Fellow travellers, I'm sure that you are as sick and tired as I am of all that fuss about that shovel left out the front of the home of the Health Services Union's Kathy Jackson.

Appalling right-wing commentators have gone into overdrive carping about the culture of thuggery and intimidation in so many unions. But of course this stereotype is completely divorced from reality. The truth is the exact opposite of what they say, as usual.

As we on the green left all know, union officials a...
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Fellow travellers, I'm sure you are as appalled as I am about the treatment of Christine Nixon by Rupert Murdoch's hate media. Both the Herald Sun and The Australian have pursued the poor woman relentlessly over her "hands off" handling of the Victorian bushfire crisis. It's completely obvious to any thinking, feeling person that if a man were to have done much the same thing as Nixon on Black Saturday there would be little complaint - less still if he were not deemed "overweight" by a societ...
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Fellow travellers, as we all know, language creates reality. And words can hurt and oppress, too. Even the most seemingly innocuous turns of phrase can be the cause of the most intense distress.

The word "moonbat", for example is becoming more and more offensive. It is getting to the point when it really is intolerable. Soon, I may even join with some of my fellow progressive bloggers to initiate a global class action against those on the more reactionary fringes of the blogosphere. We will ei...
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