FEAST OR FAMINE

 

  Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth (2019) is the best-seller book on the oil and gas industry from about 1969 to 2019.   This book is not comprehensive in its aim, stating that, instead, it shines a light on ‘landmarks’ of the ‘whole slimy slick that the oil and gas industry has left behind it all over the world.’   Maddow exposes, in snippets, the lucrative, but corrupt, industry that not only fuels Earth, but does so while fueling greed and environmental destruction.   She writes, pessimistically, of the environmental impacts of the fracking process – ‘Can [shale gas] be produced safely, while protecting water supplies and the environment?’    She writes, scathingly, about the growing wealth of, predominantly, Russian and American individuals and companies – and what they will do to get it, secrete it, buy with it, and oftentimes flaunt it. The big names are global politicians and busine...

  From 3 July to 6 November 2022, the Cartier Foundation in Paris is exhibiting 31 paintings of  Kaiadilt  artist  Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda – Sally Gabori. First Nations artist Sally Gabori (1924-2015) was born on Bentinck Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria in Australia. Her name incorporates the place of her birth – Mirdidingki – a small creek in the south of the island – and her totem animal Juwarnda, which is a dolphin. She lived on Mornington Island from 1948 after a cyclone flooded her land. She returned to Bentinck Island in the 1990s after Australia passed legislation which recognized the rights of the Kaiadilt to their land after years of fighting for land rights.   She began painting in 2005 at the age of eighty. Most of her paintings are topographical references to her land.   Her strong, unique sense of colour catapulted her to worldwide acclaim in contemporary art. Her wide flourishing brushstrokes, intense colour, and palette combination make ...

International Tiger Day , or Global Tiger Day, is an annual event celebrated on 29 July. The day aims to raise awareness of the importance of tiger conservation.   International Tiger Day  was established in 2010 at the International Tiger Forum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. At the summit, the Global Tiger Recovery Program was adopted. The anniversary of its adoption was declared International Tiger Day.    Tigers are the largest cat species on Earth. Tigers were once widely spread, but the tiger is now an endangered species. Over the past century, tigers have lost more than 90% of their historic range. At the start of the 20th century, the global population of tigers in the wild was estimated at 100,000 individuals, while as few as 3,200 exist in the wild today.   This year, 2022, is the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese zodiac. The tiger is a symbol of strength and braveness.   I took these photos of the Amur Tiger at the Tbilisi Zoo in Georgia. MARTINA NIC...

  A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton (2007) is set in America from 1947 to 2007. It is Hillary Clinton’s life as a student, a human rights advocate, a legal professional, a democrat, and First Lady to President Bill Clinton (in office from 1991 to 2001).    The biography begins with Hillary Clinton’s parents and her childhood. It depicts her early leadership qualities and her strong advocacy beliefs during her Wellesley College and Yale Law School years, particularly in children’s rights. It details her relationship with Bill Clinton from the time they met at Yale. It discusses her response to Bill’s scandals and public reactions.   Journalist and author Carl Bernstein uses the media, letters, campaign records, and interviews to understand the trajectory of a complex woman in a deeply scrutinized relationship as a governor’s and a president’s wife. Despite the historical times and public pressures, Bernstein says she remains her own person with in...

  The Sundowners (1953) is set in rural Australia in the 1920s. In 1960,    the movie was released starring Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Chips Rafferty, and Peter Ustinov.   Paddy Carmody is an itinerant sheep shearer and drover, wandering from town to town to find work – he likes the newness of each town. He doesn’t care that the towns are not on any map. It seems to him that the whole countryside is his own backyard. ‘All he wanted was Ida and the boy, and to keep moving’ – and to keep pitching a tent when the sun goes down.   His wife Ida, and their 14-year old son, Sean, are tired of the nomadic life. At first it was different, exciting, but now they want to settle down. Make a home, make a life. Ida left England 30 years ago – the last place she called home. Ida and Sean strike up a friendship, and communicate through letters, with Mac, who owns a farm that they like. Of course, they can’t afford to buy it, but it’s nice to have a dream.   The work i...