This, I suppose, is one of the more amusing things to come from this week’s coverage of the madness of the university: academics talking to plants, and speculating about plant communication:
  https://www.thecollegefix.com/university-researcher-claims-she-can-communicate-with-plants/
  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/26/style/can-plants-talk.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur

“A senior research fellow at Australia’s University of Sydney believes plants are intelligent and can communicate. Monica Gagliano’s personal anecdotes about our CO2-breathing fellow terrestrials include her “being rocked like a baby by the spirit of a fern” and getting advice from an oak tree … about a grant application. According to The New York Times, “plants have directly shaped [Gagliano’s] experiments and career path.” Some of her published studies conclude that “plants are, to some extent, intelligent” — they can “hear” and even interact. Gagliano realizes her claims may come off as, well, “delusional” and could harm her career. Nevertheless, she says “I want people to realize that the world is full of magic, but not as something only some people can do, or something that is outside of this world. No, it’s all here.” A group of biologists who published a recent study titled “Plants Neither Possess nor Require Consciousness” refers to Gagliano’s views as “a new wave of Romantic biology.” Scientist Heidi Appel said Gagliano “commingl[es] science and spiritual experiences.”

    This is too difficult to summarise, being a massive volume of information, but with the hard times ahead, every bit of information about off grid medicine will help. There is not much on prepper sites dealing with the issue of parasites, so this could be of interest to readers, given that the modern world is infested with them. Enjoy, if that is the word.
  https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/17/11/12771/htm

     Feel the richness. Live the diversity. Swim in the beauty of the multicult. Oh, did you know that Christmas is cancelled, in some district, maybe yours soon?
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7433753/PC-gone-mad-Fury-plans-make-Perth-Christmassy-appeal-non-Christians.html?ico=pushly-notifcation-small

“A proposal to water down Christmas festivities has been met with strong backlash. The City of Perth's Cultural Development Plan promises to deliver a Christmas season that is 'representative and inclusive of city's multicultural community'. Residents have taken to social media to express their outrage over the idea, with many claiming the council is going too far. 'This is just madness in my opinion. I'd love a Christmas as Christmassy as it can get,' one man wrote. 'PC gone mad,' wrote another. 'Absolutely what a great idea the world needs less joy throughout the year we have too much good news, community spirit love and happiness,' another wrote. However, one man thought it was a good idea. 'It'll still be festive guys, just more broad and inclusive,' the man wrote. Chief Commissioner Andrew Hammond said the council's current holiday-season celebrations did not acknowledge or create a sense of belonging for non-Christians. 'We're not about to change Christmas celebrations. We're just taking a common sense approach that about 50 per cent of people are Christians and about 50 per cent are not,' he told 9 news. 'While Christianity is an important part of Perth's cultural identity (46 per cent of Greater Perth demographic), the City of Perth's current holiday-season celebrations, which include a nativity scene at Council House, do not fully acknowledge or create a sense of belonging for the remaining 54 per cent, including 32 per cent who have no religion at all,' the plan states. The council has consulted a number of community groups about its plan, it said.”

To The Age        Alex Njoo has used regrettably insulting language in describing Australia as "a white blot in a brown sea" (13/9). It is certainly true that our nation was founded, essentially, by whites, to whom we should be permanently grateful; but it has, especially since World War Two, welcomed into its citizenry many people who are not whites. Thus it is not true that "this fundamentally British colony has not divorced itself from its origins." On the contrary, it is moving too quickly and thoughtlessly away from them, misguided by an increasingly anti-traditional elite backed by its socialist apparatchiks. At grave risk are liberty before the law, free speech, religious freedom and the integrity of government - all benefits that our British heritage bequeathed to us.
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave

     Jack Donovan has done important work in defending the traditional concept of masculinity, as well as publishing many thoughtful essays. His recent essay, and he does not publish all that much nowadays is, “The Bill of Rights is What Matters Now.” This is a superficial piece.
  https://affirmativeright.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-bill-of-rights-is-what-matters-now.html

“I’m skeptical of the view that we’re living in some kind of “end time” or cyclical inversion of all righteous values. People have always carried signs saying “the end is near.” Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn’t. Our golden perception of the past is colored by its most successful myth-makers. I’ve heard that my secret “master plan” is Evolian but the truth is that I’m tired of hearing about the Kali Yuga from fans of that time-traveling love child of Jordan Peterson and Dr. Strange. Maybe it’s the end of some grand historic cycle. Maybe it isn’t. Maybe it gets better. Maybe it gets much, much worse. …”

     Just to bring you up to date on the wild and woolly world of university litigation, truly exhilarating stuff, like mountain climbing:
  https://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/james-cook-university-ordered-to-pay-peter-ridd-12m-for-unlawful-dismissal/news-story/a9a00f937b78d90520df00bccf78f94d?utm_source=The%20Australian&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_content=TodaySHeadlines

“James Cook University has been ordered to pay reef scientist Peter Ridd $1.2 million for unlawfully dismissing him after he publicly criticised the institution’s climate change science. Federal Circuit Court Justice Salvatore Vasta on Friday handed down the penalty following hearings earlier this year. He ordered the Townsville university to pay Dr Ridd $1,094,214.47 as compensation for past and future economic loss because of the unlawful sacking, as well as general compensation for more than “three years of unfair treatment”. JCU will have to pay a further $125,000 as a way of penalty. The judge lambasted the university, saying it had “failed to respect (Dr Ridd’s) rights to intellectual freedom”. The physics professor, who specialised in marine environments and worked at JCU for 30 years, on Friday lamented the ugly affair, saying it was “a fight that should never have started in the first place”. “I have worked for 35 years on the Great Barrier Reef, and my genuinely held belief is that there are systemic quality assurance problems at Great Barrier Reef science institutions,” he said. “I had a right, a duty, to say this. “JCU have still not accepted this fundamental right despite the importance of the debate to the north Queensland region.”

To The Australian        Henry Ergas has provided a superb defence of the traditional roles of art galleries and museums ("Trying to redefine museums - it's a disease of our times", 13/9). Clearly our cultural inheritance is endangered by political fanaticism and meanness of spirit. At back of this rottenness, however, is something Ergas does not mention: the gathering failure of the Christian sacred tradition which formed the basis of Western European civilisation. Great voices have over the centuries pointed to the need for reform and release from erroneous theological straitjackets; but they have not been adequately heeded. We need a reinterpretation of our sacred scriptures that can command the assent of the best minds. That will then translate into ethical action that will curtail the follies of politicising zealots.
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic

     In my articles here, I have been encouraging people to keep fit by walking, whatever age, as long as one can still move. Even going out in a wheel chair is something, working on those last remaining upper body muscles. Yes, we of Dad’s Army need to keep in shape for the final battle of Western civilisation, and one would not want to miss it through the odd heart attack, would one? Or out of control osteoarthritis:
  https://www.naturalnews.com/2019-09-09-a-10-minute-walk-a-day-keeps-osteoarthritis-away.html

“Ironically, a recent study suggests that if you want to manage the symptoms of osteoarthritis, you should consider moving around more. According to the study, which appeared in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, brisk walking for just one hour a week can help people with osteoarthritis maintain their independence and postpone disability.

     This article reports on an IBM survey, based on job displacement in the US economy, that optimistically sees the need for at least 120 million workers needing to be reskilled due to the Great AI Replacement:
  https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-09-07/120-million-workers-need-be-reskilled-due-ai-says-ibm-study

“Over the next three years, 120 million workers in the world's 12 biggest economies may need to be retrained as a result of widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation in the workplace, according to a new IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) study. Only 41% of CEOs surveyed have the resources in place to close the skills gap brought on by new emerging technologies. That means 59% of the CEOs surveyed have no skills development strategies in place for their employees in the early 2020s. "Organizations are facing mounting concerns over the widening skills gap and tightened labor markets with the potential to impact their futures as well as worldwide economies," said Amy Wright, Managing Partner, IBM Talent & Transformation, IBM. "Yet while executives recognize the severity of the problem, half of those surveyed admit that they do not have any skills development strategies in place to address their largest gaps. And the tactics the study found were most likely to close the skills gap the fastest are the tactics companies are using the least. New strategies are emerging to help companies reskill their people and build the culture of continuous learning required to succeed in the era of AI." The IBV study, "The Enterprise Guide to Closing the Skills Gap," includes input from 5,670 CEOs located in 48 countries, points to challenges that companies will face in the early 2020s with managing their workforce through the technological shift. BM said, the "era of AI" will be a transformative period for the global economy as the skill gap through employee training will take time to close. The company's study indicates new skill requirements for jobs will be required due to the fast pace of AI and automation adoption, while other skills become out-of-date. The study lays out a guide for businesses to better foster talent and close the skills gap in a timely fashion.”

