The most frequent question I have received over the last month is “who is to blame for the bushfire mess up and down the east coast?” There is a school of thought, mostly put about by state premiers, that the blame game is bad form. We should put the whole bushfire business behind us and move on, they say. Forget the past, the future will be wonderful. I reject this concept, because in any disaster situation lessons must be learned (or rather re-learned) and those lessons applied to improving the way things are done. I also believe those who need to be accountable for the current mess must be identified and the ways they have let us down highlighted.

     The trouble with side-stepping accountability is that mistakes are perpetuated. The same people go back to business as usual, and the same disasters re-occur. If nobody has done anything wrong, as the premiers maintain, no changes need to be made.

     19 January 2020,          Politicians hide behind enquiries – their magic answer to all problems, especially bushfires. Announcing enquiries give the impression of decisive action, they generate fees for armies of barristers, lawyers and bureaucrats, and provide momentary excitement for the media. The proposed 2020 Australian Bushfires corrobboree will provide a grandstand for the Climate Rebellion Mob who will get starring roles on ABC/Fairfax. Big business will probably propose a carbon tax to fight bushfires while foresters and land owners will hardly be heard. When the final report is ultimately delivered, the media will be off trumpeting some new climate “emergency” to scare the public. The expensive new report will be quietly filed with all the others. We’ve had at least 57 bushfire enquiries since 1939 – about one every two years. Anyone who bothers to read them will soon deduce what should be done. Nothing much has changed except there are more people living in fire prone zones with no protection, and more forest and private land was locked up with heavy fuel loads.

     The academic, media, cultural and everything else elites would have us sheeple believe that globalism is the only game in town, and that localism and nationalism are dated doctrines. How convenient for commerce, grid and money making! But, as argued in a recent article by Hristo Guentcher and Marin Guentcher, “Globalization – The Most Ancient and Ever-Failing Utopia,” all of these utopian visions end up in a heap, wrecking civilisation in the process.
  https://www.theepochtimes.com/globalization-the-most-ancient-and-ever-failing-utopia_3200598.html

     Apart from the philosophical aspects discussed below, globalism fails because of inefficiencies arising from centralisation and diseconomies of scale. It is the same reason communism simply cannot work, because it requires centralism to function, but the complexity of human society and the economy precludes that:

     Stephen King writes trash in MY opinion, but many people love him. Well, it is an unfree country, and we all have opinions, until imprisoned in concentration camps. But consider: there was a mostly white male Oscar night, and King made the mistake of saying, well, its just quality, bud, not discrimination. No, wrong policy move:
  https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2020/01/14/nyt-mostly-white-male-late-night-hosts-slam-mostly-white-male-oscar-nominees/
  https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2020/01/14/left-cancels-stephen-king-for-backward-and-ignorant-oscars-diversity-comments/

“Author and Trump hater Stephen King is feeling the heat from fellow liberals following his tweets about the Academy Award nominations, in which he said that quality is more important than diversity when it comes to creating works of art. Filmmaker Ava DuVernay hit back at King, calling his comments “backward and ignorant.” Author Laura Lippman also called out King, saying that the Hollywood system is “rigged.” Roxane Gay, the author and contributing opinion writer at The New York Times, expressed her disappointment in King, saying that “most industries only believe in quality from one demographic.” King has become a darling among left-wing Hollywood types and the cultural elite for his vehement anti-Trump stance. The author of The Shining and Misery has repeatedly insulted President Donald Trump  and his supporters on social media, calling him a “horse’s ass” and a “vile, racist, and incompetent bag of guts.” Stephen King posted his diversity comments in reaction to mainstream media outrage over the Oscar nominations on Monday. Hollywood journalists turned their knives on the the Academy for what they saw as a lack of diversity among this year’s acting categories. Harriet actress Cynthia Erivo was the only non-white acting nominee this year, prompting journalists to resurrect the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag.”

