Media
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Why a colour revolution will not work in China
There was some recent evidence of an attempt at a colour revolution within China a few weeks ago but, in order for a colour revolution to happen there needs to be significant factors in play. Those factors are absent and this means any attempt to ferment unrest inside China’s Mainland is going to be an Continue reading »
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An African view on Ukraine
As Africans, we don’t want the war in Ukraine to continue. Russia has legitimate security concerns. But instead of addressing them, the opposite has happened. NATO has been expanding its lines, NATO has been trying to consolidate its positions in Eastern Europe, up to the Russian border. What did you expect Russia to do, sit Continue reading »
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We are facing the most dangerous crisis humanity has seen
Last Tuesday, I was released on bail pending appeal in March. While my sentence is outrageous – as are the anti-democratic laws that allowed it to happen – I urge you not to lose sight of the reason I was jailed. Our way of life is under threat from the greatest, most dangerous crisis humanity Continue reading »
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Asian Media Report: Japan scrapping military spending limit
In Asian media this week – Missile systems able to attack enemy bases. Plus: media question official defence line; new criminal code worries LGBTQ community; benefits of soft diplomacy; junta leaders economic illiterates; instant change in COVID rhetoric. Continue reading »
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Defending ourselves from infiltration
The Age last year revealed that special forces veteran Ben Roberts-Smith wore the provocative symbol of a crusader cross on his breast over his uniform while on duty in Afghanistan. Apparently “quite a few” others wore it. Continue reading »
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Indonesian sex ban: One law for us, another for them?
It seems Indonesia’s new bonk-ban laws are discriminatory and racist. Bad news if you believe legal systems should be impartial, but good tidings for ‘bule’ (white skin foreigners). So sayeth a governor. Continue reading »
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It’s time to seek the human story of Syria
The mainstream media has presented a picture of Syria that is cartoonish, brutal and ugly. Instead of a bohemian woman artist or a women’s choir singing from the Tales of Hoffman (or millions of other potential ‘human stories’), a bloody, exclusivist ‘revolution’ has been exalted by journalists in a way that entrenches patriarchy and ignores Continue reading »
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Russians and the Ukraine war: few think it was a good Idea, fewer want it to end in defeat
What do ordinary Russians think about the war in Ukraine? Do they think it was a bad idea from the start? How eager are they for it to end, and on what terms? Accurate information on these vital questions is submerged in a great swamp of propaganda and partisan reporting. Continue reading »
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It’s a season to be a warmonger
It’s the season to be jolly and appreciate wrapped presents with surprises that are not true surprises. And the Christmas present most appreciated for a good number of the thinktank military establishment in Canberra will be conflict with Beijing. If not now, then when? Continue reading »
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Muzzling Milligan: free speech for some, but not for others
The latest attacks on ABC journalist Louise Milligan show that ‘cancel culture’ is alive and well at The Australian and Sky News, aided and abetted by the federal opposition’s shadow communications minister. Continue reading »
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The biggest obstacle to real freedom is the belief that we already have it
If you live in one of the so-called free democracies of the western world, the worst mistake you can make is to buy into the hype. To believe you are a free individual in a nation that respects and protects your freedom and individuality. Continue reading »
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Nothing agitates the ‘Anglosphere’ more than young women in power
There is nothing which agitates much of the ‘Anglosphere’ media more than a young attractive woman in power. The latest example of the phenomenon is the treatment of 37-year-old Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin. Continue reading »
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55% of Teal voters were Labor and Green supporters
While we worry about social media misinformation we overlook that one of the main sources of misinformation about politics is mainstream media. Continue reading »
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Modular nuclear reactors: snake oil from the nuclear lobby propagandists
Nuclear lobby propaganda in favour of small modular reactors ignores Australia’s terrible nuclear history and plays fast and loose with the facts. Many forensic enquiries have already recommended against the introduction of nuclear power into Australia on the grounds of proliferation risk, cost, safety, and the environment. Continue reading »
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The Guardian could help Assange by retracting all the lies it published about him
The Guardian has joined The New York Times, Le Monde, Der Spiegel and El País in signing a letter from the five papers which collaborated with WikiLeaks twelve years ago in the publication of the Chelsea Manning leaks to call for the Biden administration to drop all charges against Julian Assange. This sudden jolt of mainstream Continue reading »
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Should WeChat be banned? Australian users say no
Banning WeChat/Weixin would mean cutting Australian users’ “lifeline” to China; it would risk further alienating an already alienated community amid the anti-Chinese sentiment in Australia. For non-Chinese WeChat users in Australia, banning the platform would deprive them of individual choice and agency. Continue reading »
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The BBC’s abysmal coverage of Qatar’s World Cup
The British state-owned broadcaster’s refusal to show Qatar’s Opening Ceremony reeks of hypocrisy. Continue reading »
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US officials concern about world press freedoms while assaulting them
I will never get used to living in a world where our rulers will openly imprison a journalist for telling the truth and then self-righteously pontificate about the need to stop authoritarian regimes from persecuting journalists. Continue reading »
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AP editor said she “can’t imagine” a US intelligence official being wrong!!!
