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How the Chinese beat Trump and OpenAI

How the Chinese beat Trump and OpenAI

The hype around Artificial Intelligence, the now failed U.S. attempt to monopolise it, and the recent counter from China are a lesson in how to...

latest 3

Pearls and Irritations

Moon Of Alabama

Yoon’s fall sets up a comeback for South Korea’s progressives

Yoon’s fall sets up a comeback for South Korea’s progressives

South Korea is on the brink of major political upheaval following Yoon Seok-yeol’s declaration of martial law and subsequent impeachment. While...

latest 3

Pearls and Irritations

Karl Friedhoff

At last the eerie silence on schools funding has ended

At last the eerie silence on schools funding has ended

With a federal election looming, leaders of two political parties have now announced plans to deal with the protracted under-funding of...

latest 3

Pearls and Irritations

Lyndsay Connors

What is Dan Tehan and the Coalition offering on asylum seeker policy?

What is Dan Tehan and the Coalition offering on asylum seeker policy?

As the overall number of asylum seekers in Australia continues to rise and is now over 120,000, Shadow Immigration Spokesperson Dan Tehan regularly...

latest 3

Pearls and Irritations

Abul Rizvi

How Europe is degrading in Europe

How Europe is degrading in Europe

The European Idea is anchored by the desire to banish war from the continent forever and foster collective development by creating a...

latest 3

Pearls and Irritations

Richard Cullen

On ethnic cleansing and land theft

On ethnic cleansing and land theft

The pattern is familiar. Israel tightens the screws. Palestinians resist. Israel, under the pretext of self-defence, massacres Palestinians, steals...

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Pearls and Irritations

Sawsan Madina

“All I wanted was to bid my daughter a final farewell.” Hostages and the mainstream media

“All I wanted was to bid my daughter a final farewell.” Hostages and the mainstream media

Watching footage of Palestinian parliamentarian and hostage Khalida Jarrar emerge from Israeli captivity was jarring – a far, muffled cry from...

latest 3

Pearls and Irritations

Eugene Doyle

How can pro-Palestine protests be intimidating to Jews when Jews attend them?

How can pro-Palestine protests be intimidating to Jews when Jews attend them?

Jillian Segal, a former President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and now Australia’s controversial Special Envoy to Combat...

latest 3

Pearls and Irritations

Judith Treanor

The Year of the Snake: unseen bogs; unbridled good-luck

The Year of the Snake: unseen bogs; unbridled good-luck

Amidst colourful lion dances and whatnots, many Chinese community leaders will, once again, fete their white guardian angels at fanciful Chinese...

latest 3

Pearls and Irritations

Chek Ling

A five-minute scroll

A five-minute scroll

Trump speaks to media about the intent to clear out Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan, while Hamas responds. Google Earth updates its visuals to...

yesterday 8

Pearls and Irritations

Pearls And Irritations

1st call between Marco Rubio and Wang Yi

1st call between Marco Rubio and Wang Yi

Neither State Department nor MOFA is gonna like this piece. Wang Yi and Marco Rubio, the respective top diplomats of China and the U.S., held their...

yesterday 7

Pearls and Irritations

Zichen Wang

Trump reveals plan for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza

Trump reveals plan for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza

Well that didn’t take long. President Trump has said he wants to “clean out” Gaza and relocate its population to US client states Egypt and...

yesterday 6

Pearls and Irritations

Caitlin Johnstone

Help defend the Jewish Council’s anti-racism work against Murdoch press smear campaign

Help defend the Jewish Council’s anti-racism work against Murdoch press smear campaign

Today marks 237 years since the commencement of the violent dispossession of First Nations peoples from this land. It represents a day of mourning...

yesterday 8

Pearls and Irritations

Jewish Council Of Australia

Will public servants become agents of the party rather than the state?

Will public servants become agents of the party rather than the state?

