Here is one for my Christian brothers and sisters, whom as yet may not have exactly the same level of concern,  I have about the universities. The issue here is that a Christian influence upon contemporary universities, at least elite Ivy League American ones, seems to have drained away, and I think Australia is not far behind, so to speak:
  https://www.thecollegefix.com/more-yale-freshmen-identify-as-lgbtq-than-conservative/

“Queer freshmen greatly outnumber conservatives at the university, according to a survey. A Yale Daily News survey of freshmen students at that university found that more students of the class of 2022 identify on the LGBTQ spectrum than as conservative, and that queer freshmen even outnumber other sizable demographics in the class, such as Protestants and Catholics. The paper’s survey, the results of which are composed of 864 respondents, or just over one-half of the freshman class, found that only nine percent of respondents identified as “somewhat conservative,” with one percent identifying as “very conservative.” LGBTQ respondents, on the other hand, greatly outnumberd conservatives in total: According to the survey, “nearly 5 percent [of respondents] identify as gay and just over 9 percent as bisexual or transsexual. Three percent opted not to answer, and the remaining 8 percent identified as asexual, ace spectrum or questioning their sexual orientation.” This combined demographic outnumbers even Protestants and Catholics, whom the survey identified as 16 percent and 15 percent of the incoming class, respectively. A 2018 Gallup poll estimated that 4.5 percent of all Americans identified as LGBTQ.”

     Leftist objectives have the problem of deception, having some extremely superficial plausibility, which disappears after more than two seconds analysis:
  https://gellerreport.com/2018/09/soros-zuckerberg-freeing-violent-fellons.html/
  https://pjmedia.com/trending/soros-zuckerberg-fund-ohio-ballot-effort-that-could-see-rapists-other-violent-felons-set-free/

“Ohioans will soon be voting on Issue 1, a ballot initiative that is ostensibly about reforming drug laws, but actually is about giving "get out of jail free" cards to not only drug offenders, but dozens of other kinds of criminals in Ohio's prisons. The ballot initiative is known as "The Neighborhood Safety Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Amendment" and is a six-page amendment to the Ohio Constitution. (You can read the actual language of the ballot, as well as pro and con arguments regarding the issue at the non-partisan voting information site, ivoters.com.) The premise is that too many non-violent criminals are clogging up the courts and prison system and we need to get them out of prisons and back into society. Supposedly this will save the state of Ohio a ton of money. Prison expenditures should only be for violent offenders, proponents say. Only that's not what will happen if Issue 1 passes. Here are three reasons Issue 1 is a terrible idea.

     It’s enough to make one become a Buddhist … just joking … but who would have thought that the head of the Buddhists would be saying things that warm the dark, cold  pits of my black  heart?
  https://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/09/13/dalai-lama-sweden-europe-europeans/
  https://www.france24.com/en/20180912-dalai-lama-says-europe-belongs-europeans 
  https://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/09/13/delingpole-if-only-the-dalai-lama-ran-the-church/

“The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, said Wednesday that "Europe belongs to the Europeans" and that refugees should return to their native countries to rebuild them. Speaking at a conference in Sweden's third-largest city of Malmo, home to a large immigrant population, the Dalai Lama -- who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 -- said Europe was "morally responsible" for helping "a refugee really facing danger against their life".
"Receive them, help them, educate them... but ultimately they should develop their own country," said the 83-year-old Tibetan who fled the capital Lhasa in fear of his life after China poured troops into the region to crush an uprising.”

To The Age        Warwick McFadyen says that "it's time for a new anthem and a new flag" ("Anthem row reveals nation's discord", 17/9). Perhaps he's right about the anthem, but wrong about our flag. The flag is one of the most beautiful in the world; its use of the union jack pays homage to the foundation of our nation, which was essentially British; its use of the Southern Cross is geographically appropriate and conveys an idea of aspiration in which all Australians can share. On the other hand, although Australia remains a relatively peaceful, harmonious and united nation (compared to most other nations), there is currently an immense struggle for its soul - between the Left (secular, republican, egalitarian) and the Right (religious, royalist and hierarchical). There are idealists and well-meaning people on both sides. Until the matter is resolved and some new consensus is reached, finding a suitable new anthem should be left in the "too hard" basket.
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic

To The Australian    Why is it that there is no reporting of the Ursula Haverbeck case in our major public forums? Should not our advocates for free speech be clamouring in protest at Germany's treatment of an 89 year-old woman - put in jail purely because she publicly expresses a dissident view about history? And what about all those bleeding hearts opposed to the bullying of women? Should they not be expressing outrage against the pre-trial treatment of Haverbeck by the German government? She was to be transported 155 miles from prison to courthouse, stopping at five different prisons for a night on the way. She would travel in a crowded prison van and be submitted to a body search at each arrival. She would share her prison cell each night with real criminals. All this, presumably, to weaken her before her trial in Hamburg. There is a huge story here. Why the silence?
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic

To Weekend Australian Magazine        Why is it that among the "30 influential Australians" whom you invited to "reflect on the past three decades and their hopes for the future" ("30 years", Sep 15-16) there is virtually no-one from the cultural and political Right? Such an imbalance means, for example, that we have three commentators advocating indigenous constitutional recognition (Noel Pearson, Cathy Freeman and Richard Flanagan) but no-one on the other side. You could have chosen, for example, John Howard, Keith Windschuttle, Wilson Tuckey, Les Murray and John Stone. Maybe you could now, instead, publish an article on 'What the Right hopes for".
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic

To The Australian        Reading Janet Albrechtsen's latest sensible defence of free speech ("Resisting tyranny in the age of outrage", 15-16/9), one recalls the famous biblical question: "Who will go out to fight if the trumpets give an uncertain sound?" Perhaps the reason that there are so many "pusillanimous people" among those who should guard the openness of our social forums is that there is profound confusion over what our nation should stand for. Are we a Christian nation? Well, there are a large number of vocal and aggressive atheists, probably as many or more apathetic agnostics and then far too many Christians who adhere to a fatally flawed "orthodox" theology that most of our best minds cannot possibly advocate. Are we really liberal and democratic? Well, there are still some sensitive topics that are not allowed to be debated in our main public forums, and the very structure of our party political system seriously inhibits authentic representation of the electorate on several great issues, notably immigration. Yes, "we need to open young minds to the wonder of new and challenging ideas", but we need beyond that a much more profound and widespread love of truth - and willingness to publicly defend it.
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic

     The 1960s babies grew up to be genuine monsters, happily over-turning traditional morality and institutions, as part of their social justice worldview. Every horrible social agenda we now have has come from them, and of course, they have been manipulated all the way, but have done so as willing tools of their overlords. They now have complete rule over sectors such as the media and universities, which are little more than cultural Marxist thought control  factories. Finally, as the boomers fall comfortably into retirement, they are going back to something that they have loved all of their lives: dope.
  https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/09/12/646423762/more-older-americans-are-turning-to-marijuana

“Members of the generation that came of age in the era of marijuana are reaching for weed in their golden years. A study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence this month suggests that increasing numbers of middle aged and older adults are using marijuana — and using it a lot. The analysis comes from data gathered in the National Survey on Drug Use and Healthfrom 2015 and 2016. About 9 percent of U.S. adults between ages 50 and 64 used marijuana in the  previous year, according to survey results. About 3 percent of people over 65 used the drug in that time period. This appears to be up from years past. In 2013, the same survey reported that 7 percent of middle-aged Americans used marijuana in the previous year, and only 1.4 percent of people over 65.

     I had not heard about parabiosis, the transfusion of a younger person’s blood into an older to give them more zing, but apparently it works and is being done, regularly:
  https://www.naturalnews.com/2018-09-13-wealthy-elitists-literally-living-off-blood-transfusions-from-children-modern-vampires.html

“As reported by Fellowship of the Minds, members of the “healthy but wealthy” elite are paying upwards of $8,000 for 1.5 liters (34 fluid ounces) of young blood in a desperate bid to turn back the hands of time. According to the director of social work at Idaho State University, D.J. Williams -- who says he's studied people who identify as vampires for about a 10 years (hmm...a Vampireologist?)--such vampires exist in droves all around the globe.(1) He explains that they're not the cape-wearing, large-fanged folks likely conjured up thanks to horror flicks and Hollywood portrayals, but instead, real people who seek out more energy by sucking on the blood of consenting donors. In fact, he even distinguishes between the movie images and real vampires using differentiating terms such as "lifestyle" vampires and "authentic" ones. "The real vampire community seems to be a conscientious and ethical one," he says, adding that "they are successful, ordinary people." In other words, fatigued humans who suck the blood from others, creating communities that literally feed off one another's powerful needs while fearing backlash if found their secrets were discovered likely involves everyone from lawyers to presidential candidates. Who knew?”

     Who would not want to be an illegal migrant, going to Canada, which is having a giant fire sale … no, fantastic give away of the country …  just to be the ultimate in cuckiness:
  https://gellerreport.com/2018/09/trudeau-migrants-canadians.html/ 
  https://www.therebel.media/treat-canadian-soldiers-better

“The "non-partisan" ministerial bureaucrats working for Justin Trudeau's Liberals are actively hiding from Canadians the details surrounding the cost of the "refugee" settlement program. In a memo obtained by The Rebel through the Freedom of Information Act, bureaucrats discussed how to handle a media inquiry about the yearly cash support that Canada provides Trudeau's Syrians. “ Thanks Nancy, we have a table approved in past responses with breakdowns. Can we try to dig that up and include it here? I think the reporter is looking for numbers. We know that 50k is the new start-up cost but we haven't used that yet. If we do can we get MINO approval? Earlier this week we opted to go with the individual cost response for the Canadian Federation of Taxpayers , but in this instance the reporter is talking about families so it may be okay to use”

To The Age         It is not as hard as David Crowe thinks ("Morrison's leap of faith", 14/9) to settle the debate over religious freedom, but it will require subtle analyses and proposals from the government. For example, it is obvious that children in public primary schools should be able to put on Easter and Christmas plays, for this can be done in a way that does not unfairly treat children from non-religious families. Alternative drama opportunities in parallel time is surely the answer for them. At the present time many Christians appear justified in feeling that their religion is under unjust threat from aggressive secularists. Protections can be found that do not in turn unjustly discriminate against non-religious folk. Christian schools and charities are surely happy to employ those not of the faith, provided that such employees do not actively seek to weaken them from within, being content to campaign outside the workplace. Freedom of speech as a vital principle must be recognized as allowing "discrimination against others" in expressions of opinion; but this gives a benefit to everyone and protects us all from tyranny.
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic

To The Australian         The call by Henry Ergas for national unity ("Sweden showing the world how vulnerable we are", 14/9) raises the question of what kind of "cultural homogeneity" do we want here in the future? What kind of "shared values" might keep us able to "argue passionately yet live harmoniously"? Neither exclusivist Christianity nor aggressive left-wing idealism will do the job, for the opponents of each are too numerous and will remain so. What is needed then is an inclusivist approach to religion, one that embraces all the great sacred traditions and does not persecute unbelievers. Properly formulated, such a foundation can provide a viable basis on which a moral code can be supported that the great majority find acceptable. Essential to this approach would be a return to much greater freedom of speech, especially on matters concerning race and ethnicity. Underlying this ethos for a "new Australia" would be a shared conviction (in most Australians) that truth is a reality and that one's life should be lived according to it. Truth depends on the mysterious divine Being and is the enemy of all fanaticism's and modes of mean selfishness. 
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic

     The great cartoon controversy has gone international.  A cartoon was published by The Herald Sun of tennis great Serena Williams, who had something of a meltdown following a dispute with a chair umpire in the US Open final. Personally, I am on Serena’s side on this, but I respect that most readers would disagree. The catoon was said to have “racist” overtones by depicting Serena in an unflattering light. The newspaper has stood by its cartoonist and on a recent front page partially republished the cartoon, under the headline, “Welcome to the PC World.”
  https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/herald-sun-backs-mark-knights-cartoon-on-serena-williams/news-story/30c877e3937a510d64609d89ac521d9f

     The issue here relates to the cartoon, which like all cartoons uses caricatures. Cartoonists are savage by nature, and I don’t think race comes into it. Just look at how Julia Gillard was treated. You would think that all she was a backside. In general, women get a poor treatment by male cartoonists, who satirise their sexuality, but then again, everybody is fair game. It is just the price of free speech, and sometimes those on the receiving end, who are in the public eye simply have to suck it up. Let it go Serena, get back into training for next season.

     One no longer has to be a man to be attacked by radical Leftoid Trotskyists and other creatures of communism, as shown by the recent disruptions of leading sex therapist, and critic of feminism, Bettina Arndt, daughter of leading economist professor H. W. Arndt. Here we are no dealing with some internet personality here, but a solid intellectual. But, the crazed  Left made no attempt to debate her, but immediately took the low road of threat, to shut her down, or at least try:
  http://www.bettinaarndt.com.au/news/la-trobe-activists-try-to-disrupt-talk-on-fake-rape-crisis/  
  http://honisoit.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/video-1536657457.mp4
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANxU7s78MTY&feature=youtu.be 
  https://www.youtube.com/user/bettinaarndtaus

“Bettina Arndt has confronted protesting socialist students as she starts her controversial university tour about campus rape. The sex therapist and columnist gave her first of a series of lectures on why she believes there is not a “rape crisis” at Australian universities at La Trobe University today, but not everyone wanted to listen. All through Ms Arndt’s lecture, protesters aligned with the Victorian Socialists banged on the doors of the Eastern Lecture Theatre and chanted “Bettina Arndt, go to hell. Go take Milo (Yianipoulos) there as well.” A protester from the Victorian Socialists speaks his mind La Trobe University before Bettina Arndt’s talk. But before she spoke, the sex therapist approached the students at their uni square stand and tried to talk to them. The socialist students just kept chanting. “Why don’t they come and listen to me speak? And engage in a conversation around this issue,” she said, “What are they afraid of?”

     It is hard to keep track of all the demons running wild in America, with disintegration and decay now taking on cosmic, if not metaphysical dimensions. Physically, much of the place is likely to be destroyed by Hurricane Florence. According to Charles Taylor, our US correspondent, whom I spoke to today from his bug out nuclear bunker, people have been told to evacuate, and if they stay they are on their own because there will be no support coming. Charles, being a harden Christian survivalist, has hunkered down with his family and a sack of Bibles, and AR 15 rifles. God be with them. As dangerous as nature is, the unnatural progressives, or as I call them, degenerates, as far more dangerous, having intergenerational destructive power, with no easy mop up. Thus, at the link below Mike Adams attempts to sum it all up, every crazy thing the Left are up to, the Deep State moving to impeach Trump, and rumours of a Trump assassination, presumably as a plan B:
  https://www.naturalnews.com/2018-09-12-no-one-is-ready-for-whats-about-to-happen.html

     I do not think that this is paranoid, since recent revelations have shown Google’s clear prejudice against Trump at least at the time of the election:
  https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2018/09/12/leaked-video-google-leaderships-dismayed-reaction-to-trump-election/
  https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2018/09/12/trump-campaign-manager-calls-for-investigation-into-google-after-breitbart-video-threat-to-republic/

     With sexual abuse allegations just about everywhere, one would have thought that the Pope would be keeping quiet, waiting, drinking good wine, eating rich high cholesterol food, and listening to … well maybe some hot Latin dance tracks. Like Despacito now with 5.5 BILLION YouTube views. I do not want to risk a heart attack even watching it. But, I digress. The Pope is so cheesed off at the Vatican whistle-blower that he has called him, in his own way, “satanic”:
  https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/09/11/pope-francis-compares-vatican-whistleblower-satan/

“Satan, the “Great Accuser,” has been unleashed against the bishops of the Church, Pope Francis said Tuesday, in a thinly veiled reference to the former Vatican nuncio to the United States. The former nuncio, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, recently accused a number of prelates of dereliction of duty in dealing with clerical sex abuse and claimed that the pope had rehabilitated serial abuser Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, elevating him to a position of influence despite knowledge of his misdeeds. In an 11-page testimony published on August 25, Viganò alleged that he had personally informed Pope Francis in 2013 of the serial homosexual abuse perpetrated by Cardinal McCarrick, along with sanctions imposed on his ministry by Pope Benedict XVI, and yet the pope lifted those sanctions and involved McCarrick in the naming of future bishops.

     It was only a matter of time. Marvel back in the 1960s worked on getting politically correct themes into the comics of the day. Now, way down the track, it is full speed ahead:
  https://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2018/09/12/kit-harrington-disney-must-cast-gay-superheroes/

“Game of Thrones star Kit Harrington ripped Marvel Studios, saying gay people suffer from a lack of representation in the film company’s superhero movies. “There’s a big problem with masculinity and homosexuality that they can’t somehow go hand in hand,” Harington said in an interview with Variety at the Toronto International Film Festival. “That we can’t have someone in a Marvel movie who’s gay in real life and plays some superhero. I mean, when is that going to happen?” Yet in an interview with The Playlist, Marvel president Kevin Feige confirmed that the studio was planning to include openly LGBT characters for future films.”

     The commos love the good old days when enemies of the commo state were rounded up, and put in gulags to be worked to death. The commos have not done any real work in their lives, so the thought of watching others do it, is a kind of labour porno, I suppose, pardon the French:
  https://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/09/12/send-those-who-question-transgenderism-gulags-student-lgbt-group/

“A leftist student group defended Stalin’s Gulag labour camps Tuesday, calling them more “compassionate” than the “western, capitalist notion of prison”. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Plus Society at London’s Goldsmiths University suggested people who question transgenderism are sent to such camps, for up to ten years, for “re-education”. “The ideas of [Trans exclusive radical feminists] and anti-Trans bigots literally *kill* and must be eradicated through re-education,” the student group wrote on Twitter before deleting their account. When Claire Graham, a special education needs teacher, asked if their attempts to silence a list of academics who questioned transgenderism was “a bit fascist”, the account replied: “Na, we’ll just arrange to send you to the Gulag.”

     It is not good to laugh at others’ misfortunes, we all agree. There but for the grace of God, could be us. However, appreciating irony is an entirely different matter; it is a higher intellectual activity:
  https://gellerreport.com/2018/09/professor-shoots-himself-protessting-trump.html/ 
  https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/09/12/professor-shoots-himself-22-pistol-protest-donald-trump/

“A sociology professor at the College of Southern Nevada shot himself in the arm with a .22 pistol in protest of President Donald Trump. The professor’s wounds are not life-threatening, but he now faces multiple charges for bringing the gun onto campus to carry out the protest. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the professor, Mark J. Bird, shot himself in a bathroom on campus, then stumbled out, “bleeding, before he collapsed.” Bird taped a $100 bill to the mirror prior to shooting himself as a tip to the janitor for cleaning up the mess. Bird was hired by the college in 1993 and is currently a professor emeritus. The police report on the incident notes that “Bird said he had shot himself in protest of President Donald Trump.” Bird faces charges for firing a gun in a gun-free zone and also for “carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and possessing a dangerous weapon on school property.”

To The Age        No, the idea of monarchy has not become "outmoded" ("Popular royal visit a welcome reminder", 12/9), but nor, for that matter, has the idea of republicanism. The question is what is best for Australia now and in the coming years. It so happens that we have a particularly good compromise at the present time: we enjoy the sacred and historical glamour of royalty in a form that is constitutionally limited (thus avoiding royal tyranny) and we have a royal family that acts responsibly for the common welfare and looks likely to do so through the next two or three reigns. The downside is that we do not have a completely independent royal sovereign of our own. Better, however, to live with what we have than to change to a republic which would be dominated by foolish left-wing ideology and big business interests behind its corporate and party political support. US novelist Marilynne Robinson, a Democrat and admirer of Barack Obama, offers a noble vision of a different kind of republic in her new book of essays, What Are We Doing Here?; but there is no pressing need for Australia to go there now.
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic