The labelling of people as ‘extremists’ or ‘radicals’ – as abolitionists and women’s suffrage advocates were once called – is determined not by the soundness of the views expressed, but by the relative scarcity of the people expressing them in proportion to the amount of people holding different views in the ‘sensible centre’. Given the various noxious myths that have pervaded Australian politics for so many years, it is surely time for a dose of good new political radicalism. (more…)
Category: Media
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David McBride: the Army whistleblower. Read the full interview here
“When a soldier dies, the one thing we need to be able to do is to look their widow in the eye and say, “Your husband didn’t die in vain”. If that is bullshit and their husband died for nothing, then that is an outrage.” (more…)
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Prince Harry’s outrage, spare a thought
Amidst the despair unfolding in the world, buying Prince Harry’s Spare means you’ve been fooled into taking something seriously instead of discarding it at first sight. (more…)
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Cardinal George Pell
The media reaction to the death of Cardinal George Pell is extraordinary. But his contribution to Australian Catholicism is very much a mixed blessing. (more…)
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When family and firm collide: escaping a royal horror story
At the heart of Prince Harry’s latest salvo in the trans-Atlantic royal family breakdown, now clearly beyond repair, is his ultimate target – the media-Palace relationship which has torn his family apart and which in its public disintegration now threatens the monarchy itself. (more…)
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Blaming Morrison for Liberal’s disastrous collapse is a facile critique
We see a tendency to blame individuals for the crisis in our politics across the AUKUS nations. This is facile. Donald Trump did not create the farce of a Republican party seen in the vote for the Speaker in early January. Boris Johnson did not create the catastrophe that is the British Conservative party displayed over the Liz Truss moment. Blaming Scott Morrison for the Liberal Party’s disastrous collapse is another shallow critique. (more…)
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Does racism explain our approach to global health problems?
To suggest that China and only China needs to provide negative COVID-19 tests, tests on arrival or even a complete ban of arrivals from China is a political and racist approach to a global health problem. (more…)
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Western journalists are cowardly, approval-seeking losers
Research conducted by New York University’s Center for Social Media and Politics into Russian trolling behaviour on Twitter in the lead-up to the 2016 US presidential election has found “no evidence of a meaningful relationship between exposure to the Russian foreign influence campaign and changes in attitudes, polarisation, or voting behaviour.” (more…)
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Rules-based international order: What rules? Whose rules?
When interviewed on Great Game on Russia’s state-run Channel One (8 Dec. 2022), Russia’s Foreign Minister, Secretary Lavrov, was given ample opportunity to set out Russia’s views on its role in the Ukraine and on the differences his country has with its many adversaries. (more…)
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Neocons and the Ukraine Coup – a repost from Feb 23, 2014
Exclusive: American neocons helped destabilise Ukraine and engineer the overthrow of its elected government, a “regime change” on Russia’s western border. But the coup and the neo-Nazi militias at the forefront also reveal divisions within the Obama administration, reports Robert Parry. (more…)
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Western commentators are blind to their limits on China, Russia
When watching or listening to experts on international affairs—especially those speaking on China or Russia and the war in Ukraine — there’s one question you should keep asking yourself. How do they know? (more…)
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A tale of two genocides: Xinjiang and Khalistan
In how we respond to allegations of genocide, there are double standards and hypocrisy in Washington, London, Ottawa and Canberra. (more…)
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Media professional standards test falls short. Will the government act?