     I just knew it; the most dangerous “terrorists” today are the climate change fanatics, who want to overturn our beautiful consumer society, which has given us magical things, like plastics, duct tape etc.
  https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jan/10/xr-extinction-rebellion-listed-extremist-ideology-police-prevent-scheme-guidance

“Counter-terrorism police placed the non-violent group Extinction Rebellion (XR) on a list of extremist ideologies that should be reported to the authorities running the Prevent programme, which aims to catch those at risk of committing atrocities, the Guardian has learned. The climate emergency campaign group was included in a 12-page guide produced by counter-terrorism police in the south-east titled Safeguarding young people and adults from ideological extremism, which is marked as “official”. XR featured alongside threats to national security such as neo-Nazi terrorism and a pro-terrorist Islamist group. The guide, aimed at police officers, government organisations and teachers who by law have to report concerns about radicalisation, was dated last November. It says that issues to look out for include people who speak in “strong or emotive terms about environmental issues like climate change, ecology, species extinction, fracking, airport expansion or pollution”. In the guide, people are advised to listen and look out for young people who “neglect to attend school” or “participate in planned school walkouts” – an allusion to the school strikes for the climate, a global movement of which the activist Greta Thunberg is a lead proponent. Thousands of UK pupils, and millions worldwide, walked out of school last year in protest at government inaction on the climate crisis. The document also flags young people taking part in non-violent direct action, such as sit-down protests, banner drops or “writing environmentally themed graffiti”. The disclosure that XR has been listed alongside proscribed groups such as National Action and Al-Muhajiroun is likely to be deeply embarrassing for counter-terror chiefs. They have for years faced claims that Prevent can cross the line to stifle legitimate free speech, thought and dissent.”

     The truth is out: young men today are “terrified” of sex. What would men of the ancient world, Plato, Aristotle and co. have thought of that? In fact, what about their grandparents and parents, who had to put in the hard work to make this young generations? Would they prefer not to have existed at all?
  https://www.amazon.com.au/Better-Never-Have-Been-Existence/dp/0199549265
  https://www.princeton.edu/~eharman/Benatar.pdf
  https://nypost.com/2020/01/11/why-todays-young-men-are-terrified-of-sex/

“Boys, we’re told, are having sex younger and more irresponsibly than ever. But as author Peggy Orenstein learned while doing research on her new book, “Boys & Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity” (Harper), out now, the reality can be very different. … Over the span of two years, Orenstein spoke to hundreds of boys across the United States, ranging in age from their early teens to mid-20s and spanning all races, socioeconomic backgrounds, religious beliefs and even sexual orientations. She learned that a surprising number of them don’t live up to gender cliches — meaning they aren’t hormone-driven Frankenstein’s monsters, obsessed with sex and unconcerned with the consequences. In fact, they’re pushing back against cultural expectations, and many are going so far as to avoid sex altogether. According to the latest data by the General Social Survey, men between the ages of 18 and 29 are having less sex than ever; the number of abstinent men has nearly tripled in the last decade, from 10 percent in 2008 to 28 percent last year. But as Orenstein discovered, it’s a movement that exists largely in secret. Rather than declare their abstinence, they come up with excuses for their lack of sexual interest — like the college sophomore Orenstein interviewed who frequently faked “whiskey d–k” to avoid hookups, or Mitchell in Los Angeles, who avoided sex with his high-school girlfriend for years because he was terrified that his sexual ability “would just be … sufficient.” While girls struggle to find the magic middle ground between “prude” and “slut,” boys are “pushed to be as sexually active as possible,” Orenstein writes, “to knock out their firsts regardless of the circumstances or how they felt about their partners.”

