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Remember that song that proclaimed that “The nips are getting bigger”, it was about a drinking session. Well the local media have their own version of it or is it just the people writing the lyrics. I could be mistaken but I am fairly sure that in the early hours of this morning the costing [...]

There has been a mass rape in the Congo and even though there was a UN outpost within 20 miles of the event news of the happenings has only just surfaced. In a Reuters Report this appears,” The Security Council demanded on Thursday that all steps be taken to prevent a repeat of a recent [...]

If you are feeling like a plate of scrambled eggs a look at the Democracy Now site is very informative, there are video interviews together with transcript you can access at the site at link1, link2 and link 3. Perhaps a good starting point is the first statement of David Kirby when he talks about [...]

In a recent article and reference to another article on this page the position in south Africa while it had the World Cup football was examined. It became firly obvious that por and disadvantaged people had been uprooted from areas near the main playing parts of the country and a very bad situation had developed. [...]

Every once in a while someone comes along who proves that any size foot or feet fit any sized mouth. Someone called Alannah Hill has seen fit to say what came naturally and then retract what she had said. A David Jones CEO got very cold feet when the first hint of an allegation surfaced [...]

What follows is an interesting interview with Julian Assange the founder of Wikileaks. You can view this interview at Der Spiegel at link  (George Ikners ikners.com Joomla)

You may remember there has been some comment on this page about the performance of Ban Ki- Moon, the Guardian has an article that may be of interest to those of you who are interested in his work at the UN so far. You can access the whole article at link. It seems that many [...]

Resistir e Vencer, to resist is to win. A simple phrase from the life of Gusmao describing the struggle in Timor-Leste. Today there are various meanings attributed to the idea of resistance and struggle. In a recent article by Ramzy Baroud at link, Baroud discusses resistance with a remarkable degree of clarity and precision. His [...]

 In a recent article Paul Jay of the RealNews looks at the G20 meeting. You will remember that in times of crisis the people who have to pay for the errant behavior of the very few are the very many. That is a fundamental tenet of capitalism and democracy as well. Once you have concentrated [...]

For those interested, particularly those who support the death penalty, looking at the short video at the Guardian site at link, could prove worthwhile. (George Ikners ikners.com Joomla)

Perhaps we are all being a little mislead by our own media and commentators about one of our most notable citizens. The following appears in the New Stateman.  John Pilger, renowned investigative journalist and documentary film-maker, is one of only two to have twice won British journalism’s top award; his documentaries have won academy awards [...]

In an interesting move Lady Mannington is to be called to give evidence at the Chilcot Inquiry. She was the head of MI5 at the time and the Guardian has a good article at link. When it came the question of an invasion Mannington is reported to have said “: “Why now?” And then, she [...]

Abdel Bari Atwan has a very interesting article at his site at link. It concerns the latest claims about Tony Blair. You may remember Blair for his unswerving and rabid devotion to GW Bush and his premium lapdog status the the US. However, he branched out on his own and soon became directly responsible for the [...]

There is an article at the Sabbah site by Stuart Littlewood. It is concerned with what that the writer calls Israeli propaganda. You can access this article and much more material at Sabbah at link. I have attached the the article and you can then make up your own mind about whether you feel the article [...]

If you are wondering why some in the US say Obama lacks conviction, particularly about the recent oil contamination then look at what this great salesman of the status quo and the rich and powerful had to say to Larry King about the Flotilla. By the way it aint a spill. That is what happens [...]

You can look at a three part article by Dr. Alan Sabrosky at link as well as at link2  and link3. All his articles are writeni in an articulate maner and are cause for a great deal of thought. (George Ikners ikners.com  Joomla)

An article in the Guardian (link) deals with an interesting topic. The basic element discussed relates to the fact that,” Dozens of Italian women who have had relationships with Roman Catholic priests or lay monks have endorsed an open letter to the pope that calls for the abolition of the celibacy rule. The letter, thought [...]

I received an email from a friend who has been a teacher for about 40 years. It concerns  NAPLAN and I have decided to post it in full to this page. Whilst I may or may not have different views about some of the contents it is an excellent approach to a topic of importance [...]

Robert Lansing (October 17, 1864 – October 30, 1928) was a Legal Advisor to the State Department at the outbreak of World War I where he opposed Britain’s policy of blockade and he was in favor of the principles of freedom of the seas and the rights of neutral nations. He was United States Secretary [...]

There is another good article at the Palestine Chronicle site you may like to consider. Written by Jeremy R. Hammond, who is an independent journalist and editor of Foreign Policy Journal, an online source for news, critical analysis, and opinion commentary on U.S. foreign policy. He was among the recipients of the 2010 Project Censored [...]

At the Al Jazeera site there is a rather interesting article by Alan Philps, you can read the entire article at link. What is discussed is the latest attempts by Turkey and Brazil to enter the arena in the middle East as far as Iran is concerned. The nub of what happened is that,” it [...]

For those of you like me who were born in the 1950s, like me, or just after the war I understand your frustration and probable anxiety in becoming a ‘baboom’. That is my term for a baby boomer. It seems that we are now being blamed for matters from quadrupling dementia to superannuation problems and [...]

At the moment there is a video interview with Arundhati Roy on the Realnews site. You can view it at link. Roy talks about her views and what is happening in India at the moment. Particularly with those she refers to as in the fight against corporate takeovers of land, water and other resources. However, [...]

If you have any interest in the Palestine position you must watch this video. It is short and about Elton John and an upcoming concert. video Perhaps for the sake of the Palestinians it could become a classic.

Recent happenings in Malaysia are of interest. You can read the entire article at link What seems to have happened is that,” While on a speaking engagement in Malaysia organized by “Success Resources Company”, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was the object of an articulate protest movement demanding his indictment for war crimes.”  (George [...]

There is a posting on this page that relates to India and the growing difficulties internationally with food prices. Professor Ghosh who is interviewed in that video has been the subject of a further interview by Paul Jay at the Realnews site.What she talks about is the need to remove speculators in general and speculators [...]

“ we make all our achievements in science and technology serve mass murder; we educate our youth into uniformed killers, deliver the people to the soulless tyranny of a bureaucracy, put men from the cradle to the grave under police supervision, erect jails and penitentiaries, and fill the land with whole armies of informers and spies. [...]

There is a very interesting video interview at the Realnews site. Paul Jay interviews Dr. Jayati Ghosh who is Professor of Economics and currently also Chairperson at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Educated at Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and the University of Cambridge [...]

There are many unknown and hidden costs of war. The brutality and the senselessness of it all does not end when you hang up your uniform. Consider the position in the UK as reported in the Guardian, link, Last year a study by the National Association of Probation Officers estimated that the number of veterans [...]

 You really cannot say any more….  “A CIA spokesman, Paul Gimigliano, said: ”This agency conducts its counterterrorism operations in strict accord with the law.”   Except to ask,”Whose law?”       

This is how an article in the Guardian starts,”Children squint as wind whips the grey sand into their faces. A teenager braves the flies and stench of a leaking outdoor toilet to draw water from a standpipe. He stares vacantly along regimented rows of corrugated iron shacks encircled by a tall, concrete fence. No grass [...]

Perhaps it is stating the obvious but Lord Rees said in Melbourne recently that,” ”The under-30s are far more engaged with these long-term issues of climate and the environment than their elders,” he said. ”This is because they are aware they will still be alive in 50 years’ time and they care what happens them.” [...]

If you look at the recent, apparent disagreement between the US and Israel a few interesting points emerge. First assume that there really is a major point of disagreement or if you prefer the term disenchantment and that events like the release of new housing starts when Biden was there have caused a rift between [...]

 If you look at the recent, apparent disagreement between the US and Israel a few interesting points emerge. First assume that there really is a major point of disagreement or if you prefer the term disenchantment and that events like the release of new housing starts when Biden was there have caused a rift between [...]

The lead in article on this page about systemic fraud deals with a series of interviews with Associate Professor Black. The fourth part of those interviews is now available and it deals with what black feels has to be done for the US to overcome the problem. He deals very specifically with who he thinks [...]

Former Bush adviser Karl Rove has embarked on a mission to rewrite the George W. Bush presidency and tell it like it is, was, or should be imagined to have been. In a recent article Robert Parry discusses the attempt but sees that, “ the problem with Rove’s account is that not only did Bush [...]

Life gets cheap in any war. Whether you are one of the alleged good guys or part of the baddies this senseless saga keeps being re-enacted every time some politician and the armchair warriors get enough clout to convince everyone that we need to assist some armed conflict, invasion, regime change or just plain dirty [...]

There is a video interview with Associate Professor Black at the RealNews site. This is the link. The discussion is centred on the actual fraud involved in the financial crisis. With the end point being that sociopaths are now in control of the banks. What started in 2004 with a FBI report that there was [...]

How many times have you heard the familiar cry that there isn’t enough money to fund a project that might actually help members of the community. The greatest waste of money must be the absurd and insane expenditure on armaments. In Australia we have been told that we have to put aside something like $70 [...]

I sent this as a letter to an overseas newspaper. In my view what the Commissioner has said highlights what is happening in this country in general terms as far as racist attitudes are concerned. It is impossible to have it both ways. If the allegations are true it is shocking example of racism, particularly [...]

If you thought that there was ever going to be a halt to Israeli expansion in every area they can lay their hands on, perhaps this quote from the guardian may be of interest. It plainly shows that the push to a complete take over of areas clearly in breach of law is never going [...]

There is an excellent series of video interviews at the RealNews site that deals with the nature of and the spread of anti Muslim bigotry, paranoia and other attitudes. You can access the page where these are at link. The interviews are conducted by Paul Jay and the contributors are Saneer Akturk and Mujeeb Khan. [...]

John L. Esposito ism  a University Professor and Founding Director of the Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding has written an interesting article that uou can see at the al Jazeera site at link. The main topic of the article is found in this quote,” An influential Pakistani cleric issued a 600-page fatwa on March 2, described [...]

Things often come in a rush but there are some very good articles about at the moment. I will take this opportunity to list a few and provide links and a very brief description of their content. (George ikners ikners.com Joomla)

      Howard Zinn Noam Chomsky Forthcoming in the Resist Newsletter, February 2010 It is not easy for me to write a few words about Howard Zinn, the great American activist and historian who passed away a few days ago. He was a very close friend for 45 years. The families were very close [...]

An article by Robert Parry (link) deals with the media in the US and its seemingly parallel handling of the position in Iraq and Iran before commencing an invasion. Parry’s view can be seen in this quote,” In short, the Times, the Post and nearly all other U.S. news outlets have behaved more like propaganda [...]

I sent the following letter to an Australian newspaper. After I sent it I thought that I would post it to this site as well. I read with interest the article on the problems facing indigenous people and the fact that they are so highly represented in the prison system. I am a practising Criminal [...]

There is a very good article on Turkey farming techniques in the US at the Guardian site. The link here can get access to it. It presents a truly frightening picture of farming techniques in the US. Some of the figures would seem unbelievable except for the fact that the reporter was at one of [...]

There is a very good article on Turkey farming techniques in the US at the Guardian site. The link here can get access to it. It presents a truly frightening picture of farming techniques in the US. Some of the figures would seem unbelievable except for the fact that the reporter was at one of [...]

  We should give Nina Funnel an ovation for her article in the SMH. For millenia women have been extremely and actively discriminated against. Rudd’s comments to her about what he thinks about women pursuing a PhD reflects the paucity of reason being applied to the discussion. (George Ikners ikners.com Joomla)