In which the bromancer, Dame Groan, Mein Gott and the Lynch mob take to the stage for a reptile gig ...

The pond confesses that Kneecap and Bob Vylan had passed the pond by, and their escapades at Glastonbury had eluded the pond until a cluck-clucking and tut-tutting by James O'Brien hovered into view on YouTube and he offered an analysis, which, inter alia, wondered why some people appear “more offended by a rapper than by what's happening in Gaza.”

The pond knew immediately that "some people" would include the Australian Zionist Daily News, the  reptiles in the hive mind at the lizard Oz, and sure enough ...

The performers, in a bid for notoriety, had also attracted the attention of the Lynch mob, and he was in the mood for a lynching, and to hell with the killing field in Gaza ...

The pond should make an honourable mention of Ben, still packing the heat, albeit way down the bottom: 

EXCLUSIVE
Albanese ‘blowing up our defence hopes’
By Ben Packham

Sorry Ben, the pond issure it's an astonishing EXCLUSIVE, but when the pond looked over to the extreme far right, the pond knew what had to be done...

Some might wonder at the pond's excessive, almost uxorious devotion to the bromancer, but he was top of the digital world ma, however briefly, and the pond just had to know what he thought of the New York mayor race ...

No point wondering, as if the pond couldn't guess the complete predictability of a man who could swallow human flesh and sip on human blood,  so the pond dived in...

You might think that the header contains a slur about King Donald, a combative extremist making wild, extremist promises: Democrats not immune to Trump-style populism, If Zohran Mamdani wins the New York mayoralty, he’ll demonstrate one effective Democrat response to Trump: be equally combative and make wild, unrealistic promises. But having extremists dominate politics is terrible for America.

But search the text and you'll find absolutely minimal attention to King Donald,  with the bromancer a tremendously skilled elider, while the opening image provides conclusive proof of Mamdani's extremism: Zohran Mamdani takes part in the 2025 NYC Pride March.

Eek, he's off with the gays, which is worse than the pixies to the lizard Oz hive mind.

Now to be fair the pond's idea of New York mayors mainly comes from the movies, such as the original and infinitely better, Taking of Pelham One Two Three,  (Gesundheit!) with other contenders fitting the stereotype admirably - Adams, deeply mired in corruption and an obsession with rats, and Cuomo, deeply mired in Covid incompetence and offfensive sexual behaviour - not to forget Rudy, who's alleged war on crime degenerated into living the life of a disbarred wannabe populist drunk ... 

But the bromancer wanted to do a slam dunk, and so he was quickly off to the bigoted races...

The conventional wisdom is that Donald Trump’s election victory last year, in which he won, for the first time, the popular vote as well as the Electoral College, was a signal of profound change in America’s political culture. I’m not saying I entirely endorse the conventional wisdom but here it is: Trump’s victory means a turn to the right by the US electorate and a turn against the left.
We passed Peak Woke. The Politically Correct were in retreat. Muscular nationalism would replace limp liberal internationalism. Tariffs were in, globalisation out. Energy independence in, climate change actions out. Drill, baby, drill! As well as winning the white working class, Trump did better with racial minorities than previous Republican presidential candidates. His support surged especially among young men of minority racial backgrounds. Trump didn’t win a majority of these voters, but he won a bigger minority of them than previous Republicans.
He stole a demographic Democrats thought they owned. Trump also represented regular fellas, Joe six-pack, left behind by liberal elites.
The next step in this analysis is that to recover electorally, Democrats will move to the centre. We’ve seen this movie before. Ron­ald Reagan established conservative hegemony and the Democrats eventually got the White House back only when they chose a southern conservative, Bill Clinton. As Arkansas governor, Clinton was an enforcer of the death penalty and a proclaimer that “the era of big government is over”.

It's already clear where the bro is heading with this one, only briefly halted by a snap of the Cantaloupe Caligula, flanked by the usual servile minions, lackeys and flunkies, President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office at the White House.

The bro was also at the movies ...

