Down There in the Valley Down there in the valley,as long as I can remember,while the hawk circles overthe plover have crieda lament for each child. It has always been so, the parents, long sheltering, know their reasons for fearing the sky; the young as they must, growing wild, longing ever upwards, yearning for the freedom they do not see leads each day…

JUSTICE DELAYED In the prosecution of George Cardinal Pell, the long process of appeal is now being subject to further prolonged delays. Even our more elite judicial officers are fallible and on some occasions make errors of judgement. To admit to such errors is what distinguishes great judicial offi-cers from mediocre ones. In the Pell case, post-sentence and post-appeal evaluations by accredited experienced…

Behind the endless media turmoil over President Trump, there is strong bipartisan support in Washington for a foreign policy “reset” to handle Beijing’s expansionary ambitions and Russia’s ascendancy aspirations over parts of its old Soviet empire in Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America. Despite being uneven and halting over the last few years, the new foreign policy template recognises that the post-Soviet communist…

LIBERAL SHOCK: The Conservative Comeback Edited by William Dawes, foreword by Peter Hitchens Connor Court, Redland Bay Paperback: 366 pages Price: AUD$39.95 Reviewed by Brian Coman This new book from Connor Court joins a growing number of recent publications concerned with the evident and mounting problems associated with liberalism as a political idea and as an ideology. In all, this…

THE BEE AND THE ORANGE TREE by Melissa Ashley Affirm Press, South Melbourne Hardcover: 384 pages Price: AUD$35 Reviewed by Michael E. Daniel Paris 1699, and the celebrated author, Baroness Marie Catherine D’Aulnoy, is at the zenith of her literary career. Although a popular author and aristocrat, as a female she needs to conduct herself circumspectly in a country ruled…