a rough justice – sillysocksonfriday

WTF?

I suppose that I could have written the full words. But, I doubt that the internet censors are as civilised as the US President.

There were almost as many headlines about the Trumpeted expletive as there were about whether World War III had started or ended in just 12 days.

My values must be from another age: I cringe when I see Heads of State return salutes of uniformed military personnel. A red baseball cap with a slogan does not compliment a business suit. It probably resonates with younger generations, so whatever?

(Why does he wear a tie for goodness sake? – maybe I should send him my blog on Silly Socks campaigns?)

What really did irk was the frivolous dance and sham theatrics of powerful nations with lethal munitions as props.

Trump stamped his foot and uttered a profanity because his Trumphant plan was spoilt.

Iran, with the largest military force in the Middle East, pre-warned the US of its missile attack! This allowed a total defence to the attack. The Iranian government could report their military audacity to its populace (blinded and deafened without internet and tv). Everyone quickly fell into line.

Now there is doubt over the effectiveness of the strike on Iran’s nuclear armament bunkers – looks like it was all for nought. WTF! Was it all a sham show?

That’ll really pee off the Donald! He’ll look like a right banana! Tee hee!

Will he bomb any new Iranian nuclear facilities? What about the 400 kg of enriched uranium that reportedly eluded the big bang?

Nuclear enrichment elimination was his stated intention. Might become too murky and involved for his liking.Maybe TACO is a good plan B?

No one has said anything about that other cream cracker’s offer to give Iran a few ready made bombs from his ample stocks in North Korea. Is there was any other person more deserving of a bunker bomb or two?

Now we have the NATO conference, where nearly everybody will rush in to kiss Trump’s ring, as if he was a bishop. They will pledge huge increases to their military budgets and the military industrial complex conundrum will rise again.

The political pendulum will be dragged right and war will become a way of life for many for years to come.

What is your call? Will Russia really invade Lithuania as is rumoured?

Will India and Pakistan again rumble or maybe India and China or China and China or Cambodia and Thailand?

Plenty of scope for armament sales for years to come … now that’s a strong basis for re-industrialiation of the mid-West Rust belt.

Think of all the problems resolved by revitalised economies, national service and the perpetuation of western civilisation…

Sorry, got a bit carried away….

I must confess to mixed feelings, again.

I am glad that clear and potent action has been taken to stop Iran’s nuclear kabuki which the world has tolerated for so long. Now that door has been kicked down once, it can be kicked down again.

Iran can read from that lesson that its sponsorship of terrorism in the Middle East and beyond must end. Others will pay attention.

Uncontrolled immigration and the delicate treatment of refugees and illegal immigrants needs the strong treatment.

Burgeoning and entrenched bureaucracies, DEI policies and Woke tactics need to be eviscerated.

Trump is doing the hard yards with these things- not very delicately, but WTF!

How can you hate somebody but like what they’re trying to do?

Another Mad Hatter’s Tea Party?

I guess I should be celebrating, making odd Musk-like salutes ‘from the heart‘ and singing ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy‘ with my South African accent..

It seems there is a mighty punch coming up for the Woke way of thinking.

The Donald’s antics and gestures are very puerile and devoid of dignity. Why all the pomp and circumstance when the top billing is a clown act?

But I keep on having flash thoughts of Alice’s Queen of Hearts and Caligula and occasionally Mussolini.

The violent white supremacist thugs who bludgeoned police officers at the Capitol were among the throng released by Trump.

* Trump launched a meme coin called $TRUMP on Friday, just days before his inauguration. Is this a new way to buy influence? Market capitalization soared to nearly $6 billion within hours. Melania also has a coin, so there! (Not called $trumpet…)

Vindicatory vengeance seems to be gushing up.

Trump’s nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, has come up with a specific list. In Patel’s 2023 book Government Gangsters, he lists 60 current and former executive branch officials whom he refers to as members of the “Executive Branch Deep State.”

President Biden issued preemptive pardons to many people who tried to hold Trump responsible for seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election and against whom Trump has promised “retribution.”