     As the New York Times has recently discussed, the West is facing a profound spiritual crisis where high suicides and a drug epidemic, linked with crime and social breakdown, are indicators of vast social anomie and alienation. This is especially impacting upon men who have had their traditional roles undermined. And it goes so deep that even sexual practices have become reduced to a minimum, or are non-existent for some men, the incels, involuntary celibates. The Dissent Right sites like to slam these young men, but sober consideration would reveal that many Middle Eastern terrorists also fall into this category, and having nothing left to lose, or no hope of gain, are willing to embrace death, something the comfortable internet writers would shiver at the thought of, from the safety of their mom’s basements.
  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/07/opinion/sunday/the-age-of-american-despair.html

     Once, men who were not alphas, but ordinary blokes, could hope to get some reasonable woman, but now, empowered females are fully pursuing hypergamy, seeking higher level mates, meaning that a large segment of the male population will miss out on having a partner. This is discussed in a book by F. Roger Devlin, Sexual Utopia in Power, (2015), and some recent comments have been made at Affirmative Right.com:
  https://affirmativeright.blogspot.com/2019/09/enforced-inceldom.html#more

     Here is an interesting letter by someone fleeing Sweden, a Nordic refugee, perhaps the first of millions, as Sweden becomes the walking dead:
  https://www.amren.com/news/2019/09/the-consequences-of-cultural-enrichment-in-sweden/
  https://gatesofvienna.net/2019/08/the-consequences-of-cultural-enrichment-in-sweden/

“Tania Groth has translated two Swedish items that are suitable as emblematic bookends of life in Modern Multicultural Sweden. First, this somber letter from a Swedish woman who has decided, along with her husband, to relocate to Budapest. From Katerina Magasin: “We have been discussing leaving Sweden for five years and have now bought an apartment in Budapest”

     See, nature itself embodies feminist principles. Just ask the dragonflies:
  https://thewildchild.co.za/female-dragonflies-fake-their-death-to-avoid-males/?fbclid=IwAR0h9cP3KZHB-ua8PCzFyhgOZA-3kd8FLYK09odYdbXN33OjB51LWXYEyCI 
  https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/05/death-dragonflies-switzerland-mating-sex/

“Everyone has those nights when their significant other comes to bed and — for one reason or another — they decide to feign sleep to avoid talking or …doing other stuff. Well, female dragonflies take this kind of sneaky rejection to the next level — faking their own deaths to avoid having interact with aggressive males. Scientists recently captured this phenomenon on video for the first time while observing moorland hawker dragonflies in the Swiss Alps. In the newly released footage, the female is seen freezing mid-air and plummeting to the ground, where she lies motionless until the male leaves. (When researchers approached the females, they immediately flew away — showing they remain alert throughout the fake death.) This behavior, which has been previously observed in five other species, is called ‘death feigning’. It’s believed to have developed as a survival tactic, since female dragonflies often risk injury or death when coerced into mating. “In a lot of dragonflies, males try to seize the female with or without consent,” Rassim Khelifa, a biologist who recently published a study on the phenomenon, told National Geographic. “The fittest — that is the fastest, most powerful male — is usually the one who mates.” Male dragonflies often pounce on their female victims as they bask in the sun by the water. After a female has laid eggs once, Khelifa found, she’s pretty much met her quota for male interaction. And that’s when she starts playing dead. It’s apparently an effective escape method, since more than 60% of the females who employed it successfully deceived their male pursuers — and every female who didn’t was intercepted. Other methods used by female dragonflies to avoid mating include laying their eggs in dense vegetation and avoiding areas heavily populated by males.”

     If this is happening under Trump’s watch as commander in chief, guess what is going to happen when the Democrats get into full swing in the now open program of White Replacement:
  https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-09-01/us-military-fake-news-disinformation

“Fake news and social media posts are such a threat to U.S. security that the Defense Department is launching a project to repel “large-scale, automated disinformation attacks,” as the top Republican in Congress blocks efforts to protect the integrity of elections. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency wants custom software that can unearth fakes hidden among more than 500,000 stories, photos, videos and audio clips. If successful, the system after four years of trials may expand to detect malicious intent and prevent viral fake news from polarizing society. “A decade ago, today’s state of the art would have registered as sci-fi — that’s how fast the improvements have come,” said Andrew Grotto at the Center for International Security at Stanford University. “There is no reason to think the pace of innovation will slow any time soon.” U.S. officials have been working on plans to prevent outside hackers from flooding social channels with false information ahead of the 2020 election. The drive has been hindered by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s refusal to consider election security legislation. Critics have labeled him #MoscowMitch, saying he left the U.S. vulnerable to meddling by Russia, prompting his retort of “modern-day McCarthyism.”

     The Christian churches did not put up much resistance to the same sex plebiscite, did they? Well, there will be exemptions, not to worry, we will be ok. But now, these religious leaders are worried that things may not be going as promised:
  https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/churches-mount-revolt-on-draft-laws/news-story/e798d46133b4d1fe418e56ebbd437352

“Religious leaders are demanding Scott Morrison provide them with extra safeguards after the government unveiled proposed laws shielding religious -institutions from discrimination claims and protecting workers who express their beliefs from being sacked. Attorney-General Christian Porter came under attack from religious groups yesterday over a “lack of consultation” and concerns that the draft religious freedom bill would not deliver an effective legal defence in faith-based -discrimination cases. Releasing the draft legislation at the Great Synagogue in Sydney yesterday, Mr Porter said the proposed act would not create a “positive right to freedom of religion”. Instead it would “make it unlawful to discriminate on the basis of religious belief or activity in key areas of public life”. He indicated he would work “constructively with interested parties” before the bill enters parliament in October after Catholic and other Christian groups boycotted his speech yesterday. Some senior religious leaders expressed concern over what they described as “holes” in the proposed legislation, pointing to the fact the bill would not override laws in state jurisdictions or prevent some religious doctors from being compelled to refer on patients to receive abortions. While the government has included an “Israel Folau” provision in its legislation, aimed at preventing staff at large companies from being dismissed for expressing religious views outside the workplace, religious leaders warned the protection was too limited. Australian Christian Lobby managing director Martyn Iles, who has been closely associated with the rugby union star’s case, said: “There is no robust protection for people such as Israel Folau or (Catholic Archbishop of Hobart) Julian Porteous. To suppress rugby players’ freedom of religious expression, Rugby Australia would merely have to say, as they did in Israel Folau’s case, that it was seeking to avoid ‘unjustifiable financial hardship’ for a sacking to be justified.”

     The death of Western civilisation is a long drawn out messy affair. Some people simply want to kill English people, perhaps because … well … white privilege? I don’t know… it could be because we are in a racist society; you know the tune, which plays endlessly. Sociology can give us no other explanation. Whatever; it all must be our fault.
   https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7358539/Afghan-asylum-seeker-tried-murder-stranger-Tesco-jailed-19-years.html

“An Afghan asylum seeker who tried to murder a complete stranger while 'fuelled' by a desire to kill English people was jailed for 21 years. Samiulahaq Akbari, 22, was caught on CCTV walking into the Tesco Extra in Thornton Heath, south London, on January 8. Akbari tapped a customer on the shoulder and asked for his nationality. He then took a swing at the victim, Mr Speight, with a ten-inch kitchen knife when he said he was from the UK. Mr Speight managed to kick Akbari off when he leapt on him and miraculously escaped from the scuffle without a mark on him. Just ten minutes earlier Akbari had pulled a knife on two other men in separate establishments on the same road in Croydon and was said to be 'fuelled with the same intention'. Prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe told jurors: 'On that evening in January this year this defendant had set out deliberately to threaten, harm and kill members of the public by virtue of their nationality, or what Mr Akbari perceived to be their nationality - they were English.' Akbari was convicted of attempted murder over the rampage which took place just 12 days after he was released from prison for another assault. Judge Mark Dennis QC jailed him yesterday for 19 years with an extended licence period of two years. The judge said: 'The report on you says you have a deep seated fixation which gave rise to serious violent situations when in drink.'”

     I am almost too afraid to write anything about money and finance, knowing nothing much about them, and expecting the learned here to expose me for being economically challenged. Still, I do know that the ordinary people like me are suffering, and that the debt collectors just keep coming like those killer robots in the Terminator movies:
  https://www.msn.com/en-au/money/personalfinance/debt-collectors-are-bankrupting-australians-over-small-credit-card-debts/ar-AAFHL22?ocid=NL_ENAU_A2_20190815_10_2

