Open Thread – December 2024

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133 Responses to Open Thread – December 2024

  1. kaysee kaysee says:

    Meet the new boss
    Same as the old boss

    In the past few days, Elon and Vivek have revealed their views on immigration and the push for H-1B immigration.

    Some in Maga-land are waking up to the real Free Speech Musk and Pharmaswamy.

    Musk has been using algorithms to ban, shadow ban, suspend or purge accounts that were critical of Zion. Now the same clean-up is being used for anyone criticising the H-1B immigration. Accounts are being marked as “probable spam” and getting their blue verification tick removed.

    America First
    If you scroll to the post above this link, you will see Vivek’s post that has 92.6 million views and 132K likes. Who are these “viewers” and “likers”? America First supporters?


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  2. kaysee kaysee says:

    Why did Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Big Tech, Silicon Valley (the “Tech Bros”) donate millions to Trump’s election campaign and support him?

    Because they want to Make America Great Again and think he is the one to save the US?

    1/
    Promises were made.

    2/
    The benefits of H-1B immigration: cheap labour

    3/
    Magadonians will blame everyone else as the agenda is slowly revealed, but they will find excuses to defend their dear leader because of their blind loyalty to him.


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  3. kaysee kaysee says:

    Think the billionaire club cares about America, Americans and America First?
    Or about Maga and Magadonians who blindly followed Trump and voted for him?

    24 Dec 2024
    Elon Musk’s xAI raises $6 billion funding
    from BlackRock, Nvidia, AMD, and others

    Billionaire Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence (AI) company on Monday, December 23, raised $6 billion from marquee investors like BlackRock, Nvidia Corp., and AMD, among others, to expand AI infrastructure, according to the company’s official blog note posted on Monday.

    July 7, 2020
    Vaccine Bait & Switch: As Millions Pulled From WHO,
    Trump Gives Billions To Gates-Founded GAVI

    In early June [2020], the Trump administration declared support for GAVI to the tune of a $1.16 billion USD donation. Trump’s support for GAVI came via the first ever virtual Global Vaccine Summit. At this summit GAVI surpassed the goal of $7.4 billion, instead raising $8.8 billion USD

    Yesterday
    Magadonians regard Gates as the enemy and don’t want him visiting MAL.
    They think their permissions and opinions matter to Trump.


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  4. mh says:

    Nicholas J. Fuentes
    @NickJFuentes

    Yesterday the @ConservativeOG and @ProjectGroyp brand accounts were stripped of their features.

    Today, about a dozen medium-sized accounts associated with
    @ProjectGroyp were suspended. All of them have been outspoken about H-1B.

    Everybody needs to be speaking up about this now.

    https://x.com/NickJFuentes/status/1872794025943810498


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  5. mh says:

    Keith Woods
    @KeithWoodsYT

    🚨 BREAKING: Multiple big groyper affiliated accounts have been permanently suspended.

    This came right after Elon Musk blamed “coordinated spammers” for encouraging the pusback against Silicon Valleys push for immigration.

    Some of these accounts had over 50 thousand followers.

    https://x.com/KeithWoodsYT/status/1872796307527758274


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  6. mh says:

    Elon Musk is determined to implement race replacement in America.

    But who is he?

    What is Elon Musk’s ethnicity?

    Elon Musk – Wikipedia
    A member of the wealthy South African Musk family, Musk was born in Pretoria and briefly attended the University of Pretoria. At the age of 18 he immigrated to Canada, acquiring its citizenship through his Canadian-born mother, Maye. Two years later, he matriculated at Queen’s University at Kingston in Canada.


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  7. kaysee kaysee says:

    Democracy Now
    Gideon Levy on Israel’s “Moral Blindness”:
    Gaza Babies Freeze; Strikes Kill Medical Staff, Reporters

    In northern Gaza, the director of the besieged Kamal Adwan Hospital says five medical workers were among 50 people killed in Israeli strikes near the hospital. Israeli forces then stormed the hospital and forced hundreds, including patients, into the streets. This all comes as The New York Times has confirmed past reporting by +972 Magazine that on October 7, 2023, Israel loosened military rules meant to protect noncombatants in Gaza.

