Animal Farm By George Orwell – Chapter 1

                    (Chapter-1 from the Project Gutenberg Australia on 8 March 2008.)

Mr. Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes. With the ring of light from his lantern dancing from side to side, he lurched across the yard, kicked off his boots at the back door, drew himself a last glass of beer from the barrel in the scullery, and made his way up to bed, where Mrs. Jones was already snoring.

As soon as the light in the bedroom went out there was a stirring and a fluttering all through the farm buildings. Word had gone round during the day that old Major, the prize Middle White boar, had had a strange dream on the previous night and wished to communicate it to the other animals.

It had been agreed that they should all meet in the big barn as soon as Mr. Jones was safely out of the way. Old Major (so he was always called, though the name under which he had been exhibited was Willingdon Beauty) was so highly regarded on the farm that everyone was quite ready to lose an hour's sleep in order to hear what he had to say.

At one end of the big barn, on a sort of raised platform, Major was already ensconced on his bed of straw, under a lantern which hung from a beam. He was twelve years old and had lately grown rather stout, but he was still a majestic-looking pig, with a wise and benevolent appearance in spite of the fact that his tushes had never been cut.

Socialists Bringing ISIS Wives and Children Home

                   (Staff article from the ABC NEWS Australia on 28 October 2022.)

Will they be allowed to bring their AK-47s.

The first group of Australian women and children held in a detention camp in north-east Syria since the fall of the Islamic State (IS) group in 2019 is en route to Sydney. It is likely to be the first step in repatriating the entire cohort of Australian citizens detained in the war-torn country.

France last week removed 40 women and 15 children from the camps, joining more than 25 countries that had repatriated their citizens since the fall of the IS in early 2019.

The Australian government, which was involved in the extraction, confirmed the group's return. Those removed were assessed by Australian officials as being the most vulnerable of the 60 Australian women and children held in Roj.

The Darién Gap: A deadly extension of US border

                (Belen Fernandez’s article from The ALAZEERA on 27 October 2022.)

The Darién Gap: A deadly extension of the US border. As the US maniacally fortifies its borders, that sociopathic policy plays out over migrant bodies a thousand miles away.

This year, a record number of United States-bound migrants and refugees have risked their lives to cross the Darién Gap, the 66-mile mountainous stretch of spectacularly inhospitable jungle between Colombia and Panama.

According to Panama’s National Migration Service, more than 151,000 people, including at least 21,000 minors, made the crossing between January and September.

Sanctioned Tycoon Tay Za Hiding in Singapore

           (Bloomberg article from the BANGKOK POST on 18 October 2022.)

Sanctioned Myanmar tycoons find shelter in Singapore: Frangipani plants and coconut trees front the three-story villa on Sentosa Island where Myanmar tycoon Tay Za stays when he’s in Singapore.

It’s one of two houses his family owns in a development overlooking the South China Sea known as a playground for the wealthy. A short drive away is the Marina Bay Sands casino, where he would often show up carrying a duffel bag stuffed with cash. On a sunny day in June, a yellow Ferrari F8 Spider and a Mercedes were parked outside one of the villas.

Singapore has long been a haven for sanctioned Myanmar businessmen, including Tay Za, who has been accused by the US and others of supplying arms and equipment to the military. He has maintained the right to live and work in Singapore despite sanctions first imposed by the US in 2007 and has incorporated about 10 companies there with operations in palm oil, teak and aviation.