November 2019 Volume LXIII, Number 11, No. 561
Invented Traditions
Deep Resentment and the Appeal of Islam
Gone with the Wind
The Cultural Curse of the New Censorship
The Christian Way Forward in a Time of Crisis
The Unconstitutionality of the Prorogation Judgment
Contents
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the ban on climbing Uluru is simply one more example of the political strategy invented by urban intellectuals and bureaucrats who have tried to impose on the site a culture that exists only in their own romantic political fantasiesOctober 30, 2019
8 mins
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As a prison doctor, I wondered why so many black inmates converted to Islam rather than reverting to the Christianity of their childhoods. My notion is that they feel massively ill-treated by society and, knowing how most people in society regard Islam, the creed is a perfect and natural fitNovember 27, 2019
8 mins
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The only practical way to halt this invasion of hilltop bird mincers would be to hang on to as many reliable, coal-consuming power stations as possible, but doing that would require politicians with the courage to tell the climate-panic industry to back offOctober 31, 2019
8 mins
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The contemporary revival of censorship is far more wide-ranging than its typical expression in the past, when its all-but-exclusive focus was on sexual matters. Now you only need to quote selected passages from the Bible (of all books), as Israel Folau can tell youNovember 15, 2019
17 mins
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We in the West are in the worst spiritual and social crisis since the collapse of the Roman empire. We don’t see this collapse clearly because it is hidden by our wealth. But make no mistake: the fundamental pillars of Western civilisation are crumbling—none more consequentially than the ChurchNovember 7, 2019
20 mins
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The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom has ruled that […]
October 30, 2019
21 mins
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Following the rejection in August by the Victorian Appeal Court […]
October 30, 2019
10 mins
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Sir: The twin images of military might reviewed by a […]
October 30, 2019
3 mins
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Western rationalism and humanism democratised the Enlightenment, making it accessible to all rational beings on the condition of systematic understanding, making human action more rational and rationally ethical. Its perfect application is limited only by our individual imperfectionsNovember 11, 2019
13 mins
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The West has been trying to call immoral things moral since the French Revolution. One must wonder what’s more immoral, the recent invention of a female penis and testicles, which demand to be waxed, or a culture of indiscriminate anti-discrimination that makes it illegal for female waxers to say NoNovember 26, 2019
20 mins
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The Western Australian author Hal Colebatch, born in 1945, died […]
October 30, 2019
10 mins
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Opposing same-sex marriage, challenging the assertion of rape culture on campus, and failing to put what is deemed an acceptable number of female authors on a literature course is enough to see you accused, convicted and condemned. This is not education or anything like itNovember 21, 2019
25 mins
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'Kevin' wanted to be excused his poor attendance, neglect in submitting assignments, and overall inadequate performance, on the grounds that he was Aboriginal and thereby entitled to special treatment. So the university waved him throughNovember 20, 2019
13 mins
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As a key symbol of China's 'century of humiliation', the plundered and tumbled stones of the Yuanmingyuan lend their everlasting significance to hard-line policies towards Tibetans, Uighurs, Hong Kongers and other groups perceived as threatening hard-won national cohesionNovember 18, 2019
26 mins
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One of the more intriguing questions about the history of […]
October 30, 2019
15 mins
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“Is Australia divided into a North and South as well?” […]
October 30, 2019
11 mins
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Bernie Sanders lauds the Swedish welfare state, and Leftists generally are quick to hail the home of dancing queens and flat-pack furniture as the model for all caring, compassionate and progressive societies. As Jonathan Friedman observes in "PC Worlds", what they admire is a Freudian fixation on political correctnessNovember 9, 2019
5 mins
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The British historian Philip Mansel is fascinated by splendour and […]
October 30, 2019
16 mins
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The Year of Our Lord 1943 is a fascinating and […]
October 30, 2019
11 mins
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To first subdue and then eliminate rural opposition to his rule, Mao inflicted on the peasantry men who 'took liberties with women and tended towards violence' , as author Brian DeMare relates in 'Land Wars: The Story of China’s Agrarian Revolution'. With Hong Kong persisting in its brave defiance, that's a chilling precedent to bear in mindNovember 19, 2019
11 mins
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It’s plainly very difficult being a political satirist these days, […]
October 30, 2019
5 mins
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There has been great public fascination with the story of […]
October 30, 2019
15 mins
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Belief and conviction are what matters in our post-rational world, where people are conditioned by social media and fake news, when daily life is based on wanting and wishing, on assuming identity and taking offence. In postmodern heads, as evidenced by red-cloaked protesters, Margaret Atwood's misandrist dystopia is what is “real”November 6, 2019
11 mins
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In its own way the latest cinematic saga of the Glenrowan outlaws is true to Peter Carey’s Booker Prize-winning book, of which the author has said, “It’s the most invented, made-up book I’ve ever written.” With its plethora of absurdities and falsehoods, True History of the Kelly Gang does Carey proudNovember 4, 2019
11 mins
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If the impresario is remembered these days, it is for his later career as a producer of 'Neighbours'. But before that he brought heresy to the proscenium arch with his popular and long-running Music Hall plays, which he wrote and produced. Unlike so many others then and now, he grasped the simple fact that theatre is about un-boredomNovember 10, 2019
11 mins
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The central question about America's songwriting industry is why, despite its enormous appeal, it died out so thoroughly in the late 1950s? The obvious answer is the rise of rock-and-roll from around 1954, when it swept all before it and left us poorer for its dominant presenceNovember 30, 2019
9 mins
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Memory strikes when we least expect. I’m forced to remember […]
October 31, 2019
20 mins
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At the reading of Uncle Peter’s will, Michael and Kate […]
October 31, 2019
9 mins
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I once used 'trannie' to describe a male-turned-female who attempted to murder several people with an axe, a contraction in the venerable Australian tradition that drew vexatious complaints to various legal and administrative bodies. Their deliberations proved so drawn-out, not to mention expensive, the now-imprisoned attacker had commenced re-transitioning to maleNovember 23, 2019
8 mins
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Leaf-Curling Spider The eye’s blood spot, or else fire licks […]
October 31, 2019
3 mins
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Alcoholic Nose Rhinophyma, subtype of skin condition, rosacea, chronic inflammation, […]
October 31, 2019
2 mins
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Love burns brightly Will it burn like a match Catching […]
October 31, 2019
1 mins
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Two Poems on Technology The Pied Piper of Hamilton: Variations […]
October 31, 2019
3 mins
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The Message Home again, red light flashing on the machine […]
October 31, 2019
2 mins
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Negotiation A quiet calm descends upon the scene, the stars […]
October 31, 2019
2 mins
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What’s in a Name? (2) For the Skeggs-Hetherington clan Entitled […]
October 31, 2019
2 mins
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All night I dream a Porsche All night I dream […]
October 31, 2019
1 mins
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Lift Might he be the only one among the 368 […]
October 31, 2019
2 mins
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Ekphrasis on a Possible Joke (Church-going) The congregation’s mostly sixty-ish […]
October 31, 2019
3 mins
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Culpability The surreptitious theft of goodness leaves shame behind for […]
October 31, 2019
1 mins
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A bad day from start to finish Nostalgia burns the […]
October 31, 2019
2 mins
