On Trump: I think that, about ten years ago, something went wrong, world-wide. The GFC occurred and this sudden change in how much money existed in the general flow of life caused repercussions across the globe. The Arab Spring arose around distribution of what money was left available (no one talks about that Arab Spring anymore) and wars were fought, here and there, but mostly there, over that. Then came refugees from those wars. At the same time, there was a shift from nation-states to large cities in terms of available money conduits. So, the major cities grew more powerful and the rural parts of countries became less able to manage. I was living in Bangkok back then and noticed the remarkable shift of wealth and hope from the country itself to the major city. It was easy to see in Thailand because there is only one major city, really, where all is invested and all is most certainly used up. The problems in the UK were not really about foreign refugees etc, or European immigrants, but rather the decrease in money available across the general public areas. Thus Brexit happened. In the USA the result was Trump. In all these upsetting scenarios the root cause was simply some bad decisions made world wide in the early 2000s, and, unfortunately, bad decisions on such a grand scale do lead to uncertainties and the rise of a kind of ‘primal over the cerebral’. I don’t think that people world-wide are any more or less racist or separatist or protectionist naturally, but they simply can’t find anyone else to blame…and nothing has been explained. The problem is that because of the impact of the GFC, no ready answers will be available for another ten years at least. These big adjustments always take at least 20 years... and no one is going to like this.

People note that the world would have been a better place if Hitler had been assassinated...but when you look at the Regime, there in the background ever-ready to take over was the even more evil, and not mad at all, H Himmler. Well worth considering when folk are thinking of a better world with Trump gone...all charismatic folk, whether good or bad, create a large shadow behind them and in those shadows strange characters lurk about. Fortunately Australia doesn't have any charismatic folk in any of the political parties. They are just all shadowy little men and women.

LIFE: Recent Highlights: 1: The Specific: The sneeze. Ever had a mouthful of hot coffee and at the same time sneezed whilst sitting in front of a large iMac computer display? 2: The General: The house. This Melbourne house is lovely although horrifically expensive to rent for the year. Rather than complain about this fact, we are just enjoying the place. The largeness of the rooms and the yards are just great. There is 'living space' or as Hitler would call it 'lebensraum?' I can imagine Hitler setting up the easel on the back verandah and painting a nice picture of the neighbour's house. He wasn't bad at landscapes and townscapes, just not very good at painting people. May well have changed his career trajectory if he'd had a nice backyard and stuck to what he did best.

People often just glance at news about North Korea, the DPRK, thinking that sometime soon the Regime will fall...but this is a very strong and supple regime....and savvy in the ways of the world, for sure, and no one disagrees that this is the 'worst human government on earth'...because it is...well, next to Saudi Arabia...and the Emirates...but they are our friends anyway...and the Emirates makes very nice aeroplane food...but North Korea is remarkably resilient and will survive many US Presidents and UK Prime Ministers, as it has done already...and it sits in the dead centre of the only region on Earth that could bring about a war that involves us all. The whole world 'power tectonics' are right there. The Middle East doesn't matter in this context...Syria, Israel, Iran, whatever...have wars, don't have wars, exist, don't exist, no one cares...they just don't mean enough anymore. The world HAS changed. North Asia is where it is all happening day by day.

Tianshu, who has just given up smoking, just walked through the writing room en route to the veranda. I noted to her that "Passive Smoking is Theft".

Favourite TV show for the last few years has been If You Are The One. You can see it on SBS ON Demand in Australia. It's great!

Kim Jong Nam reported dead in Malaysia

It is still impossible to get accurate information regarding the death at KLIA for a number of reasons, not only to do with the apparent notoriety of the deceased but also due to the way news operates in Malaysia.
If the death was that of Kim Jong Nam, this is significant as it has an impact on the Family echelon of DPRK.
If he was murdered in the way suggested, then this adds an extra dimension.
The Kims, as a family, do suffer from a range of cardio-vascular issues and if Kim Jong Nam died from a heart attack, then this could be expected by genetics and lifestyle; but if murdered, by whom, and why now?
Nam was a high rolling gambler in Macau with understandable links to mainland gambling/criminal Triads, but poisoning him at an international airport in the manner described, with needles and some face spray (?) does seem an odd and unpredictable way of punishment for not paying back money. That doesn't sound 'kosher'.
Murdered by NK agents? Possibly.
Murdered by SK agents? Unlikely. The SK authorities are in too much of a meltdown with the machinations of their troubled PM to be making much trouble elsewhere.
As I noted, Malaysia, especially the PMs office, has no history of actually ever defining the truth in its media releases anyway.
Taking into account this range of factors, I think the mostly cause of death was 'sudden cardiac death' related to lifestyle and genetic predisposition.