Ja nee

Lulu got swooped by a butcher bird the other day; it clipped her bum and she leapt away. Quite funny, until it had a go at me..!

Magpies and kiewiets/plovers also get huffy. Being strafed while cycling is not amusing.

My Auntie Bunty said it was very frightening when it was a German bomber doing the strafing, which happened to her in WW2. Obviously they missed, as she told us the story.

It’s going to be one of those days with bits and pieces.

Such a moment in time, when the world makes kiss kiss to that awful orange man. Peace in Gaza was inevitable, there was nothing left. The Donald’s timing enabled him to claim the glory, but he was really only the final straw.

Let him crack the hard nut of the Ukraine and I will echo his own nomination for the Nobel Peace prize

These are quotes from stuff I have been reading lately. Hope they titillate your fancies.

“Journalism largely consists in saying ‘Lord Jones is dead’ to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive.” –G.K. Chesterton

“There is in our future a TV or Internet populism, in which the emotional response of a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the Voice of the People.” Umberto Eco

All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.

George Orwell

“The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”

Margaret Thatcher

… the Internet will bring about Idiocracy

Trump ….”tribalist, kleptocratic, authoritarian cultural imperialist? “

” He cares about getting rich, persecuting his enemies, and eliminating threats to his own power—just like his Middle Eastern counterparts do. “

Nick Catoggio

A hit dog will holler.

“Anyone who calls us authoritarian is going to prison,”

“If you can’t call fascists fascists, then the fascists have won.”

Democracy insists upon enfranchising the ignoramuses, who also get a vote on any number of other issues about which they know little or nothing. Two cheers for democracy and all that.

United States and China are firmly locked in a cold war struggle whose outcome will be the most important determinant of peace, prosperity, and quality of life in international politics over the next decade.

The second half of this decade is set to be a critical inflection point in this contest.

Stephen Weber, Cold War Statecraft for the 2020s

We would be better off if we did a little bit more work understanding what people actually think (and why) rather than inventing arguments that are designed to make us feel virtuous in comparison.

Kevin D Williamson TMD 24 Oct ’25

He was talking up the Ideological Turing Test which he believes will help us all avoid unsubstantiated sentimental pronouncements about others’ arguments.

Hope that stimulates some thought, sorry it’s so serious…

Points to ponder

These are mostly extracts from others’ articles which resonate with me.

Artificial Unintelligence

AI is only as bigoted as we make it

Feed an AI whale a lot of antisemitic swill, and it will defecate antisemitic crap on command.

These large language models just summarize whatever texts were fed to them. This is why so many of them actually ratify progressive conventional wisdom, culled from academic and journalistic texts.

July 11, 2025 The Dispatch Logo

Jonah Goldberg

The global wellness economy is valued at $6.3 trillion per year and is expected to grow to $9 trillion in the next three years

… wellness influencers represent a new generation of morality salesmen, marketing the idea that health is something you can buy—and that virtue is part of the package when you purchase their products, and poor health is part of your punishment when you don’t.

This religion was a heavily moralistic one, and its road to hell was as wide as the door to dieters’ refrigerators

The influencer who gave us the idea of the body as a temple was none other than St. Paul.

The Wellness Gospel Won’t Save You – Hannah Rowan
July 19, 2025, The Dispatch

Humans are wired with a “negativity bias” that triggers a stronger emotional response to bad news than good news – evident in the journalism maxim “if it bleeds, it leads”

… progress is often about what doesn’t happen

The modern world was built and shaped by optimists. We owe it to them to carry the torch.

We have everything we need to thrive. Our resiliency will protect us; our intelligence will propel us.

Old Fictions, New Fictions – Jonah Goldberg, The Dispatch 1 August 2025

“Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?” – Marx brothers

A tilt at a windmill

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury.

From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.“

Alexander Fraser Tytler, Scottish advocate, judge, writer and historian 1747 to 1813

The pampering of pets

The other day a wise woman said to me that the amount of money squandered on the pampering of pets is scandalous.

This scratched an irk that has been lurking in my mind for some time.

This irk was concretised by a recent article in the Summer 2025 issue of American Affairs by Peter Pilkington called The Limits of Consumption: Why Consuming More Makes Us Poorer.

It is quite heavy reading! What it said to me was:

We are told year in and year out that living standards are rising, but many people—especially younger people—can feel their quality of life decline as time goes on.

quality of life is degrading as GDP increases, i.e. many are getting poorer and some disgustingly richer
consumers are spending too much money on valueless crap
education, health and housing industries have been artificially inflated to extract more money from consumers.

In the US since 2011, the number of housing units per person stayed roughly constant at around 0.425 – that suggests there should be enough houses.

But average household price has risen by 85% !!

Non economic measures show a large decline in quality of life in recent years, but economic metrics show it is increasing.

Surprisingly the homeless populations and deaths of despair are rapidly increasing.

It is time for economists to admit that their metrics are broken

Basing the economic health of people is based on outdated calculations

Big Pharma, Real Estate tycoons and Universities have found the keys to manipulating governments for money. They inflate their markets. This results in higher prices that consumers must now pay.

There is little value increase for huge price increases, called consumer deepening which has degraded quality of life for many.

The pampering of pets is just a symptom of the general malaise that has infected capitalism:

consumers have lost their ability to see real value
- corporations manipulate governments to provide funding as economic policy
white collar information workers are non-producing and increasing, while blue collar workers, who actually produce are disappearing
large, entrenched and empowered DEI inspired bureaucracies
the lack of willingness in politicians to challenge entrenched practices and bureaucrats
ruthless production and marketing of valueless goods

Trump’s rampage in the US has targeted some of these problems. Let’s hope his initiatives are noted and adopted by all (hopefully with a bit more finesse…)

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?

No surprises

I worked for several years in the industrial relations arena during the transformation years of the 1990’s in South Africa. Things were raw and stark and there were many horrible deaths…

One lesson about dealing with people that stayed with me is that there should be no surprises.

In practice that means being predictable, highlighting the risks and illuminating desired outcomes.

…. and doing what you say you will.

Predictability and consistence – the hall marks for stability.

Donald Trump gets a big fat zero on both

TACO fits his most outrageous statements….

Which begs the question – is he promoting chaos?

Certainly, it is a means of bringing about change, until now favoured by Marxists seeking totalitarian power.

Is that what Trump is doing?

His statements about war on Democrat cities are troubling. He claims these cities have supposedly fostered illegal immigrants. This indicates he believes nearly half of US citizens are traitorous!

Now he is playing peek-a-boo with his will he/ won’t he decisions. He is contemplating whether to smash the Iranian underground nuclear facilities. Oh! And by the way, he may ‘take out‘ their Head of State, (obviously not on a date!)

I believe in his stated objectives on reducing:

uncontrolled immigration
sclerotic government bureaucratic swamps
the woke culture which has invaded universities and teaching, medical and legal professions
the overly simplistic climate goals
the influence of Big Pharma.

I also agree that global economics need to be changed with a view to prioritising national productivity.

The fact that these target conditions have become entrenched over a number of years, means that they will be extraordinarily difficult to eradicate.

I also believe that radical change cannot be effected gradually or gently.

So maybe Trump’s wrecking ball politics is crashing in the right directions?

Do we need to justify the means if we get the ends we desire?

The end cannot justify the means, for the simple and obvious reason that the means employed determine the nature of the ends produced.

Aldous Huxley

How will he be stopped from turning into a dictator?

Partial support may drag followers into the vortex of fascism, particularly if the military become enmeshed in the steps.

I reckon that if Trump drops the buster, he will go on to become a full blown dictator.

(I also believe that he must drop the bomb to cut off the head of the Iranian snake that has been bedevilling the world for a loong time)

How about that ? Topple one regime and start another on a different continent!

End Times

I have been entertaining some deep thoughts prompted by others and Trumpmania.

Now maybe irrelevant speculation….. !? It seems Israel has released the brakes and stomped on the accelerator…!

The lessons of world history are clear…

When the equilibrium between ruling elites and the majority tips too far in favour of elites, political instability is all but inevitable.

As income inequality surges and prosperity flows disproportionately into the hands of the elites, the common people suffer, and society-wide efforts to become an elite grow ever more frenzied… once a society steps on the road to crisis, it resembles a massive ball rolling down a narrow valley with steep slopes.

It’s very difficult to stop or even deflect its rush to an impending disaster.

But once the ball arrives at the crisis point, the valley opens up—there are many ways to exit the crisis.

Some paths lead to a complete disaster and utter collapse. Other trajectories manage to avoid the bloodshed of a revolution or a civil war.

Broadly-based well-being is a key variable in the structural-demographic theory, while its opposite, popular immiseration, is one of the most important drivers for instability

He [Tyrchin] calls this process the wealth pump; it’s a world of the damned and the saved.

And since the number of such positions remains relatively fixed, the overproduction of elites inevitably leads to frustrated elite aspirants, who harness popular resentment to turn against the established order.

Turchin’s models show that when this state has been reached, societies become locked in a death spiral it’s very hard to exit.

Peter Turchin End Times – Cliodynamica

The Iron Law of Oligarchy. In short, power corrupts.

