UPDATE
Queen Elizabeth II died on 8 September 2022.
The best tribute to this lady I read was from our former Prime Minister, the ALP’s Paul Keating.
Thank you to The Little Black Duck for this. There are many who, with good reason, whose countries were devastated by English aggression, who will see this as not an event to mourn.
I look past the history to the life of the woman, Elizabeth, to her impact as a woman in a world ruled by men. The lottery of life put her in a role both powerful and powerless. What Elizabeth made of it will be the subject of debate, discussion, and research as much as her namesake Queen Elizabeth the First
”The former prime minister has released a tribute to the Queen. Keating incensed the British press when the Queen visited Australia and he touched her back to guide her along.’ (quote TLBD)
Mr Keating says:
In the 20th century, the self became privatised, while the public realm, the realm of the public good, was broadly neglected.
Queen Elizabeth understood this and instinctively attached herself to the public good against what she recognised as a tidal wave of private interest and private reward. And she did this for a lifetime. Never deviating.
She was an exemplar of public leadership, married for a lifetime to political restraint, remaining always, the constitutional monarch.
To the extent that an hereditary monarch can ever reflect the will or conscience of a people, in the case of Britain, Queen Elizabeth assimilated a national consciousness reflecting every good instinct and custom the British people possessed and held to their heart.
In a seventy-year reign, she was required to meet literally hundreds of thousands of officials – presidents, prime ministers, ministers, premiers, mayors and municipal personalities.
It was more than one person should ever have been asked to do.
But Elizabeth the Second’s stoicism and moralism welded her to the task and with it, the idea of monarchy.
Her exceptionally long, dedicated reign is unlikely to be repeated; not only in Britain, but in the world generally.
With her passing her example of public service remains with us as a lesson in dedication to a lifelong mission in what she saw as the value of what is both enduringly good and right.
________________________
7 September 2022. The Queen is reported to be under medical care in Balmoral Castle.
It seems to me The Palace is preparing the public for her death. I may be wrong but her latest photo showed her to be very frail, possibly from the recent death of her husband. Those who have been with loved ones close to us who have passed away are all too familiar with this.
As a friend said to me in my time of caring, death is just another of the body’s processes, But I do predict the passing of Her Majesty will remind people of their own personal grief, so please be compassionate of those around you. Like the Monarchy or not, Elizabeth has been like an unnoticed tapestry on a hallway; there and not there, but still a backdrop to Australian life. .
As a woman’s story and part of of women’s history or Herstory if you prefer, Elizabeth’s story is remarkable. She will go down in British history as a great Queen like her namesake, Queen Elizabeth the First, the Warrior Queen.
I have known no other monarch in my lifetime and it will be a real passing of an era when HRH Queen Elizabeth II passes away. As my own Mum always said, ‘We all got to go sometime’. It will, however be strange to not have Elizabeth on the throne. She was this unnoticed constant in life. My Mum was my very much noticed loved one in my life until she wasn’t there any more.
I hope Elizabeth goes in peace and without pain, after her lifetime of service.
It may not be this time but I can see that her life journey is reaching its end destination. I am sure HRH Queen Elizabeth II will be not be forgotten, not her bravery serving her nation in World War 2 nor her dignity now.
Our thoughts are with her family and the families of all who are caring for loved ones in such sad and worrying circumstances.
THE PUB 
This is a very good article, and the views are valid. It is of greater interest to me what cointires and peoples oppressed by the British Commonwealth think than the descendants of the colonisers (me being one).
There is no right or wrong way to react to the the Queen’s death, including ‘Queen? Queen who?’
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/britain-queen-elizabeth-colonialism-shadow_n_631eb082e4b027aa405d035a?d_id=4890037&ncid_tag=tweetlnkushpmg00000016&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=us_politics
As I said, QE2’s reign will be the subject of discussion and research for a long time. Juxtaposed against the oppression of, for example, Northern Ireland’s independence movements, there are these types of events. Nothing is going to be straightforward about the legacy of Elizbeth,.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
F.M
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/sep/12/its-wall-to-wall-queen-queen-queen-everywhere
Someone has seen sense. Let’s hope NSW does the same.
The Queen was on the throne from before I was born within missile range of Windsor Castle. A kid in my class had a silver baptism mug for being born on Coronation Day
Australia was a different country 70 years ago and the country doesn’t think Britain is the undisputed best
Charles comes with baggage
1. Involvement in Whitlam dismissal
2. Spurning Lady Di
3. Wanting to be a tampon
4. Fit of pique at Accession ceremony where Australia was relegated to “other Realms”
I do not think he is popular in Australia. We mostly all knew of the Queen. In his life, Prince Charles did bugger all to ‘build his brand’ in Australia. He obviously thought us ‘colonials’ were not worth the effort.
At the very least he should have been beating the drum for The Great Barrier Reef.
I have no doubt had Diana was still his wife and now his Queen Charles’s stakes would be higher everywhere.
At least Harry’s Invinctus Games for injured war veterans was held in Australia and he gained kudos for it.
I tried to find out what youngsters think about the death of the Queen and ascension of King Charles by discussing it with some grandchildren. Getting anything out of young teenagers is difficult at the best of times but I now think most youngsters are saddened by the death of the Queen in the same way they are saddened by the death of any old lady. As for a new King, blank stares.
Things were different when we were young. The anthem was played at the pictures for example and we all stood up. We sang it at school, repeatedly. Few youngsters would know of God Save The Queen or King now.
We will be a republic, but probably not by revolution or intense political activity. I think the monarchy will fade from citizens conscienceness and then all of a sudden there will be a mass realisation that it is irrelevant and then be tossed aside.
No money for Jam
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/sep/12/court-upholds-finding-that-company-part-owned-by-angus-taylor-illegally-cleared-grasslands?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco
About time.
Engage brain before mouth
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/12/jacqui-lambie-walks-back-support-for-pauline-hanson-tweet-as-race-row-continues?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Quite
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
Clare O’Neil is responsible for confronting most of the national security threats to Australia beyond the military – espionage, terrorism, foreign interference, cyberwar, criminal syndicates, smuggling of all varieties, and more, says Peter Hartcher as the minister heads to Washington for a Five Eyes meeting. It’s a very interesting article.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-best-of-times-in-modern-history-may-be-behind-us-20220912-p5bhaz.html
The SMH editorial says that Anthony Albanese’s international diplomacy, including his response to the Queen’s death and the King’s accession, has been exemplary, but it warns about hubris and policy paralysis when a centre-left leader’s popularity soars.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/warning-on-hubris-and-policy-paralysis-when-popularity-soars-20220912-p5bhah.html
The premier is left with an impossible choice: reinstate Stuart Ayres to cabinet or keep him on the backbench and ignore the finding that his former deputy leader did nothing wrong, writes Alexandra Smith about Perrottet’s political pain.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/ayres-cleared-but-still-raining-on-perrottet-s-parade-20220912-p5bhfv.html
Anthony Albanese’s consensus politics and deep divisions in the Liberal Party mean Labor may no longer just fill the interludes between Coalition governments, opines Craig Emerson.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/australia-s-new-natural-party-of-government-20220912-p5bhdc
An export boom and soaring business revenues have delivered a bonus to the taxman. But real wages falling back to 2008 levels could be politically difficult, as the Morrison government found out, writes Chris Richardson who nevertheless thinks Jim Chalmers may be set to pull a rabbit from the budget hat.
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/chalmers-may-pull-a-rabbit-from-the-budget-hat-20220912-p5bhdz
Michael Pascoe explains how the decline of the US will affect Australian policy.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2022/09/12/michael-pascoe-america-in-decline/
Kate McClymont reports on the first day of the Melissa Caddick inquest where serious concerns were raised about the adequacy of the NSW police force investigation in the days immediately after the disappearance of the fraudster.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/senior-officer-thought-melissa-caddick-s-husband-anthony-koletti-likely-killed-her-inquest-hears-20220912-p5bhi6.html
Ben Packham reports that Defence has avoided an inquiry into the accountability of senior commanders for war crimes despite the findings of an independent panel, which said it failed to face up to its “corporate responsibility” for the murders of Afghan civilians and prisoners identified in the Brereton report.
https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/nation/defence/defence-ducks-probe-into-war-crimes-accountability/news-story/27dbacc563a7e6dcecf936088f8c4213
Melissa Davey reports that there is scant evidence that youth mental health organisation Headspace leads to clinical improvement in young people, raising questions about whether the not-for-profit should continue to attract millions of dollars in government funding, according to a paper published in the Medical Journal of Australia yesterday.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/12/study-questions-funding-of-mental-health-service-headspace-amid-lack-of-evidence-it-improves-youth-outcomes
Sarah Ison writes that Bill Shorten has launched an ambitious bid to free disabled people waiting an average of five months in hospital despite being medically ready for discharge, taking up more than a thousand sick beds unnecessarily and costing taxpayers up to $1bn each year. He has challenged his agency to respond to disabled people within four days once alerted that they were ready to be discharged from hospital.
