The truth about politics in a social media world
Annabel Crabb 12:00 AM The thumbs-up, thumbs-down voting system doesn't work in politics, because politics is never that simple.
Latest Comment
Our skewed value system
![Peter FitzSimons dinkus](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/z/s/1/7/b/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gplv9r.11mdqt.png/1466258803687.jpg)
Peter FitzSimons 12:06 AM Here in Australia, our own skewed value system was apparent last Sunday.
The lie that diminishes us all
![Peter Martin dinkus](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/z/q/y/b/x/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpl9gf.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
Peter Martin 12:00 AM We tell ourselves we are compassionate to the people and creatures in our care. But that's not true.
Liberals are already dividing the spoils
![Mark kenny dinkus](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/g/y/f/y/k/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpljgy.11mdqt.png/1466174520659.jpg)
Mark Kenny The polls point to a narrow Coalition victory but either side could yet crash and burn.
Stop the votes: marriage plebiscite not the way
![The only thing that will happen when same-sex marriage is legislated, is, well, same-sex couples will get married.](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/9/f/s/i/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpjfn1.11mdqt.png/1466230508244.jpg)
Michael Short 12:00 PM A plebiscite on same-sex marriage risks being a national catastrophe.
JUNE 19
Time to take a reality TV check
![Letters dinkus](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/z/r/3/h/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpjasv.11mdqt.png/1466204824460.jpg)
12:00 AM Andrew Hornery gives voice to the feelings I have had since seeing Channel Nine's promotional ads for its new reality show The Briefcase. What next? Human sacrifice for the entertainment of the masses?
The great tragedy of Malcolm Turnbull
![Elizabeth Farrelly dinkus](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/a/o/z/u/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpkors.11mdqt.png/1466211123323.jpg)
Elizabeth Farrelly Another day, another solemn prime ministerial hypocrisy: climate change and the Reef, Centennial Parklands and trees, Orlando and homophobia, Indigenous recognition.
The things we shouldn't say to little girls
![Julia Baird dinkus](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/4/c/w/i/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpkyjc.11mdqt.png/1466203863869.jpg)
Julia Baird Every now and then, the most well meaning comment can make me worry.
Gay rights could defeat Islamic State
![Jacqueline Maley](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/e/i/c/u/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpkn7t.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
Jacqueline Maley It's only a hunch. But I am pretty sure that if you did up a Venn diagram of those who hate gay people and those who hate Muslims, there would be such significant cross-over it would resemble a near-eclipse.
LinkedIn is the worst social media network
![Dominic Knight](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/2/k/k/c/i/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpl7nd.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
Dominic Knight How can the home of the humblebrag be worth $35 billion?
COMMENT
Exposing the ridiculous slur of 'radical Islam'
![Turkey](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/4/h/p/s/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpjno8.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
Daniel Flitton The trap is choice of language, of the words-are-bullets variety. How to best describe the terrorist threat, and by extension, how to craft a policy to extinguish it.
Fast action on tax havens needed now
![Inflation is expected to remain well below the Reserve Bank of Australia's 2 per cent to 3 per cent target range until ...](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/s/l/0/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpk5jo.11mdqt.png/1466154867526.jpg)
Andrew Leigh A few years ago, a team of American journalists decided to set up a company in a tax haven. After a quick internet search, they paid US$900 to set up a shell company in Belize (they called it 'Unbeliezable').
Malcolm in the dock
![Michael Gordon](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/g/z/a/8/r/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gplkwy.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
Michael Gordon Turnbull's return to Q&A; might be his most daring move in this risk-averse campaign to retain government.
Shorten hangs on but Turnbull's stability pitch looms large
![SMH editorial dinkus](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/t/z/9/5/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpl5o0.11mdqt.png/1466177237442.jpg)
The Coalition's headstart on economic management and asylum policy will be tough to claw back.
JUNE 18
State your case but do not inflame hatred
![Letters dinkus](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/z/r/3/h/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gplb6v.11mdqt.png/1466177283809.jpg)
Not since the rise of Fascism in the 1930s have the voices of hatred been so prevalent. ("British MP Jo Cox dies after being shot by man reportedly shouting 'Britain First'", June 17).
Column 8: To pronounce the 't' or not when it comes to Turandot
![Column 8](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/z/r/3/c/9/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gplgvq.11mdqt.png/1466177318599.jpg)
​Column 8 readers are divided over the pronuncition of Turandot, but it's the upcoming rain event that gets the last word. Column8@smh.com.au
Threats and spin will not deter us from reporting on Unaoil
![The Ahsani family: Saman, Cyrus and Ata.](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/v/w/c/t/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpiztf.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker, Michael Bachelard Over the past few months, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice, the UK Serious Fraud Office and the Australian Federal Police have been running a major international corruption probe into Monaco company, Unaoil.Â
It's not all about Gladys
![Sean Nicholls dinkus](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/g/2/j/j/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpk5c4.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
Sean Nicholls All eyes – in NSW politics at least – will be on Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian next Tuesday as she delivers her second state budget. But it's Luke Foley who will be under real pressure.
Sydney's gay bars matter more than ever
![Nic Holas dinkus](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/l/1/1/c/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpk5ex.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
Nic Holas This week, the LGBTIQ community has struggled to comprehend that the biggest mass shooting in American history was also a hate crime directed right at us in the very space we consider our most sacred and profane, the gay nightclub.
