Australia’s Muslim community is growing – and under ever-increasing scrutiny – and yet this is rarely reflected in the mainstream media. I can’t think of one regular Muslim commentator in the country. A shameful situation for a media elite that prefers white, privileged, Anglo, middle-age “experts.” Australian parochialism rages on. Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is a weekly…
Showing all posts in June 2019
Letter of the month
The following letter appeared in the UK Guardian on October 27: “Two thousand Americans are dead. Fifty times that many Iraqis are dead; 300 times that many human beings are injured. One million times that have been indirectly affected by a barbarous act of inhumanity. War is about numbers. The small number of humans who…
“A nation that’s on fire”
Seymour Hersh interviews Scott Ritter. (For Sydney readers, Ritter will be speaking on 28 November at the University of Sydney.)
Making choices
Michael Gawenda, Sydney Morning Herald, October 31: “The CIA leak scandal is partly about politicians and journalists and the way they interact. No doubt that’s cold comfort for Judy Miller, who has been publicly executed for crimes many journalists commit.” Gawenda is being disingenuous. Journalists make choices. Journalists are not forced to report unsubstantiated “facts”…
Compare and contrast
Australian culture “defined“: “Almost 50 per cent of people believe getting drunk occasionally is part of being Australian, a survey suggests. The study of more than 1500 Australians, by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, found one in 10 reported having a problem with alcohol at some point in their lives. Three in five…
Two sides of the fence
The Israeli blogosphere rants and raves about the Gaza withdrawal, occupation, the West Bank and Palestinian human rights. “Living in Gaza” is worth a read. Written by a Swedish woman who is married to a Palestinian native of Gaza, the couple recently moved to Gaza so that their young children would get to know the…
It’s beginning…
The charges have been laid. And the pressure will only increase on the Bush administration. Next step on the road to recovery (in a just world, anyway): Bush, Blair and Howard in the dock for their lies over Iraq, WMD and occupation.
Our leaders lie
Robert Fisk examines the rhetoric of Bush, Blair, Iran…and Australia: ” But for Bush, America is not anxious to withdraw from Iraq. Far from it. The United States is fighting enemies who want to establish a “totalitarian empire”, he says, a “mortal danger to all humanity” which America will confront. Washington is fighting “as brutal…
Taking some time
I’m taking a short break in Melbourne. It’s my birthday. How old? Let’s just say I’m older than Paris Hilton and younger than Gore Vidal. I’ll be back online early next week. Some weekend reading. John Pilger’s latest New Statesman column, “The Epic Crime That Dare Not Speak Its Name“, compares the Iraq immorality with…