Confused Jew (aren’t we all?) John Safran: There’s this unspoken thing among Jews ‘that no matter whether you’re kosher or not, you always ask for kosher meals on aircraft to help keep the demand up.
Feeling sorry for Serco?
British multinational Serco, the company that runs Australia’s immigration detention centres, is facing constant fines from the government. A story in yesterday’s Australian (headlined in the paper edition, “Breaches sending detention firm bust”, which is completely untrue) shows the dysfunctional nature of the relationship between contractor and government. No transparency exists: The company running Australia’s…
Only a fool doesn’t know the kind of “journalism” offered by Murdoch empire
Sigh: A number of key members of the family which controlled The Wall Street Journal say they would not have agreed to sell the prestigious daily to Rupert Murdoch if they had been aware of News International’s conduct in the phone-hacking scandal at the time of the deal. “If I had known what I know…
Obama success; US more hated in Arab world than during Bush
What does Washington expect when Israel is allowed to brutalise the Palestinians, drone attacks are killing countless civilians and Arab dictatorships are warmly embraced? The hope that the Arab world had not long ago put in the United States and President Obama has all but evaporated. Two and a half years after Obama came to…
Two Australian activists make history in Israel
Bravo: According to various news reports, two ”˜air flotilla’ activists who arrived in Israel last Friday have been allowed to remain in Israel (and travel to the West Bank freely) on the condition that they ”˜refrain from disrupting the peace.’ The activists were part of the ”˜Welcome to Palestine’ campaign which sent hundreds of European…
Australian cricket team should not visit Sri Lanka
When a country such as Sri Lanka proudly flaunts its human rights abuses against the Tamils and refuses to investigate war crimes, the world has a responsibility to act. The Australian cricket team is soon to travel to the country and voices are growing that such a trip should be cancelled, to send a strong…
Why cultural boycott is legitimate weapon in face of repression
What weapons for an occupied people? A population facing repression? Cultural, academic and economic boycotts are important tools and must be utilised. I argued this in a recent essay in Overland in relation to Sri Lanka and Palestine. This post on Mondoweiss shows that the debate is global and opponents of boycotts have fewer arguments…
How many corporate journalists really challenge power in society?
Very few. Because they know their bosses won’t allow it. Or they’ll be shunned by business or government interests. This is across the Murdoch empire and beyond. Truly independent reporting is a rare beast, indeed. Former Labour minister in Britain Peter Mandelson acknowledges his government never challenged the Murdoch empire. Why? “We simply chose to…
Clearly the MSM don’t think that massive military exercises between US and Australia is news
Apart from a few small stories (here and here), we have to rely on a Chinese government service to tell us what’s happening in our own country. Have media companies been asked not to report details about the exercise and agreed? Does the general public have a right to know what the US is planning…