Can you feel it, fellow Jews? The new Green Nazis are in town, talking all about Palestinian rights, as if those Arabs are under Israeli occupation. The shame of it all. Yesterday’s Murdoch Australian continued its brave expose of a party that challenges individuals who accuse them of extremism and anti-Semitism: Labor in NSW has…
Memo to shock doctrine freaks; create a crisis and privatise
Privatisation is the opium of the masses (well, a few men in suits who love the smell of burning unions in the morning). Democracy Now! reports on moves to privatise the American postal service under the guise of improving efficiency but is this yet another move by corporate crack fiends to allegedly reduce costs and…
Another day and yet more misery caused by Serco
This week two media reports that highlight the mental anguish caused by the Australian government contracting Serco to “manage” its refugee crisis. This story on Radio National Breakfast deals with the remote centre in Leonora, with woefully under-trained or untrained Serco staff having to deal with traumatised asylum seekers. On ABC AM, Australia’s Human Rights…
Does a free society tolerate, even encourage, a robust exchange of ideas?
Mark Steyn on Free Speech at the IPA from Institute of Public Affairs on Vimeo. Rupert Murdoch’s Andrew Bolt a free speech champion? I fear so. See here, here and here. Of course, it doesn’t help that Bolt made so many mistakes in his piece against Aboriginal Australians, seemingly designed to denigrate them. Should Western…
Disparate people are speaking globally and elites clueless to respond
Interesting report in the New York Times that highlights the growing global disenchantment with capitalism. A thinking Left would step in with alternative plans, so where are we in strength? But it always starts in the streets and here we are: Hundreds of thousands of disillusioned Indians cheer a rural activist on a hunger strike.…
Never wholly trust foreign media not to be seduced by easy narratives
The Sydney premiere of this new documentary on East Timor, Breaking the News, will take place next week at the Antenna Film Festival:
When the state wants to read my tweets if I slam official view
Of course, such plans are framed as a simple desire to be able to respond to questions or problems. And that may be sometimes true. But we should always be skeptical of major bodies looking to expand an ability to spy on average citizens: The Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) has invited companies…
We fight more battles but care little about those people in the firing line
Imperial nations love to fight wars – and Barack Obama has only increased the American military footprint – but it comes with a heavy cost (via ProPublica): Private contractors injured while working for the U.S. government in Iraq and Afghanistan filed a class action lawsuit in federal court on Monday, claiming that corporations and insurance…