Recently I have taken to eating a small bowl of blueberries, frozen, with coconut milk on them for dessert. It is delicious, and good for you, too:
  https://www.naturalnews.com/2019-12-08-blueberries-reduce-heart-disease-risk.html

“Long considered one of the best superfoods on the planet, blueberries have been found to have another ability up its antioxidant-rich sleeve: the ability to reduce the risk of heart disease. In a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers found that daily consumption of one cup of blueberries for six months improves arterial function and cholesterol levels in adults with metabolic syndrome. The study, conducted by researchers from the U.K. and the U.S., involved 138 overweight and obese adults aged 50 and older. The subjects all had metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that includes high blood pressure, high triglycerides and high blood sugar, and raises the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. For the double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel study, the researchers randomly assigned the subjects into three groups: One group consumed one cup (150 grams) of blueberries daily. Another consumed the equivalent of half-a-cup (75 grams) of blueberries daily, while the last group consumed a placebo. Unsurprisingly, the group that consumed the greater amount of blueberries received the most number of improvements. “Our test showed that 1 cup of blueberries per day for six months generally improved the vascular environment by increasing the responsiveness of arteries to [produce] changes in blood flow, improving the flexibility of systemic arteries, and at the same time, increasing the concentration of good lipids and lipoproteins, like HDL, which removes potentially harmful fats from the bloodstream and arteries,” lead study author Peter Curtis said.”

     This one occurred before Christmas, showing the sheer absurdity of modern art.
  https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/see-you-after-jail-guys-art-world-stunned-after-man-eats-120000-banana-duct-taped-wall
  https://trad-news.blogspot.com/2019/12/a-true-artist-would-have-eaten-duct-tape.html

“On Friday, we reported on the latest bizarre milestone in the "art" world, when a banana duct-taped to a wall sold for $120,000 at that excess-liquidity conclave of ultra-rich and other wannabe poseurs known Art Basel Miami Beach. Worse, a second banana duct-taped to a wall also sold for $120,000. Yet even worse than that, a third banana duct-taped to a wall is expected to sell for $150,000 and so on. Then on Saturday, at around 1:45pm, the art world was shocked when a random man, allegedly a performance artist, ate said duct-taped banana that sold earlier this week for $120,000. New York-based performance artist David Datuna ate the banana early on Saturday afternoon in front of a stunned convention full of "art" lovers most of whom had no idea whether they were witnessing even more "art", of just some clueless rando eating the world's most discussed "art" exhibit, the gallery told the Miami Herald.”

     As always, no nutritional advice given, only journalistic reporting of news. And on the anti-vegan front, the champions of red meat are fighting back, big time, with nutritionists saying that given the radical drop in nutritional value of our vegetables, red meat may be necessary, thus adding a new dimension to the debate:
  https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/red-meat-vital-part-of-diets-claims-expert/

“A dip in nutrition levels in plants and fish have made it more important than ever to eat red meat for health reasons, a professor of cardiovascular pharmacology has claimed. As more people turn to a meat-free died, and with the increasing popularity of a vegan lifestyle, advocates of red meat will use the UK's biggest farming conference to begin a fightback against veganism. Professor Alice Stanton, who teaches cardiovascular pharmacology at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, will tell the Oxford Farming Conference key nutrients in some fruits, vegetables and grains have dipped by up to 50% over 50 years. The professor is expected to say this is a result of farmers trying to meet demands for cheap foods. “For plant-based foods, there’s been drops in vitamins and key electrolytes by up to 50% over the past 50 years because of the genetic selection for large volume and uniformity of shape and appearance, so the things look good on the shelves. There hasn’t been selection for nutrient content,” she told the Observer newspaper. “Absolutely, we need to address greenhouse gas emissions. But I’m concerned about the dramatic reduction in red meat consumption being regarded as the solution,” she said. Eating red meat in moderation – “twice to four times a week” – was “protective against heart attacks, strokes and cancer”, while nutrients in red meat were vital for children in the first three years of life, she added. “I’m not against vegetarianism or veganism,” Stanton said. “It is possible to have a balanced diet with vegetarianism. It’s a little bit more challenging but still possible with veganism. However, it requires a lot of knowledge and effort, which doesn’t happen in the majority of the population. People don’t have time to invest in getting a really balanced diet through a range of plant-based foods.” The growth of alternative diets saw a drop of around £185 million in sales of red meat in 2019 with figures showing hundreds of thousands of people in the UK gave up meat for Veganuary. According to polls quoted by the Vegan Society, the number of vegans in Britain has quadrupled since 2014, increasing from 150,000 to 600,000.”

