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Monthly Archives: October 2022

Lost pipeline, lost lifeline

So the Nordstream pipelines were sabotaged. One of them, Nordstream 2, was pretty much brand-new, and was built with Russian and European money to take gas from Russia to Germany via the bed of the Baltic Sea, without having to pay transit fees to Ukraine. Nordstream 2 followed Nordstream 1, which was already providing Europe – especially Germany – with immense volumes of cheap gas and thereby underwriting European industrial production, energy security and prosperity. America hated Nordstream 2 from the start and tried hard to stop it happening. It argued that Europe was making itself…

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Read more about the article Some photos of old Hunter Region hotels
Ralph Snowball photo of the Grand Hotel in Bolton Street, Newcastle. During my time as a journalist this was a popular spot for stop-work meetings in times of industrial strife.

Some photos of old Hunter Region hotels

In times gone by hotels were often among the grandest buildings in many Australian towns. Not surprising, since they generally made their owners a decent income, and a substantial investment in good quality food, drink and accommodation facilities could pay a handsome dividend. Hotels were meeting places for locals, resting places for visitors, temporary offices and display rooms for travelling salesmen ("commercial travellers" as these were known) and centres for important public events and private functions. As a result, hotels often feature in old postcards and collections of photographs, which makes them an interesting and useful…

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Read more about the article We aren’t helpless

We aren’t helpless

Love is the only way out, I said. Which sounds so wishy-washy and feelgood and motherhood that, unless you think about it, it doesn’t necessarily mean anything. So here’s what it means. We can take as a given that we live in a world ruled by greed. Greed has flowered into a vast monstrosity in our lifetimes. It has created a system in its own image – an empire of money and power that is so all-pervasive it seems as if it can’t be beaten. It is beyond huge. It appears to own everything. It appears…

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