John Menadue, Author at Pearls and Irritations

IBA. IBAHRI condemns UK treatment of Julian Assange in US extradition trial (IBA 10.3.2020)

According to his lawyers, Mr Assange was handcuffed 11 times; stripped naked twice and searched; his case files confiscated after the first day of the hearing; and had his request to sit with his lawyers during the trial, rather than in a dock surrounded by bulletproof glass, denied. (more…)

Mar 13, 2020

JINHEE KIM. COVID-19: Lessons from South Korea’s quick response

In mid-February the number of cases of COVID-19 in South Korea suddenly increased and there are now over 5,000 confirmed cases. As a result South Korea has instituted containment strategies, designated clinics for mass screening and established over 200 public relief hospitals. How does Australia’s response compare?

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Mar 13, 2020

GIDEON LEVY. The Israeli Army Doesn’t Have Snipers on the Gaza Border. It Has Hunters (Haaretz.com 7.3.2020)

They’re the best of our boys. One is a “musician from a good high school,” another a “boy scout” who majored in theater.” They’re the snipers who have shot thousands of unarmed protesters along the Gaza border fence. (more…)

Mar 13, 2020

COLUM LYNCH and ROBBIE GRAMER.-U.S. and China Turn Coronavirus Into a Geopolitical Football (Foreigh Policy(USA) 11.3.2020)

Beijing is using the outbreak to boost its reputation for global cooperation while Washington plays the blame-Beijing game. (more…)

Mar 13, 2020

JOHN FEFFER.- Will COVID-19 Kill Globalisation(Counterpunch 10.3.2020)

At a dinner party in mid-February, an architect told me that he was having a problem finishing his building projects. It was the carpets. (more…)

Mar 13, 2020

DAILAN PUGH. We are in Serious Trouble when Rainforests Burn.

A third of northern NSW’s ancient and irreplaceable rainforests burnt last year. Buffers need to be established, and weed control undertaken, to increase their resilience. (more…)

Mar 12, 2020

JOSEPH STIGLITZ.-Plagued by Trumpism(Project Syndicate9.3.2020)

For 40 years, Republicans have been insisting that “government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.” (more…)

Mar 12, 2020

Economic and money mismanagement

The Liberals claim they are better economic and money managers. But there is scant evidence to support that claim. (more…)

Mar 11, 2020

BEN DOOLEY,MOTOKO RICH and HISAKO UENO.-Anger in Japan over virus begins to focus on Prime Minister(NYT 7.3.2020)

For nearly a month, as the coronavirus has threatened the health and economy of Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been almost invisible. (more…)

Mar 11, 2020

JOHN MENADUE: Justices of the High Court

No wonder we have lost confidence in institutions when Justices of the High Court act improperly

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Mar 10, 2020

MICHELLE PETERIE.-The human cost of forced relocation of immigration detainees.(The Conversation 2.3.2020)

The practice of moving detainees around Australia’s immigration detention network is doubly unjustifiable on economic and humanitarian grounds. (more…)

Mar 10, 2020

CATHIE HULL. COVID-19 Infection, Isolation and Action

I was caught unawares by being exposed to COVID-19, despite thorough knowledge of the online medical research. I am now in home isolation. If I can be caught unawares, you can too. (more…)

Mar 9, 2020

LAWRENCE MOLONEY. The Pell trial and its polarising aftermath.

Contributors to a site called, ‘CCC Guys’, most of whom are former seminarians, have had much to say about the Pell trials and the looming High Court decision. (more…)

Mar 9, 2020

NICK JANS. Post-2020 Disaster community recovery: lessons from Black Saturday

There is an abundance of evidence about what we need to do to prepare ourselves for bushfires but there is very little about the best way to encourage post disaster community recovery. (more…)

Mar 9, 2020

ALAN BOYD.-Spy versus spy as China eyes US bases in Australia.( Asia Times 2.3.2020)

China conducts deepwater surveys near secretive base US and Australian subs and ships use in South China Sea. (more…)

Mar 9, 2020

SR PATTY FAWKNER SGS. Fires, floods and the season of Lent are inextricably linked

For the sake of humanity and our planet, we cannot allow personally, communally, nationally or globally, to return to situation normal, writes Patty Fawkner.

