Covid statistics are just politics by other means
Statistics is the continuation of politics by other means, to misquote Clausewitz. One hundred and fifty years after the crushing…
Israel’s antibody breakthrough
The Israeli government is reporting this morning that the country’s Institute for Biological Research has made a breakthrough in the…
Our toothless response to China is embarrassing
If you have been troubled by the government’s failure to get tough on the country responsible for our present malaise,…
Amazing but true: you can get an apology from the ABC
On the 6th of April, 2020, ABC Radio Melbourne Drive with Nicole Chvastek interviewed infectious diseases expert Mark Pellegrini from…
Imagine, if you will, a Venn diagram…
Imagine, if you will, a Venn diagram of: Lefties who agree with the Victorian Deputy Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen and believe…
St Jacinda walks among us – virtually. So what?
Social media, The Grauniad and the ABC’s fanbois and girls have worked themselves to a state of near orgasm knowing…
ScoMo and Daniel Andrews: guess who’s put politicking ahead of national unity?
There was an interesting, albeit brief, window between education minister Dan Tehan’s comments about Victorian premier Daniel Andrews and their…
Susan’s story: the tale of a coronavirus suicide
At the age of 32, Susan had everything going for her. Growing up in a major regional hub in country…
Herd immunity may only need 10-20 per cent of people to be infected
Since mid-March there has been an assumption that herd immunity against Covid-19 would not be achieved until around 60 per…
The ridiculousness of the bookshelf police
‘People want to know why Michael Gove owns “racist” and “anti-Semitic” books’, reports the Independent’s website. By ‘people’ it actually…
Sweden tames its ‘R number’ without lockdown
Sweden has been the world’s Covid-19 outlier, pursuing social distancing but rejecting mandatory lockdown. Schools, bars and restaurants are open…
Have we been fighting a very different disease to China?
One of the great mysteries of coronavirus is how the epidemic has become much more severe in Europe and North…
The problem with immunity passports
Could we see ‘immunity passports’ in Britain? Ministers are reportedly discussing them as a route out of lockdown. According to today’s…
Spain’s fiendishly complex rules for easing the lockdown
Once upon a time, when travel was still allowed, I checked into a small hotel in back-of-beyond Extremadura, in South-West…
Because what we need right now is more pointless intergenerational conflict, hey folks?
We’re going to let you into a little secret. Are you ready? We here at the SpecOz have been wondering…
EXCLUSIVE: Charming Clementine scores a government grant
Remember back in January when Yassmin Abdel-Magied scored that cushy $20,000 in cash and six-month residency in Paris? Remember how…
Why the Guardian Australia is wrong about green tape
In an article last Friday, the Guardian Australia outline a flawed critique of the Institute of Public Affairs’ latest research…
Covid-19: Sorting the wheat from the chaff since January 2020
Just yesterday a university degree in gender studies was valuable. Today a job at the supermarket is valuable. Yesterday a…
The Wuhan Flu gives us a greater sense of proportion of the real risk of death from climate change
Number three in Craig Kelly’s series 20 reasons why the Wuhan Flu is the final nail in the climate alarmists’…
Sayonara, Albo
You may imagine that opposition can’t go too far wrong during this coronavirus pandemic. The government, under pressure, is having…
Is the PM an example of why those with Covid-19 should be hospitalised earlier?
There is so much to ponder in the prime minister’s interview about how Covid-19 almost killed him. But, in respect…
Coronavirus won’t kill globalisation
Our highly sophisticated global system of exchange now faces its single biggest existential threat. Globalisation has made us richer, freer,…
Coronavirus is revealing uncomfortable truths about Japan
I’ll never forget an unusually frank conversation I once had with a Japanese acquaintance (let’s call him ‘Yoshi’). He was…
Labor’s right. We need to cut immigration
After well over a decade of engaging in a quiet bipartisan endorsement of Australia’s high immigration intake, Labor has finally…
School closures: light at the end of the tunnel – except in Danandrewstan
There is light at the end of the tunnel. Parents and policymakers have generally had enough, and schools are now…
