Taking a look at Al-Jazeera coverage, and the conspicious absence of some events overlapping between Australia and Qatar.
While visiting my Aunt in Wollongong, one of her neighbours mentioned that he got up at 6am to watch Al-Jazeera news on SBS, where they were piping that through to their main broadcast, and that it gave an intriguingly "different" point of view.
I’ve long been interested in Chomsky’s writings, but I could always see good and bad in them. I’ve struggled to understand foreign policy and how the US fits in. It’s different to the picture painted by both Chomsky and his opponents.
This piece is derived from a talk I gave at the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts. So, it is a bit more "talky" than my other articles. I have had some appreciation about just how it captures the issues, and the US influence. Hope you find it interesting Ahoy.
My name is John August, Treasurer of Pirate Party Australia; I've stood for the last Federal election as a NSW Senate Candidate.
A top-level look at the current tensions in politics in Australia, and a plug for the Pirate Party. (This was written around the time of Abbott, but I still think my comments hold now, at the end of Albanese's first term.)
I gave this presentation on the 7/2/19 at Ryde-Eastwood Leagues Club.I am not presently planning to stand for the next NSW State election, butI do hope that I can nevertheless make a worthwhile contribution. If anyonewants to support me standing as an independent, let me know!
I've long been intrigued with the idea of slowing aging and living longer. While some get emotional about it - that you're denying nature's plan and order - I've no such issues. But I have listened to the views of advocates for life extension and those of mainstream science. And rather than mainstream science being a killjoy, it does have a detailed picture of ageing, one that's worth understanding.
I hit another vehicle from behind - and proved in court it was the other drivers' fault. And along the way I learnt a lot about the courts, topping up my cynicism tank along the way.
I was involved in a motor vehicle accident which was the other person's fault - something I was able to prove in court. But, along the way there were many obstacles and misunderstandings around insurance, the regulations around "written off vehicles", and the courts.
Back in 2008, I had an on-line debate with Greg Clarke who was the then-director of the Centre for Public Christianity. The subject was just how much influence the teachings of Jesus have on moral ideas generally, at least in our Western tradition. I've reproduced it here. I've not included comments from others which also appeared on the original blog, given that this is a copy of the original material, which I don't think appears elsewhere on the web. Anyway, here's the original exchange ...
Trying to get a handle on the diversity of reactions, ideas, the fair and the unfair, the complexity, around Islam.
INTRODUCTION
I've been long been intrigued by Islam, and the debate around it. There's a combination of fair and unfair criticisms, swirled around by distortions on both sides.