In my latest Loonie Politics column I note the ominous apparent paradox in which as the federal government spends and hires ever more recklessly, the national police force totally fails to attend to its core duty of protecting that government and its citizens from subversion, espionage and so on.

“in order that life should be a story or romance to us, it is necessary that a great part of it, at any rate, should be settled for us without our permission. If we wish life to be a system, this may be a nuisance; but if we wish it to be a drama, it is an essential…. A man has control over many things in his life; he has control over enough things to be the hero of a novel. But if he had control over everything, there would be so much hero that there would be no novel. And the reason why the lives of the rich are at bottom so tame and uneventful is simply that they can choose the events…. It is vain for the supercilious moderns to talk of being in uncongenial surroundings. To be in a romance is to be in uncongenial surroundings…. the moderns, who imagine that romance would exist most perfectly in a complete state of what they call liberty…. They say they wish to be, as strong as the universe, but they really wish the whole universe as weak as themselves.”

G.K. Chesterton Heretics

This week I joined The Hon. Tony Clement on his “Boom and Bust” show to discuss Remembrance Day in light of ominous current developments including the Hamas terrorist assault on Israel.

“Bitesized analysis, curated daily/ Busy schedule? The Economist app offers fast, digestible insights in a range of formats to suit you. Head to the Home section for a daily selection of our best analysis – all curated by senior editors.”

Email teaser from The Economist January 13, 2023 [prompting a cry of “Et tu, Economist?” not only over the pandering dumbing down/speeding up busy-lifestyle but also that pretentious “curated” – there was a time when that publication eschewed dumbing down and trendy fatuities].

“To have a passing fever, or the smallpox is nothing, but to be oppressed by a feeling of faintness for whole years, to see all one’s relish for things destroyed, to have yet enough life to want to enjoy it but too little strength to do so, to become useless and unbearable to oneself, to die little by little, that is what I have suffered, and what has been more cruel than all my other trials.”

Voltaire, quoted in Cleveland Bruce Chase The Young Voltaire [in his first letter on returning to France from a youthful trip to England where he learned much but found the climate horrible]

“COMPETITION/ Your chance to win a stylish LG InstaView Objet Collection® Fridge, valued at $5,999/ LG Electronics Australia brings a pop of colour into the kitchen with the release of its new LG Objet Collection® Fridge, which sports a sleek design and a range of colour panels that lets users curate their kitchen space to express their own unique style. With customisable colour panels available in various colours and finishes including Silver, Green or Black stainless steel or Beige, Silver, Pink or Mint mist glass, the latest LG Objet Collection® allows consumers to set the mood and style of their kitchen. On top of its stylistic flair, the LG Objet Collection® also delivers on functionality with innovative features that work together to maximise food freshness. For your chance to win a LG InstaView Objet Collection® French Door Fridge, enter by 2 April. Customisation subject to availability. The default colour panels of the prize are Green & Silver Stainless Steel.”

Substantive portion of email from “The Australian Plus” [TheAustralian@e.newscorpaus.com.au] February 9, 2023 [whereas my actual fridge (a) did not cost six grand (b) keeps food cool rather than curating my space and (c) would not express my unique style even if I had one]

In my latest Loonie Politics column I say we need to face the fact, and the implications, of large-scale pro-Hamas demonstrations in Canada and other Western nations by recent immigrants from places where horrific anti-Semitism is routine.

“‘Hermit hoar, in solemn cell,/ Wearing out life’s evening grey:/ Smite thy bosom, sage, and tell,/ What is bliss? and which the way?/ Thus I spoke; and speaking sigh’d;/ – scarce repressed the starting tear; – When the smiling sage reply’d – Come, my lad, and drink some beer.’”

Samuel Johnson, cited in D.J. Enright’s introduction to Johnson The History of Rasselas