     Don’t despair Peter West, and our other Catholic readers, there are still some high-ranking Catholics who are standing their grounds against the modern madness, attacking the new age religion of climate change:
  https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/01/07/polish-bishops-rally-behind-prelate-who-dissed-greta-thunberg/
  https://dzienniklodzki.pl/abp-marek-jedraszewski-ostrzega-przed-ekologizmem-i-greta-thunberg/ar/c1-14681911

“The controversial archbishop Marek Jedraszewski from Krakow again raised controversy. This time he indignated the environmentalists with the interview he gave for Republika. He stated that environmentalism was a "very dangerous" phenomenon, and criticized Greta Thunberg's listen. "This activist becomes an oracle for all political and social forces. This is contrary to everything that is recorded in the Bible, beginning with the Book of Genesis, which explicitly mentions the miracle of God's creation of the world, "said Republika on Christmas Eve on Television. He also emphasized that according to the Bible, man was supposed to make his land a subject and he is someone who rules over the earth. The contradiction of the opinion of the former metropolitan of Lodz and fascinated by ecology of Pope Francis was noted by, among others priest Wojciech Leman-ski from Lódz "The Pope talks about ecological sin, and the archbishop talks about the heresy of ecologicalism. The Pope meets Greta Thunberg, and the Archbishop mocks Greta, "wrote Fr Facebook Lemanski. One of the boats didn't last. She wrote a private letter asking for papal intervention and sent it as a registered letter to the Vatican. Now waiting for an answer. Archbishop. Marek Jedraszewski managed the Lódz church in 2012-2016. Even then he became famous for his controversial statements. During a meeting with young people in Pabianice, he warned that in 2050 white people will be shown in Europe in reserves. However, it was only after moving to Krakow that he began to regularly attract media attention. On August 1, during the homily on the anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, he warned of "rainbow plague" or LGBT ideology.”

     China is beginning its movement south, and is now in confrontation with Indonesia. Will Australia simply dissolve in the New World Order that is fast approaching?
  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-china/indonesia-deploys-fighter-jets-in-stand-off-with-china-idUSKBN1Z61AM

“Indonesia’s air force deployed four fighter jets to the South China Sea on Tuesday in a stand-off with Beijing after Jakarta protested over a Chinese violation of its exclusive economic zone. The stand-off began in mid-December when a Chinese coast guard vessel, accompanying Chinese fishing boats, entered waters off the coast of Indonesia’s northern Natuna islands, prompting Jakarta to summon Beijing’s ambassador. The issue has soured Indonesia’s generally friendly relationship with China, its biggest trading partner and a major investor in Southeast Asia’s largest country. Fajar Adriyanto, the air force spokesman, said four F-16 jets had been conducting flights over the islands, though he also played down fears of any confrontation with Beijing. “They’re doing standard patrols to protect our sovereign area. It just so happened that they’re patrolling Natuna,” Adriyanto said. “We don’t have the order to start a war with China.” The South China Sea is a global trade route with rich fishing grounds and energy reserves and China claims most of it based on what it says is its historic activity. But Southeast Asian countries, supported by the United States and much of the rest of the world, say such claims have no legal basis. On Monday, Indonesia said it was mobilizing fishermen to the northern Natuna region and had deployed several naval ships.”

