Tom Stiglich.
Open Thread – Wed 13 Dec 2023
- Open Thread – Mon 16 Sept 2024
- No, Your Holiness, killing babies and border control are not the same
- Open Thread – Weekend 14 Sept 2024
- Open Thread – Thurs 12 Sept 2024
- Open Thread – Mon 9 Sept 2024
Matt Margolis.
Brett Lethbridge.
Peter Broelman.
Mark Knight.
not an argument
.
I often wondered if he was able to transfer to newcatallaxy as he was not at all conversant with IT. If I’d had his email I would have informed him of this new site.
I hope he is faring well at this time.
“not an argument”
It’s an opinion, based on his daily scribblings.
at some point they lose and Israel goes away……And that’s what the crank wants, for Israel to “go away”.
Just keep telling yourself that Cassie, my analysis is wrong because I am an antisemite, and so everything is fine…. I can’t possibly be right…. you don’t need to listen because I am an antisemite – I hate Israel, my analysis is based on that, not 50 years of study of irregular war and 2 years in uniform in the middle east. So long as you label me as a jew hater you can ignore anything I say. Everything will be fine.
But heres the thing … Israel’s enemies *are* antisemites ….. real ones…. river to the sea…… babies in ovens antisemites…. but you don’t have to worry about that because they are antisemites right? They will never beat Israel because they are antisemites right? You can dismiss what they say because they hate Israel.
You see how this works?
it’s also a personal slur that presupposes motive on his part to justify you straw manning him
logical fallacy is not godly
Just keep telling yourself that Cassie, my analysis is wrong because I am an antisemite,”
No where have I called you an “antisemite”, but it seems you’re desperate for me and others here to call you that. Why is that? Tis an odd thing to aspire to be….”a hater of Jews” but the world is full of odd people.
Cassie of Sydney
Cassie, you’re arguing from the heart. Flyingduk is arguing from the reality.
It doesn’t make him an anti semite.
They’d love to knock Israel off.
And obviously have her firmly in their sights.
Supporters of Israel on here, which is most reasonable people, might be best served pulling together even if not in total agreement.
Recent events and the attitudes exposed by them have been bloody shocking and horrific.
My fears are that the West that Israel might like to think supports her is rapidly being replaced by something else entirely.
with the best intentions … b.u.l.l.s.h.i.t.!
what does that mean exactly?
look, I get it, yr pissed off
i’m pissed off too
but lumping it on duk isn’t right
Cassie of Sydney
Dec 13, 2023 10:36 PM
1) “No where have I called you an “antisemite”
2) At some point they lose and Israel goes away……“And that’s what the crank wants, for Israel to “go away”
No further questions your honour – unless Cassie wants to (finally – after multiple invitations) admit that I am not an antisemite?
A faithful devotee of the work of Joe Vialls.
god oracles gotta stick together
mongs
Because they know it was cooked up in a lab?
shouldn’t the question be something like … given the current regional and global politic, how does Israel go about securing their long term future?
Mother Heads To Supreme Court After Losing Child To Trans Agenda
stfu sancho you infantile tosser
Amid Elon Musk’s legal offensive, a cascade of lawsuits is now targeting the alleged Censorship-Industrial Complex, signaling a momentous shift in the fight for free speech.
He relishes that prospect and loves to keep repeating it. He can’t answer because it would suggest there might be a positive outcome, and that doesn’t suit his predelictions. Everytime you ask gives him another opportunity to display his joy about the inevitability of Israel’s doom.
ffs, you are projecting like a teenage girl
stating a premise
asking the question
interrogating the possibility
is not the same thing as expressing “joy about the inevitability of Israel’s doom”
It probably was a lab leak but how much more can the issue be investigated in a country where the government has near complete control on what that investigation will entail?
Everyone’s language has meaning in the words, and also contains subtle gestures that reveal underlying motive.
His single premise is that all Muslims follow the same clauses of the Quran in the exact same manner and strength and will inevitably slaughter Israel. He’s please by his comic book stuff based on a stereotype.
MK50 used to post a lot of interesting stuff here about history – he was usually worth reading.
you know what else?
if youse think that having a (+)ve message and a permanently up-beat attitude is all that it takes to trounce Hamas
… then you’re a mistaken
the reality is that people ARE putting their lives on the line
civilians ARE dying
and they’re doing it right fnucking now
at exactly the same time your’re pretending that your jewishness’ biggest enemy is a commenter on the internets who doesn’t say things the way you’d prefer
grow the fnck up
Was re-reading ‘Jerusalem – The Biography’ by Montefiore on the plane.
Evidently Hadrian was to blame for all this. After flogging up the Jews following their latest revolt, he expelled them from the city and renamed the entire region Palestinia*, after the Jews’ long-time enemies the Philistines.
*From the river (Jordan) to the sea (Mediterranean).
Making inferences from a few comments about a person’s beliefs\state of mind is one of the most dishonest forms of rebuttal.
That Duk states there is no solution is in my view too pessimistic but at present there is certainly no foreseeable solution. Why would Egypt want to take over those physical and psychological ruins? That’s never going to happen. There is nowhere for the Palestinians to go. Israel can’t kill them all. If there is a solution it lies beyond Israel and the West. It lies with Islam being diluted into something like the Uniting Church; a collection of beliefs so facile and pointless everyone loses interest. That might take centuries.
For the record, Mohammed went on his visionary Night Journey to Jerusalem on his steed, Buraq.
Buraq was said to be a horse with the face of a human. Which brings me to a question:
I have to ask – what was the role of Jacinta Ardern in all this?
Yes. Pure photoshopped Palliwood.
RF over at Quadrant suggests people count the fingers on that child’s upraised hand.
I’m also a little suspicious at how that dead woman with the beat-up face over whom the six-fingered lad laments has her hijab perfectly and modestly in place, in line with Islamic sensibilities, in spite of the injuries suggesting it would have been torn apart.
I’m not so sure it would take so long. As I opined yesterday, modernity will solve the problem and probably quite quickly once trade and economic specialisation takes hold in an middle-eastern Arab world where Israel is finally recognised. If Israel can finish off Hamas, the prospects might be quite good.
There is also a powder keg of modernity just waiting to explode in Iran.
Those mullahs will die off or be pulled down within twenty years, or sooner.
I am more hopeful than Duk is. Obviously. Maybe a pipe dreamer, but I think people get sick of war, and that they also, quite surprisingly, quite quickly get over war and want to move on.
the stakes are high but I disagree that it’s some sort of mutually exclusive “Islam” or “Israel” sort of thing
one is a belief and the other is a country for a start
as a fig-leaf to the “believe only positive things” crowd, the actual solution is probably gonna require a little more that just wearing the T-shirt
it may get uglier and that’s where political will comes into it
if the world won’t buy the Rah Rah Israel T-shirts
then Israel is in trouble
A good but quite a weighty tome in both intellect and kilograms.
Not bad for a long-haul flight but a little excessive for Syd-Melb-Brisb.
Lizzie modernity may be a solution but yesterday Roger stated that a mark of being a good Muslim is being antisemitic. I accept his judgement on that but it puts the problem in a very different perspective. There are Muslim countries with high levels of education where perhaps Roger’s claim is in doubt. I’d like to see studies in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia to ascertain the degree of antisemitism. Oh dear another rabbit hole, no doubt there are studies on that subject. In the Middle East though it is a perverse form of the Dutch Disease which allows Islam to remain dominant with the majority of the population not exposed to modernity at a conceptual and philosophical level.
I disagree. Israel can and I think will just ignore outside opinion, as they should and as I hope they do. They will play to their own people only. See the Israeli rep to the UN who held up a card with Hamas’ Gaza telephone number and simply said call these people if you want a ceasefire.
Completely put the UN witterers in their place.
Very imaginitive. I haven’t stated either of those.
That’s probably for me. Ok, but later.
At present we can be sure of one thing, the solution aint found here! I like your comment about slogans being useless. Artists and sportspeople please take note. People calling for Israel go all in on Gaza don’t appreciate that Israel alone cannot guarantee its survival. Even the patronage of the USA won’t be enough. A modern state flourishes by being in good relations across many countries.
and I hope they do too
From numerous repeats, not a few comments. And it’s not a rebuttal, it’s a description.
FFS! 10 secs! Not a rabbit hole an open cut mine.
Antisemitism in Southeast Asia: Stories from Jerusalem to Jakarta
How Malaysia Became One of the Most Anti-Semitic Countries on Earth
From a recent visit to Malaysia I’d say anti-Chinese feeling is the strongest anti – and that the government is making huge efforts taking steps to ‘integrate’ all the people into a sense of Malaysian citizenship. Doing well at it from the (admittedly little) we saw.
Islamic preachers and theologians can be quite creative in interpreting the Koran and those elements on which they focus. The main problematic issue is visits from Arabic clergy firing up the usual stuff, but this doesn’t seem to have much purchase yet.
though, you have spent quite a bit of time putting words in other people’s mouths
… you should be careful when you speak mate
Israel can and I think will just ignore outside opinion, as they should and as I hope they do. They will play to their own people only.
The problem with that is that Israel is dependent on military and economic support from the West, the US in particular, and said support is fading (reference the large pro palestine rallies in so many Western Capitals). They might think they can ignore it, but if the western populations tire of supporting Israel, they are screwed.
Napoleon thought that modernity would change Islam. Complete and utter failure.
the situation is fraught and youse better hope like hell it works out
lets just suppose that the snakes get their heads off, the UN is ignored, the united Islamic everybody does sweet FA, and the US sails their ships back home
and that’s all
for now
..
-Times of Israel, July 2020.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/malaysians-start-to-reject-traditionally-virulent-anti-semitism-scholar-says/
Indolent:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/family/mother-heads-to-supreme-court-after-losing-child-to-trans-agenda/ar-AA1lpXjr?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=1712072a07644424b69239d2f7a7ccc6&ei=18
John H, I had a quick look through that second link of yours re Malaysia. I note it was published in 2016. Things have moved on quite a bit since then. We heard a lot about that major corruption scandal and no-one was buying the story that the Jews were behind it. The Saudis and a whole heap of shenanagans in the local political culture were being blamed for it, and most were hopeful that the new President would be able to draw a line under it, and reduce corruption significantly.
that’s a pretty positive story full of truth, hope and justice
… right?
Yep. If the USA goes into isolationism or becomes preoccupied Israel is done for. Even in this conflict it is needing USA support for munitions and probably needs USA support for the military tech as well.
Seriously? The old goat has to be about 100 years old.
The ones in Islam that enforce the social behaviour have read from and actively enforce the decrees from the Koran.
The other 90% of mohammedans are of no consequence and if they show a lack of religious vigour, will be culled.
That’s the reality for people who think Islam can be ‘modernised’. It cannot, unless the radicals are all slaughtered. And that is not going to happen. The rachet of Islamic lunacy only goes one way.
The Israelis get help from the US but the Palestinians get it from the UN and the Europeans and even from our ridiculous govt.
We know that that is why there is continuous conflict in and around Israel. If the UN and the Europeans cut off aid Hamas would be screwed. No serious threat to Israel. Yet another example of why the UN is a canker.
Lizzie, religion is hard to eradicate. When Muslims reach a majority, there will be a reckoning.
Modernity itself is overrated.
Incidentally, I can recall people saying the same thing about Islam in the early 2000s – we’ll eventually win them over with blue jeans, TV short skirts, Coca Cola and rock and roll etc. Their kids will be with us. Nope! Didn’t work, not even close. It didn’t even start to work.
The fact is their culture is far stronger than ours. They appreciate it more. They preserve it. It is laughable to think they want to be like us.
I mean, seriously – do we really know so little about these people that we believe they will come to cherish and worship the ridiculous trinkets of modernity so much that they will abandon what they currently cherish and worship? We must be insane! We don’t even particularly like these trinkets. And, big picture, our culture is degenerate, hyper-indulgent and reeks of terminal decline. They don’t want to be like us and I don’t blame them.
It was thought that the opening of China’s economy would lead to a transformation to peace, love, and harmony. China is now more militant than ever. It was thought that Glasnost would lead to a transformed Russia. That didn’t happen either. When the State controls information and culture modernity will not transform people.
We evolved little beyond bread and circuses. We no longer strive for a better society, we strive for a better holiday, a more prestigious car, a larger house. We assume that the market and consumption will create a better society. Rising rates of depression, anxiety, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, with many of these conditions occurring at earlier ages than in previous decades, together with housing issues, increasing wealth disparity, failing infrastructure, destructive corporate greed, and declining governance, all demonstrate that you are dead right.
John Spooner.
Mark Knight.
Mark Knight #2.
Brett Lethbridge.
Peter Broelman.
Christian Adams.
Michael Ramirez.
A.F. Branco.
Chip Bok.
Steve Kelley.
Henry Payne.
Lisa Benson.
Maybe a simple Yes/No answer would settle the question.
Thanks Tom.
I have to ask – what was the role of Jacinta Ardern in all this?
Well done KD, you magnificent bastard.
It lies with Islam being diluted
It lies with the populations becoming secular.
Unfortunately, the religion is dug in like an Alabama tick.
The notion that a sure way to paradise is by killing people has to be one of the most pernicious, perverse and corrupting doctrines put forward by any religion.
It appears to be unique in the modern world, and it has a fatal attraction for the basest parts of human nature.
As you get older, the questions come down to about two or three. How long? And what do I do with the time I’ve got left?
– David Bowie
An eye watering payrise.
Today’s Tele:
PARAMEDICS HIT JACKPOT
JESSICA WANG
14 Dec 2023
The state government has announced a $500 million wage deal for paramedics, preventing a New Year’s Day shutdown of the triple-0 services.
Months of negotiations with the Health Services Union (HSU) were finally resolved yesterday, as base wages were increased between 11 and 29 per cent, depending on someone’s grade. On average, paramedic pay will increase by 25 per cent.
The decision comes after 2000 paramedics boycotted obligations to renew their professional registrations, which would have prohibited them from working after New Year’s Day. From January 1, the base salary of a year six paramedic will go from $79,737 to $88,082, plus back pay for the last six months.
The base pay of a critical care pandemic will jump from $98,390 to $127,261, while the wage for a specialist year three paramedic will increase from $90,711 to $117,328.
Health Minister Ryan Park said the pay benefits would be accelerated in the first two years of the fouryear pay deal.
“These paramedics will now be able to do a whole of different roles because what we’ve created is a professional structure that provides incentives for people to be able to climb that ladder of clinical improvement,” he said.
“Under these changes, we’re going to see more and more paramedics prevent people going to hospital because they’ll be able to do some of that life saving treatment.”
HSU NSW secretary Gerard Hayes had attacked the government in order to secure the pay increase. “We could not be here to look after the community of NSW without the dedication of our members,” he said.
“The reality is, this will go a long way to keep people in NSW. It will decrease pressure on the hospital system and will encourage more people to be attracted and be retained by NSW Health.”
Yesterday’s wage deal also served as a major test of Labor’s new industrial relations processes, which encourages negotiations between the government and union bodies, said Treasurer Daniel Mookhey. He said the government will assess claims from other bodies seeking increased wages on an independent basis.
“Every essential worker will have a very respectful conversation with us but that doesn’t mean we’re going to agree, and it doesn’t mean we’re going to agree on day one,” he said.
Crisis talks have been ongoing with the government for weeks before a turning point came after a conversations between Mr Hayes and Premier Chris Minns on Monday evening. Mr Park said the premier played a “fundamental” role, and also credited the involvement of the Treasurer and Mr Hayes.
“That type of partnership at the top of the union movement and the top of the government is helpful when you are trying to deal with a very complex award system and you’re trying to reach an agreement,” said Mr Park.
Today’s Tele:
CONTROL IN QUESTION AS MALE VIOLENCE LAW
NEARS
BETTINA – ARNDT
14 Dec 2023
Australia is preparing itself for the next massive attack on men. In the next year or so, new coercive control laws will be rolled out in Queensland and NSW.
A Queensland barrister said lawyers in his state are “awaiting the tsunami” – as the first wave of coercive control allegations hits the courts, and lawyers try to stop men being sent to jail on dubious charges.
An alleged link between coercive control and domestic homicide was used to push through the new laws – despite the fact that this connection was never mentioned in the UK where the laws were introduced in 2015, nor was it claimed by the American feminist Evan Stark, who invented coercive control.
“Let’s not forget that coercive control is the biggest predicting factor in intimate parent homicide,” said the Minister for Women, Shannon Fentiman, when introducing the bill for the new Queensland laws.
Well, the NSW Bureau Of Crime Statistics And Research (BOSCAR) has just thrown a spanner in the works by announcing coercive control doesn’t even predict future violence, let alone domestic homicide.
The researchers used a “text-mining system” to capture behaviour associated with coercive control from 526,787 police reports associated with coercive control, and used this measure to detect/predict domestic violence over the next 12 months.
Result: zero. Coercive control did not predict future violence.
That research was published months ago but naturally it sunk without a trace. No way most of our media was going to report a result which could derail the domestic violence industry’s latest weapon against men.
It’s telling that new coercive control laws are being kept on ice in NSW and Queensland for years as authorities try to ensure the right people – namely men – get charged.
An ABC article just last month grumbled that “Tasmanian police are still mistaking family violence victims for abusers”.
Yes, police are still sometimes charging women instead of men. Shock, horror. This “misidentification crisis” is occurring despite strenuous efforts to train police to only charge men. The article warned that the “crisis” is not isolated to Tasmania.
That is why, even though coercive control laws were passed in NSW last year, everything is on hold while authorities work feverishly placing female officers in police stations across the state who face the thankless task of trying to instruct their fellow officers in identifying the problem and the correct perpetrators. Coercive control is a really slippery little blighter, with experts coming up with no fewer than 22 different definitions when trying to pin down what we are talking about.
But when it comes to this new brand of supposedly solely male villainy, it’s hardly surprising that police officers across the country are finding that, as often as not, it is women who exhibit these behaviours.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has shown men and women are equally likely to experience emotional abuse and control from a partner. It’s encouraging that many of the men and women in blue seem to be resisting the feminist demand that they only charge men.
It is good to see coercive control being subject to scrutiny by researchers. But it is even more important that we look at other aspects of domestic violence law and ask if they are doing their job.
Look at applications for apprehended violence orders, or AVOs, which are now a major part of the workload of magistrates.
A violence protection order was supposed to be a shield rather than a sword. It was supposed to be about protecting a person, usually a woman, from future violence, not a weapon to be used by an angry or disgruntled woman to destroy a man.
How come we so rarely even talk about whether it is doing a good job protecting vulnerable women?
BOSCAR touched on this issue in a recent publication, which concluded that “although they are an integral part of the criminal justice response, there is limited rigorous evidence on the effectiveness of protection orders in improving DV-related outcomes”.
Too right. The evidence base for our massive violence order system has always been mighty thin on the ground. When most of our DV laws were introduced over a decade ago, overseas research on the subject was dismal, mainly based on phone interviews with victims.
Not much has changed, even though there’s now a wealth of Australian research looking at reoffending rates for people on violence orders. With so many violence orders now based on false accusations used in family law battles, it’s nonsensical to suggest breaches tell us anything about the deterrent effect of a violence order, given that breaches are often set up as part of the false accuser’s strategy.
Sky News UK (used in part by Sky News here) sounds just like the BBC.
They all give Israel no quarter and continue to propagate b/s.
Branco gets it, thanks Tom.
“There are Muslim countries with high levels of education where perhaps Roger’s claim is in doubt. I’d like to see studies in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia to ascertain the degree of antisemitism.”
Malaysia doesn’t have a Jewish population however it is an example of a phenomenon called “antisemitism without Jews.”
A prime example of this was former Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad. His Jew hatred was well known. Mahathir once wrote that the “The Jews are not only hooked-nosed, but understand money instinctively. Jewish stinginess and financial wizardry gained them the economic control of Europe and provoked antisemitism which waxed and waned throughout Europe through the ages.”
As for Indonesia, my understanding is that there is a tiny Jewish community but Jew hatred, always nascent, has been on the rise due to increased ‘Islamisation”.
Neither countries have diplomatic relations with Israel. Both countries have high levels of “education”.
I don’t think there is much ‘doubt’ in Roger’s claim.
I’m not the Pollyanna type but seriously you need to step away from the internet for a time.
It’s more they don’t like our culture but they like our stuff.
It is the West that has brought to pass the standard of living that other cultures either enjoy right now or aspire to. Trying to imprint a “big man” or theocratic stamp onto it just hasn’t worked.
Capitalism, democracy, personal liberty, rule of law. They may not be perfectly realised but they are there. Give any of them the flick and the place devolves into chaos and bloodshed.
..
My recent field trip to Melbourne CBD confirms this to me.
The opioid crisis, falling productivity, housing crisis.
I could go on and on. But out there on the ground? It doesn’t look good. I mean it looks ugly.
Tony Abbott has written a long screed in today’s Oz called…
“Conservative funk a matter of self-belief, not ideas.
Here’s a smidgen…
“Our task is less to feel people’s pain than to give them a lead. So let’s have no more climate catastrophism. Let’s have freer domestic markets and freer trade with like-minded countries. Let’s make immigration working class rather than welfare class, and let’s control it and limit it so there’s less downward pressure on wages, upward pressure on housing costs and massive pressure on infrastructure. Let’s stop pandering to leftist propaganda that the world’s best societies, the ones people want to migrate to rather than flee from, are somehow the worst.
Let’s restore school standards and value getting a trade rather than an expensive university degree. Let’s have government working with families, not against them. And, finally, let’s wake up to the fact not all countries and movements have the same respect for human life.””
Nice words, and words none of us here would probably disagree with. But I’m curious, just where were these words when Abbott was PM? I must have been asleep during those years between 2013 and 2015.
Last night I wrote how Chris Minns talks a good talk. This ability to do lots of talking is not confined to one political side. Tony Abbott has always talked a good talk too. But like Minns now does, Abbott’s government never walked the talk.
By the way, when thinking of Abbott’s terminal time as PM, this name popped up a day or two ago on these august pages, former Democrats leader, Natasha Stott Despoja. Remember her? And remember how the newly elected Abbott government, back in 2013, didn’t waste any time in appointing this ghastly woman as Australia’s Ambassador for Women and Girls. Since then, Ms Stott Despoa has been busy, she’s been elected to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Wow, except I’m yet to hear a peep, or a word, or any utterance from Ms Stott Despoja about the sexual violence that was done to Jewish women on 7 October 2023.
But that’s right, #Me too, unless you’re a Jew.
No. He thinks Israel is losing this current war. He has some good ideas but he won’t let facts as they arise move him. His principles are good but his premises are wrong or at best weak.
He thinks Israel is in an existential risks but doesn’t want them to do anything Hamas won’t find provocative. Hamas effectively doesn’t exist anymore. Hezbollah has been deprecated to the level of Kiwi Farm trolling.
Would it be fare to say the populatin of indonesia and Malaysia fear death more then Garzians?
Or like modern trapping?
As for culture?
Whose culture? Virtually no one turned up to the Dylan Mulvaney thing. No one likes the Green poops near the trendy burger place in Perth. Operation Mockingbird is probably real.
My culture is that of a regional city. I’ll never fit in with the urban bugmen.
The only thing holding together some Muslim countries is denominational homogeneity.
Like our culture, which is plastic and imposed, how strong is a culture if it must be imposed?
risks —> crisis
You wouldn’t believe how bad the new Apple AI enabled spellwrecker is. It’s better than before but wants to rewrite sentences randomly. I suspect Billy Bugates has laid some eggs in the code.
A fare point Cassie. But one that that’s bean made by you me and others hundreds of time.
There are no incentives for young men in the west anymore!
Do not get married, de facto or have kids until the laws change.
“Sir, you have chosen a mortgage repayment over a handbag, you are being arrested for precrime homicide.”
When people make benign comments, downticking is mind boggling, discussion is most welcome and appreciated from the mind and heart.
Islamic attitude to Jews is predicated on Mohammed’s life.
He cherry picked monotheism as a uniting faith for the locals and thought that the Jews would be happy to join his new prophetic version. It was mostly bible based with a few regional twists.
The Jews weren’t keen and ignored or attacked emerging Islam.
Jewish traders likely saw it as a new club that they would be excluded from if it took hold.
Mohammed’s life was genuinely in danger, if you take the word of the Koran as literal history, and this fomented a great hatred in his mind for the Jewish locals.
It also explains the bizarre flying horse dream that ties the ancient Jewish capital to his new faith. He sort to claim that the current Jews had departed from the Abrahamic path and he alone was the chosen one.
You cannot fix this problem in Islam. The book cannot be questioned and therefore the hate is locked in.
Calli @6:41 – You’re right, “The West” has brought about all those benefits but the big lie of the socialists which is also embraced by the third world is that western prosperity was because of exploitation. A stupid but widely held view which needs to be contradicted at every opportunity.
Western civilisation is being destroyed from within by forces we can’t control
The horrifying truth about woke ideology has finally been revealed. It gives open support to genocide
Allister Heath
For years now, those of us who warned of the devastating threat posed by the takeover of our institutions by woke ideologues were relentlessly attacked and ridiculed.
There is no such thing as “woke”, we were assured by patronising Left-wingers, just “kind” people who “care” about others and who believe in “social justice”, fighting “prejudice”, “clarifying” history, embracing sexual “self-realisation”, “saving the planet” and promoting the fundamental “equality” of all human beings.
We were right, it turns out, and the centrist dads were spectacularly wrong.
Voters now widely understand that the rise of extreme trans advocacy has led to the mutilation of many children and the erosion of women’s rights.
Yet this is only one small part of the destructive ideological tsunami unleashed by woke fanatics.
Our warnings, if anything, understated the scale of the problem, and in particular the authoritarian, even fascistic, nature of “critical race theory” and “postcolonial theory”, other key components of this demented way of thinking.
Take the West’s best universities, home of what used to be called political correctness.
When questioned by a US Congressional committee, the heads of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology all but refused to confirm that calling for the genocide of Jews would violate the universities’ code of conduct. It would “depend on the context”, they argued.
Remember, these are paranoid places obsessed with “microagressions”, where “truth” is subjective, where strict speech codes are imposed to prevent “offence”, where academics or students can be hounded out for “misgendering” somebody, and where conservative views are often equated with racism.
But when it comes to Jew-hate – and only then – they pretend to believe in free speech. Racism is banned, but not if it is directed at Jews, or white people, or members of any group not deemed worthy of protection.
The double-standards are shocking, but they are not accidental, and they have also corrupted British universities.
The woke ideology divides the world into oppressors and oppressed. Jewish people are classified as “white” or “white adjacent”, and therefore oppressors, and this supposedly gives protesters a green light to chant slogans any objective observer should deem to be supportive of genocide.
In the Middle East, “Intifada revolution” and “from the river to the sea” are unambiguously seen as calls for terrorism and the wiping of Israel from the map, so why do ordinarily ultra-cautious institutions suddenly claim that there might be a more benign meaning?
And why have universities in Britain and America, always so ready to enter the public debate, been so quiet about the horrific rapes of Israeli women?
Is it because they are the “wrong kind” of victims?
It’s a disgusting betrayal, a normalisation of racism with a whiff of the 1930s about it. Universities’ net impact on society is increasingly negative.
The woke mind virus has turned once great centres of learning into indoctrination camps, vehicles to “manufacture consent” for nihilistic ideas and a new obscurantism.
Their absurd hierarchy of victimhood is also why many intelligent people still look up to the morally bankrupt United Nations.
Iran’s envoy has been chairing a UN human rights council meeting, even though the Islamic Republic is a leading human rights violator.
Never mind, the woke extremists argue: it’s a member of the “global south”, fighting against “imperialism”.
Or take the UNRWA for Palestine Refugees:
it’s turned its charges into a perpetual refugee class, robbing them of agency and labelling their towns as permanent “refugee camps”.
Palestinians are the only people for whom refugee status is automatically passed down through the generations, ensuring that their grievances can never be resolved and the UN bureaucracy can keep its gravy train on the road.
This is a tragedy for the Palestinians and makes peace almost impossible.
It is not just the universities that are spreading woke ideas. Greta Thunberg’s environmentalism now appears to be a mere plank of a broader revolutionary movement.
Among other attacks on Israel, she was filmed chanting “crush Zionism” at a rally in Stockholm in November, and has since co-authored an oped for The Guardian claiming Israel has committed “war crimes” and “genocide”, a classic case of moral inversion and victim blaming.
Zionism is the principle that Jews should have their own independent nation state; in practice, those who oppose Zionism today would bring about the violent end of Jewish life in the Middle East.
In just 50 years during the 20th century, almost a million Jews, whose communities stretched back 3,000 years, were ethnically cleansed from nine Arab countries and Iran; far more Jews were expelled than Arabs.
What has Thunberg’s Israelophobia got to do with tackling a technical problem such as global warming?
The answer is everything and nothing: the more extreme green zealots are woke authoritarians who want to wage war on meritocracy, individualism, rationality, capitalism and even modern democracy.
Climate change is just a pretext to foment a broader upheaval.
This is why so many hardcore greens aren’t interested in technological solutions to decarbonisation.
Israel is successful and pro-America: it is thus a “colonialist”, an “oppressor” state that must be destroyed. Hamas, despite being misogynists, racists, homophobes and murderers, are seen by many woke useful idiots as belonging to the “oppressed” coalition and thus not to be criticised.
Thunberg’s allies believe that “there is no climate justice without human rights”. Thus “climate justice” is not about reducing the growth in average temperatures: it is about destroying Israel, fighting against the American dream, eliminating free speech and so on.
“Climate justice” is neither really about climate nor about justice, just as “social justice” is anti-social and unjust.
It can be no coincidence that the rise of wokeism has gone hand in hand with rampant Holocaust denialism among America’s youth.
A YouGov poll reveals that a fifth of young Americans aged 18-29 believe the Holocaust to be a myth, more than twice the number aged 30-44 who suffer from the same delusion.
In the 18-29 demographic, an additional 30 per cent said they did not know if the Holocaust really happened.
Terrifying doesn’t begin to describe it: the woke stormtroopers have unleashed a monster they cannot control.
The USSR fought in Afghanistan and had a military of five million and was lead by some hard core commies along with hardliners in their satellites (within seven years) before its eventual collapse.
There is no guarantee that the CCP will fall but you may be somewhat impatient. China also had the great leap backwards, the Soviets were competing on standards of living in the 1950s and 1960s and the dissent in China troubles the regime. Tang Ping Bai Lan!
With gubbmint and its bureaucrats, their excesses are simply a matter of “what the electorate will tolerate”.
In this dark age people are not tolerant, but a lot of them have just surrendered to the Politburo.
Sort – sought.
I thought that looked wrong.
Also an element of self fulfilling prophecy.
Does someone with copywriting experience want to teach Old Ozzie about what a “hook” is and how to link using html?
Seems to be working alright.
Has been for a few centuries.
Capitalism, democracy, personal liberty, rule of law?
They do have capitalism and rule of law, in fact their rule of law might be different from ours but a lot stronger.
And deviants get a harsher penalty so they obey, mostly, some people can’t help themselves.
Democracy? No
Personal liberty? Sure as long as you abide by the many rules, practically same as us I’d say, so very little.
Does anyone else have the urge to downtick those who complain about downticks?
Nearly 75% of Palestinians say Hamas was right to attack Israel on Oct. 7
When asked who should rule Gaza, 60% of respondents selected the terror group.
(December 13, 2023 / JNS)
Nearly three in four Palestinians believe that Hamas was right in launching its Oct. 7 cross-border attack, in which terrorists savagely murdered more than 1,200 people in Israel and wounded thousands, according to the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.
The Ramallah-based institute polled 1,231 Palestinian adults in the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria between Nov. 22 and Dec. 2. (The margin of error was plus or minus four percentage points, the PSR said.)
The authoritative survey—the second of its kind since Oct. 7—found that 72% of respondents think Hamas was “correct” in carrying out its mass slaughter, while 22% characterized the terrorist group’s decision to attack as “incorrect.”
A whopping 89% of the respondents denied that Palestinian terrorists committed war crimes on Oct. 7, while 95% claimed that Israel breached international law during its defensive operation against Hamas in Gaza.
When asked to rate their satisfaction with various Palestinian actors, Hamas took the lead among the respondents with 72% satisfaction, followed by Hamas chief in Gaza Yahya Sinwar (69%) and the Islamist group’s “political” leader, Ismail Haniyeh (51%).
If Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas would hold an election now, Hamas would receive 51% of the vote while Abbas’s Fatah faction would get the support of 19% of Palestinians.
According to the PSR, more than half believe that Hamas is “the most deserving of representing and leading the Palestinian people today.”
In a presidential runoff between Abbas and Haniyeh, the Hamas leader would receive 78% of the vote; 88% of Palestinians say Abbas needs to resign.
When asked by the PSR which party should rule the Gaza Strip after the Israeli military operation ends, 60% of the respondents selected Hamas.
Only 1% of those surveyed said they were satisfied with the role the U.S. has played in the conflict. In addition, two-thirds expressed opposition to the participation of the P.A. in meetings with the U.S.
Yes.
Perhaps we could have some simple questions for those who seek to come here from the Middle East.
What is your attitude toward Jewish people?
Do you believe that faith is a personal choice?
Are you accepting of other faiths in a community?
If they say yes and sign, then a breach should revoke residency rights.
In defense of Oldozzie, he has the patience to cut & paste AFR columns here.
I could not be bothered as one can not just copy & paste.
You have to go section by section, avoiding 5x the embedded shit you get with the Oz.
And even when you do that, they still have other stuff magically appear in the paste.
And if one is on the iPad, don’t even think about it.
Historically, not many Cats have AFR subscriptions so for all the comments about Oldozzie posting, I thank him for his service.
Dot
Dec 14, 2023 7:06 AM
Does someone with copywriting experience want to teach Old Ozzie about what a “hook” is and how to link using html?
Dot,
Telegraph paywalled & buy a Apple Magic Mouse?
No. But then, I’m a whinger. I prefer a robust argument to spiteful, schoolgirl pranks.
Just me, I suppose.
I think one of Joe Aston’s final columns took me 10mins to post here.
That was when I said enough.
Left over from Dutch colonisation.
I’ve often thought that a few religious jokes should be part of the citizenship test. If you can’t laugh at you own religion then bugger off.
Israelis say Hamas must be crushed despite Gaza casualties, UN rebuke
Israeli citizens said on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) the army should not back off from its unrelenting offensive to crush Hamas, despite the UN General Assembly’s ceasefire call, the growing list of troop casualties and a spiralling Palestinian death toll in Gaza.
Israel’s military suffered one of the deadliest days in the two-month-old Gaza war on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT), with a colonel among 10 soldiers killed, bringing the toll to 115 – almost double the number killed during clashes in the coastal enclave nine years ago.
And with much of the enclave laid to waste, conditions dire and more than 18,500 Palestinians killed in the Israeli army’s air and ground assault, US President Joe Biden said the “indiscriminate” bombing of Gazan civilians was costing Israel international support.
But six Israelis who spoke to Reuters on Wednesday said now was not the time back down, regardless of fading global sympathy reflected in the UN resolution. Polls in recent weeks show overwhelming support for the war despite the rising costs.
Hamas’ killing of about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on October 7 revived something Israel previously felt when Arabs staged a surprise attack in 1973 – fears that its neighbours and enemies could do away with the Jewish nation all together, said political scientist Tamar Hermann.
“The sense of the people is that this is a threat to the very existence of Israel,” said Hermann, of the Israel Democracy Institute, which conducts regular opinion polls on the war. She said that people were prepared for more deaths of soldiers.
Speaking in Jerusalem, retiree Ben Zion Levinger said Israel’s enemies would see any respite in the pursuit of Hamas as a sign of weakness.
“If we don’t take this fight to the end, then tomorrow morning we’ll have battles in the north and in the east and the south and maybe Iran. Therefore, we have no choice,” said Levinger, a former IT worker.
Is Islam problematic or is this a A) “Allah loves diversity” moment or a B) “Islam was right about women” moment?
‘The age of fossil fuels will end’, Bowen says after COP28 win
Hans van Leeuwen – Europe correspondent
Dubai | Labor Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has hailed the outcome of the COP28 climate conference as a “turning point”, which would tell business, investors and markets that “our future is in clean energy and the age of fossil fuels will end”.
Mr Bowen was speaking late on Wednesday (AEDT) after the 198 countries at COP28 unanimously agreed to triple renewable energy capacity worldwide, and to “transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems”.
The tense week of talks had at one point teetered on the brink of collapse, but Mr Bowen said negotiators had turned a potential breakdown into a breakthrough.
The decision could inject momentum into the private sector’s pursuit of clean energy opportunities, and lends international political support to the Albanese government’s domestic efforts to get Australia off gas and coal and into renewables.
Mr Bowen said COP28 had “stepped up”, and he vowed to “take this energy home and put it into action”.
“Australia wants to be a renewable energy powerhouse, we want to create the energy for ourselves, and for our region and for the world. … The COP decision today gives us a very good ecosystem in which to develop that plan,” he said.
“It sends a signal to the world’s markets, investors and businesses that this is the direction of travel for countries right around the world.”
The conference not only gave the government some global cover for its renewables policies, but also backed up Mr Bowen’s acknowledgement that gas will be part of the Australian economy well into the 2030s.
In the COP28 communique, countries “recognise that transitional fuels can play a role in facilitating the energy transition while ensuring energy security”.
This was contentious among green groups at the conference, but Mr Bowen was sanguine.
“Gas does have a role to play as we get to that 82 per cent renewables – that’s reflected in our domestic position, that’s reflected in the global decision as well,” he said.
The communique also unexpectedly made reference to nuclear energy, which is the political passion project of shadow climate change and energy minister Ted O’Brien.
Mr O’Brien has called for Australia to sign up to a declaration by 22 countries at COP28 to triple global nuclear energy capacity, and to step back from a similar declaration to triple global renewables capacity.
Mr Bowen rejected the coalition’s focus.
“Twenty countries signed a nuclear page, more than 120 countries signed a renewable energy pledge, and Ted O’Brien’s big idea to get us into international good company is to join the pledge that 20 people signed and to get out of the pledge that more than 120 people signed,” he said.
The communique also sees a role for carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) technologies, another bugbear of climate activists and the vulnerable Pacific and Caribbean islands.
But like the Albanese government’s policy, the COP28 text suggests CCUS should focus on hard-to-abate sectors and the production of blue hydrogen.
US climate envoy John Kerry said gas and CCUS would play only “a limited and temporary role in facilitating the effort to largely phase out fossil fuels in our energy systems by 2050”.
Some of the criticisms of the COP28 outcome came not just from green groups but from Pacific island leaders, who wanted a much more strongly worded communique than the one presented, which was as far as Saudi Arabia was prepared to go.
Mr Bowen sought to head off any criticism that he had not backed up the Pacific countries’ concerns.
“It is a global consensus, and consensus is difficult to reach. … This decision is not what everybody would have written themselves as they got off the aeroplane. That’s as true in the Pacific as it’s true Saudi Arabia,” he said.
“But it is a clear direction of travel. And for countries that are at the frontline of climate change, their voices are being heard. And as long as we have anything to do with it, they will continue to be heard, and continue to be heard even more loudly.”
Let’s discuss this before the wife wakes up.
Or hold interviews with prospective immigrants from the Middle East in a Synagogue or Church.
Japanese supply chains are the best.
This Christmas period they have had the best record of any country I’ve bought anything from.
So honourable.
No it isn’t.
Egypt and Jordan made peace agreements with Israel. Lots of Muslims living there who seem to accept the situation.
US keeps key interest rate unchanged, sees three rate cuts next year
CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
Washington | The US Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday for a third straight time, a sign that it is likely done raising rates after having imposed the fastest string of increases in four decades to fight painfully high inflation.
The Fed’s policymakers also signalled that they expect to make three quarter-point cuts to their benchmark interest rate next year, fewer than the five envisioned by financial markets and some economists.
The relatively few number of rate cuts forecast for 2024 — which may not begin until the second half of the year — suggest that the officials think high borrowing rates will still be needed for most of next year to further slow spending and inflation.
Still, in a statement it issued after its 19-member policy committee met Wednesday, the Fed said that “inflation has eased over the past year, but remains elevated.” It was the first time since inflation first spiked that the Fed has formally acknowledged progress in its fight against accelerating prices.
The Fed also provided a hint that its rate cut efforts may be over, saying it is now considering whether “any additional” hikes are needed.
The Fed kept its benchmark rate at about 5.4 per cent, its highest level in 22 years, a rate that has led to much higher costs for mortgages, auto loans, business borrowing and many other forms of credit. Higher mortgage rates have sharply reduced home sales.
Spending on appliances and other expensive goods that people often buy on credit has also declined.
So far, the Fed has achieved what few observers had thought possible a year ago:
Inflation has tumbled without an accompanying surge in unemployment or a recession, which typically coincide with a central bank’s efforts to cool the economy and curb inflation.
Though inflation remains above the Fed’s 2 per cent target, it has declined faster than Fed officials had expected, allowing them to keep rates unchanged and wait to see if price increases continue to ease.
At the same time, the government’s latest report on consumer prices showed that inflation in some areas, particularly health care, apartment rents, restaurant meals and other services, remains persistently high, one reason why Fed Chair Jerome Powell is reluctant to signal that policymakers are prepared to cut rates anytime soon.
On Wednesday, the Fed’s quarterly economic projections showed that its officials envision a “soft landing” for the economy, in which inflation would continue its decline toward the central bank’s 2 per cent target without causing a steep downturn.
The forecasts showed that the policymakers expect to cut their benchmark rate to 4.6 per cent by the end of 2024 — three quarter-point reductions from its current level.
The Fed is the first of several major central banks to meet this week, with others also expected to keep their rates on hold.
Both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England will decide on their next moves Thursday.
The Allister Heath article posted above by Old Ozzie says it all. Western culture is under attack not only by its global enemies, but from within by the culture of “Woke”.
The latter is probably far more destructive than we yet have come to understand. It infiltrates almost every issue we seem to face. More significantly, it is nurtured by a greater part of the teaching community in our schools today.
Woke is a stupid concept which ignores, indeed attacks, the amazing achievements of western culture which has been built upon the intellectual antecedents of the classical cultures of the ancient Mediterranean. My old teacher Edwin Judge used to say that the two great mentors of our culture were Athens & Jerusalem.
I have to confess that I am pessimistic about the future. My husband tells me I must stop this “doom & gloom”. But the signs are writ so clearly that it is hard to see the daylight. Maybe this crisis in Israel is the great test we face. If we abandon a nation that has so far triumphed against all odds, then we may face a greater debacle than we can imagine.
Hans Mahncke
@HansMahncke
This is so bad.
@nytimes doctored what Hunter said today, leaving out the key word. Wow.
NYT: “Let me state as clearly as I can: My father was not involved in my business.”
Hunter: “Let me state as clearly as I can: My father was not *financially* involved in my business.”
https://x.com/HansMahncke/status/1735003655697244308?s=20
The NYT is a disgrace.
Past Is Prologue
Is America Becoming France of 1940?
Decades of emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion over combat readiness have taken their toll.
When Hitler invaded France in 1940, the conventional wisdom was that the French had the best military in Europe.
This was despite Germany’s crushing victory over Poland and several other powers considered to be second rate by most military observers.
The disastrous rout of the French army along with its British allies came as a devastating surprise to the free world.
Although there is no consensus about a single factor underlying the French failure, most historians seem to agree that there were several contributing causes.
Unfortunately, all of them seem to be present in American society and its military today. As Mark Twain supposedly said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”
The points of intersection between France in 1940 and the United States in the first quarter of this century are disturbing.
At the strategic level, France in in the 1930s was as deeply divided between the left and the right as America is today.
The extreme Left favored Soviet Communism; the far Right admired what Hitler had done to Germany and Mussolini to Italy — it wanted to take France in a fascist direction. Most on the left and right were not quite as extreme, but this split drove everything, including military strategy, doctrine, and training.
The second strategic driver was the horrific casualty count of World War II, which impacted France much more than Germany, as the latter had started and ended World War I with an advantage in population. Casualty avoidance in war dictated French strategy almost as much as it drives Americans today.
Those two factors heavily influenced French operational and tactical art — or lack thereof — in the 1940 campaign.
The French mindset was defensive and reactive, and the country put too much faith in technology. French tanks, aircraft, and artillery were generally superior to that of the Germans but were not used in an integrated manner, as was the case with the German Blitzkrieg.
If my grandkids surf club is indicative, and I believe it is, the commos in the Association who are demanding that pervertery be imposed on clubs are in a lot of trouble.
Surf clubs are made up of straight suburban parents and long term lifesavers. This ain’t pronoun territory.
Any boy who appears in the girls change room at our club would have a possy of fit young mums quickly rearrangeing his thinking.
Apparently members are already demanding a general meeting. Good.
Egypt and Jordan made peace agreements with Israel. Lots of Muslims living there who seem to accept the situation.”
They’re what is best described as “cold” peace agreements, perhaps the better word is “freezing” peace agreements but still they’re peace agreements.
However I don’t think the average ‘Joe Mohamad’ on the streets of Amman or Cairo support the peace agreements.
Operation Mockingbird is almost certainly real.
Dot
Dec 14, 2023 7:23 AM
Seems to be working alright.
Has been for a few centuries.
I must be a bit dim, quite possible, but I don’t get this comment.
Your question was about the stability of the muslim countries, based on being homogeneous, slash tribal, did help.
That is all I said.
There were always infighting on sectarian grounds and also territorial grounds, like the Ottoman empire, but the tribes and sects always remained the core identifier of their community..
Donate to Gaza!
https://twitter.com/TheMossadIL/status/1734962161200275821
just where were these words when Abbott was PM?
they were his unwritten novel whilst member then PM .. kept in reserve for the day(s) he had a full PM parliamentary rip-off and the sinecure of the international talk-fest circuit to pad things out ……
Nowadays he can waffle on about anything and know the moolah will keep rolling in without having to configure the vote-herd into his lifestyle ……….
Parliament provides the entree for the “trough” but the gab-fest table hosts the main course …..
A lucky, lucky man when you consider the calibre of his peers .. Kevni, Juliar, Mal-odious, Bradbury & Luigi …… it would take some doing to be bested by any of those .. LOL!
Bloody hell, I’ve been waiting all week to watch Saint Lisa.
I’ve got the popcorn ready but I’ve been asked to help with something today that I can’t say no to.
FMD.
I’ll have to watch the play back on YT this afternoon.
This is like leaving the cricket early & missing the underarm ball.
Arky
Dec 14, 2023 6:43 AM
The opioid crisis, falling productivity, housing crisis.
Talking of opoids, ‘unintended consequences’ and/ or ‘buyers regret,’
this in the Paywallian:
Portland allowed heroin use: it now admits experiment is a bust
By KEIRAN SOUTHERN
13 DEC 2023
THE TIMES
When Oregon voted to decriminalise possession of hard drugs such as heroin, cocaine and crystal meth three years ago, campaigners hailed the move as a brave step towards ending the failed war on drugs.
Yet hope has given way to a grim realisation that the policy appears to have failed, with soaring overdose deaths and the state’s biggest city, Portland, suffering from crime and squalor.
Now, Oregon’s Democratic Governor has announced proposals to roll back on sections of the much-heralded Measure 110 and ban public drug use in the city.
The move, prompted by overdoses and an exodus of businesses from central Portland, represents a significant blow to the harm reduction movement, which will sting even more for having been introduced in one of the most liberal US states.
Tina Kotek, the Governor, said a statewide fentanyl emergency must be declared, including greater police powers to crack down on dealers. It is an attempt to restore a sense of safety for residents and to bring back businesses.
However, it was Ms Kotek’s call to ban public drug use that captured the most attention. Critics of Measure 110, the first US program to decriminalise drug possession, say it has had a disastrous effect. It is illegal to drink alcohol on the streets of Portland but a common sight in the downtown area is homeless people smoking fentanyl, the deadly synthetic opioid that is fuelling America’s overdose crisis. Business owners say visitors fear walking city streets because of the flagrant drug use.
When asked if a public ban on drug use would amount to recriminalisation, Ms Kotek said: “What we found from Measure 110 is there was an unintended consequence of lack of clarity for what it means for public use. We don’t allow the public use of alcohol, and I don’t think we should allow the public use of drugs either.”
The admission of failure comes just two months after the ACT became the first Australian jurisdiction to decriminalise small amounts of illicit drugs such as cocaine, heroin, ice and MDMA.
Measure 110 directed Oregon’s cannabis tax revenue towards drug addiction treatment while decriminalising “personal use” amounts of illicit narcotics. Possession of less than a gram of heroin, for example, is subject only to a ticket and a maximum fine of $US100 ($152).
Parts of the law have been mocked by critics. Those caught in possession can have the citation dismissed by calling a 24-hour hotline.
However, in the first year after the law took effect in February 2021, only 1 per cent of people who received court orders for possession sought help, auditors found.
Perhaps most damning of all for Measure 110 has been the overdose figures. Supporters of harm reduction – which involves taking a more lenient approach to users, including giving users clean needles – said decriminalisation would lead to fewer deaths.
However, estimates from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention show that among the states reporting data, Oregon had the highest increase in synthetic opioid overdose fatalities when comparing 2019 and the year ending June 30, 2023. Deaths surged from 84 to more than 1100.
Those in favour of decriminalisation say those statistics do not tell the full story. “When we push (drug use) back into the criminal system, it pushes people back into the shadows,” Tera Hurst, executive director of the non-profit organisation Health Justice Recovery Alliance, told The New York Times.
“People will die because of this.”
Among Ms Kotek’s recommendations to revive Portland, which were announced after reviewing the work of a task force this year, are plans to expand the city’s homeless shelter capacity. Officials also want to declare a moratorium on new taxes. The plans require approval from the state legislature.
The Times
This reminds me of that quote, attributed to Harold McMillan about the worries of a PM, to which he is said to have replied “events, dear boy, events”.
The thing about the future is none of us, including the great minds, really know which way we are headed and how it will pan out.
Next year is a presidential election. There’s the worry about voter fraud but most/all of the polls ant the moment are in Trump’s favour, unlike in 2020. If Trump wins, the world will be on a very different trajectory to its current course. Now, it’s true, he’ll only have 4 years, but a lot can be achieved in that time, given that he completed his apprenticeship through 2016-2020.
Then, there’s technology – the West can and has changed the world over and over. There’s no reason to expect that won’t continue.
What about Musk taking over Twitter; who would have thunk it just a year ago? But what a magnificent change it has been! And now Musk and the bloke who owns Rumble are combining in a case to take the fight on free speech further. (As an aside, the end of Q&A and The Drum, which more than suggests a general move against the left here).
As someone up thread pointed out Iran’s people are not happy with the mullahs and want to rid themselves of theocracy. And while I agree with OCO that there is much decadence in the West such as coca-coa and tattoos, what underpins them is the real prize – freedom – which is a magnificent blessing to live under. Here, as elsewhere in the Western world – the pandemic has reminded us that our freedoms are neither to be taken for granted, nor to be removed by politicians.
The Argentinians, the Dutch, and New Zealand have all turned to the right. For the Argentinians, it’s going to be hard but they’ve got no other choice and the new president is showing guts in starting quickly and decisively – and not in the way that Jim Hacker would understand it.
While anyone who thinks the British will be back in the EU any time soon is mistaken. In fact imho their next move will be to get out of the European Court of Justice because of the migrant debacle, which will be a major turning point across the entire continent. As more EU countries turn right will they just look with envy on the UK or want to do the same thing?
Here, I think it’s much better than an even money bet that Luigi’s govt is gone in 18 months, with or without him still at the helm.
The high cost of power and fuel, plus inflation, and the backlash over ruinables wrecking everything everywhere is not just a cause of concern here. COP28 and the UAE leader has told people like Kerry and Bowen and the EU to take a hike. That’s world stage stuff in the same way the Dutch farmers just have explained it to Rutte. And as are the US car makers looking to do.
Then we’ve got the prospect of the normal natural disasters that occur from time to time. I’m in no way suggesting my liking or wanting people to suffer from anything, but in the normal course of events these things do happen, which can put back the plans of this or that dictator.
Cultural realities impose constraints as well, which can dampen possibilities- see the consanguinity problem that is rife in the ME. That is not to say that large numbers of the intelligence deficient are not a major risk for those they surround, but without intellectual ability leading to economic fruitfulness things do tend to fall apart.
The attacks in Israel, their ferocity and the numbers of vocal supporters in the west, has shown that the risk is to all of us, everywhere. But it has moved big donors to the well-endowed east coast universities of the US, that their support is at an end if their concerns are not met. And yesterday the first university president has gone.
It was heartening to see so many people marching in London and in Paris in support of Israel and against those who would support terror. Yes they are supporting Israel because they are, like us, appalled at the barbarity. But they, like we, know that we do because we must. Though none of it will be smooth sailing.
I started with words attributed to Harold McMillan, I end with Churchill’s great speech in 1940 to the Commons:
Egypt and Jordan made peace agreements with Israel. Lots of Muslims living there who seem to accept the situation.
Like “vote-herds” anywhere..! Australia voted YES to a Gaza ceasefire in the UN …
Where was the vote-herd consultation/consideration or blackout Blow-in spending $billions on his pie-in-the-sky dreamtime timetable .. or “Jim” telling us life id good enjoy it we’ve a surplus so you can eat cake! .. wher ethey always are .. filed under..
election dun & dusted no interest in the mug voter for another 3 years .. & by then they’ll have moved on ..
For proof that the news media have become addicted to “fear porn” – just watch the morning TV coverage of cyclone (now downgraded) Jasper in Qld.
A fare point Cassie. But one that that’s bean made by you me and others hundreds of time.
Spellchecker time please.
‘bern at 7:45.
Pity to miss Toad’s last TV appearance.
It’s tough when the warm-up act bombs.
I wonder if she will go the full Llewellyn.
I thought he might give the smartarse Adam Bandit “Google it” response to some questions.
Hilarious when asked about eleventh hour ambush “right of reply” questions to the stitch-up targets he said, “That’s not how j’ism works”.
I think Justice Lee has heard enough media defamation trials to know that the email at 4:55 pm on Friday is exactly how it works.
Llewellyn’s other great zinger was that “The Perject is a highly respected program” and left it hanging as if he was expecting “Oh, righto. No further questions then, Yer ‘Onner.”
Well, well…incoming QLD premier Steven Miles has frozen car rego fees and all but announced that the $2.7b Gabba rebuild for the Olympics will not be going ahead (probably Cameron Dick’s decision).
Not quite the cancellation of the games and across the board reduction of gov’t fees I suggested would see him outflank the colourless Crisafulli but a welcome initial roll back of Palaszczuk’s legacy (the next phase of which should be youth justice).
I don’t think Anna will be getting that plum Olympics job either.
(These are observations, not an endorsement, btw.)
Not so sure. In the great tradition of governments everywhere, the decision has been duck shoved to an “independent” Olympic Infrastructure Commission, so the government can hand on heart go “it weren’t us give, the independent umpire says we need it”.
You’d think they’d come up with a better method of draining water out of air tanks than just a push valve.
The current method involves a pull cord hooked to the valve and then clouds of oily water vapour drenching you as you wait for clean air to come.
duncanm
Dec 14, 2023 7:39 AM
Donate to Gaza!
Yes as Paul Gascoigne needs all the help he can get. More money for the booze too.
10-year-old acquitted over attempt to ram police vehicle with stolen car, police criticised
A West Australian magistrate has acquitted a 10-year-old boy who tried to ram a police vehicle with a stolen car and accused officers of acting improperly and failing to prove the boy knew his actions were wrong.
Michelle Ridley handed down her decision in the Kununurra Children’s Court on Tuesday and Wednesday, a more detailed written version of her judgement was provided to the ABC.
Magistrate Ridley found that on May 5 the boy led police on a dangerous chase in a stolen car through Kununurra’s streets, during which speeds of 100 kilometres an hour were reached.
The boy’s vehicle careened on and off the road, including along footpaths and into drainage ditches.
At one point he drove head-on at a patrol car and forced officers to drive off the road, narrowly avoiding a potentially fatal crash.
The boy was initially accused of a crime spree involving more than 30 offences, but most of those charges were dropped at the beginning of his trial late last month.
The boy has already been acquitted, due to a lack of evidence, over his alleged involvement in a burglary days after the police car ramming.
‘Insufficient regard’
The case ultimately focused on the boy’s state of mind in relation to the ramming and his ability to comprehend the severity of his actions.
Magistrate Ridley’s decision canvassed complex legal arguments to do with his capacity to understand what he did was wrong, which is a legal requirement for children aged 10 to 14.
‘Naughty and mischievous’
Magistrate Ridley said the police interview and other evidence in the case showed the boy knew right from wrong but she questioned his ability to grasp the severity of his actions.
“I am not satisfied he understands what he did in the offences is morally or seriously wrong, rather than just naughty and mischievous,” she said.
Dot:
I think you’re wrong about the Hamas part and finding any action provocative – but I can’t speak for the Duck.
For myself, Hamas finds even the existence of Israel a provocative act. The issue here is that Iran just moves from one terrorist group to another attacking Israel then using utterly useless ‘negotiations’ to stall for time to rebuild each.
The UN is an essential part of this eternal warfare cycle.
My opinion is that Israel leaves the UN, and announces that the next time it is attacked by Iran or an Iranian proxy, it will utterly destroy Iran with its nuclear weapons. And any attempt to punish Israel for doing so will lead to a nuclear escalation against those powers.
It has very little choice any more – it must stop the cycles of terrorism and remove the cause.
Israel cannot survive these endless wars, it must draw a big red line in the sand and stick with it.
Western civilisation is being destroyed from within by forces we can’t control
The horrifying truth about woke ideology has finally been revealed. It gives open support to genocide
Allister Heath
This article says it all. Western culture is under attack not only by its global enemies, but from within by the culture of “Woke”.
The latter is probably far more destructive than we yet have come to understand. It infiltrates almost every issue we seem to face. More significantly, it is nurtured by a greater part of the teaching community in our schools today.
Woke is a stupid concept which ignores, indeed attacks, the amazing achievements of western culture which was built upon the intellectual antecedents of the classical cultures of the ancient Mediterranean. The two great mentors of are cultures were Athens and Jerusalem.
I have to confess that I am pessimistic about the future. I am told I must stop they “doom and gloom”. But the signs are writ so clearly that it is hard to see the daylight. Maybe this crisis in Israel is the great test we face. If we abandon a nation that has so far triumphed against all odds, than we may face a greater debacle than we can imagine.
To be accurate, I reported that claim, which has recently been made by Ayaan Hirsi Ali and a Muslim writer at Tablet (whose article I will have to dig up) with accounts of their experiences growing up in what we would call “moderate” & well to do Muslim homes.
I am not inclined to doubt their experiences.
One of the crucial mistakes contemporary Westerners without any real experience of other cultures make is to assume that everyone is as tolerant as we are.
Johnny Rotten
Dec 14, 2023 8:05 AM
A fare point Cassie. But one that that’s bean made by you me and others hundreds of time.
I think it’s an affectation he can spell when he wants to, he nearly admitted such.
It would be good if Sky could appoint a USA based reporter who’s not a “never Trumper”.
We can get the “hard treatment of Trump and soft treatment of Dems” sort of trash from any of the other networks.
Any reporter who says how many charges Trump is facing without commenting on how rubbishy and politically driven they are is not worth employing, not worth listening to.
There is a better way.
Get the missus to do it.
The Stupidity fo the West!
As Pakistan deports those who disproportionately bomb civilians, Germany welcomes them with open arms
When a society that’s predominantly Sunni Muslim doesn’t even want another group of Sunni Muslims included in the mix, you’d think that would be a bit of a “red flag” for Western governments—but apparently Germany just can’t get it right, and the European country is welcoming the likely–to-be-terrorists with open arms. (According to the U.S. Department of State, Afghanistan is 80% Sunni; Pakistan has a nearly 97% Muslim population, with most belonging to the Sunni sect.)
From an item at Remix News at few days back:
The first flight of 188 Afghan migrants expelled from Pakistan for living in the country illegally has arrived in Leipzig as the German federal government vows to accept vulnerable Afghans who don’t wish to return to their Taliban-governed homeland.
According to Zeit Online, the charter flight that touched down in Germany this week from Islamabad was the first of its kind since the Pakistani government announced in October that it was adopting a mass deportation program for an estimated 1.7 million Afghan illegal migrants from the country citing national security.
The move was announced after new data revealed a majority of suicide bombings in Pakistan this year were carried out by Afghan nationals.
Back in 2017, a woman named Dr. Cheryl Benard penned an essay that reinforced the disproportionate prevalence of violence within the Afghan population—Benard spent much of her career working on issues related to refugees, and was formerly a “program director in the RAND National Security Research Division.”
From her report, published by The National Interest:
Afghans stand out among the refugees committing crimes in Austria and elsewhere. Why?
In 2014, when waves of refugees began flooding into western Europe, citizens and officials alike responded with generosity and openness. Exhausted refugees spilled out of trains and buses to be met by crowds bearing gifts of clothing and food, and holding up placards that read “Welcome Refugees.”
There was one development that had not been expected, and was not tolerable: the large and growing incidence of sexual assaults committed by refugees against local women. These were not of the cultural-misunderstanding-date-rape sort, but were vicious, no-preamble attacks on random girls and women, often committed by gangs or packs of young men.
Most of the assaults were being committed by refugees of one particular nationality: by Afghans.
Benard’s essay is rife with examples, detailing assault after assault, and even acknowledges the very clear and inarguable “pattern” that emerged once the “correlation became so dramatic” the media was forced to report on an assailant’s country of origin.
Either my writing style is too obscure for you to understand, or you are being deliberately obtuse.
When “Israel goes away”, does that include that the population “goes away” in some sort of grand Final Solution, or does it mean that the state of Israel ceases to exist, and the population is moved elsewhere? The difference is significant.
At no point have you offered any thoughts on this dilemma, despite being asked multiple times. Is this question clear enough for You?
Do you have any thoughts on the subject, or is it reasonable to assume that you simply don’t care about the lives of millions of Israelis (and possibly very many Israeli Arabs as well)?
We’ll see, Dio.
Looking at it purely politically, there are three issues they need to neutralise to have a chance of being re-elected:
the unpopularity of the Olympics
cost of living (in as much as they can address this at the state level)
youth justice (or the lack thereof)
“Western civilisation is being destroyed from within …” (thanks Vicki)
This is true, but for the most part we get current affairs commentary which has no sense of the seriousness of the situation, and instead harps on about “how ridiculous all this is”.
Oh, Joe Biden fell down again! Universities endorse transgenderism and anti-Israelism!
What’s to be done about that southern border? Look at all those grubby homeless encampments!
Most are fiddling while the USA burns.
At last, a (reasonably) direct answer. They move or die (Do you seriously think that they could live as dhimmis in the current MIddle East?). At least in the 1948 movefrom the Arab nations to Israel, they had somewhere to go to, but you now seem rather too comfortable with the end of that option.
My mate in NZ tells me Luxon is as useless as our SFL, he was all for the jab and lockdowns. There was no difference between horseface and him.
I am caring? for a pal’s three Kelpies while he is OS.
It is definite that I will not survive the experience. They are working dog energy bombs.
They have never been on the lead so taking them for walks isn’t possible. So it’s into the truck and down to the beach until they exhaust themselves herding all of the civilised suburban dogs. Occasionally a Border Collie will join them resulting in absolute chaos breaking out.
I just sit on the dune and pretend that it has nothing to do with me. They eventually come back with their sparkling eyes and thugs grin. It is then a case of kidnapping them into the truck before they decide to go again. They would happily run all day.
The Mossad twitter is brilliant. Pull no punches, you’re dealing with monsters, so poke Hamas’ tail into its maw and whip it on down!
I’m surprised that Israel at large doesn’t make more of its pro-Israel arabic citizens, like these actors (got no audio- assume they’re not US?), and its arabic parliamentarians. Like Jacinda Price becoming the face of deboonking The Voice, they could make a lot of the fact that Israel has an effectively “multicultural” citizenry, much as I hate the word- “visually heteroracial” is what it means.
..
Huge engines in those dogs.
That’s more like it.
Two derros in a park across the road from me in the Brisvegas CBD, doing methed-up slow-motion Peter Garrett impersonations at the traffic.
Until 1019 last night Duk simply obfuscated about the fate of the Israeli population should his feared scenario come to pass. His actual conclusion (“they either move or live as dhimmis or die”) might be true, but showed little understanding of or sympathy for the human reality.
This seems a bit of stretch. They could destroy Iran’s nuke programme and regime guards with conventional airstrikes.
Which is why I’ve been saying for a few weeks now it should treat aggressors as future annexations until aggression towards them stops.
Nice one Bons!
-lose the “truck” though, unless you’re seriously in an eighteen wheeler
dopey
That may be correct, but how many of their young men went on Jihad to the Gaza Strip and Lebanon?
Not much point in signing a peace deal with Israel then sending your soldiers to fight them from another country.
Chaser star Julian Morrow suffers devastating High Court blow after suing a colleague who described him as Lord Voldemort: ‘Ridiculous farce and massive own goal’
…could set him back more than $2.5million in legal costs.
Idiot.
Daily Mail
The schadenboner some people here have for Muslim societies is perplexing.
“We need to be just like them, but absolutely no Muslims here…”
It’s more perplexing than the “Islam was right about wahmen” troll.
“The High Court declared Julian Morrow was proven guilty of being Lord Voldemort beyond the civil standard of proof…see more of Channel 9 and Stan!”
Julian Morrow called Dr Carl and Nobody’s Girl as supporting witnesses.
Doomed to fail.
It had to happen. Off the cliff and round the bend crazy. These idiots are talking about human breathe but every living creature breathes and every plant thanks them for it.
Now scientists say BREATHING is bad for the environment: Gases we exhale contribute to 0.1% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions
I don’t know if this has any direct bearing on this, but it probably goes some way towards explaining the general lunacy.
The Truth About Adrenochrome
Oooh there’s Chrysanthou knocked back in that Tenured ABC Blueblood bunfight
…shows there’s only one winner, that’s the silks
I doubt she’s a “no win, no fee” type
“Indolent
Dec 13, 2023 10:50 PM
Why won’t our intelligence agencies investigate the origins of the coronavirus?
Because they know it was cooked up in a lab?”
So, they have isolated the Covid 19 strain have they?
I was unaware of this.
The good news of course, from the 2020-2023 period, is that somehow, they eradicated the flu.
Every cloud, ……
My best friend from NZ uni days says much the same.
He’s a big fan of the new Winston Peters. I know Peters gets a bit of stick here but he says he is genuinely contrite re Ardern and wants to keep the bastards honest.
Is it possible to be “anti-Semitic adjacent”?
Or an incipient anti-Semite?
Can you overdose on Joe Vialls?
So many questions.
They have never been on the lead so taking them for walks isn’t possible. So it’s into the truck and down to the beach until they exhaust themselves herding all of the civilised suburban dogs. Occasionally a Border Collie will join them resulting in absolute chaos breaking out.
I just sit on the dune and pretend that it has nothing to do with me. They eventually come back with their sparkling eyes and thugs grin. It is then a case of kidnapping them into the truck before they decide to go again. They would happily run all day.
The image just made my day! We would love a kelpie up on the farm – but our jaunts back to Sydney – where we have insufficient perimeter fences – make it impossible.
“My opinion is that Israel leaves the UN, and announces that the next time it is attacked by Iran or an Iranian proxy, it will utterly destroy Iran with its nuclear weapons. And any attempt to punish Israel for doing so will lead to a nuclear escalation against those powers.”
Are you suggesting that somehow, Iran is behind the 7th Oct attack Winston.
That, is highly improbable, ….., in fact I will say incorrect.
They were as surprised as anyone else, because Iran has little, if anything, to do with Hamas.
The second sentence is also, ….., interesting.
What do you think Russia would do, if Israel attacked Iran?
Sit back and say, ……, “fair cop tovarich!”
Great post BBS – a little bit of hope and optimism is certainly needed at present.
From the article I referred to earlier:
‘Consider the ideological milieu in which many Arabs and Muslims have been raised, including me. Growing up as a Muslim in Egypt, the concept of Palestine was never a geopolitical issue; it was a deeply ingrained part of our collective moral identity, the unifying element of both our religious and secular Arab nationalism. It was, and remains, a cause that resonated with us politically, socially, and spiritually, often approaching a fervor that defies rationality. This emotional charge, embedded in the political and religious narratives of much of the Arab Muslim world, has made rubbish of the idea that the Palestinian cause is merely based on anti-Zionism rather than antisemitism.’
The Savage Nihilism of ‘Free Palestine’
Hussein Aboubakr Mansour
The firehose of disinformation continues to ejaculate everywhere.
My brother’s purebred Kelpie cattle dog (liberated from a cage in a paddock on the plains west of Geelong) takes him for a 5km run daily.
A sign of good breeding — she never fights other dogs. Instead, Lara has designated waves at the beach as the enemy to be attacked and brought down. Gorgeous dog and, like all kelpies, super-fit.
The good news of course, from the 2020-2023 period, is that somehow, they eradicated the flu.
Every cloud, ……
Not so. There have been some serious outbreaks of influenza in Sydney at least in the past 6 months. A friend was hospitalised with it, and her husband also pretty ill.
There has also been “a coughing thing” that has been raging – although I suspect it is the latest Covid strain which is not being identified, because few people are bothering to test for Covid.
Why should we be surprised? The governments locked everyone up during the critical past few seasons (particularly, as a doctor recently commented to me – the children) – thus preventing the development of normal immunity.
Iran boosting.
That’s a new one for the “trad Christians” to preach.
Oh STFU, you stinking incontinent syphilitic illegitimate geriatric corruptocrat cretin.
Go have a nap and dream about showering with your pre-pubescent daughter.
He could have died from shame, too.
If Luxon’s no different then you vote ACT or leave.
Yes, good info you have there re Malaysia, Arky.
Agrees with what we found this year, 2023.
what a pile of gibberish
this bloody joint has become like a kindergarten
why don’t you just ask what the bloke thinks?
I wouldn’t be too sanguine about Malaysia.
PM Anwar recently led a mass protest in which he decried Israel as exhibiting “the height of barbarism in this world.” There has been no condemnation of the Hamas atrocities from his government.
If there is one thing that unites Malays, it’s “anti-Zionism”.
Delusional doesn’t even begin to describe this inbred utter forking lunatic.
For my sins I had a look through some of the MYEFO* yesterday. There’s an entire section on this country becoming a “roonable energy superpower”, which will be wonderful news for everyone when petrol is increasingly scarce and/or unaffordable and we’re blessed with frequent blackouts leavened with eye wateringly exorbitant electrickery and gas bills.
If this cretinous clown collective isn’t a one term government, then god help us all.
*Any resemblance to reality within the document being entirely accidental, unintentional or coincidental.
Local malcontents getting fitted with wooden overcoats by the IDF
might be one of those synergy things.
Rufus:
If you believe Iran isn’t behind the attacks on Israel, you’re stupider than you make out.
Israels back is against the wall. The threat must be great enough that that the major powers actually pull their fingers out and deal with Iran, rather than let Israel get continually thumped while they sit back and wring their hands with anguish.
If you’ve got a better idea, then put it up here so I can laugh at your naivety.
If Israel gets pushed too hard, and looks like they will be massacred again, they WILL take the Samson option.
“Never Again” isn’t just some pissweak advertising slogan designed to sell toasters – they mean it.
I think the phrase “Jew baiting” was used here a couple of days ago.
Seems apt in some cases.
Jesus wept.
How many times can this grifter re-brand himself as “the courageous independent”?
Bespoke does this too, sometimes to a completely ridiculous extent. Long ago he admitted that he could spell perfectly well. If he can’t, then a spell-check works.
I think he pretends to be illiterate to diss people he dislikes, particularly if they are notably quite literate types.
Ra z:
It’s called “filler”. As in, ‘what can we fill up these pages with?’
From the Oz …
The Toad’s best defence is to claim she was merely an autocue-activated bot who acted in good faith and was kept in the dark and misled by Llewellyn et al.
That would involve eating some pride, so …
Sigh!
I’m always amazed that people take what I say seriously. I don’t even take what I am seriously.
– David Bowie
Different language, but same effect, as Labor in Australia. For Malaysia this is a response to a set of Arab and leftist Western war propaganda; it wasn’t like that earlier this year in Malaysia. As here, it will calm down once Israel ousts Hamas.
And where does that spring from?
This is where I disagree with Hussein Mansour (quoted upthread), who rejects antisemitism as a dead end for Muslims.
The origin of Muslim antisemitism is not Europe but the Quran and its traditional interpretation.
Hasent kicked off yet, but heres the link for the cane toads appearance in the defamation trial today.
Countdown says about 40 minutes to go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zJm5PB3JAQ
Correct, Sancho. Bespoke does that little number too.
A pain in the particulars, it is.
To give you an idea of where she is starting from…
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/dec/13/network-ten-producer-tells-bruce-lehrmann-defamation-trial-he-did-not-have-proof-of-some-claims-in-explosive-brittany-higgins-story
Lisa Wilkinson believed The Project had an “explosive political story” after being pitched an “extraordinary cover-up”, but her producer has admitted in court he did not have proof of some of the key claims.
The Project claimed in a 2021 broadcast that Brittany Higgins was “forced to choose between her career and the pursuit of justice” after she was allegedly raped in 2019 by a Liberal staffer on senator Linda Reynolds’ couch in Parliament House.
Leaving aside Bruce Lehrmann for now, I cannot see how Fiona Brown and Linda Reynolds will not earn a fortune in damages. Poor Fiona Brown should wake up one day to a huge cheque from Ch 10 under her door and a sorry note. Ch 10 executives will already be deciding how many zeroes to put on the cheque. The ABCess and assorted others will be consulting counsel as well I would think. Unless they can just say, look Ch 10 said it’s all above board so of course we accepted that! It’s been a mad episode.