NZ First’s foray into transgender issues might be ethically dubious, but politically it could be a winner

One political advertisement stood out from the thousands that blitzed the US presidential campaign of 2024. It inflicted enormous damage on the Democratic Party’s flagbearer, Kamala Harris. The ad’s central tagline deployed just two sentences: “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.” Former President Bill Clinton urged the Harris Campaign to come back […]

NZ First’s foray into transgender issues might be ethically dubious, but politically it could be a winner

Dane Luo: Andy Burnham and the Constitution – The Conventions on the Appointment of the Prime Minister

After disastrous local government election results for the Labour Party, speculation has been rife about an internal leadership challenge to Prime Minister Keir Starmer. On Thursday 14 May 2026, the Member of Makerfield, Josh Simons, announced he was resigning his Manchester-based seat (formally given effect by an appointment to an ‘office of profit under the […]

Dane Luo: Andy Burnham and the Constitution – The Conventions on the Appointment of the Prime Minister

Bigger than Ben Hur

Radio NZ reports: Deakin University associate criminology professor Dr James Martin told RNZ the Australian approach had relied on enforcement to suppress the black market. “This has been really ineffective,” he said. “We’ve got between 50-60 percent of all tobacco and nearly all vaping products in Australia now come from criminal suppliers, and it’s generated…

Bigger than Ben Hur

Net Zero Parties Annihilated By Trump Aligned Candidates in British and Australian Elections

Turns out the public has higher priorities than ensuring their great grandkids enjoy 0.01ºC lower temperatures in 100 years. The post Net Zero Parties Annihilated By Trump Aligned Candidates in British and Australian Elections appeared first on Watts Up With That?.

Net Zero Parties Annihilated By Trump Aligned Candidates in British and Australian Elections

“Get Rid of the Department of Climate Change”: Aussie One Nation’s Condition for a Future Coalition Government Deal

One Nation, which is riding high in national polls, has laid out a hard condition for supporting any future right wing Aussie coalition government. The post “Get Rid of the Department of Climate Change”: Aussie One Nation’s Condition for a Future Coalition Government Deal appeared first on Watts Up With That?.

“Get Rid of the Department of Climate Change”: Aussie One Nation’s Condition for a Future Coalition Government Deal

Australia’s ‘Renewable’ Obsession Decimates Industry

Driving Australia’s current trajectory is the mythical claim that so-called renewables – are inherently cheap and that any short‑term pain will give way to lasting price declines. The post Australia’s ‘Renewable’ Obsession Decimates Industry appeared first on Watts Up With That?.

Australia’s ‘Renewable’ Obsession Decimates Industry

Australia puts fostering “indigenous knowledge systems” as its first priority in developing marine biology

As always, an Aussie who wishes to remain anonymous sent me this link, and noted that New Zealand isn’t the only country in the Antipodes that tries to make science (again “Western science”) coequal with indigenous knowledge.  Clicking on the screenshot below will take you to the strategy developed by the Aussie government: the “Australian…

Australia puts fostering “indigenous knowledge systems” as its first priority in developing marine biology

What Freedom of Speech Is For: The case against silencing

In 1633, the Roman Inquisition condemned Galileo for heresy. His offence was to argue that the Earth moves around the Sun. The Church was not acting out of malice. It was protecting a politically approved consensus against what was considered to be dangerous nonsense. The theologians and philosophers who condemned Galileo were not fools. They […]

What Freedom of Speech Is For: The case against silencing

Francesca Jackson: King Charles, President Trump and the State Visit: Some Constitutional Considerations

Buckingham Palace has finally announced that the King and Queen’s planned visit to the US will indeed go ahead at the end of April 2026. After US President Donald Trump launched a string of verbal attacks on the UK Prime Minister, there had been growing calls for Keir Starmer to cancel the King’s visit, which […]

Francesca Jackson: King Charles, President Trump and the State Visit: Some Constitutional Considerations

Believe women – except Jewish ones

Grace Tame was the 2021 Australian of the Year for her work as an advocate of survivors of sexual abuse. Sadly, but not surprisingly, she is only an advocate for rape and sexual abuse victims if they are not Jewish. News.com.au reports: Child safety campaigner Grace Tame has come under fire for suggesting rapes and…

Believe women – except Jewish ones

Dismantling the competition myth

Ask anyone in Australia’s competition law community what transformed the economy, and you will hear a familiar story. Australia was once a cartelised, complacent place where businesses divided up markets and consumers paid the price. Then came the Trade Practices Act in 1974, and competition law forced firms to compete. This is not a fringe […]

Dismantling the competition myth

Why Most Australian Writers’ Festivals Are Pro-Palestinian

Australian writers’ festivals are frequently accused of being “pro-Palestinian” or anti-Israeli. The charge is usually made in frustration: panels on Gaza and Palestinian literature are common; strongly pro-Israel voices are rare; and anyone who questions the imbalance is quickly told they are confusing “balance” with “morality”. Yet the more interesting question is not whether a […]

Why Most Australian Writers’ Festivals Are Pro-Palestinian

Aussie Senator: US Social Media Reluctance to Censor Climate Skeptics – “This is the Problem”

Apparently free speech is OK, as long as the Australian Government thinks what you are saying is true.

Aussie Senator: US Social Media Reluctance to Censor Climate Skeptics – “This is the Problem”

Framing and omission in BBC coverage of Israeli president’s Australia visit

Early on February 9th the BBC News website published a report by Sydney correspondent Helen Livingstone headlined “Israeli president lays wreath at Bondi at… The post Framing and omission in BBC coverage of Israeli president’s Australia visit appeared first on CAMERA UK.

Framing and omission in BBC coverage of Israeli president’s Australia visit

Waking up to the reality of tobacco’s black market

There’s a website called Tobacco in Australia: Facts and Issues which is written by a few anti-smoking activist-academics. It provides lots of tobacco-related statistics and a bit of editorialising. The website has a whole section devoted to criticising “industry estimates of the extent of illicit trade in tobacco”. It is an article of faith in tobakko…

Waking up to the reality of tobacco’s black market

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Why Evolution Is True

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NoTricksZone

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Peter Winsley

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Bet On It

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WORLD WAR II, MUSIC, HISTORY, HOLOCAUST

Roger Pielke Jr.

Undisciplined scholar, recovering academic

Offsetting Behaviour

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JONATHAN TURLEY

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Marginal REVOLUTION

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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert”. - J Robert Oppenheimer.

STOP THESE THINGS

The truth about the great wind power fraud - we're not here to debate the wind industry, we're here to destroy it.

Lindsay Mitchell

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Alt-M

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