Holding Pattern

One of the interesting questions arising out of Labor’s unprecedented success in the election is how we should we now view what happened with the Voice referendum. I maintained at the time, and still maintain, that it would have been better to have taken a more straightforward, simpler, recognition of prior Aboriginal presence in Australia […]

I watched the 1961 film ‘Judgement at Nuremberg’ over the last few nights. (It goes for more than 3 hours). It seemed vaguely familiar. I think I must’ve watched it as a kid or perhaps as an early teen. It’s the story of the trial at Nuremberg of five men who served as judges under […]

The movie about Bob Dylan’s early career, ‘ A complete unknown’ is terrific. Like the film ‘Cabaret’ the music in this film does not involve the characters suddenly bursting into song around the breakfast table. Instead it occurs in the context of performances and rehearsals which are fully integrated within the films story lines. And, […]

One of the reasons why discussions about the Middle East are often so fraught is that so many of the facts, or the interpretation of them, are contested. Take the history around the creation of Israel for example. Among Jewish historians there are two main lines of thought. The perspectives of traditional Zionist historians and […]

President elect Trump has complained that the US is being “ripped off” at the Panama Canal, and that US ships are being charged outrageous amounts that are highly unfair. He has also alleged that the canal was “falling into the wrong hands,” implying Chinese involvement. Trump is attempting to bully Panama into moving away from […]