'And, in a few decades, the people who remember the sky before Sputnik 1 shattered its peace will be gone. Soon, the whirling graveyard of space junk punctuated by living robots will be all we have ever known'.
#SpaceJunk #EarthDay

The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com Israeli Soldiers Sentenced to Jail for Damaging Jesus Statue in Lebanon 17 hours ago — Two Israeli soldiers have been pulled from combat duty and given 30-day jail sentences after one photographed the other swinging what …..

Jason Hickel @jasonhickel Doing genocide and running torture-rape camps is apparently fine but upsetting US Christian Zionists is a "moral wake-up call". Absolute degeneracy. THE TIMES OF ISRAEL The Times of Israel * @TimesofIsrael • Apr 20 Destruction of Jesus statue should serve as moral wake-up call for IDF, Israel timesofisrael.com/destruction-of...

I hadn’t boosted the image of the Israeli soldier smashing the statue head because I didn’t want to boost antisemitism. Hearing the soldiers involved were facing more consequences (for alienating the crucial Christian Zionist support) than the soldiers who have destroyed & tortured Palestinians 🤯🤬

Israeli settler intimidating a Palestinian woman with the intention of taking over her land.

This is a genuine photo of an Israeli settler on the West Bank. Israel hates this photo...so you know what to do.

Tehran’s embattled Jewish community endures despite Israeli bombing of synagogue Members of Rafi’ Nia synagogue braved airstrikes to celebrate Passover hours before it was destroyed

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
The Zionists of Israel & the US do not support the Jewish faith – they are simply interested in military power & conquest

Two Israeli soldiers jailed over smashing of Jesus statue in Lebanon village Israel Defense Forces say the ‘soldiers’ conduct completely deviated from IDF orders and value’

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

Meanwhile the same paper reports that the rabbi who destroyed Palestinian homes in the West Bank will be honoured on Israel’s National Day…

After France, Denmark is moving too: its Digitalisation Ministry plans to phase out Microsoft, switching to Linux and LibreOffice in the coming months. The goal is clear—reduce dependence on a handful of global tech giants and strengthen digital sovereignty.

Mark-up on anything labelled NDIS is a huge issue. Need a new bolt for your four wheeled walker? Couple of dollars at Bunnings. Twenty times as much at Independent Living Specialists

Olly Robbins’ account of Mandelson vetting piles pressure on Keir Starmer Sacked civil servant tells select committee of ‘pressure’ to give clearance and ‘dismissive’ attitude to vetting

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Maybe Starmer is a total dill, but the UK is still essentially a feudal society & I can’t help noticing the class difference between the working class man who became UK PM & the toffs piling on him

Multicultural Australia was built under a Liberal prime minister. The current party should take heed Malcolm Fraser was one of the country’s longest-serving prime ministers. His support of multicultural policy forever changed Australia’s social fabric.

Multicultural Australia was built under a Liberal prime minister. The current party should take heed
theconversation.com/multicultura...
While the Fraser & Whitlam governments are acknowledged for multicultural policies this article fails to credit Harold Holt for his quiet elimination of prejudice

Some senior bureaucrats earn more than $1 million a year. How did we get here? Many department heads earn more than the prime minister or treasurer. It’s a situation that’s now under review.

Some senior bureaucrats earn more than $1 million a year. How did we get here?
theconversation.com/some-senior-...
A good article by Andrew Podger. But the heading is wrong. They may be paid “more than $1 million a year”, but I doubt that they earn it #auspol

So, you've decided to write a terrible EV piece. An early column, because I'm away this Friday.

open.substack.com/pub/aliensid...
I’m so glad @birmo.bsky.social wrote this response to the utterly stupid ABC story on electric vehicles. I’ve noted the journo’s name for future reference as his credibility gap would span the Great Australian Bite

So the Israeli government is punishing the IDF soldiers who desecrated a crucifix in Lebanon. No punishment for murdering children – as that is de facto government policy

Strands #780
“Earth Day”
🔵🔵🔵🔵
🟡🔵🔵 I got the message early, but took a while to see the spangram

Connections
Puzzle #1046
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦 I puzzled over purple, guessed it was linked to another word – but the one I chose wasn’t the one in the official solution

good to hear from you

Wordle 1,768 4/6*

⬜🟨⬜🟨🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Try Blackwells. I was able to preorder my copy which arrived in Australia today. This is great as for some bizarre reason it’s not going to be on sale here until November

My copy arrived this morning. I will now be unavailable until I finish reading as it is so engrossing. Just took a dog-walking break so could follow the author. Thank you for writing this!!

Strands #779
“Risky business”
🔵🔵🔵🔵
🟡🔵 Took a while to find the spangram

Connections
Puzzle #1045
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦 Today was a lot easier, helped by the octopus

Wordle 1,767 4/6*

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟨🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 After the wipeout in the first two lines, options were restricted

Opinion | The Warmongers Are Getting History All Wrong

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/19/o...

An excellent analysis of the Thucydides trap & the way Trump’s USA has fallen into it

This war is so damn confusing. It’s why we shouldn’t let drunks and dementia patients run it.

Yet for well over 1000 years, before the 20th century mass immigration of European Zionists; Jews, Muslims & Christians lived in harmony in the land that was then called Palestine

Is this really the city that any of us want?
A city of greedy towers - the most unaffordable & antisocial of #sydneyapartmentbuildings, casting their shadows, concentrating congestion, so expensive to build & maintain.
This a city of unearned uplift, no public dividend, just speculative profit

Photo of IDF soldier smashing a statue of the crucified Jesus

Just in case there was any doubt about the bigotry of the hate-filled extreme Zionists of the IDF

Fox News is calling this the most decisive and important war America has ever fought

They are complete morons

Strands #778
“Gloriously glaring!”
🔵🔵🔵🔵
🟡🔵🔵 This is clever

Connections
Puzzle #1044
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪 I’ve never heard of most of the terms in purple & spent ages to just guess the last word in blue

Wordle 1,766 5/6*

🟨⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩
⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 almost a phewdle