     The Left are vocal against soft targets, such as what remains of the White West, over immigration and border defence issues, but when it comes to mother China, well, they are quiet like little mice, or is it rats, on issues such as organ harvesting?
  https://quillette.com/2020/01/03/bloody-harvest-how-everyone-ignored-the-crime-of-the-century/

“In June of this year the China Tribunal delivered its Final Judgement and Summary Report. An independent committee composed of lawyers, human rights experts, and a transplant surgeon, the Tribunal was established to investigate forced organ harvesting on the Chinese mainland. These rumours have haunted the country for years—lurid tales of the fate suffered by members of the banned Falun Gong religion after being taken into police custody. Their organs, so the rumours go, are cut from their bodies while they are still alive, and then transplanted into waiting patients. The Tribunal examined these claims, extending the group of victims to include Uyghur Muslims (among others), and its findings were unambiguous. “On the basis of all direct and indirect evidence, the Tribunal concludes with certainty that forced organ harvesting has happened in multiple places in the PRC [People’s Republic of China] and on multiple occasions for a period of at least twenty years and continues to this day.” Further to this, “the PRC and its leaders actively incited the persecution, the imprisonment, murder, torture, and the humiliation of Falun Gong practitioners with the sole purpose of eliminating the practice of, and belief in, the value of Falun Gong.” The Tribunal was also able to conclude, “with certainty,” that the Communist Party has been responsible for acts of torture inflicted on Uyghurs. These acts were found to constitute crimes against humanity.

     With war with Iran becoming increasingly likely with each missile attack, the big question is whether this will escalate into World War III, with China and Russia jumping into the big brawl. Some think, maybe:
  https://www.asiatimes.com/2020/01/article/could-china-take-irans-side-in-a-war-with-us/

“The next question is, how will regional powers react to a US-Iran war? China and Russia already seem to have answered that question via their war games in the Gulf of Oman last week, and the signal to the US is that Iran is not isolated and has powerful allies. Indeed, last year retired US Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor already warned that a war with Iran could draw in China and Russia. Currently, China’s reaction is to urge both Iran and the US to maintain calm and de-escalate tensions, and closely monitor the situation. Beijing does not want war and needs Mideast stability to pursue the Belt and Road Initiative Eurasian integration plan. It has large stakes in Iran’s stability: It is the largest buyer of Iranian oil, China is Iran’s largest trading partner, and Iran is a key geographic node for the BRI. Up to now, China has tried to balance its relationship with Saudi Arabia and Iran in the Middle East and set up a firewall between the two, although Iran is more significant in China’s strategic calculus given the fact Saudi Arabia and other Arab Gulf countries are still under the US security umbrella and host US military bases. China is also against further Western-sponsored regime change in the region, and Iran is an important partner in counterbalancing US hegemony and the drive toward a multipolar world. ‘It’s about China’

     The arrogant sods from Hollywood sit back and fire away contempt for the deplorables who pay out their hard-earnt money for some crumbs of entertainment. But for once, one of trheir own has unloaded on them, while they were a captive audience, and it is delightful. Enjoy:
  https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-50983253
  https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ricky-gervais-golden-globes-monologue-gets-political-1266308

“From the moment Ricky Gervais walked on stage at the Golden Globes on Sunday night, it was clear he was taking no prisoners. "If you win an award tonight, don't use it as a platform to make a political speech," he advised the stars during his opening monologue. "You're in no position to lecture the public about anything, you know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg." Several winners ignored his advice completely (more on their speeches in a sec), but that didn't stop the British comedian going all out as he fronted the ceremony for the fifth and apparently final time.”