    Award-winning Israeli journalist Gideon Levy decries the moral decay of Israel, which has gone so far as to open a luxurious rest area for soldiers in northern Gaza: “It’s the same moral blindness to what’s going on around you.” Levy also discusses his latest piece, headlined “The IDF’s Own Sickening ‘Zone of Interest’ in the Heart of Gaza.”


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  8. kaysee kaysee says:

    Articles mentioned in the above video:

    1/
    26 Dec 2024
    Gideon Levy, Israeli journalist
    The IDF’s Own Sickening ‘Zone of Interest’ in the Heart of Gaza
    .

    2/
    23 Dec 2024
    Yoel Elizur, Israeli psychologist
    ‘When You Leave Israel and Enter Gaza, You Are God’:
    Inside the Minds of IDF Soldiers Who Commit War Crimes


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  9. kaysee kaysee says:

    The billionaire cabal comprises Democrats. They pretended to be Republicans/conservatives who care about freedoms, free speech and whatever else it took to brainwash the gullible. One of them wanted to be President; the others supported him as a means to their ends. They all get what they want.

    But do the Maga American voters who made this possible get what they voted for: Making America Great for Americans? For the protections of the values and principles they care about?

    A few picks from the twitter reactions:

    Op-1
    .
    Op-2
    .
    Op-3


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  10. kaysee kaysee says:

    1/
    Since it is the end of the year, I thought I would write one post on the main news stories of 2024. But it will require some review and research (which means 🕗 that I don’t have) so I had to shelve that.

    Instead, I will post a few comments sharing some reflections that sum up my news postings, opinions and rants, this past year.

    There are the major stories – the war in Gaza and the US Elections. There are other big news items including the other wars and elections in other countries. Covid continues to also be in the news. There’s the WEF agenda by way of Digital ID, curbs on Free Speech, wokeism.

    There were some of us who figured out the Covid hoax pretty soon – in the early part of 2020. Having learnt about the scam underway, we did our best to use the Cat blogs (first Sinc’s and now this one) to pass the research and facts to others.

    After the 2020 election, some of us finally saw through the Trump con-man fraud and have shared that on this blog.

    The truth about the war in Gaza. This became apparent quite soon – by the end of October 2023, there was info from trustworthy sources about the Zionist deception and lies. For the past 14 months, we have posted extensively on this subject.


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  11. kaysee kaysee says:

    2/
    When we speak of two sides of a political aisle – left vs right – it used to be easy to separate. Woke and commie issues go on the left side. Freedom and non-woke on the right side.

    However, in the past few years, these lines of division have got blurred. The label “Conservative” has lost its true meaning. Now, if you want to know what a person stands for, you would need to ask their views on some of the major topics. This will reveal to you how their brain cells work.

    Do they swallow what their favourite news channel tells them, or the articles of their trusted reporters or posts of some big influencer? Or do they read and research widely, think and critically analyse the news stories? How do they reach a conclusion? Are they prepared to change their opinions in the face of solid evidence? Or do they stick with what they always believed or want to believe?

    In this past year, I haven’t posted much on issues related to wokeism, genderism, global warming and so on. It is not that these topics are not important or I have nothing to say about them, it is just that other more important topics have taken up the limited time I have to post here. These gaps could have been filled in by other readers (especially those who say that this is their blog of choice) who could have posted on these topics. Open Threads are open to any comments on any matters of general interest.


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  12. kaysee kaysee says:

    3/
    A few questions pertaining to the three major issues that reveal how issues get analysed.

    At the end of 2024, with all the proof provided, where do you stand on the following:

    A/ Covid
    – Do you still think that there was a virus that caused a pandemic and this required masking, locking downing, and fully vaxxing and boosting?

    – Do you think that the vaxxes saved lives? Or that the vaxxes were harmful?

    – Do you realise it was a massive scam? Did you believe the propaganda in 2020-21 and only later understand that you had been brainwashed?

    B/ US Elections
    – Do you still think that Trump is some saviour, that he is anti-establishment? That he is about America First? Don’t believe that he is part of the Deep State?

