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It's Teals, not Labor, who now bring hope

Labor swept into office on a wave of hope for a fresh start after nine years of Coalition inertia. Those hopes have been dashed by their lack of a sense of purpose or social justice. Anthony Albanese has not grown into the role of prime minister. He has given no sense of leadership, no impression of a vision for our future. He remains the political operator he has always been. Any sense of worthwhile government has been tarnished forever by legislation passed, in cahoots with the Coalition, in the last parliamentary sitting: muzzling charities once an election has been...

Zionism as a terrorist creed

A good place to start seems to be to label Zionism (as clearly different from Judaism) as a terrorist creed.

The separation between capitalism and state

The problem as I see it is there never was a separation between capitalism and state. When anything goes as long as you're elected, the lies are ignored or go unnoticed and every election becomes about If you elect them they will put taxes up”. “No we won’t“. In our current election cycle, we have no mention of the billions of dollars wasted by the previous LNP govt on car parks, AUKUS etc , no mention of why we have a housing crisis, an education crisis, high inflation, no mention of the achievements of the present government, just constant...

No logic from God

While respecting Allan Patience’s academic achievements, I wonder about his logic. He asks, if I prefer to believe in science rather than believe in God, “why did I post about God in the first place?” Why not? Isn’t it critical to consider both sides of an issue in any intelligent commentary? Dr Patience also says that so-called philosophical “positivism” limits scientific research and theorising “to what is observable and measurable”. Sounds impressive, but hardly explains the value of science as the gathering of reliable information from all sources, experimenting and testing it before drawing conclusions that can be verified...

Breaking the cycle

Somewhere after my childhood and early adulthood the sense of responsibility seems to have been lost. We have charters of rights, but no charter of responsibilitities that I've ever heard of. We have freedom of speech without any compulsion to use that right responsibly. For years, wage theft has been an unashamed oops, not a crime. Teachers regularly complain that talking to parents about a child's persistent problematic behaviour brings the response that their child can do no wrong. In my own backyard, the federal Opposition can flood my electorate with a flyer of lies and distortions about the sitting...

Views on new world order

Lavrov's views, published a few days ago, on the changing world order as The UN Charter Should Become the Legal Foundation of a Multipolar World should be read, considered, and critiqued by all pondering the rapidly changing nature of international relationships.

COVID facts

The failure of the ABC to acknowledge or describe most of the disputes, uncertainties, errors and misrepresentations related to the mainstream of COVID narrative, policies and events is another regrettable issue. Australia is way behind the US, the UK and several other countries in exposing some of the alternate facts through broad scale inquiries, and with the commitment to transparency declared by the US' new Health and Human Services secretary, much more material will soon appear. I hoped that Pearls and Irritations might welcome broader discussion, but have seen little of it. Perhaps we could open this discussion...

AUKUS joke

How will the future (if ever) AUKUS vassals be branded? Fiat! Boom boom!

A1+ for Kym Davey

Kym Davey's article shoud be sent to every politician and every ABC board member. It is impeccable in its truth and superb in the summation of much (though sadly, not by any means all) that is a cancer eating the soul of the ABC. And (as with Alison Broinowski’s recent letter) it highlights the very, very important point that it is the ABC that implicitly, and by its charter explicitly, is supposed to provide truth on matters of import to Australians' understanding of events, developments etc. critical to building an intelligent nation. The current and immediate past ABC...

What democracy?

No mention of the non-existent US democracy largely based on the non-thinkers voting and the thinking voters non-voting, all by design with the latest system of bribes (AUKUS) paid by compliant countries for protection which history tells will always be on its way unless further bribes are paid to the US arms industry

Electoral targeting and the wealth divide

The economic indicators may have improved, but the wealth extremities have widened. Economic distribution is consolidating the fortunes of the super-rich and obscenely wealthy, at the expense of the already impoverished, disenfranchised, or at risk (employed or not). Here is the battleground for the contest of ideas, and emotions. Climate action, refugees or minority groups (however named, shamed and denigrated, including welfare recipients and people with a disability) are not driving extremes of inequality. The wealthy can as yet weather the storms (literally and figuratively) caused by climate change and economic instability. Others cannot. The appeal to the...

