In this fast-paced go-go world of ours some issues are too important to be left to the ham-fisted, half-arsed witless hysterics of so-called web journalism. But that's too bad. Because that's all John Birmingham has. He's unfair, unreasonable and often unbalanced - but in a good way. Words are weapons, and this weapon is a Blunt Instrument.
On stupidity, and why men should ignore Megan Gale
John Birmingham Call me stupid, but I think there's something really admirable about stupidity. In particular brutish, dopey masculine stupidity. This sort of stupidity which makes the
What does an apocalypse look like? Turn your power off
John Birmingham
We were going to talk about Germaine Greer today, or rather I was going to enjoy myself with the spectacle of Louis Nowra getting plowed under by one of the most ferocious
John Birmingham
I'm not afraid to admit that my favourite book was Stephen King's The Stand. I still remember buying it one summer holidays as a teenager, basing my purchase ...
Reality check for reading leaders
Rock 'n' roll might get fat, but will it ever die?
John Birmingham Old white men, kicking arse. Who would've thought that rock 'n roll would come to this? But it was inevitable wasn't it? When I was way younger I used to wonder sometimes if we'd all be sitting ...
A change is brewing
John Birmingham All right, fess up. Who hasn't been drinking all the beer? Come on now, this is important. About the only thing we've got going for us on the world scene is our terrifying reputation for consuming ...
Time for Garrett to bow out
John Birmingham I don't know how they do risk management in Peter Garrett's Environment Department, but I do know how it's done elsewhere. About four times a year I have to attend a risk management meeting as part ..
Steve Jobs Is My Master now. Yours too.
John Birmingham You have never had a blog so hot off the presses because I have never been so stupid as to get up at four in the morning and write one for you. But that's what I've done today, because Steve Jobs is .
Since when did dumb-arsed nationalism become compulsory?
John Birmingham I don't know whether it's the increasing numbers of gaudy little plastic flags sticking out of car windows, or the braying jingoism of furniture superstore and gym equipment megabarn advertising that...
A weighty issue
John Birmingham Here's a modern problem, in-flight obesity. Kevin Smith, the indie film director and writer was
Why should gay couples be spared children?
John Birmingham I would have thought that wooden-headed conservatives like the Queensland LNP's Ray Hopper would have been all in favour of gay parenting.
Make every party a tea party
John Birmingham Minutes of an extraordinary meeting of the Bounders Club. Cmdr. ...
Web crusader's humiliating backflip
John Birmingham Who would've thunk it? Apparently it is possible to get the South Australian Attorney General to change his mind. You just have to be a desperate South Australian Premier to do it.
My School: narrowing the great divide
John Birmingham The law of unintended consequences is a wonderful thing, as we've seen again the last week, with the launch of the federal government's My School website. In the weeks leading up to the launch you ...
Break time is over for smoke blowers
John Birmingham It's been a while since old JB was a smoker, and of course the type of smoke I favoured you couldn't stand around on a street corner or outside an office block to enjoy. My kind of smoke needed ...
Brewing up profits
John Birmingham It's a strange, twisted world we live in where discovering your favorite beer is available at a knockdown price can lead a man to a fit of the fearful vapors. But I will admit to coming over all ...
End the tyranny of brown paper bags
John Birmingham I sometimes make the mistake of thinking I live in a grown-up country. And then I remember South Australia.
Quit while you're ahead
John Birmingham It's lovely that you've all made New Year's resolutions, but I think enough of the year has gone by now that you can probably let them slide. Especially the really doomed and hapless ones about ...
Time to stamp out the scumbags
John Birmingham At first glance there wouldn't seem to be many points of contact between the unintentionally hilarious Kentucky fried racism fiasco, and the much uglier and way more serious problem of racially ...
Not without a fight
John Birmingham It's not often that old Dead Kennedys albums rattle around inside my head these days. But late on a Sunday night at the start of a book tour, stuck in ...
