited to perform at one of numerous peace concerts commemorating the destruction of the dropping on this city of the first atomic bomb, 6th August 1945, is somewhat special, though of course tinged with sadness that humanity could descend to such barbarism. Continue reading »
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The shuffling of the cards; the emergence of a new world order
Over the next two months, two crucial meetings, indicating the massive changes the geo-political order is undergoing, are taking place. Continue reading »
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The price of irresponsibility: irrational fear
The recklessness of Australian politicians and mainstream media and the damage which that has caused, is abundantly clear in the latest poll, carried out by the Lowy Institute on Australian attitudes to China. Continue reading »
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3 reasons why China is not a threat
The recent ‘Red Alert’ series, along with statements by some U.S, and Australian military leaders would have us believe that Chinese military forces could soon in waves be running up Bondi Beach invading our erstwhile peaceful land. Strange then, given this immediacy of threat, our military preparations are increasingly linked to AUKUS, its central plank Continue reading »
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ABC analyst Mick Ryan’s US government funded affiliations
It seems the automatic go to for the ABC on matters military is Major-General Mick Ryan. His opinion is usually presented as unbiased fact. Is that the case? Continue reading »
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ANZAC day: a call to honest examination
Commemorating ANZAC Day this year again under a shadow promises to be an interesting experience. Continue reading »
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Red Alert? Follow the money instead: ASPI is a front for US propaganda
What is the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), what are its sources of funding, and why does it so consistently advocate for positions favourable to the United States and the weapons industry? Follow the money trail. Continue reading »
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“The gift of bombs”: Wandering thoughts of a Hanoi sojourner
I sit in Hanoi, Vietnam, a friend’s 10th floor unit, from which the lights of the city gyrate before me. My mind wanders, ponders many things, my formative years having been enmeshed with the events of this country. Continue reading »
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Peruvian coup: the Australian connection
Pedro Castillo, the Peruvian president, overthrown in a coup 7th December 2022, and then sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, clearly represented a threat to some significant forces. Continue reading »
