Who are these 'feminists?' It is time for some outrage.

Every self-respecting woman is a feminist.  

But who exactly are these 'feminists' who are always being outraged by bikini'd girls in an advertisement, or a cricketer choosing the wrong time to ask out a woman, or any other minor perceived 'sexism' by a male? 


They are currently being called cowards because they refuse to stand up for female victims of Islam. But just who are they?


I certainly didn't elect them. I've been a feminist even before I knew the word. I was one of those who spoke up for women's rights in the 60s and 70s. Every thinking woman wants equal rights. Every thinking woman is therefore a feminist. 


So who do the media go to when they want a 'feminist' quote or a 'feminist' reaction? It's not me, and whoever they are, it is not representative of me. 


I want a few names. I want to ask them just why they are refusing to be at all outraged at the outrageous things that are happening in the world, while pretending outrage at the miniscule and innocuous.

The Islamic hatred of women became more widely appreciated on New Years Eve day, 2016, when there were mass attacks by 'refugees'  (illegal immigrants, mistakenly welcomed)  on women in Cologne, Germany.  Over the nest few days, slowly, it was reported that several other cities had the same planned attacks by exactly the same sort of people. Other countries, as well.  


There was a cover-up, orders from above.  Even now, I saw a report that videos of the attacks are being systematically wiped from social media.  The authorities appear to be far more concerned with preventing what they refer to as 'Islamophobia' than they are with protecting their own women or even simply reporting the facts.  Problems are never solved if they are not acknowledged as problems. 

Should we teach our babies to swim?

We're told that 'water familiarity'  will make our babies and toddlers safer from drowning.  But will it?

Humans have a natural instinct to avoid falling, whether into water-holes or cliffs. There is a well known experiment from years ago, when mothers tried to call their crawling babies to come to them, even though it appeared that the surface dropped several feet. (There was actually a sheet of clear glass to keep them safe - no actual cliff.)  But the babies were very reluctant to cross what they perceived as a cliff.

But these days, we make a nice time for babies in swimming pools. They have a wonderful time with a parent, it's all good fun and perfectly safe.  

The result, though? A week ago, I watched a toddler of 18 months run straight to the edge of a swimming pool, perfectly prepared to launch herself in. The father was not far away and swooped on her, stopping the plunge, but still... What if she was not being watched?  One drowned toddler.  She'd been taught to think of a swimming pool as only fun, and had lost her instinctive wariness of falling. 'Water familiarity' made her less safe, not more safe.

An older child, however, was able to be tossed in, screaming with laughter, and could dog-paddle her way to the side. That could save her life.

But that child was old enough to have some sense. She was not about to fall in or jump in when she was not allowed. The child was five. At that age, swimming lessons are a benefit. 

So sure, swimming lessons for your child, just wait until they are old enough to have some sense - like this bathing beauty from fifty years ago, for instance. 

In those days, no-one thought of 'swimming' lessons for babies.  Proportionate to the population,  were there more or less drowning deaths of toddlers? 

 Interesting question, I do not know the answer. 

And, in consideration of others, keep them out of public pools until they are toilet-trained. Please. 'Swimming nappies'  or not, a tiny child will wet itself when they go into water, and no 'swimming nappy'  is going to keep the urine out of the pool water.

Your baby is gorgeous,  we can see that.  But if swimming lessons do more to make them unsafe than safe, then maybe you should think of others, as well.  Keep your gorgeous, but incontinent baby out of public pools. 

When they are older, sure.  That's different. 

The Genocide of Christians.

This Christmas, I would like to remember those Christians wickedly persecuted in the Middle East. A genocide is going on, routinely ignored by those Western leaders who choose instead to trumpet that 'Islam is a religion of peace.' Not just Christians are victims there, of course, but Jews, whom the Muslims are taught to hate and want to kill, atheists, though I doubt if anyone in that whole area would be willing to admit to being an atheist, and the Yasidis, subject to constant attack, but luckily with the courage to fight back. Even ones the Islamists consider insufficiently devout or not devout in the right sort of Muslim way, are killed. Children are massacred.

