Open Thread – October 2024

Posted on October 1, 2024 by Adam D
This entry was posted in Open Forum. Bookmark the permalink.

409 Responses to Open Thread – October 2024

Newer Comments →
  1. Esme says:
    October 1, 2024 at 5:51 pm

    This is interesting, in reply to RFK Jnr remembering his “lifelong friend”

    “I found a considerable lack of work after doing concerts for Palestinian children.. if that’s the way it has to be, that’s the way it has to be. If you support human rights, you gotta support them everywhere.”

    – Kris Kristofferson


    Report comment
  3. Esme says:
    October 1, 2024 at 6:21 pm

    Vaccines are making your pets ill

    My first dog died relatively early, of cancer that developed around the site of his annual injection – which I subjected him to “faithfully”, believing I was “protecting” him.

    Looking back, making the connection between where the cancer had developed and the annual injection of poison, that was my first inkling that something was amiss with the whole business. The same protective instinct that had me carting one of God’s precious, healthy creatures off to an Office of The Science every year, did ultimately – too late – let me know how misguided I’d been, that my protective instinct had been weaponised against me and my helpless, trusting, beloved dog.


    Report comment
  4. Esme says:
    October 1, 2024 at 6:26 pm

    People ask Leader regarding chicken registration: “Leader why are governments such authoritarian pricks in UK?”

    After police beat them I say: “If we don’t track chickens this could happen.”

    Apparently some people are planning to overwhelm The Authorities with registrations of frozen chickens etc. Humour and creativity under tyranny!


    Report comment
  5. mh says:
    October 1, 2024 at 6:59 pm

    Courier Mail

    Dutton’s outrage at ABC Hezbollah question

    Peter Dutton says the ABC is in “greater trouble” than he thought after a reporter asked him about Australia listing Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.

    ***

    I bet Dutton is pig ignorant.

    Ron Unz

    Our mainstream media almost invariably describes Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, thereby seeming to legitimize all methods of attack against its members and affiliates. As an example of this narrative, Israel has justified its recent assassinations of some of the senior figures by describing those strikes as payback for Hezbollah’s 1983 bombing of our own Beirut Marine barracks, which took the lives of more than 200 American servicemen. Given that the latter claim has been so frequently repeated, I’d come to accept its reality.

    However, Col. Jacques Baud is a highly-regarded former Swiss military officer with extensive experience in the Middle East. When I watched his long and persuasive interview last week, I realized that I may have once again been deceived by the dishonest pro-Israel propagandists who dominate our media.

    According to Baud, Hezbollah was only founded in 1985, so it didn’t even exist at the time of that Marine bombing attack and no one had ever associated its activists with that deadly operation until long afterward, when Israeli propagandists could take advantage of the fading memories of the chronology. Indeed, Casper Weinberger, who had been our defense secretary at the time, stated in a 2001 interview that no one was ever sure who had actually been responsible for killing our Marines in Lebanon. Baud also emphasized that Hezbollah’s military wing was only first designated as a terrorist group by the Europeans in 2013 after it was blamed for a 2012 bombing against Israelis in Bulgaria; but he claimed that attack had actually been the result of a dispute between rival Israeli crime syndicates, and Bulgaria later admitted that there was no evidence that Hezbollah had been involved.


    Report comment
  6. Esme says:
    October 1, 2024 at 7:36 pm

    I realized that I may have once again been deceived by the dishonest pro-Israel propagandists who dominate our media

    Sounds familiar. I don’t know much about Ron Unz…looked him up and (to the extend that Wikipedia can be believed) he’s from a Ukrainian family of Jewish descent.


    Report comment
  7. mh says:
    October 1, 2024 at 7:51 pm

    I don’t know much about Ron Unz…looked him up and (to the extend that Wikipedia can be believed) he’s from a Ukrainian family of Jewish descent.

    Wiki is correct. I don’t have an issue with his ethnicity.

    Ron’s catalogue of work suggests he doesn’t have an issue, either.


    Report comment
  8. mh says:
    October 1, 2024 at 7:57 pm

    This is Dutton vs ABC reporter

    theageaustralia
    The Age
    ·
    6h ago

    Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has engaged in a tense back and forth with a journalist from the ABC, as he accused the national broadcaster of failing to understand why Hezbollah is listed by Australia as a terr*rist organisation

    https://www.tiktok.com/@theageaustralia/video/7420645534932798727

    ***

    Very weak argument from Dutton.

    They are terrorists. So shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!


    Report comment
  9. Esme says:
    October 1, 2024 at 8:25 pm

    I don’t have an issue with his ethnicity.

    Didn’t mean to suggest that you should. Just interesting is all.


    Report comment
  10. mh says:
    October 2, 2024 at 12:01 am

    U.S. Sending Thousands More Troops to Middle East to Support Israel, One Day After Biden Said He Wouldn’t

    Chris Menahan
    InformationLiberation
    Oct. 01, 2024

    https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=64671

    ***

    The article wraps up with this:

    It appears he’s being kept in the dark while Antony Blinken and Jeff Zients run his administration.

    Yes, the Jews are running the show.


    Report comment
  11. mh says:
    October 2, 2024 at 6:52 am

    Nicholas J. Fuentes
    @NickJFuentes

    This was not an “Iranian attack,” this was an Iranian RESPONSE to Israel’s cyberattacks and assassination of political leaders in Lebanon, Syria, and Iran which has gone unanswered for months.

    Israel is clearly the aggressor. Does Iran have a right to defend itself?

    5:18 AM · Oct 2, 2024 · 395.7K Views


    Report comment
  12. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 2, 2024 at 5:01 pm

    The attacks and genocide by Israel are called “self-defence”.
    Retaliation against Israel is called “terrorism”.

    1/
    Western media and leaders

    The hypothetical dead Israeli that doesn’t even exist means more to western media than the literal hundreds of thousands of dead Arabs.

    2/
    You are told it’s about Hamas

    Israelis are going on boat tours to watch the carnage in Gaza.
    Shabbat Shalom…

    Easily the sickest ‘people’ on the planet.

    3/
    And Hezbollah

    Israeli settlers have created a group called the “The movement for settlement of southern Lebanon”…🇱🇧

    The group has already started to market homes for the settlements and given all the Lebanese villages new hebrew names..🇮🇱


    Report comment
  13. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 2, 2024 at 5:10 pm

    The Israeli media are publishing their govt’s plans.

    1/
    For Gaza

    2/
    For Lebanon

    3/
    But, in the west:
    It is about the terrorists.


    Report comment
  14. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 2, 2024 at 5:21 pm

    kaysee, maybe just something like Culture Thread ?

    That is one option. Thanks, Esme.

    In the example that I had shared, Dylan called his podcast “MindFrame”. I had been thinking of something like Fireside Chat that implies an exchange of thoughts, opinions and ideas in a laidback setting. But the “Fireside” doesn’t fit because this is online and anytime.

    Since there are Chat rooms and News rooms, I thought of Muse Room as another possible name.

    Since this is a Cat blog we could call it Mews Room, but then we don’t want discussions to be catty.🙂

    We can toss around a few more and see what we come up with, but not spend too much time over the name. It doesn’t need to include the word Thread.


    Report comment
  15. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 2, 2024 at 5:36 pm

    My first dog died relatively early, of cancer that developed around the site of his annual injection – which I subjected him to “faithfully”, believing I was “protecting” him.

    It can be hard to look back and realise how the medical system led us to make certain decisions that were not the best for health.

    Many negatives related to the Covid scam. But one of the big positives is that it has been a wake-up call for those who have been prepared to do their research.


    Report comment
  16. mh says:
    October 2, 2024 at 5:47 pm

    Sportsbet

    Donald Trump 1.91

    Kamala Harris 1.91


    Report comment
  17. mh says:
    October 2, 2024 at 6:00 pm

    Is the NSW government going to light up the Sydney Opera House in the Israel Flag colours, like last year? 🇮🇱


    Report comment
  18. Esme says:
    October 2, 2024 at 6:38 pm

    It doesn’t need to include the word Thread.

    Oh, you’re being creative, kaysee! I thought you just wanted a simple distinction from the political content in open threads (politics v culture etc). I like Mews Room.

    Because it’s online, anytime as you say, it’s sort of more like an exchange of notes or letters than a conversation, so here’s a couple more:

    Passing notes (has a musical meaning too)
    Cat & Co (play on Cobb & Co mail delivery)

    I do like Mews Room, though, if you want a sense of location, like chat rooms etc.


    Report comment
  19. mh says:
    October 2, 2024 at 6:41 pm

    Question in the Nick Fuentes Superchats tonight @3h 46m 25s

    Would it be correct to say that at the dinner, you were liked more than all the other guests? More than Ye? That’s very significant.

    Nick speaks for about 5 mins and it’s quite entertaining

    Vice Presidential Debate: VANCE VS WALZ

    Nicholas J. Fuentes
    104K followers

    https://rumble.com/v5h3ge5-vice-presidential-debate-1-vance-vs-walz.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp


    Report comment
  20. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 2, 2024 at 6:59 pm

    Dutton’s outrage at ABC Hezbollah question

    Peter Dutton says the ABC is in “greater trouble” than he thought after a reporter asked him about Australia listing Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.

    Mary Kostakidis

    ‘Support’ for laws is not in question.

    Is he saying the media is failing to support a law simply by asking what the basis of the listing is?

    The role of the media is to ask questions.
    Mr Dutton should not be trying to intimidate journalists like this.

    The recent protests

    Dr Reuben Kirkham speaks to Chris Smith about the Mis/Disinformation Bill and the recent pro-Hezbollah and Hamas protests, explaining why we should tolerate speech even from those we disagree with.

    Part-1 … Part-2


    Report comment
  21. mh says:
    October 2, 2024 at 7:08 pm

    I like this

    Syrian Girl 🇸🇾
    @Partisangirl

    ABC journalist @anushri_sood asked opposition leader @PeterDutton_MP why Hezbollah is even listed as a terrorist organisation?

    Rather than answer her, he started heavy breathing, and told her she’s in trouble for daring to ask the question.

    This is what passes off as press freedom in Australia.

    What he should have said is that the US/Israel asked Australia to do it, that the majority of the world doesn’t list them, and that they’ve never threatened Australia and only ever fought an illegal occupation within their own borders so the designation is entirely political.

    https://x.com/Partisangirl/status/1840999013207982382


    Report comment
  22. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 2, 2024 at 7:17 pm

    I do like Mews Room, though, if you want a sense of location, like chat rooms etc.

    I was going by the name explaining the content we intend to discuss. That’s why I thought of “Muse” because the topics would probably be along the lines of musings, reflections…

    Otherwise, it is like click-bait. Mews Room may appeal to those who enjoy mewing (of the human kind 😉). I don’t think that is our plan. Is it? Muse Room? Mews Room? or something else?


    Report comment
  23. mh says:
    October 2, 2024 at 7:18 pm

    Is Syrian Girl right though?

    …and only ever fought an illegal occupation within their own borders so the designation is entirely political.

    Wiki:

    In 2012, Hezbollah fighters crossed the border from Lebanon and took over eight villages in the Al-Qusayr District of Syria. On 16–17 February 2013, Syrian opposition groups claimed that Hezbollah, backed by the Syrian military, attacked three neighboring Sunni villages controlled by the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

    ***

    Hezbollah is a Shiite paramilitary force.

    ‘Terrorist’ organisation is a stretch.

    If we can be loose with the term ‘terrorist’ then Israel is a terrorist state. Menachem Begin, Former Prime Minister of Israel, said as much.


    Report comment
  25. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 2, 2024 at 7:42 pm

    If we can be loose with the term ‘terrorist’ then Israel is a terrorist state. Menachem Begin, Former Prime Minister of Israel, said as much.

    We’ve learnt in the past year to not accept at face value what we have been told about the Middle East conflict. Hamas would have probably faded away if it wasn’t for Netanyahu thinking that he could use them for his own gain. Then, the helpful media tell us that Hamas is a terrorist organisation.

    What is the truth about Hezbollah? Is Iran the enemy we are told it is? If we dig deep enough, we’ll find the answers.

    Israeli Professor Who Met Iran’s President:
    ‘Iran Isn’t a Unique Evil, It’s a Regional Player Like Any Other’

    Some of the comments from the article are here. See no 5 by Rav Zevid.

    I haven’t watched this one. It is Assange’s interview with Nasrallah in 2012. WikiLeaks posted it the day Nasrallah’s death was in the news.

    At this stage, I don’t know enough about Hezbollah, Houthis, Iran, Yemen or any other countries in that region. Good guys and bad guys – depends on who is telling the story.

    But what are the facts?


    Report comment
  26. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 2, 2024 at 7:50 pm

    Moving on to the UK. The chicken registrations.

    Chickens-1
    .
    Chickens-2
    .
    Chickens-3


    Report comment
  27. Esme says:
    October 2, 2024 at 7:53 pm

    Muse Room? Mews Room? or something else?

    If it must be a room, maybe..

    The Laundromat – where you might sit and ponder or chat with other non-“useless elites”,”outside the spin cycle” of politics


    Report comment
  28. mh says:
    October 2, 2024 at 8:51 pm

    The world outside of ‘the west’ is happy to have the conversation that stooges like Peter Dutton condemn.

    China Daily

    Published: 17:19, May 1, 2024 | Updated: 14:11, May 2, 2024
    Israel – The real terrorists
    By Gim Teh

    The Western world (18 percent of the whole world) believe HAMAS is the terrorist of Gaza. That’s a result of mainstream media conflating HAMAS terrorism with legitimate aspirations for self-determination. It disregards the observation that one man’s terrorist may be another man’s freedom fighter in the Gaza strip.

    Most Westerners would also likely reject the idea that, by definition, Zionists and the Israeli military force (IMF) are bigger Gaza terrorists. Paradoxically, however, Israel’s PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, may be said to have in effect admitted his government are Gaza terrorists. This is at a 1986 PBS interview where he said terrorism is about engaging in the “systematic and deliberate attack, the murder, maiming and menacing of innocents, of civilians, for political goals”. This aptly describes what Israel is presently doing in the Gaza strip. And there’s no way he can say he does not know it. Co-incidentally, his definition of “terrorism” is similar to the description approved by the UN’s Sixth Committee (Legal) in 1994, viz they are “criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror … for political purposes”.

    There is no difficulty identifying Zionist terrorism in Gaza. The Israeli Defence Force’s systematic and extensive bombing of Gaza (eg, 11,000+ strikes over three weeks) causing utter terror, extensive civilian casualties and massive destruction of infrastructure are “terrorist” attacks politically motivated to induce fear and terror amongst Palestinians.

    Further, few would doubt the IDF is committing terrorist crimes in other ways, as by cutting off food, medical supplies and piped water to Gaza and thereby creating famine. Another example is the continued bombing of southern Gaza while telling people to go there because it’s supposedly safe. These acts of terrorism are part of Israel’s plan to achieve its political objectives: to eliminate Palestinian civilians or to induce them to leave the Gaza and never to return. There was certainly enough evidence for the International Court of Justice to regard the IDF’s conduct as potentially genocidal, the crime of all crimes. In turn, the sheer terror inflicted on Palestinians by Israel is why the UN Security Council has finally succeeded in passing a ceasefire resolution, overcoming sustained US resistance.

    Further, contrary to misinformation by some Western media, Zionists terrorism did not occur only after October 7, 2023. It goes back decades. There are three reasons why these should be taken into consideration.

    Firstly, from 1920-1940 there were 18 listed Zionist terrorist attacks on Palestinians. These included the killing of 49 people with many others injured when a Zionist terrorist group called Irgun threw a bomb into the melon market in Haifa. It also bombed the King David Hotel killing 91 and injuring around 45 people. From 27 December 2008 to 19 January 2009, the IMF attacked medical personnel and civilians and impeded emergency medical evacuations and also restricted health care for the civilian Gaza population. Also, a decade ago, a Zionist terror group of 30-40 people (known as ‘the Revolt’) launched 12 arson attacks, its aim being to create a Jewish Kingdom in Israel without Arabs. These are good indications that Israel is using terrorist ways to get rid of Palestinians and to enable Israel’s expansion to Palestinian territories.

    Secondly, terrorism, deep-seated in Israel, is led by influential Zionist activists and organizations with an extremist anti-Arab ideology. They regard acts of terrorism as legitimate tools to achieve their vision of the Jewish state. Indeed, one group, the Lehi, proudly referred to its members as terrorists. Also, as pointed out by Yaacov Shavit, Tel Aviv University’s history professor, Lehi members regard Jews as a “master race” and Arabs as a “nation of slaves”. Another group of Zionist supremacists, Lehava, objects to most personal relationships between Jews and non-Jews. Members of the group have promoted the forced expulsion of most Palestinians and Arab Israelis from Israel and the Palestinian territories. It is rather telling that, in March 2023, Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich said there’s “no such thing” as “Palestinian people”.

    Thirdly, Zionist terrorist groups are often closely linked to Israeli political leaders. Several past Israeli politicians had actually been members of terrorist groups in Israel. For example:

    • Yitzḥak Shamir (PM 1983–84 and 1986–92) was a former leader of the Israel Freedom Fighters (Stern Gang). It readily admitted to having carried out terrorist attacks. In 1948, its activist members became part of the IDF.

    • Yigal Allon, Acting PM of Israel, was a commander of the Palmach, the elite fighting force of an underground army of the Jewish community which became the IDF in 1948.

    • Menachem Begin, Israel’s sixth PM, was a commander of Irgun, described as a terrorist organization by the UN, the UK, the US and in Western media. It was the predecessor to the Likud Party which, since 1977, has led or been part of most Israeli governments.

    • Meir David Kahane, founder of the far-right Israeli political party Kach (once listed in the US as a terrorist organization) was an Orthodox rabbi and ultra-nationalist politician. He served one term in Israel’s parliament (Knesset) before being convicted of acts of terrorism.

    Given this background, why has Western media not even talked about Israel’s terrorist acts in Gaza?

    Gim Teh is a retired Australian law academic. He has an interest in misinformation and imperialism and has written about US-Australia-China relationship. Gim was a member of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. He retired in 2003.

    The article is a republication from PEARLS & IRRITATIONS website at https://johnmenadue.com/the-terrorists-of-gaza/

    The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.


    Report comment
  29. mh says:
    October 2, 2024 at 9:25 pm

    Mary Kostakidis

    ‘Support’ for laws is not in question.

    Is he saying the media is failing to support a law simply by asking what the basis of the listing is?

    The role of the media is to ask questions.
    Mr Dutton should not be trying to intimidate journalists like this.

    I don’t think Mary is addressing the real issue that has been raised by Dutton trying to be a superhero.

    Why should the media, even a national broadcaster, have to mindlessly support a law just because the uniparty legislated it?

    The Marriage Act previously said marriage was between a man and a woman. Is Dutton saying the ABC should never have questioned that law?


    Report comment
  30. mh says:
    October 2, 2024 at 9:32 pm

    From Unz.com

    About Ron Unz

    A theoretical physicist by training, Mr. Unz serves as founder and chairman of UNZ.org, a content-archiving website providing free access to many hundreds of thousands of articles from prominent periodicals of the last hundred and fifty years. From 2007 to 2013, he also served as publisher of The American Conservative, a small opinion magazine, and had previously served as chairman of Wall Street Analytics, Inc., a financial services software company which he founded in New York City in 1987. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Harvard University, Cambridge University, and Stanford University, and is a past first-place winner in the Intel/Westinghouse Science Talent Search. He was born in Los Angeles in 1961.

    He has long been deeply interested in public policy issues, and his writings on issues of immigration, race, ethnicity, and social policy have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Commentary, The Nation, and numerous other publications.

    In 1994, he launched a surprise Republican primary challenge to incumbent Gov. Pete Wilson of California, running on a conservative, pro-immigrant platform against the prevailing political sentiment, and received 34% of the vote. Later that year, he campaigned as a leading opponent of Prop. 187, the anti-immigration initiative, and was a top featured speaker at a 70,000 person pro-immigrant march in Los Angeles, the largest political rally in California history to that date.

    In 1997, Mr. Unz began his “English for the Children” initiative campaign to dismantle bilingual education in California. He drafted Prop. 227 and led the campaign to qualify and pass the measure, culminating in a landslide 61% victory in June 1998, effectively eliminating over one-third of America’s bilingual programs. Within less than three years of the new English immersion curriculum, the mean percentile test scores of over a million immigrant students in California rose by an average of 70%. He later organized and led similar initiative campaigns in other states, winning with 63% in the 2000 Arizona vote and a remarkable 68% in the 2002 Massachusetts vote without spending a single dollar on advertising.

    After spending most of the 2000s focused on software projects, he has recently become much more active in his public policy writings, most of which had appeared in his own magazine.


    Report comment
  31. mh says:
    October 2, 2024 at 10:52 pm

    Al Jizz

    Hezbollah says it attacked and repulsed Israeli troops who infiltrated near the town of Odaisseh in southern Lebanon, and “inflicted losses and forced them to retreat”.

    Israel steps up bombardment of the Gaza Strip, killing dozens of people in separate attacks on shelters and schools, including an orphanage.

    Haaretz

    Israel at War Day 362 | Israeli Soldier Killed in Southern Lebanon Ground Offensive


    Report comment
  32. mh says:
    October 2, 2024 at 10:59 pm

    Haaretz

    IDF announces name of Israeli soldier killed in combat in Lebanon

    The IDF announced that Capt. Eitan Itzhak Oster, 22 from Modi’in, was killed in combat in Lebanon.

    Oster is survived by his parents, Dov and Yael, and six siblings. He is the first soldier to be killed in southern Lebanon since the IDF began operating in the area. Before entering Lebanon, Oster posted a video on social media in which he recounted his recent visit to Israel’s northern towns, which he described as “ghost towns.”

    “The north is burnt and abandoned, that’s one of the things that were most difficult for me,” he said. “We prepared a lot, and these are the values I was taught at home, and now it’s time for our mission – to bring the northern residents home.”

    He’s European


    Report comment
  33. mh says:
    October 2, 2024 at 11:24 pm

    Keith Woods
    @KeithWoodsYT

    Let’s check in on the leadership contest of the UK Conservative party

    https://x.com/KeithWoodsYT/status/1841402113567420845


    Report comment
  34. mh says:
    October 3, 2024 at 6:56 am

    Haaretz | Israel News

    Eight Israeli Soldiers Killed in Southern Lebanon Ground Offensive


    Report comment
  35. Esme says:
    October 3, 2024 at 4:00 pm

    The role of the media is to ask questions.

    In another time, when it was easier to believe that’s how the world worked, I would’ve been cheering Mary Kostakidis on, and feeling faintly confused because she was “Team Lefty” and I was (ohsomuchcleverer) “Team Conservative”.

    But it’s not how it works at all, is it? The media are the propaganda arm of smiling breakfast TV totalitarianism.


    Report comment
  36. Esme says:
    October 3, 2024 at 4:02 pm

    About Ron Unz

    Thanks for sharing, mh. Interested to learn about him.


    Report comment
  37. Esme says:
    October 3, 2024 at 4:03 pm

    Muse Room?

    Yes, go with that, kaysee. Is good.


    Report comment
  38. Esme says:
    October 3, 2024 at 4:09 pm

    Torah Judaism

    Rabbi Dovid Feldman was attacked by a Zionist in New York.

    The rabbi was attacked by the Zionists because he was on the side of the Palestinian and Lebanese people.

    Rabbi Dovid Feldman was threatened for being anti-Zionism, anti-Israel, and for supporting Palestine and Lebanon.


    Report comment
  40. Esme says:
    October 3, 2024 at 4:24 pm

    Polly St George

    Candace is a public figure whose investigation / reporting on a current political candidate’s family of origin render her fair game, so to speak.
    She is married into British high society & agitates on many issues. The UK has a long history of subversive propaganda in the US.
    …
    It’d be mind boggling if it weren’t so obvious that they are all assets (in my opinion.) I am hoping that the Tate advocacy will someday come back to bite her & the Network.
    It’s too bad, too, because Candace is very impressive in many ways. She’s not on Team Good Guy, though.


    Report comment
  41. Esme says:
    October 3, 2024 at 4:28 pm

    Could despair at people still caught up in the “debates”… “… performed better!” “No, … smashed …!” …


    Report comment
  42. Esme says:
    October 3, 2024 at 5:14 pm

    Were Eric Clapton and Van Morrison just about the only celebrity singers who spoke out against the Covid tyranny while all the other sold souls promoted it? (So much music I can’t really listen to anymore, knowing what they stand for… or don’t)

    Stand and Deliver

    Slowhand and Van – This Has Gotta Stop
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrlPQIdA2js&t=175s


    Report comment
  44. mh says:
    October 3, 2024 at 7:01 pm

    Al Jizz

    The Dominican Republic says it plans to expel as many as 10,000 Haitian migrants per week, despite a longstanding call from the United Nations to end forced returns to Haiti amid a surge in gang violence there.

    Homero Figueroa, a Dominican presidential spokesman, said on Wednesday that the “operation aims to reduce the excessive migrant populations detected in Dominican communities”.


    Report comment
  45. mh says:
    October 3, 2024 at 7:14 pm

    I’m sick of hearing about ‘next time’.
    Iran can clearly penetrate the Iron Dome, so let’s go.

    Iran ‘will hit Israel harder next time,’ says Professor Mohammad Marandi

    Sky News
    8.03M subscribers

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-2EiPHpam4


    Report comment
  46. mh says:
    October 3, 2024 at 7:18 pm

    Israeli attack on Gaza school for orphans | AJ #shorts

    Al Jazeera English
    14.6M subscribers

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS9i_4M0kmc


    Report comment
  50. Esme says:
    October 4, 2024 at 6:31 pm

    Strange mix of people.

    Indeed. Not really free, either. Just ‘pretend free’.


    Report comment
  51. Esme says:
    October 4, 2024 at 6:41 pm

    JD – Il ne decoit pas

    They wiped out your business; they gave your teenager myocarditis; they finished off grandpa in the care home with Midazolam; they shut down your local pub; they put up more wind turbines and 5G towers; they blocked your road; they gave your sister blood clots and brought your uncle’s jogging career to a sudden close with a fatal heart attack; they got you beaten up in a train carriage because some angry tosser took exception to the fact that you weren’t wearing a mask; they humiliated your entire street, every Thursday by cajoling everyone into a Cultural Revolution style display of collective state-worship, banging pots and pans for the vampiric NHS; they mocked you with their private parties; they lied to you every day on the telly and in the newspapers; they sent police drones to film you for taking apparently illicit walks in the Peak District; they closed down the car parks at your favourite walking spot; they taped off the park benches; they drove you insane with rainbow logos and NHS logos everywhere you went; they told you you had to wear a face nappy, even though you knew it was like trying to keep mosquitos out with a tennis net; (if that is you even were to believe viruses exist which you now don’t); they displayed photos of places you couldn’t go to, like Venice, with programming messages like “Isn’t it marvellous how much cleaner the canals are now that no one is allowed to take gondolier rides on them or even look at them?”; they forced you to let your mother die alone – and then wouldn’t let her friends attend the funeral. They did all this, and more, deliberately, when they knew perfectly well that there was no pandemic, that the ‘vaccines’ were both useless and deadly, and that the real reason for all this stuff was to help the Malthusians carry out one of their periodic population culls and so that banksters had a little longer to squirrel away their ill-gotten gains before the economy collapsed totally.

    But it’s OK, you needn’t worry, or feel in any way bitter or angry or vengeful because guess what: lovable, tousle-haired Boris Johnson [the guy in charge of Britain, btw, when ALL the above was happening] has just written a funny autobiography with all sorts of anecdotes, like the time he was in Scotland with his controller Carrie and his kayak was nearly blown out to sea!


    Report comment
  52. Esme says:
    October 4, 2024 at 7:00 pm

    And…

    Essentially, the message from officialdom is: “Yes, we now admit that the Covid years were a massive disaster, yes those rules and regulations were utterly ridiculous and it’s amazing anyone fell for them frankly, and yes massive cock ups were made by the clowns in charge….

    BUT you can still forgive us everything because it really was a deadly disease and anyway we only did all these horrible things to you because you wanted it. You told us you were scared so we offered you the comfort blanket of bigger government.”

    This is what the Nazis used to call ‘Für ihre sicherheit’. More accurately, it’s what you might call Victim Blaming.

    And they did it here too. Including the supposed ‘freedom movement’ leaders.


    Report comment
  54. mh says:
    October 5, 2024 at 7:22 am

    US at war

    US air strikes target several cities across Yemen

    Attacks hit key port city of Hodeidah as well as the capital, Sanaa, Houthi-run media and US sources say.

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/4/houthis-say-us-air-strikes-target-several-cities-across-yemen


    Report comment
  55. mh says:
    October 5, 2024 at 7:38 am

    Sen. Lindsey Graham Pivots to Israel After Being Asked About Hurricane Helene Victims

    Chris Menahan
    InformationLiberation
    Oct. 04, 2024

    https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=64679


    Report comment
  56. mh says:
    October 5, 2024 at 7:53 am

    Nick Fuentes debated a young liberal this week.
    One of the highlights

    𝔼𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣-𝕎𝕒𝕧𝕖
    @etherXwave

    Dean Withers (@itsdeaann) asks Nick Fuentes (@NickJFuentes): Who would you rather run the country? Your wife? Or Hitler? Seriously? 💀

    Uh, HITLER!!

    https://x.com/etherXwave/status/1841705572485202017


    Report comment
  57. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 5, 2024 at 2:43 pm

    Last week’s Rescue the Republic fest was billed by its organisers as non-partisan. Was it? I took a quick scroll through the video but it looked like it was a MAGA-MAHA event.
    It wasn’t MATA.

    from Jimmy Dore’s speech

    Props to jimmydore who just snuck in a 1 min roast of Israel & Zionism during his speech at the #RescueTheRepublic rally today. He was apparently the ONLY one who even brought up Israel at all.

    For that speech, Jimmy won’t be getting a Christmas card from Jordan, this year.

    From JP
    The 13th Rule for Life?


    Report comment
  58. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 5, 2024 at 2:53 pm

    One of the Oz online MSM papers that I just looked at had the top half of it stories on its current fave subject, as well as its toon for the day. As for the reporting bias, they are not alone.

    Media-1

    Media-2

    Media-3


    Report comment
  59. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 5, 2024 at 3:02 pm

    Media-4

    Media-5
    Piers Morgan show

    Media-6
    (Re-posting)
    Rupert Murdoch: Israel’s Most Powerful Supporter


    Report comment
  60. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 5, 2024 at 3:21 pm

    Muse Room?

    Yes, go with that, kaysee. Is good.

    Don’t want to spend too much time on a name. If it’s okay with you, let’s go ahead.

    When I first put this out a few weeks ago, I was thinking of it as part of the Open Thread. But your suggestion, Esme, of having them as threads makes sense because it would be good to separate them from the politics in these threads.

    How do we proceed with this? Usually, if someone (who does not have permissions to the posting site) wants to have their post published, they send it to Adam to get it done. I’ve thought of an easier way for these threads. Anyone who wants to take up a topic for discussion can let me know in the Open Thread by using this name Muse Room and then add the name for their topic.

    As an example, the CS Lewis comment that you posted. So it could be something like this:
    Muse Room – The right to happiness

    I will open up a thread with that title, and then the commenter who suggested the topic can start with the first comment sharing what they want. Using the above example, similar to what you posted here.

    If there is a video link in the comment, as in the case above, I can em-bed it in the Post section to make it easy for those who want to take part.

    What do you think about this method to start it off?
    We can see how it goes from there?


    Report comment
  61. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 5, 2024 at 3:37 pm

    At the Rage Against War rally last week.

    This hard-hitting speech (12 mins) from
    Russell Dobular

    “You don’t have to bend the knee to any of these warmongering narcissists who wouldn’t p*ss on you and yours if you were on fire. . .we need to get off our knees!”


    Report comment
  62. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 5, 2024 at 7:06 pm

    What is the GOP game-plan to win this election? Hoping to win the votes of women by going the pro-abortion route?

    He has been playing the pro-life/pro-abortion flip for years. But the gullible Maga will find excuses for him. To appease the pro-lifers, he posted a “Happy Birthday Mary” on September 8 and a prayer to St Michael on September 29 and talked about how God saved him against the said assassinations attempts.

    The Magadonians go ooohhing and ahhing and talking about how close he is to becoming a Catholic. So easy to fool them. They keep falling for it and attacking those who aren’t taken in by the con.

