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- Written by: Op-Ed Monty
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For over a century, oil and coal have been at the heart of the global economy, driving industrial growth, powering transportation, and enabling unprecedented technological advancements.
These two energy sources, though often maligned in recent times due to their perceived environmental impact, have played indispensable roles in shaping the modern world. Let's be honest: we have gone from whales to wind turbines and somehow, whales are still being screwed over.
So much of the quandary is down to ideology and politics rather than reality and commonsense.
Oil fuels our vehicles, planes, and ships, providing the backbone of mobility, while coal powers industries and generates electricity, driving factories and cities alike. Let us be realistic. Oil and coal are essential for mobility and industry. That is the reality.
Read more: Oil for Mobility and Coal for Industry: The Twin Pillars of Modern Energy
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- Written by: The PR Blog
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The history of kerosene and the subsequent development of the oil industry is a fascinating journey that began in the mid-19th century.
Kerosene, a once-unknown fuel, revolutionised lighting, heating, and industrial energy production, laying the foundation for the modern petroleum industry that continues to power the world today.
Before kerosene was discovered, lighting and heating relied heavily on sources like candles, wood, and whale oil. Whale oil was the dominant fuel for lamps, but it was expensive and the whaling industry was becoming unsustainable as whale populations were being rapidly depleted.
As industrialisation gathered momentum in the 19th century, demand for a cheaper and more efficient source of lighting grew.....
Read more: The History of Kerosene and the Birth of the Oil Industry
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- Written by: Op-Ed Monty
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I have often pondered why mankind decided to go after the humble whale. After all, the whale was out there, in the ocean, minding his or her own business and wasn't really causing any problem. Unless you were a seal, krill or plankton. In which case, you probably had a civil rights claim or two.
Yet this gentle giant ( as far as humans are concerned ) was not bothering anyone. All the whales wanted to do was what they have done since God first had a great idea " I think I'll make a whale. " and the whales just cruised around, having babies, blowing bubbles and migrating to warmer places and having a jolly old time.
So what did the poor whale do to us? Well, let me tell you a whale of a tale and how the Industrial Revolution saved it.
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- Written by: Op-Ed Monty
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In the heart of Australia’s wild Kimberley, where the sun scorches the red earth and rivers carve ancient paths through rugged landscapes, one family’s name looms large—Durack. They weren’t born to riches, nor did they inherit vast estates, but through sheer grit, ambition, and an audacious cattle drive across thousands of kilometres, the Duracks carved out an empire. Yet, for all their triumphs, they knew their castles were built on fragile ground, vulnerable to nature's whims and the shifting tides of fortune. This is the epic tale of the Duracks, the cattle kings who ruled the outback—until their grass castles, like so many before, were swept away.
Australia’s pioneering days were full of grit, determination, and larger-than-life characters, but few families have captured the imagination like the Duracks. Their story, immortalised in Kings in Grass Castles by Mary Durack, is one of endurance, ambition, and ultimately, the end of an era.
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- Written by: Op-Ed Happy Expat
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Banjo Paterson is the giant of Australian literature and folk law. His exploits in this field are so extensively well documented that I would not presume to add to them. However, in modern Australia, perhaps it is time to start celebrating people like him again.
What is less well known than his poetry is his contribution to the war effort in WW1 and to a much lesser extent The Boer War. His contribution to the successes of the Light Horse brigades was outstanding.
Banjo Paterson was a newspaper correspondent intermingled with a legal practice. When the second Boer War broke out on 11th October, 1899 Banjo was a member of the NSW Lancers and sought to sail with the first contingent for South Africa. He was rejected for active service because he had only one good arm. He was well connected with the Fairfax family and asked to be sent to South Africa at his own expense for one month to serve as a war correspondent. One month was the limit of his financial resources.
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Our elected Government Representatives are defying our wishes and importing terrorists. They are importing people who are bleeding our tax payer funded social security. Our Government is destroying our culture, our Religious foundation and our rights to speak freely and go shopping without being frightened of being shot, blown up or our throats cut with a knife.
Our homes are being invaded. Our rights are being invaded. Our culture is being invaded.
Our liberties are being invaded. Our judicial system is being invaded.
Our history is being destroyed and our language is being stolen. If you want to know who the stolen generation is in 2024, it is the many generations of Australians who have fought and slogged their guts out to create an Australia for which many of us were very proud. Stolen, yes, stolen, by our Government of whichever side is in power at the time.
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- Written by: Op-Ed Happy Expat
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Real history is no longer part of the school curriculum. It should be because we have much to learn from it. The adage that it keeps repeating itself is a salutary lesson in common sense.
Most Australians would not know that the reason that the US Marine Corps was formed was specifically to fight Islam. A nearly 240 year history of the fight against Islam is sadly, largely forgotten.
At the height of the 18th century, Muslim pirates (the “Barbary Pirates”) were the terror of the Mediterranean and a large area of the North Atlantic. They attacked every ship in sight, and held the crews for exorbitant ransoms. Those taken hostage were enslaved and subjected to barbaric treatment. They wrote heart-breaking letters home, begging their governments and families to pay whatever their Mohammedan captors demanded.
These extortionists of the high seas represented the North African Islamic nations of Tripoli, Tunis, Morocco, and Algiers – collectively referred to as the Barbary Coast – and presented a dangerous and unprovoked threat to the new American Republic.
When Thomas Jefferson saw there was no negotiating with Muslims, he formed what is now the Marines (soldiers stationed on ships).
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In a universe where we’ve long pondered the answer to life, the universe, and everything, what if the solution wasn’t the well-known 42 but its lesser, shadowed counterpart .... 41? Curiosity may kill the cat but my word, don't we need it? Just a little bit of " I wonder... "
I will leave the cats for another day. But so many of us know the story of 42 and how that number apparently was the solution to all of our problems.
We have the UN and the WHO and MSM all trying to sell us 42. The Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything. Rip down bushland, destroy habitats, kill koalas .. all to achieve 42.
Yes, Douglas Adams had a few mice announce that the Answer to Life the universe and everything was 42. But what if the mice were wrong?
One digit away, yet a world apart in meaning.
The idea of 41 really forces us to confront the unsettling truth that we live in a world of "almosts", where resolution is forever just out of reach.
In this horrible modern world lies a real dilemma: a life defined not by completion but by continuous striving, imperfection, and the tension between what we seek and what we find. I don't find that bad.
In fact, the philosophy of 41 asks us to reconsider our expectations of a " Final Solution " ( heaven forbid ) and instead learn to live with the ongoing, ever-evolving nature of existence itself.
Read more: The Philosophy of 41: Embracing the Incomplete, the Unexpected and the Almost....
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