World
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The emerging New World Economy
The emerging new always both frightens and inspires the fading old. History is that unity of opposites. Sharp-edged rejections of what is new clash with enthusiastic celebrations of it. The old gets pushed away even as bitter denials of that reality surge. The emerging new world economy displays just such contradictions. Four major developments can Continue reading »
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How a ‘pathologically modest’ nation broke new ground on wellbeing
In 2015, Wales became the first country in the world to legislate for the wellbeing of future generations. The Well-Being of Future Generations Act followed an inclusive national discussion about the kind of country people want for generations to come. Continue reading »
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Has Dominion spelt the end of Murdoch influence in Australia?
The alternative universe occupied by the Murdoch media and its consumers is facing a very expensive and damaging confrontation with reality. But how and whether this affect the Australian operations are another question. Continue reading »
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Taiwan looking more like a pawn as US struggle against China loses steam
US coverage of Tsai Ing-wen’s visit has been muted as China continues to make advances in peacemaking, hi-tech, de-dollarisation and economic growth. Whether the Biden administration has had a change of heart about China is still uncertain but it appears Taiwan has merely been a pawn. Continue reading »
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The present risks to life on earth
“The splitting of the atom has changed everything, bar man’s way of thinking, and thus we drift toward unparalleled catastrophes” – Albert Einstein Continue reading »
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Mainstream press pounces when ‘vassals’ speak truth to power
Leaders of France, Brazil and Mexico slammed for stating the obvious that is usually ignored by the Anglo-US media industrial complex. Continue reading »
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The derangement of the American mind
The world, we have a problem. It is Houston. Continue reading »
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“It’s armageddon, but not as we know it”
Why are tens of millions of Christians supporting the expansion of Israel and the oppression of the Palestinians? It’s an important question because the answer has serious consequences for the stability of the Middle East. Continue reading »
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Scorched Earth: Anti-reunification forces use Taiwan to subvert China
US and British arms industry companies and their little mentioned but crucial support cast of Taiwanese military, lawmakers and government official counterparts are opposed to China-Taiwan reunification, because the current situation acts as their ATM, generating billions of dollars in profit. Continue reading »
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The need for a new US Foreign Policy
US foreign policy is based on an inherent contradiction and fatal flaw. The aim of US foreign policy is a US-dominated world, in which the US writes the global trade and financial rules, controls advanced technologies, maintains militarily supremacy, and dominates all potential competitors. Unless US foreign policy is changed to recognise the need for Continue reading »
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AUKUS as cultural cringe
There are many cogent arguments against AUKUS, and Pearls and Irritations has featured most of them. For me the most galling is the re-emergence of the images of the Anglosphere, and the photos of Australian Prime Ministers beaming between the US President and the UK Prime Minister, as if nothing had changed since Sir Robert Continue reading »
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In thy God I don’t trust
I don’t indulge in religion, but in this instance and at this particular time of the year, I feel I must. Let us agree from the start that we are all accidents of birth. None of us had a choice as to our parents, in what country we were born or into what religion. This, Continue reading »
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Australia will be left stranded as a lonely Western outpost in Asia
It is understandable that Australian leaders may feel insecure, even paranoid, about Australia’s future in the Asian twenty-first century. As Western power recedes from the world – especially from East Asia – Australia and New Zealand will be left stranded as lonely Western outposts in Asia. Continue reading »
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Francia Márquez: ‘It is not possible to speak of climate change without racial and gender justice.’
Francia Márquez Mina is a renowned land defender and the first Afro-Colombian to be elected Vice President of Colombia. Continue reading »
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We are being groomed for war with China
Orchestrated components are coming together to enable the US to recruit Australia in future wars of choice. Our media must begin to ask questions about the crude but successful ways the Australian people are being groomed to provide passive or enthusiastic consent. Continue reading »
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Depleted Ukrainians
Fighting in Ukraine continues, sometimes fiercely, sometimes spasmodically. So do the unending appeals from Vladimir Zelensky for more and better weapons from the West. He is now to get from Britain anti-tank shells made from depleted uranium, which will increase radiation and chemical pollution where they are used. Continue reading »
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Can the West move beyond the business of war and work with China, other nations for global peace?
Instead of focusing on building bridges and finding common ground for peace, the West has increasingly sought to shore up support among its allies and castigate or demonise its enemies. Continue reading »
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Australia prepares legal case for war over ‘non-sovereign nation’ Taiwan
Australia is inventing an unheard-of way to go to war at the invitation of a ‘non-sovereign nation’ – an obvious reference to Taiwan. The Government’s intent seems to be to have it ready for the conflict with China that US Generals keep telling us is coming. Continue reading »
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AUKUS designed to remove public resistance to Australia stationing US nuclear submarines
The real reason for the AUKUS submarine deal might well have been the U.S. wish for a port and base in Australia from where it can send its own nuclear submarines to harass China. The offer to Australia to buy nuclear submarines was likely only made to remove Australian public resistance to the stationing of Continue reading »
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Is Australia currently at war?
Historically, it used to be clear when one country was at war with another. Not so today. Indeed, that is one of the Department of Defence’s objections to war powers reform, where it stated in its submission to the Armed Overseas Conflict Inquiry that “the growth of grey-zone activities and offensive operations in the space Continue reading »
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Easter: A new beginning for wounded humanity and our depleted planet
An Easter reflection on romantic weddings, love, and our global context. Towards a ‘Calming of souls’ and a ‘lightness of being’. Continue reading »
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Quiet diplomacy’s failure: The Albanese government and Julian Assange
Prior to him becoming Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese made a number of declarations to the effect that the Julian Assange affair be brought to a close. The US effort to prosecute, nay persecute the WikiLeaks publisher, would finally be resolved. Continue reading »
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Back to the future of a Cold War arms race?
While the AUKUS treaty has echoes of the tragic Iraq invasion of 2003, even closer comparisons can be found with the arms race of the 1980s. Continue reading »
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“Swimming between the flags” on Climate policy threatens our future
At the last election, the Labor Party adopted a climate policy of “Swimming between the Flags”. This resulted in electoral success but it represented an unthinkable future for humanity. Continue reading »
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Rupert Murdoch has a wicked problem
Rupert Murdoch has a wicked problem. Many of the politicians who bent, or even grovelled, when his News media outlets blew on them are no longer scared. On the other hand News – particularly Fox – is showing signs that it is scared of its own audiences. Continue reading »
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Global tensions: Peacemakers must trump warmongers
China’s calls for calm stand in stark contrast to US provocations. Continue reading »
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Global happiness: up six points since last year – 73% now say they are happy
Global survey unveils drivers of happiness, finds life satisfaction roaring in Latin America but dropping in many Western countries; while people strive for social connections, many are pessimistic about the future of relationships and one in five say they have no one to turn to for support. Continue reading »
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President Xi’s peace plan for Ukraine: plausible and implausible
At first sight, the Chinese President’s twelve proposals to achieve peace between Russia and Ukraine appear plausible. Claims about common interests are supported by references to parties working together for peace and security, abiding by international humanitarian law, sustaining an existing world economic system and insisting that nuclear weapons not be used. Continue reading »
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IPCC: a gamble on earth system failure
The fact that the IPCC incorporates in its core business risks of failure to the Earth system and to human civilisation that we would not accept in our own lives raises fundamental questions about the efficacy of the whole IPCC project. If low risks of failure are taken as a starting point, “net zero 2050” Continue reading »