I think of the victims of Islam in our own reasonably civilised countries as well - the women forced to cover up as if they are not people at all, and especially the ones who are so brain-washed that they think it their own idea. It is not. Making a woman into a mere parcel is an assault on women's rights everywhere.

I think of the children of Islam, too many of whom are subject to the rite of female circumcision, indicative of that strain of sick sexuality that runs through Muslim cultures. If it was not there, they would not consider a bare ankle a provocation, and rape would not be so prevalent.

I think of girls forced into marriage too early, and to men they may not like, and I think of those who are not sufficiently docile, and who wind up killed by members of their own families - 'Honour' killings, as if there was any sort of honour in murder.

And I think of Muslims who would think all of this a foul thing to say. Because if they dare not to believe, then Allah will take an awful vengeance on them. The Koran is full of threats of a dreadful hell for unbelievers. It is its most common message. Muslims are not permitted to think about their religion, and especially not to criticise any aspect of it.

I would like to deliver some good news for religious people everywhere. Hell is a man-made concept. It does not exist. And since it does not exist, you can live free, free of this ghastly threat.

For many of us, Christmas is a joyful occasion, a secular event, no longer religious in spite of its 'true meaning.' There were midwinter celebrations before Christianity, but now it is Christmas, and no matter what you choose to believe, it is for enjoying.

So cast aside the teachings that lead to killings and guilt and fear. Live free and enjoy your Christmas.

They are trying to make us afraid to speak. It's working.

Today in the news, there was a story about the publisher of a secular blogger being hacked to death.

 ABC news, 1^st November, 2015, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-01/publisher-of-slain-blogger-hacked-to-death-in-bangladesh/6902474

A publisher of a slain online critic of religious militancy has been hacked to death in the Bangladesh capital, police said, hours after similar attacks on two secular writers and another publisher in the majority-Muslim country.

Faysal Arefin published books by Avijit Roy, a US citizen of Bangladeshi origin who was killed by Islamists militants in the same way in February.

Arefin was hacked to death on Saturday (local time) with sharp weapons in his office on the second floor of a crowded market in the capital, police said.

Militants have targeted secularist writers in Bangladesh in recent years, as the government has cracked down on Islamist groups seeking to turn the South Asian nation of 160 million people into a Sharia-based state.

Four secular bloggers have been hacked to death this year for writing critically about Islamist militancy. 

Another blogger is imprisoned and flogged.

Religious Freedom Coalition, 28^th November, 2015

Raif Badawi, a Saudi critic of Saudi’s anti-democratic government and its religious police network, was arrested in 2012 and sentenced to a decade in prison and 1,000 floggings.

Badawi endured 50 floggings in January and became so weak he almost died from his injuries. The Saudi government halted the floggings until he could heal. These floggings are to begin again soon and will be done weekly – 50 lashes at a time for 20 weeks in a row.

 

 

   

 

Until his arrest, he wrote a blog called “Saudi Arabian Liberals” where he advocated for secularism in this religious dictatorship.

 

 

http://www.religiousfreedomcoalition.org/2015/10/28/floggings-begin-again-for-saudi-blogger/

Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine.  Twelve people were murdered because they'd 'offended' Muslims. 
'Je suis Charlie,' remember?  A world-wide movement in support of the twelve murdered Charlie Hebdo journalists and cartoonists. A world-wide movement in support of freedom of speech.  They said it - je suis Charlie.  But it didn't happen. People are  more afraid to speak up than ever.

The Tribune, May 6^th, 2015  - 
 http://tribune.com.pk/story/881963/authors-boycott-ceremony-as-charlie-hebdo-feted-in-new-york/
 
NEW YORK: French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo received a freedom of expression award on Tuesday at a gala US ceremony boycotted by some leading authors in protest at the publication’s lampooning of Islam.

Security was tight at the PEN America ceremony in New York, which came 48 hours after an attack targeting a Texas venue that featured a contest to draw the Prophet Mohammed.