     What will communism be like when it is imposed upon the USA, if ageing commo Bernie Sanders beats Trump? Expect it to be imported to Australia, not long after. Why, it will be the “fun” times, for the Left, of the 1917 Red revolution type of “fun”, all over again, with genocide of the deplorables a plenty:
  https://www.naturalnews.com/2020-01-14-bernie-sanders-organizer-plans-american-gulags-cities-burn.html
  https://www.zerohedge.com/political/gulags-werent-bad-sanders-staffer-says-trump-supporters-will-need-be-re-educated-camps

“Project Veritas strikes again. Today, James O’Keefe’s organization has released another bombshell undercover video featuring a Bernie Sanders campaign field organizer revealing plans to carry out mass executions of both liberals and conservatives if Sanders wins the 2020 election, thrusting actual communists into power in America. Communists revolutions throughout world history have always resulted in bloodshed, and in many revolutions, the very people who initially supported it found their own heads on the chopping blocks. This undercover video, released by Project Veritas Action, carries the words of Kyle Jurek, a Bernie Sanders operative who apparently has gone all-in with the “communist purge” philosophy that seems to characterize every communist revolution.”

     The Royal marriage of Harry and Meghan was a multiculturalists dream come true, where a mixed race, totally woke, politically correct actress, who had done various sex scenes in movies, moved into the Royal Family, to liven it up with magical diversity.  Ok, that looked initially plausible on paper, but, like with Lady Di, disaster has struck, because of personalities:
  https://www.counter-currents.com/2020/01/prince-simp/print/
  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2020/01/12/buckingham-palace-fears-sussexes-could-go-public-damaging-accusations/

“The Duke of Sussex will come face-to-face with the Queen on Monday amid Buckingham Palace fears that he and his wife could go public with damaging accusations about the family if they do not get what they want.
As the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge join forces to confront the Duke, 35, for the first time since he announced plans to walk away from his role, the threat of a “no-holds-barred” television interview loomed large. The crisis summit taking place at Sandringham is expected to last several hours as the family combs through the various scenarios that could form a blueprint for the Sussex’s “progressive” new roles.”

     Across Europe there is an epidemic of church vandalization. Why is this occurring, as it did not happen in past decades? What has changed the equation?
  https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/epidemic-of-crib-vandalism-hits-italy

“Hundreds of Christmas cribs have been smashed, burned and vandalized across Italy in a binge of violence unparalleled in recent memory. Statues of the Baby Jesus and the Holy Family have been beheaded, stolen or hanged — in one shocking incident even impaled on an iron pole in a public square. In the town of Ivrea, near Turin, firefighters were called to extinguish a blaze in the church of San Maurizio on Jan. 4 after a 46-year-old woman with a history of arson set fire to a crib near the altar. The fire destroyed valuable paintings and frescoes, as well as two antique painted tables and the covering of the baptismal font. The perpetrator confessed to the crime, even though she said she was unable to explain why she did it. Meanwhile, on the same day and in the same town, another arsonist set fire to a crib in the church of San Salvatore, destroying the altar linen. The two churches are near one other, close to the historic city center. Edoardo Cerrato, bishop of Ivrea, called for acts of reparation and an investigation, noting that "we have seen beheaded figurines of the Child of Bethlehem and His Most Holy Mother" in other parts of Italy. "The investigation will perhaps identify the perpetrators and understand the motive behind what, for now, can be seen as desecration of sacred images and churches," he said.”

     I did not know this, but apparently there are volcanoes under Melbourne. As soon as I read this, I wondered how long for the next eruption, that blows Melbourne apart? Burke Street full of lava, anyone?
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4972456/Volcano-erupt-Melbourne-time.html
  https://www.sbs.com.au/news/there-s-a-volcanic-system-slumbering-beneath-melbourne
  https://theconversation.com/would-an-eruption-in-melbourne-really-match-hawaiis-volcanoes-heres-the-evidence-101675

“A volcano expert says an eruption could happen in Melbourne at any time. Australian National University professor Richard Arculus said an eruption could theoretically happen in Melbourne or Auckland, New Zealand – but there's no way of pinpointing exactly where or when. 'In terms of Melbourne and Auckland, there's every chance another volcano could blow,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'You could see lava flowing down Bourke Street. He cited research from Monash University which pointed to a volcanic field existing in Melbourne. The research analysed an 'intra-plate basaltic volcanic field' in south-eastern Australia. Mr Arculus said a similar field exists in Auckland, a city built on and near 52 volcanoes. New eruptions can take place at spots where volcanoes have not previously existed. Mr Arculus said scientists were unable to tell when or where a new volcano would sprout. A chilling video created as part of research into the effect of volcanoes in Auckland shows the effects of an eruption on the city.’