Behavioural Sink is a term coined to describe the behaviour of rats living in an experimental utopia with ample food and no threats

They clustered together in one area and their behaviour deteriorated.

Sort of like the impact of urbanisation on humans…

I also watched a brief video on Fascism and the scenes from LA prompted thoughts of Kristalnacht in 1938 Germany.

Deliberate overuse of power to stoke up resistance from a target population. There is a Fuhrer and sycophantic toadies and brutal bullying and suppression of opposition.

Deaths of Despair*

Life expectancy in the United States has recently fallen for three years in a row—a reversal not seen since 1918 or in any other wealthy nation in modern times. In the past two decades, deaths of despair from suicide, drug overdose, and alcoholism have risen dramatically, and now claim hundreds of thousands of American lives each year—and they’re still rising.

In [their] critically important book, Case and Deaton tie the crisis to the weakening position of labour, the growing power of corporations, and, above all, to a rapacious health-care sector that redistributes working-class wages into the pockets of the wealthy. Capitalism, which over two centuries lifted countless people out of poverty, is now destroying the lives of blue-collar America.

… for those who used to prosper in America, capitalism is no longer delivering.

*https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691190785/deaths-of-despair-and-the-future-of-capitalism

Paying us with our own credit card

We choose government representatives. They decide how much money to collect from us. They also determine how to spend it for our benefit.

We expect them to be honest, disciplined, anticipatory and prudent.

We expect them to spend only what they can collect.

Without fear, favour or prejudice.

Just before an election the current Australian government is paying more money to every household.

It will have to borrow money to do so.

Is it trying to persuade us it is a good government by paying us money that we will have to pay back?

Well, Jim Horner, that is our pie and our plum – you are not a good boy!

If the people re-elect this government, they deserve what they will have to pay for.

In the future, more will have to be spent on government debt than on services to the people.

This has go to stop!

Bits and pieces

These are words in my reading that resonated with me and some random thoughts of my own.

The left has long been addicted to the most desired thing in intellectual life today—transgressive edginess, hip nonconformity. … different labels and buzzy phrases: institutional racism, antiracism, anticolonialism

What they all share is a desire to seem authentically rebellious by attacking the foundations of our nation and our civilization.

The problem is that such ideological non-conformity has become so institutionalized that it’s become an expression of ideological conformity

Jonah Goldberg The Dispatch 23 Jan 2024

Is it ironic that there has been an Indian (from India) presidential candidate? There has also been a half Indian Vice-President. Additionally, there are a number of Indian Presidential advisers. Yet, there is no native American Indian in any high government post…

Not How but Why?

This is what the the leading podcaster/ influencer thinks about marketing:

“ It’s nearly always cheaper, easier and more effective to invest in perception than reality “

“Remarkably, the close button in most lifts doesn’t actually work. Lift doors are designed to close after a certain amount of time, for safety and legal reasons…. This illusionary placebo creates the impression of control, decreases uncertainty, makes you feel safer…increases customer satisfaction.”

“Do not wage a war on reality, invest in shaping perceptions.

Our truth is not what we see.

Our truth is the story we choose to believe”

We believe that we are rational

“Our decisions aren’t driven by sense, they’re driven by the nonsense created by social cues, irrational fear and survival instincts “

Stephen Bartlett: Diary of a CEO

Is he saying ‘deceive to achieve‘?

It’s not that I disagree, but that it is very sad.

Bureaucracy has swamped democracy, radical reform is the only solution. Elon Musk and the Donald agree with me.

Interesting ABC News article declaiming the dwindling number of female ministers since that door was opened.

Maybe the Anglican bishops should implement an accelerated advancement for female ministers or seek divine intervention?

Guess who?

“One way he differs from every other president of my lifetime is that sometimes he just says stuff and no one, including some of his own aides, knows whether he means it or not. With good reason: Understanding his motives requires untangling a rat’s nest of strategic considerations, “dark triad” personality traits, anger-control issues, and insatiable avarice, all of it soaked in the logic of populist propaganda in which he’s constantly dousing himself.

Nick Cartoggio The Dispatch

This seems to be the general response to President Trump’s kind offer of refugee status for Afrikaners in South Africa: “Ik wil niet loopen, k’ben een Africaander, al slaat den Landdrost myn doot, of al setten hij myn in den tronk ik sal nog wil niet swijgen.” (Translation from Dutch: I do not want to leave, I am an Afrikaner. Even if the magistrate kills me, or puts me in jail, I will still not keep quiet.) — Hendrik Briebouw, 6 March 1707, at the Stellenbosch Magistrates’ Court.

It’s St Valentine’s Day – love the one you are with!

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