Ian Hanke retweeted
70,000 people died in Gaza during the war. According to Hamas itself, 50,000 of them were Hamas fighters. And of the 20,000 “children” killed, 80% were male combatants aged 16-18.
The Gaza “genocide” is the biggest hoax of the 21st century.
Ian Hanke retweeted
Climate policies have consequences
EU households pay 1.9x US prices and 4x China
And Germany has the highest household electricity cost in the world
teapaw.org/BjornLomborg/status/21…
Climate policies have consequences
EU households pay 1.9x US prices and 4x China
And Germany has the highest household electricty cost in the world
iea.org/data-and-statistics/…
I had not considered the impact of the Russian Civil war in this light before
Ian Hanke retweeted
Trump appointing the ultra-nationalist Stephen Miller as chief of staff certainly sends a signal—that the president is not in the mood for post-midterms compromise or retreat on nativism, immigration & cultural issues. And it makes it harder to imagine legislative compromises with a Democratic majority.
Campaign buses are relics.at a state electuon level.
Not a big enough media entourage these days to warrant them....unless it is a mini bus.
We will retain the term "whistle stop" from the days of rail tours across the US, but like the train tours of yore buses are Bollinger necessary.
See a potted history below.
William Henry Harrison pioneered rail campaigning in 1836, and candidates frequently used trains for long-distance travel and trackside speeches through the mid-20th century.
The Whistle-Stop wad named for train operators blowing steam whistles to signal small-town stops, the practice let candidates give brief, 10-to-20-minute rear-platform speeches directly to local crowds.
Ian Hanke retweeted
Watching Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, speak from a White House podium bearing the U.S. presidential seal while quoting Vladimir Putin is an image I will never forget.
Dmitriev praised Maria Lvova-Belova as a great humanitarian. She is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes involving the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children.
He then presented Melania Trump with a painting reportedly made by a girl who, according to him, “chose to remain in Russia.” It read: “I love Melania.”
Melania Trump went on to praise Newsmax for its integrity in covering the operation in Russian-occupied Oleshky, where the outlet’s journalists traveled under Russian military guidance.
And to complete the scene, Davyd Arakhamia, head of Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People parliamentary faction, joined from the Ukrainian side to praise Melania Trump.
All of this at the White House.
Russia’s war against Ukraine continues.
Ian Hanke retweeted
Australian federal government gross debt has reached a new record of $1.002 trillion...
Very good have a read and heed it.
It’s not that there isn’t something admirable about a Western democracy where the son of an Egyptian immigrant can rise to the most exclusive club in politics. That is the American promise, after all. But the liberals sent into raptures by the election of Abdul El-Sayed as senator for Michigan are overlooking the nature of this particular son of an immigrant and the danger he poses.
This week, the 42-year-old former public health official defeated the Republican Mike Rogers to become the first Muslim ever elected to the United States Senate. “Michigan, we did it,” El-Sayed told a baying crowd of supporters.
He then switched into Arabic, turning his victory rally into a race-baiting, religious call-and-response for the purposes of taunting his opponents. “Inshallah”, God willing, had become “Alhamdulillah”, praise be to God, he crowed, and the crowd chanted it with him.
If there is a more literal example of political Islam, I have yet to see it. Thus were faith and politics blended as momentum for a jihadi agenda; later in the speech, El-Sayed claimed that Michigan’s taxes should not fund “apartheid or genocide”, conjuring the most pernicious falsehoods of our times, designed to damage Israel’s means of self-defence, with an aura of liberal righteousness.
To a British onlooker, the scene was horribly familiar. In 2024, the newly-elected Green councillor Mothin Ali celebrated in Leeds by shouting: “We will raise the voice of Gaza. We will raise the voice of Palestine. Allahu Akbar!”
At the time, his fanaticism was matched only by his hubris: how was a local councillor going to free Palestine? But now Ali is now deputy leader of the Green Party and the government has started aping its ideological stances to shore up its left flank.
These are signposts that point very clearly to the truth: this is Islamism on a mission, packaged within a revolutionary radicalism intended for an audience of ideologues and idiots. Asked in May whether he believed in Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, El-Sayed replied: “I often struggle with the question.”
Nobody thought to ask him whether Pakistan – founded at the same time as Israel but with millions of deaths and refugees – has the right to exist as an Islamic republic. But then, the world is not engaged in a campaign of delegitimisation of Pakistan on behalf of the forces of jihad, which is the movement in which El-Sayed’s victory must be seen.