Police officers armed with semiautomatic weapons stood guard outside the American Museum of Natural History, where the award was conferred by the literary and campaigning group during a dinner.

Officers also patrolled with dogs outside the building, near Central Park, and guests had to pass through metal detectors.

Charlie Hebdo was hit by a militant attack in Paris in January after regularly publishing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. Twelve members of its staff were shot dead.

Chief editor Gerard Biard told the New York ceremony that he was “very proud” to accept the award, and urged others to espouse the magazine’s values in support of freedom of conscience.

“Each citizen of the world must adopt these values and stand up for them, against political and religious obscurantism. The more numerous we are, the weaker they are,” he said.
 


Two points - the security needed because they were so afraid of attacks by Islamists.  and that far too many people decided to boycott the ceremony - afraid to stand up for freedom of speech.

 It had already succeeded on the other aspect -

The Tribune, April, 29, 2015.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/878079/charlie-hebdo-cartoonist-says-he-will-no-longer-draw-cartoons-about-the-prophet/

PARIS: Cartoonist Luz, who drew Charlie Hebdo’s front cover picture following the massacre of the satirical weekly’s editorial team by militants in January, has told a French magazine he will no longer draw sacrilegious cartoons.

 “I will no longer draw the figure of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). It no longer interests me,” he told Les Inrockuptibles magazine in an interview published on Wednesday. Luz’s cover image in January portrayed Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) with a sign saying “Je Suis Charlie” under the words “All is forgiven”.

The issue was published a week after militants had attacked the magazine’s office and killed 12 people. It had a print run of eight million — a record for the French press.

“The terrorists did not win,” Luz told Les Inrockuptibles.

“They would have won if the whole of France continues to be scared,” he added, accusing the far-right National Front of trying to stir up fear in the wake of the attacks.
 

But of course, the terrorists won. People are afraid. 

In more civilised areas, people are not flogged or hacked to death or imprisoned for stating the facts -  but there are some very real sanctions against free speech.  Being vilified on social media is one. 



Pamela Geller - http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/10/31/facebook-sky-news-pay-jizya-to-migrants-for-every-hate-post-bild-publishes-lists-of-hate-posters/

A couple of days ago, there was a huge controversy about Bild. They took screenshots of what they claimed were hate posts, along with the picture and name from Facebook, and published them. Like a pillory.

They are putting the people’s backs up against the wall and taking down any rational voice that speaks against this tyranny. It’s a recipe for civil war.

They published a list with the “top 10” of “hate posters.” And they meant to publish a list of the worst offenders.

It’s a threat — a warning — letting people know if they say anything against the invasion they will put a target on their heads. The response by freedom-loving peoples should be millions more posts, more tweets.


There are sites set up that encourage the encourage the reporting of  instances of 'Islamophobia.'  A German site offers money for reports of instances, and I've seen an Australian site doing likewise - $1/ report. 

And yet, true hate speech is ignored. 

Check this you-tube video if you think it is not so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm8gGX0lHTk&feature=youtu.be

There was a police staff member recently shot dead. He'd just been to Paramatta mosque, and it was there that someone had handed him the gun.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/29706350/police-search-mosque-in-parramatta-shooting-investigation/


There is also, of course,  just plain censorship: 

It comes in the form of omitting the reporting of important incidents, and the deliberate misreporting of incidents.