Balfour Declaration tried to protect Palestinians

Thanks for a good article. Balfour’s 1917 letter, aka the Balfour Declaration (text below) stipulated: “ … nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine ..” . This promise was not honoured by the British administration or by the Zionists . Balfour Declaration 1917 November 2nd, 1917 Dear Lord Rothschild, I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet. His...

Trump’s Gaza diplomacy

Astonishing as the Trump announcement re seizure of Gaza was, perhaps more telling was that the only leader even hinting at agreement was Netanyahu. Not even neighbours like Egypt or Jordan were consulted in advance, nor did regional client states in the region agree. Perhaps Trump's Inept Isolationism would be a better descriptor.

International law vs RBO

Is there any way that I can persuade Pearls and Irritations to stop supporting the US' International Rules-Based Order and to, instead, support International Law? The two are not the same. The International Rules-Based Order is the US' attempt to supplant International Law with something meaningless and inconsistent that they can manipulate to say whatever they want from time to time. The relationship between International Law and the Rules-Based Order is examined here.

Start with bringing our ships and planes home

We could explain to the Australian public why our ships and planes are surveilling in international waters/airspace off the coast of China. Would we tolerate it in international waters off our coast?

Do we read the documents we talk about?

Of all historical documents, The Balfour Declaration must hold the record for being the most often referred to and the least often read. The document reads: His Majesty's Government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people . . . it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country. The Declaration talks about a national home, in Palestine, for the Jews, while the...

God and gender duality

One consideration to add to Eric Hunter’s excellent article on ‘Why doesn’t God save the day?’ is the apparent automatic assumption it is a male figure. No doubt it originates from ancient days when domination relied more on direct physical prowess rather than projectiles delivered from a distance. Any deity is likely to be a figurehead to all and not defined by gender. Perhaps there is a message in the recent amplified status by transgender people which may lead the faithful beyond the confines of conflict.

Ita, a dose of integrity?

Perhaps Cold Chisel should alter the lyrics to their song Ita. or maybe they were just being sarcastic all along? Is her integrity the reason that another person of integrity, Scomo, picked her?

Why only now see the reality?

Peter Varghese has finally recognised that the US has become a selfish bully and that its capacity to champion “our great strategic project” against China is in doubt. He says that while we should continue to enjoy the security from hanging out with the bully, it would be wise given US unpredictability “to recognise what we should have known all along” that we can’t leave our defence to others”. (Is this an apology for inability to advance this view when he was DFAT secretary?) What brings Varghese to his realisation are Trump’s statements about expanding US territory and...

Taiwan and Gaza

The situation with Taiwan and Gaza is not comparable. A total of 146 countries recognise Palestine (including Gaza) as a sovereign state that has never belonged to America or Israel. Almost every country recognises Taiwan as part of China (12 don't). Even America does. Those running Taiwan are not the original inhabitants, but forcibly overran it after losing a civil war. I believe that provoking China over Taiwan has more to do with China's massive economic growth than spreading freedom and democracy and mythical fairy stories of the rules-based order. Ask the previous inhabitants of Diego...

From the river to the sea

From the river to the sea is condemned as a racist and hateful policy. Given that it should be banned from Likud's founding documents, campaigns, and policies.

Our future is in our hands

Peter Sainsbury illustrates a frightening truth. Australia, and for that matter, the rest of the world, is chasing its tail trying to reach net zero targets. The reason is multifaceted, but the underlying solution is simple; take the ominous consequences of global warming seriously and act accordingly. The question then becomes: is Australia capable of curbing its consumeristic lifestyle to haul in what is fast becoming runaway atmospheric warming? At this stage, we’ve shown no inclination to do so. Our business leaders and politicians seem yoked to population growth, which only compounds greenhouse gas emissions, but to be honest,...

