For days, weeks in fact, the army had assembled and stirred restlessly on the other side of the valley, waiting, stepping forward in anticipation, moving back, stirring once again. A shimmering collection of shields moving in and out of focus; patient but restless, if any of it made sense. He did not feel up to the task, but then again there was no choice. We are given what we are given. We must do what we must do.
Patience; that's what it had required from those who watched and wanted immediate action. He too to repeating the sentiments of Marcus Aurelius: Relax. Spend time with nature and the gods.
And thinking, as he had thought so often over the years: none of this will matter much in a hundred million years.
But here, in this brief time span, skipping across the centuries, it did matter.
This moment, this day, this life. These lives.
As so many had commented, and continued to comment, the compliance of the population was one of the most extraordinary things about it.
"They do not expect to live long," as the Art of War had noticed of loyal soldiers heading into war.
Their nobility a flash.
The nobility of humans rare.
Now, with the internet a kind of mycelium encircling the globe, the consciousness was changing, the generations changing. There was no excuse for low information; but that of course was what bestraddled much of the population; settled in place, of a place.
The psychopaths at the top of this hierarchy cared not a jot for those beneath them; and yet there they were, mirroring the mirages and false narratives of the world's super-rich, climate change, identity; not to become their best selves, not to live happy and productive lives, not to be fulfilled in their work and their lives and their loves. None of that mattered.
It was all distorted; his ancient interest in media and medium still resounding; how easily they were fooled.
It was stupid to care. For they did not care. He was struck, as always, at how little they cared for each other; but this time round also struck by how much they were settled in place, were part of place, part of the landscape.
Who were these people who wanted to play God?
Who thought they were intelligent enough, gifted enough, to play such a role?
You might as well harvest the trees?
It wasn't your decision to make.
He could already see how extraordinary these times were about to become; how bestial the starving, how desperate the times about to beset them. And many feared the same.
But here in this place, a place which would see great prosperity in the centuries to come, it was different, would be different.
The birds, those mythical falcons, tore apart, fed upon, the soft brain tissue of his tormenters.
And we stood alone. And waved.
Calling, calling.
The gates were being lowered, the time was nigh.
MAINSTREAM NEWS
ABC
Thailand has become the first country in Asia to take marijuana off its list of banned substances and to allow people to grow the plant at home.
Key points:
Thailand's government is keen to promote marijuana as a cash crop
As the change is aimed at allowing cannabis in traditional medicine and cooking, recreational use remains a grey area
The global legal cannabis market is expected to be worth $175.5 billion by 2028
It's a major policy shift in a country long known for its harsh drug controls, but the Thai government hopes the law change will boost the wellness and tourism industries.
In January this year, Thai authorities announced they were dropping cannabis from the official list of controlled substances, resulting in what some have described as de facto decriminalisation.
Some 4,000 prisoners serving jail time for cannabis-related crimes will soon be released and their criminal records for those offences will be deleted, the Department of Corrections said.
Thailand's Health Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul last month took to Facebook to declare his intention to give away 1 million cannabis plants to members of the public.
"It is an opportunity for people and the state to earn income from marijuana and hemp," he wrote, alongside a photo of cooked chicken seasoned with cannabis.
"Roasted marijuana chicken, 300 baht ($12) per piece. Anyone can sell it if they obey the law," Mr Anutin added.
"This is the future of Thai cannabis."
THE NEW DAILY
‘Very unusual’: Australia’s east coast cities are feeling their coldest start to winter in decades
Australia is shivering through an unseasonably chilly start to winter as a cold front continues to sweep over the east coast.
Cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have already experienced their coldest June in years, or even decades – and there are no signs it’s about to get any better.
“South-eastern Australia is set for yet another week of colder than average weather,” meteorologist Jane Bunn from 7News and JanesWeather.com told The New Daily.
“The actual temperatures aren’t exceptionally cold – we feel this every winter – but the persistent nature of the cold is very unusual.”
There are two weather systems to blame.
“A strong cold front swept across much of eastern Australia on May 31, and since then we’ve been stuck in a fairly persistent weather pattern.”
