Beautifully written stories on politics, social movements, photography and books

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Covid-19: The Edge of the Narrative Matrix

By Caitlin Johnstone Powerful people will work to advance authoritarian agendas which they have no intention of reversing during this pandemic. They are working on it right now. This is not a possibility, this is a certainty. if your government… Continue Reading →

Australia: The Leaderless Country

By Allan Patience with Pearls & Irritations Australia has been leaderless since the federal election last May. The Morrison government has shown itself to be woefully unprepared for the policy challenges now facing the country. It is a government that… Continue Reading →

The Australian Government Response to Corona Crisis: A Massive Subsidy to Corporations

By Michael West, founder of Michael West Media The Morrison Government’s emergency measures to protect the economy in the midst of a pandemic are another massive subsidy from embattled taxpayers to Australia’s largest corporations. They are a failure of government to… Continue Reading →

Pandemic Projections Signal Profound Societal Disruption Over Many Months

By Melissa Sweet, Editor of Croakey Immense disruption to societies, and people’s lives and work will be necessary over many months if there is to be any hope of preventing large numbers of deaths from COVID-19. That is the suggestion from modelling by… Continue Reading →

Welcomed Everywhere: Until He Wasn’t

Malcolm Turnbull: A Bigger Picture This is an extract from the upcoming book Dark Dark Policing, by veteran Australian journalist John Stapleton. The book will be published next month. They weren’t so wrong, those who had painted the world as… Continue Reading →

Weird Plan for Billion Dollar Privatisation of Australia’s Visa System

By Michael Sainsbury with Michael West Media Despite the myriad failures of privatisation, not least the disastrous sale of the nation’s energy networks, which has delivered dazzling profits to foreign multinationals at the expense of every citizen in this country, the… Continue Reading →

Covid-19: The Risks As It Spreads

Jack Waterford with Pearls & Irritations The US already has a two-tier health system: when the disease takes hold in the general population, many of its facilities will be swamped, with only the wealthy able to be sure of proper… Continue Reading →

COVID-19: Infection, Isolation and Action

By Dr Cathie Hull with Pearls & Irritations I was caught unawares by being exposed to COVID-19, despite thorough knowledge of the online medical research. I am now in home isolation. If I can be caught unawares, you can too…. Continue Reading →

Assange, Collaery, Snowden, Smethurst: Criminalising Truth

By Alison Broinowski with Independent Australia ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. You’ve often heard that from leaders clutching at their last straw. Australia, you would think, has had enough this year. Enough of a scorched, smoky summer. Enough eviscerating loss of family. Enough… Continue Reading →

Mosul: The Great City

Malcolm Turnbull and Australia’s Bombs FROM Malcolm Turnbull’s first day as Prime Minister in 2015 the bombings on Iraq increased. That is, not to put too fine a point on things, he was responsible for killing more Muslims than any… Continue Reading →

Slush Funds: How the Australian Government Ramped up Grant Rorts

By Jommy Tee with Michael West Media They cut domestic violence funding and National Parks, froze Australia’s unemployed welfare payment known as Newstart, and consigned the most needy to cashless welfare cards while spraying unprecedented billions in “invitation only” grants — our taxpayer… Continue Reading →

Who’s Above The Law? Politicians, Judges, Military and Intelligence Officers

Alison Broinowski and the Case of Julian Assange Justice is on trial in London. Lady Arbuthnot, the Chief Magistrate in the extradition case against Julian Assange, says ‘no-one is above the law’. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison loyally says the same,… Continue Reading →

We’re Asking One Question In Assange’s Case: Should Journalists Be Punished For Exposing War Crimes?

By Caitlin Johnstone This is the transcript of a recent speech by journalist, iconoclast and all round rebel Caitlin Johnstone. Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, rots in a British prison facing extradition to the US. The geniuses in American… Continue Reading →

The Sixth Age of the Sun

By Ian Purdie According to the ancient Mayan calendar, the fifth age of the sun ended on 21st December 2012. So did the calendar itself. Up until then the Mayans had plotted complex cycles of days that appear to bear… Continue Reading →

Artificial Atoms Create Stable Qubits for Quantum Computing

By Lachlan Gilbert In a breakthrough for quantum computing, researchers at the University of New South Wales in Sydney have made improved qubits using concepts from high school chemistry. The discoveries were made with assistance from experts in both America and… Continue Reading →

The Intoxicating Fall of Malcolm Turnbull

A Shakespearean tragedy played out in the Antipodes EVERY DOG has its day. And the most disappointing Prime Minister in Australian history certainly had his. The intoxicating fall of Malcolm Turnbull was a transfixing, delightful spectacle; a Shakespearean tragedy played… Continue Reading →

