On 18 January 2012 the Solomon Star reported that RAMSI apologist and the former Solomon Islands Finance Minister and Member of Parliament for West New Georgia and Vona Vona, Peter…
A fire that devours fire; a fire that burns in things dry and moist; a fire that glows amid snow and ice; a fire that is like a crouching lion;…
The following is an extract of an interview between Bambang Dharmono, former Aceh military commander and negotiator representing Indonesia for the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM), to lead the Presidential Unit…
Oedipus Tyrannus is perhaps the most famous of all Greek tragedies, primarily because in the fourth century BCE it was held by Aristotle in his Poetics to be a paragon…
What is self-determination? The notion of self-determination as a universal principle, whether viewed through a political, moral, or legal lens, has been and continues to be imprecise and in dire…
"The essence of the demand for freedom is the need of conditions which will enable an individual to make his own special contribution to a group interest, and to partake…
Best of the Season. This post is a little delayed, but hey, it is the Yuletide! “Does this discrepancy between reality and altruistic morality yield the positive effects which are…
“Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex Australians are part of our community we’re not nameless, faceless people who live on the margins of society. We deserve the respect and the…
As most readers of Blak and Black, indeed as most readers of any daily paper in Australia will be aware there has been an ongoing dispute between Fortescue Metals Group…
Pius wrote in ALP corruption, a suicide in the AFP and death threats made against a three year old – Human Rights Australian style about the actions of certain Australian…
Recurrent themes in Australian politics since the events of 9/11 and the beginning of the euphemistically though erroneously named ‘war on terror’ have been national security, border protection and exporting…
In my travels over the last week drumming up support for a Royal Commission into the Australian Federal Police I found myself in the pub at Bribbaree. While sitting barracking…
When we look at a map of the world’s major trouble spots we see or at least I see, a white footprint superimposed over each and every one of these…
I have decided to digress from the main theme of Blak and Black for this post and have a quick look at the role of Aboriginal song and dance cycles…
The progress of human society, has in different ages, presented abundance of horrors and abundance of vices, which in treating history properly, we are obliged to pass over gently, and…
The following is a modified version of an article which first appeared in the Fiji Sun on 12 September, 2011 and which Blak and Black has linked to since publishing…
“Nunc Lento Sonitu Dicunt, Morieris” (Now this bell, tolling softly for another, says to me, Thou must die.) I have long loved John Donne’s Meditation XVII; it remains pause for…
The following is a letter I received from a reader of Blak and Black and the Fiji Sun, talking about his experiences as a Pakistani/Australian living in Australia’s Capital, Canberra: Dear…
He is wizened. Lines mark a face that has felt the sun’s warming rays and burning beams, eyes see the land that holds his people’s Dreams, ears hear the stories…
All in all I have to say that this has been a good week for me on the information gathering circuit. On Monday I came into possession of the Skunky…