It’s not like he’s ever been shy about it. On Oct 21, 2023, El-Sayed took to X to denounce “the genocide being perpetrated against innocent Palestinians”. Israeli troops would not enter Gaza for another six days, but this was never about the truth. Which brings us to a disturbing story written on the morning of Oct 7 by El-Sayed’s half-sister, a professor at the University of Chicago...
New essay making sense of the midterms. Link in first reply:
Ian Hanke retweeted
Watching all these Republican attempts to explain why they lost the election is painful, because they cannot come out and say one simple truth. They handed the party to a corrupt, criminal, dictator-loving, economic and strategic idiot--who proceeded to be all of these things.
Ian Hanke retweeted
8:00 AM: 🇺🇸Vance: "We started war to save America. No one can defeat us."
2:00 PM: 🇺🇸Vance: "War has no consequences on election. Trump is very popular. We are winning this."
4:00 PM: 🇺🇸Vance: "We lost the election due to war."
Believe me, he said all of this in one day.
Ian Hanke retweeted
Saudis are providing a more responsible analysis of Israel’s war against Hamas than many members of Congress.
Ian Hanke retweeted
Mr. Vice-President,
Please allow me to present a different perspective.
The problem was not the Iran War. It was the cease fire.
If you start a war, you need to win it and finish it – otherwise don’t start it.
This war should have been over six months ago, with the Strait of Hormuz wide open and oil flowing. The second and third tiers of Iranian leadership should have been destroyed, and we should have supported the pro-western forces who could have taken leadership. We stood on the brink of a new, more peaceful Middle East - and then we blinked. We had a chance not only to deny Iran nuclear weapons, but to get rid of the world’s biggest supporter of terrorism.
Instead, we had a cease fire, which was followed by months of will we or won’t we finish the job. Every day was a different message. There still is. Is the war over? Is it about to begin? No one knows. There is confusion and inconsistency.
In June 2025, America was not involved. This was an Israel vs Iran issue.
No one forced the United States to attack Iran then, or in February of 2026. It was a decision made by President Trump. In my opinion, it was the right decision.
Once the decision was made, we should not have stopped until the regime fell. But instead, you negotiated a cease fire that didn’t last, didn’t work and left us in no man’s land, with higher prices and our troops still deployed.
Our troops could have been home, the Navy returned to its bases, a peaceful regime in place , new alliances forged, and gas prices below $3.00 a gallon.
No, Mr. Vice President. It’s not the war. It’s the so-called cease fire.
One of the things the data analysts on our side obsessed over was "composition"—whether the electorate looked close enough to 2024 for Republicans to win. And despite polls that showed a Democrat blowout, the data kept on telling us the same story: in some states turnout was merely OK, in other states it was downright amazing, and in no state was it catastrophic. There was a genuine sense of optimism on our team: our people were showing up.
So, I asked the smartest data guy I know, does that mean we're going to shock the world? "No," he told me. "We might do better than the polls suggest. But the data is telling us that a lot of Trump/Vance 2024 voters are pissed and planning to vote for the other guys. Our voters are turning out, but they may not vote for us."
Well, that looks prophetic now. Our voters did show up. In Florida, for example, the electorate was 9 points more Republican than Democrat, just a couple points worse than 2024. Undoubtedly there were places we could have done better on turnout. But the main problem is not turnout. The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026.
There will be a lot of infighting and arguing over what happened and why that is. One of the pollsters I really respect told me that our economic messaging wasn’t sharp enough down the stretch. I’m sure that’s true.
But the real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone.
Another pollster—one of the smartest people I know in politics, told me yesterday we’d lose the generic ballot by 13 points. I felt negative going into Tuesday, but even I was shocked by this. In his polling, he saw that a lot of Trump 2024 voters were angry and planning to vote for Democrats. He asked those voters who had abandoned us what would cause them to come back on our team. The top four answers, accounting for nearly all of the responses were:
1) End the war
2) Focus on cost of living/inflation
3) Put America First
4) Change our relationship to Israel
Our voters showed up. And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats. This is according to a pollster who nailed the results. While many spent Monday attacking Rachel Campos Duffy for calling for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, it turns out her political advice was sound. (She’s also a great person.)
In the next few months, there's going to be a lot of gaslighting. Expect to hear any number of establishment politicians say the solution to our woes is amnesty. I'm open to the idea that we should change enforcement—by focusing more on businesses that hire illegal labor, for instance. But anyone pushing amnesty is lying to you.
The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night.
If you'd like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that's at least honest.
But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.
I remain hopeful about our country. To the people who are pissed off and want to say, “I told you so”: you’re right, you did tell us so. Take that energy into electing Republicans who share your worldview. To the people who are just pissed at the results, you should be. Let’s take that anger and get back to the work of saving our country.
Excellent report.