     The US version of 60 Minutes, has really put a mountain lion amongst the black pigeons with a TV special on the alleged suicide of Jeff Epstein, notorious elite paedophile who had a pleasure island where the elite could go an rape underaged girls, while he filmed it all for blackmail purposes. In the program Dr Michael Baden said: “I have never seen three fractures like this in a suicide hanging.” Numerous pieces of evidence did not fit the suicide hypothesis:
  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeffrey-epstein-autopsy-a-closer-look-60-minutes-2020-01-05/
  https://www.zerohedge.com/political/fake-noose-60-minutes-shreds-epstein-suicide-theory

“Among the injuries found on Epstein during the autopsy are contusions on both wrists, an abrasion on his left forearm, and deep muscle hemorrhaging in his left shoulder muscle. Photos 60 Minutes reviewed also show an injury to the back of his neck, a cut on his lip, and an injection mark in his arm, though it is unknown whether the latter injuries happened during an attempt to resuscitate Epstein at the hospital. Dr. Baden said small burst capillaries, known as petechiae, found on Epstein's face, mouth, and eyes are often an indication of strangulation. But it was injuries to Epstein's neck that make Dr. Baden call into question the official ruling of suicide. Autopsy photos show fractures of the left and right thyroid cartilage, which sits at the front of the neck, and the left hyoid bone, a u-shaped bone that sits under the jaw and acts as an anchor for the tongue. "I have never seen three fractures like this in a suicidal hanging," Dr. Baden tells Alfonsi on the broadcast. He added: "Going over a thousand jail hangings, suicides in the New York City state prisons over the past 40–50 years, no one had three fractures."

     Marvel has announced that a trans character is coming very soon in a film … I can hardly wait. They have begun the woke, politically correct push with the Captain Marvel film, which did ok riding on Avengers: Endgame, but most other woke films have gone belly up, especially the no doubt final Terminator movie, Cats, and Charlie’s Angels, all with an over-the -top feminist ideology:
  https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2019/12/31/video-marvel-studios-president-says-trans-character-coming-very-soon-in-upcoming-film/
  https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2019/12/31/hollywoods-most-notable-flops-of-2019-schwarzenegger-charlies-angels-and-cats/
  https://affirmativeright.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-long-goodbye-review-of-star-wars.html
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC-vExHeBII

“Unpopular social justice messages are to blame for some of the biggest failures as Hollywood continues to force feed left-wing ideology to audiences, who are catching wise to the game and rejecting it wholesale. Franchise fatigue was another factor, as creatively bankrupt studios continue to pump out sequels and reboots to diminishing returns. Hollywood is in panic mode. The domestic box office is expected to drop 3.6 percent in 2019 compared to last year, the largest percentage drop in five years. Audiences are shunning the cinemas in favor of at-home entertainment options, which include Netflix and a growing array of competitors. Here are some the year’s most notable box-office flops, and how much each stands to lose.

     The magazine Christianity Today featured a December article arguing that Trump should be removed from office because he is .. well something, immoral I guess.
  https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/december-web-only/trump-should-be-removed-from-office.html
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/12/21/christianity-todays-op-ed-isnt-attacking-trump-its-defending-christianity/
  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/20/us/politics/christianity-today-trump-evangelicals.html
  https://www.breitbart.com/2020-election/2019/12/23/christianity-today-doubles-down-in-call-for-trump-impeachment/
  https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/23/franklin-graham-again-slams-christianity-today-for-anti-trump-stance/

“The CEO of the evangelical journal Christianity Today (CT) published an editorial Sunday defending the magazine’s call for the impeachment of President Donald Trump. In his essay, CT president and CEO Timothy Dalrymple defends the magazine’s decision to side with those demanding Trump’s removal, saying that CT has received “countless notes of encouragement from readers who were profoundly moved” by its editorial and insisting that the journal is beholden to God alone and not the Democrat party. “Out of love for Jesus and his church, not for political partisanship or intellectual elitism, this is why we feel compelled to say that the alliance of American evangelicalism with this presidency has wrought enormous damage to Christian witness,” Dalrymple writes. “It has alienated many of our children and grandchildren. It has harmed African American, Hispanic American, and Asian American brothers and sisters.” Mr. Dalrymple suggests that the perceived alliance between the president and evangelical Christians in the U.S. has hurt the credibility of Christians across the globe. “While the Trump administration may be well regarded in some countries, in many more the perception of wholesale evangelical support for the administration has made toxic the reputation of the Bride of Christ,” Dalrymple writes. As evangelicals we are “associated with President Trump’s rampant immorality, greed, and corruption; his divisiveness and race-baiting; his cruelty and hostility to immigrants and refugees; and more,” he states.