A golden opportunity for a determined government

Peter Sainsbury shocked me with his heading Environment Australia unlikely to play its proper part in keeping warming under 1.5 degrees C. Our PM and team should stick boldly to the decarbonising science; and try harder to explain to MPs and voters that this is the only true, effective path for a livable future on Earth. That path would also likely beat Dutton's nuclear energy as far too late, costly and with forever deadly radioactive waste. I consider that our government has a golden opportunity to make a strong stand now for doing the right thing for...

Trump’s Gaza grab: America is no better than China

Peter Varghese's article has a number of factual inaccuracies which I would like to point out. 1. The so-called rules-based order crafted by the US mentioned in his essay is nothing but a self-serving way of relating to the world solely in its interests. The US never signed up to the United Nations' international Charter of Law. 2. Taiwan has been recognised internationally — even by the US — as being part of mainland China. This is not the case as far as Panama, Greenland, nor for that matter, Gaza. Thus the comparison is invalid.

Peter Varghese's swipe at China

Peter Varghese's article takes a totally unneccesary swipe at China. China may be a one-party state, but it has managed to lift its population out of the depths of poverty into a modern welfare state. He may not like China's authoritarian regime (neither do I, by the way), but a huge majority of Chinese citizens elected it and it has the respect of most of its population. On the other side, America is rapidly evolving into a rogue state where might is right and money is king are the only criteria that matter. I am not a military expert,...

What’s really on the nose is politics

Forget about Musk or any other of the small, medium or large businesses; what is really on the nose is politics. The job of business is to make a profit and everything they do or say is, and should be, about making a profit. No matter how big or small they are, if it isn’t about making a profit they will not survive/prosper. The problem is that our politicians and our politics have lost sight of their job which is to govern without fear or favour for the good/betterment of all Australians without fear of not being re-elected....

Right-wing Advance and our elections

The right-wing lobby group Advance played a not insignificant role against the Voice, and it mounted a concerted campaign to defeat the sitting Greens candidate in Prahran’s recent by-election in Victoria. Advance is partly funded by a Liberal Party investment group which donated $500,000 in the last financial year. It was disturbing to read that the Victorian Electoral Commission felt obliged to seek a Supreme Court injunction against Advance for repeatedly defying election campaign rules. Disturbing not because of the actions of the VEC, but the response from Advance, who accused the VEC of “heavy-handed overreaction to Australians participating...

Tell 'im 'e's dreamin'

Bob McMullan's piece reads like he's trying to convince himself that Labor isn't doing as badly as it is. Whatever else is happening in the world, however bad the opposition is, by any measure Labor is a disappointment, at best. On climate and the environment it has performed particularly poorly, the backdown on gambling reform was pathetic, and not subjecting the whole AUKUS deal to thorough scrutiny was an abdication of responsibility. The list goes on. Talk to anyone vaguely interested in politics and the refrain is the same. Albanese is an inadequate prime minister, timid, spineless, lacking...

Well-written report

Congratulations on a well-written article. I am a 62-year-old white Australian and have to agree with all aspects of the article. Particularly with the outside influences aggravating the Australian public who are not very smart or introspective in the first place. The problem is how do you make a politician who is left- or right-wing and probably being paid in some manner by the perpetrators to see clearly the falsity that is obvious? A great article.

Trump saves the subs

What Australia needs: Another Trump light bulb moment where he decides that Biden/Morrison did a dumb deal (he may well take our money and tell us to p*** off but in the long run thatwill be cheaper). A hung parliament in which Dutton won’t work with the independents. Richard Marles to lose his seat. The Future made in Australia to kick in. It is standard Trump/defence business practice to quote low and once the build reaches critical mass the customer has no choice but to hold on and pay up and go along for...

ABC cowardice vs Zionist blitzkreig

The Lattouff court case exposes, once again, the craven subservience of Australian Government, its instrumentalities, and of course, the mainstream media (aka the Murdochracy). So much dissembling, so much obfuscation, so much plain BS. So much genuflection to the obscene demands of the Zionist lobby. Ita Buttrose, a person of (questionably, but let that pass) veneration, reduced to the status of a messenger of the gods of the Zionist Lobby industry. Since when has it been a personal opinion, attacking Israel to quote, with attribution, the stated finding of a respected international organisation? Since when has it been...

