February 15 – 21, 2025
News
Comment
Comment
Bob Brown
Trump, Jung and the bully egotists ruling the world
“Donald Trump is not one of a kind. Along with Vladimir Putin, Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping, he is just the latest in a long line of ruthless egotists who have risen to power. To varying degrees, the world’s four most powerful men lack empathy. That’s a clue not only to their ascent to power but to the fact that all four are obscenely rich.”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Playing the election date guessing game
“Pinned on some office walls around the parliament is a list of cut-off dates for calling the election, allowing for the statutory 33 days of any campaign. The current favoured view among the self-appointed pundits is that the prime minister will call the poll in the second week of March for an election on April 12. The latest the election can be held is May 17. You can’t blame politicians and their staffers for playing this guessing game. All their necks are on the line.”
Comment
Stan Grant
Sam Kerr and the skin we live in
“Race is a briar patch and, if we remember our Uncle Remus stories, once you’re in the thickets you can’t get out. The Sam Kerr case has proved that. First of all, it breaks what I have found to be one of my more useful rules in life: simple things make the most sense.”
Comment
John Hewson
Truth in advertising should be an urgent priority
“Increasing calls for the truth to be upheld and protected in Australian politics have led to greater interest in truth-in-advertising legislation, to accompany the reform of campaign funding. Under existing legislation, it is legal to lie during an election campaign. There are simply no safeguards.”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Profile
Author and performer Dorcy Rugamba
Dorcy Rugamba turned to the performing arts following the murder of his family in the 1994 Rwanda genocide. His Adelaide Festival show, Hewa Rwanda – Letter to the absent, honours their lives.
Fiction
The carer
“Vera pottered in the kitchen, a wise word in his ear about when to simmer and how long to rest before carving. She might even stir the gravy while Roberto set the table with candles and wine. After dinner Roberto helped Vera shower, handtowel covering his eyes, as he massaged her tender spots and volunteered tips on posture and pelvic floors. Doctor Tom was all smiles at her last check-up. She’d put on weight, her heart was thrumming along nicely and her blood pressure had dropped. He made special mention of the apples in her cheeks and the garlic on her breath. At home, tablets, including those supposed to lift her mood, flushed the toilet every colour of the rainbow.”
Books
Life
Puzzles
Quotes
Law
“The High Court ruling makes Australia equivalent to regimes like China and Nazi Germany...”
The billionaire loses another High Court challenge, this time over re-registering his United Australia Party. He described himself as a third force, presumably after air resistance and friction.
Music
“You know what, fuck y’all. You ain’t gonna clap, I’m gone.”
The Trump-backing musician storms off stage during a performance of “Proud Mary” at a bar owned by Jon Bon Jovi. If the scene were any more American, it would be denying healthcare to the poor.
Food
“I’ve spoken to Bobby Kennedy about this and said, ‘Why don’t we create a government website or a Make America Healthy Again website?’ ”
The celebrity chef boasts about lobbying Donald Trump’s newly appointed health secretary to create a website dedicated to his paleo recipes. Is it still paleo if you hit it with your car?
Media
“If I wanted somebody removed, I would be franker than that.”
The former chair of the ABC gives evidence in Antoinette Lattouf ’s unfair termination case. It has the same Mafioso flavour as her suggestion via tabled emails that Lattouf get a “stomach upset”.
Technology
“I’m logging out of Twitter. I appreciate Elon for allowing me to vent.”
The rapper formerly known as Kanye West leaves X after posting a string of anti-Semitic messages and some hardcore pornography. He also revealed that this week alone he turned down three photo opportunities with “make a wish kids in wheelchairs”.
Wellness
“There are fines outstanding and Consumer Affairs Victoria is pursuing this constantly and consistently and won’t let up.”
The Victorian premier confirms the state is still chasing $410,000 from Belle Gibson for an unpaid fine. She’s as hard to track down as her cancer cells.
