1. Peace is being constantly being postponed in Gaza.
It could be Netanyahu wants to maintain wartime status so he can
stay in power. Israel wants to finish off Hamas in Gaza. Hamas wants a return
to its pre-war rule of Gaza – always hostile to Israel. More extreme Israeli
right wing coalition partners want to replace Netanyahu. What do you think?
2. Russia’s “peace” proposals are to keep Crimea and the
eastern Ukrainian territory it invaded. Ukraine and most other countries
want Russia to withdraw from Ukraine. So there is no peaceful common ground for
Ukraine either. Would anything else work?
3. Is a name Playground Proof to avoid
bullying? As the Paris Olympics nears one recalls Australian swimmer of old like Lorraine
Crapp. Now we have swimmer Ariarne Titmus. and who can forget
tennis star Thanasi Kokkinakis?! All grandparents should steer their
kids away from calling their newborns such male first names as: Cedric, Grover,
Puck, Phelony, Elmo, Hunter, Heinrich, Humphrey, Herbert, Adolf, Donald, Jesus,
Archibald, Mortimer, Rufus, Marmaduke, Wilbur or Dudley. Girls shouldn’t be
burdened with: Gertrude, Gretchen, Hilda, Gerta, Bertha, Drusilla, Wolfurga,
Moira, Prudence, Faith, Charity, Hortense, Myrtle, Clotilda and the worst, in English, is probably Ute
(pronounced, in German, Ootah, and not an Australian ute, short for light truck utility).
4. Dutton’s
climate policy is aimed at driving a wedge between the Greens (no new coal/oil/gas
projects) and Labor (backing such projects and accepting carbon capture mythology).
Meanwhile Dutton has a small target approach. Dutton’s climate policies appease
climate sceptics in the Coalition’s own ranks. He can target the costs and
difficulties of Labor’s renewable policies – all the while asserting the
Coalition’s nuclear policies will magically achieve the same, be almost
cost-free, and benefit from being in the far distant future.
SOAPBOX
5. I actually love whales. Australia’s Humpback Whale population increased from 200 when
commercial whaling ceased in the 1960s, to around 80,000. Around 35,000 humpbacks
migrate up/down our east coast and 45,000 on our west coast.
6. Bird flu strains are always around. But a particularly bad strain,
called H5N1, which started in 2020, has reached Victoria. This has lead to egg
shortages and price increases there. Has anybody noticed egg price rises or
scarcity?
7. Chinese Premier Li Qiang's (pronounced "Changs") visit to Australia this week. Diplomacy is a compromise – pleasing no-one. Cheng Lei, the news anchor-woman detained in China for 3 years, has become a stand up comic. In Melbourne, mid June, she joked about the “rent-free accommodation” and weight loss program provided by her Chinese gaolers. She added – for the first time in her life she actually wanted to put on weight.
6 comments:
China now has 500 warheads and is building its nuclear arsenal
faster than any other country, think tank says:
"China has beaten its fellow superpowers when it comes to growing its
stockpile of nuclear warheads, a European think tank said in a report
on Monday.
"China is expanding its nuclear arsenal faster than any other country,"
said Hans M Kristensen, a Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute (SIPRI) expert on weapons of mass destruction.
According to SIPRI, China has increased its nuclear warheads from 410
in 2023 to 500 at the start of this year. But China, Kristensen said,
isn't the only country that's been busy expanding its nuclear arsenal.
North Korea has increased its warheads by two-thirds over the past year,
going from 30 in 2023 to 50 this year, per the think tank."
See:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/china-now-500-warheads-building-041011027.html
Hi Anonymous at 6/19/2024 1:46 AM
With Japan and especially South Korea being in the neighbourhood of these PRC and NK nuclear arsenal increases J and SK's own nuclear weapon program options must be fairly advanced.
If Trump wins and pursues non-nuclear umbrella isolationism the J and SK programs will gradually move from concepts to nuclear weapon hardware.
Regards Pete
Swordplay at sea:
"Filipino soldiers had to defend themselves with
bare hands against Chinese coast guard armed with
swords and knives, according to the Philippines.
General Romeo Brawner, the Philippines' top
military commander, criticized China for what he
described as "reckless and aggressive" behavior
while the Philippines navy and coast guard were
delivering supplies to Filipino soldiers in the
disputed South China Sea on Monday.
Chinese coast guard personnel rammed their
vessels into boats belonging to the Philippines,
and boarded and attacked them, the BBC reported
Brawner as saying, leaving some injured and one
soldier having lost a thumb."
See:
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/filipino-soldiers-had-bare-hands-161048547.html
Thanks Anonymous at 6/21/2024 7:05 AM
These appalling acts by the PRC will only get worse once the PRC crushes Taiwan's freedom.
After Taiwan a third of the PRC's armed forces (particularly its navy) could be unleashed against the other countries of Eastern Asia, Pacific Islands, Australia and NZ.
Even Russia should prepare for PRC cross border aggression.
The Manta drone. It's BIG:
"We are finally getting a clear idea of just how big Northrop Grumman’s
Manta Ray submersible drone is, with satellite images showing it in port
looking like something that just landed on Tatooine. Manta Ray is being
developed under a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
program that is focused on demonstrating a new category of very-long-
endurance uncrewed naval platform that could be configured to perform a
host of different missions."
See:
https://www.twz.com/news-features/huge-manta-ray-underwater-drone-looks-like-a-docked-star-wars-spaceship
Responding to Chinese aggression, the Philippines is arming up:
Philippines Builds First BrahMos Anti-Ship Missile Base Facing South China Sea:
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2024/06/philippines-builds-first-brahmos-anti-ship-missile-base-facing-south-china-sea/
Philippines confirm that it will acquire submarines:
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2024/02/philippines-confirm-that-it-will-acquire-submarines/
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