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Mar 6, 2020

DAVID MACILWAIN. The Beechworth Principles – setting demands for Integrity in Government

As claims the Federal Government is honestly serving and representing the people look increasingly hollow, Independent MP Helen Haines has presented a historic scheme to hold them to account in “the Beechworth Principles”. (more…)

Mar 6, 2020

RICHARD MCGREGOR.-China and Japan: Facing History By Ezra F. Vogel Belknap Press, 2019(Global Asia Book Review)

A strategic China would have seduced Japan as a way of undermining US power in Asia. Their failure to do so in all likelihood means that the US is in East Asia to stay, no matter what. (more…)

Mar 6, 2020

JONATHAN PAUL MARSHALL. Carbon Capture and Storage yet Again.

Despite the jaded history of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in Australia, the Government has announced it will fund it rather than Renewables. (more…)

Mar 4, 2020

PETER EDWARDS.-Australia and the Vietnam War: 50 years on.(The Strategist 29.2.2020)

The period from the Tet offensive of early 1968 to the Moratorium demonstration of May 1970 was the turning point in the most important battlefield of the Vietnam War—the battle for American public opinion. (more…)

Mar 4, 2020

DOUGLAS LONDON.-Why the Taliban will never agree to a real peace deal (NYT29.2.2020)

They know they are winning. Why would they concede anything? (more…)

Mar 3, 2020

MARCUS REUBENSTEIN: Please give this face a name

Western reports on COVID-19 have overwhelmingly been produced under a simple banner of ‘China’. It’s a homogeneous label that ignores the human face of Chinese people everywhere. (more…)

Mar 3, 2020

DARON ACEMOGLU. Social Democracy beats Democratic Socialism(Project Syndicate17.2.2020)

Now that US Senator Bernie Sanders has emerged as a leading contender for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, his brand of democratic socialism warrants closer scrutiny. (more…)

Mar 3, 2020

TESS HOGUE. Living in Hong Kong through SARS and Covid 19.

I have a rotten cold. My eyes are watering, my head is pounding and I can’t stop sneezing. Normally I would get plenty of rest and fluids and just wait it out. (more…)

Feb 27, 2020

TONY BROE & ELLEN FINLAY. Aboriginal History, Dark Emu, Bruce Pascoe and the Culture Wars

Bruce Pascoe’s book Dark Emu (2018) has given a recent jolt to the declining History Wars and has invigorated some conservative commentators and writers to disagree with his conclusions (Marks 2020; Morton 2019). (more…)

Feb 26, 2020

FRANCIS SULLIVAN. New Wine, New Wine Skins.

Why it is worth staying active in the Church? (more…)

Feb 26, 2020

AVI SHLAIM. Palestine and the West: A century of betrayal.(M.E. EYE 17.2.2020)

Noam Chomsky described settler-colonialism as the most extreme and sadistic form of imperialism. (more…)

Feb 26, 2020

ANDREW JAKUBOWICZ. Sinophobia goes viral in Australia.(ABC Religion and Ethics 20.2.2020)

Hundreds of years of racism have merged in the Australian governments response to the Corona virus. (more…)

Feb 24, 2020

KOBI MAGLEN. SVA’s approach to improving outcomes for older women at risk of becoming homeless

Estimates suggest 300,000 Australian women aged between 45 and 65 are at risk of homelessness when they retire. (more…)

Feb 24, 2020

JONATHAN PAUL MARSHALL: Confusions of Australian Energy Policy

Current Australian Energy Policy is confused in both parties, but seems aimed at supporting coal, while not helping investment in Renewables (more…)

Feb 24, 2020