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How the US will win the war with IS
The US turned out to be good at toppling regimes but not so good at building stable new ones. The jihadis have the same problem. Both sides will keep trying. Which will be the ultimate victor?
Count the members of the Jedi, we must
Listen to humourless atheists a Jedi does not.
Trapped in a prison with little hope of release
If there is a word that encapsulates what I have seen, it is loss. Indefinite detention compounds the original loss.
Question of religion demands honesty
Racists and self-interested church hierarchies should not be permitted to pervert the national census. Mark the religion that you genuinely and actively practice.
For Australian women, the Hillary Clinton ascendancy is glorious
I put all the fear and politicking aside for one brief moment to watch Hillary Clinton's speech.
Rudd never had a hope of getting the UN gig
If you meet someone, anyone, who thinks Rudd's been dudded by being "denied" the nomination, treat them gently. They obviously prefer living in a world of fantasy.
Religious identity has meaning
The census is not asking a "what you believe" question: it is rather an indication of identity and affiliation.
Turnbull government has started as it seems doomed to continue
There were three items for the first meeting of the new Turnbull cabinet: the cliff-hanger federal election, the response to Four Corner's teenage detention revelations, and Kevin Rudd.
Why I left the most liveable suburbs in Sydney
The lower north shore is the perfect place to retire. But during your prime, you'll spend all your time leaving it, and paying a hefty bridge toll to do so.
In the Herald: August 2, 1880
Premier at Ashfield
The untold story of the sacking of the Parramatta Eels board
Standing up for myself and other former Parramatta board members might not be popular. My efforts so far have been met with appalling vilification on social media.
Last best hope for LNP in north Queensland
LNP has no sitting member in state's second largest city.
Rights legislation needed to protect the vulnerable
Juvenile detention images shocked many Australians.
In the Herald: August 1, 1936
Olympic ceremony overshadows sport
Take the spotlight off money and return the Olympic focus to sport and human camaraderie
When so much of the Olympics show is about money, it's difficult to criticise those, such as Telstra, who skip the expensive razzmatazz.
Stop the bastardry
There is now footage from inside Australia's offshore detention centres. It's as distressing as the NT images that triggered a royal commission.
We need an inquiry into the whole Northern Territory
Anyone who doubts that the Northern Territory is different should look at the number of police per 100,000 residents.
ANU, born 1946, still going strong
August 1 marks an important anniversary for Australia and especially for the great city of Canberra.
Rejecting free trade agreements is not necessarily anti-globalisation
''Free trade agreements'' are not export agreements and, in any case, raising exports per se is not the road to higher living standards.
Turnbull faces tough terrain but that's no excuse to stroll
The unforeseen Northern Territory royal commission notwithstanding, Malcolm Turnbull's reform dance card is hardly full.
The Liberal Party's other deficit woe: women
The Liberal Party's meritocracy rhetoric seems hollow.
Malcolm Turnbull is in fear of his own party
The only winners from Malcolm Turnbull's Rudd decision are the bitter haters in the Liberal Party.
This week Australia is a boy in a hood strapped to a chair
How can I stand here and speak to the idea of our place in an indissoluble commonwealth when this week my people have been reminded that our place is so often behind this nation's bars.
The tough-on-crime rhetoric led to cruel abuse
To do a great right, do a little wrong. The Northern Territory government has already perpetrated a great wrong. When stories of horrific abuse within Northern Territory youth detention centres began to emerge years ago – stories of children being assaulted in their cells and forcibly stripped naked – the NT government chose to ignore them.
Our vote is worth every cent of $2.63
There was a burst of the usual low-level grumbling on Wednesday when the Australian Electoral Commission released its figures on how much public funding would be paid to Australian political parties and candidates after the double dissolution election we just enjoyed.