Like an unforgettable earworm, "it must be Climate Change" has been assailing us from every corner of our media exposure. It has become the go-to phrase to explain whatever weather-related issue arises. A flood here, a cyclone there, an algal bloom, an unusually hot day or even an unusually cold day. It seems there is no environmental event that Climate Change has not caused. Worse still, there are many nodding heads, agreeing. Heads of politicians, media commentators, business entrepreneurs, large renewables portfolios, mind you, and of course, the experts, the academics. So is this correct? How can one even consider that those we always rely on for our view of the world are wrong? They wouldn't collude to fool us? They couldn't, could they?
I don't believe it is collusion. However, they are acting in concert to mislead us. Some do not do it intentionally, but certainly some will avoid exposing information they do possess that would contradict their statements. Lying by omission.
Like all great movements, the Climate Catastrophe phenomenon will unwind over time. Just as we are now seeing the COVID hysteria unwinding with a slow trickle of information exposing the sheer lies we were fed "for our own good", so too will the Climate Catastrophe dogma unwind. But as it has been going for much longer, its unwinding will take longer.
Nevertheless, some green shoots of truth are emerging.
As usual it is a rather short video, but well worth a view.
The robots are running, sort of
In a world first Beijing hosted a half marathon for robots. I guess it had to come. This was an opportunity to gauge the status of humanoid robots, at least as to their ability to run. It was a somewhat comical affair with many robots failing the task in hilarious ways. Battery life was the most obvious problem for many, but the sheer task of coordination was enough to bring many down to earth. The win, hail the hero, was a Chinese candidate with the cute name of Tiangong Ultra. Young Tiangong finished in 2 hours and 40 minutes — a long way to go before it can surpass the men's winner who finished in 1 hour and 2 minutes. Here is a video summary of the race.
Yet, we should be aware that this is a massive development and without doubt future models will soon overtake human capabilities.
When humanoid robots combine with AGI (artificial general intelligence), all human work on the planet will be obsolete, unlike global warming, which is the ultimate threat to humanity.
China in Chaos
Trump's high tariffs on China are having a dramatic effect on China. I covered some of this in last week's post so won't belabor it here. This second video tells the story.
No doubt this has a long way to run, and the consequences may not be welcome. A China under pressure will likely resonate across the world.
A picture paints 1000 words
Lies, Damn Lies and politicians
In the throes of an upcoming election, politicians are sometimes forgiven for 'gilding the lily'.
But IMHO, our Labor government is setting records on the eve of the upcoming May 3 election. Pinocchio could no longer walk into a room had he chosen to tell so many porkies.
Of course it is not just the Albo, the current PM, it is his entire team. Nor is it just the Labor party, or its close acolytes. It includes the media, always left-leaning, failing to do their due diligence to ensure the electorate knows the 'facts'. Yes, I know 'facts' are elusive. Yet in this campaign, there has been scant scrutiny by the free press to ensure honesty. This would be somewhat forgivable if they applied an equal standard to right-leaning parties. But it is not so. There remains a blatant bias in our left leaning media.
SO what are these 'untruths'? Lets look at a few ; -
Labor have repeatedly claimed the LNP coalition's nuclear program will cost $600B. the only basis for this figure, sort of, is a costing supplied by an anti-nuclear lobby group who claim the cost not at $600B but within the range $110 B to $ 600 B.
Labor then claims the LNP opposition will pay for this $600B by cutting services
Labor claims the LNP is going to cut Medicare, with absolutely NO justification
Labor claims the LNP will cut the public service with NO justification
Labor claims the coalition will cut the number of 'urgent care' clinics. LNP say no it will not
... and many more
And, it is working! The lies may not be believed, but they have been effective in deflecting scrutiny, of their own record, which has been abysmal.
I guess that is politics, and it is a challenge that every opposition leader faces. How to control the narrative. How to ensure your own policy agenda wins hearts and minds. At this stage, Labour seems to be in the ascendant, but there are two weeks to go.
