Putin's naked war of conquest will change the world more than the September 2001 terrorist attacks.

I disagree with the author on some specific points.

The attackers of September 2001 were not nihilists; they were religious fanatics. Religious fanatics are a terrible threat; Christianitists in the US are still trying to seize power and impose repressive and cruel tyranny.

Putting an end to al-Qa'ida in Afghanistan did not require any direct action by the US. The Taliban, then rulers of Afghanistan, were ready to make a deal to take care of it. If we had made that deal in August 2001, it might possibly have prevented the September 2001 attacks. A few months earlier and it probably would have done so.

*Roads ripped apart by NSW and Queensland floods … shouldn’t just be rebuilt but "rebuilt to withstand future disasters".*

Of course, they should be. But there is no known limit to how bad future disasters will become, if we keep emitting more greenhouse gases and making them worse. The first priority must be to put a cap on how bad future disasters will be, by bringing global heating to a halt.

Raif Badawi, champion in Salafi Arabia of secularism and separation of church and state, has been released from prison into the larger prison which is Salafi Arabia.

*China is squirming under pressure to condemn Russia. It can’t hold out forever.*

China's difficulty results from the fact that it is threatening to do the same thing to Taiwan.

Tennessee Republicans show their values by putting an ammunition store owner on the state education board. The store takes little precaution against selling bullets for massacres.

That's Republican family values for you.