• Paul Monk reflected on a new book about America’s broken healthcare system;
• Neil Francis analysed polling data on how Australians view the religiosity of their political leaders;
• and Dennis Altman wrote on how the Israel-Palestine conflict had blurred arguments about antisemitism.

Most of you will be aware of the acronym ‘SAD’, standing for the Standard American Diet. Yes? That diet, since the Second World War and at an accelerating rate since the 1990s, has been sugar-loaded and high on processed carbohydrates. Fat was bad, and energy comes from carbohydrates, Americans (and most of us ‘downstream’) were exhorted to believe. The consequences of this diet have been catastrophic and are spiralling out of control.

A new Pew Research Center study assesses public opinion about the importance of their national leader’s religion and religiosity. It’s worth a look because it reveals some important insights. The public in many countries were asked about the personal importance of whether the Prime Minister or President: 1) has religious beliefs that are the same as your own; 2) has strong religious beliefs, even if they are different from your own; 3) stands up for people with your religious beliefs. For all three questions, Australians were significantly less likely than citizens of each of the other countries to rate these things as important...

Regarding the Productivity Commission’s report on charities and schools, I’ve just been reading Rob Reich’s book, Just Giving: Why Philanthropy Is Failing Democracy and How It Can Do Better, on philanthropic foundations. One of the issues he discusses is whether “charity” involves transfer of wealth from the rich to the poor, and found only a small percentage of it did that. Most of it was transfer from wealthy donors to wealthy recipients favoured by the upper classes, such as private schools and art galleries and universities.

Since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel nearly a year ago, and the subsequent ongoing war on Gaza, there have been widespread claims that antisemitism is globally on the rise. Attacks on Jewish synagogues and businesses, some of them uncomfortably close to home, bear this out. The history of antisemitism stretches over several millennia. It arises almost everywhere Jews have chosen to cling to their religious and cultural identity, against the dominant majority. What is ‘new’ today is that arguments about antisemitism now blur into bitter debates over the Israel-Palestine conflict.

When media reports emerged earlier this year about a new youth “crime wave” of robbery, break and enter, and car theft in the northwestern NSW town of Moree, it wasn’t hard to predict what would happen next – and what the government would do about it. A new criminal law (or two) would be created, conveying a “tough on crime” message. Voices of opposition would warn about the adverse implications for human rights. These warnings would be ignored, deflected or minimised.