I’m not so sure we’re going to see that American movie this time. To effect long-run change in the political culture, you need a big win and sustained success in office, and for the losers to recognise the new culture. It’s not happening so far. I present as Exhibit A the astounding triumph of 33-year-old Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primary for New York mayor. Mamdani trounced the grizzled former governor of New York state Andrew Cuomo, who enjoyed massive financial backing. It’s as if radical congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez beat Joe Biden in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.
Mamdani is a socialist and an extremist, a former rapper with almost no serious job experience, though in 2020 he won a seat in the New York State Assembly. In his own words, he’s “a progressive Muslim migrant”, which, according to him, makes him Trump’s worst nightmare.
In fact the Republican presidential candidate in 2028, whoever that may be, would pray to have an opponent like Mamdani. It can’t be Mamdani himself because presidents have to be born in America. If Mamdani wins the mayoralty, he’ll demonstrate one effective Democrat response to Trump: be equally combative and make wild, unrealistic promises. But having extremists dominate politics is terrible for America.
Mamdani is a long-standing member of the Democratic Socialists of America. His hatred of Israel is intense. At college, he founded a branch of Students for Justice for Palestine. The day after the horrific Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023, this group’s national body hailed “the historic win for the Palestinian resistance”. Mamdani did later condemn the Hamas mass­acres. As a rapper, Mamdani performed lyrics praising Hamas fundraisers. He favours the boycott of Israel. He supports laws restricting American Jewish char­ities sending money to Israel. He wants to “globalise the intifada”. And he accuses Israel of genocide, apartheid etc. He supports Columbia University’s anti-Israel demonstrators and says he wouldn’t send police to such demonstrations. Yet hate crime in New York is overwhelmingly anti-Jewish.

Yep, no mention of the ethic cleansing of Gaza, and even worse, the shameless cad dared to crack a cheap joke and score a laugh at billionaires...

Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani made an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press after winning the Democratic primary last week to become the New York City Mayoral candidate. Mamdani was asked by NBC host Kristen Welker if "he believes billionaires have a right to exist," and responded with a laugh saying “I don't think we should have billionaires.” “I don’t think we should have billionaires because it is so much money in a moment of such inequality,” he said. “Ultimately what we need more of is equality across our city, state, and country.” “And I look forward to working with everyone including billionaires to make a city that is fair for all of them.” Mamdani's victory of the Democratic nomination sent shockwaves around New York City as he is a Democratic Socialist who campaigned on radical policies. New York City has the most billionaires in the world with 123 amassing a net worth of $US759 billion living in the city according to the New York Post.

Sheesh, Mamdani, where would we be without a regular dose of vulgar comedy?

The bromancer carried on ranting ...

He’s a Jeremy Corbyn-like repeat demonstrator who long supported “defund the police”. He’s modified that position and also tried to avoid mentioning Israel in the primary campaign. He’s not running on those policies. But they demonstrate what a genuine, longstanding extremist he is. Critically, none of these offences against elementary political decency has disqualified him, or even hurt him, in his mayoral campaign.
He will be the official Democrat candidate in November, with endorsement it seems from all the party big wigs. The Democrat normally wins in New York.
The specific policies Mamdani proposes as mayor would be disastrous for the endlessly fascinating but grossly dysfunctional Big Apple. He promises a big increase in city corporate taxes and state income taxes. He promises to freeze rent increases for a giant slab of New York’s apartments. He promises free childcare and free buses, and a $US30 an hour minimum wage by 2030. He’s a passionate climate change activist and demonstrated against gas power stations. He wants the city to own and run low-cost grocery stores, presumably at a loss.
Mamdani hasn’t won election for mayor yet. And it’s not his exotic extremism he’s running on but his impossible promises. He’s a good campaigner, smooth, clever, articulate, very effective on TikTok, the son of a Columbia academic father and an acclaimed filmmaker mother. He’s the ideal liberal hero of progressive undergraduate fantasy. Mamdani’s program is pure left-wing economic populism. It’s tricky to define populism properly. Sometimes populism involves popular wisdom, but sometimes it involves simplistic and wildly unrealistic solutions to complicated problems, a despairing impatience with reality.
Rents too high? Freeze them. Groceries too expensive? Get the government to sell them at a loss. Climate change? Ban gas. Government deficits? Raise taxes, again and again and again. The essence of left-wing economic populism is that it’s totally divorced from economic reality. Freeze rents and apartments go off the market. Make the minimum wage too high and low productivity jobs dis­appear altogether. Ban gas and electricity prices rise while power becomes unreliable.