Thank you, Australia, for making people safe
![Aubrey Perry dinkus](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/l/1/2/h/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpjn0r.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
Aubrey Perry Thank you, Australia, for doing the job the United States can't: making its people safe.
What mass killings and domestic violence have in common
![Omar Mateen shot dead 49 people before being killed by police.](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/i/a/5/f/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpk4cq.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
Amanda Taub Violence in the home can be seen as a psychological training ground for someone like Omar Mateen to commit a mass attack, writes Amanda Taub.
End of life choices are vital, but not cut and dried
![As a community we need to be prolonging life, not death.](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/0/u/q/5/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpjtpb.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
Fiona Patten As a community we need to be prolonging life ... not death.
JUNE 17
Care for the elderly should be a priority
![<p>](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/z/r/3/h/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpk99q.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
I am sure there were more than a few of us who were driven to tears after reading John Watkins outpouring of compassion for the aged, particularly in "care".
Nation building on Indigenous recognition
![SMH editorial dinkus](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/t/z/9/5/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpjqko.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
What does it say about us as a nation, that there never seems to be a good time to talk about a treaty with Indigenous Australians?
Unpicking radical Islam's pathological obsession with sex
![Filipinos light candles during a vigil to pay tribute to the victims of the Orlando, Fla. mass shooting.](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/k/2/a/0/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpjgpn.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
Julie Szego Progressives need to find the intellectual dexterity to conceive of Muslims as both victims and perpetrators of dangerous bigotry.
We need to speak up for our parents
![Tom Watkins dinkus](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/k/0/e/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpjfag.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
John Watkins Middle-aged men and women are having conversations about a subject they dread: what to do about about the future care of their aged parents. Â
The truth about a gluten-free diet? It's nonsense
![Most people who think they are wheat intolerant, aren't.](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/h/d/y/f/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpih0s.11mdqt.png/1466223564501.jpg)
Peter H.R. Green and Rory Jones Most people who believe that they are wheat-sensitive, without medical confirmation, are probably not.
Why cancer can cost more the rarer it is
![pills antibiotics drugs generic](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/b/0/e/t/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpj1gd.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
Richard Vines Cancer patients are doing it tough because they've been unlucky enough to develop a rare cancer.
Next time our love will be just for us
![But what happens when the good times turn bad?](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/r/g/m/8/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpjf8g.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
Alya Mooro Do you delete all those photos that now make you cringe? Do you unfollow each other?
And the world's best restaurant is...
![Osteria Francescana: number one.](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/j/r/5/p/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpjnyk.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
Karl Quinn When it comes to dining, fine or otherwise, there's more than one way to judge the best in the world.
Baird's half-baked property tax grab
![SMH editorial dinkus](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/t/z/9/5/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpj8zp.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
Not that such brazen fund-raising is such a bad thing – in theory.
JUNE 16
Buoyed by show of love in face of hate
![Letters dinkus](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/z/r/3/h/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpjdid.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
As a gay man and as someone who remembers the past invisibility of my sexuality in the media, I am astounded at the worldwide outpouring of grief and support for the victims of the Orlando massacre.
Column 8
![Column 8](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/z/r/3/c/9/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpjffc.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
"It appears that some in the media are becoming a bit rattled by this super long election lead-up," says Robert Bear, of Sydenham.
Why we need more Irish dancers in Parliament
![Alan Stokes.](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/3/8/v/3/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpielb.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
Alan Stokes We need fewer union bosses, political apparatchiks and self-serving businessmen.
Orlando was a crime born from homophobia
![SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 06: Lavender Bay: Trent Zimmerman the new member for North Sydney after winning the seat ...](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/g/p/5/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpiqse.11mdqt.png/1466223613712.jpg)
Trent Zimmerman Nothing prepared me for the emotions that I have felt after the events of Orlando.
The festival that Sydney would never allow
![Vivid Sydney 2016: Opera House Songlines. Artist Donny Woolagoodja. Credit Destination NSW](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/d/q/x/x/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpimwl.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
James Valentine There's fires everywhere. In Sydney there would be a carefully guarded perimeter. Not here.
How did the FBI miss Omar Mateen?
![Omar Mateen was investigated by the FBI twice over the past several years for terrorism-related associations.](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/i/a/5/f/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpicfh.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
David Gomez If you follow social media on the topic of the FBI and terrorism, you will find two themes predominate whenever a terrorist incident occurs in the United States.
Why I light candles after tragedy
![A candle burns in front of a pride flag while community members gather for a vigil to honor the victims of the attack ...](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/i/6/5/z/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpicgz.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
Billy Kluttz Prayers still matter to me, even though they seem useless to some.
Orlando shooting: Prayers from hypocrites don't help
![Friends and family grieve after a list of hospitalized victims was released, implying the death of those who weren't on ...](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/i/0/t/t/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpi6rp.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
John Birmingham The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as the old saying would have it. Unless they're gay, in which case… awkward!
Better gun laws could have stopped tragedy
![SMH editorial dinkus](/web/20160618153527im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/t/z/9/5/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpied1.11mdqt.png/1466152274546.jpg)
Donald Trump is playing to the gun lobby and the jelly-backed Congressmen and women at its beck and call.