As the Western anti-colonial forces have driven Western powers out of Africa, the Chinese have walked in, and are conducting an unopposed, by the Western Left that is, colonisation of Africa, beginning with vast loans, and when the inevitable default occurs, outright ownership of resources:
  https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-01-05/how-china-colonized-entire-continent-without-firing-single-shot

“Back in 1885, to much fanfare, the General Act of the Berlin Conference launched the Scramble for Africa which saw the partition of the continent, formerly a loose aggregation of various tribes, into the countries that currently make up the southern continent, by the dominant superpowers (all of them European) of the day. Subsequently Africa was pillaged, plundered, and in most places, left for dead. The fact that a credit system reliant on petrodollars never managed to take hold only precipitated the "developed world" disappointment with Africa, no matter what various enlightened, humanitarian singer/writer/poet/visionaries claimed otherwise. And so the continent languished....  until 2012 when what we then dubbed as the "Beijing Conference" quietly took place, and to which only Goldman Sachs, which too has been quietly but very aggressively expanding in Africa, was invited. … 

     Here is my update on the latest bit of globo-commo nonsense from the Pope. Rather than doing what Popes should be doing, commenting on issues such as spiritual decline, this Pope reads like some crazy person from a wacko sociology department, eager to have his head patted by those who run such projects:
  https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/01/07/pope-warns-populism-is-weakening-the-multilateral-system/

“Pope Francis compared today’s emergence of populist and nationalist movements to the days of Nazi Germany in an address to a group of diplomats accredited to the Holy See Monday. The upcoming year will mark the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the League of Nations, the pope said in his annual address, which represented “the beginning of modern multilateral diplomacy, by which states try to remove mutual relations from the logic of oppression that leads to war.” Difficulties with the League of Nations led exactly twenty years after its birth to “a new and more lacerating conflict, which was the Second World War.”

     It is interesting how the Australian Republicans are mostly globalists, support the Asianisation of Australia, are crazy about multiculturalism, yet argue that with respect to the republic, well “we” need out own Australian head of state. It is simply inconsistent, since their general globalism, undermines their selective nationalism on this issue. So, there must be a hidden agenda. A recent article by Hal E.P. Colebatch, “How a Republic Would Abolish the States,” Quadrant, January 1, 2019:
https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2019/01-02/how-a-republic-would-abolish-the-states/     gives us some insights.

     First, is the centralist philosophy behind the champions of the Republic and state abolition:

     We do not get this sort of research done in Australia, since our academics almost totally conform to the politically correct catechisms of the present establishment, which accepts mass immigration as a matter of religious faith. But, there is critical deconstructions conducted in the US:
  https://vdare.com/articles/national-data-yes-virginia-it-s-a-national-emergency-out-of-control-immigration-massive-american-worker-displacement

“December’s jobs report, widely hailed because of strong employment growth, also revealed a massive immigration influx, far in excess of estimated legal inflow. And native-born American worker displacement remains close to record highs, continuing an Obama-Era trend that the Trump Administration has totally failed to break. The strong economy is muffling the impact. But what when the next cyclical downturn arrives? American worker replacements are entering the country in near-record numbers: the immigrant population of working age (16 years plus) increased by 1.439 million in December, the fifth consecutive month of 1 million+ growth. There are seasonal trends at work here, of course, so it is particularly alarming that the year-over-year increase this December was larger than in any December since 2008. With legal immigration running at about 1 million per annum, this figure implies a net illegal worker influx potentially in the hundreds of thousands. (In contrast, immigrant working age population actually shrank in the last five months of 2017 when the now-vanished “Trump Effect” seemed to be really taking hold.)”

     Beloved critics don’t get excited, the title is paraphrased from The New York Times, your friendly neighbourhood newspaper. So, relax while we talk about erasing ethnic identity. Or better still, how about on a sensitive topic like this one, we just hide under the wings of The New York Times, and let them do the heavy lifting?
  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/05/world/asia/china-xinjiang-uighur-intellectuals.html?utm

“Mr. Mamut and more than a hundred other Uighur intellectuals who had successfully navigated the worlds of academia, art and journalism became the latest targets of a sweeping crackdown in the region of Xinjiang that has ensnared as many as one million Muslims in indoctrination camps. The mass detention of some of China’s most accomplished Uighurs has become an alarming symbol of the Communist Party’s most intense social-engineering drive in decades, according to scholars, human rights advocates and exiled Uighurs. As the guardians of Uighur traditions, chroniclers of their history and creators of their art, the intellectuals were building the Central Asian, Turkic-speaking society’s reservoir of collective memory within the narrow limits of authoritarian rule. Their detention underscores the party’s attempts to decimate Uighur identity in order to remold the group into a people who are largely secular, integrated into mainstream Chinese culture and compliant with the Communist Party, observers say.