Of course, over the last months we have all been involved, (in one way, or another) in the drought and subsequent fires. Some have lost everything, homes, relatives, farms, stock, friends, others have suffered from the smoke, hero’s have fought the fires, whilst other brave people have raised money, or traveled across our continent to deliver food and supplies.

Farmers and related business if not critically damaged have suffered and we still have another few months of hot weather to look forward too. Its all very sad, but as we know it’s Australia, this has all happened before, little of the money donations will get to those who deserve it and nothing that the government promises to help with will be forth coming. Even the insurance companies have historically been very slow to pay out in fire disasters such as in the Marysville disaster.

To The Australian         Nadia Schadlow quotes Thomas Mann ("Come the hour, come the Mann", 15/1) as having believed that "democratic nations were at risk of separating their lofty ideals from inescapable realities", by which he presumably meant the self-interested machinations of the powerful and ruthless. She should have added to the demons of fascism and communism the current ongoing tyranny of the super-rich. She is right, of course, to champion the dignity of man, the open society and political freedom for the individual; but where both she and Mann may be in error is in their conviction that democracy is the best form of political order. "Rule of the people" is not so very attractive when you look at the behaviour of lots and lots of people! Perhaps aristocracy ("rule of the best") is superior, but how to transition to it in an age of globalisation, digital infrastructure, excessive surveillance and loss of autonomy is a question not easy to answer. However, the West's uncertainty and depleted confidence in democracy suggest that the effort should be made.
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic
    

To The Australian           The death of Roger Scruton invites us to consider the nature of conservatism and the role it might play in the coming life of our own nation ("Life of a contrary don", 14/1). Scruton's horror of mob violence witnessed in France in 1968 alerted him to the need to oppose the revolutionary doctrine (it is nonsense) of human equality. He soon grasped that high culture was a vital bulwark in the defence of the ways of the elders. You are right ("Roger Scruton's brilliant mind") to applaud this life lived in devotion to "beauty, reason and tradition". However, the essence of conservatism is the honouring of the sacred, of the mystery of the holy; and Scruton does not seem to have been strong enough on this. Australians also tend at present to adopt a cavalier attitude to this source of truth, hence the current confusion generally in our intellectual forums. We can learn from Scruton, but we can learn more from the world's great sacred traditions and their wisest exponents.
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic

     To judge how far things have gone, consider the ever-politically correct J. K. Rowling, was attacked by the media elites for merely saying that biological sex is real. That is seen as anti-trans, and other celebs, such as Ricky Gervais, and Mark Hamill, who supported Rowling, also got slammed.
  https://www.zerohedge.com/political/jk-rowling-cancelled-woke-outrage-mob-saying-biological-sex-real
  https://www.nme.com/news/jk-rowling-criticised-for-supporting-woman-who-posted-controversial-trans-rights-tweets-2589718
  https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/22/u-s-establishment-media-run-away-j-k-rowling-transgender-debate/
  https://celebrity.nine.com.au/latest/ricky-gervais-under-fire-transphobic-tweets-claims-jokes/3c712bd3-80b9-4d73-95aa-fdc13461567b
  https://summit.news/2019/12/20/mark-hamill-slammed-for-liking-jk-rowlings-transphobic-tweet/

