Flat White
Fake news and appointing judges
I have made a point of reading dozens and dozens of different mainstream media accounts of the recent retirement of…
What’s Paris still worth?
In 1593 Henry of Navarre, a Protestant prince turned Catholic to win the French crown, supposedly remarked, “Paris is well…
Beware of Hamas hubba-hubba
Would you like to do some internet dating with Hamas? Associated Press has the story: The Israeli military said Tuesday it…
Their ABC “the most trusted news source”? Here’s a theory
It was Abraham Lincoln who said, ‘You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of…
Leave the high life of Canberra? Decentralisation push exposes bureaucratic hypocrisy
For just over a century, the public service has been building capital city monoliths to centralise power, decision-making and policy…
Hey, dudes, back off: a defence of millennials
I fully appreciate that millennials – “cossetted, pampered and spoiled” – deserve a good touch up. After all, I am…
WTO plain pack verdict a victory for criminals and nanny
Five years have passed since a coalition of tobacco-producing nations including Indonesia and Honduras challenged Australia’s world-first laws that prevent…
Lucky there’s no section 44 for the NSW parliament
This is very disturbing. Very disturbing indeed. Bob Carr has a hell of a lot to answer for, as today’s…
Is the string bag really a tool of repression?
Proponents of Utopian progress have devoted endless time to pursuits intent on discarding tradition, reality and practicality. Legacies of their…
Scarlett Johansson slammed because of, you know, diversity
If Hollywood had stuck to what it’s all about (making movies) rather than playing politics, Scarlett Johansson might have just…
Whatever happened to that same-sex marriage boom?
Now that all the glitter has settled after last year’s non-binding voluntary postal survey—remember, we couldn’t be trusted to have…
Rock and roll realpolitik
Welcome to world politics where, as the old song used to go, ‘It’s a little bit tyranny, a little bit…
The sprig of 4 July at the heart of our constitution
Most Australians would know that today, July 4, is the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence of…
By the prophet’s beard, it’s the hoejabi!
“The New York Times”, the venerable newspaper of record, the blushing Grey Old Lady, has discovered a new phenomenon –…
No way, Huawei!
John Lord, Huawei’s Australian Chairman recently told the National Press Club that he’d refuse any instruction from Beijing “to hand…
Never mind the cow farts, watch that muesli
It was only going to be a matter of time before the early, nationwide record-breaking chill of June had the…
Australia: bagged by the court of international opinion
Oh, no! We’re a global pariah! Again! It’s on news.com.au, so it has to be true: The whole world is…
Abandoning liberalism is going viral
A movement of people ditching liberalism is taking off. We’re not talking a handful of people, but millions. It all…
Victorian Liberals can’t afford to gamble
Many litigants are like gamblers on the pokies. Having had the satisfaction of winning a small jackpot, they punt, punt…
There was a concerted effort to ruin my life: Yassmin
It was a vast, right-wing conspiracy — a concerted effort — explains Yassmin Abdel-Magied: “I don’t know how to explain how…
Do the Greens go for pre-teen sexts?
It’s now official. The world has gone completely mad and the Greens have so utterly lost the plot politically that…
The rich get richer while the poor get… richer too
One of the striking results of the survey of millennials released by the Centre for Independent Studies last month was…
The Ramsay soap opera continues
While I am disappointed that the men of Ramsay Street, Tony Abbott and his Neighbour, John Howard… sorry, the Ramsay…
Spring is coming?
A recurrent theme in the avidly-watched Games of Thrones is ‘winter is coming’. This has been interpreted to mean various…
Plastic Bags and the nuisance state
The lives of ordinary people have been made worse by the elimination of plastic bags in supermarkets – achieved by…