     Greenies are anti-coal and oil in part because they believe that techno-industrial civilisation can kick over with renewables. This is their ultimate faith, since only a minority of environmentalists accept that industrial civilisation should be abandoned. However, renewables cannot power the modern world, as the utter failure of renewables as a replacement energy source in Germany shows:
  https://www.technocracy.news/renewables-were-never-meant-to-power-modern-civilization/
  https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-failure-on-the-road-to-a-renewable-future-a-1266586.html

“The so-called Energiewende, the shift away from nuclear in favor of renewables, the greatest political project undertaken here since Germany's reunification, is facing failure. In the eight years since Fukushima, none of Germany's leaders in Berlin have fully thrown themselves into the project, not least the chancellor. Lawmakers have introduced laws, decrees and guidelines, but there is nobody to coordinate the Energiewende, much less speed it up. And all of them are terrified of resistance from the voters, whenever a wind turbine needs to be erected or a new high-voltage transmission line needs to be laid out. Analysts from McKinsey have been following the Energiewende since 2012, and their latest report is damning. Germany, it says, "is far from meeting the targets it set for itself." Germany's Federal Court of Auditors is even more forthright about the failures. The shift to renewables, the federal auditors say, has cost at least 160 billion euros in the last five years. Meanwhile, the expenditures "are in extreme disproportion to the results," Federal Court of Auditors President Kay Scheller said last fall, although his assessment went largely unheard in the political arena. Scheller is even concerned that voters could soon lose all faith in the government because of this massive failure.

     I have been covering the vast sell-off of Australia’s water resources, done in the driest continent on Earth, stricken by long-lasting droughts. Hard to believe, but true, once a nation loses its sense of identity and is deracinated:
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7884855/Queensland-town-runs-water-Chinese-company-given-green-light-extract-water-area.html?ico=pushly-notifcation-small

“A drought-ravaged town has run out of water just weeks after a Chinese company was given the go-ahead to run a commercial water extraction facility in the region. Stanthorpe in Queensland's Southern Downs is now fully dependent on 42 truckloads of water a day brought in from a dam 60km to the north. The local dam for the town of 5,000 people has dipped to just 11 per cent of capacity, with those living in Stanthorpe limited to 80 litres of water per person a day. Southern Downs Regional Council tightened the water restrictions last month just one day after approving the development of a mining operation 40km away at the Queensland border town of Cherrabah. The 'full-time water carting' from Connolly Dam consists of 1.3 megalitres per day and mayor Tracy Dobie said the operation is the biggest of its kind by an Australian local government. 'We've now commenced full trucking of water. There's 14 trucks doing three trips a day,' she said. 'Council promised the community we would not run out of water. 'The initial stages of water carting went extremely well and without incident. We will now move to full-time water carting to provide water to the Stanthorpe Region.' Remaining local reserves will be kept back for emergency use.  Despite the water importation, the 80-litre restriction will remain in place - four times less than the average individual water consumption of 340 litres per day according to Riverina Water.”

