David Neate

How MAGA's anti-empathy campaign upends Christian morality (RNS) — Throughout history, Christianity has been bent into strange shapes to suit someone’s need for power.

"The lies being told to discredit empathy are necessary for Trump because empathy and Christian faith discredit him. He represents...a view of the world that opposes everything Christianity teaches. He reminds us all the time. We should believe him." #PrayForAmerica religionnews.com/2026/02/12/h...

One of your best, surely!

A gut-wrenchingly sad story of a life jettisoned, and then millions of lives saved through the analytical use of #HeLa cells. I wonder how many people in the labs that use them know her name? Her photo should be on the wall on each one.

Should really have a photo from the Barossa Valley, rather than Port Jackson, on the slide. We used to sing the (first verse of) the Song of Australia at Bordertown Primary in the 1960s. But was it ever sung outside South Australia?

Chocolate lily (Dichopogon strictus) on roadside, Smythes Creek, Victoria AUS, November 2025.

In southern Australia, the roadside is often where herbaceous plants like lilies and orchids survive under the gum trees. By removing exotic grasses, judicious slashing and allowing the right plants to seed, I've now got a sward of chocolate lilies (pic) and some sun orchids outside our place.

Common names are a pain. Doesn't sound like this one though. If you have leaves and gumnuts available @deannicolle1.bsky.social would be able to identify it...

It's not a stringybark - they have grey (brown underneath) bark that can literally be pulled apart & made into string - like that on messmate.
Bark in ribbons like in your pic is found on the Vic/Tas bluegum (E. globulus).
[Paperbark are Melaleuca spp.]

All while President #Herzog is taking selfies with #Australian politicians. Looks like "social cohesion" has a different meaning in the West Bank, eh @albomp.bsky.social @senatorwong.bsky.social ?

We experienced the joy of #petrichor at home just this last Sunday, when a long dry spell, with the occasional day reaching 43°C, was broken by a day of gentle rain. A truly Australian scent, one of the environment's sweet relief after harsh conditions.

I think this is one for #FourCorners, @milliganreports.bsky.social . It's not good enough for media, including our beloved #ABC, to excoriate the incumbent government for inflationary pressure on consumers, when we know who's applying the tourniquet to buyers & employees alike - corporate Australia.

4. If a religious charity is not your thing, then I understand from posts on here that @wck.org is still working there, presumably without being blocked by Israel. And all power to them, especially since their workers (like Australia's Zomi Frankcom) have been killed by the IDF while delivering aid.

Middle East Crisis Please give today to help provide urgently needed medical support for innocent civilians displaced by this conflict.

3. No reply from the embassy re my query whether BWAA was similarly proscribed, but the latter told me that aid was getting to their sister aid group in #Gaza.
So, Mr Herzog, I'll be donating to Gaza via BWAA. /4
Middle East Crisis Appeal - Baptist World Aid Australia share.google/vxmTp98FCW4G...

2. A few weeks ago, I rang the #Israeli embassy in Canberra on the subject of their proscribing certain relief groups (notably #WorldVision and #msf) working in Gaza. We had a polite chat. I followed it up with an email, which I copied to our church aid agency, #Baptist World Aid Australia. /3

I'm "staying calm" about Pres. #Herzog 's visit to #Australia, though it's divisive, & immoral while Israeli attacks on villages in the #WestBank continue unabated. I will be calmly marking his visit by doing what I can - donating to relief works in Gaza. If others feel the same, pls do likewise. /2

What does the New Testament have to say about creation care?

Dr. Jonathan Moo joins us to explore how Scripture shapes the way Christians understand—and care for—God’s world.

Don't miss it! goodfaith.org/podcasts/dr-...

Screenshot of the ABC Classic site just now.

In amongst all the ugliness that life throws up, occasionally the sublime breaks in and just stops you with its beauty. A bit of Brahms Symphony No. 1 in C minor, from #ABC #Classic this evening.

Not the word I typed, but yes, effectively what it is
The irony is deeply, deeply sad.

I hope objections to this ongoing program against West Bank Palestinians will be raised by our leaders, @albomp.bsky.social & @senatorwong.bsky.social, when President #Herzog visits Australia next week. Looks like silence over the carnage in Gaza since the "ceasefire" only encourages this violence.

Thank you for this! Will have a good listen.

Apparently they are - I see another reply with proof. There you go - trivial knowledge, but good to know. 🪶

I watched on Saturday as a crimson rosella worked its way assiduously up the branch of our crabapple, removing the (unripe) fruit. Each fruit chipped away neatly to expose the seed, always held in the parrot's left claw.
Which got me wondering, are #birds naturally left- or right-clawed? 🪶

2. I didn't vote for #Labor. I've deep concerns re the govt's mixed messages on the environment. Yet I wonder how any of us would govern in a world where fascism is on the rise. Perhaps Patricia Karvelas can go, research & come back with some meaty analysis on that, not the PM's sports attendance.

This article sums up all that's missing from #ABC news "analysis". The awful attack on the crowd at Bondi demanded real research into what motivated the attackers. What we got instead was an ongoing campaign by ABC staffers inferring supposed wins & losses by the PM & hectoring for action. /2

So sorry to hear that loss, Dean.
I try to recall summers in my childhood in the Tatiara, & I remember heatwaves. But now, in Ballarat (!) it's sudden onset 40+ temps in the midst of mild warmth that stresses plants & dessicates fruit.
Hoping to come to your open day in March on our way to Adelaide.

The Bible reference should be "Luke 1: 46-55". It's the same error that is routinely done with time, rendering '7:30' as '7.30'.

This 26 January, we should question Australia’s subservience to a different empire: Trump’s America | Paul Daley What would it actually take for Australia to ditch Aukus, dispense with the little America cloak and rethink the alliance?

2. Britain is in dire need of some military help. So the USA offers a deal: some secondhand, obsolete warships for the UK in exchange for US access to British naval ports in Canada, the Caribbean & elsewhere.
Gosh Australia, what does that sound like?
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

YouTube video by The Rest Is History Would Britain Have Beaten an Invasion in 1940?

Interesting just how much history repeats. I was just listening to the #TheRestIsHistory podcast on the lead up to the Battle of Britain. At the point where the UK (& it's empire) is on its own, the USA comes through with a deal to help protect Britain.../2
youtu.be/NrDNFvUhFGk?...

To Senator Pauline Hanson: Pauline Hanson is a fraud.

Hey, check out this! getup.to/BELd3qfqCqkwf7

Though I’ve brokered many disappointments in the last ten years, none has been so acute as seeing roughly half my friends and extended family members exchanging the “compassionate conservatism” for which I used to vote... #FranklinGraham https://loom.ly/4kJRaJk

Jesus Christ and Donald Trump are incompatible – Baptist News Global Few things in life are absolute. However, one absolute truth is that Donald Trump and Jesus Christ are incompatible

"Jesus Christ had compassion for immigrants. Donald Trump practices cruelty toward immigrants."
baptistnews.com/article/jesu... #trump #ice #opinion