“The words of this wizard stand on their heads… In the language of Orthance help means ruin, and saving means slaying, that is plain” J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings. As scholar Tom Shippey points out, Saruman is the most “modern” character of The Lord of the
Oh, boy… I’m really setting myself up for the obvious “Tasmanian” jokes, with this one. Which would be pretty rich, really, coming from a country where there are five times as many sheep as people. But, c’mon, let’s get serious: this is not a joking matter. A
Boy, they like to keep it in the family in the Labor party. I’m not talking about Mahuta Inc., but the other side of the Tasman. The Labor party is notorious for its incestuous relationship with the supposedly impartial ABC — a host of Labor pollies and senior ABC journos
Nothing tells me more that Labor are losing confidence in their “Indigenous Voice” referendum than the fact that they’re trying to change the rules ahead of the vote. Australia’s founding fathers wisely set a very high bar for referendums. Because Constitutional change should never be taken lightly. Australians
I recently wrote about how toxic New Zealand’s political class have become. Especially in directly inverse proportion to their self-serving witterings about “kindness”. Australia’s aren’t any better, of course. And, just like New Zealand’s, the more self-righteous they are, the bigger bullies they are. Especially behind
It’s a bit of a silly season in Australian politics, right now. Spring marks when the nation’s rival football codes, Australian Rules and Rugby League (oh, come on: the only time anyone even pretends to be interested in soccer is when the World Cup is on) both have
Well, I’ll be buttered on both sides! The ABC is almost telling the truth about “renewables”! No, they’re not telling the truth about the massive pollution in developing countries caused by mining and manufacturing components for windmills and solar panels. And no, they’re not telling the truth
If you don’t have a Silver level membership yet you are missing out on our Insight Politics articles. Today is a FREE taste of an Insight Politics article by writer Lushington D. Brady Why Brag about Things You Never Did? Identity politics is strictly for losers Australian Aboriginal academic
More and more public figures are admitting what we at The BFD have been telling you since April 2020: lockdowns didn’t work. In fact, it’s becoming widely – if tacitly – accepted even in polite circles that they didn’t just not work, they were a disaster. Of course there
As (black) American scholars like Wilfred Reilly, Roland G Fryer and Thomas Sowell vainly keep trying to point out, nearly every “racial disparity” can be easily explained – and not by “race”. Contrary to the Critical Race Theory assumption that “systemic racism” underlies every group difference, real or imagined, there’s
In fashion, the latest trend may always be the “new black”, but in politics right now, “extremism” is the new white. Establishment crony challenged by a grassroots upstart? “Extremism”! Right-of-Marx policies? “Extremism!” Believe in freedom? “ULTRA-EXTREMISM!” “Extremism” is fast displacing “racism”, “Nazi” and “white supremacist” in the legacy media and
For a mob who like to call themselves “warriors”, city-based Aboriginal activists sure seem like a fragile lot. So delicate are these little flowers that they feel “unsafe” at the very mention of a woman’s name. It’s a wonder they can bear to look at their own pasty,
To damn them with faint praise, it should be acknowledged that the embiggeners of apartheid in Australia are bothering to ask before they irrevocably divide the country along racial lines. They’re still not telling us the whole truth of what they’re up to, of course, but at least
Here’s a not-so-difficult question: if you were a copper, would you risk going into one of the most notoriously violent places in Australia without a gun? We’re talking about a place where nearly the entire town was recently evacuated, due to roving bands of men armed with axes
One of the most rewarding pleasures in life is plunging into a beautiful stream or waterhole after hours, if not days, of tramping. Not any more, if “Dictator Dan” has his way. Those walking off a trail, swimming in a waterway or conducting research in a park could face hefty
It would take a heart of stone not to have been moved by Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. Even my son, who recently shrugged at the fuss over the monarch’s death, because “it’s such an outdated system”, sat glued to the ceremony for hours. From the touching personal