Treasury may consider the news media professional standards test is adequate, but hopefully the Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and her department think differently. (more…)
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US Military thanks and praises retiring CNN “Journalist” for her service
The US military has been showering CNN’s retiring Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr with effusive thanks and praise for her lifetime of service, giving some insight into the cozy working relationship between the media and the war machine inside the US empire. (more…)
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From outrage to opportunity: the missing perspectives of women in news
A groundbreaking new report From Outrage to Opportunity: How to Include The Missing Perspectives of Women of All Colours in News Leadership and Coverage has found that women continue to be significantly underrepresented in editorial leadership roles and news coverage worldwide – with their voices muted in a global news industry still dominated by men. Disappointing, but not altogether surprising. (more…)
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Democratic socialism in Australia: deconstructing the military, industrial complex
Capitalism and “liberal democracy” are failing and destroying our world. In this, the third in a three-part series, I explore how Australia must embrace a new future by emphasising trade and cultural relationships in foreign policy, managing mass media concentration and the military/industrial complex, and addressing social inequality. We have the means. Do we have the will? (more…)
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Best of 2022: Pivotal Moment: Albanese and Xi in 2022 mirror Whitlam and Zhou in 1971
The meeting between Anthony Albanese and Xi Jinping put me in mind of the public reaction in Australia when Whitlam met Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in 1971. (more…)
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Democratic socialism in Australia: why it’s time again
Capitalism and “liberal democracy” are failing and destroying our world. In this, the first of a three-part series, we explore the failure of this system and the case for change. (more…)
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“I learned that powerful people trample on institutions and conventions” when it suits: Podcast ABC ‘The Eleventh’, February/March 2020
After November 11 1975, I came to the conclusion that even a Governor General, some High Court Judges and a powerful media proprietor were not honourable and trustworthy. (more…)
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What’s not to like about nuclear fusion?
Recently the mass media have bombarded us with hype about a ‘breakthrough’ in controlled nuclear fusion. (more…)
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Why a colour revolution will not work in China
There was some recent evidence of an attempt at a colour revolution within China a few weeks ago but, in order for a colour revolution to happen there needs to be significant factors in play. Those factors are absent and this means any attempt to ferment unrest inside China’s Mainland is going to be an expensive and embarrassing failure. (more…)
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An African view on Ukraine
As Africans, we don’t want the war in Ukraine to continue. Russia has legitimate security concerns. But instead of addressing them, the opposite has happened. NATO has been expanding its lines, NATO has been trying to consolidate its positions in Eastern Europe, up to the Russian border. What did you expect Russia to do, sit idle and watch? Would the USA or Europe accept that situation? Who in the world would accept that to happen? Writes Dr. Fred M’Membe, president of the Socialist Party of Zambia.
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We are facing the most dangerous crisis humanity has seen
Last Tuesday, I was released on bail pending appeal in March. While my sentence is outrageous – as are the anti-democratic laws that allowed it to happen – I urge you not to lose sight of the reason I was jailed. Our way of life is under threat from the greatest, most dangerous crisis humanity has ever seen. Each of you must act now. (more…)
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Asian Media Report: Japan scrapping military spending limit
In Asian media this week – Missile systems able to attack enemy bases. Plus: media question official defence line; new criminal code worries LGBTQ community; benefits of soft diplomacy; junta leaders economic illiterates; instant change in COVID rhetoric. (more…)
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Indonesian sex ban: One law for us, another for them?
It seems Indonesia’s new bonk-ban laws are discriminatory and racist. Bad news if you believe legal systems should be impartial, but good tidings for ‘bule’ (white skin foreigners). So sayeth a governor. (more…)
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It’s time to seek the human story of Syria
The mainstream media has presented a picture of Syria that is cartoonish, brutal and ugly. Instead of a bohemian woman artist or a women’s choir singing from the Tales of Hoffman (or millions of other potential ‘human stories’), a bloody, exclusivist ‘revolution’ has been exalted by journalists in a way that entrenches patriarchy and ignores the human concerns of Syrians.
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Russians and the Ukraine war: few think it was a good Idea, fewer want it to end in defeat
What do ordinary Russians think about the war in Ukraine? Do they think it was a bad idea from the start? How eager are they for it to end, and on what terms? Accurate information on these vital questions is submerged in a great swamp of propaganda and partisan reporting. (more…)
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It’s a season to be a warmonger
It’s the season to be jolly and appreciate wrapped presents with surprises that are not true surprises. And the Christmas present most appreciated for a good number of the thinktank military establishment in Canberra will be conflict with Beijing. If not now, then when? (more…)
