Give your ears a treat

The Christmas song, The Little Drummer Boy, is well known to many audiences around the world. I had no idea that Bob Seger had recorded a version of it back in 1987. That's so 20th century, man. A raspy voiced singer shows that he also has an introspective side. 

Anyone for karaoke?

This song, I Did What I Did for Maria, was a worldwide hit in 1971. It had a fairly crummy promotional film, as music videos were known at the time. 

Down in the gutter

Our journalism at Sky News is under attack from pro-Palestinian activists.
It was deeply disturbing to be told two months ago that a group of pro-Palestinian activists had lodged a formal complaint with the Australian Human Rights commission about my reporting in the wake of the…

— Sharri Markson (@SharriMarkson) November 13, 2025

 

The dark times

Today marks exactly 21 years since the release of the first teaser trailer for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. At the time, it was believed that it would be the final Star Wars feature film. Considering the mixed reception the sequel trilogy received, perhaps it should have been. 

Broken shards

Potter's House, a controversial, to put it politely, Christian sect, has made national headlines amidst reports of alleged spiritual abuse of its members. The reader is encouraged to read the full article. I wish to take issue with their teachings on marriage. Ex members report pressure from leaders to get married young.  

One of them reported: 

“If you are single, your pastor will tell you if someone is a good choice to marry. And they firmly believe in marrying them young. If you are not married by 25, something is wrong.”

I once bumped into some Potter's House members in a suburban shopping strip. They asked me how old I was, and if I was married. I told them my age, and that I was single. They tried to tell me that being single was a sin. It appears that this is what they teach their members, and cause a lot of damage to peoples' lives as a consequence. 

At the time, I was too polite to challenge their rebuking of me. I can only speculate that they take the Adamic procreation mandate, initially given to Adam, and later reiterated to Noah, Ishmael, Jacob, and Jacob's sons, as a binding Christian command. (See Genesis 1:28, 9:1, 7, 17:20, 28:3, 35:11, and 48:4). 

This takes some very creative hermeneutics, to say the least. No Christian member of the clergy should teach such nonsense. While the Bible teaches that marriage is a good thing, as the apostle Paul taught in his first letter to the Corinthians, marriage and singleness are choices. Regardless of their situation, faithful obedience to God is commanded.

It would be a good thing if news stories like this cause people to leave Potter's House. It is disheartening to think about all the people whose lives they have negatively influenced. 
 

https://www.news.com.au/national/former-pastor-linked-to-the-potters-house-breaks-silence-they-believe-in-marrying-them-young/news-story/ce85706b7f9e2546a051cf7b4265e819

Poor boy made good

United States Vice President may have his critics, but he comes across as reasonably likeable in this extended interview with New York Post columnist, Miranda Devine. 

Where's the authoritarian?

From Gerard Henderson's Media Watchdog blog, a commentary of the week's news. And so it came to pass that Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, made his first official visit to the White House to meet President Donald Trump. Somewhat predictably, news commentators such as Peter Hartcher, ran with the line that Trump is an authoritarian, and this a few days after the No Kings rallies across the United States:

"...Trump doesn’t believe in democracy. What we see here is an authoritarian leader trying to consolidate power as an authoritarian..."

As Henderson rightly points out,  Hartcher sounded like an American leftist running a “No Kings” message – despite the fact that the Trump administration cannot get its budget through the United States Congress. A real King would have no such problem.

https://thesydneyinstitute.com.au/blog/issue-751/