There’s also a large high-pressure system hovering over the Great Australian Bight.
“Normally we’d see the high move across the east and out to the Tasman Sea, giving us a break from the chill, but this high isn’t really budging,” Bunn said.
In Melbourne, temperatures are expected to peak at just 14 degrees next week – with a high chance of rain to boot.
“In the past 11 days Melbourne has had 10 days below average and only one just above average,” Bunn said.
“The next seven days are likely to be below average too.”
Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino said the city was on track to record its coldest first fortnight of winter since 1949.
It’s a similar situation in Sydney, where next week’s high is forecast to be just 19 degrees.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has arrived in Sydney where she will have a private meal with Anthony Albanese.
Following the dinner on Thursday night, the pair will sit down on Friday for bilateral talks.
Ms Ardern is the first foreign head of government to meet with Mr Albanese in Australia.
"This is my first engagement with the Prime Minister. It will be a positive one," she told the NZ Herald.
"We've been clear with the incoming Prime Minister that these issues remain for us, regardless of who's in office. We want to make progress.”
Prime Minister Albanese took to Twitter to welcome his good friend to Australia – her first since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“So pleased to welcome my good friend New Zealand PM @jacindaardern to Australia,” he wrote.
“I’m looking forward to catching up over dinner.
Prior to her departure Ms Ardern said the two countries’ relationship “is like family”.
“I am very much looking forward to meeting Prime Minister Albanese in person.
THE SPECTATOR
In this instance, and it is by no means a solitary example, we now learn from a variety of respected and reputable sources that the draconian lockdowns we repeatedly railed against in these pages may have done more harm than good – quelle surprise! – including untold medical damage out of all proportion to their claimed successes. Worse, lockdowns may even have led to the deaths of thousands of young people who were never at risk from the virus in the first place. Indeed, one US study reports 170,000 surplus deaths amongst people in the prime of their lives (18-44) who were of low risk from Covid.
This disgraceful news was conveyed to an astonished world via the Australian newspaper this week along with numerous other sources.
Yet twelve months ago Dr David Adler, in his column in these pages entitled ‘Lockdown needs a slapdown’, was predicting this very outcome.
For the first time I deeply fear for the future of my country. This fear arises not from existential threats and challenges but because Australia is being trashed by incompetent control freak leadership which has also succeeded in severely scaring much of our citizenship. Panic rules the day.
Melbourne with over six months cumulative lockdown already holds the world record for the most locked down city and we’ve seen other cities locked down for a handful of community cases. Our state premiers are the world’s most reactionary in imposing panic lockdowns. The PM has signalled this is to continue.
There has been a complete loss of proportionality with Australian lockdowns doing much more harm than good and based on international data and experience, we now have impossible policy settings to sustain if we want life to return to normality. Our situation could now be described in the Eagles classic hit ‘Hotel California’, ‘you can check out anytime you like but you can never leave’.
The damage being done by lockdowns in smashing small businesses, disruption of education for kids, mental health problems including rise in self-harm and suicides, deferred routine health services resulting in delayed diagnoses of cancer and other illnesses – far exceed the harm caused by the virus. Australia may experience a wave of additional morbidity and mortality in the next few years due to cancers not being detected in 2020 and 2021 at Stage 1, but once they have spread to Stage 3 or 4. This could well affect thousands of patients.
Pursuing the lockdown and zero-case policy will do untold economic, health and lifestyle damage to Australians.
That is just part of Dr Adler’s article from a year ago. Several other Speccie writers, but most notably Rebecca Weisser and Ramesh Thakur, have throughout the two years of the pandemic, often on a weekly basis, provided insights, analysis, facts and warnings regarded as heresy by the left wokerati. Indeed, both have must-read articles in this week’s magazine, including a terrific – and terrifying – piece on excess mortality and the vaccines by Ms Weisser.
As the editor of The Spectator Australia, my commitment to you is that we will never flinch in providing you with well-researched and informed opinion that quite often upsets those in positions of power and flies in the face of the politically correct dictates of the day. And yes, there is a word for that, too. It’s called journalism.