     Most of us writing at this site on the race/immigration issue are pretty pessimistic about the survival prospects of the West, if mass immigration continues. But we are not the only ones, and Italy while in the past being at the German level of terrible, is now leading the way back to sanity:
  https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-01-14/europe-could-collapse-over-migration-says-italy-pm-salvini-insists-paris-berlin

“Italy's Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, said on Monday that the European Union risks collapsing unless it is able to find common ground on mass migration. "If we continue to stall without a shared path, we risk bringing down the European building," Conte remarked at a press conference discussing a recent meeting in Rome with European Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos. Avramopoulos also met with Italy's Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who has led the country's tough stance against NGO-operated migrant transport ships across the mediterranean to Italian ports. Salvini, speaking with RAI's Tg2 bulletin, Salvini knocked France and Germany for "dictating legislature" over the past decade, adding that he and his allies in other EU countries "want to change Europe, not destroy it," reports Bloomberg.”

     President Donald Trump appears to be not backing down on the so-called shutdown of the Federal government over the Great Wall of America issue. That is good to see, if he can stick to it, because the Democrats  have already moved to impeach him, much for the same reasons that our own Fraser Anning is now attacked, that is, only progressive views are to be permitted, and anyone disagreeing with them is beyond the pale, and should just be replaced. That is the way the liberal-Left-globalist mind now works. Ok, I am in America, not in Australia and did not see the rally that is causing all the trouble, but  I take it that some really  bad people did some really wicked bad hand movements. Well, condemn  them, that is what is done nowadays, and I certainly don’t support them, my pappy having fought in WWII, and my uncle dying from a sniper round. But, not everybody did the movements and it was a minority that did. Should everyone therefore be condemned for the actions of a few baddies, in a type of collective punishment, beloved of communist regimes? If so, will that apply to the Left, and when antifa beat up people, will the whole Leftoid team therefore be condemned? You can bet that this won’t happen, because morality today is a one way street.
  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-07/fraser-anning-has-stood-by-his-decision-to-attend-protests/10688812 
  https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/01/06/donald-trump-vows-not-bend-shutdown-fight-dont-like-doing-we-have-no-choice/

     President Trump, even according to the Democrats has the authority to use the military to build a wall. I mean if America can fight endless wars in the Middle East, why can’t it be permitted to secure its own borders? Anyone would think that the ruling elites wanted the place to be swamped! 
  https://www.breitbart.com/video/2019/01/06/dem-house-armed-services-chair-trump-has-the-authority-to-use-the-military-to-build-his-wall/
  https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/01/06/trump-quotes-obama-clinton-build-a-barrier-to-fight-illegal-immigration/ 
  https://www.naturalnews.com/2019-01-06-its-time-trump-should-declare-a-national-emergency-build-the-border-wall.html
  https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/01/05/gofundme-campaign-border-wall-shatter-records/

     Here is a story about political correctness in science, as James Watson, co-discoverer of the nature of DNA, that is the double helix structure, is now under attack by the New Inquisition for his defendable views on racial differences in intelligence. Let us consult one of our favourite newspapers, The New York Times, that gives us all of the news fit to print, and not a drop more:
  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/01/science/watson-dna-genetics-race.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimesscience

“It has been more than a decade since James D. Watson, a founder of modern genetics, landed in a kind of professional exile by suggesting that black people are intrinsically less intelligent than whites. In 2007, Dr. Watson, who shared a 1962 Nobel Prize for describing the double-helix structure of DNA, told a British journalist that he was “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours, whereas all the testing says, not really.” Moreover, he added, although he wished everyone were equal, “people who have to deal with black employees find this not true.” Dr. Watson’s comments reverberated around the world, and he was forced to retire from his job as chancellor of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island, although he retains an office there.”

     As readers know I am a critic of China, but a fair one, not someone driven by pathological hatred. Thus, all criticisms must be based on facts. Hence, consider the outrage that liberals are exhibiting over China sentencing  drug smuggler Robert Schellenberg to death, for conspiring to smuggle 222 kilograms of methamphetamines from China into Australia. Western critics in Canada are saying that this is a payback for Canada prosecuting chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou. Well, so what if it is? China is quite within its rights to make its own laws and police them how they see fit, and surely we do not want these drugs in Australia. If we don’t like it, and I don’t, then stay out of China, and most of all, don’t do drugs. It is simple; if one objects to Chinese buy ups, then you cannot then impose such standards upon China, that is actually “racist” and discriminatory. Hence, I support China executing the drug dealer, and making whatever laws it sees fit for dealing with Westerns in its own country. Now we know where we stand.
  https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/schellenberg-china-drugs-sentence-death-1.4977808 

     This one is starting to get a bit old in terms of news, like that carton of milk in your fridge. Can you get one last drink from it, or should you give it to the cat? If the cat does not drink it, then down the sink it has to go. Speaking of waste:
  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/22/opinion/muslim-christian-trump-supporters.html

“At Bellarmine, an all-boys Catholic school in San Jose, Calif., I was often the token Muslim and probably the only person who began freshman year thinking the Eucharist sounded like the name of a comic book villain. I eventually learned it’s a ritual commemorating the Last Supper. At the monthly Masses that were part of the curriculum, that meant grape juice and stale wafers were offered to pimpled, dorky teenagers as the blood and body of Christ. During my time there, I also read the King James Bible and stories about Jesus, learned about Christian morality, debated the Trinity with Jesuit priests and received an A every semester in religious studies class. Twenty years later, I can still recite the “Our Father” prayer from memory. Growing up, I’d been taught that Jesus was a major prophet in Islam, known as “Isa” and also referred to as “ruh Allah,” the spirit of God born to the Virgin Mary and sent as a mercy to all people. Like Christians, we Muslims believe he will return to fight Dajjal, or the Antichrist, and establish peace and justice on earth. But it was everything I learned in high school that came together to make me love Jesus in a way that made me a better Muslim. Even though I don’t personally celebrate Christmas, the season always makes me think of his legacy of radical love. This year, it’s especially hard to understand how Trump-supporting Christians have turned their back on that unconditional love and exchanged it for nativism, fear and fealty to a reality TV show host turned president.”

     Here is what President Trump has said about the need for US border protection and a wall, and this is relevant to Australians, wanting secure borders as well:

“THE PRESIDENT: My fellow Americans: Tonight, I am speaking to you because there is a growing humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border. Every day, Customs and Border Patrol agents encounter thousands of illegal immigrants trying to enter our country. We are out of space to hold them, and we have no way to promptly return them back home to their country. America proudly welcomes millions of lawful immigrants who enrich our society and contribute to our nation. But all Americans are hurt by uncontrolled, illegal migration. It strains public resources and drives down jobs and wages. Among those hardest hit are African Americans and Hispanic Americans. Our southern border is a pipeline for vast quantities of illegal drugs, including meth, heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl. Every week, 300 of our citizens are killed by heroin alone, 90 percent of which floods across from our southern border. More Americans will die from drugs this year than were killed in the entire Vietnam War. In the last two years, ICE officers made 266,000 arrests of aliens with criminal records, including those charged or convicted of 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 violent killings. Over the years, thousands of Americans have been brutally killed by those who illegally entered our country, and thousands more lives will be lost if we don’t act right now.

     There has been many conspiracy theories circulating about the various sex scenario the progressives get into, with conservatives often “freaking out.” This story adds to the confusion:
  https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-01-08/second-dead-body-found-la-home-wealthy-democratic-donor/

“For the second time in 18 months, a dead body has been found at the home of Ed Buck, a prominent LA-based Democratic donor who once ran for the West Hollywood City Council, according to reports from a local TV station. KTLA reported that the body of a man in his 50s was found by police shortly after 1 am on Monday. Buck's attorney said the deceased was an old friend of Buck's who died of an overdose after ingesting drugs at another location. "From what I know, it was an old friend who died of an accidental overdose, and unfortunately, we believe that the substance was ingested at some place other than the apartment," Buck’s attorney, Seymour Amster, told the newspaper. Buck was home at the time the man died. While the circumstances of the latest death aren't entirely known, the previous death, which occurred in July 2017, was that of a 26-year-old man who had been working as a prostitute when he died of a methamphetamine overdose in Buck’s apartment.

     Here is something to support our great friends at the Reduce Immigration Write on campaign, which you must read about here:
  https://reduceimmigration.wordpress.com/ 
  https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/01/15/survey-seven-in-10-australians-want-inbound-migration-to-end/ 
  http://csrm.cass.anu.edu.au/research/publications/big-australia-small-australia-diverse-australia-australia-s-views-population

“Soaring house prices and crowded cities have combined to convince a clear majority of Australians that the country’s immigration push must end. Just 30.4 per cent of Australians now believe the country needs more people, according to a poll conducted by the Australian National University (ANU). This was compared to 69.6 per cent who felt Australia did not need more people, a dramatic increase since a similar poll was done in 2010.
The collapse in support was most prominent among males with just 32.8 percent supporting a bigger Australia compared to 53.4 percent in the 2010 poll.”

     Articles are appearing detailing the diseases that the illegals at the US border are bringing. This is significant because the progressive elites want open borders, with no restrictions on anyone or anything. Presumably, the diseased will have full access to the healthcare system, maybe before locals, as many are desperately ill. And, if these people are admitted, I agree that denying them full health care would be a violation of rights. But, where does this all lead?
  https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/31/number-sick-kids-soars-border/

“Border authorities are referring 50 people a day for urgent medical care, including tuberculosis, flu and even pregnant women about to give birth, a top official said Monday, saying it’s unlike anything they’ve ever seen before. Most of those in need of care are children, and a staggering 28 percent are under age 5, having been dragged along for the trip by parents who in many cases are hoping to use the children as a shield against speedy deportation from the U.S. The numbers were released after a full review was done of all children in the custody of Customs and Border Protection in the wake of two illegal-immigrant children who died in U.S. hospitals in December. CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said most of those needing help were ill when they arrived at the border, and some appear to have made the initial decision to leave even while ailing. “Many were ill before they departed their homes,” the commissioner said. “We’re talking about cases of pneumonia, tuberculosis, parasites. These are not things that developed urgently in a matter of days.”

To The Age        Amanda Vanstone favours a second referendum on Brexit ("Wishing well is more than a feeling", 21/1), but the 2016 referendum was understood on both sides at the time to be final. Moreover, we do not call for second elections in Australia just because our preferred result has not been obtained.  Of course, other nations in the EU were forced to have second referendums to prevent their leaving the EU, which just shows what an anti-democratic monster it really is. As for blaming "the Brexiteers" for not having a specific plan of departure from the EU, that's nonsense. We don't expect ordinary citizens to have detailed knowledge of how to implement policies they've voted for. We leave it to the professionals. Exiting the EU may be complicated, but not impossibly so. The real culprits for the present mess are those "Remain" persons and interests who have refused to honourably accept the people's call.
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic

     After the mass deaths of about 100 million people from communism in the 20th century, after all the disasters that socialism has brought to South American countries like Venezuela, one would have thought that if the human primate had a grain of rationality, that socialism would have been junked long ago. Sure, they say that socialism works in the Scandinavian countries but this is only a game with words, since what we see are various grades of welfarism within the framework of capitalism, which may or may not work. Those pushing for socialism in America, want to go much further, and unfortunately, there are plenty of sheeple willing to see the institution of private property eliminated, or diluted:
  https://www.foxnews.com/politics/americans-warming-to-socialism-over-capitalism-polls-show?fbclid=IwAR0QFRjrXienkKk5wPV0JCVfA5inBVb5GT6xnwyO2x8HSS2E8atkeTMXNH0

“Politicians calling themselves "Democratic socialists" have made very-visible gains in the past year, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joining Congress on Thursday and Sen. Bernie Sanders becoming a party icon with the status to bring policies like Medicare-for-all into the mainstream. But the trend goes well beyond those two, as polls show American voters across the country – in particular, young people and Democrats – increasingly warming to socialism over capitalism. The shift is a recent phenomenon, and reflects a dimming view of capitalism more than anything. Back in 2010, 68 percent of young people, 18-29 years old, said they approved of capitalism, while 51 percent said they approved of socialism, according to Gallup. Fast-forward to August 2018, and that same age group backs socialism over capitalism, 51 percent to 45 percent. Democrats, meanwhile, were evenly split between capitalism and socialism back in 2010. But now, 57 percent say they hold a positive view of socialism, compared with just 47 percent who say the same for capitalism. The trend extends to high school students, according to a YouGov poll released in November, which found 14-17-year-olds split 50-50 on whether socialism or capitalism is better. Americans as a whole, however, still prefer capitalism 56 percent to 37 percent.”

