Jan-Feb 2018 Volume LXII, No. 1-2
Nothing without Christianity
Australia Dystopia
Mugabe and After
Raised on the Milk of the Wild Beast
North Korea: Prequel Stark, Sequel Still Dark
Roger Scruton and Enlightened Patriotism
Contents
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Sir: Simon Haines, writing about Western civilisation (November 2017) exhibits […]December 29, 2017
15 mins
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Rather than being a day of shame, January 26 provides Australian history with a firm foundation. We know precisely when civilisation came to this continent in the form of literacy, commerce and industry, judicial independence and rule of law, individual rights, free speech and ChristianityJanuary 26, 2019
8 mins
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Leader and chief beneficiary of Harare's "velvet coup" Emmerson Mnangagwa has made the right noises, wooing investors with budgetary reforms and promising democratic elections. As the path he must follow is both winding and treacherous, optimism must necessarily be guardedJanuary 25, 2018
9 mins
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Isaac Deutscher is fading into memory, his name recognised chiefly those who have made a study of the Soviet Union's apologists and enablers. For the unfamiliar, he was one of those slippery sorts who could not quite decide if mass murder in the right hands serves the interests of humanityDecember 30, 2017
8 mins
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For the past year or so, Asia-Pacific chancelleries have been […]
December 29, 2017
8 mins
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In the West, you can hold to the tenets of Christianity and still advocate for secular democracy, just as those agnostic about the Christian faith need not sign on as postmodernists. Under Islam's absolutism no such manifestations of personal belief and intellectual inquiry are allowed. As Scruton observes, that's the difference between us and themFebruary 12, 2018
13 mins
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The Victorian age, if we knew it and its ideas better, would help us understand our own world, as the debates of that era remain the essence of today's political discussions. In her major works and invaluable essays, Himmelfarb brings the Victorians back to lifeMarch 8, 2018
17 mins
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The dictator was not 'demonic', as biographer Stephen Kotin would have it, but pathological, psychopathic, paranoid, criminal and perverse. That is one of a few small quibbles with an author whose magisterial, three-volume work will deservedly be recognised as the gold standardFebruary 19, 2018
27 mins
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As the Left's annual wallowing in myth and victimology approaches, bear in mind the slanders on our past, now so much a part of Australia Day, are toxic confections. Far from genocide, our founders aimed to civilise Aborigines, see them observe the law, master literacy and shed the shackles of savageryJanuary 3, 2018
13 mins
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For those inclined to signal their virtue, Aboriginal 'culture' presents a problem. With no written language or literature, permanent architecture, horticulture or animal husbandry there is little on which to lavish patronising praise. The solution? Stitch together a 'philosophy' from whole clothJanuary 17, 2018
16 mins
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After a spat with his wife the defector sought consolation at the Surfers Paradise Hotel then sallied forth to gatecrash a noisy party, perhaps in hope free drinks. A brawl ensued after which police arrested a bruised and portly man wearing only underpants and shirt. ASIO was not amusedFebruary 2, 2018
8 mins
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We live in an age of ideological self-awareness, a world of identity politics and human rights activism, where those among us with any common characteristic or condition, or particular cause or opinion, can coalesce into active pressure groups each demanding recognition of its perceived “cotton wool” rightsFebruary 6, 2018
15 mins
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You can say you don’t believe in God and leave it at that. But to have intellectual integrity you really should take the next step and outline what you do believe in. This will almost certainly lead you down Stephen Hawking's path towards a future of godless robotic civilisationsFebruary 22, 2018
13 mins
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Promoting the deconstruction of gender roles, as modern feminism urges, works to divorce women from their intrinsic natures—a very unhappy outcome. Worst of all, it creates one more wedge issue suitable for the further aggrandisement of government powerFebruary 23, 2018
13 mins
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When Ray Martin donned his most earnest expression, rounded up a camera crew and went looking for Australian racism what little he found must have been a grave disappointment. Had he genuinely wished to find obnoxious stereotypes, he might have started with the broadcaster itselfJanuary 9, 2018
30 mins