How far will Trump’s “retribution” actually go? Should Biden have granted himself and Harris and Clinton pre-emptory pardons as well?**

Trump is notoriously antagonistic to institutions that oppose him, like the Supreme Court and the Treasury and even Congress. His promise to extend the Tik Tok deadline to 90 days is contrary to a Congressional decision. Wonder if anyone will mention that to him?

I’m not squeamish about the purge.

Government bureaucracies have either been given or have usurped the power of elected representatives. They now control society by incriminating them. The rule makers are now the real rulers.

To unravel that Gordian knot will be impossible, so only an Alexandrine sword will reduce it.

I hope Musk’s purge will trim them, slim them and refocus their purpose.

The woke way of thinking is embedded in western culture and will be resistant to jackboots and muskrats. But there will certainly be a shaking up of the fashionable fringe followers, so that’s a start.

I wonder whether Trump will be constrainable or will he have to go the way of Caligula?

*Daniel Hampton – https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/

**Robert Reich January 21, 2025 ‘That’s interesting:’ Did Trump just launch a new conspiracy theory? – Alternet.org

Tough Love

I have just read “in Cold Blood”, a novel by Truman Capote, based on a real event in Kansas in 1959.

Two petty criminals who met in prison, agreed to rob a rich farmer in Kansas after their release.

They made preparations and an alibi and drove 800 miles, broke in late at night, tied up the four family members. There was no safe. They shot all four victims leaving with just $40 and a portable radio.

All they did leave was a bloody footprint.

They were identified by a former cell mate, who had told them of the rich farmer and been told by them of their plans to rob him

Arrested, they confessed and were tried, duly being sentenced to death.

There was a suggestion that the accused did not feel it was wrong … and that should save them from the noose.

To no avail – they were hanged in 1965 after many appeals.

As was right and just.

Many countries have now abolished the death penalty. Terrible crimes can be punishable by life imprisonment. This can actually mean as little as a dozen years in prison before parole is granted. At huge cost to the State.

I believe that a society that nurtures people who commit ghastly crimes and later releases them is eventually doomed.

If we can’t pull the trigger, we are not up for the job. Remember the Lindt cafe fiasco?

Rehabilitation is an unacceptable gamble.

At the 2021 “Summit for Democracy” President Biden said:

“Today, democracy is under more pressure than at any time since the 1930s…. Will we allow the backward slide of rights and democracy to continue unchecked? Democracy doesn’t happen by accident. We have to renew it with each generation. […] In my view, this is the defining challenge of our time.

President Macron said: ..”… the only political model that allows us to defend these rights and freedoms: democracy” –, adding that the fight was “more necessary than ever”.

Many are beginning to believe that: …the time has come for a world dominated by authoritarian powers, that the historical cycle of freedom has come to an end…..

So we see the surge of influence by authoritarian regimes. They have no compunction in using their power to obliterate opposition.

There, criminals receive short shrift, death penalties are common for all manner of acts. At the same time the sowing of destruction outside borders is actively promoted.

The democratic Western polities struggle mightily with huge issues like the right to declare oneself to be the opposite gender and unfettered rights to abortion.

Governments are unable to say “No”. Police must wear kid gloves to restrain the dangerous and disobedient. They must do so with a compulsory delicate etiquette. Children wreak havoc again and again despite frequent arrest.

Politicians are powerless to act without being pilloried by vociferous public dissent. They seek to keep their positions through the buying of public affection with the reckless disbursement of our revenue.

No wonder we are dissolving into disillusioned leaderless mobs, changing side every week. Soon the demagogues will turn vigilante.

We need some hard leaders who can say:

We will act to solve our problems, despite outcry. We did it in the pandemic, we can do it again.
Stop pussyfooting: squash disorder and crime quickly using the most effective means.
No more public protests stopping traffic. If students fail, they leave university. If they misbehave, they will be expelled. They will repay their loans in full.
The Review Tribunal will clear the Immigration backlog. Illegal entrants will be removed and can appeal from offshore. No more refugees/asylum seekers
Tax carbon emissions; incentivise clean energy systems; let the market prevail.
Minimise imports, maximise home grown
Labour disputes to be resolved by Tribunals.

These are the things I would do if I was PM:

Introduce nuclear power stations
Introduce National Service for all school leavers
Ban gender transition until 18 years of age
Bring back the death penalty for murder, child molestation and drug traffickers
Limit the right to silence, requiring explanations for compelling evidence. I would also dispense with juries
- Media would be banned from interviewing witnesses or accused persons.

Unalloyed joy!

Pure happiness.

It is fleeting, visceral, almost breath-taking.

I recently received good news about an almost inevitable family tragedy.

It had been haunting us for five years; frustrating us with futility, powerlessness and rage. And it wasn’t even me who was the target of impending doom.

Worse, it was one of my children and his family.

Faced by an impenetrable wall of bureaucracy, they were forced to spend over ten thousand dollars on legal advice. The threat of an unknown outcome hung over them for over 5 years.

If their appeal failed, they would have to leave their home, dogs, and cats. They would also leave their parents, siblings, friends, and careers over the last 10 years …

I ranted and blogged. I wrote to Ministers and Members of Parliament. I studied the law. I practised my address to the Appeal Tribunal weekly.

He came around last night and said “we haven’t had a beer for a while”. (It was about 10 days after all).

Then he said have a look at your email. I sensed that this was it and felt cold. It was from the Administrative Review Tribunal.

Like an automaton, I opened and read…

The Tribunal sets aside the decision under review…

Ohh Yessss!

He was so cool and calm. I was amazed. Then I realised he was still stunned. That is another emotion to add to the list.

I looked at my Blessed Michael the Archangel candle, given to me by my daughter, who had now been blessed.

My Daddy gave him to me as my guardian angel to protect me against nightmares and chase away the demons under my bed with his fiery sword…

I may still have some doubts about his Patron, but Michael gave me courage which I sent to all my children.

So I give thanks and praise.

Purge

At a time when most Western democracies are burdened by disillusion, poor economic and social outcomes and leadership that lacks either conviction or courage, Trump arrives as a giant on the stage of history

In his campaign Trump has promised “… savage public-sector cuts, a reduction in federal bureaucratic numbers, a purging of regulation, cutting taxes…extending tariffs… dismantling environmental obstacles to development, a domestic war on ..identity politics, boosting defence spending..”

If Trump succeeds …

“the governance model for Western democracy will be shaken to its foundations “

Paul Allan Western Australian 16 Nov 2024

A purge will not be before time, I say. And this should pave the way for all Western democracies to see the writing on the wall and change.

For decades governments have swung back and forth from Democrat/Labor to Conservative/Republican. Each victory led to a replacement of supporters and sponsors. The public service bureaucracy grew because each policy promise required an executive department.

Stalin used the Secret Police in his ‘Great Purge’ in Russia from 1936 to 1938. – his methods were a bit drastic -up to 1 million people were killed.

Politicians, intelligentsia, critics, government officials and the army were targeted.

President Harry S. Truman signed an executive order in 1947 to screen federal employees for possible association with organizations deemed “totalitarian, fascist, communist, or subversive

Primary targets were government employees, prominent figures in the entertainment industry, academics, left-wing politicians, and labor union activists. McCarthy was his hit-man. Public servants were screened…

So now we will see another purge in a democracy, not a totalitarian state ! Interestingly, the same as it was before, it will be the same types and classes of people who will be purged: the bureaucrats, intellectuals and professionals….

Trump has appointed Elon Musk who said he’d cut $2 Trillion from federal bureaucracies . That’s about one third of all employees! Tell me that won’t cause a riot!

He did it to Twitter / X seemingly without crippling industrial action. Maybe he can do it on a much bigger scale.

“Progressives are no longer the party of the working class or the non- college educated…

… the incompatibility of identity politics with the liberal principle of equality … citizens’ trust in mainstream institutions has been absolutely shattered..corporations and the military, universities and the courts .. trust is gone

When people look (at these institutions) they see progressive values shoved in their faces. It’s not the democracy they voted for.”

Politicians don’t purge, because those purged are voters.

Now it seems that this has changed, Trump doesn’t want re-election after this term. He is backed by the working class and opposed by the elites. He wants to change what the elites have done and he doesn’t care about the political risk.