FAIR WORK? MORE LIKE GO AWAY MONEY.
Of 133,228 unfair dismissal claims examined in our report, just 1.9% were decided on their merits.
Meanwhile, employers face an estimated $18,200 in average costs per claim, including legal fees, lost time and settlements.
When it's cheaper to settle than defend yourself, the system itself becomes the punishment.
Australia's Fair Work system desperately needs reform.
Ian Hanke retweeted
Україна реформується навіть під час війни й уже приєдналася до 58 правових інструментів ОЕСР.
Наступний крок — Конвенція ОЕСР проти підкупу іноземних посадовців. Це про чесну конкуренцію, довіру інвесторів і відновлення України.
ОЕСР — з Україною. Слава Україні! 🇺🇦
Ian Hanke retweeted
Here’s my Mo so far … Movember is about raising awareness and funds for men’s mental health, suicide prevention and cancer research.
Please donate if you can — every dollar helps, and may sustain those who want it to disappear in December
#Movember2026 #MensHealth #MentalHealthAwareness #GrowAMo #SuicideAwareness
Ian Hanke retweeted
I have been holding my tongue about something that happened during the Ohio gubernatorial race. I refused to speak while the election was underway because I did not want my words mistaken for an attempt to influence anyone’s vote.
But now that the election is over, I have something to say.
For nearly twenty years, my ministry has taken me among the homeless, the abused, the exploited, and the forgotten. I have sat with victims of sexual violence and witnessed the lifelong wounds of childhood trauma.
What Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign did to Amy Acton was among the most morally repulsive things I have witnessed in American politics.
They took a woman whose stepfather was indicted for raping her when she was twelve years old and featured her mother, from whom she had been estranged for nearly fifty years, in a political advertisement attacking her credibility.
The advertisement challenged Acton’s account of her childhood without mentioning the sexual abuse allegations or the circumstances of that estrangement. When people expressed their horror, the campaign defended it.
Imagine examining another person’s childhood suffering and fractured family relationships, then deciding those wounds might help win an election.
Anyone who has worked with survivors of childhood sexual abuse understands the painful realities of denial, betrayal, shame, and estrangement. A child growing into a successful adult does not erase what happened. Nor does a parent’s denial make that suffering disappear.
I find it equally disturbing that an elderly mother, whom Acton herself described as unwell, was brought into this spectacle. Whatever her own struggles or responsibility for the past, exploiting that fractured relationship was grotesque.
To everyone who defended this, consider the message you sent to survivors. To the young woman whose family refuses to believe her. To the man who has carried the shame of childhood abuse for forty years. To the frightened child who has yet to tell anyone.
What did you teach them about the value of their suffering?
I am a priest. I believe in repentance, forgiveness, and redemption. But none of those things requires me to pretend that deliberate cruelty is anything less than a grave moral failure.
Your political allegiance does not absolve you of moral responsibility. You do not get to set aside your conscience during an election and retrieve it afterward.
If your loyalty requires you to defend the exploitation of a childhood sexual abuse survivor, your loyalty has become an idol. And if your conscience cannot recognize the wrong here, examine what political tribalism has done to it.
This is not about Republicans or Democrats. We have a choice as a people: continue excusing cruelty from our preferred political camp, or summon the courage to condemn it wherever it appears.
Amy Acton deserved better. Every survivor who watched this unfold deserved better.
And God help us if we have reached the point where winning an election matters more than protecting the dignity of a wounded human being.
Elon Musk is reported to have spent approximately $446 million supporting Trumpism candidates during the mid terms.
Which just indicates that money of itself cannot buy an election.
The will of the people will eventually prevail against bad government.
Ian Hanke retweeted
Absolutely incredible stuff: NJ Governor Mikie Sherrill just sent a letter to Jersey's port operators and businesses, threatening them with severe penalties if they unload illegally imported Russian oil.
"These actions are illegal, in part, because Vladimir Putin continues to engage in an illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. See United Nations Charter, Ch. 1, Art. 2, Par. 4. Further, the U.S. is currently engaged in hostilities with Iran, whose military is responsible for the killing of 23 servicemembers and wounding dozens of others. In purchasing oil from Russia, a known supplier and financial supporter of Iran, Donald Trump is providing funding for a country that is engaged in hostilities with America, up to and including killing American soldiers."
One of the few things that frighten me about the future is that ex PM Kevin Rudd will be lauded as some sort of elder statesman and PM of note who is imbued with seer like knowledge.
I shudder.
Reprising g this advert by Kinky Friwdman when he ran for Texas Governor 20 years or so ago.
Great stuff!
facebook.com/share/r/1E394DZ…