bezos

It is 20 years since the premiere of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I’d argue that it is one of the most masterful, respectful and meticulous literary adaptions ever made.

rot...

Scott Morrison encapsulates the retreat from values, the lack of regard for truth, for decency and the long-term public interest. Those he leads or those in the public service obliged to do his will can hardly be blamed for using his example as their inspiration.

boats

Our democracies stink and are designed this way.

WW

Less than six months into the Biden administration, more than 15 consultants from the firm WestExec Advisors have fanned out across the White House, its foreign policy apparatus, and its law enforcement institutions.

fake news

The allegations about having to pay his father came in text messages between Hunter and his daughter, Naomi, 27, according to the New York Post.

"I hope you all can do what I did and pay for everything for this entire family for 30 years," a text Hunter reportedly wrote in 2019 said.

"It's really hard. But don't worry, unlike Pop [Joe Biden], I won't make you give me half your salary."

hawaii

Russia’s Vladimir Putin is now planning a surprise attack on the Hawaiian Islands! After being implicated in crimes from the assassination of J.F.K. to using nerve agents on Willy Wonka, this latest news comes as no surprise. Now Japan is warning the west Russia and China are out to conquer the land of pineapple plantations and hula dancing.

pentagon...

guano

parked

With every new report of the Auditor-General, the brazen appropriation of billions of dollars worth of taxpayers’ money for the political advantage of the Morrison government becomes more breathtaking.

retreat

Viet Nam, Iraq and now Afghanistan demonstrate that our ally, the US, is flaky.

An understanding of history might have seen Australia refuse the opportunity to get involved in Afghanistan, but an understanding of history has never amounted to much in Australia, unless it has been to embellish white supremacist myths, like Bean around Anzac.

Afghanistan has been the death bed of modern invading armies, first Britain, then Russia and now America. The reasons are topography and use of it by the Pathans, the ruthless and dominant tribe.

zed

Noting that China saw vaccines as a “global public good” and had no “geopolitical agenda” or “political strings” attached to its rollout, Wang urged Australia to “stop disrupting and undermining vaccine cooperation between China and Pacific island countries” and “work together to... advance international anti-pandemic cooperation with concrete actions.”

arrak

TALLINN - Surrealism is the natural art style of Estonians, someone once told me. For decades they knew nothing but the absurd middle world between occupation and freedom, indigence and luxury, modernity and backwardness.

Estonia's most famous artist, Juri Arrak, popularized surrealism through his instantly-recognizable characters with their angular and wavy dragon-like heads. But long before he turned to surrealism, Arrak experimented with pop art, cubism and realism across a variety of media. Assemblage, jewelry, metalwork and performance art were also vehicles for his expression.

newsubs

assange

The news that WikiLeaks volunteer turned FBI informant Sigurdur Ingi Thordarson fabricated some important parts of his accusations in the indictment against the site’s co-founder Assange “was not a surprise,” Smith pointed out. Those close to WikiLeaks have long known that the man “had behavioral issues,” he said.

goals

The Vatican has set the trial date for 10 people, including Cardinal Angelo Becciu, on charges related to the Holy See's 350 million euro investment in a luxury London real estate venture.