“The U.S. establishment media is running away from a lucrative click-bait debate on sex and science, which is sponsored by the wealthy and famous author of the Harry Potter franchise, J.K. Rowling. The December 19 offer came when Rowling championed the free speech rights  of one woman — Maya Forestator — while simultaneously supporting sexual freedom, science, and the public’s right to recognize the different, equal, and complementary biological sexes of women and men. The New York Times‘ article followed the same pro-transgender format, with its headline saying “J.K. Rowling Criticized After Tweeting Support for Anti-Transgender Researcher.” The article quoted three critics but offered no quotes from supporters of Rowling or Forstator. The New York Times blocked reader comments. The Washington Post allowed comments on its news article, and the comments  — were overwhelming in favor of Rowling and against the article’s authors. Many other outlets were even worse.”

     I often wondered how vegans would respond if there was evidence of the consciousness, in a fashion, of plants. I mean to say, we should nor eat meat because animals have minds, but what if plants had a kind of mind as well?
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7773333/Plants-emit-ultrasonic-scream-stems-cut-water-short-supply.html

“A team of scientists at Tel Aviv University have discovered that some plants emit a high frequency distress sound when they undergo environmental stress. The researchers tested tomato plants and tobacco plants by depriving them of water and by cutting their stems and then recording their response with a microphone placed ten centimeters away. In both cases, they found the plants began to emit ultrasonic sounds between 20 and 100 kilohertz, which they believed could convey their distress to other plants and organisms in the immediate vicinity. When a tomato plant’s stem was cut, the researchers found it emitted 25 ultrasonic distress sounds over the course of an hour, according to Live Science.”

     This was a surprising one: if Trump is a Russian agent, and the Democrats cannot let go of this one, then Obama must be an agent of Iran, some commentators are arguing. Consider:
  https://pjmedia.com/trending/obama-administration-stopped-israel-from-assassinating-soleimani-in-2015-report-says/
  https://www.naturalnews.com/2020-01-07-obama-gave-soleimani-amnesty-bogus-nuclear-deal.html

“While Democrats flirt with treason in their opposition to President Donald Trump’s recent decision to take out one of America’s biggest enemies, Qassem Suleimani, and their propagandist allies in the “mainstream media” eulogize him as some kind of saint, it’s appropriate to remember not only who he was but who enabled him: Barack Hussein Obama. While Democrats flirt with treason in their opposition to President Donald Trump’s recent decision to take out one of America’s biggest enemies, Qassem Suleimani, and their propagandist allies in the “mainstream media” eulogize him as some kind of saint, it’s appropriate to remember not only who he was but who enabled him: Barack Hussein Obama. First, Suleimani’s record of violence against the United States and, in particular, American forces in Iraq. As head of the Quds Force in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Suleimani was responsible for carrying out Supreme Leader Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei’s foreign policy throughout the Middle East. In addition to dominating politics in neighboring Iraq and Syria, that policy includes financing, training and equipping scores of militant organizations in those countries as well as Lebanon — all of which are loyal to Tehran. These groups include Hamas and Hezbollah. The objective here is to box in Israel and, eventually, attack and destroy the Jewish state. But also, the objective has been to keep the U.S. off-balance as it prosecuted the war against Iraqi militants in the wake of deposing dictator Saddam Hussein. In this realm, Suleimani and his commanders supplied weapons and other material support to Iraq’s anti-American militants, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers.

     The countdown is on to the big one, when Iran finishes mourning and retaliates for the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani against the US. Already, Iran has raised, for the first time in history, a red flag over the Holy Dome of Jamkaran Mosque believed to be a warning of a battle to come, which could be conventional war, or more likely, a type of 4th generational, unconventional conflict involving terrorist cells.
  https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/irans-red-flag-war-hints-21213560
  https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-said-seeing-signs-iran-prepping-ballistic-missiles-as-tehran-vows-revenge/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
  https://affirmativeright.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-iranians-are-playing-chess-while.html

