Identity is just as important as wealth. Why don’t economists get that?
It has become commonplace for news reports to refer to almost any civic unrest, or even unusual patterns of voting,…
Dear Mary: is it ever acceptable to use a dental brush at the dinner table?
Q. Whenever I go to the theatre or cinema with any man of 60-plus, he falls asleep, even when the…
Barolo, the only comfort in a world full of chaos
It appeared to be an uneven contest. A few friends were meeting for a festive wine-tasting, to compare and contrast…
Word of the week: Moral hazard
‘Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads,’ said my husband, tossing an imaginary coin. The same improbability was amusing when Rosencrantz won the…
Live and don’t die
Nakhane was twenty-years old when, in the eyes of his community, he became a man. It was aged 20 that…
Mentawai diary
The Mentawais are a chain of islands off Sumatra, Indonesia, the lower southwest coast of which has the highest concentration…
Submarine notes
The build-process for our new subs will be disastrous Of all of the possible solutions to Australia’s need for submarines,…
Australian notes
Students lacking the basics I am a law professor at the University of Queensland, a G8 university and one of…
Activists heeding the Voice
The Land Rights campaign that took hold in the 1950s has never been about improving the lot of Aborigines but…
Wimmin’s notes
Men aren’t doing it by themselves, either The recent triumphalist article by Speccie writer Declan Mansfield, ‘Sisters aren’t doing it…
Presidential notes
Insiders and Outsiders Buckle up, US political junkies! We are now just moments away from the starting gun being fired…
The deeper consternation of the Asia Bibi scandal
By now you are probably familiar with Asia Bibi. Accused of blasphemy while working in the fields near her home…
Beware of Pity
Festivals are an opportunity to present performances that might not otherwise be seen; there are several in this year’s Sydney…
Meet Paris in a canter
The choice for Australia at the general election is between a slow or an accelerated decline. Managed decline is à…
ScoMo’s last chance
As election year dawns, polls point to a looming Coalition electoral catastrophe at the hands of Bill Shorten and Labor.…
Thugs welcome, bring guns
The news is broadcast far and wide: California is a safe haven for foreign criminals, complete with instant welfare benefits…
Politics is getting nastier because we’re getting dumber
An intriguing argument from a British politician and writer Dan Hannan: The fall in IQ scores in the West is…
When it’s fine for the left to do a Fraser Anning
Context and explanation meant absolutely nothing to the outraged leftist media complex collaborating with self-interested politicians when accusing Senator Fraser…
Truth tellers, beware
“Tell the truth and shame the devil,” the Inquisitors would say But for some truth tellers, misery – even death…
Destructive Dutton shows why he bombed back in the spill
There’s delicious irony that political judgement was the at the heart of Peter Dutton’s divisive weekend outburst against former colleague…
Cirque du Sharia
Perhaps rejoicing at Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US forces from Afghanistan, the Taliban are working hard not to…
Singing out 2018
The end of the year is a time for reflection about the significant events and moments that have shaped the…
Dutton’s on the button, but…
In a wide-ranging interview with the Brisbane Sunday Mail , Peter Dutton unleashed on Malcolm Turnbull. His comments were calculated…
A New Year’s resolution: thou shalt have fun
The New Year holds promise for us all. A fresh beginning, a new start, a grand opportunity to start over.…
