While most Americans were calling this past April 18 “Tax Day,” there were a few people who remembered that that day was also the 247th anniversary of Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride.
The British Royal Governor of Massachusetts received intelligence that the American Colonial Militia was stock-piling weapons in Concord, Massachusetts, and he dispatched the newly arrived British Army to confiscate these weapons in order to preemptively stop any rebellion before it started.
It was 1971 and a cold winter's day in New Zealand's central volcanic plateau. An area with abundant lakes and it was a yachtie's paradise. My parents owned a house on Lake Tarawera - a most forbidding yet beautiful lake. But was renowned for treacherously mischievous winds that could change direction, change speed and taunt even the most seasoned of sailors.
My brother and I were keen yachties and, even at 15 years of age, I fancied myself as a bit of a seasoned veteran. ( As you do when you are young and impervious to fear.) My older brother, then about 19 years old, had joined me for a quick afternoon sail before heading home to a warm fire and the comfort of our parent's lakeside home.
When Benjamin Disraeli said “I must follow the people. Am I not their leader? “ he was on the money. Leaders do not seek to create a new world of their vision, but to preserve or improve the vision that the people already have and hold dear. Or they may seek to create the vision that the people have.
Either way, it is not THEIR vision; it is the vision of the People.
Trump got this. He understood that his role was not to ask his People to follow him but rather to allow the American People to get on with their lives, make money, make babies and make memories of which they could be proud.
His role? To Follow His People.
Read more: “I must follow the people. Am I not their leader? “
On Earth Day, a 50-year-old environmentalist and photographer from Colorado named Wynn Alan Bruce lit himself on fire outside the US Supreme Court.
Friends of Bruce, who subsequently died, said he was worried about climate change.
Read more: Destroying Food to Fight Climate Change Is Madness—and a Conceit That Could Prove Fatal
In his classic dystopian novel 1984, George Orwell famously wrote, “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.” This striking image served as a potent symbol for totalitarianism in the 20th Century. But as Caylan Ford recently observed, with the advent of digital health passports in the emerging biomedical security state, the new symbol of totalitarian repression is “not a boot, but an algorithm in the cloud: emotionless, impervious to appeal, silently shaping the biomass.” The new forms of repression will be no less real for being virtual rather than physical.
" When we have people who applaud this, what hope do we have? This video is not pleasant, but it must be seen. Thousands of innocent unborn children are torn to pieces every day in the U.S. because most people simply don't know what abortion actually does. With the exception of the final scene (a second-trimester fetus), all of the video you will see depicts children who were killed during first-trimester abortions. Please do not watch this if you are easily upset. I watched it and I am weeping. "
Read more: How can we call ourselves caring people? The murder of innocence is WRONG
Australian politicians have drifted a long way to the left since the days of Robert Menzies and Arthur Fadden. Starting with Gough Whitlam, Malcolm Fraser, Don Chipp and Bob Brown, there has developed a monotonous uniformity in main-stream Australian politics.
Over the years, a green slime has infected all major parties - they now differ in details but not in principle. This greening of politics has reached the stage when a politician like Malcolm Turnbull has trouble deciding whether to join the Greens, the ALP or the Leafy-green Liberals.
Australia’s highest Law is our Australian Constitution. Any laws not made under our Constitution are unlawful. State Law is subject to our Australian Constitution, as are all Local Government laws.
Any laws which infringe, erode or deny our Inalienable Natural Rights are unlawful. Such laws are repugnant to the Australian Constitution which enshrines your Inalienable Natural Rights.
Read more: What is our Australian Constitution? Australia was the “Envy of the World”
Read more: I wonder where we went wrong? How did normal go to abnormal? And, so quickly?
In light of the recent controversy over the Chinese participation in the Solomon Islands, I have been pondering the Battle of the Coral Sea all those years ago.
Read more: The Battle of the Coral Sea - was it worth it? How important were the Solomon Islands??
During the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Muslims fast, pray, engage in acts of piety and charity, and reminisce over warfare and bloodshed in the name of Islam.
Virtually every Ramadan features various Islamic authorities, personages, and/or institutes reminding Muslims to take pride in and celebrate various historic battles between Muslims and non-Muslims, or “infidels”. Among other things, such victories are meant to demonstrate the power, and thus truth, of Islam.
Read more: Ramadan: A Time to Celebrate Murder, Bloodshed, and Slavery?
If AI is the child of our time, then humanity is both parent and partner....responsible…
146 hits
While Britain danced in the streets and Europe breathed a collective sigh of relief, Australians,…
275 hits
It began quietly. No headlines. No protests. Just a story... odd, intriguing, almost heartwarming. I…
331 hits
In May 1942, as Japanese forces surged southward across the Pacific, Australia stood on the…
320 hits
When a nation loses its voice, it turns to memory. In these strange days, when…
380 hits
Factional ferrets, backstabbing bandicoots, and the great Teal tango - how the Libs turned on…
142 hits
In an era where technology dictates much of our daily lives, algorithms have become the…
344 hits
When you cast your vote, you’re not just selecting a candidate; you’re choosing the kind…
293 hits
When news broke that Australia had declared war on New Zealand, most assumed it was…
332 hits
Beneath the swaying trees and the green grass of Norfolk Island lies a brutal chapter…
359 hits
In a world that seems determined to teach us to hate our countries, I remember…
355 hits
By Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble In a stunning turn of events, Peter “Cooker” Fookit - who…
417 hits
For nearly three decades, the Port Arthur Massacre has been remembered as Australia's darkest day…
597 hits
Who pays the Ferryman? In the old myths, no soul crossed the river Styx without…
329 hits
By Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble, Special Correspondent for Ratty News Roderick Whiskers McNibble here, tail fluffed…
389 hits
Each war seems to produce its own under-appreciated heroes who, for reasons that have nothing…
439 hits
Just before dawn on August 7, 1915, the men of the 8th and 10th Australian…
425 hits
It is not often that a hero can also be a larrikin and vice versa.…
374 hits
On ANZAC Day we remember the fallen, the brave, the heroic. But behind every name…
397 hits
Magic happens everywhere and goodness, wonder and delight can be found alive and well throughout…
195 hits
How many people around the world have been warning about the danger we are in? …
206 hits
Two names. Two battles. One legend. At Chunuk Bair and Lone Pine, ANZAC soldiers faced…
531 hits
It has been truly said that Australia arrived in Gallipoli as six separate States and…
405 hits
By Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble, Investigative Reporter Extraordinaire The Ratty News Foreign Desk | Special Report…
449 hits
There are men who live great adventures and there are men who write about them.…
442 hits
When life collapses and the weight of grief threatens to bury us, we have two…
450 hits
He was short, wiry, and came from the dusty outskirts of Clermont in rural Queensland.…
540 hits
As the sun rises on another ANZAC Day in less than two weeks, and an…
319 hits
Some memories shimmer in the mind like a heat haze, half mischief, half magic. This…
314 hits
For over five years now, this blog has grown into more than just a place…
305 hits
In a stunning turn of events, Roderick “Whiskers” McNibble - microphone-wielding rat and founding fur…
428 hits
How did it happen? How did a failed artist and fringe political agitator rise from…
366 hits