Could Donald Trump be banned from standing as President? Even in the world of Trumpist paranoid delusions and social media posts it seems improbable.

Yet an increasing number of US legal scholars – including at least two who are regarded as ‘originalists’ – are arguing that Donald Trump should be disqualified from standing as President. They are all discussing whether Trump, and others who participated in the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, are disqualified from holding office under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. read more

We are having Gremlin problems again – this time with the Trump post. It is being fixed

Post 9/11 the US embarked on a series of wars to ‘make the world safe’ and more importantly settle old and new scores.

The consequences – death and devastation – across much of the globe. It may not equal the impact of the 20^th century’s two world wars, but they make Europe’s 17th century 30 Years War look like a skirmish. read more

It is probably the kiss of political death to promote and celebrate the work of a Labor Government backbencher.

After all promotion in the party might be partly due to competence but factional allegiance is more significant. Having too high a profile is probably not an advantage either. But nevertheless… read more

Who would have thought it? The No campaign has published a blatantly racist post!

The Australian Jewish Association has been running a campaign against the Voice. It has been a clone of so many of the right wing campaigns poisoning Australian discourse with racism, misinformation and disinformation.

The only difference is that it is a rare example where the right-wing groups themselves may have to call enough – even though in social media posts and other outlets there are many other groups which are just as culpable. read more

John Maynard Keynes is widely believed to have said: Well, when the facts change I change my mind. What do you do? It was probably actually Paul Samuelson although Keynes did say something vaguely similar.

The quote always comes to mind when you consider the state of the climate debate in Australia and parts of the rest of the world. The Earth is boiling rather than warming yet the denialists keep on keeping on. The facts are clear but they are not changing their minds – just shifting to new denialist positions. read more

A great illustration of how much of the media totally overlooks the huge grassroots campaign for Yes is the fact that the Jewish community’s far-reaching campaign has been unsighted in mainstream media coverage of the referendum.

Australia’s Jewish community has had a special relationship with Indigenous Australia for many, many decades highlighted perhaps by the actions of the Yorta Yorta elder, William Cooper – founding secretary of the Australian Aborigines’ League which was set up to lobby governments. read more

There has been much research and speculation about whether the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC, or more popularly the Gulf Stream) may collapse and what the consequences might be.

Now there is new 2023 research which firms up predictions as to when it might happen. The bad news – it might be earlier than previously estimated. read more

Over the past 400 years England has changed a great deal. Reformation, Republican Interregnum, Revolution, slavery, lots of wars, massacres, colonialism and building and losing an empire are just some of the things which jump out from history.

More recently Margaret Thatcher sought to undo the Bevin Welfare State and privatised public bodies which nowadays rip off customers or pollute the environment. Meanwhile Tony Blair gave remaining State institutions bureaucratic managerialist makeovers which increased their costs and diminished their performance. read more

There is nothing that agitates some whitefellas more than an intelligent, articulate and charismatic blackfella.

The emphasis the No Campaign is putting on Thomas Mayo is a classic example. Thomas Mayo attended the Uluru gathering and afterwards travelled the country visiting hundreds of communities to explain the Voice. At each he movingly recited from memory the Uluru Statement of the Heart. read more