https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/ndis-minister-bill-shorten-bid-to-free-up-sickbeds/news-story/0e596d9a0069df04d66c087ae1b3fa74
“Do we want to risk incalculable suffering to prevent America from slipping to ‘second place’ among the nations of the world? Without serious assessment of what cost we are willing to pay in the Defence Strategic Review – how much death and destruction we can tolerate – planning for war is little more than a vacuous exercise”, writes Henry Reynolds.
https://johnmenadue.com/defence-strategic-review-posture-review/
Clancy Yeates tells us that consumers will be able to authorise recurring direct debit payments such as gym memberships through their banking app rather than through paper or online forms under a new system tipped to “revolutionise” payments. He says the CBA has become the first of the Big Four banks to switch on a new technology feature known as PayTo, which promises to give customers more control over their direct debit payments.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/direct-debits-overhaul-a-step-closer-as-cba-turns-on-payto-20220912-p5bhf3.html
The enforced shutdown of parliament is putting pressure on the timing for the introduction of a federal ICAC and several of the independents are concerned.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-pushed-to-pass-urgent-integrity-reforms-after-queen-s-death-delays-20220912-p5bhfr.html
Qantas, for about half a decade, has benefited one man above everyone else, including customers, staff and even shareholders: chief executive Alan Joyce, writes Aaron Patrick who gives us the uhgly truth about it.
https://www.afr.com/companies/transport/the-ugly-truth-about-alan-joyce-20220911-p5bh4b
Nearly three-quarters of renters over 50 fear an expensive and unstable future with spiralling housing costs resulting in insecurity, according to a new report by one of Australia’s largest charities, Anglicare.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/13/the-scariest-thing-is-insecurity-australias-renters-over-50-fear-uncertain-future-report-shows
Text messages exchanged among police officers involved in the shooting death of a Warlpiri man, Kumanjayi Walker, “reveal disturbing attitudes towards Aboriginal people” and should be able to be considered by the coroner, an inquest has heard.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/12/kumanjayi-walker-shooting-disturbing-texts-between-officers-involved-are-relevant-inquest-told
The passing of Queen Elizabeth was met by a singular narrative of the mainstream media, eager to shower her with praise and forgo criticism, writes Tim Dunlop.
https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/queen-coverage-highlights-failure-of-medias-duty,16759
The AIMN’s Rossleigh begins this contribution with, “Now I promise not to spend too much time on this but I feel the need to point out that the idea that King Chuckles can’t comment on climate change because it’s just a wee bit controversial is one of those things that needs a bit of an examination. I’m just going to do a short examination and then we can go back to discussing politics like we normally do, ok?”
https://theaimn.com/everything-is-political-so-even-saying-nothing-is-political-if-you-think-about-it/
Big tech wants us to think we control our own data, but we don’t. Our relationship with technology begins with deceptions and lies, writes cyber security expert and human rights activist Manal al-Sharif.
https://michaelwest.com.au/who-controls-your-data-online-hint-its-not-you/
In her ‘devotion to duty’ the Queen sacked an Australian PM described by Philip as a ‘socialist arsehole’, writes John Menadue.
https://johnmenadue.com/the-queens-implausible-denial-repost-july-21-2020/
You can almost hear the shrieks of collective outrage as news leaked yesterday that while Star Entertainment has been deemed unsuitable to hold its NSW casino licence it can still hold on to it, provided it undertakes reforms, writes Elizabeth Knight who wonders why it seems Australian casinos are “bulletproof”.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/why-are-australian-casinos-bulletproof-20220912-p5bhfg.html
Paul Krugman writes about the power of the almighty US dollar being a bit of a mystery given that the US no longer dominates the world economy the way it once did.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/the-power-of-the-almighty-us-dollar-is-a-bit-of-a-mystery-20220912-p5bha2.html
Pageantry and absurdity abound as the King comes to Westminster, says John Crace, bristling with sarcasm.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/12/new-king-comes-to-westminster
Modi’s India gets a free pass on Human Rights-but not China, argues Lee Rhiannon.
https://johnmenadue.com/hindutva-modis-extremism-targets-kashmir/
Here are some descriptions of the chaotic withdrawal of Russian troops as the Ukrainians advanced rapidly.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/they-just-dropped-rifles-liberated-ukraine-villages-describe-russian-troops-fleeing-20220912-p5bhft.html
Vladimir Putin has drawn flak from nationalists and at least one of his key military supporters, after Ukraine’s rapid liberation of occupied territory in the country’s north-east and the apparent collapse of Russian defences.
https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/russian-rout-fuels-putin-dissent-20220912-p5bh9e
With his army on the back foot, is escalation over Ukraine Vladimir Putin’s only real option, wonders Matthew Sussex.
https://theconversation.com/with-his-army-on-the-back-foot-is-escalation-over-ukraine-vladimir-putins-only-real-option-190046
Lawyers for Donald Trump have asked a federal judge to deny the justice department’s request to regain access to some documents the FBI seized from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort and restart the criminal investigation into his unauthorized retention of government documents.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/12/trump-lawyers-mar-a-lago-special-master-documents
A bankrupt Melbourne underworld figure who owes millions in tax has been accused in court of negotiating the purchase of a Fitzroy property, while also holding a secret stake in a lucrative tip and quarry north-west of Melbourne. This earns him a nomination for “Arsehole of the Week”.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/underworld-figure-negotiates-3-4-million-house-deal-despite-67-million-tax-debt-20220908-p5bgbd.html
Cartoon Corner
David Rowe
David Pope
Mark David
John Shakespeare
Cathy Wilcox
Fiona Katauskas
Peter Broelman
Glen Le Lievre
Spooner
From the US
Denys Davydov latest video update on Ukraine.
Interesting that reparations and compensation (and not just restoration of pre-2014 borders) are mentioned in any negotiations with Russia.
https://johnmenadue.com/defence-strategic-review-posture-review/
Excellent article by the wonderful Henry Reynolds. Well worth reading. Thank you BK for including it in your links.
From the first secretive US base opened here decades ago Australia has been a first strike target for any country with a beef about the Yanks. Now Australia has made the whole of Northern Australia into a US military zone how much bigger has that target become?
A bigger worry is the economic target we have painted on our forehead by our ‘All the way with the USA” forelock tugging policy. The post fall of the Soviet Union uni-polar word is coming to an end. We in ‘the West’ especially the minor bits like Australia will be in for some unpleasant changes in reality as things realign.
We don’t hear much of it in the local press but there is an increasing integration and cooperation of nations outside of “The West’ . A pity because as time goes by a larger and larger share of global GDP, trade and population are joining economic blocs. Apart from the ‘Belt and Road’ stuff there are groupings such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) .As you can see by the map quite a chunk of the globe. Notice that , as with BRICs, India is member alongside China. Remember that next time you hear rah rah rah about ‘The Quad’ .
I think I’ve mentioned it before but ‘The West’ represents about 12% the world’s population. The past few hundred years of ‘Empires’ of the ‘12%” has given a large part of the 88% good cause to delight in our comeuppance. Not just the ‘Empires’, think of what the US has done right across South America. It is a history that should by rights have the US in the pariah category.
I thought the useless term “the West” referred to the Western Hemisphere, mostly the Americas and Caribbean counties with a bit of Africa’s “bulge” plus parts of Europe. Another way of defining it is west of the prime meridian (0° longitude) up to the 180th meridian.
Australia is very much part of the eastern hemisphere.
Just FYI I learned today this little snippet –
From the ‘Wow we are all getting old’ file, Ralph Macchio “The kararte Kid” is now 60 years old
Geez – I must be really ancient!
Rachel Maddow –
Chris Hayes –
Brian Tyler Cohen –
Every one else is at the Emmy’s I believe.
FFS!!!!
I wonder how he dares show his face,
Ben Roberts-Smith to attend Queen Elizabeth funeral commemorations
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/ben-roberts-smith-to-attend-queen-elizabeth-funeral-commemorations-20220913-p5bho3.html
Probably because he has a VC. He should never have been nominated for it if the upper hunches knew of his record. And if they didn’t someone should bloodywell have informed them!
Speaking of war crimes. Some arseholes are doing some sweeping under the carpet.
New Thread
Jeebus, he’s still alive. A monument to the embalming fraternity………………….
.
Wow, Russian Kherson front about to collapse!
s=20&t=IzPbHZFESuo5SPvU8PqEGQhttps://twitter.com/mishazelinsky/status/1569301966601461761?s=20&t=IzPbHZFESuo5SPvU8PqEGQ
Nothing definite but joining the dots between sources posted above.
Slava Ukraini!