[...] Iran now faces a quandary. They long for a return to the American leadership of something which is closer to the Obama/Kerry style of appeasement, which afforded Iran billions of dollars that they used to foment terrorism and proxy wars. Iranian citizens didn’t see a dime of this money used to improve their daily lives, but instead felt the brunt of harsh sanctions implemented by the U.S as soon as President Trump was elected.

[...] The best feature of this Government is its sheer incompetence. That is the single attribute that has stopped Labour sinking this country because its people are too disorganised to do it. That is why they are yet to ruin the free-market’s most effective tool for quitting smoking we have ever seen.

If nothing else, it’s certainly been a year of living in interesting times, here in Australia. High-profile court cases, election surprises and natural disasters aplenty: we had it all. Even worse, we suffered the unspeakable ignominy of being outdone by the sheep-botherers at the rugby and cricket world cups. I dimly recall some minor sporting contretemps called the “Bledisloe Cup” or something, but that’s probably not important.

[...] The number of people receiving some form of the Jobseeker or Increased Support benefit has skyrocketed under this Government’s watch. It is possible to receive these benefits up to a low threshold of employment income. Those on the Jobseeker benefit increased 10.1% from September 2018 to September 2019.

[...] Almost exactly as Clarke foresaw, a new army of citizen journalists, armed, as journalist “TimCast” Poole says, with just a bus ticket, a backpack and a camera phone, are the new wave of media.

[...] It was at this point that a responsible media organisation should have held up its hands and said “Woah! This positively reeks of multiple personal and political agendas! Thanks, but no thanks.” What was it, then, that persuaded The Spinoff to take up “Sarah’s” story and run with it?

[...] I think Bridges has been remarkably charitable by replying to Latta. Now Nigel can reassure himself that he matters. The return tweet, like Nigel’s, is run of the mill, fluff and polyester teddy filling written by an unpaid intern dreaming of the time they’ll be thrown under the emotional bus by the next politician who speaks faster than they think.

[...] The Chernobyl disaster occurred in 1986. Russian-American novelist Ayn Rand defected to the United States in 1926 and died in New York in 1982. Everything she ever wrote was to instruct people about the evils of communism - in particular, its central tenet of collectivism versus individualism, which Rand considered to be “morally evil” because everywhere this was practised always resulted in the complete disregard for individual human life and flourishing. Collectivism, according to Rand, also created a society devoid of individual accountability; an incompetent society without proper justice.

[...] Like its one-time Gondwanan cousin, Tasmania also has glow-worm caves, at Marakoopa, but those are a pale shadow of the magnificence of Waitomo.

WHOOH BOY! What a day for the Right! Not so much Game of Thrones’ “Red Wedding” (although there certainly was a lot of blood) but the day when Labour’s “Red Wall” fell beneath the blows of a battering-ram called Boris. Unquestionably, this is Boris Johnson’s...