In early March of
2020, I posted a list of instances of corruption by the coalition governments,
both federal and state1. Not long after that was posted, I found it
necessary to begin another compilation as the instances of corruption continued
coming. That second effort was published at the end of April2. Only
a couple of days after that was posted, more instances were pointed out to me,
Some
days ago, I bumped into a term I have never heard before: ‘cancel culture’. It refers
to the popular practice of withdrawing support for public figures or companies,
usually on social media, after they have done or said something considered
objectionable or offensive1. This struck me as something very
positive in much the same way as is nobbling racists or misogynists when they
In August 1990, the
army of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded neighbouring Kuwait. The UN
Security Council demanded an immediate withdrawal of Iraqi troops, while a NATO
official said the aim of the sanctions which had been imposed by various
nations was ‘to cripple Iraq totally, chiefly by refusing to buy any of their
oil’1.
The Eden-Monaro
by-election was held on Saturday, July 4th and it was won by the
Labor candidate, Kristy McBain, with a two-party preferred vote of about 50.4%1.
At such a by-election you expect to see corflutes and posters of the local
candidates adorning any vacant spaces on fences, nature strips and near voting
booths. However, this by-election was a little different. While McBain’s visage
An odd group of conspiracy theorists has
sprung up, initially in the US. It is based on what its followers believe is
someone in the security services in the US, who leaves cryptic clues online,
that the aficionados spend countless hours attempting to decipher. This person
goes by the handle ‘Q’ and its followers term themselves QAnon. There is no
reason to believe that the person has anything to do with the security services,