     The Affirmative Right web site, not to be confused with affirmative action, publishes some great material, and some not so great, and some deserving solid critique. The article discussed here, maintains that Whites are largely responsible for their plight, and as hard as is to accept, some good points are made:
  https://affirmativeright.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-myth-of-white-genocide.html

“The truth is that white men are primarily responsible for the destruction of the West. White men liberated women from their traditional role as housewife and mother. Nowadays, women are encouraged to spend their prime reproductive years getting an education and pursuing a career. The consequences of this unrestrained female hypergamy are a lower white fertility rate and the destruction of the traditional monogamous family unit. In 1919, the US Congress ratified the 19th Amendment, giving females the right to vote. Concerning this regressive legislation, academics write:

     It was only a matter of time before they destroyed James Bond 007, because, well, a macho symbol had to go:
  https://www.counter-currents.com/the-importance-of-james-bond-order/

     Yes, 50 years of great entertainment, gone. I remember working in the school holidays to get some pocket money to go see a Bond movie. Gone. This video by aggro film critic, the Critical Drinker, slams the forthcoming über politely correct Bond movie. It is worth one last sad look. Say goodbye to a friend, who now sails to wherever it is true fictional heroes go when dead.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol8E-cPOhdA

     In various articles sitting on my worn-out laptop, waiting to be done, I will be covering the theatre of the absurd in the gender agenda. The claims are jaw dropping, so I will just give you the material, but beware that having one’s jaw drop to the floor, poses a tripping hazard:
  https://www.foxnews.com/us/aclu-tampons-mens-room-menstrual-equity

“The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is calling for men's restrooms to include tampons in order to prevent discrimination against "every person who menstruates." "While free menstrual products are not uniformly provided in women’s restrooms, they are almost never available in men’s restrooms, even for pay," the group said in a statement Tuesday. "Men’s restrooms are also less likely to have a place to dispose of these products conveniently, privately, and hygienically." The left-leaning legal group argued that it wasn't a "full or accurate portrayal" to say that women are the only ones who "menstruate, get pregnant, or breast feed [sic]." "Menstrual stigma and period poverty can hit trans and non-binary people particularly hard," the post read. The group linked to a legislative toolkit in which it advocated for regulation of menstrual products in public restrooms. The group also favors menstrual products in public shelters and schools. "Menstrual equity is a basic equity issue," the report read. "Just as we have regulated the provision of toilet paper and paper towels in public restrooms, so too should we do the same for menstrual products." This wasn't the first time the ACLU made a head-turning comment about gender. On "International Men's Day," the group declared that men could both get their periods and give birth.”

     Here is another good article in defence on eating red meat, in a world where the nutritional content of plants has diminished for a variety of reasons, including long-term cold storage of vegetables:
  https://www.naturalnews.com/2019-12-21-diets-and-bone-health-can-eating-red-meat-prevent-multiple-sclerosis.html

“According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, about one million adults over the age of 18 in the U.S. are affected by MS. Experts claim that risk factors for developing MS also include environmental factors such as low sun exposure, low vitamin D, and poor diet. However, evidence that links diet with MS risk remain inconclusive. (Related: Multiple sclerosis can be mitigated by making healthy lifestyle changes.) “Previous research suggests that a Mediterranean diet can help to reduce the risk of certain health issues, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia and improve overall life expectancy. However, there is inconclusive evidence to suggest a Mediterranean diet also reduces the risk of developing MS,” said lead author Lucinda Black, from the School of Public Health at Curtin University. Because of this, researchers from Australia aimed to examine the associations between a Mediterranean diet and the risk of a first clinical diagnosis of CNS demyelination. To do so, the research team gathered and analyzed data from the Ausimmune study, a multicenter, case-control study that examines the environmental risk factors for CNS demyelination. Data from this study included 282 cases of people with MS alongside 558 healthy control subjects. Black and her team used the alternate Mediterranean diet score (aMED) to measure the participants’ adherence to the diets, with 9 being the highest adherence and 0 being the lowest.

