April 26, 2023

Act of self-harm: US Defund Chinas Allies bill targets Solomon Islands

Lawmakers in the US Imperium are getting stroppy. China is on the rise. Russia is not folding. Iran and Saudi Arabia have decided, if not to bury the hatchet then certainly cover it. So it comes as little surprise that Congress now has, before it, the Defund Chinas Allies Act (HR 2511), an instrument that is bound to pass and enchant the Empires followers in Canberra.

May 26, 2024

US vs. China: Who really stands for peace?

Thousands of innocent civilians are dying– men, women, children– being bombed to death as they sit in their homes. Thousands of Ukrainian and Russian men have been unwillingly drafted into the military, torn from their families, forced to kill each other, and forced to die. Images and videos of cold-blooded genocide plague our news in a constant loop, and our government has the audacity to sit in their comfy little chairs and not only deny what is happening, but to also order more money sent to continue these horrors.

June 21, 2023

China, at the centre of the multipolar world

_Despite the great interest in and importance of US Secretary of State Blinkens visit to China, there have been far more interesting things happening here for China watchers. They illustrate the continuing shift in geopolitical gravity towards China as the centre of the multipolar world.

June 14, 2021

On climate and Covid emergencies, G7 judged a 'colossal failure' for all the world to see

“Never in the history of the G7 has there been a bigger gap between their actions and the needs of the world. In the face of these challenges the G7 have chosen to cook the books on vaccines and continue to cook the planet.”

September 21, 2024

Proportional voting: Hare-Clark versus party list

This article aims to explain some of the differences between the two major voting systems. There are variations within each of them. Some combination of the Single Member District and Proportional Representation is even used as well, as for instance in New Zealand, where it was introduced in 1996.

August 4, 2024

Being true to truth

Truth

/truːθ/

noun

the quality or state of being true.

a fact or belief that is accepted as true.

September 6, 2023

Xi highlights people-to-people links

China’s president has stressed the great value of strong China-US contacts at grassroots level.

April 25, 2023

Antisemitism and the IHRA definition

In a positive development, the University of Adelaide has rejected the adoption of the controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism, because to adopt it would have been potentially counter to the principles of academic freedom and freedom of speech, according to the University Council.

April 22, 2023

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 illustrate them and underscore their interactions.

March 18, 2020

CHRIS BONNOR. Two very wicked problems in school funding

_Australia certainly isnt short of policy headaches, but one promises to be of migraine proportions: our school funding regime has reached new heights of absurdity and needs urgent review.

September 2, 2024

NSW dilutes protection against politicisation

NSW, like Victoria before it, is demonstrating once again that the dangers of politicisation do not lie with just one side of politics.

September 1, 2024

Review: Peter Gibilisco: Rocking the Boat – Significantly Essays from a wheelchair promoting due respect for all

I was profoundly amazed the moment I walked into the room back in 2018 where I was to have an interview with one of Peter’s support workers.

July 25, 2024

The crack in the facade where the light gets in

The genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and collective punishment in Gaza perpetrated by Israel has removed the masks from Western governments.

May 4, 2023

A women-led long fight against Malaysia's discriminatory citizenship laws

Water broke in the wee hours on the day of Headry’s flight back to her homeland Malaysia.

September 25, 2024

RBA independence – a dissenting view from within the ivory tower

Considerable heat has been generated lately about whether the treasurer should have the power to override Reserve Bank policy where it is deemed necessary. Howls of protest can be heard from the defenders — most economists among them — of Reserve Bank independence, that such a possibility could even be considered.

August 18, 2024

'Our other face'

The aboriginal, the outcaste, and minorities reveal a darker side to what we fondly call civilisation.

September 1, 2023

The climate doesnt care who builds batteries

Like it or not, the structure of global trade in green technologies and the raw materials required for their manufacture is being decided in an era when geopolitics trump markets, and the WTOs credibility to check the abuse of national security exceptions is near rock bottom.

June 22, 2023

Chasing shadows in Cuba

Why does Washington believe they have the right to conduct joint military exercises off the Chinese Pacific coast, but will not tolerate even the barest hint of those activities by China and Cuba in ’their’ maritime neighbourhood?

May 10, 2023

How Biden is weaponising the media

In December, The New York Times ran a headline reminding the world that publishing is not a crime. The paper urged President Biden to move to have the charges against Julian Assange dropped. The response was silence.

April 14, 2023

Japan-North Korea top secret negotiations

In East West relations it has become something of a habit. First you reach an agreement promising flowers and chocolates. The other side reacts with concessions and hopes for a brighter future. Then your hawks move in. They say you should never have made those promises. The agreement is forgotten or denied, but only after your side has gained what the other side promised.

May 16, 2024

Don’t blame social media for violence against women

The recent horrific murders of several women have sparked widespread calls to tackle the scourge of domestic violence. Some commentators have pointed fingers at social media, and internet usage more generally. Pernicious impacts include intolerance of others, especially through ‘echo chambers’ where users reinforce existing prejudices. Suggested remedies include various forms of bans or controls, especially for younger people.

September 25, 2023

Why Rupert Murdoch came to New York

_With the announcement that Rupert Murdoch is stepping down from the board of FoxNews and Newscorp, I thought was it an apt moment to reprint one of the most detailed portraits ever written of the press mogul: Alexander Cockburns 1976 profile and interview with Murdoch published in theVillage Voicein 1976, shortly after Murdoch had acquired the_New York Post.Alexs interview with Murdoch was liberally mined by William Shawcross for his otherwise demur biography of the carnivorous tycoon.JSC

July 13, 2023

Albanese: Time to dismantle Israels carceral regime

Over 56 years, Israel has governed the occupied Palestinian territory through stifling criminalisation of basic rights and mass incarcerations, said Albanese in a report to the UN Human Rights Council on 10 July.

August 9, 2024

Good science has no bias

I do agree with Ken Russell that inaction on the climate crisis is indefensible and I understand why he believes that climate scientists should be at the forefront of the global campaign to take targeted and effective action.

July 15, 2024

ASEAN and China’s media need to take greater role in shaping global narratives

In this era of tumultuous geopolitical uncertainties and conflicts, the pivotal role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ and China’s media in shaping global narratives and perceptions cannot be overstated.

June 1, 2024

Boy whose father burned to death in Rafah attack speaks to Al Jazeera

‘My dad is gone… where will I go?’ Nine-year-old Omar Hamad just lived through the worst day of his life, when his father was burned alive in Israel’s attack on a tent camp in Rafah. Dozens of Palestinians in Gaza were killed that day, and dozens more lost loved ones.

June 10, 2023

In the 1930s, scholars made remarkably accurate predictions on the China of 2030

“This nation, after three thousand years of grandeur and decay exhibits today all the physical and mental vitality that we find in its most creative periods… Very probably such wealth will be produced in China [by 2030] as even America has never known and once again, as so often in the past, China will lead the world in luxury and the art of life. - Will Durant, 1935.

March 22, 2020

HUGH WHITE.- Australia's Attack- class submarines need competition.(The Strategist 18.3.2020)

_Australias strategic circumstances over the next few decades will mean we cannot afford to be without a submarine capability.

August 20, 2024

Should AUKUS have focused on unmanned submarines?

Australia’s AUKUS submarines could be “wildly out of date” by the time they arrive, according to David Sanger, the White House and National Security Correspondent for The New York Times.

July 12, 2024

Vice-Chancellors’ remuneration, university financial performance, and global rankings

The Sunday Age (The Age) reported on 30 June 2024 on the 2023 salary packages of the Vice-Chancellors of Victoria’s eight public universities in a story entitled “Rich List: University heads on million-dollar salaries” by Daniella White and Sherryn Groch. Such headlines can be attention seeking, especially if not set in a wider context. This commentary concerns the paying of these packages in the context of the published financial performance of these eight public universities for the year earning 31 December 2023.

June 24, 2024

China's Third Plenum: domestic consumption is the key to stimulating domestic demand

The Communist Party of China (CPC) has said the upcoming Third Plenary Session of its current 20th Central Committee will focus on “deepening comprehensive reform to advance Chinese modernisation.” Officially, the reform agenda will only be unveiled at the Third Plenum. But that doesn’t mean there are zero signals in public before it happens.

September 7, 2023

Green energy growth impressive in China amid its slow economy

Chinas economic growth rate may have slowed, but its global market competitiveness should not be underestimated.

May 22, 2023

G7 resorts to China bashing to distract from economic woes

Just months before the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997, an old Hongkonger was interviewed. He was squatting next to a bundle of goods that he was hawking in the street. When asked about how he felt about the Chinese taking control again, he paused, drew on his cigarette and said, maybe they will give me a pension. A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words.

August 25, 2024

Israel's perilous decay

Stephen M Walt, Professor of International Relations at Harvard University, recently published an article in the leading US journal, Foreign Policy, entitled: “The Dangerous Decline in Israeli Strategy”. He argues that Israel, the US and their supporters are wedded to long-honed, conspicuously bad policies, which “is a prescription for unending trouble, if not disaster”.

June 28, 2024

Why Dutton has begun flying in the face of the China hawks

As the Australian opposition leader’s rhetoric softens dramatically, the days of turning China into an election wedge appear over.

May 5, 2024

China: Beyond socialism and capitalism - LSE Economist Keyu Jin explains the Middle Kingdom

The Westminster Town Hall Forum in Minneapolis in the US recently hosted the leading economist, Professor Keyu Jin, from the London School of Economics, where she spoke insightfully on where China has come from – and why – and where it is headed – and why.

April 19, 2024

Secrets of the weapons trade

The Australian government is obscuring weapons exports to Israel despite International Court’s ruling to oppose ‘plausible genocide’.

June 9, 2023

The Status Quo and Taiwan

_Mainstream media frequently describes Taiwan as an island that the PRC claims, but has never ruled. This has given rise to an increasing perception of Taiwan as a separate sovereign entity.

May 31, 2023

Layers of deceit: exposing the hidden histories of our wars

There are distinct parallels between I F Stones expos of the ongoing Korean War and both the Ukraine War and preparations for a second war with China. Izzy Stone did not travel to war zones like the intrepid Wilfred Burchett, nor had he the whistleblowing sources that Sy Hersh uses. His approach is different and one that that we can all use to some degree. He read the official accounts and the mainstream press closely and carefully, revealing discrepancies and peeling back the layers of deceit.

March 2, 2019

PETER SAINSBURY. Sunday environmental round up, 3 March 2019

To mixed responses, global and Australian mining giant Glencore has announced that it will not be expanding its coal mining operations. Meanwhile politicians squabble in Canberra over Australias greenhouse gas emission projections for the next decade. Waters shortages in Australia create many problems but they are unlikely to result in military conflict; in Africa and Asia water wars are a distinct possibility. To finish, I present an alarming graph of global carbon dioxide emission projections from fossil fuels to 2050.

October 3, 2024

The United Nations pact for the future: progress or pablum?

Within the UN, it is clear that member states need to find new or re-tooled diplomatic vehicles to advance progress on the broad disarmament agenda.

September 9, 2024

Cartoon Commentary

August 20, 2024

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.”

August 16, 2024

Change on way? ABC reviews ICJ ruling

Major international media outlets face a dilemma over whether to adapt newsroom practices to the World Court’s judgment last month on Israel’s illegal occupation.

August 14, 2024

Shocking news: China is kicking more global goals

Is China mired in economic misery while bogged down by old habits- or very successfully developing its exceptional manufacturing prowess as it expands and consolidates its influence across the Global South (and well beyond)? Never mind any apparent contradiction, one leading global weekly answers yes and yes to these two questions.

July 5, 2024

Poverty alleviation is not forced labour

Between the months of April and August of last year, I drove my EV and trailer RV to more than 40 locations and 15,000 kilometres in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region while I documented my experience.

May 15, 2024

ABC has no credibility on strangely timed Chinese ‘spy’ stories

To say Australian media has a poor record of getting things right in relation to Chinese ‘spying’ allegations is an understatement. It’s possible, in almost every media outlet for anyone who knows anything about China, to look beyond the headline and see an entirely different story; the ABC’s _latest_ offering is no exception.

September 15, 2023

Authoritarianism rampant

The primary site of the authoritarian cancer is the embrace of abusive power as the way to govern.

June 8, 2023

U.S. allies look for their place in the emerging global order

America and the West are more isolated from the rest of the world than at any time since WWII.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal