Every year or so Australia gets a bulky new book about an Australian war, military action, hero or some other military matter written by what is known as ‘storians.
They are seen as ideal presents for Dads and Uncles and you generally see them turning up in second hand bookshops and school fetes a year or so after they have been gifted. Most of them show little evidence of intense – or any – reading.
When Marx wrote “Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce” he might as well have been talking about the recent spat between former Treasurer Peter Costello and the Albanese Government Treasurer, Jim Chalmers.
The Australian War Memorial oscillates between seeming to be ready to admit that Australia’s Frontier Wars ought to be commemorated in the AWM and then leaping back in fright at the thought of backlash from the RSL and others.
Among the hopeful signs is the Memorial Chair, Kim Beazley’s, intimations that something should be done. The latest annual November 11 Didgeridoo playing may be another tiny clue.
How long will Elon Musk last in the Trump orbit? Currently he seems to be ubiquitous but that presents a problem for Donald Trump and his massive ego.
Musk has been a major presence in the Trump campaign – financially, through social media and also through encouraging tech bro endorsements. He has been promised big roles in the new Administration including looking for ‘efficiencies’ – code for slashing programs which benefit ordinary Americans and institutions and government departments which restrain business.
WTF just happened? is a question being asked around the world after the US Presidential election.
In some places it is a cause for celebration and no doubt Vladimir Putin’s entourage is breaking open the vodka and getting ready for a second celebration when Trump stops the Ukraine war in one day – as he has promised – by giving Putin whatever he wants.
The new Queensland Premier, David Crisafulli, has made some moderately progressive comments about climate and nuclear energy but they are, when considered in the context of the latest Zurich-Mandala Climate Risk Index, insignificant compared to the scale of the problems the State faces.
For a start he has ruled out repealing the State’s ban on nuclear power although whether that would be maintained in the face of strong pressure from Peter Dutton is another question. He has also committed to the 2050 emissions target but has not made any commitments on how he would get there nor provided any interim targets.
Journalists around the world were once inspired by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to commit to significant investigative journalism.
The pair, with significant help from a Deep Throat source, brought down a US President, Richard Nixon, over the Watergate break in and cover up.
But now the once great newspaper they worked for, The Washington Post, which brought the President down is too timid to call for a vote against a fascist.
It is understandable that people around the world obsess about US elections given the cultural and political impact the country has on the rest of us.
Some of them even try to support one or other candidate in Presidential elections as US election law allows foreigners to do just about anything, as long as it’s routine volunteer work.
Inauguration Day for the new President in 2025 will mark the 90th anniversary of the publication of Sinclair Lewis’ It Can’t Happen Here.
This year’s election campaign also coincides with the publication of James Shapiro’s book, The Playbook, which describes the Roosevelt progressive New Deal Federal Works Progress Administration, in particular the Federal Theatre Project; and, the formation of the House Un-American Activities Committee which focussed on the alleged threat of Communism while downplaying the threat of Nazi Germany. The Committee went on until 1975 and is best known today for the 1950s McCarthy era hearings.
As part of Seniors Week the City of Port Phillip called for Seniors in the city to submit poetry, fiction and non-fiction entries to a writing competition. It prompted the blog to think about how our family ended up in Port Melbourne – now more than 50 years ago – and what our experiences here were. This is what the blog entered. It didn’t win!