World Press reaction to Trump's Liberation Day tariffs was explosive. Every pundit with access to any form of media foists their opinion on their audience. World stock markets also reacted strongly to the uncertainty, with substantial falls. Contrary to predicted falls, the bond market reacted to the uncertainty by rising. In the end, mainly due to the rise in the Bond rate, the Trump team reacted by introducing a 90-day delay for all countries except China. That had the effect of quelling the markets, but volatility remains high. The anti-Trump mob has been relieved that Trump's honeymoon is over. Trump voters have not reacted strongly, willing to support him at least for now.
It goes without saying that the introduction of the tariffs has not been handled with finesse. Why not give 90 days' notice in the first place? And why do it worldwide, when you could first address the countries with major issues and leave the minor offenders for later? I guess the honeymoon is over; Trump has been hurt by the way he has handled tariff policy. Yet, most economists agree that too many countries have been calling for free trade while imposing unfair barriers to free trade to favour their own products. China is one of the most visible and obvious offenders. It does not allow many of the free trade transactions, eg real estate, that it exploits in other countries. It has also supported the widespread theft of IP from around the world. For decades, the US and the rest of the world have allowed China to ignore the accepted rules. At least till now.
So despite the way it has been done, Trump has fundamental support for calling out China. While China is trying to pay hardball by raising reciprocal tariffs on the US, this policy will hurt China more.
China experts are speaking out on the serious economic consequence Trump's tariff policy is already having on China. While Trump's honeymoon is over, China's miracle economy looks doomed.
Here is a video providing some insight on China's economic dilemma
UK accepts only biological women are women
If anyone from any era before the 21st Century woke up in today's world to learn that it took the Supreme Court of the UK to rule on "what is a woman," they would have thought the world had gone insane. Many of us would agree with them. It shakes me to the core that this has to happen in what is otherwise a mostly rational world. I say mostly because there are other areas where common sense seems to have left our societies.
But I digress. For today, at least, common sense has won out. So-called 'transgender women', ie men who call themselves women, are, according to UK law, men. So this nonsense of self-identification of one's gender is legally dead in the UK.
It will no doubt take a long time for legislation in the UK to catch up, and indeed for the gender fanatics to give up their gender zealotry, but legally, and that is significant, the battle is done in the UK. In Australia, Canada and New Zealand, etc., the battle is yet to be won. The UK decision will certainly help the fight in these countries.
For today, we can all celebrate that the very woke UK has had its transgender activism shot down in this significant way. Given that transgender activism has been such a strong pillar of wokism, perhaps the whole agenda will collapse.
Here is a video covering the UK Supreme Court decision.
Another mRNA vaccine halted
I am aware that we have had two vaccine articles in a row, but I feel I need to share this one. This time, it is the novel mRNA vaccine against RSV. RSV is a virus that infects millions of people worldwide. It can be mild or quite serious, especially for infants. Older adults are generally immune unless they have other serious conditions. The recent test of an mRNA vaccine against the disease has been 'paused' due to serious side effects in some 12% of test subjects. The key issue is that mRNA vaccines, though easy to manufacture, have a significant drawback. Since mRNA vaccines invoke the body's cells to manufacture the antigen, there is no control over the dose of antigen introduced. Therefore, the body can overproduce the antigen.
Here is a video summarising the recent trial.
Flu vaccine efficacy is also negative!
The widespread scrutiny of the novel mRNA COVID vaccines has uncovered a range of problems. I have posted widely on some of the studies concluding that the vaccines should be suspended due to the risk-reward ratio for virtually all age groups, and most recently, because the use of multiple boosters causes weakness in the immune system, resulting in negative efficacy. Those receiving boosters are more likely to catch the disease.
Most recently, the Cleveland Clinic in the US has reported on a study on the effectiveness of last year's flu vaccine. Surprise and shock, the flu vaccine also exhibited negative efficacy. Those vaccinated were more likely to catch the flu!
Dr John Campbell has the story.