One of the strong points Anthony Albanese made before the last election was that Scott Morrison had virtually abandoned honest government, good...

yesterday 5

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

The end of freedom

The end of freedom

Freedom, the dream that has inspired countless individuals, cultures, beliefs and civilisations over millennia, will soon be gone. Forever. In just...

yesterday 5

Pearls and Irritations

Julian Cribb

Antisemitism: a vehicle for engendering anti-Palestinian racism

Antisemitism: a vehicle for engendering anti-Palestinian racism

The promotion of antisemitism as a diversion from what is happening in Palestine is a deliberate activity which must be understood by all...

yesterday 6

Pearls and Irritations

Paul Heywood-Smith

Mainstream media fails to mention positive Labor policies

Mainstream media fails to mention positive Labor policies

The new year in Australian politics, an all-important election year, began on a high with a host of initiatives taking effect from January 1, 2025....

yesterday 7

Pearls and Irritations

Jenny Hocking

Donald Trump at the National Cathedral Washington

Donald Trump at the National Cathedral Washington

Addressing Donald Trump at the National Cathedral’s inauguration service, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, looking the incoming president in...

yesterday 5

Pearls and Irritations

George Browning

The unravelling of Australian society

The unravelling of Australian society

Australian society has never really been a cohesive entity. In the past its various socio-economic, religious, ethnic, cultural, and political...

yesterday 6

Pearls and Irritations

Allan Patience

When it comes to Australia Day, wattle stop the arguments?

When it comes to Australia Day, wattle stop the arguments?

At this time of year, we’re reminded that Australia has a problem: an ongoing and deeply divisive conflict over Australia Day. For many, January 26...

previous day 7

Pearls and Irritations

Stephen Alomes

Lancet study finds Gaza’s true death toll from Israeli genocide exceeds 60,000

Lancet study finds Gaza’s true death toll from Israeli genocide exceeds 60,000

A new study published in The Lancet estimates Gaza’s death toll at 64,260 in the first nine months of the war, 41% higher than official figures,...

previous day 1

Pearls and Irritations

Palestine Chronicle Staff

I’m going ‘Trump sober’ in 2025

I’m going ‘Trump sober’ in 2025

Pearls & Irritations have graciously published the many articles I have written over the last five years on Donald Trump. I’ve written about his...

previous day 7

Pearls and Irritations

Greg Latemore

What went wrong on the way to net zero

What went wrong on the way to net zero

The atmosphere at a recent meeting to discuss the results of the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change...

previous day 1

Pearls and Irritations

Michael Edesess

Political opportunity and the non-religious

Political opportunity and the non-religious

As we are now a few short months away from the next federal election, politicians and their advisers are desperate to identify segments of the...

previous day 5

Pearls and Irritations

Michael Dove

Parliamentary review defends university’s core functions against corporatisation

Parliamentary review defends university’s core functions against corporatisation

Finally. Someone in government gets it. The Tasmanian Parliament’s Select Committee’s report on the operation of the University of Tasmania is...

previous day 1

Pearls and Irritations

Graeme Turner

Humanity’s operating system has been infected

Humanity’s operating system has been infected

Humanity is like a vast operating system designed to run on principles of fairness, collaboration, and kindness. Research shows that humans are...

previous day 1

Pearls and Irritations

Sue Barrett

The campus under siege

The campus under siege

Suppression of critical voices through the instrumentalisation of religious fanaticism in university systems remains a powerful tool for...

previous day 1

Pearls and Irritations

Sadaf Shabbir

Nuclear kills kids

Nuclear kills kids

One moment from my work in the USA in the early 1980s stands out in my memory. I’d driven from Chicago to Cleveland at the invitation of the...

previous day 1

Pearls and Irritations

Tony Webb

Genocide memorial day: A reflection on Palestine and Gaza

Genocide memorial day: A reflection on Palestine and Gaza

For those in Gaza, the war will not end when the bombs stop falling. The war will live on in their bodies and souls—in the limbs they’ve lost, in...

previous day 1

Pearls and Irritations

Lama Qasem

Editorial changes at Pearls and Irritations

Editorial changes at Pearls and Irritations

At the end of this month we farewell Aran Martin, after over two years as our editor. From early February, Sam Varghese will be acting editor of...

sunday 8

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue

Dualism? Or unequivocal condemnation of evil?

Dualism? Or unequivocal condemnation of evil?

Wars, like that being waged currently by the Zionist terrorist government of Netanyahu are the destructive and mindless outworking of dualism;...

sunday 10

Pearls and Irritations

John White

War and climate change: the carbon footprint of a genocide

War and climate change: the carbon footprint of a genocide

The International Court of Justice heard, last month, that after reconstruction is factored in Israel’s war on Gaza will have emitted 52 million...

sunday 1

Pearls and Irritations

Jeremy Rose

A Home For M

A Home For M

Grassroots support can help many refugees find their feet. Working with very stretched organisations to support refugees. Safety is a primary...

sunday 1

Pearls and Irritations

Jane Salmon

Instead of noise and bluster, can January 26 be a day of loving awareness of those who are hurting?

Instead of noise and bluster, can January 26 be a day of loving awareness of those who are hurting?

I have been reading Stan Grant’s beautiful new book, Murriyang song of time (Bundyi: Sydney 2024). There is in it a sentence pertaining to the...

sunday 1

Pearls and Irritations

Philip Huggins

The lucky Aborigines

The lucky Aborigines

“I do hold the view that the luckiest thing that happened to this country was being colonised by the British,” he said. “Not that they were...

sunday 1

Pearls and Irritations

Humphrey Mcqueen

Anti-Semitism ‘Rise’ obscures more slaughter in Gaza

Anti-Semitism ‘Rise’ obscures more slaughter in Gaza

Australian political leaders and their mainstream media backers are in moral outrage mode. Anti-Semitism they say is rife, infectious, getting...

sunday 6

Pearls and Irritations

Stuart Rees

Environment: Accelerating towards a collision with the climate

Environment: Accelerating towards a collision with the climate

Human societies are setting themselves on a collision course with climate-induced catastrophes. Lithium-ion batteries will soon be facing...

sunday 3

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Sainsbury

How Israel’s ‘First Defeat’ will shape the country’s future

How Israel’s ‘First Defeat’ will shape the country’s future

The headline in the Times of Israel says it all: “For the First Time, Israel Just Lost a War.” Regardless of the reasoning behind this...

25.01.2025 6

Pearls and Irritations

Ramzy Baroud

Who is missing from the conversation?

Who is missing from the conversation?

We need to stop putting all our eggs in the ‘anti-racism strategy basket’ and start to recognise that a more holistic approach where everyone...

25.01.2025 9

Pearls and Irritations

Anthea Hancocks

Palestine protests in Australia shunned by media, but carry on

Palestine protests in Australia shunned by media, but carry on

Pro-Palestine protests have been taking place all over Australia right from the time when Israel started its massacre in October 2023. But looking...

25.01.2025 10

Pearls and Irritations

Caroline Graham

Who feels unsafe and why?

Who feels unsafe and why?

When Parliament returns, the government will be pressed to enact a law making it a criminal offence to threaten violence against people or groups...

25.01.2025 6

Pearls and Irritations

Alison Broinowski

After the theft of a continent, welfare benefits beat work

After the theft of a continent, welfare benefits beat work

Land rights now! By a strange quirk of fate, I was working in the Minister’s Office in 1976 when Parliament passed the Aboriginal Land Rights (...

25.01.2025 6

Pearls and Irritations

Bob Beadman

Has Albanese finally snuffed out the light on the hill?

Has Albanese finally snuffed out the light on the hill?

Although Australian elections are not marked by turnout issues as they are in the US where voting is discretionary, there are lessons for Anthony...

25.01.2025 4

Pearls and Irritations

Paul Begley

Trump ‘angling for deal’ with Xi – Asian Media Report

Trump ‘angling for deal’ with Xi – Asian Media Report

In Asian media this week: President links China to Panama Canal face-off. Plus: Weaknesses in America’s Asian pact latticework; Government,...

25.01.2025 3

Pearls and Irritations

David Armstrong

Reality hits home: “Ukraine is running out of Ukrainians,” says US Secretary of State

Reality hits home: “Ukraine is running out of Ukrainians,” says US Secretary of State

Back at the very start of the war retired US Ambassador Chas Freeman, an eloquent critic of many aspects of his government’s international...

25.01.2025 1

Pearls and Irritations

Eugene Doyle

Donald Trump’s return: gloves off reset

Donald Trump’s return: gloves off reset

Donald Trump’s return to power for a second term has sent ripples across the globe. On his first day in office, he wielded executive authority...

25.01.2025 2

Pearls and Irritations

Christine Loh

Reforms are needed to ensure an adequate retirement income

Reforms are needed to ensure an adequate retirement income

Australians now have access to significant superannuation balances, but if superannuation is going to meet its purpose of ensuring an adequate...

25.01.2025 6

Pearls and Irritations

Michael Keating