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The much-touted 'education revolution', rather than fostering innovation and creativity, has produced bureaucratic universities antithetical to spirit of genuine discovery. As one academic observed, there is an infestation of 'unscrupulous people who believe ... they can act any way they want'February 15, 2018
33 mins
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Need a present for an irritating pal? I have a copy of "No Front Line" to give away. It's by the ABC's Chris Masters, whose recounting of his time in Afghanistan is good in parts but mostly what you might expect from a 'friend' who is on your side but can't curb the urge to nitpick and bemoanFebruary 28, 2018
8 mins
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At Her Majesty’s Secret Service: The Chiefs of Britain’s Intelligence […]
December 30, 2017
7 mins
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Mama Amazonica by Pascale Petit Bloodaxe, 2017, 112 pages, £9.95 […]
December 30, 2017
5 mins
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Before he fell out with his president and was ejected from the White House, and after that from Breitbart News, Steve Bannon was the influence who crystalised and codified Donald Trump's thinking. Gone he might be from the locus of power, but not, to date, the legacy of his prescription for US renewalJanuary 13, 2018
15 mins
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Although the Enlightenment failed to completely fulfil the most optimistic predictions, and though human wickedness has perverted many of its accomplishments, it has still improved and enriched human life immeasurably. In his new book, author Peter Kreeft could afford to be a little more sanguineFebruary 24, 2018
8 mins
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Welcome to Theatre Street. The weather is fine today, and […]
December 30, 2017
10 mins
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Rousseau, theatre critic, was against politics in drama. Like Plato […]
December 30, 2017
21 mins
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The wrath of Achilles was his theme, that fatal wrath […]
December 30, 2017
34 mins
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Before beer, we were nomads. There was hardly a reason […]
December 30, 2017
7 mins
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1. Fresh from a war where he has behaved conspicuously, […]
December 30, 2017
14 mins
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As one tyranny replaced another, Natalie Makarova was allowed to work with the immigration authorities processing refugees. She may have hoped to make some contact there or gather information that might help the family to get out of the country. Even the faintest possibility had to be followed throughFebruary 10, 2018
8 mins
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Despite our times of comfort and plenty, optimism is under […]
December 30, 2017
14 mins
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Commissario Guido Brunetti, a Venetian police inspector, is Donna Leon’s […]
December 30, 2017
11 mins
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Music, Science and 2001: A Space Odyssey Christopher Heathcote Music […]
December 30, 2017
36 mins
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There is a legend that a reviewer of Agatha Christie’s […]
March 3, 2018
12 mins
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I don’t know whether it actually happened. I have checked […]
December 30, 2017
6 mins
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I once found myself in Kevin Rudd's company and mentioned, for want of something better to say, that Julia Gillard's poll numbers were holding up. Soon thereafter the PM's hand was about my throat, just not quite touching. It was the shortest, clearest message he ever deliveredJanuary 28, 2018
8 mins
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Where Broadway Bends for Jerry, written where Broadway bends […]
December 31, 2017
1 mins
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Zuckerberg’s Dissident We try to stay in touch when you’re […]
December 31, 2017
2 mins
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The Teardrop Stoop Teardrop (verb): To stoop downwards in a […]
December 31, 2017
3 mins
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These Astonishments Cosy Corner, southern coast, Western Australia Surmounting […]
December 31, 2017
3 mins
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Janice B. Seventeen years old. I kissed you, And you […]
December 31, 2017
1 mins
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Flowers on the Bridge St Joseph Cupertino pray for us […]
December 31, 2017
1 mins
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An Interesting Little Girl An interesting little girl ... […]
December 31, 2017
2 mins
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Brief* Garden Here I sit, in my lamplit bungalow, with […]
December 31, 2017
4 mins
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Brief* Garden Here I sit, in my lamplit bungalow, […]
December 31, 2017
2 mins
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Motherlode We drove along the highway, she sleeping, me […]
December 31, 2017
4 mins
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The Temptation I hope I’ll never try to imitate my […]
December 31, 2017
3 mins
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Confeatheration The mud-bank off the Island mid-river, Enlarged at […]
December 31, 2017
1 mins
