© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

How much lower can our pollies go?

March 18, 2022 Opinion by Greg Ray Without a trace of embarrassment the Federal Government handed out flood relief payments to disaster victims in the National Party electorate of Page and withheld them from those in the Labor-held electorate of Richmond. These are not huge sums - just one or two thousand dollars or so per person - but it would be awfully handy for people whose uninsurable homes were ruined by floods which did not discriminate on the basis of political affiliation. Surely a total loss in Ballina is the same, in effect, as a…

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If only George Orwell could see us now

What would George Orwell think if he could come back to life now? In his hugely influential dystopian novel 1984, Orwell extrapolated from trends he could see in his own times (the book was published in 1949) to imagine where these trends might take the world in the future. A future where the world’s nations coalesced into three main blocs; the presumed Anglosphere of Oceania, the possibly Russian dominated Eurasia and the possibly China-centric Eastasia. Oceania was ruled by “Big Brother”, a figurehead who demanded total loyalty from all citizens in deed, word and even thought…

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What happens next in Ukraine?

March 6, 2022 Opinion by Greg Ray What happens next in Ukraine? Will it escalate into a wider war that spreads death and destruction into other parts of Europe? Will it become a massive festering wound in Russia’s side through which the Putin dictatorship bleeds to death? Will somebody, by accident or in desperation, hit the nuclear button? What scenario would you like to see? Personally, I’d like to imagine a ceasefire, a negotiated settlement and a walk back from the abyss. And I honestly think it could happen. But only the US is powerful enough…

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