    – What about the supporting cast of Musk and his TechBros – Thiel, Vivek Pharmaswamy, Silcon Valley?
    Think they supported Trump because they are anxious about America,? It’s because they want to make America great again? That they have no self-interest? It is not about reaping billions of dollars from the millions they invested to get Trump elected? Not part of the Great Reset agenda?

    – What about Miriam Adelson?
    She was so concerned about the average Americans struggling with the cost of living that she donated $100 million+ to Trump?
    Or was it for the Greater Israel project? MIGA?

    C/ Gaza War
    – Still think that Israel is a friend and ally of the west? Israel is the victim? Judeo-Christian heritage? Zionists care about or respect Christ, Christians, their churches, their sacred symbols?

    – Still think the war is justified? That it is about Hamas or Hezbollah or Houthis or any other valid cause?

    – Still don’t think that there is a genocide taking place in Gaza? That Israel is responsible for it??


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  13. kaysee kaysee says:

    4/
    Some of you will, by now, have realised that the media is no longer trustworthy. Not just the MSM, but also those we used to think were on our side – the Alt Media, the Conservative Media and whatever other names they call themselves.

    Want the real news? The facts? The truth? You won’t get it served to you on your favourite TV channel or newspaper. It is harder to find but if you don’t want to be brainwashed and are looking for the facts, you will be able to get them.

    There are the independent media companies – many of them are small and low budget, dependent on public contributions and donations. There are also the citizen journalists who work solo and in their spare time. They are tracking and exposing what is happening in the world we live in: globalists, governments, politicians, society, bureaucrats, wars, businesss, free speech, our rights. They are recording and posting clips on social media. There are others who find what is being posted online and act as citizen reporters by re-posting this on social media, or on blogs like this one, so that those seeking the truth can find it.

    Instead of being brainwashed by the media who are acting on behalf of their globalist owners, some of us have become pro-active citizen reporters and taken on the task of educating and protecting ourselves from the attempts by the WEF-fIng overlords who want to deceive us into believing their narratives for their One World Government Agendas.


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  14. kaysee kaysee says:

    5/
    To be a part of this volunteer global citizen media network, we don’t need any journalistic skills, degrees, experience or equipment, apart from a device from which we can access the internet. (If you are able to read this comment, it means you have internet access and, thus, the “microphone” you need to also be a citizen journalist/reporter.) We need to be awake to what is really happening and willing to get involved as participants not spectators.

    I know that I have repeated this several times this year; but do not complain about what is going wrong in the world or the country or your community or society if you are not making the effort to first, get aware, then, get awake and finally, do something proactive – like sharing what you know or taking part in discussions that help others learn. Don’t complain about the problems if you are not doing something as part of a solution.

    There is no shortage of topics to post on. In addition to the major news and current events, there are the other items of interest such as news issues that get forgotten because of the emphasis on the big news and that includes what is happening within our local communities, state-level, national news and world news too. If you don’t feel confident about taking up serious in-depth topics, there are still news items that can be shared.

    They don’t need to always be political or current news issues. Earlier in this thread, mh posted something on new cars, Esme shared some feedback about a book she is reading. We have posted music and humour clips. It is an Open Thread and any genuine commenter can either join in an ongoing topic or post on any new subject that is of interest to them.

    Join the ranks of the “citizen media network of reporters, commenters, posters” as truth-seekers and truth-sharers or choose to be inactive, non participating spectators, passive onlookers. Again, I’m referring especially to those who come here to read the content not those who are bored and just go checking blogs for chatter.


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  15. kaysee kaysee says:

    6/
    For the past few months now, I have made some promises that I will reply to some comments or topics, when time permits. I have not forgotten this.

    They were topics which are of interest to me, and I would like to respond to them. But that would require some time to think and write up comments. There are also many new discussion points and items, including for the Muse Room, that I would like to take up on this blog. But the big roadblock is ….. TIME.

    If I am able to get through my backlog of projects quickly and return to the blog as a regular contributor, I will get back to these topics and respond to them. That is, if the blog is still up and running.

    For the immediate future, my focus will continue to be on my projects and completing them.