     Here is the latest arrow shot oi the cultural war over carbon: that fat people produce too much carbon.  I thought at first, from flatulence, although I am skinny and eternally passing wind, sometimes in embarrassing situations, if I still had any pride. No, it is resource consumption:
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7813435/Obesity-contributes-extra-700-MILLION-tons-carbon-dioxide-year.html

“Obese people generate an extra 700 million tons of carbon dioxide per year than those with 'normal weight', according to a new study. Research from The Obesity Society has revealed that obese people account for about 1.6 per cent of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions. This is due to a combination of higher metabolic rates and the environmental impact of both producing the food and the increased fuel required to transport obese people, according to the researchers. The society used greenhouse gas emission data, demographic data, and obesity prevalence statistics to estimate that obesity is responsible for 20 per cent more greenhouse gas emissions compared with people of a normal weight. Increasing average body size of people on Earth may further challenge attempts to reduce man-made carbon dioxide emissions, they say. 'Our analysis suggests that, in addition to beneficial effects on morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs, managing obesity can favourably affect the environment as well,' said Faidon Magkos, corresponding author of the paper and nutritionist at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. 'This has important implications for all those involved in the management of obesity.'

     Tennis legend Margaret Court has waded into the battle over trans athletes moving into women’s sports, and she has hit the ball real hard into their court:
  https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2019/12/30/tennis-great-margaret-court-decries-transgender-athletes-lgbt-rights-as-of-the-devil/

“Australian tennis great Margaret Court hit out at transgender athletes on Sunday and branded the teaching of LGBT rights as “of the devil.” The 77-year-old, who won a record 24 Grand Slam singles titles, made the comments while giving a sermon at her Victory Life Church in the Australian city of Perth. Addressing the issue of trans athletes competing in male or female sports, the Christian pastor said: “You know with that LGBT, they’ll wish they never put the T on the end of it because, particularly in women’s sports, they’re going to have so many problems.” She also claimed children as young as seven were beginning to change gender, adding: “It’s so wrong at that age because a lot of things are planted in this thought realm and they start to question, ‘what am I?’ “You know, even that LGBT in the schools, it’s of the devil, it’s not of God…” Court is known as an opponent of gay unions and stated in the past that lesbianism on the women’s tour has a corrupting influence on young players, as Breitbart Sports reported. Twelve-times grand slam champion Billie Jean King last year called for Court’s name stripped to be from the Australian Open showcourt in Melbourne because Court’s views on sexuality, including the claim that “tennis is full of lesbians”, are offensive to her.”

     The Pope has given a speech equating violence towards women as equal to profaning God. I am not sure theologically about this, but agree that violence towards women is very bad, perhaps not the greatest sin, but still a terrible evil.
  https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pope-francis-equates-violence-women-profaning-god-68016422

     But we saw the real nasty side of the Pope when he slapped a woman’s hand, who was holding his hand too long. Look closely at the video to see how mean this is, for he should have been able to withdraw his hand without assaulting the women.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzDcjPBhkw4

     What’s wrong with me? Am I getting soft in my old age? Why didn’t I think about recommending cancelling the welfare of climate protesters, rather than indulge in vain fantasies about medieval torture and the flames of damnation? Simply starving to death is a tried and proven way of ending dissent, for, after all, this is essentially what the Left are, and will, do to us deplorables:
  https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/peter-dutton-suggests-cancelling-welfare-of-climate-protesters/11572370

“Peter Dutton has proposed scrapping the welfare payments of climate change activists who break the law. Speaking to Ray Hadley on 2GB radio this morning, the Home Affairs Minister called on the public to actively shame protesters who are "putting lives at risk". This week, 10 Extinction Rebellion protesters have been charged over two separate acts of protests that delayed traffic through Brisbane CBD. When asked whether protesters who received government benefits should have their welfare payments removed, Mr Dutton agreed. "Well I agree, Ray," he said. Mr Dutton said the public should 'name and shame' climate protesters. "People should take these names and the photos of these people and distribute them as far and wide as they can so that we shame these people. "Let their families know what you think of their behaviour." Mr Dutton also lashed out at vegan activists who raided farms in April, and the three pro-refugee protesters who briefly occupied the roof of his electorate office in 2016. "We should push back because these people are a scourge," he said.