Rough road to a sustainable future

Hope in a crisis is the drowning man’s straw: people grasp it, however unlikely it may seem, and cling to it. So it is with the climate crisis. We have scientists arguing powerfully, passionately, for the urgent action that we still need to preserve a liveable Earth. This gives hope, in the face of ever-worsening expectations. Trainer argues that those hopes are doomed, unable to overcome the greed of capitalism before capitalism itself collapses under its own internal contradictions. He pins his hopes, instead, on small, self-sufficient, co-operative groups. The approach he advocates for — he calls it The...

Comcare prosecution over Robodebt turned down

Comcare referred a case about Robodebt under S.19.2 of the Commonwealth Occupational Health and Safety Act to the CDPP. That section covers the duty of care to those affected by the work of a person (natural or corporate) in control of a business or undertaking, and includes the Commonwealth government. Comcare says the CDPP declined to prosecute because it saw little chance of a conviction.

Escalators and headlines

Ever since Donald Trump took that elevator ride in 2015, he has made an art form of generating headlines. He says something outrageous and then watches as the world's media and assorted pundits put him on the front page. They buy into it time after time after time. They're doing it now. Own Gaza? With neither US military nor US money being used? How will that work? The Palestinians have resisted Israel. Why would they not resist the Yanks? Also, no Arab or Muslim nation has indicated any willingness to accept two million disgruntled migrants. And why would...

Weasel word BS is alive and well in universities

I just thought I'd let you know that I stopped reading this article as soon as I got to the bit where it says McKay wants secretary and senior-level public service remuneration to be 'well calibrated to the correct private sector analogues'. What is it with academics that they must twist language into some sort of contortions to make a point? Why couldn't this bloke McKay, who is obviously an idiot, just say he wants senior-level public servant pay to mirror the private sector, or to be similar to the private sector? Well calibrated to the correct...

It's time for a balanced parliament

The mystery will always remain: Why did Albanese appease his Coalition opponents while haemorrhaging votes from his supporters? Moving on, I suggest Dutton and the LNP would be infinitely worse. The Trump playbook, divisiveness, lack of policies and policy detail, lack of transparency, lies and personal attacks on opponents at both federal and electorate level - no good lies down that path. So the big question is: What are we going to do about it? Please... vote deliberately for a hung/balanced parliament. Community independents have already shown teeth and backbone in calling the major parties to account....

Disappointed with our leaders

Thoroughly enjoyed this article and share Barb's disappointment in our political leaders. Australia seems to be going off course. The tragedy is that in a recent election, Bill Shorten tried to offer solutions to many of her concerns, but was unsuccessful with many short-sighted Australians. When Murdoch controls 80% of the media and has other ideas, many of his readers are misled about the precarious situation. Murdoch's minions and lackeys are pushing a separate dangerous and backward agenda. The legacy media meekly wades in the swamp. The other tragedy is that our political system is broken and not...

The collapse of the capitalism model

Ted Trainer's article provides a timely warning that the current model of greed encased in capitalism is nearing its logical end. I have been involved in the recycling and zero waste movements and their refinement over the last 35 years. Despite highlighting the urgent need for change little happens. Every time a move is made to minimise the harm to the environment, such as plastics recycling, container recovery, alternate energy or safer and improved quality food production, the current capital model steals the concept and incorporates it into the greed structure to generate more income for the current investment...

Trump's diaspora

Reading P&I on Trump's latest mad plan to resettle the inhabitants of Gaza somewhere else so he can build hotels and golf courses, I was struck by an historic parallel. The last chap to try this was Sargon II, boss of Assyria, who came down on the local inhabitants like a wolf on the fold, his cohorts gleaming in purple and gold and scattered them to the four winds, an event known in Jewish history as the diaspora. That was 2750 years ago and led directly to the present mess that is Israel/Palestine. So if Trump has his...

Yes Minister 2

For some time, my teacher mate sang the virtues of the US system where the president got to tap into the expertise of highly credentialled people from all around the country when appointing heads of departments and I must admit that I didn’t disagree with him. Then came Trump who unashamedly appointed mates. So much for that idea. In Australia, with its ongoing war against anything old that works, we too started to appoint highly paid (unlike with workers where qualifications and capability are not portional to the amount you're paid) experts as heads of departments on contract....

Understanding intent in genocide

Gerard Gill's statement: intent being determined by multiple statements from officials is legal fantasy. Intent is established by acts or omissions, not by words. If a reasonable person would understand that there was a strongly probable, indeed, near certain consequence of an act or omission, that establishes intent. She who deliberately puts death cap mushrooms in the beef Wellington commits murder, (allegedly). The act proves intent. If a reasonable person would understand that a near certain consequence of Israel's obliteration of Gaza, cutting off water, food, medical supplies, the use of starvation as a means of warfare, the...

The X factor

I have been banned from X and am unable to peruse any five-minute scroll items. X claims I have sent prohibited comment to it for which I am banned. I have never used X. I responded to their ban email by saying I have never wanted to be treated as a user of X and am happy to be excluded by them. However, if the five-minute scroll continues to use them as material, I will not be able in future to be able to access it. I have been a user of P&I for over 10 years...

Trump removal of support for climate action and aid

What if China decided to fund the organisations (humanitarian aid, climate change support) from which Trump has withdrawn support? What a coup this would be! How would Trump react? I feel the Chinese are now rich enough to take this up. If they did so, how would the Western powers react? It would really change the world's perception of China.

There is a real choice at this election

Contrary to Barb Dadd's pessimism, I believe there is a real choice at the coming federal election and that is the Australian Greens. The Greens have policies which address all the issues that concern the author and I encourage your readers to check the Australian Greens website for a thorough summary of Greens' policies. The Greens have been criticised by many commentators for blocking Labor-initiated legislation in the Parliament, but in all cases they have been trying to improve that legislation so that it is more effective and delivers greater benefits to the community as a whole and particularly...

Unhinged proposals for Gaza

Like Larry Stillman, most of us don't want to see a rise in hate towards any group of people here. But for Donald Trump to reiterate a plan during Netanyahu's visit that Palestinians should just vacate Southwest Palestine is unhinged. What can that do but create even greater tensions, with their spillover in Australia and elsewhere? What then will he propose for Northeast Palestine? Hitler's plans for Poland to provide Lebensraum have an eerie echo in Trump's statements. Jewish organisations in Australia, which are hopefully fundamentally driven by moral imperatives, would be best served by proposing a much...

DeepSeek

The response to DeepSeek was predictable. It is stolen, it is untrue, it is expensive, it is a psyops exercise and, if not any of these, then it is a threat to Western civilisation that deserves to be blocked immediately. And in a typical response, the CIA promptly did a massive DDoS attack on it using Vault 7, its cyberwar weapon.

How the Chinese system deals with the next phase

I watch as the US rushes towards the abyss, taking the Western world and the planet and democracy with it. With limited news coverage, I admire what China and the Chinese system of government has achieved. The world cheered at the fall of the Soviets and their communist system, not realising that the US and its ongoing worldwide wars and capitalism was in decline. Some thought that a benevolent dictatorship was the ideal government; the US is racing towards dictatorship without benevolence. I have no doubt that the rise of Chinese manufacturing and technology has had a positive...

They didn't come to pillage

They didn't come to pillage, claims the woman who pillaged thousands of taxpayers' dollars.

Significant differences between Labor govt and Dutton LNP

It is inaccurate to use the popular and populist formulation all politicians — or parties — are the same. Labor may have been disappointing on international matters – continued AUKUS expensive folly, failure to stand up to the ruling Israeli false narrative etc. Yet it has achieved many reforms: prescription costs, improved bulk billing support, after-hours medical centres, childcare costs, childcare training, apprentice training, numerous industrial relations reforms, housing developments (after a long Greens delay), support for renewables, moves towards Gonski levels in public education, reducing HECS debt, WFH right to disconnect etc etc Populist anti-political thought fosters...

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