A few nostalgic types still believe that the Union Jack continues to flutter to sighs and reverence over outposts of the world, from the tropics to the desert. They would be right, if only to a point. Britain, it turns out, has a rather expansive global reach when it comes to bases, military installations and…
Outside the supermarket last week, there was a man sitting with a sign asking for help to get accomodation for the night. His upturned hat contained a few coins, so I decided to go and ask him if he could spare a few. “What?” he said, betraying a distinct lack of manners, when everybody knows…
Looking back on my writing for 2020 and what has motivated it the most common ingredient has been a sense of frustration that I’m not having the impact I once did. By that I mean my readership has dropped a little. I want more people to know the truth. Perhaps I have become too repetitive…
A mandatory Australian media code legislation aimed at Silicon Valley’s largest digital media giants is now closer to passage after the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) relented on its original draft and has now included public broadcasters ABC and SBS in the government’s proposed mandatory news code legislation. Whereas the ACCC’s original draft excluded…
There are not just two certainties in life – there are actually at least three, and the third is one that conservatives try to ignore. Yes – number one is death, which is inevitable, and the only options we have are to preserve life as long as possible by avoiding accidents and looking after our…
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Media Release A new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows increases in emergency department visits for respiratory problems and sales of asthma medication in regions affected by the 2019–20 bushfires. The report, Australian bushfires 2019–20: Exploring the short-term health impacts, examines some of the short-term…
Continued from: Of Eugenicists, Oligarchs and Psychopaths (part 13) By Outsider In the early months of 2020 Bill Gates made many media appearances during the course of which he called for several controversial ‘solutions’ to COVID-19. Gates says his proposals, from calling for extended lock downs, health surveillance – that is to say, contact tracing,…
By Matthew Synnott Could there be anyone caught surprised that Donald Trump would be the sore loser that he has shown himself to be? We hear about millennials and the entitled generation, well Trump takes the trait to Stratosphere levels that no millennial could challenge. While we are at it, his ego is up there…
The Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force Afghanistan Inquiry was always going to make for a gruesome read – and that was only the redacted version. The findings of the four-year investigation, led by New South Wales Court of Appeal Justice and Army Reserve Major-General Paul Brereton, point to “credible evidence” that 39 Afghan non-combatants…
Victorian casual workers plying their trade in any of a number of industries and sectors may be entitled to up to five days of sick and carer’s pay in the near future, as the Andrews state government announced on Monday that a pilot program will be launched as a scheme within the 2020-21 state budget.…