Pinocchio vs The Incredible Hulk
Image created by Flux Schnell AI image generator
In what should be like a match between The Incredible Hulk and Pinocchio after the first 3 weeks of the six-week election campaign, Pinocchio is leading in the polls. Pinocchio in this metaphor is Anthony Albanese, Australia's Labor PM, who has been leading the country for the past three years. The Incredible Hulk is Peter Dutton, leader of the coalition between Australia's Liberal (note the naming in Australia is for traditional Liberal values and equates to the Republicans in the US and Conservatives in the UK). My metaphor is not intended to imply size, it is the difference in their case for winning the election.
Albanese's government has failed to steer the ship of state towards prosperity. On the contrary, on virtually every measure, Albanese's Labor government has failed its duty. Focusing narrowly on just economic measures, the Australian Financial Review published a piece titled "These 12 charts show how the economy has changed under Labor".
These 12 measures show the changes in economic measures over the 3 years of the Labor term of government; -
Price Pain - Consumer prices increased by 11 %, causing a cost-of-living crisis
Interest rates have surged from 0.25% to 4% ( Mortgage interest as % of gross wages has jumped from 2.5% to 5.5%)
Temporarily Back in Black then out, Trade surplus for 2 years, great result, but henceforth forecast deficits for a decade
Growth Slumps Annual growth has dropped from just under 4% to just 1.3% pa
Big Government Gets Bigger. Growth in government has exploded, with the public sector reaching a record 29% of GDP
Job boom: Unemployment rates have fallen and remained low, but this was only possible due to the growth in non-market jobs, health education, and the public sector, supported by government spending. Market job growth has shrunk.
Productivity Slumps. GDP per hour worked has dropped by 6%
Purchasing power shrinks. Despite annual wage growth, the growth of 4.3% was less than inflation over the period. Australians have been in a per capita recession over the past 3 years having and are suffering a cost of living crisis.
Any objective analysis would mark these results as an F. No doubt, there are many factors that determine a person's vote. The economic results are only one of these factors, but the election campaign, so far, has not focused on these factors at all. Most people are certainly aware of the cost of living, but The Incredible Hulk has not hit out to emphasise these terrible results. As for the PM's approach, let's put it this way, his nose is growing rapidly!
Musk Unleashed
Elon Musk is well-known as the richest man in the world. He is a successful entrepreneur who has achieved his success by developing products that people want. PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, and many more in the wings. He is a proven technology leader, with the genius to see what will be needed.
He was beloved of all, especially the climate-obsessed Democrats, as he made electric cars viable. But he lost favour when he purchased Twitter (renamed X) and re-established it as a free speech 'market square'. Before Musk's purchase, Twitter was a liberal platform that could and did censor right-leaning opinions. After he joined Donald Trump's team as the coordinator of DOGE, the Democrats went full-bore. Musk was made the bête noire of the democrats, decried and slandered at every opportunity. The extremists started attacking Tesla dealerships. It seems "Hell hath no fury like a Democrat scorned"!
That is by way of background. In his DOGE role Musk has taken the stage and not shied from public commentary. Given his success with technology, we would do well to listen to him.
In this short video he makes some very cogent observations on migration and free speech. Although aimed at Europe, it applies equally to other Western democracies, Australia, Canada, New Zealand.
It is just 6 minutes; well worth a view.
Who ran the Biden presidency?
I know it is an eon ago, but are you curious about who really ran the US during Biden's presidency? After his meltdown in his presidential debate, even the Democratic leadership had to admit that Biden was not up to the job, that he was suffering from some form of dementia. Of course, this was not a surprise to anyone. He had been stumbling and mumbling over virtually his whole presidency. Hey, he had been elected despite hiding in a basement during his campaign. No doubt, many people knew he was mentally 'challenged' for years. Certainly, his wife and son would have known, and if they had been guided by what was best for the country or what was best for their father/husband's health, they should have stopped him from running. It seems personal ambition won over moral principle. Today, that is all moot, he has gone, and much of the damage he did is being redressed. Nevertheless, there is a question that many are still asking. Who is responsible for the last four years? Who were the decision makers? Does the US require legislation to prevent the power of the president being usurped?
I am not the only one wondering about these questions. Slowly, much too slowly, leading Democrat's are 'fessing up' regarding their knowledge of Biden's mental issues. Some are also shedding light on who was running the country. Here is a discussion between Lindi Li and Dave Reuben about this question. Lindi was a Democrat insider who has lost confidence in the party, and is revealing party secrets.
The cryptic headline actually makes sense, I think. In what is a world first, Bioscience research group Colossal Biosciences has created a litter of Dire Wolves. Dire Wolves became extinct at the end of the last Ice Age some 12,000 years ago. Yes, and extinct species have been resurrected. This concept was explored in the Jurassic Park series of movies, so science fiction has prepared our society for what has become science fact. It is a remarkable achievement and opens new horizons. it heralds to possibility of the resurrection of other species. I am not sure if that is an idea we should pursue without extreme caution. But the more significant opportunity is to prevent the extinction of any species. We can now record the gene sequences of any species, and if required, resurrect them.
The process is interesting, but perhaps a bit more technical than intended for my readers. But of course, there is a promotional video by the very proud team who have achieved this result.
Vaccine negative immunity
What is negative vaccine immunity? It is an increase in infection due to repeated vaccination. It is a good reason to not vaccinate. The concept of negative immunity is not a new one. It is a known response to repeated vaccination by a vaccine that has a similar effect on the immune system. Why am I raising this? There is compelling evidence that repeated COVID-19 vaccination through boosters is causing negative immunity. This is a flashing red light to STOP boosters. Unfortunately, in many countries, including Australia, health authorities continue to advocate regular boosters for almost all age groups.
Here is a video that covers the evidence for this effect featuring Dr John Campbell and Professor Robert Clancy.
Avi Yemini 1 - eSafety Commissioner 0
In a small but significant victory, Avi Yemini has forced Australia's eSafety czar to obey the law. It seems Avi picked up the eSafety commissioner's use of WhatsApp's self-destructing message feature. This is illegal as public officers must keep auditable records. Given the eSafety Czar has been acting as self-appointed censor of anti-woke activists, this is a win for Avi and more importantly for 'we the people'.
Avi's victory is but a small one in what has become an extended war. No doubt more skirmishes will follow.
Here is a concise report on the action.
Is the Tariff strategy working?
Following worldwide stock market turmoil that resulted in the destruction of hundreds of billions of dollars, we have experienced a pause. In Australia, after a fall of 4% yesterday, we have had a 2.4% recovery today. While welcome, it is not the end of our volatility. After such rapid drops, there will be aftershocks.
Has Trump done anything to mitigate his policies? There were some rumors at one stage that he was going to introduce a phase-in arrangement, allowing countries to negotiate their trade policies over 3 months before the tariffs would take effect. That would be a great idea, but it has been dismissed. Trump and his team have dug in and are willing to take the heat. At least for the time being. But some commentators are optimistic that Trump will overcome the current torrent of negativity. Many say the opposite; that Trump is like a bull in a China shop, his tariff policy is 'economic madness' and will set back the world's economy for decades. I am but an observer, and hope they are wrong. In the meantime, here is a more optimistic view.
Trump's Golden Age
With the world's stock markets plummeting, you may question the wisdom of the headline. Trump's tariff policies announced last week have opened up the floodgates. Trump argues he has only raised tariffs on trading partners to redress what he has said was unfair treatment of the USA in the past. There is a good case for this argument, and Trump has made every effort to explain it. Nevertheless, to every action there is a reaction, and markets have reacted in anticipation of trading problems. Markets have reacted somewhat predictably in their usual way, panic. Like a herd of bison, they are off and running at any such whiff of danger. Once started, they are hard to stop.
It is hard to predict what will happen. Talk of recession, even depression, is circulating, seeding panic. I tend to see this as an overreaction, but markets can be self-realising. To some extent there is mischief making, as always, with anti Trump media always ready to blame him for causing chaos. Trump, unpredictable as ever, may well take steps to stop the bleeding, but at this stage he is standing firm.
Could Trump's tariff policy have been handled without causing the severe market reaction? Most likely a phase-in period, over which countries could review their US trade policies, would have been preferable. That could have avoided today's market panic.
While the method may not have been ideal, the foundation of the Trump policy is valid. The case for this change in tariff policy is covered well by Victor Davis Hanson in the following video.
It has been more than 4 years yet questions about the integrity of the 2020 US presidential election will not subside. In a most recent video Victor Davis Hanson (VDH) raises more questions on the election. There is an old saying that 'the ruth will out'. The concept is that truth will win eventually and all lies will be exposed. I am sure that is not always the case. I feel many historical truths are lost in time. But given the multitude of records created by our mass media today, the suppression of truth is becoming increasingly difficult.
Since the election of 2020 is just over 4 years old, there are extensive records that no doubt contain the truth. We know that widespread election 'shenanigans ' was reported even before, during and after the election, and despite a concerted effort by mass media to suppress all 'election denial', many questions have remained. Too many people are scarred by public shaming and cancel culture to articulate these views, consequently the clamor, so loud four years ago, is now but a whisper. But it has not died. In the most recent video VDH raises more questions regarding the integrity of those elections. Its a short one, well worth the view.
Trump certainly still believes the elections were stolen, but now has his hands full trying to run the world. Perhaps later in his term, he will establish a bipartisan 'electoral' commission, headed by trusted individuals, to oversee and investigate all claims of electoral anomalies. Such a commission would go a long way to re-establish trust in US elections.
Is there Free Speech in Australia?
Most people will think Australia, as a Western Democracy, enjoys the human rights that we assume are the hallmarks of a free democracy; freedom of religion, free speech, a free press, etc. Perhaps those who experienced the unprecedented excesses of the Pandemic lockdowns, many of us have been revising that view. Australia, even worse than many other free democracies, broke the rules. But it was only for the period that there was a perceived serious threat, at least that is the case given by those who are generous, and perhaps those who were most fearful at the time. That argument would, of course, fail under proper scrutiny, but let's put it aside. How well does Australia fare today in terms of human rights? it seems not so well. The most recent example is the way "Billboard Chris, a Canadian anti-trans activist, has been treated by Australian authorities. Billboard Chris actively protests against those pushing extreme transgenderism, the idea that one can select their gender, and then have all the rights of their selected gender as those who were biologically born with that gender.
By way of background watch this short video to explain what Billboard Chris has done and what he now faces.
A vast majority of Australians would certainly agree with Billboard Chris's views and his right to protest against transgenderism. But it seems the authorities, in the form of the eSafety Commissioner together with local law enforcement, have been trying to prevent his protests. This is being litigated, and we don't know the outcome. Billboard Chris may win his case, but, and this is a big but, there is NO Free Speech if you have to go to court to achieve it. This is another shameful episode for Australia, and I am guessing for many supposedly free democracies that have grown their political power to impose limits on their citizens' human rights.
Is Australia's Electoral Commission biased?
We all know how 'clickbait' works. A catchy headline, a simple click, and there you are spending time on a topic you really were not planning. Regularly, YouTube selects videos vaguely related to my past selections. This works ok for me, as I have a broad range of interests and will select based on my mood. Why am I explaining this? I am blaming YouTube for bringing this issue to my attention. I had no idea there was any bias in the way Australia's AEC (Australian Electoral Commission) managed Australia's elections. While I have not heard ot Topher Field, the presenter of this video, he places his arguments well. After the way our public bodies behaved during the COVID pandemic, I have lost the naive trust I once had. I am skeptical about anything the 'authorities' do, and will question everything.
In this short video, Topher Field presents a disconcerting but credible case for the AEC applying different standards in its management of Australia's elections. The smaller weaker independents are often ruled with an iron fist, applying very strict monitoring. At the same time, the Labor party is allowed leave to 'bend' the rules. Judge for yourself.
Halving America's annual deficit
Imagine if you could wave a magic wand and halve the government's annual deficit? Most Western governments would love to have one of those magic wands, please. In the US, Trump has created just such a magic wand in the form of DOGE. DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, headed by genius billionaire Elon Musk, is just that magic wand. Musk has assembled an elite group of business leaders to tackle a seemingly straightforward task. Review all aspects of government operations and identify potential savings by eliminating waste and fraud. The small group have given itself an initial target of saving $1 trillion from the US government's annual $7 trillion budget, a saving of 14 %. That 1 trillion effectively halves the current $2 trillion deficit. These are enormous numbers.
So, how are they going? Incredibly well. They have identified some $200B savings to date and have only looked at Social Security and Foreign Aid. Even with Social Security, they have only scratched the surface, and then they still have all the other large departments to go, Defence, Education, Health, etc.
The media has picked up some of the more obscene instances of waste and fraud, both in foreign Aid and Social Security. These include; -
USAID sending $20 million to a non-profit to produce Sesame Street in Iraq
USAID sending $900,000 to a Gaza based 'charity' for environmental development
USAID $1.5 million for a program to "advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia's workplaces and business communities."
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the government's leading disaster-relief arm, giving over $59 million to house illegal immigrants in luxury New York City hotels
and many more...
Given the high profile given to this work Musk has fronted the media a number of times. Here is a longer video where many of the DOGE team were interviewed regarding their methods and successes.
Well worth a view.
I believe DOGE will turn out to have been a brilliant innovation. It will be copied by many Western Democracies to try to take control of costs.
In Australia, the Opposition leader, Peter Dutton has already appointed a DOGE shadow minister. Now all he has to do is win office.
Gaza's reporters are propagandists
For over 12 months, pro-Palestinian demonstrators have screamed through our streets demanding we all condemn those who are terrorising the innocent Palestinian civilians. Many reporters were on the scene in Gaza, providing eyewitness accounts. We listened with some skepticism as the figures did not gel with reports from Israel. The veracity of these accounts, however, has suffered a fatal blow following the recent demonstrations by Gaza's civilians against Hamas. These demonstrators had no doubt who to blame for their suffering; they blamed Hamas, not Israel.
So, how did those on-the-scene reporters present this contradiction of their prior reporting? They simply ignored it! Yep, they failed to report it at all. I guess that tells us what we should do with their reporting. Simply ignore it. These so-called reporters are propagandists and do not report on what is happening; they simply support Hamas. We suspected this, but now we have proof.
Here is a short video that names some of the organisations that purport to report, but only propagandize.
Hamas retaliation
If there was any doubt about Hamas' iron control over Gaza's civilians, the retaliation for the recent anti-Hamas demonstrations puts those doubts to rest. Hamas has started their retaliation having kidnapped, tortured and murdered some of the organizers of the protests. One cannot help but ask where are the pro-Palestinian demonstrators calling out Hamas for these atrocities. Where indeed.
Here is the latest on the retaliation.
Message from Crown Prince of Iran
I was surprised when I saw this video from the Crown Prince of Iran. He is the son of the late Shah of Iran and has been living in exile for 45 years. Although I have only seen the video below, he has regularly posted messages on YouTube. This is s short video that really requires no introduction. Have a look.
If only we could replace the despotic Islamist rulers of Iran with democratic leadership, the world would indeed be a safer place.
Trump was inaugurated just 2 months ago. After the euphoria of his first 2 weeks, reality is now setting in. Without doubt he took the reins with gusto. He was prepared. He selected a dream team of articulate, capable and anti-woke individuals. Almost all were confirmed by the Senate. They in turn, have taken the reins of their organisations and are generally settling in well. The pace has been hectic, and we cannot expect it to continue at this pace.
The decisions and executive orders that Trump initiated are starting to bear some fruit. Most notable is the success on the border. Border crossings are down 90%. This was achieved WITHOUT the new legislation the Democrats had been insisting would be necessary. Not a bit surprise, but worth noting.
In second place, IMHO, is the work of DOGE. Musk and his team have exposed unexpected levels of waste and fraud. Savings are already in the hundreds of billions, and are projected to reach $1 trillion pa. That is stupendous. Musk has suffered personal attacks, and his Tesla dealers are being terrorised. It seems the Democrats cannot stop digging their grave. How could any responsible citizen object to the elimination of fraud? No doubt most citizens do not. So the Democrats are picking the wrong battle, again.
There have also been some negatives. The handling of Zelensky with a public altercation in the OvalOffice was unseemly and unprofessional.Although Zelensky must accept some of the blame so must Trump and his team. JD in particular. He seems to me to lack nuance and finesse. This will become a real problem if he cannot learn, and quickly. Although a lot of commentary on the Putin Trump relationship seemed to indicate Trump has some rapport and would be able to come to an agreement relativley quickly. While Trump's claim of 24 hours for a ceasefire was always regarded as a 'rhetorical flourish', it is looking messy. Putin is toying at the moment, perhaps misreading Trump's ability to turn on a dime. we shall see soon enough. But at this stagre I expect Trump will have to force Putin to get serious, either by strengthening Zelensky via additional arms, or additional sanctions.
On the ISrael-Hamas war, Trump has gone as well as could have been expected. Hamas is crumbling but slowly. Trump and his team are giving good support and arms shipments are flowing.
On Iran Trump has issued an ultimatum give up your nuclear ambitions or have them destroyed. He has sgiven them 2 months. That period however is a problem, and I have read recently that Russia and China are now encouraging Iran to develop their bombs within the next 2 months. I take the report with a grain of salt as I cannot see either Russia or China wanting another nuclear state, especially an Islamist state, given the problems they have both experience with their Muslim insurrectionists. Still it is an issue.
Still on the negatives, the anti-Trump media has re-grouped and are back to their TDS. However, their supporters have diminished and many are re-structuring, and even aligning with Trump's policies.
The Democrats are in disarray; there seems to be no clear leaders, so the extremists, AOC, Warren, and Sanders, are making hay. The only coordinated action seems to be judicial, with over a hundred legal cases against the Trump administration's decisions. Local judges have put a halt to many, and the process will now continue to the appeals court and some to the Supreme Court. This was expected and will cause some delay, but most are expected to succeed.
That brings us to the most recent fiasco, where a reporter from left-wing Atlantic was 'invited' to attend what should have been secret meetings between senior members of Trump's executive team. This has been in the papers for a week now, and should die down, but it is the first serious failure of the team. I am guessing no heads will roll this time, but hopefully, there is some investigation being done to determine why this happened, and why Walz has the Atlantic reporter's personal number??
That is my short summary. But it is much better to hear from an expert. Here is a brief one from Victor Davis Hanson.
More Gaza demonstration against Hamas
It seems the demonstrations against Hamas in Gaza are no abating. In multiple cities demonstrators are out in force decrying Hamas for starting the war against Israel AND demanding the release of the remaining hostages. If only we had the same demonstrations and slogans from the Western world. We can only speculate that the war would have been over by now.
Still better late than never! Let's see if the pro-Palestinian demonstrators will change their tune and align their slogans with that of Gaza's Palestinians, calling for Hamas to release the remaining hostages. I suspect not.
Here is another video of the demonstrations.
Here come the Robots
I am a tech freak, having been weaned on engineering and science. Living in the late 20th and early 21st century, I have had a feast of technological developments. While robotics has already transformed large-scale manufacturing across the globe, most recently, our collective focus has been taken by AI with nary a new announcement every week. Without doubt, both disciplines independently are at the very beginning of their life cycle and will transform life on earth. The greatest impact, however, will come from their integration. AI will take over the cognitive functions, and robotics will enable execution. The world of Futurama, with intelligent humanoid robots, will present humanity with the possibility of eliminating all physical labour. Imagine a world where intelligent robots can do all the work required for housing, feeding, and entertaining a populace that can spend its time on whatever it wants. This can be viewed as a dream or a nightmare. Yes technology always presents new challenges.
But let's not get bogged down in the philosophy, have a look at some of the advances in robotics presented in this video.
That, of course, presents too many social problems to cover here.
Gazans protesting against HAMAS
It seems to have taken eons, but at last, we have demonstrations by 'innocent' Palestinian citizens against their Hamas overlords. Why should this be surprising? After all, in many Western cities, there are regular ongoing protests against Israel in support of Hamas. Yes, we have citizens of the free West protesting Israel's defensive war against a terrorist organisation that started the war and still holds hostages. Innocent civilians who happened to have attended a music festival some 18 months ago. While one can dismiss the atrocities that started the war as those of a barbaric group of Islamic terrorists, surveys of the population of Gaza just after the Oct 7 attack and even after the Israeli response including a ground invasion, and extensive bombing, the surveys showed about 80% of Gaza's population supported Hamas' atrocities. Yes, some 80%. Over the following months, Hamas' popularity dropped to about 60%, most recently to around 40%.
At last, it seems, those 60% who no longer support Hamas are now out in the streets calling for Hamas to leave. This is good news, and one could predict it to be the beginning of the end of Hamas. But let's not be overly optimistic, Hamas is still in control, and they may manage to quell this uprising. If they do, it will be brutal. We have seen their brutality in the past. But we live in hope.
The reporting of these demonstrations has been limited. I have seen it on SkyNews, X, and reported in the Australian. However, there is, at present, some reluctance in main stream, read left-leaning, media to report on this. After all, for 18 months they have been reporting extensively and enthusiastically on the demonstrations against demon Israel. So it is difficult to turn around and now report on the Gazans rejecting the very group that those demonstrations supported.
Here is the report from SkyNews.
Lockdowns do NOT work
Though a few years have passed, the pandemic is now a somewhat remote nightmare. Most of the world has moved on. Sure, a few million people died (actually some 7 million, according to Wikipedia). Sure, the authorities made some poor decisions. Sure, vaccination would have had some side effects, including some deaths, but it is claimed they were necessary to save lives. Sure vaccine manufacturers took some shortcuts in the testing of the vaccines. Sure, the media and medical authorities stretched the truth to get us to conform to vaccination and lockdown mandates. But it is claimed this unprecedented authoritarianism was for our own good. So goes the claim. But although, as Oliver Tearle said, "A lie is halfway round the world before the truth has got its boots on", the truth does, eventually catch up.
The truth has been trickling out over the months. The truth that current COVID vaccination presents zero efficacy, that COVID vaccination has serious adverse events at a rate that makes it inadvisable for many, if not all, age groups, the truth that the lockdowns that were imposed in many Western democracies violated the human rights of the population.
Most recently, we learned that lockdowns are NOT an effective strategy for limiting the impact of a pandemic. In fact, quite the opposite. Here is a Prager video by Dr Scott Atlas, Senior Fellow in Health Policy at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, titled "COVID Lockdowns:The Real Cost". Well worth a view.
Much Maligned Musk manages miracle!
With US Democrats virtually losing their minds in a Musk-hate frenzy, we are unlikely to hear too much about the miraculous rescue of the marooned astronauts on the International Space Station. But miraculous it was. It elevates Musk in the eyes of anyone with a heart, but that condition may perhaps leave out many Democrats. Musk is a genius across many fields, and is widely respected across the world. Yet, in our politically polarized world when he dropped the Democrats and joined Trump's campaign the rabid Democrats have turned on him. Bogus investigations, campaigns to boycott companies advertising on Twitter, and most recently a violent campaign attacking Tesla dealerships.
It seems 'hell hath no fury like a "Democrat" scorned!
The rescue of the marooned astronauts did make the media, yet was quickly forgotten to focus on anti-Trump propaganda. Here is a brief video from Dave Rubin.
How to handle calls to boycott Israel
Sad to say politics has infiltrated every aspect of our lives. Local councils, whose sole raison-d'etre is "rates, roads and rubbish' are invariably hijacked by activists to pass resolutions that have nothing to do with their core function. We have councils that object to Australia Day being on 26th January, to wanting to fly a Palestinian flag, to celebrate Pride Day by painting roads multi-coloured, or imposing a boycott against Israeli goods. These types of issues are political in nature and a council decision will have a miniscule, if any, real impact. Usually, the position of these activist councils runs contrary to the government of the day and does not have community support. It is as if some minority clique has managed to take control of the local council, then flexing their power to enact radical policies to 'make a statement'.
While the examples I have given apply in Australia this issue is by no means limited to Australia. Indeed the following video shows how Rami Feinstein an Israeli citizen addressed Summit County Ohio council meeting when they were considering boycotting Israel. His response is succinct and comprehensive and serves as a template on how individuals should confront their councils when faced with political motions.