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  16. mh says:

    Courier Mail

    179 feared dead in horror crash at South Korean airport

    Only two people are believed to have survived after an airliner carrying 175 passengers and six crew crashed at South Korea’s Muan International Airport. Follow the updates.


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  17. mh says:

    The Age

    Trump supporters divided after Elon Musk, tech allies back foreign tech workers over Americans

    West Palm Beach: President-elect Donald Trump entered the fray in a debate over immigration policy that’s dividing his supporters, telling the New York Post he favours a visa program for highly skilled workers that Elon Musk has strongly defended.

    Musk is among tech leaders stoking a social-media storm this week over how to bring top talent to the US — revealing friction between Trump’s Silicon Valley supporters and anti-immigration sentiment that helps fuel his base.

    “I’ve always been in favour of the visas,” Trump told the Post in a phone interview. “I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times.”

    But Trump has in the past criticised the H-1B visas, calling them “very bad” and “unfair” for US workers.

    During his first term as president, he unveiled a “Hire American” policy that directed changes to the program to try to ensure the visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants.

    Trump’s hardline immigration policies, focused mostly on immigrants who are in the country illegally, were a cornerstone of his presidential campaign and a priority issue for his supporters.

    But in recent days, his coalition has split in a public debate largely taking place online about the tech industry’s hiring of foreign workers. Hard-right members of Trump’s movement have accused Musk and others in Trump’s new flank of tech-world supporters of pushing policies at odds with Trump’s “America First” vision.

    The dispute began after Laura Loomer, a far-right activist with longstanding ties to the president-elect, criticised his decision to name Indian-born investor Sriram Krishnan as a senior policy adviser on artificial intelligence.

    Loomer assailed previous comments by Krishnan advocating for increased access to green cards and skilled worker visas, calling it antithetical to Trump’s “America First” stance.

    That prompted pushback from Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who argued that US companies needed to recruit top talent from across the world to remain competitive.

    Musk, a naturalised US citizen born in South Africa, has held an H-1B visa himself, and his electric-car company Tesla obtained 724 of the visas this year. H-1B visas are typically for three-year periods, though holders can extend them or apply for green cards.

    But critics have said they undercut US citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated.

    Musk’s tweeted at Trump’s supporters and immigration hardliners who have increasingly pushed for the H-1B visa program to be scrapped.

    “The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H-1B.”

    “I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend,” he added.

    Ramaswamy, whom Trump has tapped along with Musk to run a government efficiency initiative, also weighed in. He drew particular attention for a post arguing that “American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence” – which infuriated Trump’s MAGA-base.

    On Friday, Steve Bannon, a longtime Trump confidante, critiqued “big tech oligarchs” for supporting the H-1B program and cast immigration as a threat to Western civilisation.

    “H-1B visas? That’s not what it’s about. It’s about taking American jobs and bringing over essentially what have become indentured servants at lower wages.”

    “This thing’s a scam by the oligarchs in Silicon Valley to basically take jobs from American citizens, give them to what become indentured servants from foreign countries, and then pay ’em less. Simple. To let them in through the golden door,” Bannon added.

    In response, Musk and many other tech billionaires drew a line between what they view as legal immigration and illegal immigration.

    Trump has promised to deport all immigrants who are in the US illegally, deploy tariffs to help create more jobs for American citizens and severely restrict immigration.

    ***

    For those complaining about the replacement of US workers – should have listened to Nick Fuentes!

    Now what can you do?


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  18. kaysee kaysee says:

    🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕
    And for this Sunday…

    The Wonder of It All

    .

    A Ponderable


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  19. mh says:

    Courier Mail

    Call to ditch $3.2m in Qld Covid-19 fines

    Fines worth $3.2m slapped on Queenslanders during the Covid-19 pandemic should be axed by the state government and a refund given to anyone who paid a fine, an MP says.

    Three years from the height of the pandemic Queenslanders owe $3.2m from 2075 outstanding Covid-19-related infringements, which are still being prosecuted by debt collectors the State Penalties Enforcement Registry.

    Katter’s Australian Party MP Nick Dametto said it was time the government waived the debt in a show of good faith to the state.

