Oh my, what a year, and at this moment we are all processing so much, most recently this.

Yesterday instead of a new post I referred people on my Mastodon and Facebook to this from my archive: My Syrian neighbour.

Wish my neigbour of 2016 was still here! “My neighbour is also doing such a TAFE course, and her English now is pretty good. She had a master’s degree back in Syria and now teaches Arabic at a Saturday class here in Wollongong. She tells me she often cries when she sees the news from her birth country. She recalls a time not so long ago when in her part of Syria, between Lebanon and Turkey, everyone got on – Muslim, Christian, everyone. She herself is part Turkish.”

I also commended this as background:

This vlog is in Baku, Azerbaijan. A review: “…Shirvan Neftchi (more on him later) weaves together compelling stories that converge well researched facts with unique and intelligent insights….. Unique and confident opinions that are underpinned by historical analysis. A great example is his video tracing root causes of North Korea’s economic decline, that breaks away from the mainstream paradigm:,,, he videos where I have some casual knowledge such as the rise of China as a superpower, I cannot fault his research or facts – they are no glaring inaccuracies and there is clearly plenty of thought that went into his analysis. I give the Caspian Report 4 out of 5 for international relations grad students”

At the end of 2023

Was 2023 the Year our Hope Broke?

Among all the issues (and non-issues!) I posted about this was closest to my heart.

20th October

One week ago this was the eve of our country’s standing at a fork in the road. We did not take the road less travelled. There were many factors at play, not least an intransigent Opposition and a right wing commentariat from another planet looking for Reds in all the wrong places.

I borrowed that from Tony Armstrong’s Instagram — despite what he says he does have some social media though rarely using it! This image was the way he vented when the Referendum result came in. I shared his feelings — as you know.

Don’t imagine it is all done and dusted. Unfinished business is still unfinished.

Junxi Su, who manages a local Chinese community dance group in the City of Monash in Melbourne, has also seen a growing interest in the community to understand indigenous culture and customs since the referendum.

Ms Su says she has been thinking of building a bridge between her community and the Indigenous community for several years and believes “this might be the best time for them to establish this kind of community-to-community relationship”.

“Since the beginning of this year, we have started inviting indigenous elders to our events, performing smoke ceremonies, allowing the Chinese community to experience indigenous culture up close.The Voice referendum is over, but it has ignited discussion about Indigenous issues….

This morning I see on Sky Oz

If elected prime minister, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says he will address the nation with only the Australian flag behind him, not the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags.

Mr Dutton currently chooses not to display the Aboriginal flag during public appearances, as he believes it unnecessarily divides people.

Speaking with Sky News host Peta Credlin, he confirmed he will continue this practice if he wins the next election.

Today is the anniversary of this