The Associated Press journalist who reported a US intelligence official’s false claim that Russia had launched missiles at Poland last week has been fired. Continue reading »
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The case of the wolf and the sheep in Hong Kong
Recently, a correspondent on Australia’s national broadcaster casually referred to Hong Kong as a “police state”. This ignores that the courts operate under common law rules. The role of the judge is key. They are not mouth-pieces of the central government. In HKSAR v Lai Man-ling & 4 Others, Hong Kong’s image overseas has been Continue reading »
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COP27: Australia promotes fossil fuels as pathway to carbon neutrality
It seems the Australian media still has to be told: COP 27 was a disaster and the glaring flaws in Australia’s grab bag of climate change policies were there to be exposed – if any reporters cared to do so. Continue reading »
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What caused the Anthony Albanese China change? Better advisors?
To say that the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has been poorly advised would be an understatement. For reasons best known to himself he picked up and ran with a posse of advisers from the corrupt and inept Morrison regime. A big mistake. Continue reading »
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Joy and a troubled conscience at the Qatar World Cup
I will be watching some games – but I will do so with a bad conscience! Continue reading »
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The biggest threat to capitalism? Purveyors of mistrust
If social trust is good for society, and for the economy overall, why is such a decline in trust occurring? The simple answer is because some businesses make money from distrust. Continue reading »
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Greed and a spoiled society: workers are not the problem
Of course The Australian republished Andy Kessler’s ridiculous Wall Street Journal column, “The decline of work in a spoiled society.” Those News Corp bedfellows continue to miss that they are at the core of the problem. Continue reading »
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Journalistic responsibility vanishes when reporting on US-targeted nations
Two false news reports have gone viral in recent days due to sloppy sourcing and journalistic malpractice. As usual they both featured bogus claims about US-targeted nations, in this case Russia and Iran. Continue reading »
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Xi is no longer Dr Fu Manchu?
After the meeting between Xi and Albanese, we will need patient diplomacy well away from the megaphone and from vested interests in defence industries. China is here to stay and love it or hate it we must learn to live with it. The present government is looking more like it understands this. Continue reading »
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Australia’s path forward: 50 years of relations with China
Cooperate where we can, disagree where we must. It’s time to start the next 50 years of the Australia-China relationship on a more positive footing. Exactly as our predecessors did in December 1972. Continue reading »
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Our media is failing us
At a moment, when one side of politics has abandoned the bases of democracy as an impediment to their grasp on power, we need journalists holding them to account rather than gaslighting the public, normalising the rot. Continue reading »
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Denying trafficking not the way to protect the Asylum system
Hannah Dickinson from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) has penned an article in this Journal that is full of distraction and denial of the massive labour trafficking scam that started in 2014-15. That approach does nothing to help genuine asylum seekers nor help the over 70,500 unsuccessful asylum seekers currently living in Australia with Continue reading »
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