In the Realm
It has been cold, and wet. He had been doing everything he could to get out and about.
There were frequent stories of businesses going bust. Post the so-called "pandemic", a period when the oligarchs of the world stretched their muscles, and the big read giant pharmaceutical exercised their tendrils in a world gone astray, in a place where the dead walked and the population burrowed, where there was no common sense, no decency, where the putrid decay of a dysfunctional government left rotting corpses in the fabric of the culture, in the mulch decaying on the forest floor, in the wake of a sweet ignorance which now left everyone isolated and alone, for an out of control government pillaged everything they had, cared not for the consequences of their own actions, did not serve the people, and instead built giant bureaucratic edifices which in themselves were the enemy of the general public.
It was a terrifying moment in time.
We clamoured for attention and were gone. The Gnostics, or more accurately the spirits the Gnostics once worshipped, or recognised, swirled in the surrounding trees, moved across land and landscapes and the waters nearby, where the echoes in the fabric of things came down and worshipped on the land, where little made sense in a country which had sold its soul, and politicians who lazily betrayed the people they were meant to serve.
What was horrifying about it all was how normal things seemed, how ignorant the population, how poorly they were served by the political class they paid for, how frightening this moment, how the blinded could not see, how ignorant the tropes, yes, how normal things seemed as an impoverished and besieged population sank deeper inside their own caverns and did not coalesce, did not rise up, did not protest.
But instead watched Married At First Sight; in itself a corruption of the old moralities.
We're all sluts now, they declared. And so it was. And so it would be. Our very own Tower of Babel. A trashy culture. A swear word here. A swear word there. Go forth. Serve your people. Be healthy, happy and productive, as your New Year's Eve wish declared. Polite. Decent. Humble.
And he asked again, and repeatedly, for courage, strength, determination, good will, good health, high intelligence, for truthfulness, compassion and forbearance.
AUSTRALIAN MAINSTREAM MEDIA
THE NEW DAILY
A growing number of Australians are struggling with high grocery bills as the effects of inflation hit family budgets, with renewed scrutiny over how the major supermarkets price goods.
The latest figures from Finder show almost half (42 per cent) of Australians now say groceries are one of their most stressful expenses, with the average household spending $188 per week.
Prices for a broad range of staples have soared; bread rose 9.6 per cent in 2023, dairy goods shot up 6.4 per cent and eggs skyrocketed by 10.6 per cent, according to the latest ABS data.
But other essentials have become cheaper too, with beef and veal falling 4.5 per cent in 2023, lamb is down about 15 per cent, and fruit and vegetables prices declined slightly by 0.2 per cent.
GUARDIAN AUSTRALIA
Frontline workers warn that the underfunding of specialised care for homeless people and the lack of emergency housing are leading to preventable deaths
Nigel Pernu knows all too well the damage homelessness wreaks on a person’s health.
He slept rough for six months after six heart attacks left him hospitalised long-term in Adelaide, leading to an opioid addiction.
“You’re constantly worrying about where you’re going to sleep,” he says. “It puts a strain on your body. It also increases stress levels, cortisol levels, gives you high blood pressure and weakens your immune system as well.
ABC
Grant Piper is on the frontline of the renewable resistance, a growing grassroots movement against plans to "industrialise" traditional farmland, turning regional communities into "modern-day power stations".
But in this turf war, there's a power imbalance.
The New South Wales government is building a new network of high-voltage transmission lines across the state to open up new renewable energy development, and it has the power to take the land it needs.
One line is set to slice through a corner of Mr Piper's property in Uarbry, in the Central West, where his family has been farming for more than a century.
"You're negotiating with a gun to your head and that's not a fair negotiation," Mr Piper told 7.30, standing on a ridge looking out over rolling green hills that extend to the horizon.
"It's divided the community."
He was worried about the bushfire risk, disruption to his cattle operation, and the impact the transmission line could have on the future value of his land.
However, his immediate concern is what he sees as a lack of proper consultation with the community.
SPECTATOR AUSTRALIA
One Nation Leader, Pauline Hanson, spoke at the National Rally Against Reckless Renewables on the lawn in front of Parliament House in Canberra.
She did so to a roar of cheers. The crowd had been standing there agitating for hours, listening to speeches from political figures, commentators, and Australians whose lives are being ruined by the inner-city delusion of ‘green energy’.
Out of sight, out of mind, and cold of heart. That is how the renewable energy conversation has been conducted.
That debate is not over.
Renewable energy is facing failure on a number of fronts, not least of which is merit. Engineers and energy regulators – even those who were once enthusiastic about solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries – are showing signs of nervousness. The lights are flickering. The costs are mounting. And globally, raw materials are running short.
But the real disaster is public opinion.