Here in Australia it was reported recently that:

An estimated 70% of jobs growth since 2022 has been government funded….The 2024-25 budget showed the number of public servants had grown by about 25% since the COVID-19 pandemic

Dan Power, The Mandarin, 18 October 2024

Now we see how politics works! Vote for me an I’ll give you a job!

I hope the Coalition ask Elon Musk for some tips before the next election!

Crime does pay

Criminals and wrongdoers will be somewhat chagrined (polite version of pissed off).

Why? – because they are not the ones getting the money – the Government does.

What’s more, we the public pay without a squeal!

Every third year on 1 July, there is a blanket increase of the value(?) of a penalty point, called indexation, which means of course, that the Government gets more money, so crime pays.

Fines are standardised by the allocation of penalty points e.g. not controlling your dog in a public place costs 5 penalty points.

One penalty point is now A$161, up from A$154 (4.2%); CPI is only 3.8% over the same period.

Dear me, inflation is terrible, yet Government continues to find ways to maintain the flow of money paid by us all. Without lifting a finger or risking public debate in Parliament. Such a cunning trick to ensure its revenues are maintained.

Like Justice, these increases are blind – they do not take into account whether there has been an increase or decrease in offending or whether the penalties deter or eliminate crime.

In fact, it appears that the number of offences detected on camera for every 1,000 vehicles has reduced. “This is a promising sign of changing driver behaviour.”

Yet the penalty amounts increase!

The state government forecast its Camera Detected Offence Program (CDOP) would bring in $465.8 million in revenue in 2023 financial year — up nearly 70 per cent on the $274.5 million collected in 2021-22.

Yet the then minister stated “Research tells us that CDOP was associated with a reduction of 897 casualty crashes in 2020 and 1191 casualty crashes in 2021,”

From next financial year, the government forecasts CDOP revenue of $503.5 million – the equivalent of $1.37 million per day!!

What started me of on this theme was recently the penalty for allowing one’s dog to walk unleashed in a public place increased from $322 to $806!

Why ?

I really don’t want to get started on how governments control its citizens by making them criminals or government ingenuity on extracting money.

To me it’s simple: if you don’t control your dog adequately, you will be warned. If it happens again your dog will be destroyed.

If you drive without a seat belt, in excess of speed limits, using a phone, or go through traffic lights, you will be warned. Next time your licence is cancelled. Third time – you go to gaol.

Offences will dry up quick time. But so will revenue…

Is that likely to happen? Yeah, right!

Winter is gone

The path I walked this morning was strewn with small branches bearing sprays of gum flowers, strewn by honey drunk lorikeets. The flowers still had a rich honey scent.

The birds shriek even louder now and the crows chuckle and cawl, marking their territories. A noisy friar flew over with a twig in its beak for a nest in our jacaranda. I was swooped by a butcher bird in the usual place.

When I sit on the stoep in the morning, the shrill birds’ calls are almost annoying, but their joy overrides the irritation.

The wattle mimosa is almost over, now the bauhinias are flowering, to be followed by jacaranda and eventually flamboyant Poinciana.

On our walk I have seen two dead snakes, so they are on the prowl too.

Winter is gone.

This poem always reminds me of the circle of life, mostly grim but the idea of a crows’ nest embellished with ‘gowden’ hair is almost amusing. It is not by Robbie Burns; its origin is unknown.

Twa Corbies

As I was walking all alane,
I heard twa corbies making a mane;
The tane unto the t’other say,
‘Where sall we gang and dine to-day?’

‘In behint yon auld fail dyke,
I wot there lies a new-slain knight;
And naebody kens that he lies there,
But his hawk, his hound, and his lady fair.

‘His hound is to the hunting gane,
His hawk, to fetch the wild-fowl hame,
His lady’s ta’en another mate,
So we may mak our dinner sweet.

‘Ye’ll sit on his white hause-bane,
And I’ll pike out his bonny blue een.
Wi’ ae lock o’ his gowden hair,
We’ll theek our nest when it grows bare.

‘Mony a ane for him makes mane,
But nane sall ken whare he is gane:
O’er his white banes, when they are bare,
The wind sall blaw for evermair.’

Which way are you going, Billy?

Life is suffering

Love is the desire to see unnecessary suffering ameliorated

Truth is the handmaiden of love

Dialogue is the pathway to truth

Humility is recognition of personal insufficiency and the willingness to learn

To learn is to die voluntarily and be born again, in great ways and small

So speech must be untrammeled

So that dialogue can take place

So that we can all humbly learn

So that truth can serve love

So that suffering can be ameliorated

So that we can all stumble forward to the Kingdom of God

“Don’t underestimate the power of vision and direction. These are irresistible forces, able to transform what might appear to be unconquerable obstacles into traversable pathways and expanding opportunities.”

Jordan Peterson: 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (I think)

I often struggle with direction and the meaning of life; what Peterson says resonates.

…. and now for something completely different..

The Midnight Cowboy

What happened below is one of those stories that you couldn’t make up.

It was case that came before me when I was a Senior Magistrate, presiding in Salisbury Magistrates Court

The accused was charged with failing to obey a Police officer’s instructions and assault. He pleaded not guilty.

At about midnight on the night in question, a Detective Superintendent was driving home after a Police Officers’ Regimental Dinner. Formal dress was required so he was attired in his No 1 mess uniform – navy blue in colour with sword, spurs, medals, brass buttons and lots of braid. A glorious sight!

He observed a vehicle drive through a red traffic light without stopping. As a Police officer, he felt obliged to give chase.

He caught up to the offender and forced him to pull over, got out of his car and approached the other car.

He remonstrated with the driver who responded tersely with a coarse suggestion that he should go away and then roared off again.

Under cross examination, the Superintendent denied the suggestion that the accused could have mistaken him for the Midnight Cowboy returning from a Fancy Dress Ball.

(At this stage, I had to pretend that I had dropped my pen, to hide my laughter!)

The zealous policeman, now incensed, called in the registration number and got an address. He arrived there about half an hour later.

The fugitive came out, there was an altercation, and he biffed the policeman, whose spurs caught in the grass and he fell over. It was produced as an exhibit!

The Superintendent retired in high dudgeon and then called out the riot squad, who deployed in full force with rifles and spotlights to arrest the offender.

There was not a helicopter as later depicted in a Sunday paper cartoon.…

I had a great deal of difficulty remaining impassive and dropped my pen 3 times, I had to … I couldn’t stop laughing!

During an adjournment, I suggested to the Prosecutor that he withdraw the case and he said he wanted to, but the complainant insisted.

Eventually, I found the man not guilty of disobeying a policeman, as he may not have appreciated the glorious uniform contained a policeman.

But I had to find him guilty of assault, but gave him a paltry fine, which enraged the pompous policeman.

It really wasn’t so funny. The man’s hubris had besmirched the reputation of the Police force; he had deployed great force to deal with a petty infraction; such abuse of authority was astounding.

I wish I had kept a copy of the cartoon in the Sunday Tribune!

More weight!

The last words of Giles Corey as he was judicially crushed to death in an attempt to get him to answer to charges of witchcraft. He was 81 years old.

He defied the sheer madness of a society that tolerated in the name of God and the law, widespread, hysterical allegations of witchcraft. Such perverted zealotry was deemed appropriate by many.

“The Crucible” is a play about the 1692 Salem witch trials, including that of Giles Corey, written by Arthur Miller. Its themes are as relevant today as they were when aimed at the Communist witch hunt in the US in the early 1950’s.

Some girls were seen dancing in the woods by a minister in the rigidly conservative Puritan society of Salem in Massachusets. They pretended they were under spells and witchcraft was blamed. They began naming people as having communed with the Devil and influenced their behaviour.

Suddenly a vehicle was found by some to settle scores, old and new. Others came forward and alleged bizarre behaviours. A zealous minister interpreted and prosecuted the allegations. Hundreds were accused, arrested and tried on allegations that could not be proved. The mere fact that many alleged the influence of the Devil was accepted as truth.

Those denounced were arrested and required to admit their connection with the Devil or deny it and be hanged. Most did and saved their lives but lost their estates; nineteen men and women did not and were hanged. Giles Corey, 81, was squashed to death.

It was like reading accounts of today’s woke mobs baying for policemens’ or Jews’ blood or the credence given to the gender dysmorphia hysteria of teenage girls. It sheds light on the reality of mass psychogenic illness, which are very real behaviours with no known physical cause, a form of social influence, which defies our understanding.

… but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom…
The Crucible, Act 2

What is so frightening about social media today is the immediate identification by millions with reports of situations. One consequence is a cacophony of ‘me too’ howls which generate so much noise that they are almost impossible to deny. Substantiating the truth is no longer relevant. The mere noise of the mob causes knee jerk political response.

Protestantism was mass resistance to the existing Church’s iron grip on society, the Inquisition, suppression of challenge and direction of government. Ironically the idols and ritualism of Catholicism were rejected and the swing went to the rigid strictures of Puritanism which added zeal and the same belief that the Devil was ever present. The pendulum swung but the iron rule of the Church prevailed.

We see now the rise of ultra right wing nationalism across the western world. Apparently a reaction to the huge influx of Arab and African refugees and the campaigns of woke movements such as #metoo and BLM, which pillory historical figures and values and call for reparations and bending the knee in acknowledgement of white patriarchy guilt. Mere allegation is sufficient for substance of wrongdoing.

Just like in Salem in 1692.

Serious splits in society have formed and we will be pressed to answer whether we agree that taking the knee is a good thing or face consequences.

I hope I will say: “More Weight!”

A question of balance

Terror tactics are horrifying and repugnant causing us to recoil. They are used when conventional warfare: i.e. soldiers fighting soldiers, is not pragmatic.

The terror tactics used in Rhodesia during the time of its ‘liberation’ war included the murder of unarmed non-combatants in pitiless, gruesome fashion. This included the execution by shooting of headmen and many tribespeople “pour encourager les autres” accompanied by mutilations, abduction and rape. It included the execution of survivors of a passenger aircraft they had shot down; the murder of missionaries including the bayonetting of a 6 month old baby.

Of course, Europe had its own terrorists like the Red Army Faction which engaged in a series of bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, bank robberies, and shoot-outs with police.

Governments also use terrorism. In World War II, the Nazis executed villagers in reprisal for attacks on them by resistance partisans.

The Japanese Army is estimated to have executed millions of Chinese and Korean civilians during the same period.

Let us not omit the ultimate terror tactic deployed by the US on Japan in 1945 – the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki which killed over 200, 000 people.

Neighborhood reduced to rubble by atomic bomb blast, Hiroshima, 1945.

Sadly, terror tactics clearly have some “legitimacy” in societies across the world.

This somewhat shatters our moral high ground when considering the Hamas massacres of Israeli residents and indeed the Israeli retaliation and the US support for it.

There is some distaste for the Hamas tactic of hiding amongst the “innocent” population, but it is a brutally clever tactic. Why should non-combatants not share the fight in a liberation struggle?

Of course, this type of thinking means that the only tactic to stop this type of warfare is eradication and suppression – obliteration will buy a few years until new ideologists fire up the youth of a new generation. Unavoidably, non-combatants will also be obliterated.

We can express our horror and repugnance, but we can not condemn the morality if we too are guilty.

It goes without saying that terrorists should be stopped before they attack.

But, how is this possible?

One answer which many will not like, is universal surveillance: the continuous monitoring of every meeting, conversation and movement of ….. everybody.

Don’t be alarmed, surveillance of communications and movement is commonplace in the military and security industries, including the police. Many private houses and vehicles already have security camera systems which track you whenever you pass by; you are watched in supermarkets, bars and train stations. Internet traffic is monitored and filtered by service providers.

Why do we still need a warrant to monitor criminal activities? AI bots can monitor and notify suspicious behaviour for investigation, in real time as it happens.

It will be far more effective in stopping terrorists and criminals than analysis of historical data, so what is the downside?

After all: “freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose”!

I wrote this poem for a poetry class some years ago.

Screen

Everyone everywhere should be screened

Let the camera capture

your face, your life, your ups and

downs.

And hers and his and theirs.

All must be screened – t’will

make us feel safer and happier, until

we think about

Who screens

the Screeners.

Look at the screen

be obscene and herd:

you’re on tv!

This is our new morality

I was on tv

did you see me?