 A clear instance of Islamic terrorism is reported as an individual who is mentally ill.  Remember Man Monis?  He waved an Islamist flag, he told his hostages to pass on Islamist messages, and still there was this insistence that Islam had nothing to do with it.  Any who pointed out that there was a very clear religious motivation were labelled bigots and racists.  (And for the 1000th time, I will point out that Islam is not a race, it is a religious ideology.)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-26/experts-divided-over-sydney-siege-as-terrorism-or-mental-illness/6726772


On October 27th, there was a man probably having a psychotic episode - he waved a meat cleaver around, causing a Melbourne street to be closed down for a few hours. It was lucky that no-one was hurt, just some property damage and a great deal of inconvenience.  He claimed he was 'the Islamic Messiah.'  But in reports, it was denied that religion had anything to do with it, and then, it was reported that he'd claimed to be 'the Messiah'  - dropping the 'Islamic.'  (Two out of three TV news bulletins I watched that night did not mention it, and the third gave it a scant 20 seconds without mention of motive.)
https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/29919235/melbourne-siege-situation-man-armed-with-meat-cleaver-holding-up-la-trobe-st-cafe/

It is reported that facebook could be deleting 'Islamophic' posts, though it does not seem to have much success when they try and delete ISIS propaganda posts.  So is perceived 'Islamophobia' more terrible than posts urging Muslims to commit violence?
 

According to Pamela Geller, 31^st October, 2015.

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/10/31/facebook-sky-news-pay-jizya-to-migrants-for-every-hate-post-bild-publishes-lists-of-hate-posters/

Apparently the spineless, gutless Mark Zuckerberg made good on his promise to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Merkel had been prodding and strong-arming Zuckerberg to “do something” about the posts and comments on Facebook that oppose the Muslim invasion of Europe. Attending a luncheon on the sidelines of a United Nations development summit in New York several weeks ago, Merkel and Zuckerberg were overheard on a live transmission broadcast on the UN website as participants took their seats.

After Merkel confronted Zuckerberg about anti-migrant posts, the Facebook CEO is heard responding that “we need to do some work” on the issue. This is so typical of the elites. They control policy, they control the media, they control the culture — but they can’t control the people. And this makes them crazy. If they could, they would change the people.


Islamophobia, they call it.  A phobia, of course, is an irrational fear.  Sadly, a concern about hardline Islam is not at all irrational.  Ask the 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria who were kidnapped, and are now, presumably, wives.  In hardline Islam, a 'wife' is effectively a slave.
And ask the journalists thrown into prison because they were doing their jobs. Others kidnapped and with heads sawn off. This is hardline Islam, and this plague is spreading across the planet. 

So we're not allowed to talk about it?


A little story:

The village folk saw the dragon - breathing fire, killing, standing right there in front of them, threatening. It was too big to kill, and too fast to run from. One young and foolish man had an idea. 'It's not really a dragon,' he said. 'It's just a cuddly pussy cat.' Everyone chant with me, 'Just a cuddly pussy cat.'

A woman whispered, 'It's a dragon and will kill us,' but the man turned to her sternly, 'You will not undermine our peace. It is just a cuddly pussy cat.'

The woman shook her head, but another who stood next to her gave her a thump in the ribs, and she said obediently, 'Just a cuddly pussy cat.'

But it was a dragon. It set fire to the town and killed its residents.

Islam is a religion of peace. Of course. And the dragon is a cuddly pussy cat.

Internet bullies who don't know they are bullying

 



 

Some internet bullying is obvious - the teenage girl whose facebook 'friends' unite to say how horrible she is, maybe how fat, maybe how she should just hang herself and give the world a break. 

It's an awful thing to do, especially as some victims have wound up committing suicide.

 

But there is another form of internet bullying, and most who pass these things on do so without ever thinking that it is a form of bullying.

 



 

   

 



 So if you don't 'share' that makes you 'afraid to make a stand' and presumably uncaring besides.

 
 
 'I hope I was right about the ones who will repost.'
So the ones who don't repost are awful people? 

The sweet little hearts make no difference.  This, too,  is a form of bullying.

Was it sincere in the beginning?  Possibly, or possibly just another of those memes that are used to harvest facebook names.

 
 




 'I'll be watching.'

        Enough said.

 
 


  "Let's see who has a strong heart.'

And if we don't choose to share, then, again, I guess we are weak and presumably uncaring besides.

 

 
'Have the guts to repost this.'

No, but I do have the courage to call it what it is - internet bullying.

 
 



This one is even more explicit -
'I want to see who is brave enough...'

