99 Luftballons
Freedom USA, the mighty pen, and hatred at home.
Hast du etwas Zeit für mich?
Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Songwriters: Carlo Karges and Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen.
Freedom USA.
Overnight, Trump has declared that “Help is on its way,” in response to the ongoing crackdown of the Iranian regime on protestors. But really, what can he do?
It’s not like even Trump is mad enough to put boots on the ground in Iran. Attacking Venezuela might’ve been reminiscent of the US attack on Grenada, but an invasion of Iran would be like another Vietnam and would commit the US to a decade-long war.
Of course, he can bomb the place, destroy infrastructure, bring the country’s services to their knees, and kill civilians, but undoubtedly, many Iranians would be worse off than they are today.
It brings to mind that movie, the South Park guys made, “Team America: World Police”, in which elite US forces arrive, shoot all the baddies, and in the process wreck the place. Leaving the bemused locals to stare at their monuments and streets that have been blown apart, and who find it hard to muster much in the way of enthusiasm for the “victory” that has taken place.
Although such bombing would not exactly be a departure from the US’s foreign affairs approach in recent decades, it has become clear, surely even to the frogs luxuriating in the warming pot, that we’re not in Kansas anymore.
In fact, watching Jon Stewart last night, it seemed that over the course of a weekend, the Trump regime had progressed from having authoritarian tendencies to being a fully-blown dictatorship. It’s well worth a watch if you haven’t seen it:
Many of us shake our heads in wonder at what has transpired, including, no doubt, millions of Americans who must be absolutely horrified by their new reality.
It makes you wonder how on earth we got here, and something that occurred to me is that telling a population to ignore a genocide that you are funding and supporting on the other side of the world is probably a good start.
The mighty pen.
Drip, Drip, Drip. Like the last vestiges of US democracy and decency, the remaining chances of the Adelaide Writers Festival taking place have ebbed away over the last week.
If you’ve been following, you’ll know that Palestinian writer, Randa Abdel-Fattah, who had been scheduled to appear, was told by the organising committee that she was no longer welcome.
A heavy-handed attempt by some, responding to the tragic shooting that took place in Bondi, by silencing a critic of Israel. I don’t know what the organisers were thinking, except perhaps how they themselves would be seen.
You don’t stop an insane act of violence and hate by silencing writers who speak of the plight of Palestinians. If anything, I imagine the trigger for such inexcusable acts is frustration at a lack of action from Western states in response to genocide.
News of the ban, the fallout, and ultimately the cancellation of the festival have made headlines around the world. This one is from the Guardian:
More than 180 authors and speakers dropped out of the event, including Zadie Smith, M Gessen, and Jonathan Coe. Yesterday, the organisers, many of whom have now resigned, issued a statement advising that the event would no longer take place.
One of those who had indicated she would no longer attend was our own Jacinda, and I posted: “She's still making us proud. You don't stop terrible events like the one in Bondi by banning Palestinian writers.”
Under the post I wrote, “I have limited comments to ‘friends’ only, as I'm sick of idiotic trolls spoiling things for everyone as they froth at the mouth with misogynistic hatred.” More than 250 people like that comment, so I guess I’m not the only one.
As for the apology that organisers offered the Palestinian writer over banning her due to “cultural sensitivities,” that was not accepted.
Abdel-Fattah said:
“It is clear that the board’s regret extends to how the message of my cancellation was conveyed, not the decision itself.
Once again the board, citing the ‘national discourse’ for an action that specifically targets me, a Palestinian Australian Muslim woman, is explicitly articulating that I cannot be part of the national discourse, which is insulting and racist in the extreme.
The board again reiterates the link to a terror attack I had nothing to do with, nor did any Palestinian. The Bondi shooting does not mean I or anyone else has to stop advocating for an end to the illegal occupation and systematic extermination of my people – this is an obscene and absurd demand.”
I find it very sad that a writer’s festival that would’ve brought joy to many has had to be cancelled because a committee took it upon themselves to silence Palestinian concerns following such terror.
You can’t end terror by ignoring voices or mass killings, and I can’t help but wonder if part of the descent into indecency we’re now seeing is not only due to the advent of Trump, but also due to a willingness of the world community to sit back while genocide took place leaving citizens to start thinking “this is normal,” and to lower their expectations of the people in charge accordingly.
Hatred at home.
Sadly, the green shoots we see developing here are not the economic ones that Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis have long promised, but ones that point to an increasing intolerance to others based on religious beliefs, even if it is only a few hundred deluded individuals to begin with.
I’m talking of course of Brian Tamaki and his gang of thugs who have taken it upon themselves to let people of other races and other religions know that they are not welcome, seemingly with little in the way of consequences.
A couple of days ago, I posted:
Hate seeing Brian Tamaki’s brainwashed thugs harassing the Sikh community again. Why the hell are they not arrested? There are enough bad things going on without this idiotic hatred.
Those confronting the Sikhs seemed very young, and Clare commented: “It’s racist hate speech, so they should all be arrested ffs! Where are their idiot parents allowing them to be manipulated by the creep Tamaki!”
Apart from anything else, we’re looking to finalise an FTA with India. Do we really want to be seen as permitting this hatred towards this community?
We need to stamp out racist hatred before it grows. There is enough of it around the world without letting a local charlatan generate more so he can make money.
Speaking of money, and I really hate doing this, but needs must…
A plea to those who enjoy reading Nick’s Kōrero but are not subscribers. Since November, I’ve experienced a significant drop in paying subscribers, as shown in the graph below.
You’ll see there was a bit of a pickup the last time I asked, but numbers continue to fall. I appreciate that times are tight, but if you are in a position to subscribe for $80 for a year, just under $7 a month, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your consideration and your support.
Have a good Wednesday, folks, and look after yourselves, all you lovely people.
Ngā mihi,
Nick.
To end today, on this day in 1983, Nena released their debut studio album, which included the hit, “99 Luftballons.”
On a positive note. I love that song . I had it on high rotation on my then MP3 player last time I was in Berlin. They don't lock up Brian Tamaki's lot because they serve a function to this right-wing government just as David Seymore does. They get to express the same racist rhetoric in public and be damned for it that, which the governing parties agrees with, they just dont want to admit to it. Hobson's choice, removal of te reo, RSB. Blame the Maori, blame the immigrants (even though most of us are), all of this straight out of the Trump playbook. All are using the social media algorithms that promote division and loop in thinking patterns to amplify the 1% views.
Hmm - thinking about mysogynistic trolls. I see them on farcebook, too, and where I can I check to see what can be found out about them. Sometimes, they haven't hidden all details of their identity. Do trolls like being exposed for who they really are?