(22/01/2019)      Carbon dioxide must be an almighty gas – it gets blamed for almost every human disaster. Now we have the alarmist Climate Council blaming bushfires on carbon dioxide and global warming. Focussing on the wrong problem is doing more harm than good. It is disappointing to see respected firefighters like Greg Mullins now blaming “climate change” for more and worse bushfires, and now even promoting the misguided Climate Council. We have heat waves, dry spells and bushfires in Australia every year - bushfires were burning all up the coast when Captain Cook sailed by in 1770.  But today we know what causes dangerous fires. It needs deliberate political mismanagement to create disastrous wild-fires which destroy everything - houses, sheds, fences, wildlife and mature trees.

     A good wet season can result in nature building up a dangerously large fuel load. In the past this was usually removed safely by many small fires lit by lightning strikes, aboriginals, graziers or foresters. Today massive fuels loads are too often allowed to accumulate for more than one season in forests, reserves, parks and around suburbs. Then one match or spark on a windy day can produce massive fires. Today’s stupid green policies that discourage and prohibit burning-off, encourage the accumulation of bushfire fuel and exclude grazing animals from large areas of parks and reserves are making uncontrollable wildfires more common.

     Now the corporates are showing their true colour, namely red, and openly engaging in the cultural wars. Where better to start then to attack men where it hurts, namely, the face:
  https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/01/14/pg-urges-men-to-lose-their-toxic-masculinity-in-gilette-razor-ad/

“Proctor & Gamble is urging men to shave their “toxic masculinity” in a new ad for Gillette razors. The ad shows men fighting, cooking barbecue, and verbally harassing women, interspersed with news reports about the #MeToo movement. A new ad from P&G razor brand Gillette encourages men to reexamine themselves and the way that they raise young boys. The ad, which is called “We Believe: The Best Men Can Be,” is essentially a two-minute broad generalization about the way that men act and think.”

     Well, I guess everyone who rattles on for long enough on a topic wants to release a book about it. It is surprising how the amount of material piles up, much like dust in your house which can bury you if you are not careful.
  https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2019/01/17/vatican-publishes-500-page-collection-of-popes-words-on-immigration/

“The Vatican department for migrants and refugees has published the collected teachings of Pope Francis on the issue of immigration, reiterating the pontiff’s appeal for a greater openness to migrants. The massive 488-page tome, titled Lights on the Ways of Hope: Pope Francis Teaching on Migrants, Refugees and Human Trafficking, gathers together the pope’s addresses on immigration, underscoring how central this topic has been to his six-year pontificate. Immigration and the care of migrants has not only been vital to the pope’s agenda, he has also insisted that it should be of key importance to every Christian and not considered a second-tier issue.

     Last year the generally Left Polity Press published the book  by Salvatore Babones, The New Authoritarianism: Trump, Populism, and the Tyranny of Experts. Dr Babones is an America academic with an position  in Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Sydney. What is of interest to us is the central thesis of the book, that there has been a potential conflict between liberalism and democracy throughout the Western political tradition. At present, liberalism is on the rise, if not out of control, but he does see merit in the presidency of Donald Trump in stopping the overwhelming influence of liberalism, and turning the pendulum back towards democracy. The subtitle of the book mentions the tyranny of experts, and here the central conflict between liberalism and democracy gets murky, because the technocrats are neither liberal, nor democratic, but, as I see it a sui genesis power group. The politically correct liberal is guided by fanatical ideology, but the technocrat is concerned solely with social control and the smooth operation of the social control mechanisms. However there is an alternative position that should be considered:
  https://www.counter-currents.com/2019/01/trump-vs-the-tyranny-of-experts/#more-89408

“Babones is correct that modern liberalism requires deference to expert (or pseudo-expert) authority. The people are the passive recipients of those rights the experts deem them to possess. As the domain of rights expands, experts end up making more and more of the decisions in an ever-increasing number of the most important aspects of public life: economic policy, criminal justice, what’s taught in schools, who’s allowed to enter the country, what diseases will be cured, even who will have the opportunity to run for elective office. The areas reserved to expert adjudication seem only to expand. Previously depoliticized domains rarely return to the realm of democratic determination. University instruction, medical research councils, disaster relief agencies, courts of law and (in America) the Federal Reserve Bank are just some institutions financed by government (i.e., taxpayers) but protected from democratic political oversight. In every case, the rational is that only those with the relevant professional expertise should be permitted to make decisions effecting such institutions.