High Noon in Western Sydney
John Wayne thought High Noon was a story about weakness. The Liberal Party thinks it's a strategy.
To say what is obviously true, and what serious people would do about it.
Who is the law for?
A pregnant woman was assaulted by her neighbour. He was released and returned next door. The system expected her to manage the risk.
The permanent purge: What Xi’s housecleaning reveals about China’s stability
Xi's purges consolidate power but hollow out competence
The standard you apply depends on who’s applying
Either ancestry-and-land claims can ground political standing or they cannot. Australian institutions want both positions simultaneously—without saying why.
The cost of harmony
Institutions that rely on other people's money fail when accountability is treated as a relationship problem.
Note to Xiao Qian: No
Ambassador Xiao Qian represents a totalitarian regime. Australians are under no obligation to treat his propaganda as diplomatic exchange.
Thermostat politics and the fever of the modern Liberal Party
The voters leaving aren't rejecting Liberal values - they're looking for an institution who still holds them.
Show trials, then and now
From Solzhenitsyn's engineers to modern professional regulation: the structural features of the show trial
Duty culls
Serious societies accept unpleasant duties.
How not to think about Australia Day
The Australia Day debate persists not because the question is complex, but because it is rarely stated honestly.