    “It’s interesting a lot of literature and studies are coming back about how the pandemic was handled, a lot of red flags saying things could have been done better,” he said.

    “There were thousands of fines handed out across Queensland and if the government wants to start righting some of the wrongs of that period – where the government was in control – a good place to start may be reimbursing some of those fines.”

    Mr Dametto said public health messaging during the pandemic was “as muddy as it could be”.

    “The premier would make her address about 10am and it would take hours for departments to catch up with what was said during press conferences … it added intense confusion,” he said.

    The New South Wales Commissioner of Fines Administration last month revealed the NSW government would withdraw all remaining 23,539 Covid-19 penalty notices after receiving “legal representations”.

    Some $5.5m would also be refunded to people who made full or partial payment of a Covid-19 fine.

    New South Wales withdrew an additional 36,000 penalty notices in 2022.

    However, Queensland’s LNP government declined to be drawn on whether a similar withdrawal of fines handed down during the pandemic would occur.


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  20. Esme says:

    Hi Kaysee, I hope you had a happy Christmas. And mh too, if you celebrate it. And Interested observer, and Cold-Hands.

    In this past year, I haven’t posted much on issues related to wokeism, genderism, global warming and so on.

    Speaking for myself (and quite possibly repeating myself; sorry), the experience we’ve been led to refer to as “Covid” – with all its variously devastating (though largely silent, public commentary-wise) effects and implications, far from time-bound to 2020-2021 – has been so seismic a change (personally, socially, politically, spiritually) as to blast those other such issues into outer space (if that does exist); so to speak.

    As you say, it’s not that those other topics are not important, but, through the post-Covid prism (the all-encompassing understanding of how wrong we were to trust our own “trusted institutions”), commentary on pronouns or definitions of ‘woman’ can seem like so much chatter on the sidelines.

    When we speak of two sides of a political aisle – left vs right – it used to be easy to separate. Woke and commie issues go on the left side. Freedom and non-woke on the right side.

    However, in the past few years, these lines of division have got blurred. The label “Conservative” has lost its true meaning. Now, if you want to know what a person stands for, you would need to ask their views on some of the major topics.

    There’s some relief and comfort in no longer affixing the “Conservative” label: a sort of freedom, and a shrinking of perceived distance from people supposedly “on the other side”. (The recent spate of off-puttingly ostentatious celebrity “thought leader” conversions has me feeling similarly when it comes to organised religion.) There are many people I’ve known over the years who I felt obliged to treat as “of another tribe” due to a stated two-party political allegiance. The things I liked about them, the things we had in common, are no longer obscured by divisive, fake tribal tags.

    Don’t complain about the problems if you are not doing something as part of a solution.

    This is what I’m grappling with: how I might best contribute, what and where. There are already many people doing citizen journalism/reporting on the globalist agenda. I want to make time to do some longer-form stuff. And I’d like to connect with more people than we do here – but could provide links if this blog is still around.


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  21. mh says:

    Jimmy Carter, brown bread.


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  22. mh says:

    CH7 Test cricket coverage. 🏏
    One criticism – Justin Langer.
    Dear Lord.
    Annoying voice, annoying commentary.
    Does anyone like him?


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  23. mh says:

    Fantastic Day 5.
    Australia bowls India out in final session.


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  24. Esme says:

    A NYE eve, in early fulfillment of a NY resolution

    A wee joyful note
    About buying a guitar
    “Here’s your new baby”

    said the young salesman.

    Early learning songs from a musical friend including ‘Tain’t What You Do , echoing a message in the semicolon book.


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  25. kaysee kaysee says:

    Hi Kaysee, I hope you had a happy Christmas.

    Yes, thanks, Esme. Hope it was the same for you.
    I came in here for a short while on Christmas day, but it was very quiet. I wondered if I was the only one from this blog who celebrates Christmas.🌟 👼 🎄

    Esme, I follow what you are saying in your comment – just a quick response with my views.

    This is what I’m grappling with: how I might best contribute, what and where. There are already many people doing citizen journalism/reporting on the globalist agenda. I want to make time to do some longer-form stuff.

    It is up to each one to decide whether they want to participate, what they want to contribute and how to do it.

    My blogging experience:
    Five or six years ago, if anyone had suggested that I would be taking an active part in a blog, not only writing comments but also full-length essay articles, I would have dismissed that. At that time, I was just a lurker, passively consuming what was posted by others.

    One day, I decided to get in and I dipped a tentative toe. Through a slow process I start increasing my posting, and it just got easier. I began to find my posting style and method. It was trial and error. I kept posting and testing. The experience built up.

    Now, I have so many topics and ideas for the blog and for articles. I’ve got so much content to post on because I pick up a lot of information – reading, listening to the radio while I am busy with other tasks or just my experiences while I am out and about.

    But I don’t have the time to post on all of it. I have encouraged other readers who don’t trust the MSM to join in. Serious readers who choose to only lurk, not respond, may not realise it, but it does help the ones who are doing a great deal of regular posting to receive some kind of feedback from readers. Otherwise, it seems as if we, the commenters, are talking to ourselves. We don’t have a Like or Upvote button or any other feedback mechanism to know that there are readers who have an interest in the topics being posted.

    ⬇️


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  26. kaysee kaysee says:

    And I’d like to connect with more people than we do here – but could provide links if this blog is still around.

    We have a small blog here with a few basic rules of respect for other commenters. Apart from that we have free speech. It is a nice easygoing environment without clashing egos and conflicts. I would be here, posting comments everyday as well as a few articles each week, if it was not for the limitations on time.

    I have learnt a great deal on some topics from other sources. By sharing that here, by planting a few seeds, it is possible to bring about change in a small group. I am not interested having a a big audience reading what I share or having interactions with dozens of other bloggers.
    .

    Margaret Mead


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  27. kaysee kaysee says:

    What those celebrating the end of the year will be singing ♫♪ ♫♪♪ ♫♪

    Dougie MacLean
    Auld Lang Syne

    The lyrics of “Auld Lang Syne” are in the Scots language. The title, translated literally into standard English, is Old Long Since.


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  28. kaysee kaysee says:

    And on a spiritual level….

    On the last day of the year, this sixth century Latin hymn Te Deum Laudamus (“We Praise Thee, God”) is recited/sung as a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God. The end of the year is a time to reflect on what has occurred to us and to our world during the previous twelve months while we are doing what we are created for, to praise God.

    This is the Latin hymn with the lyrics and English translation.
    Te Deum Laudamus
    (We Praise You O God)
    .

    This the version of the hymn in English.
    O God, we praise you


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  29. Esme says:

    Five or six years ago, if anyone had suggested that I would be taking an active part in a blog, not only writing comments but also full-length essay articles, I would have dismissed that.

    Thank you for sharing this, kaysee. It’s timely.

    New Year’s Eve is a time of reflection, as well as looking forward to the year ahead. Among other things, I’m reflecting on having been prompted to begin commenting here, and elsewhere, and I’m reminded of the importance of finding and sharing the joy in everyday life, however grim things might seem more broadly.

    For the new year, I hope to let the analyst in me give way a little (okay, a lot) to the creative. (I’ve already put my money where my mouth is by investing in a musical instrument.) For the sake of my own spirit, and for what I might be able to share with others.

    You and mh pull together information I wouldn’t see otherwise, and just look at your rhetorical question summary above. I’m grateful to remain in touch with this blog so long as it stays active. Perhaps, if I can play around with some longer material in the new year, I might be able to share it here, for your feedback. I think, as you suggest – and given the gulf between joy and “political reality” – I’ll probably need to experiment a bit, and put aside perfectionist expectations.

    It’s not particularly New Year’s Eve-y, but your Auld Lang Syne by Dougie MacLean has reminded me of (sentimental childhood favourite) Don McLean, so, for makers of music and poetry, big or small, here’s cheers and Happy New Year!

    Words and Music

    You make me
    Think I’m listenin’ to a symphony,
    You make me
    Hear the beauty of your poetry!


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  30. mh says:

    Alas this will still be relevant in 2025

    Good Lord, protect us from the Jews

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHDFYQKlT3A


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