Being dirt poor, I can relate to my fellow Aussies sinking into the mud with me. Like not being able to pay for dental treatment, and having to contemplate pulling out one’s own teeth with rusty pliers. Don’t even ask about do-it-yourself surgery:
  https://www.sbs.com.au/news/one-in-eight-australian-adults-one-in-six-kids-are-living-in-poverty

“One in eight Australians adults and one in six children are living in poverty, a new report has found. The Australian Council of Social Service and UNSW Sydney joint study found 13.6 per cent of the population - or 3.24 million people - are estimated to be living below the poverty line, after taking account of housing costs. Of those, 774,000 children are living in poverty, the study published on Friday said. The council's chief executive Cassandra Goldie said Australians were locked into poverty by low welfare rates, a lack of jobs and unaffordable housing. She called on the government to raise welfare payments, invest in social housing and boost jobs growth. "Our economy is leaving people behind, with persistently high poverty rates despite decades of uninterrupted economic growth," Dr Goldie said. Researchers warned Australia's poverty rate was worse than most wealthy countries, including New Zealand, Germany and Ireland. In Australia, the poverty line was $457 per week for a single adult, with the poverty line measured as 50 per cent of median income. The average gap between the poverty line and people living in poverty was $282 per week.”

     I think I will die from having to correct text which suddenly goes capitalised because some fool put the caps lock key next to the common “A” letter. Anyone with thick fat fingers will hit the cap key 9 times out of 10. Anyway, after losing $30 on my Load and Go card, losing the receipt, I have a bad case of reflux, caused we are told by excess acid travelling up the food pipe in a marvel of engineering. The acid is said, over time, to erode things away, and bingo, cancer and you are dead. In my case my voice box gets a dose, especially at night, so the concern is cancer of the vocal cords. But, with a bit more research, I found that the issue is complex:
  https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/hed.23208

“Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), or its variation known as laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), has been recognized as a potential cause of several laryngeal disorders. Patients with laryngeal cancer have lifestyle risk factors, especially tobacco and alcohol consumption, that play an etiological role in the development of their cancer but also places them at risk for reflux. The question then arises whether there is merely an association or a causal relationship between laryngeal cancer and reflux. However, despite a number of studies, a causal relationship with laryngeal cancer is uncertain. In this article, we address the current literature in a critical manner to evaluate the relationship between reflux and laryngeal cancer. From the review of the literature, we conclude that there is insufficient evidence to support a causal role of reflux in laryngeal cancer, mainly because of the confounding effect of tobacco and alcohol consumption and the inaccuracies in the diagnosis of reflux.”

     The American race realists, such as American Renaissance, against whom I have been critiquing for some time, hold among many things, that Black people have an athletic superiority in various sports, such as sprinting, and perhaps boxing. I note with regard to boxing that the recent fight between Tyson Fury (white) and Deontay Wilder (black), where Fury devastated him, should give them pause:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0pvpiyc4Wc

     This epic battle should raise some doubts about generalisations of racial superiority in sports. I think that here the individual is king/queen and the differences are too great to generalise.

     Have a look at this; an ad showing a Burger King burger going mouldy, supposedly to demonstrate lack of preservatives. Well, my guess is that whatever preservatives one put in a burger, after a few days it will go rotten, let alone 34 days. So, what is the point? It certainly has created the mental image of burgers = mould in my mind, somewhat counter-productive, I think.
  https://10daily.com.au/amp/shows/theproject/news/a200220rpwud/burger-king-launches-its-mouldy-whopper-campaign-20200220

     There is a lot of angst about so-called species loss and the sixth extinction. But, really, short of over-turning the crazy system not much can be done. Or can there? One man started at the grass roots, literally and saved a species in his own backyard:
  https://www.ibelieveinmothernature.com/my-world/this-man-repopulated-a-rare-butterfly-species-in-his-own-backyard/

“The so-called pipevine swallowtail of California has iridescent blue-colored wings, and collectors consider them among the most important and magnificent ones found in the area of North America. This beautiful butterfly thrives in San Francisco for centuries, and also around the so-called Bay Area. However, as this particular region was increasingly urbanized during the early 1900s, this butterfly species started disappearing. Nowadays, people living there can extremely rarely spot it. Tim Wong, who is an aquatic biologist at the Academy of Sciences in California, made the bringing of this butterfly his personal goal and mission, and he is on the way of something very promising. During 2012, he started searching for the California pipevine, its sole source of food, which disappeared together with this beautiful butterfly around the city area. He said: Finally, I was able to find this plant in the San Francisco Botanical Garden. And they allowed me to take a few clippings of the plant. He also propagated this plant in the backyard of his house, watering, tending, and weeding it until he created a paradise for the pipevine swallowtail. He explained that he built quite a big screen enclosure in order to protect this insect and to permit it to mate when the outside environmental conditions are perfect – natural airflow, sun, and temperature fluctuations. He also mentioned that this specialized enclosure even protects them from predators, increasing the opportunities for mating, and serves just like an environment for studying and observing these insects in order to comprehend better the criteria that the females look for in the ideal host plants.

To The Australian         The rewritten version of "Advance Australia Fair" recommended by Cathy Freeman is a non-starter ("Olympic star backs move to alter national anthem's lyrics", 26/2). The song itself is anaemic and out of date; and the RAP version is not inclusive. A new and widely acceptable national anthem could have five stanzas: (1) an opening commending past efforts and achievements by all our predecessors (including the Anzac tradition); (2) celebration of Aboriginal culture; (3) celebration of our British foundation; (4) celebration of our diversity made up of immigrants from all over the world; (5) an ending calling for fruitful contributions from all Australians to a worthwhile national future. The first and last stanzas should have a generalised invocation to divine blessing and providence. Essential would be a genuinely rousing tune. If a totally new musical contribution cannot be found, something from an earlier Australian composer might be appropriate - say, from Percy Grainger, for example.
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic

25 February 2020,        Australian camels are well-adapted to thrive in the dry heart of Australia but landowners have been unable to harvest them profitably for meat, leather, racing or genetics. With no real predators, camel numbers ballooned. They did reduce wildfire risk in parks by consuming excess vegetation, but during drought, starving, thirsty camels become pests, invading neighbouring pastures and water supplies and destroying fences. So the federal government pays helicopter sharp-shooters to shoot hundreds of them, leaving carcasses to rot. A similar fate awaits Kosciusko Park brumbies. At the same time, nearer to the coast, hungry kangaroos trash irrigated pastures and help themselves to dwindling water supplies, but landowners are forbidden to cull them and red tape and quotas hamper those licenced to harvest them for natural chemical-free meat. Graziers are forced to destock in droughts – kangaroos should also be destocked. Then there are the hungry rabbits and wallabies often in pestiferous numbers. They love improved pastures. Rabbits get poisoned, shot, trapped and deliberately infected with viruses. But wallabies are widely protected. Dingoes and wild dogs are a lethal threat to outback sheep, calves and goats and also endanger children on Frazer Island, Uluru and in other “protected” places. Some dogs are protected, some not. Sharks and crocodiles are increasingly numerous, bold and dangerous in coastal waters and estuaries. They have few predators, but hunting them is not allowed. Feral cats, dogs, pigs, foxes and deer infest National Parks and harass park neighbours, but hunters are locked out and no government sharp-shooters are sent.

     In other places, towns and orchards are besieged by invasions of smelly, noisy, messy, disease-carrying flying foxes but it is these bats, not the people, who are protected. For example see how just one Australian town is besieged by untouchable fruit bats:
  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/11/it-smells-so-bad-you-can-taste-it-bats-plague-australian-tourist-town

     To The Age        Unlike Tim Huf and Dora Houpis (28/2), I do not welcome the Victorian Government's proposal to require all high school students in government schools "to learn a mandatory and more thorough history of the Holocaust", as I fear that the subject will be taught in a quasi-religious manner involving a doctrine all must believe. Or will fair space and attention be given to the substantial researches and theses of Holocaust revisionists?
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic

     Uncle Len is a bit like the Nobel Prize winner Samuel Beckett, a minimalist, releasing works, brief works, like diamonds. Well, probably more like plastic:

   https://amp.nine.com.au/article/be6696ee-ad1f-4a1f-bd88-719e50359c38 

     Here is a good article, not every unquoted word of which I necessarily endorse, detailing why big business loves mass immigration; it is all about the money, bunny, and has been since this place was set up.
  https://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/2020/02/23/the-war-on-white-australia-cheap-labor-importation-schemes/

“Population growth fuelled by mass immigration and the servicing of it with cheaply-built houses, apartments, and supermarkets has essentially become Australia’s economic strategy. Former Australian Foreign Minister, Bob Carr, pointed out that “Australia digs up and sells raw materials. In the cities the economy is based on building apartment blocks and shopping malls. The idea of Australia as a clever country is a myth, it’s an illusion.” Unsurprisingly, surveys have found a steep fall in public support for immigration over the last decade. A 2018 survey found that more than 69 per cent of respondents felt the country didn’t need more people. Community concerns about the deleterious effects of mass immigration are not, however, represented by Australia’s political class. At the 2019 federal election, despite some clear differences between the two major political parties in a range of policy areas, they effectively ran a joint ticket on immigration. Economics journalist Judith Sloan notes that immigration is “a no go subject for many in the political class,” who are “in heated agreement in their support for high migrant intakes, both permanent and temporary, and the associated high population growth.”

     After his jail sentence being delivered by the court, old Harvey was admitted to hospital with chest pains, maybe a heart attack coming. Who would not get chest pains from all that Me-tooism! On this Brett Stevens sums it up in his admirably brutal, concise style:

“Egalitarian systems favor victims because they, at the left side of the bell curve, are those to whom benefits flow from those on the right side. As a result, we have elevated victims to special status because they are the new elite. In my view, Harvey Weinstein did not have any victims; he had dupes, or mooks who played the game to get ahead in Hollywood and then lost. They knew that Hollywood, which makes its money by attention …  has long had a tradition of producers and investors treating its women like prostitutes. They took the gamble: offer sex in exchange for getting ahead in the industry. For some, this did not work out, since they did not have whatever mix of talent, charisma, dedication, and luck is required to become a big name. They faced an ugly choice between admitting failure and scapegoating someone else, and now they get their fifteen minutes in the sun. I doubt anyone cares that Harvey Weinstein is off the streets, since he has already made money for the people who matter, or that any of his remaining wealth will be siphoned off to these … victims. However, the trend toward victimhood shows us a dying civilization where no one believes in its future and everyone is trying to scrabble for enough money to escape.”

     The coronavirus is marching through South Korea now, showing how ineffective communist China’s control mechanisms were. The bigger surprise is that Italy now faces the infection, with a quarantine of 12 towns, so the bug has reached Europe. Italy now has 132 cases of the virus infection, and rising.
  https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/coronavirus-deaths-outside-china-spike-who-team-visits-wuhan
  https://www.zerohedge.com/health/chinese-scientists-find-coronavirus-did-not-originate-wuhan-seafood-market
  https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/coronavirus-panic-goes-global-skorea-warns-watershed-moment-italy-quarantines-12-towns
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QePvLSBFZPU&feature=emb_title
  https://www.trunews.com/stream/cdc-coronavirus-warning-u-s-schools-and-businesses-may-soon-become-quarantine-camps

     Medical supplies are fast disappearing, the Chinese getting ahead of the curve. Our just in time delivery system, is highly vulnerable, operating on the edge of collapse, much like the wider social  system. This video may produce the appropriate sense of angst:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUQszu6smWY

     A new book by the highly productive Edward Dutton, Why Islam Makes You Stupid ... but Also Means You’ll Conquer the World (2020), is actually a solid, implicit critique of IQ fetishism of sites like American Renaissance which has, in my opinion, an excessive, obsessive conception of the relevance of IQ, based upon contestable studies, as all of psychology is. Dutton takes a longer evolutionary view, which sees ethnocentrism and reproductive success as ultimately deciding the destiny of the world. A sister publication, Vdare.com, has a review, as we are all to poor to buy books here, we quote the essence:
  https://vdare.com/articles/will-islam-will-prove-that-demographics-is-destiny