“Australians can be bankrupted over small debts
In Australia, an individual can be sued for bankruptcy for an unpaid debt of as little as $5,000. Last year, consumer advocates became increasingly alarmed by the number of clients being taken to court over relatively small debts by one company in particular — Lion Finance. They decided to do some research, analysing court lists over the past four years. Their data, released exclusively to the ABC, backed up their suspicions. "Lion Finance stands out as the debt collector using bankruptcy proceedings so much more frequently than any other debt collector in the market that it's absolutely astounding," Financial Rights Legal Centre's Karen Cox said. When it comes to the number of bankruptcy cases filed in the past financial year, Lion Finance was not far behind the Australian Tax Office (ATO). But while the ATO halved the number of people it sued for bankruptcy from 1,215 in the 2015-16 financial year to 543 in last financial year, Lion Finance increased its cases from 182 to 512 people in the same period. "Whereas most debt collectors ... have been using bankruptcy proceedings less and less, Lion Finance has been a growing user, the numbers of bankruptcies are just going through the roof," Ms Cox said. Ms Cox said bankruptcy would normally only be used if the debtor had an asset like a house. Lion Finance declined the ABC's request for an interview, but in a statement from its parent company Collection House Limited said it made every effort to avoid legal action. "We encourage customers to engage with us so we can discuss and assess their financial circumstances and avoid the legal process," it said.

     More bad, bad news for smokers, as the price of a packet of cancer sticks now hits an average of $ 35 from a 12.5 percent tax hike.
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7421087/Cigarette-prices-Australia-surge-12-5-cent-latest-excise-hike.html?ico=pushly-notifcation-small

“The price of Australian cigarettes rose by another 12.5 per cent on Sunday - the latest in a series of tobacco excise hikes that's taken the average packet to a world record of $35. The federal Government has now hiked tobacco excise for seven consecutive years - with an average pack expected to hit $40 a pack by 2020. One health official said the habit will cost an average smoker $10,000 a year. The excise increases are on top of regular CPI hikes, with experts telling Daily Mail Australia an average cigarette stick now costs more than $1 including GST. People looking to save a buck by rolling their own sticks are not immune to the tax sting, with prices for a bag of tobacco jumping by a similar amount.”

     I have often wondered why slices of A4 paper cut through my skin like a razor. That is one question. The next is why such cuts hurt so much? If you have wondered about this, wonder no more:
  https://www.naturalnews.com/2019-08-10-why-do-paper-cuts-hurt-so-much.html

“Dr. Hayley Goldbach, a resident dermatologist at UCLA Health, shared that paper cuts seem more painful compared to other types of injuries because they mostly happen on your fingers. She added that while humans have nerve endings all over the body, areas with refined movement and sensation, such as your lips or the tips of your fingers, have a high density of nerve endings. These nerve endings (or nociceptors) send signals to your brain about various things that can cause a break in your skin, like extremely hot or cold temperatures or chemicals. Nociceptors are found throughout the body: in your bones, internal organs, joints, muscles, and skin. These pain receptors are crucial to how you feel and react to pain. A nociceptor’s major function is to respond to damage to the body by sending signals to your spinal cord and the brain. These complex pain signals send information about the location and intensity of the painful stimuli. This allows the human brain to fully process the pain then send communication back to block further pain signals. Why do paper cuts hurt so much? When you get a paper cut elsewhere on the body, like your back, it won’t hurt as much as a paper cut on a finger because the former has a lower density of nerve endings compared to the latter. Paper cuts also cause so much pain because you rely on your hands for various daily tasks. The constant pressure on the cut delays the healing process. The paper itself is one reason why these tiny cuts cause a lot of pain. Paper may seem smooth but if you look at it under a microscope, you will see it has jagged edges. The serrated edge of a single sheet of paper can slice your skin before you even realize it and leave a jagged cut. Since paper is made from cotton, wood pulp, and other fibers, inflammatory material can be left behind in the cut, which can make it hurt more.”

To The Age        Nicole Hemmer is wrong to stigmatise current UK politics as "a bigger farce" ("Fiascos part of a wider unravelling", 9/9). It is much more serious than that and looks like an impending tragedy, with neither side (Leave and Remain) willing to accept defeat, and the nation split almost fifty-fifty on which option should win. The blame for this, however, lies plainly with the Remain lobby, which contains starry-eyed idealists, socialist fanatics and most of the Establishment. In failing to accept the result of the 2016 referendum, these people have trashed both democracy and fair play.
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave

To The Australian        Although I support Brexit 100%, I'm not sure it is accurate of Jennifer Oriel to state that "no one can deny that Brexit represents the will of the British people" ("Born-to-rule Remainers ignoring will of the people", 9/9). It certainly represents a majority in the 2016 referendum and may represent a majority of Britons today; but a large number of UK voters were and are against it. Thus we have the tragedy of a nation deeply divided on a very great constitutional issue. However, the first responsibility for the present chaotic situation undoubtedly rests with elements in the Remain camp including various powerful elites, through their failure to accept a majority preference. They deserve to lose. Let us hope they do, and without violence.
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic