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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 13h

The packaging of Netanyahu and a small number of his cabinet colleagues and military officers as those solely responsible for the genocide, are already starting to show. #auspol #genicide #complicit

How the West will package the genocide after Netanyahu

In the not-too-distant future, the Netanyahu Government will fall. When this happens, it will become politically fashionable (and indeed necessary) for Western leaders outside the US to intellectually “package” the genocide in Gaza.

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 14h

Nearly two decades after @ChrisLynnHedges published American Fascists, the US Christian right is moving toward becoming an explicitly fascist movement. #auspol #christianfacism

The return of the KKK?

President Donald Trump is imposing a right-wing political ideology and practice that increasingly resembles what Christ Hedges has dubbed “Christian fascism.

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 14h

Until the US media can name and confront suffering without qualification, its moral authority will remain threadbare. The children of Gaza are not dying from disinformation. #auspol #VanJones #Gaza

Van Jones and the moral vacancy of American commentary on Gaza

The US pundit’s dead Gaza baby joke was not a slip of the tongue, but a window into a media culture that trivialises Palestinian suffering and deflects responsibility.

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 14h

Even with some divestments in regional markets, and even by Australian standards, this is looking like an extraordinary level of media concentration.#auspol #media #regionalmedia

The Australian media is more concentrated than ever. Here are the three moments that got us here

In its announcement of the proposed merger with Southern Cross Media, Seven West described the deal as “consistent with Seven West’s stated strategic position of being in support of media consolidation in Australia”.

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 14h

At a time when the value of research is being questioned, Richard Robson’s story is a powerful reminder of how scientific research leads to real-world impact. #auspol #NobelPrize

An Australian chemist just won the Nobel Prize. Here’s how his work is changing the world

The 2025 Nobel Prize in chemistry has been awarded for the development of metal-organic frameworks: molecular structures that have large spaces within them, capable of capturing and storing gases and other chemicals.

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 15h

As the world reacts with jubilation that the non-stop death and destruction may soon abate, scepticism abounds as to whether the agreement will result in just and lasting peace. #auspol #Peaceplan #Gaza

‘We must keep the pressure on’: Humanitarians say ceasefire doesn’t erase Gaza genocide

“This much-needed and welcomed ceasefire does not change the simple fact that Israel has just committed a genocide in Gaza,” wrote the co-founder of European Jews for Palestine.

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 15h

The House of Representatives’ education committee is reviewing the education system’s engagement with Asia following multi-year decline in learning Asian languages. #auspol

Almost no Australians study Chinese any more. That’s a problem

Fewer than five Australians per year are graduating from honours programs in Chinese studies with language, raising fears the nation is losing the expertise needed to navigate its most complex foreign relationship.

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 15h

Australia’s defence alliance with the US raises concerns about national sovereignty. South Korea's unique relationship with the US makes sovereignty a concrete issue. @Dart47 #aupol

Price rally fuels surge in Southeast Asia gold businesses – Asian Media Report

In Asian media this week: Beijing in 11-month gold-buying streak. Plus: Takaichi the most conservative leadership choice; US looks to delegate Taiwan defence; Prabowo holds massive military parade; South Korea’s Lee challenges US wartime control; China’s harsh times feed a spiritual economy.

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 15h

Stephen Keim: @MaryKostakidis “was acting in accord with orthodox judgments and actions concerning publication made by editors and journalists around the world on a daily basis”. #auspol #ZFA

Judge allows Kostakidis ‘antisemitism’ case to proceed

Justice Stephen McDonald told the court, in the course of a six-minute hearing on Thursday, that the contention the Zionist Federation of Australia had no case against journalist Mary Kostakidis had to be determined at trial, reports Joe Lauria.

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 16h

We cannot rest until the entire system of occupation and apartheid is dismantled and replaced with liberation. This is only the beginning. Free Palestine, from the river to the sea. #auspol #Palestine

Celebrate the ceasefire, but don’t forget: Gaza survived on its own

Western leaders now claim credit for peace, but Gaza’s survival belongs to its people alone.

johnmenadue.com

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 1d

As democracies falter under the rise of demagogues, its about whether we can build the civic infrastructure to resist authoritarianism and create resilient communities capable of solving complex problems together. #auspol #activism

Do you see me? Do you hear me? Does what I say matter?

In an age when millions feel invisible to those in power, these aren't rhetorical questions. They're the foundational need that either builds democracies or tears them apart.

johnmenadue.com

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 1d

Deforestation is a global catastrophe in slow motion. Despite the good intentions of many, it is still accelerating, as humans continue to gnaw, like termites, at the very foundations of the Earth’s life support system. @JulianCribb #TheHumanFuture #deforestation

The Earth uncloaked – A catastrophe in slow motion

Woodman, spare that tree! Touch not a single bough! In youth it sheltered me, And I'll protect it now. – GP Morris 1837

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 1d

The proposed deal with the Trump administration requires that universities abolish institutions on campus that “purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas”, quashing university freedom. #auspol #USpolitics

Campus leaders mobilise to battle Trump’s anti-education ‘Compact’ tooth and nail

“Workers, students, campus community members across this great country are coming together to fight for a higher education system that actually works for all – one that is affordable, strengthens freedom and democracy, and stands up to its public mission.”

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 1d

The days of “she‘ll be right, mate” are over, and all thinking Australians need to take action against ecocide and genocide and not let one 22-year-old woman take the burden of the crises of the world on her shoulders. #auspol #GretaThunberg #Gaza

Is Greta Thunberg the lone voice for justice in our world?

As the world moves from one crisis to another and our politicians ignore the immense injustices that are happening in their nation and in the world, what do ordinary non-violent citizens do to let their politicians know they aren’t happy with their lack of moral and ethical fortitude?

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 1d

By telling the story of phone hacking and dramatising the human face of the disorienting, corrosive effect this has on people, the program aims to fill the void left by the many out-of-court settlements News reached with victims. #auyspol #TheHack

Journos as heroes and villains - 'The Hack' reviewed - Part 2

The Hack is rare among films and television programs for showing journalists doing journalism to other journalists.

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 1d

Trump's peace plan is marred by an unmistakable colonial framework. A real peace plan must eliminate the colonial scaffolding. It should restore Palestinian sovereignty by addressing the central issue: Palestinian statehood. #auspol #Gaza #PeacePlan

Jeffrey Sachs: Twenty-point plan minus the US-UK colonialism

Jeffrey D. Sachs and Sybil Fares offer a revised version of the Trump plan for an end of the war in Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank.

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 1d

Albanese has ruled out any moves towards a republic. He may have read the room correctly. There is no agreement on what could replace the present arrangement. Trump's impact on Australian politics also throttles the agenda. #auspol #USpolitics #republic

Our American obsession

I have spent seven years of my life in the United States and much of my writing has been influenced by the US.

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 1d

Wong, a masterclass on China: "build real defence ties, do tech and logistics with friends, don’t pick fights for fun, and — the killer line — don’t get dragged into “what-if” games about Taiwan. “We don’t talk about hypotheticals,”. #auspol #Chinathreat

A masterclass in agency: What Singapore can teach Australia about China

Singapore’s new Prime Minister Lawrence Wong sat down with the ABC on 2 October and offered something rare in Australia’s China debate: clarity, confidence, and a middle-power strategy that doesn’t involve shouting or submission.

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 1d

Given that Australia enjoys a huge trade surplus with China and a trade deficit with the US, Australia at first glance has nothing to gain from conciliating the president and appeasing his global trade and tariff war. #auspol #ASEAN

Australia’s next big bet lies East, not West

It is in Asia where Australia’s bread is buttered. And Canberra needs a strategy on the security impact that is a gathering tide from the economic impact of Trump’s tariffs on our interests there.

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 1d

Gaza Government Media Office on Wednesday said Israel carried out 271 air and artillery strikes over the past five days, despite US calls to stop the bombardment. #auspol #PeacePlan #Israel #Palestine

Trump says Israel and Hamas sign off on first phase of Gaza ceasefire plan

Mediator Qatar said more details of the agreement would be announced at a later date.

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 2d

Unless politicians, the media, the corporate world and managers of universities take the trouble to revise their understanding of history, this massive deception about October 7 will continue. #auspol #israel #palestine

A century of deceit: Towards a new understanding of the colonisation of Palestine

Political and media commentary on the Hamas killings of October 2023 have been preoccupied with claims that these were not only the worst terrorists but that their actions were without precedent.

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 2d

AFOPA urges the president and board of the National Press Club to reconsider their cancellation of #ChrisLynnHedges appearance on 20 October and to honour the commitment they made. #auspol #NPC #media

Statement on cancellation of Chris Hedges’ confirmed appearance at the National Press Club of Australia

AFOPA is responding to the statement published on 4 October 2025 by the National Press Club of Australia in relation to their cancellation of Chris Hedges’ confirmed appearance at the National Press Club on 20 October 2025.

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 2d

McEwan's futuristic novel What We Can Know with its sights set firmly on the present might take its place among those chronicling a world in crisis as it reached a series of unprecedented tipping points. #auspol #bookreview

Ian McEwan’s new novel explores resentment and vengeance in a fractured world

Ian McEwan’s new novel, his 18th in a long career of writing books that play with startling premises, bold ideas and big dilemmas, begins as a work of futurist fiction set in 2119.

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 2d

The appeal from the fired Texas A&M professor may eventually lead to court rulings that clarify how people’s First Amendment protections apply in today’s disputes over curriculum and teaching. #auspol #USpolitics #Genderidentity

Shadow of McCarthyism looms over controversial firing of Texas professor who taught about gender identity

Texas A&M University announced the resignation of its president, Mark A. Welsh III, on 18 September 2025, following a controversial decision earlier in the month to fire a professor over a classroom exchange with a student about gender identity.

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Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · 2d

A hard-right politician, at her first press conference as new LDP leader that we discovered Takaichi was no shrinking violet, particularly in the skill and confidence with which she could handle a range of economic questions. #auspol #japan

Japan's likely new leader is a surprise, and not just because she is a woman

In the recent election held by Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party to find a new leader following the assassination of former prime minister, Shinzo Abe, an unlikely name to emerge was that of Sanae Takaichi.

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