From Papua New Guinea, the island to our immediate north, are carvings and weavings, story boards and shields.  Splendid face painting and body art plus wearable artifacts are seen at tribal gatherings and sing-sing activities for intense men and women.
 Recently foreign aid for PNG in the form of a national power network is planned by several nations working as a group which is a big challenge.  Imagine the cooperation called for and work in conjunction with locals as essential.  Solar should be suggested as top priority with appropriate technology thereby ahead of the donor nations. As well, aid needs to be on the ground ahead of China and its developments there.
 That we have a struggling country right next door is not on the radar of most of us apart from our long term aid budget which was liable to cuts until the Chinese ramped up their presence.  See the dreadfully slow improvements in public health.

November, Jackaranda and Christmas Bush - what could be more typical?

The nascent Christmas Bush is not humming with bees.  When will they arrive?
 The blossom will gradually turn red over the next several weeks.

National priorities...global priorities. Idealistic nonsense. It's about the issues that can't wait.
  Call a halt on spending time money and energy on most things that we can well do without and instead address critical issues that cannot wait. The time is now.  The ultimate rewards will be ten fold.
 High levels of extinction of wild life is recorded globally. Insects...bees..failing. Fascinating animals gone for ever and the very web of life in jeopardy where our interdependence is crucial.
 It is trite to describe the world as worse than ever and be a victim of the news cycle that overloads us with national dramas but do we really come to grips with the size and scope of some trends? Communities in many areas are on mass migration. Environments are consumed by bush fires. Weather patterns are changing and records are broken. Those are the major priorities to address.

The sacrifices and horrors of war are not lost on me one bit. But, $500 billion to finance additions to the extensive national war memorial is unnecessary.  Empire building out of control. An investment to stimulate in the national psyche some sort of spirit based on war.
 We could be steered into positive, inspiring but pressing notions about out future. Spirituality is found in nature and its renewal not only in war, death and mateship.

Celebrate life. Celebrate the future, work for peace and make better use of money to fund urgent priorities.   

PS I am remiss and have had it pointed out that positive aspects about war need to be stressed in order to gain military recruits and approval of the next conflict.

 

Since about 100 BCE these two buildings have stood empty close to a now pivotal part of town. What is their story? Near Honeysuckle and Hannell.  Development is all around.
  Never mind. Other notable sites have moved ahead after sitting idle for aeons.  Latec House!

See works from the Impressionists at the Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney . On loan from The Hermitage.
The time will fly during a visit. Big names. A few have glaring colours. An audio visual is curious. The staff were attentive at the time.  Has an admission fee and usual appealing merchandise.