 'I'm pretty sure I know the ones that will.'

Another little piece of blackmail.













The blackmail phrase is nearly always used.
'I know the ones who will,' or 'I'll be watching,' or something similar.

It is bullying.  Please let's stop this nonsense.

 

To the ABC - facts please.

 

To the ABC - especially the ABC. but every other news outlet as well.  You are supposed to be the news.  So please give us the news - that is facts, not your agenda! 

 

 

The other day on TV, someone was arguing that the bias shown in our media really didn't matter 'because everyone knew who was Fairfax and who was Murdoch.' But actually, no, we don't, and what is more - we shouldn't have to! News outlets are supposed to report the news - FACTS - not pursue an agenda, usually left wing, as most journalists seem to be very left wing.

 

In Australia, a prime offender is the ABC. One used to regard the ABC as by far, the best of the news outlets. Now it is close to the worst.

Something on this morning's ABC 24, by way of an example - that there was a 'massive' demonstration in support of the 'refugees' swarming into Europe, with a passing reference at the very end to a 'counter demonstration.' On the internet, I see a report of very large demonstrations against the indiscriminate admission of hordes of immigrants.

I have not seen a news bulletin that reported that the immigrants had rioted, had thrown faeces at the authorities simply for trying to achieve some semblance of order, had chanted 'Allahu Akbar' as they forced themselves onto a train, had been fighting amongst each other, Turks against Kurds, for instance, had even thrown away the food rations handed to them.

Instead, we have an outcry because they were 'fed like animals.' To support this allegation, it was shown that they were divided into pens, (not confined to the pens) and as there was no orderly queue, packets of food were tossed to some at the back. It is not unusual to use such 'pens' as a way of sorting large numbers of people who are waiting for something. It actually reminded me very much of last November, when I was one of thousands of people, most elderly, waiting and waiting and waiting to get onto a cruise ship. Except that they queued, they didn't attack each other, and there were no rations available/ (though a few elderly ladies on the point of fainting from the hours of standing in the heat were given drinks of water.)

So what am I saying? That news outlets should STOP censoring the news. The public wants the facts, not what some conceited journalist or news editor thinks it acceptable for us to know.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hiroshima - 'those bombs were well placed, and they ended the war.'

70th Anniversary of Hiroshima.

History is being re-written.  Some are now portraying the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki as an unforgivable crime committed by the is Americans, while the crimes of the Japanese are being glossed over. Instead of re-writing history, we should look at what was actually happening, and the best way is through the eyes of those who were suffering though it. 

 

'But Sir: the Autiobiography of a Twentieth Century Australian' 

Merv McRae

originally published 1987,  republished 2014.

This excerpt is from Chapter 14. The author was one of thousands of POWs, Australian, British, Dutch, and Americans. He and his brother Dunc, had survived the Death Railway, and were back in Changi prison.   

The Death Railway had a 50% death rate from starvation, over-work, disease and beatings.

 

We had been working on the aerodrome for some time;  it was a long walk,  and hard work when we got there,  with many bashings from the Japs.  One day two hundred of us were sent out on a last working party,  not far from Singapore city.  There was another party of two hundred working not far away.  Our task was to dig large holes,  twelve feet deep by twelve feet square,  and there were six men to dig each hole.  What were they for?  we wondered,  and I remember one man saying that if the Allies landed we would be shot and buried in these holes.  I didn’t like that idea at all,  and I well remember telling him not to be stupid,  but he was spot on.  It was found after the war that if the Allies had landed in Malaya we were all to be shot and disposed of.  There had also been a proposed date for a landing on Japan,  so it was the Bomb which saved us and untold thousands of others from extinction.  If the bombs hadn’t been dropped,  who knows how long the war might have lasted?  There wouldn’t have been one P.O.W. get home,  and thousands of soldiers,  and as many civilians again would have perished. 

   I have just read a book written by James Bradley called "Towards the Setting Sun,"  in which he quotes some figures.  As he had had access to official records which I haven’t,  I obtained permission from him to use some of his figures.  The two A-bombs killed about 170,000 people,  and as opposed to this over 102,300 Allied P.O.W.s and coolies died as a direct result of the dreadful treatment handed out by the Japs on the railway.  To this must be added all the others who died in the camps in Borneo and other places from the inhuman treatment, and also the mental and physical suffering of the survivors ever since.  How many more would have died had it not been for the bombs?

  James Bradley also confirms that had an Allied landing in fact taken place the big holes we were digging were for us and the civilian internees.  A landing date had been set for November 1945 on Japan,  and had it taken place the Japs were prepared to lose ten million men in opposing such a landing.  The Allies instead dropped those two bombs which ended the war,  thus liberating 14,400 Australian P.O.W.s,  37,500 British and Indian troops,  as well as 16,912 Americans. 

  I feel that if the present generation had more knowledge of this side of the story they may understand why we must go along with the advanced technology of the Americans,  but instead we find these very vocal minorities getting good coverage in the media.  If Australia doesn’t co-operate with the Americans now,  how will anyone have the hide to ask for their help next time?  Owing to nuclear weapons we have more or less had peace for forty years,  but I wonder how much longer we will be lucky.  Everyone wants peace,  but not at any price,  and the lesson that to stop a bully one must fight,  should be learned in the school yard. 

  If countries such as Germany and Japan are able to gather their powerful forces and go all out on aggression as they did (both used the "kinghit" tactic and bombed cities without a thought for the civilians)  then they must expect something back.  Japan had the chance to come to terms before both these bombs were dropped but refused,  so I blame the Japanese government entirely for the suffering their people had to endure.  The Japanese and German peoples were behind their governments to a certain extent,   and so could not be held entirely blameless for what happened in the finish.  The Italians,  on the other hand,  were never right behind Mussolini, and stopped as soon as they decently could.  Mussolini was never more looked up to than when he was dead, being murdered by a political faction and strung up by the heels.    He was really in disgrace with the Italian people,  who even destroyed all the statues of him he’d had placed all over Rome.  So to all the people who say the bomb should not have been dropped,  all I can say is they must have been well out of it somewhere where the war would not affect them.  Those bombs were well placed,  and they ended the war. 

 

'Those bombs were well placed,  and they ended the war.'

 

See the scroll to the left.
These are the men of one unit, who were ordered to surrender.  They were treated poorly from the start, but the worst was when they were marched off to work on the 'Death Railway.' Fewer than half survived.  The crosses next to the names are those who did not survive.

If the bomb had not been dropped,  none would have survived.










The unit

This book can be purchased from most online booksellers.

http://www.amazon.com/But-Sir-Autobiography-Twentieth-Australian-ebook/dp/B00KZ6M1MY/

paperback:  http://www.amazon.com/But-Sir-Autobiography-Twentieth-Australian/dp/1500196177/

  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/449087   Use coupon code YD75A  to get it free.  (Expires: August 10, 2015)  

 

A few individuals mentioned in the book:

Jimmy Burr,  teacher,  Ch 4.

Curly Kirk from Ballarat,  Ch 11, and a mention of his death in Ch. 13.

Sunda Singh,  Indian trader,  Ch 9.

Major Kidd, Ch 12

Tom Chowns, and Nora Chowns,  spoken of  in Ch 12.

Lew Lemke and Ted Burrage,  a  mention in Ch 13. 

Major Hunt, Ch 13

Frank Lebas,  Allan Scott, two who died, Ch 13.  Also Jock, a Scotsman.

Horace Roberts,  a  mention in Chapters 13 & 16.

Jimmy Andrews,  Ch 16

 

Lance Basset,  a mention in Ch 16 in relation to sheep breeding.

Rob Jamieson,  Stony Point station, a mention in Ch 16

 

Significant events mentioned

 

The depression years, ch 7.

 

The Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,  Ch 14. 

The beginnings of the breed of sheep known as the Zenith.  Ch 16.