But the very real Orwellian nightmare of the first Soviet years, from 1917 to 1924, had its very real human victims; numbered amongst them were the “Besprizornye.” These were seven million homeless urchins […]
Continue Reading
Australians largely take their freedoms for granted, not realising the importance of the unbroken chain back to the English common law, the key agreements, and the system of governance which underpin that liberty. How fragile are those freedoms? It is not inconceivable that they could disappear in a generation if the cultural memory is lost, supplanted by disruptive ideologies or loss of pride in our Western inheritance.
Continue Reading
Reflections on OrwellAuthor: David Duffy A little while ago, I chaired a talk on George Orwell and his significance in the year 2021. “Orwellian” is now part of our language and cultural hemisphere. In my vote of thanks, I quoted the early 19th century Russian monk Pechorin in his letter to Alexander Herzen, the famous […]
Continue Reading
The purpose of this short vignette is to introduce you to some of the jargon of Critical Social Justice. The difficulty in understanding someone versed in Critical Theory is that the words used are often identical to the commonly used words, but with completely different meanings and obscured subtext.
Continue Reading
Author: D. Duffy. In this editorial, I will respond to a very strange column which appeared some time ago in The Australian newspaper. In it, the writer said, “I’ve never seen a useful definition of a basic human right, nor ever encountered a supposed example that did not fast dissolve into a blur of conditional […]
Continue Reading
In 1854, the eminent folklorist Joseph Jacobs was born in Sydney, New South Wales, though his working life was spent abroad – predominantly in England and the U.S.A. He wished that English speaking children could read tales which had emerged from the folklore of the British Isles, rather than those of the continent made popular by Charles Perrault in the 17th century, and the Grimm Brothers in the first half of the 19th century. Jacobs lamented that Perrault’s genius displayed in Cinderella and Puss in Boots had ousted the English classics of Catskin and Childe Rowland. Likewise, Tom-Tit-Tot had given way to Grimm’s Rumpelstiltschen and The Three Sillies to Hänsel and Gretel.
Continue Reading
English law was brought to the newly founded colony of New South Wales in 1788, which extended from Tasmania (then Van Diemen’s Land) to Cape York in the north and from the east coast to the 135th meridian (roughly to Coober Pedy). For the first three decades, the colony was administered by military leaders who were answerable only to the Crown, the first of which was Captain Arthur Phillip. He arrived on the HMS Sirius with 11 vessels in the fleet carrying 1480 people – half of them convicts. From the start New South Wales was not to be administered solely as a military prison.
Continue Reading
Atlas, the Greek god of philosophy, mathematics and astronomy, holding up the celestial sphere of the universe – 2nd century A.D. Roman copy of Hellenistic original.
Continue Reading
The three Greek playwrights whose names echo down the ages are Aeschylus (Ai-skillus) 552‑456 B.C., Sophocles (Soffa-cleez) 496‑406 B.C. and Euripides (Uri-p-deez) 480‑406 B.C. Fewer than ten percent of their works have survived into the modern era. The 5th Century B.C. was the Greek classical age which saw a flourishing of art, philosophy, theatre, and […]
Continue Reading
An excellent video from 1979 by Prof. David Grene (1913-2002) University of Chicago. They told me, Heraclitus, they told me you were dead,They brought me bitter news to hear and bitter tears to shed.I wept as I remembered how often you and IHad tired the sun with talking and sent him down the sky. And […]
Continue Reading
Australian children encounter Aesop’s fables early on in their lives. Well known amongst a long list of over a hundred titles attributed to him include: The Boy who cried Wolf, The Tortoise and the Hare, The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs, The Fox and the Grapes, and The North Wind and the Sun. The […]
Continue Reading
No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny, or delay right or justice.
Continue Reading
A photo-essay taking in a slice of bronze statues that can be found around Hyde Park, the Domain and the Botanic Gardens. Past Monarchs, explorers, playwrights, poets, and Governors are found in this area, as is the magnificent Archibald fountain with its mythical Greek themes.
Continue Reading
Dr James Lindsay talks about the varying degrees of Wokeness. He suggests ways in which one might bring adherents back into the light.
Continue Reading