“Though rigorous adherence to Islam suppresses intelligence, the advantages conferred by ethnocentrism and fertility are so great that, in the everlasting conflict between the Islam and formerly-Christian Europe, the former will triumph despite the intellectual and technological advantages of the latter. Dutton, in his usual resolute and confident style, packs his exploration of Islam with information and original insights to reveal how the religion affects the IQ not only of Muslims but also the Europeans whose lands Mohammed’s disciples are colonizing. Chapter 1 introduces modern research on intelligence in the context of human biodiversity and group selection: You pass on your genes by having children, by investing in your kind, or by investing in your group. Chapter 6 closes the book with Dutton’s reflections of Western man’s future in light of the general deterioration of Western civilizational strength, the declining average intelligence of Europeans, and the accelerating immigration into the European heartlands of aliens in general and Muslims in particular. But Dutton, originally educated as a theologian, is at his strongest in the middle when dealing with Islam’s stultifying effects on IQ—which will not, he predicts, thwart its triumph over the West. … In Chapter 2, Dutton summarizes the interplay between intelligence and religiosity. Overall, there exists a weak negative correlation between IQ and religiosity, and the harsher and more fundamentalist the creed, the lower the average IQ of its adepts. That might seem trivial, as professors of science or engineers are rarely ardent believers, but two existential threats arise from the association of IQ and religiousness and their effect on fertility. A positive correlation between religiousness and fertility is dysgenic in terms of IQ; i.e.,

     I only go to the Affirmative Right site to see and listen to the Report from Tiger Mountain by Australian film director, Richard Wolstencroft, and the head writer seems more like a lefty to me that someone from the right. Anyway, to our boy Richard. Here he sounds off about film award ceremonies needing to be woke and politically correct. Nothing new, but readers who are not offended by a bit of pub language, may enjoy listening to him tear into the libtards. It cheered me up. In fact, I think I will listen to it once more before they kick me out of the community centre, and I go home to a Friday night with just a bottle for company. Could be worse; at least am not a libtard.
  https://affirmativeright.blogspot.com/2020/02/report-from-tiger-mountain-22-who-wins.html

     Why are dogs special? It is because of love, and one has to have had a dog to know of the unconditional love a dog has for its master/mistress. You are part of its pack, and dogs are a pack animal. It is well known that dogs will frequently fight to the death defending their human family:
  https://phys.org/news/2020-02-dogs-special-science.html

“The idea that animals can experience love was once anathema to the psychologists who studied them, seen as a case of putting sentimentality before scientific rigor. But a new book argues that, when it comes to dogs, the word is necessary to understanding what has made the relationship between humans and our best friends one of the most significant interspecies partnerships in history. Clive Wynne, founder the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University, makes the case in "Dog is Love: Why and How Your Dog Loves You." The animal psychologist, 59, began studying dogs in the early 2000s, and, like his peers, believed that to ascribe complex emotions to them was to commit the sin of anthropomorphism—until he was swayed by a body evidence that was growing too big to ignore. "I think there comes a point when it's worth being skeptical of your skepticism," the Englishman said in an interview with AFP. Canine science has enjoyed a resurgence in the past two decades, much of it extolling dogs' smarts. Titles like "The Genius of Dogs" by Brian Hare have advanced the idea that dogs have an innate and exceptional intelligence. Wynne, however plays spoilsport, arguing that Fido is just not that brilliant. … One of the most striking advances comes from studies regarding oxytocin, a brain chemical that cements emotional bonds between people, but which is, according to new evidence, also responsible for interspecies relationships between dogs and humans. Recent research led by Takefumi Kikusui at Japan's Azabu University has shown that levels of the chemical spike when humans and their dogs gaze into each others' eyes, mirroring an effect observed between mothers and babies. In genetics, UCLA geneticist Bridgett vonHoldt made a surprising discovery in 2009: Dogs have a mutation in the gene responsible for Williams syndrome in humans—a condition characterized by intellectual limitations and exceptional gregariousness. "The essential thing about dogs, as for people with Williams syndrome, is a desire to form close connections, to have warm personal relationships—to love and be loved," writes Wynne.

     Another day, one more Chinese buy up, this time a whole lot of iconic former Australian dairy names:
  https://amp.9news.com.au/article/bc9afd4a-04a7-4fb6-8214-72662b04654a

“The ACCC has cleared the way for China Mengniu Dairy to lap up Lion's Dairy and Drinks portfolio, which includes the Dairy Farmers, Pura milk, Dare and Farmers Union iced coffee brands. The competition watchdog says Mengniu's $600 million proposal to acquire Lion's raw milk processing facilities in Australia will not substantially lessen competition in the Gippsland region, where Mengniu already has a presence due to a partial ownership of Burra Foods. ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh says while Burra and Lion D&D compete for raw milk, they are not close competitors. "Our investigations concluded that dairy farmers are unlikely to switch between the two," Mr Keogh said today. The ACCC also considered a combined Mengniu-Lion D&D would continue to be constrained by giants Saputo and Fonterra in the region, as well as a number of smaller raw milk processors. The deal still needs Foreign Investment Review Board approval.”

