This headline says it all…Handy Randy Disgraced Prince Andrew has become the Queen's 'rock' during Megxit, royal insiders have revealed. 
This is embarrassing. Shame on the UK Sun and the Royal Family for using the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as an opportunity to shed some positive media coverage around Prince Andrew.

Prince Andrew knowingly associated with a convicted pedophile. He expressed no remorse for this association nor did he offer any sympathy to the victims. AND, the Prince is allegedly accused of having sex with an underage girl three times. Now, I have to ask… why on earth are we reading sympathetic newspaper coverage for this man?

Here’s a couple of my favourite lines from The Sun's article on January 19th; I’ve underlined the backhanded slaps that executive editor Dan Wooten has managed to slide in at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s expense. 

• The Duke is said to have been a “tower of strength” behind the scenes in the last two weeks and has been supporting his parents in their hour of need. 
• Such an interesting choice of phrasing, “in their hour of need.” I’d like to know…how the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announcement that, “they intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen,” would be considered more detrimental to the monarchy than Prince Andrew being implicated in underage human trafficking?!
• If he (Prince Andrew) hadn’t made such a dreadful mistake, he would now be a leading senior royal helping the Queen and stepping into many of the causes and patronages that Harry and Meghan will probably abandon.“But as things stand, he can only take a backseat role.”
• Interesting…"will probably abandon," now that’s a backhand at Harry and Meghan if I ever read one. It’s a good thing Prince Andrew is SOOOO helpful and, I would say his association with a pedophile is more than a 'dreadful mistake.' Come on?!

The ONLY information I want to read about Prince Andrew is that he is cooperating with the FBI in their investigation. I don’t care that Prince Andrew attends church with his mother. I don’t care that he’s “immensely loyal.” I don’t care that he’s a “team player" because he was in Navy. This is embarrassing.

​Can someone please explain to me how Prince Harry and Meghan Markle asking for independence and privacy is more scandalous than Prince Andrew associating with a pedophile? It's a good thing the British media insists that their coverage of the Sussexes has been fair. ​

Australian Bush Fires are the Priority​ 
I wanted to kick the new year off with a 'positive' post because I love the start of a new year. To me, it's a fresh start and an opportunity to get it together. So on January 1, I always write down my goals for the upcoming year because I believe if they are written down they are more likely to happen. I will confess, many of the goals are the same...healthy mind and healthy body. But, some are new such as publish a travel article and I find this is exciting.

But before I sat down to compose a resolution post, I just happened to make a little detour to Facebook because I wanted to send my cousin birthday greetings. Of course, I was easily diverted to my friends posts and one in particular grabbed my attention. When I was in India, I had the pleasure of meeting a fantastic women from Australia and her post broke my heart.

I have been losing sleep (seriously) over the wildfires that are currently blazing in Australia. Any time there is a fire, my thoughts rest with all who are impacted--this includes the animals. Especially the animals. This is why her post hit me so hard. She posted about the impact on the animals and how many are so burned they cannot be saved. One of her friends commented about people who had returned to homes beside the national parks and they can hear the cries of the injured animals from inside the park. I can't even write about the animals crying without bursting into tears. The suffering is unimaginable.

The Damage is Far From Over 
Summer is just beginning in Australia and here's the damage thus far:

• About 2,700 firefighters were battling the blazes as of Sunday, Jan. 5
• Three have been killed.
• The Australia Defense Force said Sunday it had called 3,000 army reserve forces and others with specialist capabilities to help fight the flames.
• There were about 136 fires burning across New South Wales (NWS) today.
• Of those, 69 are not contained, the NSW Rural Fire Service said Monday.
• Officials say 24 people have died nationwide this fire season.
• About 480 million animals have died across NSW, professor Chris Dickman with the University of Sydney, estimates. "The true mortality is likely to be substantially higher than those estimated," the university said in a statement.
• Almost a third of koalas in NSW may have been killed in the fires, and a third of their habitat has been destroyed, said Federal Environment Minister Susan Ley.
• In December, the smoke in Sydney was so bad that air quality measured 11 times the "hazardous" level.
• ​In total, more than 14.7 million acres have been burned across the country's six states. That's larger than the countries of Belgium and Haiti combined.
• There have been more than 1,300 houses destroyed and 8.9 million acres scorched.

I know there are many who do not believe in global warming and protecting the environment is more often than not sacrificed in favour of economic progress, although I respect the difference of opinion I cannot understand it. And, I have to ask...How much longer can we continue to ignore our planet? That said, I will be hopeful that as 2020 kicks off we humans will finally get our act together.