flat white

How to survive coronavirus? Duck and cover

Not content with her discovery of the elusive “pizza box” strain of coronavirus, South Australia’s chief public health officer Nicola…

Why we’re slipping behind in the world game

Soccer is one of the most popular amateur sports in Australia.  Out of the shadow of Covid-19, we’re expecting a…

2 Jun 2021

The ABC does a Billy Snedden

The late Liberal leader Billy Snedden is well-known for his declaration after the 1974 election “We were not beaten. We…

2 Jun 2021

Marxism has taken over Christianity

Australia cannot ignore reality any longer: an unhealthy relationship has formed between Marxist activism and the Christian church. Whether it…

2 Jun 2021

The fantasy prediction of 510,00 deaths

In the evidence he gave to the British parliament on 26 May, Boris Johnson’s former chief of staff Dominic Cummings…

ABC 7.30: ‘Underwhelming – on any measure’

High paid ABC TV current affairs presenter, Leigh Sales, likes nothing more than rattling off carefully compiled, pre-prepared questions to…

1 Jun 2021

Is this really about Israel?

The reignition of Israeli-Palestinian conflict was as inevitable as it is tragic. Following the prompts of mainstream media, the world’s…

1 Jun 2021

Fight to win or don’t fight at all

Here are a few quick thoughts on the Christian Porter saga.  First, though, let me say bluntly what regular SpecOz…

1 Jun 2021

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What happens now that Rhodes didn't fall?

Oriel College, Oxford’s decision to retain the statue of Cecil Rhodes has generated the usual voluminous fury. It has also shown it…

2 Jun 2021

Watch: Keir Starmer refuses to deny taking drugs at university

Keir Starmer’s appearance on Piers Morgan’s ‘Life Stories’ is a sign of desperation. The Labour leader knows he must do…

2 Jun 2021

Netanyahu's departure would be good news for Israel

Time is running out for Bibi Netanyahu. In the next couple of days, the fate of Israel’s next government will…

A shakedown in Tulsa

Cockburn was vaguely aware that yesterday, May 31, marked the centenary of one of America’s darker episodes, the ‘Tulsa Race…

2 Jun 2021

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Scott Morrison must remind Jacinda Ardern who her real friends are

If, to borrow Paul Keating’s description, Australia is the arse end of the world, New Zealand is the arse end…

31 May 2021

Once were a democracy

There is no doubt  New Zealand’s democracy is now under aggressive attack by the small minority of those of part-Maori…

26 May 2021

The fight for New Zealand is now underway

In spite of government opposition, a radical report proposing destroying  New Zealand’s democracy, unintelligibly called He Puapua (let’s not give…

22 May 2021

A novel approach to New Zealand’s wine

The last Saturday of lockdown — inshallah — and we were discussing literature. Specifically, when does a detective story become…

22 May 2021

The Rorting Twenties

We are now in the rorting Twenties. Wealth is being concentrated among a few global billionaire elites and large companies…

29 May 2021

So have the Republicans really turned away from Trump?

Anyone listening to Washington insiders (by which I include the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, the usual gaggle…

29 May 2021

Business/Robbery, etc.

Trust the Japs, but not the Poms. As Britain leads the way as chair and initiator of the latest G7…

29 May 2021

Gazillionaires welcome

Have you heard the latest rumour?  Larry Page of Google fame and gazillionaire is now the proud holder of an…

29 May 2021

Fauci reads and reaps the political wind

Americans’ trust in public health institutions has slipped from over 80 to 52 per cent since the start of the…

29 May 2021

Putting the West last

When Dr John Snow identified a Soho well as the source of a lethal cholera outbreak in London in 1854,…

29 May 2021

The lies of euthanasia

The edifice of public support for euthanasia is built on a lie, that people know what they might want in…

29 May 2021

Let’s hope it’s the Argentinian & not the Venezuelan model

With a handful of exceptions, today’s politicians seem determined to ensure that Australia never achieves its potential but instead declines…

29 May 2021

Macbeth

It’s an extraordinary thing that a director of Bruce Beresford’s reputation should be directing for Melbourne Opera until you remember…

29 May 2021

Brett Whiteley : Drawing is Everything (31 July – 31 Oct)

Demonstrating excellent timing, the Bendigo Art Gallery has announced a major exhibition Brett Whiteley : Drawing is Everything (31 July…

29 May 2021

The Dry

It’s a hard thing, harder than it should be, to film a detective story. Is Billy Wilder’s version of Agatha…

22 May 2021

Sydney Symphony Orchestra concert series

Last weekend’s sports pages told us that ‘the crowds have not yet been flocking back to the footy with pre-pandemic…

22 May 2021

Aussie Life

It’s always sad to see the end of a love affair, particularly when the lovers had seemed so enraptured of…

29 May 2021

Aussie Language

Writing in The Speccie Dot Wordsworth said: ‘The most effective weapon in cultural warfare is to find a form of…

29 May 2021

Racing badly needs the full relaxation of restrictions

Humans are herd animals too. Jockeys, trainers, owners and those enjoying the few prized media attendance slots for racing behind…

29 May 2021

New York resembles a war zone

New York The Big Bagel is getting so bad that even the baddies are demanding the fuzz do something. As…

29 May 2021

An orange or an egg? Determining the shape of the world

Thirty-two years ago the young Nicholas Crane, who would go on to become one of England’s most esteemed television geographers,…

29 May 2021

Waiting for Gödel is over: the reclusive genius emerges from the shadows

The 20th-century Austrian mathematician Kurt Gödel did his level best to live in the world as his philosophical hero Gottfried…

29 May 2021

A draining experience: Insignificance, by James Clammer, reviewed

Spare a thought for the white van man. It’s not yet nine on a summer’s morning and already Joseph, a…

29 May 2021

The empire that sprang from nowhere under the banner of Islam

When the British formed the basis of their empire in the 1600s by acquiring territories in India and North America,…

29 May 2021

Brave new virtual world: The Startup Wife, by Tahmima Anam, reviewed

Welcome to Utopia — not an idyllic arcadia but a secretive tech incubator in a Manhattan office block. Here a…

29 May 2021

Russian memoirs are prone to a particular form of angst

Perhaps the secret to understanding Russian history lies in its grammar: it lacks a pluperfect tense. In Latin, English and…

29 May 2021

The foghorn’s haunting hoot is a sad loss

Halfway through what must count as one of the more esoteric quests, Jennifer Lucy Allan finds herself on a hill…

29 May 2021

An impossible guest: Second Place, by Rachel Cusk, reviewed

A great writer must be prepared to risk ridiculousness — not ridicule, although that may follow, but the possibility that…

29 May 2021