     Some articles are speculating that the US power grid, vulnerable at the best of times, may be attacked, and other articles indicate that Iranian hackers are already hacking  some US sites, such as the Federal Depository Library program’s website. This was hacked and the homepage replaced with Iranian propaganda. Admittedly, this was a soft target, but it could be a warning of what is to come:
  https://www.axios.com/us-iran-war-footing-qasem-soleimani-airstrike-13cbe74f-9095-47b4-8d03-85f1e702f447.html 
  https://www.naturalnews.com/2020-01-05-iran-to-activate-terror-cells-across-america-power-grid-vulnerable-infrastructure.html
  https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/cfr-president-says-world-will-be-battlefield-after-iran-escalation
  https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iranian-hackers-take-down-us-government-site-after-dhs-warns-lone-wolf-terrorists

     While the media here in Australia are going into overdrive about the bushfires being caused by climate change, we need to turn to overseas sources to get some sanity, and uncommon sense. Here is James Delingpole at Breitbart.com, making the sensible argument that it was, and still is, the environmental policies of the largely Leftist environmentalist system and Greens, that allowed the massive build-up of highly flammable dried vegetation:
  https://www.naturalnews.com/2020-01-05-environmentalists-arsonists-australia-policies-forest.html
  https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/01/02/greens-made-australia-bush-fires-worse/

“As Paul Homewood pointed out last month, there has been no significant long-term decrease in rainfall or increase in temperatures in the affected regions. Yes, it has been dry in New South Wales (where most of the worst fires are), but there have been several years, especially pre-1960, when it was drier. The same applies to temperature. Yes, this has been a hot spring in New South Wales. But there have been times when it has been much hotter — making a nonsense of all stories in the Australian media about temperatures being the hottest ever: Neither is the monthly average of 38.0C a record high. The three years from 1899 to 1901 all saw average December mean maximum temperatures well above 38.0C. Since the station moved to the airport in 1993, 38C has only been exceeded once until this year, that was in 2005, when it averaged 38.5C, still well below the December 1899 when the mean was 39.9C. So, to be clear, there is zero evidence of any change in climatic conditions that might have increased the likelihood or severity of these bush fires. This is not — repeat NOT — a man-made climate change story, and anyone who claims otherwise is either a gullible idiot or a lying charlatan. There is, nonetheless, good reason to believe that the stupidity and irresponsibility of man is at least partly to blame for this disaster — just not quite in the way that the left-liberal MSM and the green wankerati would have you believe.

     You will not find very much MSM stuff about the beheadings of Christians  on boxing Day in Nigeria. But, here is the basic information about the attempt in Nigeria, to eliminate Christianity:
  https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15369/christmas-christians-beheaded

“Martha Bulus, a Nigerian Catholic woman, was going to her bridal party when she was abducted by Islamic extremists of Boko Haram. Martha and her companions were beheaded and their execution filmed. The video of the brutal murders of these 11 Christians was released on December 26 to coincide with Christmas celebrations. It is reminiscent of the images of other Christians dressed in orange jumpsuits bent on their knees on a beach, each being held by a masked, black-clad jihadist holding a knife at their throats. Their bodies were discovered in a mass grave in Libya. On the scale of Nigeria's anti-Christian persecution, Martha was less fortunate than another abducted girl, Leah Sharibu, who has now been in captivity nearly two years and just spent her second Christmas in the hands of Boko Haram. The reason? Leah refused to convert to Islam and deny her Christianity. Nigerian Christian leaders are also protesting the "continuous abduction of under-aged Christian girls by Muslim youths...". These girls "are forcefully converted to Islam and taken in for marriage without the consent of their parents". Nigeria is experiencing an Islamist war of the extermination of Christians. So far, 900 churches in northern Nigeria have been destroyed by Boko Haram. U.S. President Donald J. Trump was informed that at least 16,000 Christians have been killed there since 2015. In one single Nigerian Catholic diocese, Maiduguri, 5,000 Christians were murdered. How much bigger and more extended must this war on Christians become before the West considers it a "genocide" and acts to prevent it?