Australian identity is not a fixed point in the heavens.
but a speeding comet that blazes brightly and flies around
the night sky.

There was a time when to be Australian was to be English,
only sunburnt. There was a time when to be Australian was
to be a dangerous criminal. It's
amazing that today barely anyone remembers what life was like
back then.

The national identity has changed in our own lifetime.
Australia is a process of revelation of unveiling to ourselves
and the world the surprising facts about ourselves that
nobody knew.

There's never been a more exciting time to be Australian ...
than right now.

Hi Yuyutsu,

"Now if the Biblical account is correct, then Jesus was convicted of something he did not do (allegedly claiming to be the king of the Jews)"
BTW 'The Mob' didn't think Al Capone was a criminals.

The Biblical account is biased, written by Christs supporters. hardly proof of innocence. The law of the land was Pontius Pilate, and he did give Christ a hearing, as applicable to the times, and on the evidence Pilate found Christ guilty of a crime that warranted crucifixion. Obviously Christ was a serious transgressor, they nailed him up on a cross until he was dead, can't get more serious than that. P/S Pilate could have given Jesus a fine of say one denari with 30 days to pay, but no, it was more serious than that, so crucifixion's it was. And as we know the Romans were a caring libertarian lot, they really didn't like crucifying people, they much preferred probation as a form of punishment to crucifixion. but when ya gotta hang, ya gotta hang!

Dear Banjo,

Time for the bad guys?

Trump's fondness for Putin makes any "deal" dangerous
for Europe and the NATO alliance. It would be naive
to think that things would go well for Kyiv.

Also Trump's admiration for strong leaders like the
North Korean is also concerning. Then there's China
circling in our region.

As I wrote earlier Trump is unpredictable and what
he'll do next nobody knows. The allies of the US
must ready themselves to deal with all of these
issues. According to CNN and other US sources - the
allies should possibly try a different focus, means,
and priorities.

It's going to be a bumpy ride.
Nothing can be taken for granted.
We don't know Trump's foreign policy.

Dear Foxy,

«The national identity has changed in our own lifetime.»

Identities can never change:
Can you imagine that yesterday it was 2+2=3 and tomorrow it will be 2+2=5?

---

Dear Paul,

«The Biblical account is biased, written by Christs supporters.»

Fair enough, but in that case we cannot even tell whether Jesus Christ ever existed, let alone convicted.

I wonder whether you understand the word 'if':

IF the Biblical account is correct, THEN Jesus was convicted of something he did not do.

Hi Yuyutsu,

I accept the evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ, but his true story may well have been embellished by those who came after, particularly Saul Of Tarus (St Paul). Christ was more than likely a dissident Jewish Pharisee during the Second Temple period. A fundamentalist Jew, like his brother James (later assassinated), Christ was demanding strict adherence to Jewish law and custom. He could not have possibly avoided the political intrigue of the time, and would have been very much Anti-Rome, which concerned both the established Jewish order led by the High Priest Caiaphas and the client king Herod Antipas, plus the Romans themselves. Roman concern grew to the point where the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate found it necessary to act against the Jewish dissidents (not for the first time). The fact Pilate found it necessary to "interview" Christ before executing him, shows that he was of some standing within the Jewish community, and seen as a danger to Roman authority.

Dear Paul,

Speaking historically, nothing in the Bible can be trusted, so your guess of what happened is as good as mine. You choose to accept the "evidence" that Jesus Christ existed while others do not, everything is possible.

My own speculation is:

1) Jesus Christ existed.
2) He was a true spiritual master, who knew God intimately.
3) He didn't personally care about Judaism, yet he had to work with difficult Judean students who were brainwashed by the Rabbis and in order to retain them and have them listen to him, he had to walk on eggshells and tell them that he is not asking them to break Jewish law.
4) He had no ambition to be "King of the Jews" or a Messiah, nor resented the Romans and their ruler ("Give unto Caesar what is his"), yet he could not tell so plainly to his students, who like most Judeans of the time hated the Romans, and fantasised him to be the Messiah, so he just answered them with "You said it".
5) The Pharisees hated Jesus and wanted him dead because he ruined their business by overturning the trading tables at the temple's entrance, chasing away the merchants, who were allowed to be there because they paid a portion of their profits to the Pharisee leaders.
6) Pontius had nothing against Jesus and understood well that Jesus was never a threat to Rome, but he needed to keep the peace in his province and appease the Judean leaders who wanted Jesus dead.
7) Jesus did not defend himself because that would have encouraged his students to interpret his message materialistically and thus miss all his spiritual teachings. He went to the cross happily so that those who had eyes to see will understand his true message correctly.

(please note that I use the term "Judean" since Jews as we know them today did not yet exist at the time and for about another 800 years after)