Melbourne academic Robert Manne rightly calls for a neutering of Murdoch empire power in Australia: The company’s domination of our newspaper market poses a real and present danger to the health of Australian democracy … Unquestioning support for American foreign policy led the paper to conduct an extraordinarily strident campaign in favour of an invasion…
Showing all posts tagged Australia
New website emerges and call for cash
Regular readers will see that today my new website was launched, designed and structured by Matthew Kerr. Cleaner, easier to navigate and sharper in style, it’s been two years since the last overhaul. It was time. Take a look around and tell your friends. Hopefully everything works as it should. If not, please be patient…
Anybody care that countless billions wasted in Iraq and Afghanistan?
American multinational KBR has its tentacles everywhere, including in Australia. The US-based Project on Government Oversight laments the over-reliance on suspect corporations with little or no accountability. This is the definition of disaster capitalism: At least one out of every six dollars spent by U.S. taxpayers on contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past…
Thank you Washington for watching Australian public and democratic protests
The infiltration of American (non) intelligence in Australia is almost comical; it certainly hasn’t brought any more love to the fading super-power. FireDogLake reports: Pro-Cuba, pro-Serbian, pro-Palestinian, pro and anti-Kosovo Independence, Sri Lankan, antiwar and socialist demonstrations were closely monitored by the US Embassy in Canberra, Australia in 2008 and 2009, a secret cable posted…
Murdoch press shamefully allows false charge of anti-Semitism to hover
This week Federal Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon was openly accused of anti-Semitism in a letter published in Murdoch’s Australian for supporting BDS and Palestinian rights. The following day this appeared in the paper: The assertion by David Syme (Letters, 30/8) that well-documented human rights abuses by Israel against Palestinians can be dismissed as nonsense is…
Book reviews can save lives
A fascinating piece of history written by Australian academic Scott Burchill: In August 2004 I was asked by The Age to review [Australian journalist] John Martinkus’ new book ‘Travels in American Iraq‘ (Black Inc, 2004). It was a very good account of life after the invasion and Martinkus was clearly more sympathetic to the occupied…
Sydney radio on BDS, Palestine and slamming faux anti-Semitism claims
I was interviewed this week by 2SER’s The Wire on why boycotting Israel is a legitimate tactic in the face of Zionist occupation and calling these actions anti-Semitic, as many in the political and media elites do, simply demeans the word’s real meaning.
This is Australia’s past and future?
My following book review appeared in last Sunday’s Sydney Sun Herald newspaper: The Protectors Stephen Gray (Allen & Unwin, $29.99) “Mainstream Australia is equivocal about the apology [to the stolen generations] at best.” It’s a provocative start to a work that aims to understand the motives of the farmers, politicians and public figures who took…
At what point will the Murdoch press realise they are cheapening real anti-Semitism?
Probably never. Their Zionist love knows no bounds. See today’s outrageous letter, once again complaining that BDS is akin to Nazi Germany. They cheapen the memory of the Holocaust by printing such garbage: If Bob Brown can’t control Lee Rhiannon (“Senator stands by Israel boycott“, 29/8) it’s up to somebody with a bit more clout…
On BDS, criminalising pro-Palestinian activism and myopic politics
The following interviews are published this week in Green Left Weekly. One: Antony Loewenstein is an independent journalist and author of My Israel Question and The Blogging Revolution. Green Left Weekly’s Simon Butler asked Loewenstein about recent attempts to intimidate supporters of the boycott, sanctions and divestment (BDS) campaign against Israel. * * * Nineteen…