How Greenpeace should have responded - posted by Graham

I've been given a guided tour of fascism, or at least how fascism works, by responses to my OLO article Why it matters that Greenpeace lied and the press doesn't seem to care. Despite clear video evidence that the Greenpeace... More

AWB - Think East India Company - posted by Graham

One of my heroes is Edmund Burke. He is claimed by the conservative tradition, but is persuasively portrayed as a liberal by Connor Cruise O'Connor in his The Great Melody. He spent his last 12 years in parliament working to... More

The Nationals more distant than ever from the Liberals - posted by Jeff Wall

One of the reasons given by Senator Julian McGauren for his decision to switch to the Liberal Party is that the National and Liberal Parties are virtually indistinguishable does not measure up with a state-by-state comparison of party relations. Indeed,... More

Things get harder for Howard in Senate - posted by Graham

The defection to the Liberal Party of Victorian Nationals Senator Julian McGauran makes things harder for John Howard in the Senate. McGauran's defection is unconscionable. Senators are elected on a party vote. Hardly any one votes for them in their... More

Those who do not understand the present are bound to misinterpret the past - posted by Graham

In his 2004 Massey Lecture (rebroadcast on Australian radio this summer by the ABC) historian Ronald Wright argues that because we can understand what went wrong in past civilisations we can learn their lessons and not repeat them in the... More

http://www.goodnews.gov.iq - posted by Graham

I was unaware until I read this article that until very recently, Iraq didn't have its own country extension for the Internet. According to the article: In a sign of progress for the government, Iraq has secured the suffix ".iq"... More

Will this Cole inquiry get a different reception? - posted by Graham

Terence Cole QC was the uncompromising head of the Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry. He found evidence that fraud, bribery, corruption and stand-over tactics were endemic in the industry. No surprises there. For his troubles he was... More

The Australian solution to Greenhouse - posted by Graham

AP6 which just held its meeting in Sydney, is little more than a public relations exercise. Just like Kyoto. The solutions to earth's problems are intractable. At the moment we are concentrating on moderating energy requirements by trying to limit... More

A tragic story you won't read in the newspapers. - posted by Jeff Wall

The truly tragic resignation of Geoff Gallop as Premier of Western Australia - announced yesterday with great courage - has prompted me to write about another tragedy likely to have been due to a form of depression you won't read... More

Marine Lawyer speaks for himself on ramming - posted by Graham

I've corresponded with Eric Wilson, the marine lawyer referred to in my previous post, and he is happy for me to post the contents of his email to me. It raises its own issues about how the media is dealing... More

Marine lawyer concurs - Nisshin Maru was rammed - posted by Graham

An article in the New Zealand Herald was brought to my attention by a Greenpeace supporter who claimed: The evidence does not show that Greenpeace is to blame in fact when the evidence was reviewed by a marine law expert... More

The hypocrisy over the demise of Charles Kennedy. - posted by Jeff Wall

If there is a strong whiff of hypocrisy in our air today then it has wafted all the way from the United Kingdom. The demise of the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the UK, Charles Kennedy, is as appalling... More

Wanted: a politician with the courage to be conservative. - posted by Graham

Most Australians would be insulted to be called "conservative", and while some Australian politicians, like John Howard, are conveniently branded as "conservative" just about all of them have a bias towards "progress". But what happens when so-called "progress" becomes at... More