27.11.20.  Morning Mail, pounding the “beware of China” drum again! China is an unfriendly bully to the world and unlikely to change its bastardly ways of doing business—if anything, it’s bastardry will only increase. China’s ethos is incompatible to most, if not all trading nations. Bullying, threats, coercion and punishment, particularly toward Australia, should be a lesson learned. Australian business is now realising that while lucrative at the time, “putting all your eggs in one (Chinese) basket” means that China controls that business. Business needs stability and that won’t come from China. Other markets will have to be found and a diversity in sources. We spread our risk with financial investment portfolios, why not with commerce?
The Australian coal flotilla stuck off the Chinese coast has swollen to more than 80 ships carrying blacklisted cargo worth more than $1.1bn, prompting the ­Morrison government to raise concerns about “discriminatory action”. The Australian can also reveal coal exports to China have plunged by 96 per cent in the first three weeks of November, as a go-slow by Chinese officials crunches the nation’s second biggest export industry. More

27.11.20.  The backlash must have been great enough to wake up the Morrison government which remains drunk on power learned via the coronavirus opportunity. Their controversial plan to ban businesses from making or receiving cash payments of more than $10,000 has been quietly shelved following pressure from influential industry groups and a backlash from Coalition MPs who warned it took away people’s freedom. That the government even tried this lark indicates precisely where they are coming from—total control!
Government sources confirmed there would be no attempt to push the Restrictions on the Use of Cash Bill through federal parliament in the final sitting fortnight of the year and conceded there was no enthusiasm to move ahead with it. While they insisted it had not been “completely dropped yet”, they would not be surprised if it ended up that way. More

27.11.20.  Media networks do not decide who wins elections, but the almost universal chorus says President Trump should “lie down, be a good boy” and concede the US election for the sake of national unity, according to Sky News host Alan Jones. “The US media have declared Joe Biden the winner in a tight race – they did this weeks ago,” Mr Jones said. “If Biden has won fairly and squarely … make no mistake, this is no straightforward victory for the Democrats. “The polls were wrong, the media haters were wrong.” Mr Jones also noted the “Trump record” had “resonated with almost 50 per cent of Americans”. “The so-called blue wave did not happen, … the promised landslide against Trump did not occur,” he said. He also spoke of the many aspects of the election which were “ignored”. “The biggest block voting for Trump were married women, he increased the black vote and the Hispanic vote for Republicans, because of the economic improvements in those communities under Trump,” Mr Jones said. “The Trump vote is more than was ever achieve by Obama … but the bias continues.” More

27.11.20.  Sky News host Chris Kenny says most of the media and tech giants are only interested in calling out alleged “misinformation” when they see it coming from US President Donald Trump or from the right-side of politics. “The presidential contest has generated a very acute interest in truth. Truth and political debate. Truth and the media,” he said. “Much of it has centered on when the media and especially the tech giants call out untruths, call out erroneous claims, or point out lies. “But the trouble with this debate is that it is so jaundiced, most of the media, and certainly the tech giants, they are only interested in calling out misinformation if they see it coming from Donald Trump or from the right side of politics. “I’ve shown you before the absolute bunkum they spread from Joe Biden and others that never get called out.” Mr Kenny said the “hypocrisy paradox and inanity of political debate” – and truth – in the modern media age had serious implications for some of the world’s most powerful positions. President-elect Joe Biden announced former Secretary of State John Kerry would be the new administration’s Special Envoy on Climate Change. More

27.11.20.  Perhaps, all s not yet lost in America as the legal challenges slowly grind forward. Mayor Rudy Giulinai asked Phil Waldron, retired Army spending  first half of his career just  as a cavalry officer, conducting armed reconnaissance counter reconnaissance. Here is an excerpt from the Q & A: More

27.11.20.  There would be many of you that dabble in various degrees with the paint brush. But when it comes to the record price for Whiteley’s “Room with a view” it’s hard to understand what actually does make a painting ‘good’? There will be a lot artist’s stuff like easels paint boxes and brushes thrown in the garbage today after seeing what is required to net $6million! Fairbloodydinkum!
A large Lavender Bay picture by Brett Whiteley broke the auction record for an Australian painting on Thursday when it sold for $6,136,000 — and knocked Ned Kelly off his horse. Henri’s Armchair, intimate and monumental, is an interior of Whiteley’s home at Lavender Bay with Sydney Harbour glimpsed through the windows. More

27.11.20. We all leave a legacy, mostly only known to a few in the family. Some leave a small legacy that remains on display for eons, like a street named after them. Some leave an undeserved and controversial legacy like Ned Kelly. Others leave a legacy for short periods while they live, such as most ex-prime ministers. Some leave a legacy that burns in the minds of many such as Idi Amin or Pol Pot. Whilst others because they break records such as the Queen being the longest-reigning British Monarch. Most Athletes who also break records survive in people’s minds only until their record is broken by someone else.  Some people’s legacies survive as symbols of something great such as Julius Caesar, Winston Churchill, or Albert Einstein, and of course, there are many more. However, it’s difficult to pick anyone who is still alive and whose legacy will last the test of time but Townhall’s Derek Hunter thinks there is one and I’m sure he will get little argument from MM’s readers: More

26.11.20.  Sky News host Alan Jones says political and military leadership has a lot to answer for as Australia has announced the guilt of our soldiers in Afghanistan to the world before anyone has walked up the steps to a court of law. “We learn today, two Australian defence members – fathers – took their own lives this month,” Mr Jones said. “We have announced to the world guilt of our soldiers in Afghanistan before anyone has walked up the steps to a court of law. “Political and military leadership has a lot to answer for.” Mr Jones spoke of the apologies offered by Australian defence authorities to Afghanistan and the alleged victims’ families. “What do we know about the statues of the so-called victim other than what is alleged and untested?” he said. “The pile on continues, how do you defend the nation by demoralizing those charged with that responsibility of defence? “The Prime Minister has done awful damage to the morale of our troops talking about the ‘brutal truths’ of this report when none of the allegations have been tested in a court of law. “The Prime Minister can repair part of the damage he has done by sacking the Chief of the Defence Force General Angus Campbell and the Chief of the Army Lieutenant General Rick Burr. “That would help restore morale.” More