Patriot Realm

Today, we saw the passing of the old guard into the " new. "

A world where old traditions and decency have been put on the back bench and the new players are stepping up to the plate. People who have no sense of duty but only care about how " they " can help us. Which, in plain speak is " how we can help them " 

For myself, The Queen is and was much like President Trump.

Surrounded by people who did not march to the same drum. People in governance who tried to bring them down.

Even members of families betrayed these two great people.  No wonder they liked each other. 

The lead photo shows the people who deserved our respect. Unlike others.

I woke up this morning to learn of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. Of course, it was inevitable as a passing always is; but tragic and so sad when it actually happens. 

The role that she has played in my life has always been significant, albeit from a distance. Her attributes of strength, duty and morality were constants and many could reflect on her dedication and perhaps regret that they did not follow her example.

 For 70 years and 7 months, she was the ruling monarch and arguably the last of the classic era of ruling royalty. 

When the Picasso exhibition was showing at the Art Gallery of NSW a number of years back, I accompanied Mrs Flysa despite my misgivings, which proved to be well-founded. The abstract paintings were stereotyped and uninspiring, and the relatively few attempts at portraiture appeared amateurish. The term sacred cow came to mind. 

It was a relief to escape and view the magnificent works of the masters in nearby rooms. By comparison, The Sons of Clovis by Evariste Vital Luminais and The Defence of Rorke's Drift by Alphonse de Neuville, were as day is to night compared to Picasso.

At the end of February 2020, the global village began to shake on its foundations. The world was presented with a foreboding crisis, the consequences of which were incalculable. In a matter of weeks, everyone was gripped by the story of a virus—a story that was undoubtedly based on facts. But on which ones? 

We caught a first glimpse of “the facts” via footage from China. A virus forced the Chinese government to take the most draconian measures. Entire cities were quarantined, new hospitals were built hastily, and individuals in white suits disinfected public spaces. Here and there, rumors emerged that the totalitarian Chinese government was overreacting and that the new virus was no worse than the flu. 

From California to France to Japan and beyond, nuclear power is all the rage suddenly.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that California Gov. Gavin Newsom was spearheading an eleventh-hour effort to pass legislation to extend a lifeline to Diablo Canyon, a 2,250-megawatt nuclear plant that supplies some 8 percent of the energy produced in the Golden State.

Under pressure from lawmakers and environmental activists, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) agreed in 2016 to decommission Diablo when its operating licenses expire in 2024 and 2025. But in light of the recent energy policy environment, California lawmakers had second thoughts.

As time passes, we still get the usual collection of the bearded unwashed telling us how wrong we were/are for participating in any war because we should be celebrating peace.

These angry verbal shots are not the first, nor will they be the last salvos we ordinary grateful citizens will be subjected to by this ignorant element in our society. Ignore them and roll with the punches.

When one talks about the real angry shots and the peaceful scene of Port Philip Bay in Melbourne, Australia, on a calm and cloudy day,  one does not normally connect the two in the same sentence but on 4^th August 1914, and 5th September 1939, they did.