    He has said he is Christian but posted this earlier this week.

    She is said to be Catholic and posted this a few days later.

    There’ll be an appeasing post next week with some prayer or picture, and Maga will forget that they are voting for someone who supports abortion.


    Report comment
  63. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 5, 2024 at 7:12 pm

    Now, some are finally getting it.

    Michael Matt

    Nobody wants to hear this and many will tell me to shut the hell up because Kamala and my lunatical Governor Walz are worse, and let’s just vote the lesser of two evils, and blah, blah, blah. But this is getting really serious, God help us. . .

    The Lesser of Two Evils?
    .
    The choice for the US


    Report comment
  65. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 5, 2024 at 7:38 pm

    Reminder for those who need it 🕗

    One
    .

    Two
    .

    Three


    Report comment
  66. mh says:
    October 5, 2024 at 8:00 pm

    CPAC Brisbane

    As expected, the Israel glazing is strong

    Former UK prime minister Liz Truss has taken a swipe at Anthony Albanese during a broadside at a major Australian political action conference, saying the West is “weak”.

    Ms Truss – who served as the UK’s PM for just 49 days before her resignation – delivered a broadside about the “red mist of socialism” across the Western world in her speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Brisbane.

    Ms Truss took a swipe at prime ministers across the world as she asserted the West was “weak” because of the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip …

    … “And what does this mean? Well, it means the West is weak and we can see that by what is happening at the moment in the Middle East.”

    Ms Truss said these governments were not backing Israel, which she called “the sole democracy in the region”, and were instead “appeasing” Iran.


    Report comment
  67. mh says:
    October 5, 2024 at 8:16 pm

    The West has spent decades fighting Israel’s wars in the Middle East, with an end game of Jewish hegemony in the region.

    We’ve seen Europe subsequently turn from white to brown.

    Now the Jewish owned conservative movement says we are not fighting Israel’s wars hard enough. Oy vey!


    Report comment
  69. mh says:
    October 5, 2024 at 10:18 pm

    From Iraq

    Haaretz | Israel News

    Two Israeli Soldiers Killed in Drone Strike From Iraq in Northern Israel

    According to the IDF, two drones were fired from Iraq toward northern Israel. One was intercepted, while the other exploded at a base in the Golan Heights, resulting in the deaths of Staff Sergeant Daniel Aviv Haim Sofer and Corporal Tal Dror and injuries to the additional 24 soldiers


    Report comment
  70. mh says:
    October 6, 2024 at 11:56 am

    On the ground investigating Iran’s strikes on Israel

    The Grayzone
    386K subscribers

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu0zptW49eM


    Report comment
  71. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 6, 2024 at 3:19 pm

    October 7. One year on.
    What is left to say?

    Strange that some of us, using our ordinary devices to access the internet, have been able to find the facts and share them via this platform. But those with greater means at their disposal – media, governments, politicians, influential people and organisations are running with the propaganda fed to them by whoever makes the decisions. And keep repeating those untruths.

    Facts:
    – Israel has been persecuting the Palestinians for 75+ years.
    – Hamas planned an attack on Israel.
    – Israel gets warnings from other sources about the planned attack.
    – The country which is supposed to have the most effective spy agency and advanced military is caught unaware and “attacked” by Hamas.
    – The same Hamas that Netanyahu supported and helped to turn into a big terrorist organisation.
    – Israelis who have worked in the IDF say that the fencing is so sensitive to any movement that even a bird near the fence triggers the warning system.
    – Hamas managed to cut up this same wire fence and drove into southern Israel unnoticed, no trigger alarms, no reactions, no immediate counter attack for several hours.
    – When the IDF finally arrive, they kill some of their own people and blame Hamas.
    – False stories get spread via the pro-Israel media about Hamas atrocities. No verification. Even after the stories are debunked by the independent media, and later by the MSM, they continue to circulate.

    Somewhere on this blog, are links to the above points. But the shills will continue to tell us that “Israel has a right to defend itself” as if the attack by Hamas on October 7 on innocent, peace-loving Israel was unprovoked. Also on the blog, I have posted my views about terrorism and terrorist organisations. About the persecution and murder of innocent civilians – whoever or wherever they may be.

    When we are told about the October 7 attack by Hamas and that Israel has a right to defend itself, the narrative is being spun to muddle the facts to portray one side as the innocent victim so that those who don’t care to dig further will believe the tale.

    October 2, 2024
    Open Letter From American Medical Professionals Who Served In Gaza

    I wanted to quote sections from this letter but this comment is long enough. I hope to come back to it, later.


    Report comment
  72. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 6, 2024 at 3:42 pm

    On twitter:
    Discussion about the failure of multiculturalism in Australia.

    One race of people (implied) accused as being the cause of mulitculti problems.

    Responses:
    Response-1

    Response-2

    A year ago, I would have been in full agreement with the tweet by John Ruddick.

    Now, the responses – 1 and especially 2, are closer to the reality. John Ruddick from the Libertarian Party doesn’t like some kinds of free speech – a specific kind of free speech.

    I heard Mark Latham on the radio, this morning, using the same phrase – getting Australian citizenship is “winning the lottery of life”. Free Speech is not permitted if ….

    Apply the same rule for all: Everyone coming to settle in Australia, leave your baggage behind or go back to your baggage land.

    Media and politicians: Should not support either group. This will get Australia back to being the lucky, peaceful country. There won’t be a need for special envoys for Anti-Semitism or Islamophobia. There won’t be calls for Mis-Dis Info laws and restrictions on Free Speech.


    Report comment
  73. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 6, 2024 at 3:58 pm

    The non-MSM and independent media are coming out with their reviews on the past year, with special emphasis on the role of the biased MSM and so-called Alt media. If you have been reading this blog as well as the linked articles and watching many of the videos, you already knew this.

    If you have been consuming the MSM news, especially about the Middle East, uncritically, this may surprise you.

    Short clip

    “Israel has a right to defend itself. That was the editorial line that was drilled into us for all of our coverage.”

    A BBC journalist spoke with us about the outlet’s lopsided coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza.

    Full video
    Inside Western media’s reporting on Gaza

    When political leaders speak of genocide, they repeat a timeworn mantra: “Never again.”

    Over the past year, for the Palestinians of Gaza, “again” has become reality – mass casualties broadcast almost in real time by its victims.

    This film is about an alternative version of that reality – the one told by major Western news organisations – and how it has provided cover for Israel’s war on Gaza.

    Based on interviews with more than a dozen insiders, it lifts the curtain on the inner workings of agenda-setting outlets like CNN, the BBC and The New York Times.

    Contributors:
    “Adam” – journalist, CNN
    “Sara” – former journalist, BBC
    Ghassan Abu Sitta – reconstructive surgeon
    Jodi Rudoren – former Jerusalem bureau chief, The New York Times
    Jeremy Scahill – co-founder, Drop Site News
    Craig Mokhiber – former senior human rights official, United Nations


    Report comment
  74. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 6, 2024 at 4:05 pm

    Max Blumenthal will be premiering a documentary on October 7 about the media deceptions that Israel spread to justify the war in Gaza.

    The promo to:
    Atrocity Inc: How Israel Sells its Destruction of Gaza


    Report comment
  75. Esme says:
    October 6, 2024 at 4:44 pm

    Tina Arena in one of the MSM Sunday paper liftouts:

    My son lives in Paris. He’s been there for the last three years. Gabriel ultimately decided to leave Victoria during lockdown because, like many young children, he didn’t cope being locked up at home. None of us did. We were supposed to put up and shut up. I still struggle with that, and that’s why I was also very vocal…when your only child decides to leave because he needs to be able to walk the streets and have a sense of freedom and be a young boy and learn, it made me really angry with the state, with Australia and them being so compliant. I’m quite traumatised by it.

    Her song Chains as ‘national anthem’ (rather than “for we are young and free”… sorry, “one and free”)?

    Whatever happened to the famed Aussie larrikin spirit? Was it always just a myth, a story convenient for some purpose at some time in the past? In thinking about ideas of ‘national character’, were we wrong to focus on the convicts of our heritage rather than their gaolers?


    Report comment
  76. Esme says:
    October 6, 2024 at 4:46 pm

    In the UK too – earlier this year, Francis O’Neill found that, while they hated the lockdowns, most people he spoke to said they would be prepared to do it again – would just do what they were told.

    Is it true that people generally prefer the idea of ‘security’ – however illusory or damaging – to freedom? Do calls like Russell Dobular’s above fall on deaf ears because people would really rather stay on their knees, because the alternative just seems too hard, impossible even?


    Report comment
  77. Esme says:
    October 6, 2024 at 4:50 pm

    On shutting up about the Covid tyranny – former MSM journalist Aisling O’Loughlin talks here (around 13min mark) about people telling her to shut up because they can’t deal with it and people have moved on with their lives. The traumatised, bereaved and disabled can’t ‘move on’ quite so swiftly. And other people haven’t really moved on, either, as she says; they’re just in denial. “And the more people remain in the state of denial, well, the more we march on into insanity.”

    She also talks about journalists morphing into PR agents.

    The posts above about control of the media made me wonder why someone hasn’t started a #free the journos! campaign.

    At the very end of this Nick Hudson talks about people undervaluing independence – being unwilling to sacrifice enough to achieve it. Was it ever thus? Must it always be so?


    Report comment
  78. Esme says:
    October 6, 2024 at 5:01 pm

    Anyone who wants to take up a topic for discussion can let me know in the Open Thread by using this name Muse Room and then add the name for their topic.

    Sounds good, kaysee. Any topic ‘parameters’? Strictly ‘cultural’ (books, movies, music etc)? It can be hard not to let the ‘political’ come into topics discussed on this sort of blog, especially with everything going on now and in the recent past. Maybe we could gauge interest and agree a topic in the Open Thread, so we know at least two of us might be motivated to comment on the separate “Muse Room – ….” thread? One benefit I can see is it might allow for easier revisiting and more thoughtful consideration of a given topic if it’s up in a separate thread, rather than getting lost in the open threads.


    Report comment
  79. Esme says:
    October 6, 2024 at 5:21 pm

    I like this one one of Tina’s – more upbeat, positive.


    Report comment
  80. mh says:
    October 6, 2024 at 5:23 pm

    Now, the responses – 1 and especially 2, are closer to the reality. John Ruddick from the Libertarian Party doesn’t like some kinds of free speech – a specific kind of free speech.

    One minute on Google shows John Ruddick is heavily promoted by the Australian Jewish Association.

    These people are so predictable.


    Report comment
  81. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 6, 2024 at 6:58 pm

    Maybe we could gauge interest and agree a topic in the Open Thread, so we know at least two of us might be motivated to comment on the separate “Muse Room – ….” thread?

    For most of the past year, Esme, until you joined us, mh and I were the only ones left here to keep this blog going. Criticising Israel and Zionism, and not flowing with the narrative, can get you on some kind of blacklist. Now, a year later, even journos from MSM, like CNN, BBC and NYT (as in the Al Jazeera video above) are revealing what we’ve been saying here.

    I’ve researched and written Posts on serious topics and then gone on to write comments too, with no support from anyone. If you believe in some issue and want to take it up as a topic, don’t worry about whether anyone else will join in. Those who want to take part, are welcome to do so. But if you think a topic is worth exploring, go for it.

    The room has been set up and is ready.

    Esme, you shall have the honour of posting the first musing topic. ˚◡˚
    Is that okay?

    There is no timetable. Whenever you are ready…….


    Report comment
  82. Esme says:
    October 6, 2024 at 7:05 pm

    Shamelessly partisan front page coverage of foreign countries’ “baggage”. For a moment, when I glanced at it in the supermarket, I thought I must’ve been in the Middle East. It seemed to assume that the readership think and behave as a Middle Eastern colony, part of a tribe that the vast majority don’t belong to.

    And trotting out the trite idea that ‘getting Australian citizenship is “winning the lottery of life”‘ takes some chutzpah after the last four or five years. Many here and all over the world would disagree.


    Report comment
  83. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 6, 2024 at 7:24 pm

    In the UK too – earlier this year, Francis O’Neill found that, while they hated the lockdowns, most people he spoke to said they would be prepared to do it again – would just do what they were told.

    And the globalists win. Their whole game-plan is set around causing FEAR.

    Derrick Broze was right when he listed the three major issues and people who worked out the propaganda quite quickly:
    – Covid
    – US Elections and the Uniparty
    – Conflict in the Gaza/ME

    Ask anyone who classes themselves as “Conservatives” and for “Free Speech” where they stand on those three topics, and you can gauge a great deal about them. Some of them may pass one or two of the topics, but it is tough to find those who have worked out all three scams and will not bow to the agenda.

    – Vaxxing, masking and lockdowning saves lives.
    – Trump is the saviour and is going to drain the swamp and make America great again.
    – Israel is our friend and ally, and the only democracy in the Middle East. It is the victim and has the right to defend itself.

    No matter how much evidence is provided, some will still believe one or all of the above. They will have ready excuses to explain away the facts.


    Report comment
  84. Esme says:
    October 6, 2024 at 7:34 pm

    The room has been set up and is ready.

    This made me smile.

    Esme, you shall have the honour of posting the first musing topic. ˚◡˚
    Is that okay?

    There is no timetable. Whenever you are ready…….

    Okay. My thoughts have been so caught up in the “grim and depressing” over recent years, I’m half worried I’ll be stuck for lighter topics! …but maybe that’s a necessary challenge.


    Report comment
  85. kaysee kaysee says:
    October 6, 2024 at 7:47 pm

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

    Gift of Finest Wheat

    .

    A Ponderable-1
    .

    A Ponderable-2


    Report comment
  87. mh says:
    October 6, 2024 at 10:21 pm

    The Age

    In the face of condemnation, this rally was a big one

    By Michael Bachelard
    October 6, 2024 — 7.58pm

    The pro-Palestinian rally in Melbourne on Sunday was held in the face of the most dire warnings and condemnation from politicians on both sides of the fence. It made no difference. On a day of mixed Melbourne weather, thousands turned out.

    The crowd that blocked the city for the bulk of Sunday afternoon, wending its slow way from the State Library to Flinders Street, then up to state parliament, was varied, colourful and utterly, loudly defiant.

    The politicians had worried about a march scheduled just a day before the anniversary of the October 7 slaughter of 1200 Israelis by terrorist group Hamas. It was tasteless at best, they said, and dangerous at worst.

    Deputy prime minister Richard Marles, on Insiders on Sunday morning, called the planned rallies in Sydney and Melbourne “deeply regrettable”, and Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto had worried during the week that the organisers wanted to act “violently and in a way which either incites violence or puts others in fear for their safety”.

    “Thank you,” Adel Salman, the president of the Islamic Council of Victoria, said to the politicians for “promoting our protest”.

    In the 12 months since the October 7 attack and the brutal, ongoing Israeli response, this diverse movement has not just held together, but “has grown stronger, better connected and louder”, one speaker said.

    From the perspective of the streets, that was hard to deny.

    Middle-aged doctors from the Medical Association for the Prevention of War, students, hundreds of children, activists of all stripes flooded in from the suburbs to the city. They marched under Palestinian flags, Lebanese flags, a transgender pride flag – even an Albanian flag.

    Peaceful it might have been, but it had its sharp edges.

    As the crowd marched past the Starbucks in Swanston Street – protected particularly by police because of the belief by some that the company supports Zionism – the chant turned to “all Zionists are terrorists”.

    A few doors down, a small group of protesters broke away to go to the doorway of a small skincare shop called Jevoute, to yell the slogan pointedly at the young man inside. The employee, who only wanted to be known as Vlad, said the shop was an Israeli brand, and this happened every time there was a protest.

    The media was also a target.

    On identifying myself as a reporter, I was requested by one group to denounce Israel and Zionism, and told by a young woman in a wheelchair and face mask to “f… off” because in her view The Age was the publisher of “pro-genocidal” content.

    While the crowd mostly complied with police directions about carrying flags of proscribed terror group Hezbollah, there were blank ones in the yellow and green colours. And one man carried a placard with a Star of David flag morphed at its centre into a swastika.

    On the placard were the words: “The irony of becoming what you once hated”. Drawing comparisons between contemporary Israeli policy and the Nazis is considered by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance to be antisemitic.

    But these were minor instances in a huge and diverse gathering. It’s hard to remember a protest movement that has been as persistent, and consistently large as this one for 12 months.

    The proximity of October 7 had no apparent affect.

    Asked about perceptions of antisemitism, middle-aged artist John Nicholson was defiant. “The offence we’re likely to give each other by giving our different points of view here in Australia diminishes into nothingness really when you think about what’s going on in Gaza,” he said.

    To many of the protesters, this is just an obvious point.

    When reporter Charlotte Grieve asked two unrelated people why they were at the rally, they gave an identical answer.

    “Because I’m human”.


    Report comment
  89. mh says:
    October 7, 2024 at 8:51 am

    @VoicesForGaza

    The Untold Connection Between Rupert Murdoch and Netanyahu

    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QV8z0-DDmt0


    Report comment
  90. mh says:
    October 7, 2024 at 11:23 am

    Al Jizz

    Hezbollah launches a damaging attack on the Israeli port city of Haifa for the first time after firing dozens of rockets into northern Israel. At least 10 people were wounded in Haifa, according to Israeli media.


    Report comment
  91. Esme says:
    October 7, 2024 at 1:21 pm

    Penrith Panthers Theme Song 2024 (LYRICS)

    Your team, mh?


    Report comment
  92. Esme says:
    October 7, 2024 at 1:24 pm

    kaysee, when you have moment – no rush:

    Muse Room – Before I broke up with Hollywood


    Report comment
  93. mh says:
    October 7, 2024 at 7:36 pm

    Your team, mh?

    Nah. I post it here every year, as Panthers win every year.

    Penrith have the best songs. They run out to AC/DC’s Hells Bells.


    Report comment
  96. Esme says:
    October 7, 2024 at 8:05 pm

    Penrith Panthers montage [back in black]

    That one sort of fits


    Report comment
  97. Esme says:
    October 7, 2024 at 8:08 pm

    Some strong commentary from Torah Judaism on the anniversary


    Report comment
  98. Esme says:
    October 7, 2024 at 8:24 pm

    No big commemorative services for the Covid-shot victims

    Bob Moran

    Wearing her poppy, so grateful for the young men who died to save us from the Naz…oh wait no

    https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1957472/Esther-Rantzen-let-me-choose-good-pain-free

    Dame Esther’s revelation last year that she had stage four lung cancer and had registered with the Swiss Dignitas clinic reignited a national debate about assisted dying.


    Report comment
  99. mh says:
    October 7, 2024 at 8:33 pm

    Wearing her poppy, so grateful for the young men who died to save us from the Naz…oh wait no

    Esther Rantzen is a Jew.


    Report comment
  100. mh says:
    October 7, 2024 at 11:45 pm

    Al Jizz

    Turkey’s Erdogan says Israel will ‘pay the price for genocide’ in Gaza

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Israel will “pay the price for the genocide” in Gaza as he marked the first anniversary of the war.

    “I remember with sorrow the tens of thousands of people who have been massacred by the murderous Israeli government since October 7, and I offer my most heartfelt condolences to my heartbroken Gazan, Palestinian and Lebanese brothers and sisters who lost their spouses, children and families,” Erdogan wrote on X.

    He added that Israel’s policy of “genocide, occupation and invasion” must end.

    “Just as Hitler was stopped by an alliance of humanity, Netanyahu and his murder network will be stopped in the same way,” Erdogan said.

    “A world in which no account is held for the Gaza genocide will never find peace.”


    Report comment
Newer Comments →

Comments are closed.