Yudhoyono 180 degrees wrong - posted by Graham

Indonesian PM Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is 180 degrees wrong when he says that the solution to the fight against terror is to be more tolerant of Muslim sensitivities. He couches this in terms of the argument about the Mohammed cartoons.... More

Dragon's teeth gambit leads to detente in Iraq - posted by Graham

The bombing of the golden-domed Askariya Shrine in Samarra was blamed on Al Qaeda and led to an outbreak of sectarian violence that so far has killed at least 227 and raised the possibility that Iraq might slip into civil... More

Howard didn't know - posted by Graham

Originally posted with apologies to Banjo Paterson and courtesy of that great contributor to traditional poetry - Anon. But see comment below. Attribution and copyright apparently belong to Mike Carlton. I had written him a letter which I had, for... More

Tell us what you really think - posted by Graham

Four days ago I was critical of a Saulwick poll which had been interpreted by the SMH to suggest that we've become a meaner society under John Howard. Today there are two reports of polls which put a different light... More

More complexity on those cartoons - burn Dante's Inferno - posted by Graham

More evidence of the gormlessness of Australia's media on the Mohammed cartoons is coming to light. This NYT article outlines how the cartoon issue pits Muslim against Muslim. It also indirectly poses a really strong question to Al Jazeera (one... More

Saulwick poll commits classic error - posted by Graham

Well, maybe it's not the Saulwick poll that commits the error, but the SMH analysis of it. A classic error in opinion polling is to ask subjects what they think other people are thinking. This is "classic" because the reason... More

Shorten Figjams Beazley - posted by Graham

If Bill Shorten is any sort of political seer, it appears that Kim Beazley will lose the next election, but he has Bill's support to remain as leader. In the introduction to yesterday's The National Interest, new presenter Peter Mares... More

Remedial maths for Danna Vale - posted by Graham

Danna Vale thinks Muslims are out-breeding us all (whoever "us" are) and Australia will end up being a Muslim country. We've published Kevin Donnelly a lot. His theme is that the education system has deteriorated over the last 30 or... More

An act of solidarity with Muslim journalists - posted by Graham

I may regret this later, but I've decided to reproduce one of the Mohammed cartoons. This is an act of solidarity with a number of journalists in Muslim countries who have been jailed for republishing the cartoons. According to Reporters... More

Abu Ghraib and the Mohammed cartoons - posted by Graham

Yet more material offensive to Islam has been published - by SBS. In this case the publication is of photos from Abu Ghraib jail and shows Islamic prisoners being physically and sexually abused. You can see the photos by clicking... More

Health campaign miscarries for Queensland Libs - posted by Graham

The Queensland Liberals have been thinking that Dr Death's final fatality will be Premier Peter Beattie and that government and dominance over the National Party will just fall into their hands in the next state election. Latest research by the... More

Happy Australians vote John Howard - posted by Graham

According to the first electorate-based national index of well-being, compiled by Deakin University, Wide-Bay, one of the poorest electorates is also the happiest, whilst one of the richest, Sydney, is the unhappiest. In quotes from the researchers in The Australian's... More

Abbott loses RU486 power because Howard has control of Senate - posted by Graham

Here's a twist in the tail for all those who think John Howard having control of the Senate is a bad thing. According to Keryn Phelps on RN's Breakfast program on Friday, the power of the Health Minister to veto... More

Cartoon rage appears to have been concocted - posted by Graham

There appears to be forethought in the "spontaneous" eruption of protests against the Mohammed cartoons. This article in the New York Times documents the issue being raised at a December meeting of various middle-eastern leaders. Outrage has been a long-time... More

Mary's mother-in-law on Mohammedanism - posted by Graham

Are the Dane's running a set play here? Just as the furore over the Mohammed cartoons has probably peaked comes a delicately third-party intervention by the Danish head of state. Queen Margethe is quoted by her biographer as saying in... More

Mohammed Cartoons: by Jove I've got it! - posted by Graham

This article by Michael Kimmelman in the New York Times is the most insightful and iconoclastic that I have seen so far in the debate about the Jyllands-Posten cartoons. A couple of pars gives its flavour: But there are precedents... More

Three-cornered contests won't be an election issue - posted by Graham

With the exception of one Queensland state election - that in 1995 - three-cornered contests have been an issue for the National and Liberal Parties in Queensland as long as I can remember. They needn't have been, and if the... More

Sir Reginald Swartz...perhaps the last link with the Menzies Liberal era - posted by Jeff Wall

The Honourable Sir Reginald William Colin Swartz, who died last week at the grand age of 94 was perhaps the last link with the Liberal Ministers of the Menzies Government - 1949 to 1966. I knew Sir Reginald Swartz from... More

Premier Beattie "takes charge" of health - posted by Graham

We'll know how badly Peter Beattie is doing over the health issue shortly because we are conducting an online poll into his handling of it. That said, the signs are not good for him. This morning's Courier Mail carries the... More