
MANY of the media showed a photo of two men, one dressed in formal white, the other in casual black, and it wasn’t from some old Western even though both are warriors in their own way.
It was Pope Leo in his traditional white and Bob Dylan in black meeting at the Vatican. They serve as reminders that no matter how different people look they are similar under the hood, or in this case a hoodie.
We should all look for the things in common rather than at the differences.
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As requested
Karma is wonderful. United States President Donald Trump said Americans should vote as though he was on the ballot, and they did!
Will the Republicans learn the lesson and unshackle themselves from the Trumps?
Other country’s political parties should look at this with interest.
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Not just the odd uncle
A few “family” photos might be missing some familiar faces. The G20 photo was a no-goer when a number of leaders were not willing to stand alongside a Russian representative. It is hardly surprising given the Ukraine war they started.
Another family photo missing a few faces would be the British royal family Christmas meeting where Meghan and Harry probably won’t be invited and Andrew will be warned off completely.
These are the times when we should recognize that being a boring family, clear of any political power or influence, makes for happy family photos and uneventful afternoon naps after a big Christmas meal.
There are a few families Santa won’t be visiting this year.
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Don’t bother
The suggestion of requiring people to use photo ID to prove their age, as is now being discussed in the United Kingdom, is a good idea. But will it work?
We in Australia have tried to keep U16s on the straight and narrow but the blighters have bypassed the restrictions by various methods that it’s best not to mention here.
Most people have no interest in the dubious material that can be found on line. It can be less of a matter of children coming into contact with bad influences but rather the ‘evil’ that looks to contact those children.
The recent trend of photo manipulation could also make it difficult given there is little difference in appearance from 15 to 16 and IDs can be created.
The better approach would be to remove the offending content but that would require the active support of the social media companies and their track record is very poor.
Maybe parents could make their children go outside without technology but that would be even more difficult./PN






