Billionaire's wedding a marriage of exhibitionism and excess
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say. You look at the positives and negatives of Bezos' nuptials. Jeff Bezos apparently pays a 1.1 per cent tax currently, substantially lower than the average American pays, which is likely to decrease further once the Trump bill passes through the US Congress and Senate. Having said that, Bezos has contributed to the Venice economy in the past few days in a way they could only dream of. But he can't beat Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's son's wedding last year - apparently Ambani spent over $US$1.1 billion, which supported the local economy in India, and he also invited the world's who's who, including Tony Blair and many other influencers. In both cases, it's their own wealth they are spending or showing off, though it might look vulgar and obscene to an average punter in the street. That's life, as Derryn Hinch used to say. Mukul Desai, Hunters Hill
Jacqueline Maley sums up glaring divide between the so-called rich, famous and powerful and a society desperately struggling to survive. The excess and blatant display of wealth and self-importance is all about those who telegraph to the world that despite global uncertainty, exhibitionism is of greater importance. For those of us whose love brought them to a wedding ceremony in a time and place very different to that of today, the simplicity of the occasion is something to be cherished. While we wish the newlywed couple well for their future happiness, our hope is that they retain an everlasting love that transcends the extravagance. Allan Gibson, Cherrybrook
According to the long-held view 'the more expensive the wedding, the quicker the divorce', this marriage will be very short indeed. Heather Johnson, West Pennant Hills
Creepy AI friends
It is concerning that many young children and teenagers (or adults, for that matter) have no human confidant and must rely on an AI chatbot for interaction (' Her best friend wasn't real, but they still spoke every day ', June 29). 'Invisible friends' and diaries have always provided a safe haven for thoughts and creative play, but AI bots deliver a menacing undertow where control is limited and information flow is indeterminate. Many of our children and the vulnerable are at risk, and safeguards need to be calculated to allow safe interaction both in the 'now' and the future use of personal and confidential information. Janice Creenaune, Austinmer
Shut up and shop
I sympathise with Thomas Mitchell's aversion to insincere retail bonhomie (' Does the customer want to chat? Since you asked, no ', June 29). But far worse than shop assistants who chattily probe the details of one's social calendar is the irritation of having a fellow shopper insist on amiably blathering on to said assistant, with both of them oblivious to the growing queue. Maybe the 'dreaded manager' lurking somewhere offstage could 'offer feedback' to the assistant that those of us who just want to get in and get out as quickly and efficiently as possible would appreciate a timely acknowledgement of our existence as a polite nudge to the bottlenecker to keep it moving. Adrian Connelly, Springwood
Degrees of toxicity
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Australia needs a new China strategy: America's promised pivot to Asia is unlikely
The ceasefire between Israel and Iran, should it last, is a resoundingly positive development. But regional peace in its current form, after Israeli offensives in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran, cannot be sustained in the long run without continuous American involvement. This has serious implications for America's longstanding commitment to disentangle itself from Middle Eastern affairs and shift focus firmly to the Pacific and its only peer superpower competitor: China. Successive Australian governments have staked their plans to navigate the growing superpower rivalry in our region upon promises of an American laser-focus on the Pacific that is unlikely to ever truly materialise. Just as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese prepares to meet President Xi Jinping in China this month, the ongoing role of the US in reshaping the balance of power in the Middle East in Israel's favour should have leaders and policymakers here questioning the viability of an American 'Pivot to Asia' that never arrives. For Australians, the stakes couldn't be higher. The pivot was first announced in November 2011, when then US president Barack Obama addressed the Australian Parliament. In response to the disastrous Bush-era campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama declared: 'After a decade in which we fought two wars that cost us dearly, in blood and treasure, the United States is turning our attention to the vast potential of the Asia-Pacific region.' Loading Obama promised to refocus the US-Australia partnership around maintaining a strategic balance as China's power expanded, while emphasising peaceful and co-operative relations in areas of mutual benefit, such as trade, diplomacy, climate and non-proliferation. Australia has doggedly upheld its end of the bargain, providing bases for American forces, joining new US-centred alliances and security pacts, such as the Quad and AUKUS, and signing onto exorbitant arms-procurement programs. But in the 14 years since a US president addressed our parliament, precious little of America's own commitments to the pivot have come to pass. The economic arm of the pivot was strangled in the cradle when President Trump formally abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership on the first day of his presidency in 2016. American commitment to diplomacy, multilateral institutionalism and regional trust-building have followed a similar trajectory. But the Trump administration retained a supposedly iron-clad commitment to abandon the neoconservative model of foreign interventions and begin to focus squarely on the challenges posed by a rising China. Trump's consistent stated opposition to these wars was one of the most popular ingredients in his early political success. Arguably the most critical moment in Trump's nascent election campaign occurred a week before the 2016 South Carolina Primary, when he decried the Iraq War as a 'big fat mistake' and called out the Republican establishment for lying about weapons of mass destruction. Trump went on to win South Carolina, and Jeb Bush, once the frontrunner, abandoned his campaign.
The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
Australia needs a new China strategy: America's promised pivot to Asia is unlikely
The ceasefire between Israel and Iran, should it last, is a resoundingly positive development. But regional peace in its current form, after Israeli offensives in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran, cannot be sustained in the long run without continuous American involvement. This has serious implications for America's longstanding commitment to disentangle itself from Middle Eastern affairs and shift focus firmly to the Pacific and its only peer superpower competitor: China. Successive Australian governments have staked their plans to navigate the growing superpower rivalry in our region upon promises of an American laser-focus on the Pacific that is unlikely to ever truly materialise. Just as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese prepares to meet President Xi Jinping in China this month, the ongoing role of the US in reshaping the balance of power in the Middle East in Israel's favour should have leaders and policymakers here questioning the viability of an American 'Pivot to Asia' that never arrives. For Australians, the stakes couldn't be higher. The pivot was first announced in November 2011, when then US president Barack Obama addressed the Australian Parliament. In response to the disastrous Bush-era campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama declared: 'After a decade in which we fought two wars that cost us dearly, in blood and treasure, the United States is turning our attention to the vast potential of the Asia-Pacific region.' Loading Obama promised to refocus the US-Australia partnership around maintaining a strategic balance as China's power expanded, while emphasising peaceful and co-operative relations in areas of mutual benefit, such as trade, diplomacy, climate and non-proliferation. Australia has doggedly upheld its end of the bargain, providing bases for American forces, joining new US-centred alliances and security pacts, such as the Quad and AUKUS, and signing onto exorbitant arms-procurement programs. But in the 14 years since a US president addressed our parliament, precious little of America's own commitments to the pivot have come to pass. The economic arm of the pivot was strangled in the cradle when President Trump formally abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership on the first day of his presidency in 2016. American commitment to diplomacy, multilateral institutionalism and regional trust-building have followed a similar trajectory. But the Trump administration retained a supposedly iron-clad commitment to abandon the neoconservative model of foreign interventions and begin to focus squarely on the challenges posed by a rising China. Trump's consistent stated opposition to these wars was one of the most popular ingredients in his early political success. Arguably the most critical moment in Trump's nascent election campaign occurred a week before the 2016 South Carolina Primary, when he decried the Iraq War as a 'big fat mistake' and called out the Republican establishment for lying about weapons of mass destruction. Trump went on to win South Carolina, and Jeb Bush, once the frontrunner, abandoned his campaign.
AU Financial Review
2 hours ago
- AU Financial Review
Does Ultra Violette's sunscreen have an SPF of 61.7 or 4?
The laboratory used by Ultra Violette to support the claims made by its popular sunscreen has endorsed a hair-growth product spruiking 100 per cent success, and been accused by an American consumer advocacy organisation of selling a desired result to consumer brands making scientific claims. Princeton Consumer Research has no affiliation with the Ivy League university, and advertises that it can 'provide the appropriate clinical efficacy trials to make your claims a fact by proving their legitimacy'.
