Mick Hartley

Author: Mick Hartley

  • The cuckoo in the nest

    ral clarity to the situation? Will it tell Mikati that all he has to do is get rid of Hezbollah, the cuckoo in the nest, and all his Israel problems will be resolved?

    Um….I'm guessing perhaps not.

  • The way to Amarillo

    Jack Delano, March 1943. "A westbound Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe passenger train passing by a siding near the town of Hoover, Texas, enroute to Amarillo."

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    [Photo: Shorpy/Jack Delano for the Office of War Information]

    Surely one of the great pop music rhymes:

    Is this the way to Amarillo?Every night I've been hugging my pillow…

  • A celebration of mediocrity

    Non-binary races are on-trend, it seems – notably with the New York Road Runners and their exciting Non-Binary Equity and Inclusion [NBEI] initiative:

    The NBEI framework was designed to make NYRR events more gender-expansive to better meet the needs of our gender-diverse running community. NYRR participants now have the option to choose either “Man,” Woman,” or “Non-binary” on their NYRR profile. Additionally, a Non-binary category has been implemented in the majority of NYRR programs and community events extending from the youth level all the way up to the elite field.

    Amazingly, the non-binary category is always won by men.

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    "it just gives poor male athletes, who can’t win the men’s category, an opportunity to get prize money or accolades. It’s unnecessary & a celebration of mediocrity".

    Well said.

  • The mullah and the actress

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  • Propaganda disguised as journalism

    longtime Hamas funder that provides safe haven for its leaders. In 2019, the media platform released a video questioning the Holocaust, and more recently, has repeatedly justified the Oct. 7 massacre.

    No matter. Normal journalistic standards don't apply when it comes to Israel. As long as duplicitous Jews are the target, all concerns about objectivity fly out the window.

    What NATAS, the sponsors of the Peabody and Edward R. Murrow awards….have apparently agreed on is that there should be two sets of journalistic standards: one for them, and one for Jews. It’s hard to think of a more shameful development in the annals of modern journalism.

  • Muslims “the biggest victims of 9/11”

    From MEMRI TV:

    During his September 13, 2024 Friday sermon at the Muslim Community Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, Imam John Ederer said that he fears Muslim children believe what they are told in class about 9/11. He said: “They are being told in class that Islam and Muslims were the cause of this terrorist act.” Ederer stated that “Islam and Muslims had nothing to do with what happened on 9/11,” because “Islam is completely opposed to someone killing a bunch of civilians who went to work.” He added that you cannot make a Muslim guilty for 9/11, and he claimed that the Muslims were the biggest victims of 9/11. Ederer accused the United States of being a “terrorist state.” The sermon was streamed live on MCC Charlotte Media on YouTube.

  • A chummy letter to the new president of Iran

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    From the Times of Israel:

    Irish President Michael Higgins accuses Israel of leaking the full text of a letter he sent to Iran’s new president as he was sworn in in July, an allegation rejected and denounced by the Israeli embassy.

    The July 11 letter congratulating Masoud Pezeshkian — whose existence was made public on July 26 by Ireland’s Foreign Ministry but whose full text was then published online on July 29 — drew backlash for its friendly nature; its claim that Iran will play a “crucial role” in achieving Middle East stability, cooperation and “peaceful resolving of disputes”; and its omission of Tehran’s major role in malign activity and violence against its own people and across the region.

    Iran playing a "crucial role" in achieving Middle East stability? The naivety – no, the sheer crass stupidity – is beyond belief.

    From the Embassy of Israel in Ireland:

    "Unfortunately, in Ireland, since the October 7th invasion by Hamas and massacre in Israel, which triggered this awful war, Israel has been subjected to a high level of malicious statements and accusations that have often manifested as incitement to hatred.

    “This baseless accusation is highly inflammatory and potentially slanderous and the embassy rejects it completely.

    “The fact remains that the letter was written and therefore it is the burden of the author to defend its content, which did not mention the threat Iran poses in the region, that it calls for Israel’s destruction, that it arms and funds terrorist organisations like Hamas and Hezbollah, not to mention the violations of human rights against its own citizens.”

    WTF is wrong with the Irish?

  • That space of complete vulnerability

    If you have tears, prepare to shed them now:

    Last Friday, Sandy Brindley, the chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland, was collecting her daughter from primary school when a journalist rang to ask if she would comment on JK Rowling’s demand for her resignation. By the time the reporter hung up, Brindley was in tears.

    “I’m never upset in front of my daughter. She said, ‘What’s wrong?’” Brindley recalls. “I said, ‘Someone’s calling for my resignation’. She asked: ‘Who?’ I told her: ‘JK Rowling.’”

    Brindley’s little girl looked up at her and said: “That’s one of my favourite authors, Mummy.”

    By now Brindley’s eyes are twinkling as she recounts the incident….

    “I feel like this is where I am just now, that space of complete vulnerability,” Brindley says. “It’s not something that I can do long term. I can acknowledge the personal cost: it impacts my daughter, it impacts my family.”

    A comment: "Reframe your trauma, Brindley. You're not the victim here."

  • Near Dark

    Whitechapel Road

    Three-colts-lane-03-2020
    Three Colts Lane
    [All photos © Chris Dorley-Brown]

    As ever, click on the images to enlarge.

  • JKR to Sandy Brindley

    =”font-size: 11pt”>For years, you've been told by women's groups and rape survivors themselves that your policies were harming vulnerable girls and women. You didn't care. You wouldn't listen. Backed by government funding, you behaved with arrogance and complacency. 4/9

    I can only assume your cosy relationship with the SNP government, which is a big fan of gender identity ideology, made you feel untouchable. 5/9

    You weren't ever going to respond to women's concerns unless someone high profile challenged you.

    Finally, you've decided to respond publicly to one of the women with concerns – me. And how do you address those concerns? You claim you're my victim. 6/9

    Perhaps you should 'reframe your trauma', as the man you backed publicly told rape survivors to do? Or we could have an in-person meeting where you express your pain, and my partner, who you didn't know would be present, harangues you – exactly as you did to rape survivors? 7/9

    I set up Beira's Place, a single sex service for victims of sexual assault in Edinburgh, because survivors who found it deeply traumatising to be told they must consider men as women if the men want to be seen that way had literally nowhere else to go. 8/9

    You've placed higher importance on validating trans-identified men than on needs of female survivors. If I'm not moved by your tears, it's because too many women have cried as a consequence of the ideology you insisted they should embrace they were at their most vulnerable. 9/X

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