The title of this article is taken from the old 1960s early politically correct, multiracial sci fi Star Trek, with Mr Spock telling Captain Jim, that the crazy stuff they have just found is “life,” but not as we know it. That in itself is crazy, because how else can we conceptualise “life,” but in terms of what we know? It is simply a contradiction in terms. Spock’s hyper-rational irrationalism reminds me of Mr Smartie, all-meat-eater, Jordan Peterson, hero to young men with weak or no father figures. Here is a recent example of Peterson’s Spockism, that Supreme Court judge Brett Kavanaugh should immediately resign:
  https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2018/10/10/jordan-peterson-attempts-to-explain-his-call-for-kavanaugh-to-step-down/
  https://jordanbpeterson.com/political-correctness/notes-on-my-kavanaugh-tweet/

“I asked myself a question, after reading these posts: “Is there an alternative to confirming or not confirming Kavanaugh?” When a choice appears starkly binary, a third path appears impossible, by definition — but might possibly still be worth seeking. I tried to place myself in Kavanaugh’s position, while generating a potential answer (and think that I can do so with some justification, having been publicly identified as reprehensible by many people—prominent journalists, activists, and academics among them). I thought, “He can’t withdraw, prior to the nomination, because his reputation has been savaged so badly that withdrawal would not only mean loss of the Supreme Court nomination, but demolition of his entire career and future life.” So the only way for Kavanaugh was forward, through the FBI investigation, on to the nomination hearing, and the hope that he would be… what? Cleared? Not cleared, because it is too late for that, even given the favorable or at least not damning FBI report.

     I have long believed that the social welfare system would eventually be eliminated, dying the death of a thousand cuts. This has slowly happened with the dole and other benefits. Now the mangy cat is out of the bag on the end of pensions:
  https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/federal-treasurer-warns-welfare-not-guaranteed-for-future-generations/news-story/c667fa3140cd3cfa8c4f47a2ac981cc0

“There is no guarantee the pension will be available for future generations, federal Treasurer Scott Morrison warned yesterday. Mr Morrison said Australia could not take for granted its generous safety net or assume it would always be there. At a post-Budget breakfast in Brisbane, he said Australia needed to keep growing the economy and had to be globally competitive. “We owe to future generations (to pay for) health, schools, pensions, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme,” he said. ‘‘There are no guarantees about that.” Mr Morrison said the Federal Government was committed to ensuring pensions and essential services would be there in the future, through good financial management. Pushing the need for corporate tax cuts for the big end of town, he warned that the US, UK and France could soon all be more competitive than Australia.”

     I had to read the title of the article numerous times, then ponder the question of whether it was false news, but finally decided, that given the world is now insane, of course, it must be true, how could it not be?
  https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/9kvkj3/australias-satanists-are-asking-for-blood-donations

“The Satanists of Australia are gathering blood. Not to drink, or bathe in, but because they believe that offering blood aligns with the first of the Seven Tenets of The Satanic Temple: that “One should strive to act with compassion and empathy towards all creatures in accordance with reason.” By the Red Cross’ estimations, they’ve saved 15 lives this month alone. The Blood for Satan donation drive is the country’s first Satanic charity event. In association with The Red Cross, Satanic Australia—the “nontheistic religious” group behind the plasma gathering—are encouraging members of the public to roll up their sleeves, cop a jab to the arm and donate in the name of the Devil. To be clear, these aren't the robe-wearing, witchcraft-practicing Satanists you might be used to. “Satanists care for our fellow humans,” a spokesperson for Satanic Australia told VICE via Facebook.

     “Queen” Ann Coulter says it better than anyone does:
  https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/10/08/watch-ann-coulter-constant-immigration-will-lead-to-no-culture-across-the-globe/

“New York Times best-selling author and populist conservative columnist Ann Coulter says “constant immigration” to the United States and other countries will lead to “no difference” between countries and “no culture” around the world. During an interview on the Swedish television show Skavlan, Coulter said mass immigration to the U.S. makes the world less diverse, as countries begin to lose their culture and heritage. “I feel like I’m the only one who really wants diversity,” Coulter said. “If all we’re going to have is this constant churning and constant immigration, we’re all going to be … we’re all going to look alike, there will be no difference, there will be no culture.”

     The US power elites are rolling out their secret weapons, with ultra-skinny pop music icon Taylor Swift coming out in favour of the Democrats, and continuing the politically correct narrative that the rest of the chatterers have begun.
  https://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2018/10/07/taylor-swift-marsha-blackburn-tennessee-senate-race/
  https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/10/08/donald-trump-shuns-taylor-swift-after-marsha-blackburn-smear/
  https://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2018/10/08/taylor-swift-fans-furious-over-democrat-endorsement-be-quiet-and-sing/ 
  https://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2018/10/08/taylor-swift-endorses-democrat-who-supports-brett-kavanaugh/

     Here is what the singing canary said:

     If you do not let your son put on makeup and a dress, then watch out, because Big Sister is going to swat you:
  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2018/10/04/parents-wont-let-son-wear-skirt-may-have-referred-social-services/

“Parents who refuse to let their son wear a skirt to school may need to be referred to social services, a council’s guidance has advised schools. Mothers and fathers who dismiss a “gender questioning” child’s requests to change their name could also be a trigger for concern, according to Brighton and Hove City Council’s “Trans Inclusion Schools Toolkit”. It comes after warnings that schools are "sowing confusion" in children's minds by over-promoting transgender issues, and that children are being encouraged to “unlearn” the difference between boys and girls. The guidance advises teachers on how to handle a number of different scenarios, including if parents say: “I refuse to allow my son to change his name or wear skirts”. Schools are advised that some parents may “struggle” to accept their child’s gender identity and it may be a long time before they accept the change. “If a setting has a significant concern about the child’s wellbeing and or safety in relation to how the parents or carers are managing the exploration of the child’s gender identity it may be necessary and advisable to follow safeguarding procedures,” schools are told.”

     This is a fantastic paper that brings together perhaps the last sane voices in the academy to talk about the “Grievance Studies Affair,” where a group of academics wrote politically correct absurd papers, submitted them to Leftist journals and got many of them accepted, and published. There are some juicy quotes made by the largely philosophical critics about how postmodernism, the name given to the core destructive philosophy behind modern Leftism, has moved to dominate university culture, and even is making a move into the STEM areas of science. I think that disciplines like biology and medicine have been taken over decades ago, and it is only fields like mathematics, physics and chemistry, have yet to fall:
  https://quillette.com/2018/10/01/the-grievance-studies-scandal-five-academics-respond/

     The philosopher, Jonathan Anomaly, a good name for a philosopher, says in his piece, “The Grievance University”:

     Consider:

“In a Twitter rant over the weekend, Google design lead Dave Hogue claimed Republicans will “descend into the flames” of hell, and described members of the GOP as “treasonous” and “evil” following the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. “You are finished, @GOP. You polished the final nail for your own coffins. F**K. YOU. ALL. TO. HELL,” posted Hogue. “I hope the last images burned into your slimy, evil, treasonous retinas are millions of women laughing and clapping and celebrating as your souls descend into the flames.” Hogue soon deleted the post and made a follow-up tweet condemning the Republican Party while also adding that he “should have been more eloquent and less condemning” in the previous post.”
https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2018/10/08/google-design-lead-david-hogue-evil-republicans-will-descend-into-flames-of-hell/

     One of the themes running through articles this week is the madness of the elites. Now that Justice Brett Kavanaugh is on the bench of the US Supreme Court, the Leftoids now move to take him off by impeaching him, the grounds being only they can hold positions of power, and deplorables must die. Given that, at the present time, any such impeachment will be tough going:
  https://www.naturalnews.com/2018-10-10-desperate-tactics-democrats-cannot-impeach-kavanaugh.html
  https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/alan-dershowitz-the-constitution-wont-permit-democrats-to-impeach-brett-kavanaugh

“Democrats seeking to impeach Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh will be hamstrung by the Constitution, according to Harvard Law School Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz. "The Constitution would not permit impeachment of a sitting justice for actions he took while a private citizen 35 years ago, nor would it permit using the laws of perjury, which are very tough," Dershowitz said Monday during an interview with Fox News.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the New York Democrat poised to chair the House Judiciary Committee should his party win a majority after the 2018 midterm elections, has suggested the panel may investigate Kavanaugh under his leadership. Reps. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., and Ted Lieu, D-Calif., have already voiced their support for probing the newly installed justice.

     In a previous article on the state of universities, I think James Reed said that the discipline of physics has held out against the current political correctness mania. He was wrong:
  https://www.naturalnews.com/2018-10-10-science-under-attack-by-libtards-physics-isnt-sexist.html

“A physics professor at the University of Pisa in Italy recently became the subject of an “ethics investigation” at his school following a lecture he gave about how modern leftist dogma that blames “sexism” for allegedly keeping women from succeeding in the sciences is absolute bunk. Alessandro Strumia boldly and unequivocally stated that “cultural Marxism” is responsible for pushing this ridiculous feminist propaganda, highlighting the fact that common leftist buzzwords like “microaggression,” “gaslighting,” and “mansplaining” are perpetuating the lie that men are somehow “mobilizing their masculinity” to keep women from achieving scientific success. Entitled, “High Energy Theory and Gender,” Strumia’s lecture, which took place at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland, was quickly criticized by leftists involved with Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, also known as STEM, for allegedly being “discriminatory” against women.

     Truly amazing news; traditional liberal values of free speech are being abandoned by Big Tech, and instead, money is being worshipped:
  https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2018/10/09/the-good-censor-leaked-briefing-says-google-must-move-away-from-american-tradition-of-free-speech-to-expand-globally-attract-advertiser-s/

“A leaked Google briefing titled “The Good Censor” advises tech companies to move away from the “American tradition” of free speech if they wish to attract advertising revenue and continue global expansion. The briefing, leaked exclusively to Breitbart News, was the product of extensive research on the part of Google. This included expert interviews with MIT Tech Review editor-in-chief Jason Pontin, Atlantic staff writer and tech critic Franklin Foer, and academic Kalev Leetaru. 35 cultural observers and 7 cultural leaders from seven countries on five continents were consulted to produce it. The 85-page briefing admits that Google and other tech platforms have fundamentally altered their policies in response to unwelcome political events around the world, including the 2016 election and the rise of Alternative für Deutschland in Germany. Responding to the leak, an official Google source said the document should be considered internal research, and not an official company position. Page 14 of the document acknowledges that a few Silicon Valley tech giants now “control the majority of our conversations,” but that these platforms – including Google – must now break their initial promise to users of free speech and content neutrality.”

     I saw the first reference on an American news site, which linked to a local article. I am glad not to be in the city, living out here in the Victorian scrub in my trusty tent and swag. Just imagine what it is going to be like when TSHTF, big time:
https://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/10/09/short-sentences-for-african-refugees-who-hacked-mans-head-with-machetes/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6238751/Tough-new-judge-Sarah-Dawes-sends-machete-wielding-thugs-jail.html

“Two refugees from Somalia have received short sentences for splitting a man’s skull and mutilating his hand in a machete attack in Melbourne, Australia. Abdirizak Mohamed Scek, 25, and Said Abdirahman, 28, gave “no explanation” for their savage attack on Nathan Brett, who was left with “a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain, and his finger hanging by a thread”, according to the Daily Mail. The court heard Brett was set upon by a group of African men armed with machetes while walking through a North Melbourne park after a party, shortly after having discovered a friend with a machete wound nearby and calling an ambulance for him. The Australian fled from his attackers but was pursued all the way to the door of a friend’s house, where he was given shelter. Despite the ‘no more soft sentences’ headline in the Daily Mail report on the case — which suggested the migrants were given “more than ten years” by a “tough new female judge” — the prison terms handed down by the County Court of Victoria’s Judge Sarah Dawes were actually fairly short. Abdirahman was given five-and-a-half years, with the possibility of parole after serving three-and-a-half, and Scek was given four years and nine months, with the possibility of parole after serving two years and nine months.”

     I did not know about this until alerted by an email, but apparently Tasmania, which is fast becoming a part of China, is allowing China to use Hobart as a port for their icebreaker. Sure, give them the state and Australia’s share of Antarctica too (the Antarctic treaty comes up for renegotiation in 2040), since our hands are too soft and flabby to do anything much expect stuff our faces with cream puffs, while mouthing sweet nothings about diversity and Asianisation:
  http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-15/chinese-icebreaker-to-visit-hobart-twice-over-summer/10249652

     Wow, only two port stops and $2.5 million dollars will be injected into the Tassy economy; talk about a cargo cult. The premier is falling over himself. Never mind that an American think tank, who think, unlike Australia’s political leaders, has warned that China is a threat to Australia’s Antarctic territory:
  http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/worldtoday/australias-antarctic-territory-under-threat-from-china/9018868

     Saying controversial and soften stupid things seems to be what academic philosophers do, as far as I can work out. No, they are not modern Socrates, willing to die for truth and justice. Why some even want certain people to die:
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/abortion-outrage-mums-should-be-allowed-to-terminate-newborns-say-australian-academics/news-story/05da73dcef423139d0b5003ca8d05346?sv=910d80d46c0eb27cf2ea2ab7e9dfb7a3

“KILLING newborn babies should be allowed if the mother wishes, Australian philosophers have argued in a prestigious journal. Their argument, that it is morally the same as abortion, has forced the British Medical Journal to defend its publication of their views. In an article that has sparked outrage around the world and elicited death threats, Monash and Melbourne University academics argue that a foetus and a newborn both lack a sense of life and aspiration. They argue this justifies "after-birth abortion" on the proviso it is painless as the baby is not missing out on a life it cannot contemplate. The doctors of philosophy argue in the BMJ publication Journal of Medical Ethics that one-third of infants with Down syndrome are not diagnosed in the womb, which means mothers of children with severe disabilities should have the chance to end a child's life after, as well as before, birth.

     Music for this story, Runaway Train by Soul Asylum:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRtvqT_wMeY

     One hundred youths stormed a Melbourne train and held the passengers hostage, with no charges being laid by the police. Can anyone see a racial angle to this? Surely not, because immigration, multiculturalism and diversity are, well, working fine, aren’t they? How about anarcho-tyranny?
  https://gellerreport.com/2018/10/100-violent-africans.html/
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdkmaaiaojA

     Brett Kavanaugh has been appointed to the US Supreme Court, and will probably be hearing cases before this article is published. But, it is still well worth while reviewing how the flawed testimony of an academic was used in an attempt to destroy a good man’s career and reputation. I reported over the past weeks,  on the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court appointment fiasco with Chris and Charles, dealing with the ladies issues, because in these politically correct times, we often need a woman to cut through the, what is the polite word for bs? … fiddle sticks.

     What we have now, in conclusion,  was a  complete lack of evidence presented by Dr Ford. The final nails in the coffin of credibility came with a  letter from an ex-boyfriend stating that she never mentioned the sexual assault to him, and another allegation, that  she was quite the party animal and liked to hook up with guys. All that from a former friend, D. C. McAllister, writer of Catwoman.  Meeeoww …
  https://gellerreport.com/2018/10/ford-blumenthal-falsus.html/ 
  https://gellerreport.com/2018/10/ford-fast-big-partier.html/

     Good things are happening in America, shining a light on where we, in Australia, need to go, such as getting out of the UN. A first good step is to withdraw from the globalist, anti-Western, Human Rights Council:
  https://www.npr.org/2018/06/19/621435225/u-s-announces-its-withdrawal-from-u-n-s-human-rights-council?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social

“After more than a year of complaints and warnings — some subtle and others a little less so — the Trump administration has announced that the United States is withdrawing from the United Nations Human Rights Council. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley announced the decision in a joint statement Tuesday. "I want to make it crystal clear that this step is not a retreat from human rights commitments," Haley told the media. "On the contrary, we take this step because our commitment does not allow us to remain a part of a hypocritical and self-serving organization that makes a mockery of human rights." The move comes as little surprise from an administration that frequently has lambasted the 47-member body for a gamut of perceived failures — particularly the dubious rights records of many of its member countries.”

     World War III gets closer by the day, because the Deep Staters are criminally insane, and have a death wish, much like Thanos in the comics (and to some degree the film, Avengers: Infinity War).
  https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2018/10/04/us-openly-threatens-russia-with-war-goodbye-diplomacy-hello-stone-age.html

“US Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison is a highly placed diplomat. Her words, whatever they may be, are official, which includes the ultimatums and threats that have become the language increasingly used by US diplomats to implement the policy of forceful persuasion or coercive diplomacy. Bellicose declarations are being used this way as a tool. On Oct. 2, the ambassador proved it again. According to her statement, Washington is ready to use force against Russia. Actually, she presented an ultimatum — Moscow must stop the development of a missile that the US believes to be in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty). If not, the American military will destroy it before the weapon becomes operational. “At that point, we would be looking at the capability to take out a (Russian) missile that could hit any of our countries,” Hutchison stated at a news conference. "Counter measures (by the United States) would be to take out the missiles that are in development by Russia in violation of the treaty," she added. "They are on notice." This is nothing other than a direct warning of a preemptive strike.

     China has been hacking all of the Big Tech giants, and even the CIA, showing that Chinese cyber-warfare is in a class of its own:
  https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-10-04/explosive-report-details-chinese-infiltration-apple-amazon-and-cia 
  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-10-04/the-big-hack-how-china-used-a-tiny-chip-to-infiltrate-america-s-top-companies?srnd=premium

“But in a game-changing report published Thursday morning, Bloomberg Businessweek exposed a sprawling multi-year investigation into China's infiltration of US corporate and defense infrastructure. Most notably, it confirmed that, in addition to efforts designed to sway US elections, China's intelligence community orchestrated a pervasive infiltration of servers used to power everything from MRI machines to the drones used by the CIA and army. They accomplished this using a tiny microchip no bigger than a grain of rice. BBG published the report just hours before Vice President Mike Pence was expected to "string together a narrative of Chinese aggression" during a speech at the Hudson Institute in Washington. According to excerpts leaked to the New York Times, his speech was expected to focus on examples of China's "aggressive moves against American warships, of predatory behavior against their neighbors, and of a sophisticated influence campaign to tilt the midterms and 2020 elections against President Trump". His speech is also expected to focus on how China leverages debt and its capital markets to force foreign governments to submit to its will (something that has happened in Bangladesh and the Czech Republic.

To The Age        Well done, Carol Oliver! Yes, "the money-makers' ignorance of any respect for our icons" (10/10) is deplorable. The burgeoning ugliness of inappropriately restricted advertising must be opposed. But political zealots can also be anti-social pests. I only wish that readers' indignation against the defacing of the Sydney Opera House had been matched earlier by a similar outcry against the use of St. Paul's Cathedral here to blazon forth a partisan message on the refugee controversy.
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic