The Journal
All writing
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Anti-Vax Propaganda Costs Lives. Just Stop It.
I continue to be frustrated by the sheer tidal wave of misinformation on social media about COVID19 and vaccination. Not at all with people who have doubts or questions. Given the horror stories that floating around…
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Astrazeneca and Johnson and Johnson Vaccines Pose No Risk and Will Save Lives
I am still astonished by people who claim COVID-19 is “just the flu” or even worse, “the whole thing is made up.” To believe this, you have to believe that every government in the world, every…
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Hating Bill Gates
Bill Gates has been the Emmanuel Goldstein of the anti-vaccination movement for years. But why are so many other people suddenly jumping in? Boy that Bill Gates is an evil dude. Or so you might think…
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More from the Anti-vax Tinfoil Hat Brigade
It was interesting to see a few hundred tin foil hatters turn out to the million people anti-mandatory-vaccinations comedy sessions around the country. Void of purpose from the start, since no COVID-19 vaccine in Australia is…
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Google, Facebook, and Mainstream Media Madness
I am no fan of either Google or Facebook. Google has a long history of distortion of news and of down-grading results from websites it disagrees with. Facebook does the same, while at the same time…
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COVID-19: Health Matters. Life Matters
If one million people are vaccinated with the new COVID-19 vaccine over the next year, this is what we can expect: 4500 will develop an invasive cancer. 1600 will die from cancer. About 250 will develop…
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Christine Holgate and the Righteous Fury of the Mediocre
Christine Holgate is the CEO of Australia Post. She has been in the news for the last couple of days after harsh criticism from Australian politicians and being told by the Prime Minister to stand down.…
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Antivaccination Hysteria – Dangerous Evangelising Ignorance
I have always regarded the anti-vax movement as either bafflingly stupid or deliberately malicious. Perhaps that is not entirely fair. Some parents genuinely believe their children suffered serious adverse effects as a consequence of being vaccinated.…
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Black Lives Matter. Just not to BLM.
Sometimes it is not only reasonable, but morally imperative, to point out that the lives of a particular group of people matter. It would have been right in Turkey in 1915 to shout as loudly as…
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COVID19, Wuhan, Coronavirus, the Chinese Virus – the case for a Lockdown
As at this morning, 1st April, there have been 855,941 cases of novel Coronavirus around the world. Of those, 636,964 are still active, and 218,977 have run their course either to recovery or death. Of these,…
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On the Vilification of Prime Minister Scott Morrison
There has always been an unpleasant edge to public discussion of politics. It is much easier to vilify people who see things differently from you, than to engage with them and to see this engagement as…
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Outer Worlds Review – Tips
Woah, woah, woah! It’s Rizzo’s! That is stuck in my brain now, along with “Fruity oaty bars, they make a man out of a mou-ouse!” Never mind. I started playing Outer Worlds on the day of…
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Australia, Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press
The free flow of information is a vital characteristic of a free society. There is a strong correlation between freedom of speech and a free press, and individual freedom and prosperity. But the “public’s right to…
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Cardinal Pell. The Appeal.
I have so far refrained from any comment on the outcome of Cardinal Pell’s appeal. To say I was disappointed with the outcome would be an understatement. I have written extensively about this case here: and…
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Cardinal Pell – The Media and Judiciary’s Disgrace
I have been frustrated by news stories today suggesting that “disgraced” Cardinal George Pell has broken the law by posting material to social media. Firstly, Cardinal Pell is not “disgraced.” It is the media and the…