     Guess what the universities are up to today in these days of plague?
  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-australia/australian-university-offers-chinese-students-1000-to-return-via-third-country-idUSKBN20F08A

“One of Australia’s leading universities said on Friday it is offering Chinese students A$1,500 ($992) if they travel through a third country as higher education providers seek to minimize the impact of a ban on foreigners arriving from mainland China. Australia has since Feb. 1 barred entry to foreigners arriving directly from mainland China, citing a need to stop the spread of the flu-like virus that emerged in China late last year. The ban was extended on Thursday until at least Feb. 29. With the Australian academic year already underway, universities fear thousands of students will withdraw and look at international alternatives if they are unable to get to their classes within weeks. Australia’s government has said that as long as the students are outside China for 14 days, they would be permitted to enter the country. Western Sydney University said it will offer Chinese students a one-off payment if they fulfil those requirements.”

     Sweden celebrates diversity in many diverse ways, some of which may appear to be strange to us, but that is because we are not diverse enough, at least in our narrow-minded thinking:
  https://samnytt.se/video-gang-stampar-flicka-i-huvudet-doda-henne-wallah/
  https://voiceofeurope.com/2020/02/new-swedish-video-gang-stomp-girl-on-the-head-while-photographer-yells-kill-her-wallah/

     There is no doubt about it: Sweden is a moral super power:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_grenade_attacks_in_Sweden
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombings_in_Sweden
  https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/10/bomb-attacks-are-now-a-normal-part-of-swedish-life/

     Here is another one of those “we have got the secret of life” articles, although in this case this seems literally to be so, with researchers claiming to have discovered a molecular switch that can turn off chronic inflammation:
  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200206144837.htm
  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550413120300097?via%3Dihub

“It is well documented that the rate of aging can be slowed, but it remains unclear to which extent aging-associated conditions can be reversed. How the interface of immunity and metabolism impinges upon the diabetes pandemic is largely unknown. Here, we show that NLRP3, a pattern recognition receptor, is modified by acetylation in macrophages and is deacetylated by SIRT2, an NAD+-dependent deacetylase and a metabolic sensor. We have developed a cell-based system that models aging-associated inflammation, a defined co-culture system that simulates the effects of inflammatory milieu on insulin resistance in metabolic tissues during aging, and aging mouse models; and demonstrate that SIRT2 and NLRP3 deacetylation prevent, and can be targeted to reverse, aging-associated inflammation and insulin resistance. These results establish the dysregulation of the acetylation switch of the NLRP3 inflammasome as an origin of aging-associated chronic inflammation and highlight the reversibility of aging-associated chronic inflammation and insulin resistance.”

     Here is the summary of the Harvey Weinstein proceedings given to us by our friends at The New York Times, with the paywall, but I found a quote so I do not have to pay, but would not anyway, as I would always find another source. Unfortunately, the quote has an ugly line around it, but the computer wizards at Alor.org can handle it:
  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/24/nyregion/harvey-weinstein-verdict.html

Harvey Weinstein, the powerhouse film producer whose downfall over sexual misconduct ignited a global movement, was found guilty on Monday of a felony sex crime and rape after a trial in which six women testified that he had sexually assaulted them. But the jury acquitted Mr. Weinstein of the two top charges against him, predatory sexual assault. The verdict offered a measure of justice to the dozens of women who had come forward with similar allegations against Mr. Weinstein. For many, the trial was a watershed moment for the #MeToo movement and a crucial test in the effort to hold powerful men accountable for sexual harassment in the workplace. Mr. Weinstein sat between his lawyers looking straight ahead when it was announced that the jury had reached a verdict. Four court officers stood behind him, and Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, sat nearby in the front row of the courtroom. The jury found Mr. Weinstein guilty of two counts, a criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree. Mr. Weinstein appeared unmoved as the verdict was read. He was found not guilty on the two counts of predatory sexual assault, which suggests that one or some jurors did not believe the testimony of Annabella Sciorra, an actress best known for her work in “The Sopranos.” After the verdict was read, Justice James M. Burke thanked the jurors for their “care and concentration” before they left the courtroom. As they filed out, Juror No. 6 stared at Mr. Weinstein.…