Open Thread – Wed 13 Dec 2023


The Triumph of Judas Maccabeus, Rubens, 1634–1636

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Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
December 13, 2023 12:37 am

hi

Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
December 13, 2023 12:38 am

Still no cyclone or 90km/h winds or even much rain.

Does the BOM employ imbeciles?

Crossie
Crossie
December 13, 2023 1:48 am

Rockdoctor
Dec 13, 2023 12:38 AM
Still no cyclone or 90km/h winds or even much rain.

Does the BOM employ imbeciles?

Yes. Some guy was being interviewed about it on Sky recently and he simply said that people, farmers in particular, should give BOM a miss and look for alternative forecasting sources of which there were many available. BOM has degenerated into the ABC territory where they are no longer fit for purpose.

Steve trickler
Steve trickler
December 13, 2023 1:55 am
John H.
John H.
December 13, 2023 2:17 am

Steve trickler
Dec 13, 2023 1:55 AM
Mintox! The pilot runs amok.

FRANCE’S RAFALE SOLO DISPLAY 2023 ZIGAIRMEET – 4K

Pretty country for an air show. Thanks. I wonder how the pilot feels after so many high G maneuvers.

Oh come on
Oh come on
December 13, 2023 2:39 am

General David Petraeus’ and Andrew Roberts book “Conflict” has a very informative chapter on the war in the Ukraine.

Seems that, in November 2022, it was discovered that Russia was buying fridges, dishwashers, electric breast pumps and wargame consoles, in order to cannibalize them for microchips for it’s arms industry,” a sure sign of desperation.” (Page 392.)

I can still afford Sorbent so I’ll stick with that

DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
December 13, 2023 3:59 am

Have I missed anything?

Tom
Tom
December 13, 2023 4:00 am
Tom
Tom
December 13, 2023 4:01 am
Tom
Tom
December 13, 2023 4:02 am
Tom
Tom
December 13, 2023 4:03 am
Tom
Tom
December 13, 2023 4:04 am
Tom
Tom
December 13, 2023 4:05 am
Tom
Tom
December 13, 2023 4:06 am
Tom
Tom
December 13, 2023 4:07 am
Tom
Tom
December 13, 2023 4:08 am
Tom
Tom
December 13, 2023 4:08 am
DrBeauGan
DrBeauGan
December 13, 2023 4:11 am

Thanks Tom.

rosie
rosie
December 13, 2023 4:12 am
rosie
rosie
December 13, 2023 4:52 am
feelthebern
feelthebern
December 13, 2023 5:46 am

So certain people, when their plagiarism is discovered, are allowed to go back and make the edits needed to credit the original authors.
It has nothing to do with their race, gender or being the top dog of Harvard.

The 20+ people that Harvard expelled last year for plagiarism are waiting for their phone call to do the same.

Tintarella di Luna
Tintarella di Luna
December 13, 2023 5:48 am

Thought for the day from George Bernanos:

The first sign of corruption in a society that is still alive is that the end justifies the means.

. And the signs are all around us.

Tintarella di Luna
Tintarella di Luna
December 13, 2023 5:53 am

And another:

Hope is despair overcome and a risk that must be run

. Life is a risky business.

Tintarella di Luna
Tintarella di Luna
December 13, 2023 5:56 am

Does the BOM employ imbeciles?

. No they’re liars. Nowadays children who tell lies go into meteorology as a profession, they’ve got all the necessary skills.

Petros
Petros
December 13, 2023 6:13 am

It’s hypocritical of Portugal, Spain, Italy and Malta to criticise Israel for kicking the Muslim Arabs out of their homeland.

calli
calli
December 13, 2023 6:36 am

During the operation to recover the bodies, Master Sgt. (res.) Gal Meir Eisenkot — the son of war cabinet minister Gadi Eisenkot — and Master Sgt. (res.) Eyal Meir Berkowitz were killed, and other soldiers were wounded.

Compare and contrast.

The Gazan civilian shot dead for daring to beg food from Hamas. The IDF murdered as they attempted to recover the Israeli dead.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
December 13, 2023 6:40 am

Good news!

Furious Al Gore Blasts COP28 “On Verge Of Complete Failure” (13 Dec)

The COP28 climate summit extended overtime on Tuesday as nations continue to disagree on wording about the use and production of fossil fuels, with former Western officials suggesting that the Dubai conference is on “the verge of complete failure”.

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore said that “COP28 is now on the verge of complete failure.”

“The world desperately needs to phase out fossil fuels as quickly as possible, but this obsequious draft reads as if OPEC dictated it word for word,” Gore added in an X post.

They’ll probably fudge something, but it’s pretty clear that the BRICS will keep on doing their own thing since they don’t believe in climate fairies, as will the MENA men who don’t have anything else to sell except fossil fuels, and the West will continue to slit its own throat.

calli
calli
December 13, 2023 6:49 am

I always read “Al” Gore as A I.

Nothing genuine about his intelligence, apart from trough seeking.

calli
calli
December 13, 2023 6:52 am

And…speaking of imbeciles…

Boo!

Mother Lode
Mother Lode
December 13, 2023 6:54 am

Furious Al Gore Blasts COP28 “On Verge Of Complete Failure” (13 Dec)

Fer cryin’ out loud…

The guy has made more money peddling his silly slideshow and acting as a guru on a nonsense theory (has he ever used scientific terminology other than degrees and years? ‘Cos I don’t think he knows any) than he ever would have taking Chinese money and lobbyist presents as President.

And for such shame! For every million he has squirreled away he will have impoverished the world by hundreds of millions thanks to the policies he champions. Imagine you were a thief who robbed people of $100 but that involved leaving them $10,000 worse off. Now do that to millions of people.

What a mega-turd!

Mother Lode
Mother Lode
December 13, 2023 6:57 am

I always read “Al” Gore as A I.

I think of him as Gor-Al from the planet Klepton, better known on Earth as Duperman- because he dupes everyone he meets.

Louis Litt
Louis Litt
December 13, 2023 6:59 am

Dot 12/12
Your comment re anti Catholicism.
Um no- what I want to know is was Besanko set up to deliver a guilt6 verdict against Robert’s smith.
The more I think about this is this the half way solution where the press save face and Robert’s smith does not go to jail.
I was wondering if Cohenite has heard something from the jungle drums.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
December 13, 2023 7:04 am

What this cyclone needs is value added outside broadcast reporting.

calli
calli
December 13, 2023 7:05 am

Jasper update. According to Seven* weatherperson, “this cyclone is changing its mind every half hour”.

We have a teenage cyclone on our hands, folks. Batten down.

😀

* watched on his laptop to protect our big screen from flying objects

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
December 13, 2023 7:07 am

Litt.
So why was it relevant to mention the judge’s religion?

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
December 13, 2023 7:12 am

I demand assurances from all here that they do not regard me as an anti-Catholic bigot.

Cassie of Sydney
December 13, 2023 7:14 am

How touching that Usman Khawaja will wear shoes daubed with the words ““Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal”. What’s prompted him is “Palestine”….of course…..because after the wholesale industrial slaughter, murder and rape of Jews on 7 October 2023, those dastardly and pesky Jews are fighting back and you just can’t have that!

I note that Khawaja or any of those sporting and artistic prima donnas have NOT daubed shirts or shoes with such words as “I stand with Jewish women” or “I condemn the invasion of 7 October” or “Return the Hostages” and so on. NO, NO, NO. Their moral condemnation is all highly selective but that should not surprise me because we live in such hypocritical times. Plus, given what Usman’s brother got up to you’d think that Usman would keep his ugly mouth shut.

Oh well, can’t have those damn Jews fighting back. Two points though, only two or three years ago, anyone who wrote on a placard “All Lives are Equal”, or stood with a banner with the words “All Lives are Equal” were smeared as racist. What’s happened? I just can’t keep up! Worth noting Usman the Hypocrite’s silence over the mass expulsion of MILLIONS of Afghani refugees from Pakistan. Don’t their lives matter? Oh, that’s right, only some Muslim lives are equal, the only Muslim lives that matter are when Jews are fighting them!

I’ve never liked Usman, just like I’ve never liked Ed Husic. And yes, it is because of their ghastly toxic evil religious ideology, I’ve long said and always thought that they are both wolves in sheep’s clothing, a comparison which is unfair to wolves and sheep. Yet again again I’ve been proven right. I wish I could be wrong, but I’m not.

Cassie of Sydney
December 13, 2023 7:21 am

A shout out to Old Ozzie. Please don’t be hurt by that utterly uncalled for and very vitriolic drivel posted yesterday. We like your comments and appreciate them. Please continue.

JC
JC
December 13, 2023 7:29 am

Nice little curve ball.

I’m sick of the sexism towards Brittany and her ballooning weight.

Since when has her massive weight gain been relevant to her lying.

Just because she’s packed on the kilos doesn’t mean she’s any less dishonest.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
December 13, 2023 7:32 am

JC at 7:29.
Where did that come from?

JC
JC
December 13, 2023 7:35 am
Bespoke
Bespoke
December 13, 2023 7:38 am

Snowball

Chuckle!

Black Ball
Black Ball
December 13, 2023 7:39 am

You can take the boy out of Pakistan…
Herald Sun:

Usman Khawaja took a stand in support of Palestinian people in Gaza at Australian training ahead of the first Test in Perth, and is poised to keep doing so during the match itself.

Khawaja sported shoes with the messages “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal” in the nets at Optus Stadium on Tuesday, two days out from the start of the Test against Pakistan.

The Pakistan-born Khawaja, a Muslim, has been outspoken on the Israel-Hamas war, posting on Instagram last week with an accompanying news report about the situation.

“Do people not care about innocent humans being killed? Or is it the colour of their skin that makes them less important? Or the religion they practice? These things should be irrelevant if you truly believe that ‘we are all equal’. #gaza #humanity #equality #alllivesmatter,” the veteran opener, who turns 37 next week, wrote.

The wording on Khawaja’s shoes was less specific than the “Save Gaza” and “Free Palestine” messages written on a wristband adorned by England all-rounder Moeen Ali in 2014.

The ICC reprimanded Moeen.

“The ICC equipment and clothing regulations do not permit the display of messages that relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes during an international match,” it said at the time.

“Moeen Ali was told by the match referee that whilst he is free to express his views on such causes away from the cricket field, he is not permitted to wear the wristbands on the field of play and warned not to wear the bands again during an international match.”

The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas has divided Australians, with rallies in support of both Israel and the Palestinians taking place in recent weeks.

Several Pakistan players posted pro-Palestinian messages during the recent World Cup, with Mohammad Rizwan dedicating his match-winning knock against Sri Lanka to the people of Gaza.

Rizwan was not sanctioned by the ICC as his statement did not come on the field of play or during a press conference but rather on social media.

Captain Alinta no doubt approves.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
December 13, 2023 7:43 am

Trying to count up the backhanders in that comment about Britnah.
Three, possibly four.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
December 13, 2023 7:43 am

It is morally wrong to blindly adhere to net zero – we must abandon it before it’s too late

At Cop28, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman was right to call out delusional Western leaders with their pie-in-the-sky nonsense

Allison Pearson

Well, I held out as long as I could against the abomination that is the chocolate Advent calendar.

What is wrong with the youngsters of today (Part 37) that they need a sweet treat to induce them to open one of the 24 windows in the countdown to Christmas?

I have fond memories of my younger sister and I fighting bitterly over whose turn it was to peel open the little cardboard flap before we left for school, revealing an angel, a shepherd or the baby Jesus in his manger.

Each picture was a tiny, fingernail-sized thrill that edged us ever closer to the big day.

Oh, yes, we could do deferred gratification back in the olden times, she harrumphed.

Then, this year, Himself brought a Quality Street Advent calendar home and my defence of Judeo-Christian tradition lasted, oooh, at least half an hour before I succumbed and opened window Number 1.

What a disappointment.

Instead of the traditional sparkly, jewel-coloured foil and cellophane, the Quality Street chocolate was wrapped in drab, matt paper.

I felt as deflated as an eight-year-old who thinks she’s getting a Barbie for Christmas and unwraps a scowling Greta Thunberg doll in a no-fun fleece.

When Quality Street posted about its new wrappers (made of vegetable-based wax), in celebration of Recycle Week, you could practically hear the national cry of dismay.

Cheryl Allen, Nestlé’s head of sustainability – yes, there is such a person – said, “Quality Street is a brand that people feel very strongly about.

We know that opening the lid and seeing ‘the jewels’ is really important.”

Yes, it is, Cheryl, so why have you decided to suck some of the joy out of Christmas by ditching the beloved foil coverings after 86 years?

“We think we’ve done a really good job with the redesign and feel confident that people will respond positively.”

No, Cheryl, you really haven’t. The eco-friendly wrappings are about as appetising as poo bags. Everyone will hate them and never buy Quality Street again.

It may seem a bit of a leap from Sustainability Cheryl to Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister, but please bear with me.

The prince caused quite a kerfuffle at Cop28, that gathering in Dubai of the great and the green, when he refused to agree to a “phasedown/phase-out out” of oil, which delegates were expected to agree on by yesterday.

(As I write, agreement still seems elusive. All 198 countries at the summit have to decide the final Cop28 deal and many are furious that the draft allowed countries to merely “consider reducing fossil fuel use”.)

Addressing the putative phase-out of oil, the prince said coolly, “I assure you not a single person – I’m talking about governments – believes in that.

I would like to put that challenge to all of those who… come out publicly saying we have to [phase down oil].

I’ll give you their name and number, call them and ask them how they are gonna do that.

If they believe that this is the highest moral ground issue, fantastic. Let them do that themselves. And we will see how much they can deliver.”

Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he?

Saudi’s vast wealth does rather depend on oil not being phased out.

Nonetheless, the prince’s defiant challenge to the Caroline Lucas, weave-your-own-hairshirt brigade was arresting, as was his attempt to call the industrialised West’s bluff on the practicalities of achieving net zero.

Even more embarrassing for the global green “consensus” was the actual president of Cop28, Sultan Al Jaber, when he responded curtly to Mary Robinson, the chair of the Elders group and a former UN special envoy for climate change.

“We’re in an absolute crisis that is hurting women and children more than anyone… and it’s because we have not yet committed to phasing out fossil fuel,” said Robinson. “That is the one decision that Cop28 can take and in many ways, because you’re head of ADNOC (United Arab Emirates’ state oil company), you could actually take it with more credibility.”

Al Jaber replied: “I’m not in any way signing up to any discussion that is alarmist.

There is no science out there that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C [limiting global warming to well below 2C].

Please help me,” the sultan continued, “show me the roadmap for a phase-out of fossil fuel that will allow for sustainable socio economic development, unless you want to take the world back into caves.”

Put that in your renewable wind turbine and don’t smoke it!

Al Jaber later softened his stance at a hastily arranged press conference. “I respect the science… I have repeatedly said that it is the science that has guided the principles or strategy as Cop28 president.”

Still, his earlier remarks were extremely revealing, a sign of determined pushback from those countries who know we will need fossil fuels to maintain a certain standard of living for the foreseeable future and, what’s more, are increasingly prepared to say so.

Plus, if Al Jaber is causing Al Gore to have a meltdown on Twitter (now X) then I reckon he must be doing something right.

“Cop28 is on the verge of failure,” thundered Gore, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work disseminating knowledge about man-made climate change.

“The world desperately needs to phase out fossil fuels as quickly as possible, but this obsequious draft (agreement) reads as if OPEC dictated it… There are 24 hours left to show whose side the world is on: the side that wants to protect humanity’s future by kickstarting the orderly phase-out of fossil fuel or the side of the petrostates and the oil and gas companies that are fuelling the historic climate catastrophe.”

I could devote a whole column to Gore’s putrid green double-standards.

The former US vice president claims to live a carbon-neutral lifestyle “to the maximum extent possible”, although according to the National Center for Public Policy Research, Gore’s 10,000 square foot Tennessee mansion guzzles more electricity in 12 months than the average American family uses in 21 years (something Gore has disputed, claiming offsetting).

But Hunt the Eco-hypocrite is like shooting fish in a barrel.

Most of the climate-change preachers, who legislate privations on the masses, are happy to give up anything. So long as it’s not their private jet.

What sticks in the craw is their claim that they alone are on the side of humanity.

On the contrary, their project to save the planet spells a painful reduction in comfort and joy for millions.

Politicians like Labour’s Ed Miliband who talk blithely about reaching the target of net zero by 2050 are either a) too thick to understand what’s involved or b) lying.

Last week, I was lucky enough to interview Michael Kelly, emeritus professor of engineering at Cambridge University and fellow of the Royal Society, for the Planet Normal podcast.

The transition from fossil fuels would, he said, be “the biggest engineering project undertaken in British history” – and we are nowhere near ready for what amounts to the Industrial Revolution on steroids.

Prof Kelly has published a devastating, jaw-dropping paper called Achieving Net Zero:

A Report from a Putative Delivery Agency.

Because the British government has singularly failed to do a cost-benefit analysis of what it will take for the UK to be carbon neutral by 2050 (sound familiar?), Prof Kelly decided to imagine that he’d been appointed CEO of a new agency with the explicit goal of meeting that target.

Among his horrifying conclusions:

the cost of the UK reaching net zero by 2050 will comfortably exceed £3 trillion (at least £180,000 for every household), a workforce comparable to the entire NHS will be required for 30 years, including a doubling of the present number of electrical engineers.

The country would effectively have to “go on a war footing and a command economy will be essential, as major cuts to other forms of expenditure, such as health, education and defence. will be needed”.

The electricity supply will have to increase by about 67 per cent in order to maintain transport at today’s level.

The national grid needs to be 2.7 times bigger in 2050 than it is currently if the UK economy as we know it now is to continue to function.

That is eight times the rate at which new capacity has been added over the past 30 years, including all the renewables to date.

Oh, and every home in the country will have to be rewired, plus all street distribution and local sub-stations.

It has been estimated it will cost £700 billion to carry out this work, and we don’t have the manpower to do it.

Without that spending, we will have to live with frequent circuit breaks, and suboptimal performance of domestic appliances.

Folks, do your washing at 3am and buy a battery-powered torch for the blackouts.

If this sounds mad it’s because it is mad.

To use Prof Kelly’s starkest image, if we take the cost of HS2 now as being about £100 billion, then achieving net zero will require 36 HS2s or more than one a year until 2050. You may recall, we tried to deliver just one HS2. And failed.

The struggle to reach agreement at Cop28 is a harbinger of growing international resistance to this folly.

Now is the time for a complete rethink on net zero.

It is morally wrong to stubbornly adhere to a goal which will cost trillions of pounds, and isn’t even achievable.

Not in the timeframe.

The damage to peoples’ lives from this misguided target will be incalculable, and civil unrest a likely consequence.

We need to start again with proper cost-benefit analyses.

Engineers of the calibre of Prof Kelly should be given the task of working out what is feasible with a longer horizon, and be free to express their honest view.

The Climate Change Committee, which exerts a powerful hold over the thinking of clueless MPs, should be scrapped.

Enough with the Green grandstanding.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman was right to call out delusional Western leaders with their Just Stop Oil nonsense. (“Let them do that themselves. And we will see how much they can deliver.” Quite.)

It would mean living without plastics, without appliances, without most clothing.

Much of the twinkly joy of Christmas would be lost, along with the sparkly wrappers of Quality Street.

I don’t want to live in that dreary, dark world, and nor do most people.

At Cop28, there are many who are convinced that we face a climate catastrophe in the next few decades if net zero is not delivered.

Well, I say we are certain to have an economic and societal catastrophe if we persist in trying to reach that goal by 2050.

Humanity cannot bear it.

Cassie of Sydney
December 13, 2023 7:43 am

I will not be watching any cricket this summer.

Dot
Dot
December 13, 2023 7:45 am

Louis Litt
Dec 13, 2023 6:59 AM
Dot 12/12
Your comment re anti Catholicism.
Um no- what I want to know is was Besanko set up to deliver a guilt6 verdict against Robert’s smith.
The more I think about this is this the half way solution where the press save face and Robert’s smith does not go to jail.
I was wondering if Cohenite has heard something from the jungle drums.

Why bring up that he is a Catholic?

If there was proven defamation it would have made a criminal case more difficult to make.

What goddamned planet are you on where BRS losing his case makes him less likely to be convicted in the future? BRS is being smeared once again in the bottom feeding commie loving press again. They’re even claiming Channel Nine has some sort of power to declare who is guilty or not? What do you think this does to potential jurors?

“Oh Besanko is Catholic, I wonder if he is corrupt too…why I’m not a bigot at all, he’s a good man…”

I’ll be kind today and call the Gin bottle an idiot, not you. You also insinuated he was blackmailed. This is really stupid. Do you have any evidence of this? So not only is he corrupt, he is corrupted. Again, why bring up the man’s religion? Your attempt to make him look like a kindly man who made a pragmatic decision worked out very poorly. You may like to walk it back.

“Besanko was set up!”

Err, what? You have no evidence of this. If barristers knew of every judge who was corrupt, there wouldn’t be any corrupt judges (except in the short term). They have self interest (even if a lower salary) to get the judges’ jobs.

He might have made a bad decision. No one is perfect.

Others told me since he was a good litigator, his decision was above reproach.

You can come to stupid conclusions even with evidence and “good” evidence can be pretty hollow.

calli
calli
December 13, 2023 7:45 am

I can see why you’d enjoy his X -feed. Hard to fault any of his pronouncements. That’s one angry mutt.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
December 13, 2023 7:46 am

Good News – No Welcome to Country on Qantas Flight Yesterday

Hope it Continues!

Cassie of Sydney
December 13, 2023 7:47 am

Hasn’t taken Luxon very long to show he’s a cuck…

Anthony Albanese has signed a statement with his Canadian and New Zealand counterparts supporting a sustainable ceasefire and the release of remaining hostages.

Ahead of a UN vote on a ceasefire resolution, the statement condemned the October 7 attacks and defended Israel’s right to defend itself. However Mr Albanese, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NZ PM Christopher Luxon called on Israel to respect international humanitarian law, adding: “We are alarmed at the diminishing safe space for civilians in Gaza. The price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continuous suffering of all Palestinian civilians.”

Can someone please enlighten me, just what is a “sustainable ceasefire”? Do they mean the one that Hamas broke on 7 October 2023 when it launched an unprovoked attack on Israel, butchering and raping Israelis?

The West is led by midgets.

calli
calli
December 13, 2023 7:47 am

I will not be watching any cricket this summer.

I haven’t watched it since Sandpapergate and the blubb-a-thon.

When they’re gone, I’ll tune in again.

JC
JC
December 13, 2023 7:48 am

I wonder if Juan called the ultimate top in gold?

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
December 13, 2023 7:51 am

Slowly dawning on the car companies that they’ve made a terrible mistake…

Ford’s “Test For EV Adoption” Fails: Carmaker Slashes Production Plans For Electric F-150 In Half (13 Dec)

Having signaled in October during its Q3 earnings call plans to “adjust” production of its all-electric vehicles and delay about $12 billion in investments due to softening demand for higher-priced premium electric vehicles; a memo to suppliers – which was viewed and reported first tonight by Automotive News – indicated plans beginning in January to produce an average of about 1,600 Lightning trucks a week at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan.

Ford had planned for an annual production capacity of 150,000 Lightnings a year, or about 3,200 a week.

That means its production target for 2024 has been halved.

It appears Stephen Moore’s grim prediction in early November is coming true.

The senior economist at FreedomWorks and former senior economic adviser to President Trump told Fox News in an interview.

“I’m here to tell you, if these trends continue, we’re going to see the EV market become the next big flop because car buyers don’t want them.”

“The obvious lesson for the industry: you can’t bribe Americans to buy cars they don’t want. Given the all-in approach mentality for EVs at Ford and GM, it’s clear that Detroit never got this message,” he wrote.

Still too high, betcha it gets halved again, or even cancelled altogether. Short of going full fascist totalitarian there’s no way that governments are going to get ordinary people to buy these suckers. Instead they’ll either drive and drive their gasoline clunkers Cuba-style or they’ll buy Chinese cars smuggled in from Mexico.

shatterzzz
December 13, 2023 7:52 am

War has left Gaza economy at almost total standstill, says World Bank

What economy? .. waste of space that survives on handouts has an ‘economy”
Maybe lotza money in tunnelling, as a hobby, & UN warehousing .. FFS!

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/world/war-has-left-gaza-economy-at-almost-total-standstill-says-world-bank/ar-AA1loBa1?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=a8b8cc66014f453

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
December 13, 2023 7:52 am

Sancho Panzer
Dec 13, 2023 7:04 AM
What this cyclone needs is value added outside broadcast reporting.

https://www.ventusky.com/?l=wind-10m

has given & does give an accurate view of tracking and can change settings quickly –

e.g Wind Speed to Wind Gusts, Precipitation , Temperature etc

Much better and more accurate than BOM

flyingduk
flyingduk
December 13, 2023 7:56 am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently told a group of his ministers: “We need three things from the US: munitions, munitions, and munitions,” according to Israel Hayom newspaper. “There are huge demonstrations in western capitals,” he said. “We need to apply counter-pressure?.?.?.?There have been disagreements with the best of our friends.”

Seems Netanyahu agrees with me that Israel is dependent on the West, yet their support is weakening….

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
December 13, 2023 8:00 am

Easter Sunday is racist, and so is Christmas.

Canadian Human Rights Commission Labels Christmas Celebration “Discrimination Grounded In Colonialism” (12 Dec)

This was the message given by the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) in a paper published under the radar in October. … The paper cited Christianity’s two biggest holy days (Christmas and Easter) as examples of “present-day systemic religious discrimination” linked to colonialism because they are statutory holidays in Canada.

Since the woke already regard Anzac Day, Australia Day and the Kings Birthday as colonialist I suppose that means we may as well abolish all public holidays.

flyingduk
flyingduk
December 13, 2023 8:01 am

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/harvard-refuses-fire-gay-issues-statement-her-defense

The official kiss of desth for the Harvard president then?

flyingduk
flyingduk
December 13, 2023 8:04 am

Since the woke already regard Anzac Day, Australia Day and the Kings Birthday as colonialist I suppose that means we may as well abolish all public holidays.

They will just replace them with Invasion Day, Frontier war day, Genocide Day and Tranzpride Day (#sovirtuous)

shatterzzz
December 13, 2023 8:05 am

Gotta luv living “houso” .. last week told one of next door’s kids to tell mum/dad (no Eng) they had a water leak at the junction tap & it needed fixing before a BIG bill .. this morning bloody thing is gushing! .. Furglewits …!

flyingduk
flyingduk
December 13, 2023 8:07 am
Indolent
Indolent
December 13, 2023 8:08 am
JC
JC
December 13, 2023 8:09 am

Noah Pollak
@NoahPollak
Exempting her from plagiarism rules is part of sending a message: Harvard is Animal Farm now, and some “scholars” are more equal than others. The president may be a grim, corrupt DEI apparatchik — but in public we will refer to her as a brilliant scholar.

Peter Baker
@peterbakernyt

9h
Claudine Gay to keep her post at Harvard after the governing board decides to support her, ?@mherszenhorn? and ?@claireyuan33? scoop for ?@thecrimson? https://thecrimson.com/article/2023/1

Then Musk feels the need to comment.

Elon Musk
@elonmusk
·
Follow
Replying to @Not_the_Bee
They should unanimously resign
3:04 AM · Dec 13, 2023

He loves trolling.

caveman
caveman
December 13, 2023 8:10 am

Khawaja’s shoes

Turd in a shoe.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
December 13, 2023 8:10 am

Karma, or something:

Turkish MP Suffers Heart Attack During Tirade Against Israel (12 Dec)

Turkish parliamentarian Hasan Bitmez suffered a heart attack and collapsed next to the podium at the Turkish National Assembly on Tuesday after delivering a tirade against Israel.

Bitmez’s last words before collapsing were reportedly, “Israel will not escape the wrath of Allah!”

Paging Mossad! It’s got to be one of those secret cyborg mosquitos they pilot in to inject warriors for Allah with toxic stuff that stops their hearts.

Indolent
Indolent
December 13, 2023 8:13 am
Tom
Tom
December 13, 2023 8:13 am

I’ve never liked Usman, just like I’ve never liked Ed Husic. And yes, it is because of their ghastly toxic evil religious ideology, I’ve long said and always thought that they are both wolves in sheep’s clothing, a comparison which is unfair to wolves and sheep. Yet again again I’ve been proven right. I wish I could be wrong, but I’m not.

C’mon, Usman — cut to the chase.

Why doesn’t your t-shirt say: “I support genocide”?

You can take the man out of Pakistan, but you can’t take Pakistan out of the man.

flyingduk
flyingduk
December 13, 2023 8:13 am

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/12/true_cost_of_charging_an_ev_is_equivalent_to_paying_1733_a_gallon_of_gas_per_new_report_.html

17.33 a gallon! As Neil Oliver said, ‘Its not about going green, its about going without…’

Makka
Makka
December 13, 2023 8:14 am

duk,
Your point was that Israel will disappear from the ME. The diplomatic to and fro of this latest conflict isn’t any indication that your point has more credibility than it had yesterday.

lotocoti
lotocoti
December 13, 2023 8:17 am

George Alexopoulos toon.

Indolent
Indolent
December 13, 2023 8:18 am
Cassie of Sydney
December 13, 2023 8:20 am

Odd isn’t it, the crank seems to care more about the foreskins being snipped off than the rest of the male body. I wonder why that could be?

Cassie of Sydney
December 13, 2023 8:21 am

He wants Israel to disappear from the ME.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
December 13, 2023 8:22 am

Jasper.

Embarrassing. Flat out calling it a cyclone – it’s devolved into a poxy everyday Rain Bomb.

Cassie of Sydney
December 13, 2023 8:23 am

Jewish lives don’t matter, Jewish foreskins do matter.

Indolent
Indolent
December 13, 2023 8:24 am
Indolent
Indolent
December 13, 2023 8:25 am
rosie
rosie
December 13, 2023 8:26 am

The protests in the West are mulsim colonisers and their prog west boosters.
If hamas wasn’t embedded in about every school hospital mosques and thousands of homes this destruction would have been unnecessary.
The IDF targets hamas infrastructure, including of course tunnels.
Blame hamas.
Perhaps the poohpoohers have a better proposal?

Benjamin Netanyahu, at least in private, has been blunt about what Israel needs most to destroy Hamas: a steady supply of more US bombs.

selective quoting?

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
December 13, 2023 8:27 am

For Cats with Grandkids in Victoria or just for fun/interest sake

VCE 2023: Student honour roll

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/vce-2023-student-honour-roll-20231201-p5eofo.html

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
December 13, 2023 8:27 am

Lurch isn’t happy.

Newt Gingrich: U.S. Climate Czar John Kerry Is ‘Not Mentally Sound’ (12 Dec)

John Kerry’s call to end all coal-powered electricity generation is “silly” and “self-destructive,” writes former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and “makes the United States look delusional.”

In his punchy essay, Gingrich insists that it is “not hyperbole or exaggeration” to call John Kerry “crazy,” since the word crazy means “marked by thought or action that lacks reason.”

“I am becoming more and more militant about this because we are not getting where we need to be,” Kerry stated at the COP28 conference.

Unfortunately, in his incoherent address, Kerry was speaking “not merely as a private citizen climate extremist,” Gingrich writes, but as a representative of the United States, which makes his rant all the more troubling.

I wonder when someone will notice the Kerry family and the Biden family have been in business together for quite a while.

rosie
rosie
December 13, 2023 8:29 am

Usman clearly very okay with the expulsion of 1.7 million Afghanis from Pakistan.
Go back to where you came from.

Indolent
Indolent
December 13, 2023 8:31 am

Of course it is. It was never anything more than a fig leaf, an excuse.

Yes, Anti-Zionism Is Antisemitism

Indolent
Indolent
December 13, 2023 8:31 am
Makka
Makka
December 13, 2023 8:32 am

Khawaja , the same cricketer who wouldn’t touch the Aussie flag.

Australian cricket really is the pits.

Indolent
Indolent
December 13, 2023 8:34 am

Sad. A total sellout. You’d think he’d realise he’s destroying himself.

Ron DeSantis admits human activities drive climate change

Gabor
Gabor
December 13, 2023 8:35 am

lotocoti
Dec 13, 2023 8:17 AM

George Alexopoulos toon.

You have posted his ‘toons before, may I ask why?
Why do you find them worthy of posting, they are neither funny or profound nor clear of meaning.

Tastes differ I suppose.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
December 13, 2023 8:35 am

Question.
Can you make a dog whistle out of a foreskin?

alwaysright
alwaysright
December 13, 2023 8:35 am

So the ostrayan cwicket likes to support the baby decapitators.

It’s time to let the advertisers know. Hit the emails cats.

rosie
rosie
December 13, 2023 8:35 am

I’m also willing to bet that that the newspaper itself quoted Netanyahu out of context ie don’t tell us what to do just give us the material support to do what needs to be done.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
December 13, 2023 8:35 am

While Albanese bobbles around with fantasy ‘sustainable ceasefire’ and evenhandedly condemning both sides, the US enunciates the Gaza dilemma with some clarity:

US representative says ceasefire would be a danger to Israelis and Palestinians

21m ago
By Tessa Flemming
US representative in the UN General Assembly Linda Thomas-Greenfield says Israel agreeing to a ceasefire with Hamas would be a danger to both Palestinians and Israelis.

“Any ceasefire right now would be temporary at the best, and dangerous at worst,” she says. “Dangerous to Israelis subject to relentless attacks.

“Dangerous to Palestinians who deserve a chance for a better future free of Hamas.”

She adds a future free of devastation and death is “simply not a future Hamas wants to see”.

So a view on the actual problem, rather than empty equivocation on the unequivocal.

The problem is, while Australia offers Israel the clarity of no support at all, the Biden Administration has shown US support to be a variable.

An acid test, right here.

Indolent
Indolent
December 13, 2023 8:35 am
OldOzzie
OldOzzie
December 13, 2023 8:36 am

rosie
Dec 13, 2023 8:26 AM
The protests in the West are mulsim colonisers and their prog west boosters.
If hamas wasn’t embedded in about every school hospital mosques and thousands of homes this destruction would have been unnecessary.
The IDF targets hamas infrastructure, including of course tunnels.

Blame hamas.

Perhaps the poohpoohers have a better proposal?

Benjamin Netanyahu, at least in private, has been blunt about what Israel needs most to destroy Hamas: a steady supply of more US bombs.

selective quoting?

rosie,

interesting from that FT Article –

Citing estimates of damage to urban areas, military analysts say the destruction of Northern Gaza – 58% in less than seven weeks has approached that caused by the years-long carpet-bombing of German cities during the second world war.

“Dresden – 59%, Hamburg – 71%, Cologne- 61% — some of the world’s heaviest-ever bombings are remembered by their place names,” said Robert Pape, a US military historian and author of Bombing to Win, a landmark survey of 20th century bombing campaigns. “Gaza will also go down as a place name denoting one of history’s heaviest conventional bombing campaigns.”

Northern Gaza – 58%, doesn’t match Hamburg – 71%

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
December 13, 2023 8:36 am

Age 4-18 … woke Government schools.
Age 18-22 … liberal brainwashing institutions (college)
Age 22-26 … more liberal brainwashing institutions for a higher degree.

Dersh:

Dershowitz: Identity Group ‘Studies’ Programs Should Be Abolished (12 Dec)

On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Kudlow,” Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz argued that various studies departments such as “Black Studies, Gay Studies, South Asian Studies, Jewish Studies” should all be abolished.

Dershowitz stated, “[T]hese departments have tenured professors who can’t be fired. The departments, however, can be abolished.

Unfortunately Alan it’s too late for that, although it would be a very welcome step. Nowadays even the sciences are fully woke – chemistry certainly, even astronomy. The termites have eaten the insides out of the institutions and now all that’s left is a shell full of lefty zombies.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
December 13, 2023 8:37 am

Light drizzle forecast later today.
Stay safe out there.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
December 13, 2023 8:37 am

I will not be watching any cricket this summer

I will be.

I would very much like to witness (via the picture wireless) the complete disintegration of the top order of a team that has held victor’s cups aloft solely due to its bowlers over the past three years.

Warner and Khawaja will be gorn at season’s end. If ex-Captain McSookCheat fails even once, he will implode mentally as speculation is already rife as to when he’ll go.

Labuschagne will stay – for the time being.

Indolent
Indolent
December 13, 2023 8:38 am
Katzenjammer
Katzenjammer
December 13, 2023 8:42 am

The paper cited Christianity’s two biggest holy days (Christmas and Easter) as examples of “present-day systemic religious discrimination” linked to colonialism because they are statutory holidays in Canada.

Ban the weekend because of its association with the Biblical seven days of creation. Non-religious people shouldn’t have to bear this religious burden every week.

rosie
rosie
December 13, 2023 8:44 am

Why do you find them worthy of posting, they are neither funny or profound nor clear of meaning.

Tastes differ I suppose.

You may be an expert on cartoons, and I don’t know about funny but the meaning was very clear.
So unworldly you haven’t heard of Handmaids Tale a beloved by feminists book and TV series where the horrid patriarchy use women as nothing more than baby incubators?

rosie
rosie
December 13, 2023 8:45 am

Ban the weekend

Dont encourage, Friday would be the new Sunday.

Katzenjammer
Katzenjammer
December 13, 2023 8:47 am

The price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continuous suffering of all Palestinian civilians.

The price of NOT defeating Hamas will be the continuous suffering of all Palestinian civilians.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
December 13, 2023 8:47 am

Re vJapser,

Pilot Grandson in Melbourne say Pilots use

https://www.windy.com/?-14.050,144.983,6,m:dd7akg2

seems pretty to Ventusky

https://www.ventusky.com/?p=-17.09;145.35;6&l=gust&t=20231212/2100

Both better than BOM !

Probably a Dumb Question !

Does Australia need BOM? – Should we just shut BOM down and save Australian Taxpayers Money?

Dot
Dot
December 13, 2023 8:48 am

Can you make a dog whistle out of a foreskin?

Folks, don’t try this at home.

Black Ball
Black Ball
December 13, 2023 8:48 am

Deary phucking me. Another front for perverts:

Volunteer Surf Lifesavers have branded as “ideological activism” a new draft “Diverse Gender Factsheet for Surf Life Saving Clubs” which says the iconic organisation should instruct members to “retrain your brain” to avoid calling people by their biological gender.

The guidelines also say that volunteers should advocate for the needs and rights of “gender diverse people” and clubs should modify existing change-rooms, bathrooms and showers to “gender neutral spaces” and build more unisex toilets.

But several volunteer Surf Lifesaving Australia members have contacted the Daily Telegraph, concerned at the appropriateness of the instructions, saying the iconic organisation should stick to its core job of preventing drownings.

The new guidelines, which will be given to clubs across Australia, state that Surf Life Saving Australia members should become “educated on gender diverse identities and experiences”.

“Avoid making assumptions or asking invasive questions about someone’s gender identity, expression, or history,” the guidelines state.

“Advocate for the rights and needs of gender diverse people in all communities.”

In a section dealing with what to do if the life saver accidently uses the wrong name or pronouns, the documents state members should apologise and move on from the conversation.

“This can take a lot of practice to retrain your brain especially if you knew someone before transition with a different name or gender, so try to practice when you are alone or in your head,” it says.

One surf life saver, who requested his name not be used for fear of repercussions, said he had been involved in the movement for almost a decade and that the organisation had been “hijacked by activists”.

He said local clubs had trouble simply getting funding to upgrade and build change-rooms and toilets facilities for female members and parents would not want teenage daughters getting changed in the same change room as an “anatomically correct male who identifies as female”.

“The movement has been hijacked by woke Americanism – from being a quintessentially Australian organisation which is all about volunteering to save lives, around mateship, to this progressive agenda,” he said.

“To say you should retrain your brain is an outrageous thing to say.”

Another volunteer life saver said he’d been involved in the organisation on Sydney’s eastern beaches for many years and “I know many members who are incandescent at this”.

“It employs ideological activist language,” he said.

“More concerning to me is the potential impact this could have on the safety and privacy standards traditionally upheld in sports, especially in changing areas where women and children are most vulnerable.

“The document seems to propose changes that could allow unaccompanied males unfettered access to female changing areas.”

Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive Steve Pearce said the document was developed in consultation with all the states and territories and “with changing community needs and expectations there’s a requirement for us to ensure we’re inclusive for all persons, identifying as any gender and to cover the non-binary gender allocation”.

“Out of our membership of around 76,000 members we only have on our records around 20 members identifying themselves as non-binary,” he said.

“In NSW we are actively promoting ourselves as an inclusive organisation.

“The issue of catering for the gender category of non-binary is going to be challenging for a lot of surf clubs.

“It does present some challenges, particularly in that sporting area, where you have people who aren’t identifying as male or female and they still want to compete and you have to accommodate those people and be as inclusive as possible with as much common sense as possible.”

Women’s Forum Australia chief executive Rachel Wong questioned how safe female members would feel if made to share toilets and change rooms with biological males.

“And how included will little girls be when pushed out of their competitions by boys identifying as girls?” she said.

Women’s advocate Katherine Deves said policing speech and “pretending sex does not exist” was dissonant to community participation in surf life saving.

Kit Kowalski, who tracks corporates and institutions who sign up to the charity ACON Heath’s pride programs, including “Pride in Sport” which is referenced by the guidelines, said members who didn’t want to “lie about someone’s sex” may end up in breach of the guidelines.

“It is not fair on the members of SLSA to enshrine preferred pronoun use in policies,” she said.

“Surf Life Saving has traditionally been segregated by sex in for fairness in competition and privacy in the changerooms.

“Allowing members to nominate their gender identity and ignoring their physical sex will allow males to access female change rooms, making women and girls uncomfortable and potentially unsafe.”

Cue a rise in drownings.
Catering for 20 people from a group of thousands. Not the best business model Mr Pearce you stupid man.

Johnny Rotten
December 13, 2023 8:49 am

Anyone who says he can see through women is missing a lot.

– Groucho Marx

feelthebern
feelthebern
December 13, 2023 8:51 am

I will not be watching any cricket this summer.

My love for cricket ended when the Steve Waugh era ended.
Hard men, playing a hard sport.
Then it all changed with subsequent captains.
I stopped watching during the Michael Clarke era.

Dot
Dot
December 13, 2023 8:55 am

“Biological gender”
“Lawful criminal justice system”
“The economics of scientific resource allocation”
“Chemical reactions at the molecular level”
“Nuclear physics at the subatomic particle level”

1. Make gender a social construct, become Magikarp gendered for all I care.
2. Decry reality with a redundant descriptor and then complain that this proves gender is a social construct.
3. Adopt the social construct and discard scientific fact.

It’s a pea and thimble game.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
December 13, 2023 8:56 am

Haha, nice trolling by the Israeli ambassador to the UN.

Yes he actually did that.

(Story kinky here.)

Dot
Dot
December 13, 2023 8:57 am

I haven’t seriously watched cricket since the 2007 World Cup.

Faulkner, Johnson and Maxwell made it interesting but meh.

Bill P
Bill P
December 13, 2023 8:58 am

Can you make a dog whistle out of a foreskin?
There was a young man from Nantucket ………

feelthebern
feelthebern
December 13, 2023 8:59 am

Unrelated to the cricketer mentioned above…it’s pretty well known in Sydney that a certain cricketer who portrays a saintly public image, abstaining from alcohol, living a life according to a certain religion, actually loves to party, ie booze & birds.

I’m not judging his personal life (hmmm…actually maybe, he is married after all & he’s been public how they both strictly observe the religion, she’s a borderline letterboxer in public).
The hypocrisy is what gets me.

Indolent
Indolent
December 13, 2023 8:59 am
Colonel Crispin Berka
Colonel Crispin Berka
December 13, 2023 9:00 am

Pakistan’s representative in the UN General Assembly said

“To place the blame only on Hamas but not Israel, that would be unjust, unfair, and unequitable,” he says.
“When you humiliate and trap them in an open-air prison where you kill them as if they were beasts, they become very angry.”

No, beasts don’t generally have automatic weapons, boobytraps, and rockets to fight back with, so no they were not killed like beasts. We should have more sympathy for the side whose people were killed in the most grotesque manner, worse than any halal slaughter.

UN General Assembly adopts ceasefire resolution

Australia voted for that.

Anthony Albanese has joined the prime ministers of Canada and New Zealand in calling for a “sustainable ceasefire” in Gaza.
The leaders released a joint statement saying “this cannot be one-sided” and condemning both the October 7 Hamas attacks and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Does Albo know Hamas is absolutely committed to a one-sided outcome?

Forget the Airbus.
Today he is Antisemite Albo.
Who leaned on this guy to be so ambivalent about a clear case of terrorism?

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
December 13, 2023 9:01 am

Oops, that was supposed to say “story linky here”. Certainly safe for work and not at all kinky. Must be my subconscious acting up.

Speaking before the vote, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, presented before the UN General Assembly the phone number of Hamas’ headquarters in Gaza.

“if you want a real ceasefire, call Hamas and ask for Yahya Sinwar,” said Erdan.

“Tell Hamas to lay down their weapons, turn themselves in and return the hostages.Then you will get a real ceasefire that will last forever,” he added.

It’s not accurate unfortunately since some other bunch will just replace Hamas and it’ll all happen again. But the lantana should be cut back enough that it’ll be many years before another pruning is required.

Indolent
Indolent
December 13, 2023 9:01 am
feelthebern
feelthebern
December 13, 2023 9:02 am

an open-air prison

Yawn.
Before Oct 7th, get a work visa & leave pretty much at will.
Weird old prison that people would go there on holidays too.

More yawning.

Mallee Miss
Mallee Miss
December 13, 2023 9:02 am

This is probably entirely inappropriate, and I apologise in advance, but is it just me that notices that the sadly overweight Hamas captives seem to all wear very brief briefs instead of boxers or trunks? I would have thought boxers would be more comfortable in desert climes.

Dot
Dot
December 13, 2023 9:06 am

Sir Roden Cutler VC successfully demonstrated against bigotry and gender norms and hence stopped a bigoted 16 ft Great White Shark from harassing a transgendered tourist from Melbourne at Manly Beach back in 1934. It was driven offshore by his creative chants of “Hey hey, ho ho…” and that Great White Shark later that day brutally attacked a species confused 10ft “Tiger” Shark which it partially devoured off Long Reef Beach.

That Great White Shark went on to become…Adolf Hitler and that young transgendered bather was…Albert Einstein.

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
December 13, 2023 9:07 am

Can you make a dog whistle out of a foreskin?

You will be hearing from my chiropractor.!

Indolent
Indolent
December 13, 2023 9:08 am

Dr. John Campbell

Project fear

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
December 13, 2023 9:08 am

Pump it up!

Report: Israel begins flooding Hamas tunnels with seawater (12 Dec)

The Wall Street Journal report quoted the US officials as saying that Israel has installed seven industrial pumps, and began the process around when it added the last two pumps to the initial five and conducted initial testing.

The process is expected to last for several weeks, the report added.

Flushing the sewer, literally. Even if it doesn’t work it’ll have a nice effect on their morale.

Bespoke
Bespoke
December 13, 2023 9:08 am

The diplomatic to and fro of this latest conflict isn’t any indication that your point has more credibility than it had yesterday.

Nor are is his prophecies original.

Rabz
December 13, 2023 9:08 am

He obviously wasn’t engaging in “sustainable Antisemitism”:

Türkiyeish MP Suffers Heart Attack During Tirade Against Israel

Anyway, thanks, BoN – my first LOL of the day.

flyingduk
flyingduk
December 13, 2023 9:12 am

Makka
Dec 13, 2023 8:14 AM
duk,
Your point was that Israel will disappear from the ME. The diplomatic to and fro of this latest conflict isn’t any indication that your point has more credibility than it had yesterday.

No, my point was that, given the magnitude of the adverse forces that surround them, Israel is dependent on outside aid (US and European) for its survival, yet said support was waning due to demographic and economic changes in the west, and negative reactions of their populations to daily pictures of explosions in gaza.

I posted contemporaneous quotes where Biden and Netanyahu agreed …. I rather think that might add ‘credibility’ to my analysis.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
December 13, 2023 9:14 am

I stopped watching during the Michael Clarke era.

I am trying to imagine Allan Border running shirtless across a park at night, drunkenly pleading with a morning TV show host to believe his version of some alleged shag-a-thon triangle thingy.
Nup.
Can’t get that picture on my set.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
December 13, 2023 9:16 am

If you’re interested in your $2.4M payment to Brittany Higgins, I’d strongly recommend you listen to this

Today, Justice Michael Lee of the Federal Court will listen, under Subpoena, to this recording, made in the public bar of Sydney’s Park Hyatt Hotel.

In the recording, Brittany Higgin’s lawyer is clearly heard telling her boyfriend, David Sharaz, how Higgins should respond to cross-examination.

It’s pretty clear and damning coaching – by proxy.

You’ll make up your own mind – and good on Sharri Markson for making it public.

https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/exclusive-tapes-revealed-secret-audio-captures-higgins-lawyer-giving-advice-to-her-fianc-in-middle-of-crucial-crossexamination/news-story/9484283297af1c531ce3415d7309ec87

Dot
Dot
December 13, 2023 9:16 am

Imagine that.

AB, Chopper Read and Elle McPherson in a love triangle.

It sounds so bizarre so I can’t believe any of the muck thrown at Clarke or Magill.

(Chortle)

Perplexed of Brisbane
Perplexed of Brisbane
December 13, 2023 9:17 am

Katzenjammer
Dec 13, 2023 8:42 AM
The paper cited Christianity’s two biggest holy days (Christmas and Easter) as examples of “present-day systemic religious discrimination” linked to colonialism because they are statutory holidays in Canada.

Ban the weekend because of its association with the Biblical seven days of creation. Non-religious people shouldn’t have to bear this religious burden every week.

Apart from the anti-Christian bias which seems to go with all things today, I wonder if there is also a push by employers for this? No penalty rates for staff on weekends and public holidays. Staff can be scheduled to have their weekends whenever the employer says.

On the flip side, I have no problem as a Christian in taking Christmas Day and Good Friday off as leave without pay. As long as every other religious holiday is treated the same.

Also, non-Christian folk are quite welcome to go to work on those days and earn money. Single time rate of course.

Makka
Makka
December 13, 2023 9:20 am

I rather think that might add ‘credibility’ to my analysis.

Walk it back all you like, your central point was that Israel will disappear from the ME by weight of numbers. You now use the senile Biden’s latest brainfart in an ongoing diplomatic see- saw as evidence. Sorry, zero credibility.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
December 13, 2023 9:21 am

The sheer amount of stuff Hamas had is a tell.

Journalist on IDF duty: ‘This is what we found in Gaza homes’ (12 Dec)

Major (res.) Roy Yanovsky, head of the Channel 13 News investigative desk, on reserve duty with the 7007th Reserve Battalion in Gaza, posted pictures of the items he and other soldiers found in Gaza houses on his X account.

“Things you find in Gaza homes:” Yanovsky wrote, starting a thread and noting that the most common items were RPG missiles and Kalashnikov rifles. “The supply is highly impressive,” he wrote.

The second common item is explosive charges. “It’s hard to find a street without a house that has several ready-to-use, including vests, uniforms, and pretty impressive combat equipment,” he added.

Yanovsky also found grad missiles in Gaza homes

All of it has come in from Egypt. I suspect when the dust settles the Israelis will enforce an exclusion zone between Egypt and the rest of Gaza, so that tunnels and smuggling won’t be as easy to do. There’ll be screeching from the usual suspects of course.

lotocoti
lotocoti
December 13, 2023 9:21 am

they are neither funny or profound nor clear of meaning.

Sorry you don’t like the way he conveys a message.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
December 13, 2023 9:21 am

Allan Border writing ‘All Lives Matter’ on his shoes.

Allan Border bursting into tears on the picture wireless after his team got caught rubbing sandpaper on the pill, and which he knew about beforehand but was too weak to put a stop to.

Allan Border putting a Chinese mattress company logo on his bat.

Allan Border extolling the virtues of climate change and reducing fossil fuels while living in a multi-million dollar Sidernee mansion. And saying ‘it’s complex’ when taken to task over it.

Also no.

flyingduk
flyingduk
December 13, 2023 9:21 am

You now use the senile Biden’s latest brainfart in an ongoing diplomatic see- saw as evidence. Sorry, zero credibility.

And Bibi?

Dot
Dot
December 13, 2023 9:25 am

Duk isn’t considering the upsides for Israel, besides the systematic destruction of Hamas and bringing many of the terrorists to justice (possible life sentences or even CP given the extraordinary circumstances) – no more Hamas means no more brainwashing with Farfour and Neehoul etc.

The Palestinian Authority/West Bank are glad to see the back of Hamas.
A large minority of Gazans maybe too.
Egypt (al Sisi) is probably glad they’re removed.
Hezbollah are reduced to internet trolling.
France has been dishonoured by Iranian proxies.
The Hamas cause is unpopular in Iran.
Only one Palestine to negotiate with.
Derailing a treaty process between Israel & Arab players did not happen as planned by Iran.

Zafiro
Zafiro
December 13, 2023 9:27 am

is it just me that notices that the sadly overweight Hamas captives seem to all wear very brief briefs instead of boxers or trunks?

Probably.

To answer your question; I would prefer boxers (or even commando) in high humidity. In dry desert heat it wouldn’t matter as much.

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
December 13, 2023 9:28 am

OldOzzie
Dec 13, 2023 9:16 AM

Thanks for the TV link.

MatrixTransform
December 13, 2023 9:29 am

I wonder if Juan called the ultimate top in gold?

almost as good as JC’s repeated call a while back

This is NOT inflationary … LoL

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
December 13, 2023 9:29 am

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s brutal Christmas message for Anthony Albanese – as she calls on Aussies to celebrate Australia Day

. Jacinta Price says Australia Day a ‘proud’ event
. Calls for UK Australia Day dinner to be reinstated

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has hit out Anthony Albanese’s government and called for a cancelled Australia Day event in Britain to be reinstated as she called for Australians to be ‘proud’ of their national day again.

During an interview with 2GB’s Mark Levy, Senator Price urged Anthony Albanese to reverse the decision made by the Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Stephen Smith, to cancel the annual Australia Day Gala.

Mr Smith cancelled the Australia Day Gala black-tie, run by the not-for-profit Australia Day Foundation to fund scholarships for Australians to study in Britain, citing the ‘sensitivities’ the event touches on ‘for some Australians’.

Price said the move by Mr Smith, the former Labor MP who was hand-picked to the plum diplomatic posting by the Prime Minister, was ‘unAustralian’ and ‘uncalled for’.

‘I would like to understand where Mr Smith thinks he can make this determination all by himself. Who gave him permission to do so?’ she asked.

Senator Price argued the result of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum showed that ‘Australians are sick of being put down’.

‘I think it is a put down to put an end to any celebrations of Australia Day,’ she said.

She called on Australians to celebrate Australia Day next year.

‘I think we have to get back to being proud of what it means to be Australian in this lucky country and appreciate what we do have.

‘I think the Prime Minister should be overturning those (Mr Smith’s) actions because they are uncalled for and unAustralian.’

She also accused Voice advocates of failing to come to terms with the real meaning of the measure’s defeat at the October 14 referendum, which saw over 60 per cent of voters reject it.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
December 13, 2023 9:32 am

overweight Hamas captives seem to all wear very brief briefs instead of boxers or trunks?

They stop camel spiders running up their legs and biting them on the sack.

bons
bons
December 13, 2023 9:35 am

After trying a number of services, we have settled on Elder’s Weather.

Their publically available material is basically reworked public domain and BOM data but their analysys by region is far superior to BOM, and more moderate. Their regionally located folks provide on-the-ground inputs that are useful.

Others may disagree, but we find their consultancy service to be the best available.

Brought to you by the Little Cylone That Could(n’t).

flyingduk
flyingduk
December 13, 2023 9:36 am

Duk isn’t considering the upsides for Israel, besides the systematic destruction of Hamas and bringing many of the terrorists to justice ….. no more Hamas means no more brainwashing with Farfour and Neehoul etc.

1) Hamas will be damaged but not destroyed, it will reconstitute, or be replaced by something similar. Voids get filled.
2) Hamas is a symptom of the problem (1400 years of clashing religious ideologies), not the cause of the problem, ‘eliminating’ it will not change that.
3) For every terrorist ‘brought to justice’, more will be created by the process, many more…

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
December 13, 2023 9:39 am

Labor MP Josh Burns denounces ceasefire calls

By ben packham
Foreign Affairs and Defence Correspondent
@bennpackham
and joe kelly
National Affairs editor
@joekellyoz
9:09PM December 12, 2023
862 Comments

Jewish-Australian Labor MP Josh Burns has pushed back at those calling for a ceasefire in Gaza after visiting the site of a Hamas massacre in Israel, declaring that a premature peace settlement would allow the terror organisation to regroup and pose an unacceptable ongoing threat.

Visiting the Kfar Aza kibbutz in southern Israel with a bipartisan group of Australian MPs, Mr Burns made the comments amid a new political debate at home ­ignited by Labor frontbencher Ed Husic’s warning in recent days that Australians who expressed concern for Palestinians were now facing “our generation of McCarthyism.”

The parallel was condemned by Jewish groups who warned their community was facing the “worst wave of anti-Semitism since World War II” and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton who said Mr Husic’s comments had gone “too far”.

Sydney City Council also came under fire on Tuesday for passing a resolution on Monday night calling for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire” in Israel without any mention of Hamas’ massacre of civilians and its taking of hostages on October 7.

Liberal councillor Lyndon Gannon said the council was “not the UN” after unsuccessfully trying to amend the motion put by Greens’ councillor Sylvie Ellsmore and backed by Lord Mayor Clover Moore. “It’s needlessly stoking tension in the community, which could be the match in the tinder box that sets something off,” Ms Gannon said. “(Ratepayers) want us to pick up the bins. That’s what number one issue is.”

Speaking from Israel, Mr Burns said he felt a sense of shock at the devastation in the Kfar Aza kibbutz where an estimated 50 people were killed in the October 7 terrorist attack, saying there would be “no tolerance” in Australia for Hamas if the nation suffered a similar attack.

“You could see the bullet holes; you could see the grenade shrapnel; you could see the burnt-out buildings,” he said. “The people who live in these places are people who are essentially the left-wing socialists of Israel … and just brutally, brutally massacred in their homes. No society would accept that threat … The reality is, this is a terrorist organisation. And if this would have happened in Australia, there would be no tolerance for that.”

Mr Burns said any ceasefire could not be a “one-way thing”.

“If Israel were to stop the pursuit of Hamas and Hamas were able to regroup, then there is a heightened risk of October 7 happening again, and no country would consider that,” he said.

Mr Husic, the Industry and Science Minister, condemned the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas on ABC radio. But he also pushed for a ceasefire that involved the release of Israeli hostages and an end to the military action taken by Israel that had killed innocent Palestinians.

He said those raising objections to the Israeli military campaign in Gaza wanted to “stand with humanity” and defended the ability of Australian workers – including actors, journalists and doctors – to speak out against Israel’s military campaign without facing “professional retribution.”

“If people express a view, and have the decency to show heart in relation to what’s happening in Gaza and … are then (are) effectively professionally black-listed – I don’t think that’s right.”

NSW Liberal senator Dave Sharma, a former ambassador to Israel, said McCarthyism was the persecution of public officials for disloyalty, subversion and allegiance to communism without any evidence. “Some of its highest-profile victims were in fact Jewish,” he said. “To claim there is a new McCarthyism in Australia is entirely wrong. People are free to express their political opinions in Australia.”

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council Executive Director, Colin Rubenstein, said it was “not McCarthyism to expect journalists to adhere to the basic requirement of objectivity which most Australians would also expect”.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said Mr Husic’s remarks on Tuesday showed “a complete lack of empathy”.

lotocoti
lotocoti
December 13, 2023 9:39 am

Looks like a piss take, but they are feckin’ Oirish.

JC
JC
December 13, 2023 9:40 am

Trans

What was my call as I’ve never made a “call” other than saying I don’t care for it either way.
Try and answer the question and not bullshit for once, you buffoon..

Go!

Ps try and capitalise your sentences you appalling dickweed.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
December 13, 2023 9:44 am

is it just me that notices that the sadly overweight Hamas captives seem to all wear very brief briefs instead of boxers or trunks?

You just get a feeling that the 2024 “Hunks of Hamas” calendar isn’t going to be a best seller.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
December 13, 2023 9:47 am

“A White Male Would Probably Already Be Gone”

Former Vanderbilt professor Carol Swain discusses the situation of Harvard president Claudine Gay

Yesterday, journalist Christopher Brunet and I broke a story examining evidence that strongly suggests that Harvard president Claudine Gay plagiarized multiple sections of her Ph.D. dissertation, according to Harvard’s own academic integrity policies.

One of the scholars that Gay used material from in at least two instances was Carol Swain, who has served as a professor at Princeton and Vanderbilt.

Swain is also known as one of America’s most prominent black conservatives and has published scholarly work criticizing race-based preferences and affirmative action.

This morning, I spoke with Swain, who said that she saw “a clear pattern of what one would consider plagiarism in Dr. Gay’s thesis” and called into question Gay’s continued service as Harvard’s president.

The following transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Christopher Rufo: What are your thoughts about the Claudine Gay plagiarism accusations?

Carol Swain: What is bothering me is not just that there’s passages she didn’t put in quotation marks. When I look at her work, I feel like her whole research agenda, her whole career, was based on my work. It bothers me because I know that my work was a big deal in the early 1990s. And I started falling out of favor in 1995 when I started criticizing race-based affirmative action. I thought affirmative action should be means-tested and race-neutral. When I started putting those ideas out, that’s when I started falling out of favor and getting labeled as a conservative, even while I was a Democrat, and blacks started attacking me, calling me a “sellout.”

Rufo: In my recent story, I documented at least two instances in which Gay lifted from your work. Do you consider that to be plagiarism?

Swain: There seems to be a pattern because it’s not just two cases from my work. There are instances that you point to from other people’s work. At best, it was sloppiness, but it would be considered plagiarism if you lift sections of other people’s work and you pass it off as your own.

Rufo: Throughout the paper, she lifted verbatim passages from others but did not put them in quotation marks. I consulted Harvard’s own plagiarism policy, and these all appear to be clear violations.

Swain: She became president of Harvard and got recognition as being its first black president. I don’t believe her record warranted tenure, and I believe that I had to meet a much higher standard than she did. Something changed in the mid-1990s, [when] we were having a big affirmative action debate.

Dot
Dot
December 13, 2023 9:47 am

Duk

You just don’t know if 1. and 3. are true. You’re assuming they’re true and they also are concomitant with your pre existing belief set.

Dot
Dot
December 13, 2023 9:48 am

…PS

You ignored the ancillary benefits listed after mention of Farfour and Neehoul.

Rufus T Firefly
Rufus T Firefly
December 13, 2023 9:49 am

Up in Cairns for Xmas, took the dog for a walk about an hour ago, no rain, mediocre wind gusts.
It is just starting to rain relatively heavily, with the odd gust of wind.

Jasper is due to cross the coast at 1300L, (according to BOM anyway), but it is only growing to Cat 2.
I followed the emergency instructions, to the letter, and stocked up on decent red, plus beer. Can’t be too careful.

Had a good cross section of weather over the last week.
One of the kids is a Pilot with 1 Sqn and went to Amberley to watch their last sortie last Thursday. (Posted). Sure beats working for a living.
(Great to see our taxes put to good use.)

Quite warm there, now a cyclone in Cairns.
We spend our time between Adelaide and Cairns. The betrothed said last week in Adelaide, “it was 35C one day and 19C the next”.

We almost got to see the four seasons, Autumn, Winter, Spring and Climate Change.

Tintarella di Luna
Tintarella di Luna
December 13, 2023 9:51 am

Just because she’s packed on the kilos doesn’t mean she’s any less dishonest.

Brittany is engaging in calorific expiation.

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
December 13, 2023 9:53 am

Israel will have to have a satellite with the ability to trace movements towards tunnel entrances in Gaza and Egypt. Shouldn’t be too hard to write algorithms for tracing of goods going into a building and not coming out the same way. Elon will probably put it up for nothing. He’s already got heaps of geostationary satellites, another wouldn’t be noticed.

alwaysright
alwaysright
December 13, 2023 9:53 am

pluck the cricket, they can do the eviscerater support with someone else’s money.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
December 13, 2023 9:54 am

Daily Mail. Hard not to laugh.

Turkish lawmaker collapses in parliament ‘moments after saying Israel would suffer the wrath of Allah’

Islamist party politician said Israel would ‘suffer the wrath of Allah’ in speech
Bitmez was treated by a political rival before being taken to hospital in Ankara

Roger
Roger
December 13, 2023 9:58 am

Does Albo know Hamas is absolutely committed to a one-sided outcome?

On ABC RN AM today Simon Birmingham was resolute in support of Israel’s war objective of dismantling Hamas, lest they be allowed to regroup and continue their campaign of killing Israelis.

I won’t give him extra credit, because it’s what he should be saying, but I was pleasantly surprised.

MatrixTransform
December 13, 2023 10:02 am

Indolent’s link from yesterday

too good to leave on the OOT

The Problems with Regulating Hate Speech | Jordan Peterson

Real Deal
Real Deal
December 13, 2023 10:03 am

A shout out to Old Ozzie. Please don’t be hurt by that utterly uncalled for and very vitriolic drivel posted yesterday. We like your comments and appreciate them. Please continue.

I agree. We appreciate the comments.

Besides Old Ozzie drives a Honda Jazz. We need to be kind and gentle with him.

MatrixTransform
December 13, 2023 10:03 am

Go!

stfu clown

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
December 13, 2023 10:03 am

I followed the emergency instructions, to the letter, and stocked up on decent red, plus beer. Can’t be too careful.

Rufus – You’re supposed to be fleeing in terror.

QFES warns coastal residents to evacuate as Cyclone Jasper moves closer (12 Dec)

The wrath of Gaia is coming down upon you horrible climate deniers!

Real Deal
Real Deal
December 13, 2023 10:04 am

It’s hard to imagine Ian Redpath or Rick “the Snick” McCosker wearing slogans either. They played cricket and we loved them for it.

alwaysright
alwaysright
December 13, 2023 10:05 am

Oops, that was supposed to say “story linky here”.

Consonants are a problem, b vowels are a bigger problem. e.g. Knackerless when one meant to write Knickerless.

Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
December 13, 2023 10:08 am

I stopped watching during the Michael Clarke era.

Myself when Speed threw Symonds under a bus.

Khawaja to me has always been a diversity pick, probably a decent club cricketer or even Sheffield Shield player but not at national team standard.

Bar Beach Swimmer
December 13, 2023 10:08 am

Calli:

I haven’t watched it since Sandpapergate and the blubb-a-thon

And that’s why we have that cringeworthy Roxburgh ad – “You’ve gotta watch it!”

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
December 13, 2023 10:08 am

Duk there are 1.9 billion potential terrorists. When the crazies turn up and threaten your family, they are only too willing. This is without the ones already to die for Islam. I say give them that wish. They are still dead. I don’t care. They want to die, part of a shit for brains philosophy. There is no reasoning with this.

Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
December 13, 2023 10:09 am

The sad irony might be that the Cane Toad’s highest ratings might come in her last TV appearance – on the Federal Court youtube channel.
“I’m ready for my close-up Mr DeMille”.

Winston Smith
December 13, 2023 10:10 am

In response to some of us who have forgotten what it was like my side of the fence with the Vaccine Mania.

Boambee John
Boambee John
December 13, 2023 10:10 am

flyingduk
Dec 13, 2023 7:56 AM
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently told a group of his ministers: “We need three things from the US: munitions, munitions, and munitions,” according to Israel Hayom newspaper. “There are huge demonstrations in western capitals,” he said. “We need to apply counter-pressure?.?.?.?There have been disagreements with the best of our friends.”

Seems Netanyahu agrees with me that Israel is dependent on the West, yet their support is weakening….

Still waiting for your recommended alternative strategy for Israel to be successful.

JC
JC
December 13, 2023 10:11 am

You need to STFU, trans.

Stick to recipes and switch flicking, dumbo.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
December 13, 2023 10:11 am

janet albrechtsen janet albrechtsen
My truth? What about the truth? From halls of learning to an intellectual wasteland

9:33AM December 13, 2023
317 Comments

Instead of Oxford University Press language experts choosing an annual (and often ridiculous) word of the year, they could do something that might help stem intellectual darkness. The editorial staff at OUP should draw up a shortlist each year of the worst, most distorted words and phrases that are enemies of clear thinking. The worst of the worst could be named the Brave New World Word or Phrase of the Year.

I have a list to get us started. First is “context” – a word used many times by the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of Technology when they were asked a simple question last week during a US congressional hearing into the rise of anti-Semitism on US campuses.

Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik asked Harvard president Claudine Gay, Penn’s Liz Magill and MIT’s Sally Kornbluth whether advocating for the genocide of Jews violated their universities’ code of conduct regarding bullying and harassment.

Sky News host James Morrow says the “depraved inability” of US college presidents to condemn calls for… genocide are having “massive consequences” as Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania lose donations. The University of Pennsylvania lost a $100 million commitment from a billionaire to build a centre for innovation More

None among the three intellectual thought leaders said yes. Instead, they waffled about it being nuanced and context-driven, as if they are stuck in an ivory tower minus the Socratic dialogue.

There is nothing nuanced about Jewish students being harassed and intimidated on campus by pro-Palestinian protesters chanting the chosen slogans of Hamas terrorists. What context makes this legitimate?

Context is an entirely sensible word when used properly to explain complex issues. During three minutes of excruciating testimony last Wednesday, since viewed by millions of people, these well-educated university leaders from some of the most esteemed universities in the US used “context” to let pro-Palestinian protesters off the hook for knowingly or unknowingly advocating on campus for the genocide of Jews.

Alas, free speech was not their north star. Instead, as The Wall Street Journal noted this week, Harvard was 248th out of 248, and Penn was 247th, in the annual college ranking by the free-speech Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.

In September last year, during a mandatory online Title IX training session, Harvard students were told that not using a person’s preferred pronouns could violate the university’s sexual misconduct and harassment policies.

Racial microaggressions are policed on campus; academics are sacked for committing “progressive” speech crimes. But if you chant the genocidal slogans favoured by a terrorist group, it’s a matter of context.

It’s welcome news that Gay has walked back from her context drivel, and Magill was forced to resign. But when the first instinct of university elites is moral pusillanimity, why wouldn’t university students feel free to intimidate Jewish students?

To understand how we got into this mess, let’s move on to the next contender for worst word or phrase of 2023: “from the river to the sea”. Why on earth are university students running around campus chanting Hamas’s genocidal plan to claim the state of Israel “from the river to the sea”? Do the kids know what it means? They may not have learned about it at Harvard, Penn and MIT, but there is the internet.

The terrorists who murdered 1200 Israelis on October 7, raping and mutilating women, beheading babies, and kidnapping 240 others enshrined this genocidal slogan in their 2017 constitution: “Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.” The terrorist organisation doesn’t mention where seven million Jews and two million Arabs living between the Jordan River, bordering eastern Israel, and the Mediterranean Sea, to the west, should go.

Students are shouting this violent slogan on campus, disrupting classes and intimidating Jewish students because more than a decade ago liberal values lost out to a new political order on campus.

Liberalism is a progressive project that depends on a marketplace of ideas, on people listening, on genuine tolerance and treating people equally and civilly. Instead, we have become a marketplace of outrage where groups claiming to sit on the lower rung of the oppression ladder, along with their supporters, insist on different and higher rights to groups they imagine are higher up the oppression hierarchy.

The oppressed groups, with their special status, have succeeded in convincing university elites that words and ideas they disagree with amount to a form of violence.

The reverse is true for the so-called oppressor class: when Jewish students face real intimidation with genocidal chants, we’re told it’s just words.

Today, ideas are no longer contested. In these dark anti-intellectual times, people are.

For thousands of years, different groups have hated each other on the basis of race or religion or some other tribal identifier. We were meant to be better than our forebears, understanding that judging people according to their individual character, not by group membership, would better unify us. Yet, in 2023, group hatreds continue, though under the new name of identity politics.

As Andrew Sullivan wrote in 2018, we’re all on campus now, with this new oppression hierarchy seeping into our broader culture. Our streets are full of protesters chanting “from the river to the sea”. Hamas enjoys unwitting support from ill-informed Westerners, the latest a group of Australian artists whose collective letter calling for a ceasefire in Gaza included Hamas’s genocidal jingle.

If you think it’s unkind to call them useful idiots, University of California, Berkeley political science professor Ron Hassner published the results of a small survey of students that found only 47 per cent of them could name the river and the sea. Some thought it was the Nile and the Euphrates, the Caribbean, the Dead Sea (which is a lake) and the Atlantic.

More than a quarter of the chant’s supporters claimed the Oslo peace agreements were never signed. Less than a quarter had heard of Yasser Arafat; 10 per cent thought he was an Israeli prime minister.

“There’s no shame in being ignorant, unless one is screaming for the extermination of millions,” wrote Hassner. Importantly, the survey of 250 students from across the US found that students switched from supporting “from the river to sea” to rejecting the motto when they learned some basic facts.

When it comes to genocide, facts should matter. Which brings me to another contender for bullshit word or phrase for 2023.

In her end of week mea culpa, the Harvard president told student newspaper The Harvard Crimson she was sorry for not conveying “my truth”.

My truth? What about the truth? Is Gay an Ivy League university president or an angsty teenage girl at a counselling session wanting to speak her truth? When a university leader describes a judgment about those who advocate genocide as her truth, she opens the door for others to claim they have a different truth. Which is exactly what is happening on university campuses right now.

Universities aren’t just coddling the minds of students. They are messing them up. When “my truth” is used to win an argument, why wouldn’t universities become breeding places for anti-Semitism?

The issue goes deeper still, instilling an aggressive form of anti-intellectualism. Students ill-equipped to distinguish between facts and feelings will rely on their subjective truth to make demands of university administrators, including protection from words and ideas that offend them. When someone speaks of their truth, they ring-fence it from debate.

Worst of all, the foundational virtues of a liberal democratic society are, more often than not, being turned on their head by people who dare to call themselves progressive.

My nomination then for the Brave New World Prize for most disfigured word or phrase for 2023 is “progressive”. Practitioners of illiberal identity politics have no claim to this word. Progress means improvement. It is one thing to critique the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza by suggesting a better way forward to stop terrorism. How many of the pro-Palestinian protesters, be they screaming students or letter-signing artists, are doing this? Most of them are taking the low road, echoing chants for the annihilation of Israel. That’s not progress.

But congrats all around to the prize-wining faux progressives.

Roger
Roger
December 13, 2023 10:15 am

Further to my interlocution with Beaugan yesterday evening, there was no official condemnation of Galileo by any church a uthority other than the Vatican. Heliocentrism had been discussed in Protestant circles as early as Melanchthon’s time at Wittenberg, where it was presented as a theory not proven by the science of the day.

Delta A
Delta A
December 13, 2023 10:16 am

After trying a number of services, we have settled on Elder’s Weather.

Thanks, bons. It looks good.

shatterzzz
December 13, 2023 10:19 am

Reading that Ed HUSIC is a firm believer in “free” speech after lotza negative commentary over his “I luv Gaza” & “It’s not fair Israel is winning” whinings in the media …..
Why do none of these “reporters” ask ED about how much “free” speech HAMAS allows the Gazan “vote-herd” … ?

GreyRanga
GreyRanga
December 13, 2023 10:19 am

bons, Elders use BoM data without false opinion added. When I was at the beachhouse 2 weeks ago BoM were saying rain, Elders a slight chance. No rain. Elders update regularly, BoM don’t. Hence the storms that supposedly come out of nowhere and the warm but boiling days that never eventuate.

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
December 13, 2023 10:22 am

Bras DO make breasts less perky! Experts say ditching YOURS could improve blood flow, strengthen muscles & help defy gravity

. US content creator said going braless for 5 years made her breasts ‘more perky’
. Doctors said that not wearing a bra can help build up muscles in the chest

Vicki
Vicki
December 13, 2023 10:22 am

OMG!!!!

SMH reporting that Australia has broken away from USA position & voted for a ceasefire at Gaza!

Roger
Roger
December 13, 2023 10:25 am

Khawaja to me has always been a diversity pick, probably a decent club cricketer or even Sheffield Shield player but not at national team standard.

A test average of 47.2 puts him above most of his Australian contemporaries.

Writing slogans on his boots is a bit silly but…

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
December 13, 2023 10:29 am

I haven’t watched it since Sandpapergate

I gave up when the TV commentary team suddenly had to be a woman, a black man and a tranny (yes, him). I just couldn’t get past woke being shoved down my throat so I stopped watching, and stopped listening too since ABC cricket calling was the same mandatory mix of annoying fruitcakes. Then the side themselves went political as well and that was the complete end for me.

Vicki
Vicki
December 13, 2023 10:31 am

Allan Border writing ‘All Lives Matter’ on his shoes.

Allan Border bursting into tears on the picture wireless after his team got caught rubbing sandpaper on the pill, and which he knew about beforehand but was too weak to put a stop to.

Allan Border putting a Chinese mattress company logo on his bat.

Allan Border extolling the virtues of climate change and reducing fossil fuels while living in a multi-million dollar Sidernee mansion. And saying ‘it’s complex’ when taken to task over it.

I didn’t know any of that. Thanks KD. The things you learn on the Cat!!!

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
December 13, 2023 10:32 am

Outrage of the undies

Why the images of Hamas prisoners sparked outrage

The murder and rape of Israelis on Oct. 7 led to a spike in antisemitism, not anger against Hamas. And yet, the world can’t tolerate photos of defeated Palestinian terrorists.

The men, heads hung low, are kneeling and stripped down to their underwear with their hands tied.

The images are redolent of defeat.

Those who not so long ago gloried in the unspeakable suffering inflicted on Oct. 7 as Hamas succeeded in murdering more than 1,200 men, women and children, as well as the rape and torture of the victims and the kidnapping of more than 200 others, were now reduced to the status of helpless captives.

The bravado they displayed in the aftermath of the assault on Israel was gone.

On their faces could be seen the impact of their defeat, and perhaps, the realization that the calculations of their leadership that those who once ruled Gaza could wage war on Israel with impunity were wrong.

While Hamas’s senior leaders live in luxury and safety in Qatar, the terrorist rank-and-file is now paying the price for their folly.

To anyone familiar with the history of warfare in the last century, the sight is hardly unique.

Similar pictures depict those Japanese soldiers who surrendered during World War II as well as other combatants in various wars, especially against terrorist groups.

When facing those who are indoctrinated in a cult of fanatical hatred against their enemies and who are likely to attempt to continue to kill even after surrender, stripping prisoners down and ensuring that they are not still armed or wearing booby-trap explosives is simply common sense.

The alternative is to risk letting members of a group committed as a matter of faith and political objectives to destroying the State of Israel and slaughtering its population, kill Israelis who believe their opponents have already given up.

Are such images humiliating for those in the pictures?

Of course.

But if you’re angry about the wounded pride of members of a barbaric terrorist group, then maybe you’re the one who has no moral compass, not the Israelis.

flyingduk
flyingduk
December 13, 2023 10:33 am

Still waiting for your recommended alternative strategy for Israel to be successful.

I stated at the outset that whilst I understand the Israeli need to strike back, I dont think there is a winning strategy for Israel in the long term. The differences between Judaism and Islam in the middle east are irreconcilable, meaning conflict is inevitable until one side is eliminated. Given the disparity in populations, I can only see one end to that, particularly given declining western support which they are reliant on. Happy to hear your analysis however.

JohnJJJ
JohnJJJ
December 13, 2023 10:35 am

OldOzzie Avatar
OldOzzie
Dec 13, 2023 7:46 AM
Good News – No Welcome to Country on Qantas Flight Yesterday
Hope it Continues

That would have been a good meeting
Jason: I can’t believe it’s, like, No 70%
Adrian ( from accounts): it’s worse, they are the ones who can afford to fly business class. We are going to have to cut the Welcome.
Braelyn (Marketing); Maybe we could have digeridoo. That is, like, the same.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
December 13, 2023 10:35 am

Vicki – for context, those statements referred to the following people, in order:

1. Khawaja
2. Smith
3. Also Smith
4. Cummins

Allan ‘fckin do that again mate, and you’ll be on the next plane home*’ Border would never have countenanced any of this dross.

*To Craig McDermott, on field and in England in 1993.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
December 13, 2023 10:36 am

To Brisvegas now, for a week or so of outdoor pursuits!

flyingduk
flyingduk
December 13, 2023 10:36 am

This is without the ones already to die for Islam. I say give them that wish. They are still dead. I don’t care. They want to die, part of a shit for brains philosophy.

Sure, they dont mind dying for their cause….The problem is the Islamists want to get to paradise *by killing infidels*…

Roger
Roger
December 13, 2023 10:36 am

I gave up when the TV commentary team suddenly had to be a woman, a black man and a tranny (yes, him).

The tokenism is annoying, but on the few occasions I heard him on the radio McGregor was a very good commentator. Probably knows more about the game than most of the ex-test players they employ, who also tend to have limited vocabularies. Ian Chappell was particularly bad in that respect.

flyingduk
flyingduk
December 13, 2023 10:38 am

SMH reporting that Australia has broken away from USA position & voted for a ceasefire at Gaza!

So, an indication of strengthening or wavering support for Israel?

Vicki
Vicki
December 13, 2023 10:38 am

Then the side themselves went political as well and that was the complete end for me.

And isn’t it a damn shame, Bruce?

It is the most sublime game at the highest level. Some of the best times of our life have been hubby and me at the SCG for the New Years Day game….in the stand directly behind the wicket, glass of wine, & hot chips……& “Skull” on the headphones…

H B Bear
H B Bear
December 13, 2023 10:39 am

Nice to be greeted by a head on a stick. See, people are listening.

shatterzzz
December 13, 2023 10:39 am

Someone’s been doing their homework .. whilst the media bombards us with both “news” & their opinions regarding Ukraine & Gaza very little mention of the other 181, YES 181, military conflicts going on around the world .. the largest number in over 30 years and the associated deaths for 2023 are already 14% higher than previous years ………
Puts voting at the UN into perspective! .. troughers all!

Real Deal
Real Deal
December 13, 2023 10:39 am

Alan Border did advertise Tetley teabags back in the day. I distinctly remember AB smiling as he said; “Naturally, the tea quality is excellent.” It was about the time on the ashes tour in 93 when he castigated Craid McDermott fielding.

Hey, hey, hey, hey I’m f***ing talking to you. Come here, come here, come here, come here.”

McDermott’s casual glance back to the skipper didn’t please the man in-charge.

Border shot back, “Do that again, mate, and you will be on the next plane home.”

McDermott replied something which wasn’t picked up by the microphone, but not pleased with it, Border charged back at the bowler saying, “What was that?”

McDermott, giving-up like a school-kid responded, “Nothing, I didn’t say a thing.”

Pointing his fingers at the bowler, Border’s last words of the drama came, “You f****ing test me and you’ll see.”

Billy Bloodnut and AB. Both Queenslanders.

Vicki
Vicki
December 13, 2023 10:43 am

So, an indication of strengthening or wavering support for Israel?

Just a typical Labor position, I would think, though there would be some opposition to it from within the Party.

If I didn’t know how challenged the Labor Party is in the intellect department, I would say they have a death wish for the next election in a little over a year’s time. This latest decision is but the most recent in not reading the electorate at large. They might save a couple of electorates in Sydney’s west and in some other state electorates, but I still think Aussies are good people.

Roger
Roger
December 13, 2023 10:43 am

Billy Bloodnut and AB. Both Queenslanders.

Border is a NSWelshman who switched to QLD c. 1980.

But we’ll happily claim him as a native.

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  1. “Keane also mentioned that Hegseth had extensive combat experience.” Deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has two Bronze Stars.

  2. Like the Israelis, they are a Semitic people and entitled to control their ancestral land.” Crete?

  3. Numbers Bob comment over at Michael Smith. The article about Penny Mong voting for Pally Statehood. Is he an early…

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