And Then There Were The Spooks: Dark Dark Policing

THE CAR ROSE SLOWLY from the fetid plains. For days, in tormented dreams, he had been a soldier going around a battlefield killing the wounded, firing shot after shot after shot. Most of the victims were already dead and his… Continue Reading →

Australia’s Green Bank and the Vampire Kangaroo

By Anthony Klan The Big Four Australian banks and investment bankers Macquarie, big Liberal Party donors all, have received over $2.3 billion in taxpayer-backed funds from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. That is almost one-third of every dollar ever invested by… Continue Reading →

Australia now a Surveillance State with Journalists as POIs under ASIO Act

Will future historians see the Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison era as the period of governance when totalitarian instincts were unleashed? The targeting of journalists is just the beginning of a much greater disaster, writes journalist and author, John Stapleton. Australia’s #RighttoKnow movement barely touches… Continue Reading →

The Giver of Stars

By Jojo Moyes Below is an extract from Giver of Stars, the new book out this month from best selling author Jojo Moyes. Inspired by a true story, the book recounts the tale of five women living in perilous times…. Continue Reading →

Five Ferries

By William Ried Not knowing where I was when I first woke up had become routine. But that next morning I knew even before I opened my eyes, with none of the struggle between dream and reality. I felt cold… Continue Reading →

The Glories of Caitlin Johnstone: The Internet Transforms Journalism

Talent works hard. Genius is compelled. Caitlin Johnstone is compelled. There are more than ten million blog posts published every single day. According to Hosting Tribunal there are 70 million new blog posts each month on WordPress alone. How can… Continue Reading →

Australia Is In Dire Straits: Crony Capitalism and the Collapse of Democracy

By John Stapleton Quiet Australians, so-called. They’ve become an article of faith for a victorious Coalition government. Against the odds, surprising pundits, pollsters and even themselves, the conservatives have just won government once again despite a history of internal division… Continue Reading →

Dental Tourism in Vietnam

By John Stapleton Australia’s major dental associations have all issued dire warnings about the dangers of travelling to Asia in an attempt to save money on dental work. The Australian Dental Association has produced a number of fact sheets about… Continue Reading →

Whatever Happened to Earl Black? The Life of Frank Earl

Stories from the rollercoaster of his life flow out of Frank Earl. By his early twenties he was an internationally renowned wrestler with a villainous reputation performing around the world, England, Canada, Japan, Australia. Here’s just one story: The King… Continue Reading →

Adrift on the World: The Art of David Tees

David Tees has been drawing almost every day for the past 40 years, in a journey which has traversed continents and judicial systems. He was born in London, southern Ontario, in 1972 and moved to Vancouver cresting twenty. I was… Continue Reading →

Allies Drive Opium Trade to New Heights

Alfred McCoy: The Politics of Heroin and War The failure of the Afghanistan war in which Australia, as a loyal ally of America, has been a major contributor has fueled opium and heroin production in the region to unprecedented levels, the… Continue Reading →

Twitch: The Evolution of Connectivity

Humans spontaneously form villages and have an inherent desire to tell stories. Wherever and however people gather, others are sniffing around for money. And predators abound. Twitch is well on the way to becoming the world’s dominant streaming platform; a… Continue Reading →

The Journey to Monte Cassino Kazik’s Story: Marking the 75th Anniversary of one of World War Two’s costliest battles

As told to his son Mark Slaski The Battle of Monte Cassino was a pivotal battle in the Allied invasion of Italy in 1943–1944. Monte Cassino was a mountain top monastery, transformed by the Germans into a fortress. It formed… Continue Reading →

The Voices of Dickson: The Essay

The sprawling electorate of Dickson in Northern Brisbane is Ground Zero for the coming election; pivotal for the future of the country. Every major media organisation has sent journalists to the seat; almost all of them with an agenda to… Continue Reading →

Someone To Lead. The Voices of Dickson: Part Three

Like many areas in a rapidly changing Australia, the seat of Dickson in the north of Brisbane straddles many divides. It is also a fulcrum seat which holds a key to the future of the country. It is the electorate… Continue Reading →

Running to Stand Still. The Voices of Dickson: Part Two

Australia, despite all the official prattle about diversity, has never been more divided. And the same holds true of Dickson, which hangs by a knife-edge. Sitting conservative member Peter Dutton holds the seat by a tiny 1.6 percent and opposition… Continue Reading →

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