Showing all posts in June 2019

Western liberals cause Islamic fundamentalism, according to the Sydney Morning Herald’s clueless columnist Miranda Devine. It must be so comforting to live in a black and white world, where emotion and bigotry triumphs over reason. But then, Devine’s insights into the Muslim world come from emails she receives from readers. Fairfax spent wisely when they…

London Mayor Ken Livingstone continues his insistence of speaking truth to power. Back in March, he labelled Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a “war criminal”. “Israel’s expansion includes ethnic cleansing. Palestinians who had lived in that land for centuries were driven out by systematic violence and terror aimed at ethnically cleansing what became a large…

“In the dominant culture of the West there is a deep-seated belief that the lives of Western civilians are somehow worth more than those living in other parts of the world – especially those parts being bombed and occupied by the West.” Tariq Ali, July 2005

While Rupert Murdoch and John Howard engage in some mutually satisfactory back-slapping in Washington this week, letter writers to the Sydney Morning Herald explain the agenda better than any journalist from the Fairfax stable. Peter Friend of Heathcote writes: “Rupert Murdoch is a man who has never had any difficulty confusing his version of the…

My latest column for online magazine New Matilda is published. This week I tackle the media amnesia of Australia’s mainstream press: “Any Western responsibility for Muslim anger is airbrushed. How quickly they forget the death of more than half a million Iraqi children under brutally maintained US and UK sanctions. While journalists parrot the government-fed…

Piers Akerman in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph: “…though the Koran does contain some verses of great poetry on tolerance and respect, it also contains a plethora of extremely virulent exhortatory suras condemning nonbelievers, apostates, Christians and Jews, to violent deaths and unending misery in the hereafter.” All those sections in the Bible about death, stonings, murder…

It is illegal for women to drive in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Jeans blog examines the absurdity of the ruling and wonders when the kingdom will enter the 20th century (let alone the current one.) UPDATE: Want to learn the latest about elections in Azerbaijan? Read on.

It is now two days since Seymour Hersh published his stunning report in the New Yorker about Iraq’s rigged January election. As yet, the Australian media has completely ignored the revelations. We shouldn’t be surprised. While Prime Minister John Howard is in Washington and the media focuses on back-slapping and delusions over Iraq, a new…

Readers, I’ve made some small additions to my blog, including a Google search box, a handful of Google ads (a writer has to eat, after all!), and an RSS feed. Some other cosmetic changes are on their way. Please don’t forget the “Make a Donation” box, if you’re feeling so inclined. Thanks to Jon @…

Ever wanted an extraterrestrial to read your blog? A Florida-based company will beam blogs into deep space via a powerful satellite broadcast. Bloginspace.com is the latest venture in the hunt for alternative life. Ted Murphy, CEO of MindComet, says: “I’ve always believed that other intelligent life forms are out there, and now, for the first…