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man waving flag

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The fact that private property has been damaged and graffiti daubed on walls in a couple of Australian cities means these are law and order issues. Australia does not have an antisemitism problem on this basis. Talk about political manipulation and overreach. We have police forces capable of adequately dealing with these relative few instances of criminal damage. Most Australians know that there is a protest movement engaged in drawing attention to the genocide being committed by Israeli forces in Gaza, where more than 50, 000 Palestinians have been killed by the IDF. Passions are high among the Australian Arab population and younger Aussies more generally – this is understandable in light of what is going on.Continue Reading

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Time To Get Murdoch Press Out Of Australia

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It is time to rid our shores of the Murdoch controlled News Corp and their unbalanced political fiction factory. Do we want lies and disinformation in our media downunder? For too long Rupert Murdoch has held sway over our newspapers, radio networks and TV news. News Corp sets the agenda in Australian current affairs and yet is the most right wing biased news source in the country. Most recently, Australians rejected the Temu Trump led Coalition of Libs and Nats at the federal election. Australian cities voted in droves to reject the Donald Trump inspired politics of hate and divisiveness.Continue Reading

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Stoicism: above, suicide Seneca; middle

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I could begin with a brief history lesson about Stoicism but this is not the essence of it. Being Stoic: What is it? Doing stuff you don’t want to do but know that you have to do anyway. The expression ‘soldiering on,’ invariably comes to mind, as soldiers have to do a lot of shitty things they really would rather not. Duty is a big one for Stoics. Virtue, even, more so. WTF is virtue anyway? It is a word, which has not stood the test of time. It exists as an anachronism, a term draped in cobwebs and an echo from the ancient world. This is old stuff and does it truly having any bearing on our lives today?Continue Reading

Socrates and Xantippe

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Socrates was an old soldier, who fought for Athens well into his 40’s. Alcibiades was instrumental in his downfall, in many ways, as it was the impetuosity of this young man that ultimately poisoned the well of public opinion against Socrates. Much of what we think we know about Socrates comes from the writings of others – Plato and Xenophon in particular.  Interestingly, Xenophon was an Athenian who spent much of his life living in Sparta. Alcibiades, of course, fled to Sparta in an act of treasonous betrayal before returning when Athens was defeated by the Spartans. Democracy fell and the 30 Tyrants were installed to run Athens – Socrates is associated with these tyrants, as he served in an official capacity as a public servant during this oligarchic period. It was a time of great political upheaval, obviously, and Athenian citizens of standing would be hard pressed to avoid taking sides, I imagine.Continue Reading

eagle on a beach

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Freedom is a word with a lot of baggage in America. Think about free speech! The land of the free. The free market. Kris Kristofferson, who died this week, famously sang – “freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” Americans are inundated with this term and have been since the inception of their country. What is freedom? According to the Oxford Dictionary:

1. The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants. “we do have some freedom of choice” Similar: right to entitlement to privilege prerogative due

2. the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved. “the shark thrashed its way to freedom”Continue Reading

focused african american researcher conducting biochemical experiment in clinic

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I have been reading some interesting stuff about how the Black Death shaped humanity. Plague has been with humankind at least 5, 000 years and has been one of our most efficient killers.

“Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, a zoonotic bacteria, usually found in small mammals and their fleas. It is transmitted between animals through fleas.”

(https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/plague#:~:text=Plague%20is%20an%20infectious%20disease,transmitted%20between%20animals%20through%20fleas.)

Yersinia pestis is the official name of this malevolent bacteria, which has a predilection for human victims. It manifests in bubonic and pneumonic ways to spread death and disease. It has been found in ancient DNA by scientists and looks to have originated on the steppes of Eurasia.Continue Reading

The British Neptune riding Triumphant

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The conversation among my work crew is a fairly good reflection of the average discursive exchange happening around the nation at the moment, I reckon. Dressed as we are in high viz gear and steel capped boots ensconced in our work ute on the way to the site. Smoko ramps up with the news of the day and plenty of opinions. One of my erstwhile colleagues, a migrant from the old country, was voicing her support for those kicking up a stink in Britain. Blaming it on too many immigrants coming into the country and receiving special treatment to the detriment of those who really belong there. Blame it on the poor immigrant.Continue Reading

moving cars on the road near wangjing soho buildings

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We are in the midst of a hype driven mania for all things AI at this time. This is not entirely unusual, as humanity has done this before. There have been fevers for all sorts of things from tulips to Facebook over the years. In this instance, however, it involves handing over agency to something called Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI: Why do we give our power away? Human beings have a tendency to be inclined to pass over responsibility to something perceived as wiser than ourselves. We did it with God! For millennia, large sections of the human race have handballed autonomy to an invisible, apparently supernatural entity with a lot of oms. Omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. All powerful, all knowing and everywhere. Of course, the concept of God has proven to be scientifically unverifiable.Continue Reading

orange and white plastic toy

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A new study has revealed the fact that many Trump Evangelicals are not really Christians in the sense of church going folk. Their evangelical badge is more a cultural identity as white Christian nationalists than a true faith based calling. It is a very American transition that their Evangelical identity is more of a brand thing in the 21C. Many of these folk do not regularly attend church and their understanding of the gospels in the bible seems scant. How else could they match Trump with Jesus if not by blind ignorance about what is written in the gospels. Similarly how could they justify their guns and threatening behaviours if they were truly Christians?Continue Reading

america ancient architecture art

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Any sane person watching on has concern enough to be worried about Trump’s America. The very fact that this guy is still the leading GOP candidate for the 2024 presidential election is a judgement on the American people. Despots and dictators don’t rise to power without the help of the people. Everybody knows that Donald J Trump is a liar and a cheat. I mean, the guy is compulsive in both these character failings. More concerning is that he has broken the law on numerous occasions and has managed to avoid prosecution or conviction. No one voting for Trump is truly unaware of who is and how he goes about business.Continue Reading