Plus Ultra!
I know Brian said that we’d posted our last, but I couldn’t let the very kind words on the thread announcing our closure to go un-remarked. I also thought it somewhat incumbent on me as founder of the blog to […]
Deep origins: language
Warning: longer essay-style post. David B Anthony in his extraordinary book The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How the Bronze-age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World tells us that language normally changes so that speakers 1000 years […]
Boys’ Own Adventures of John Howard
Quadrant magazine, the self-described “leading general intellectual journal of ideas, literature, poetry and historical and political debate published in Australia” has published a book titled The Howard Era. The book is co-edited by Quadrant editor Keith Windschuttle, University of Queensland […]
Brisbanites! Announcing The Ubiquitous Hat Pop Up Book and Garage Sale! This Saturday!
As Brian mentioned the other day, I’m moving and we’re hosting a Pop Up Book and Garage Sale on Saturday at our Farm House. There’s oodles of quality books – academic and otherwise, with politics and history particularly prominent among […]
All local politics is global I
One of the interesting things, to me, about visiting Prague was talking to a number of local academics – at the Anglo-American University and the Institute of Industrial and Financial Management – about how globalisation was often viewed through a […]
Mr Abbott and the Culture Wars II: Climate Change and civil society
One argument I made in my earlier post about Mr Abbott’s relaunch of the Culture Wars is that he won’t have noticed that civil society is stronger than it was in the Howard years. It’s not just “clicktivism” – there […]
Research priorities: towards a culture of ideas
Last week, I looked at the new Coalition government’s intention to circumscribe the range of acceptable topics for Australian Research Council grants. I think – aside from the obvious ‘condemn’ – that might also provide a useful starting point for […]
Mr Abbott and the Culture Wars I: Marriage equality
The ACT government has introduced legislation into the territory’s Assembly to provide for same sex marriage. Unsurprisingly, when not distracted by plans to Defend Freedom and re-introduce the title of QC, Attorney-General George Brandis QC has been asked by Tony […]
Philosophy talks back to power
I was very heartened to read a comment piece in The Guardian by Paul Redding, Professor of Philosophy at Sydney University. Redding is one of the recipients of an ARC grant which was ridiculed by the Coalition in the week […]
Richard Denniss: Should we all move to New Zealand?
In an op/ed in the Canberra Times today, Dr Richard Denniss, Executive Director of The Australia Institute asks whether there is scope for hope on the left in an Abbott Prime Ministership. Denniss alludes to the oft-expressed desire of lefties […]
Bolivaran revolution for McDonald
It’s interesting to read that fast food chain McDonald’s has closed its remaining outlets in Bolivia. While activists in Australia and elsewhere often campaign to keep Maccas out of their neck of the woods, in Bolivia, it appears to be […]