Cue another snap, Former US President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton listen as President Donald Trump speaks after being sworn in as the 47th President.

Ah slick Willy, now there's a centrist role model, and you get your intern blow jobs for free ...

Do these all at once and businesses and well qualified individuals flee New York for Florida, Georgia and Texas. A lot of right-wing populism is like this too. Disappearing industries? Impose tariffs. The working class doing it tough? More government benefits. Deficits? Promise more welfare, more spending on almost everything, tax cuts and a balanced ­budget.
Mostly, right-wing economic populism, like left-wing economic populism, can’t be delivered. One promises more spending and a balanced budget. The other promises more spending, more debt and no consequences. Neither of these combinations can apply in the real world. American politics is about motivating the base so extremes do well. Both sides, when they win, win narrowly. So instead of the Democrats moving to the centre, you could get failed right-wing populism followed by failed left-wing populism, each side winning narrowly, with half the country always bitter about election results, always denying the other side’s legitimacy.
We have very dysfunctional politics in Australia, too, but we do our dysfunction a bit differently. No Western politics is working well at the moment.
In America, you could for quite a long time get a dizzy and bitter rotation of fairly extreme populists unable to deliver on the economy, searching for enemies, demonising their opponents. Mamdani, like Trump, is an authentic New York creation. He offers nothing good to America or to the broader inter­national political culture that needs American leadership and tends to follow American examples, for good and for ill.

And Cuomo? And Adams? And King Donald himself? 

Not really a cheep or beep from the bromancer, but luckily TT was on had to provide a 'toon sumary...

Of course the pond could have turned to Paul Krugman scribbling in his Substack We’re All Rats Now, Time to take a stand, again, against racism:

And so on and on, but enough already, it's time for the economics stylings of Dame Groan ...

The header for Dame Groan going right off, and managing a five minute read, or so the reptiles said: Sure, boost supply, but don’t forget the backyard is still king, Parents’ preferences for detached housing with a backyard have not noticeably changed over the years. Yet so many politicians are keen to impose their housing preferences on citizens.

The reptiles blessed Dame Groan with an image which would pass for AI slop: The preferences of parents for detached housing with a backyard have not noticeably changed over the years. Picture: iStock

There was also the magical injunction: This article contains features which are only available in the web version, Take me there

The pond should note at the get go, the pond never has the slightest interest in the Groaning. 

A year doing economic history and studying Sir Lewis Namier cured the pond of all that, but her Groaning always stirs correspondents, and so, somewhat cynically, the pond always makes room ...

Dame Groan began in sentimental, nostalgic tone...

Some people have outside dogs. My parents had outside children. We were steered out the back door after breakfast and expected to play in the backyard – or a neighbour’s backyard – for most of the day. We would also run up to the local park. It had to be raining cats and dogs for an exception to be made.
When the light began to fade, all the children in the area wandered back to their respective homes to consume the meat and three veg served up for dinner every night. There weren’t any a la carte offerings in our house. We didn’t get a television set until I was 10, even though they were available. We were then allowed to watch for only 2-3 hours each week. According to my parents, television was either a waste of time or dangerous. They probably had a point.
In case you think I’m just being sentimental, let me use data to highlight the fact that the preferences of parents for detached housing with a backyard, even a small one, have not noticeably changed over the years. With Australia’s temperate climate, it’s not hard to understand this preference. Repeated surveys consistently indicate detached housing is still the overwhelmingly preferred housing type, with around 60-70 per cent of the population opting for this choice. Semi-detached housing accounts for around 10-15 per cent, with apartments favoured by around 15-20 cent, depending on the survey.
One particularly interesting survey asked homeowners of detached housing in a new outer Melbourne suburb whether they would like to swap their dwelling for an apartment with a similar floor plate closer to the CBD. More than three-quarters preferred their current arrangements.
It’s not as if the politicians don’t know this; they would just rather impose other housing options on desperate citizens because high-rise apartments close to railway stations and often with no parking suit their political agendas. Terms such as “unsustainable urban sprawl” and the “corrosive impact of NIMBYism (not in my backyard) are thrown into the argument. These slogans support heavy-handed housing policies that simply ride roughshod over the preferences of homebuyers and existing residents impacted by unwelcome developments.

The reptiles interrupted with more visual slop, Victorian and NSW politicians wax on about the advantages of high-density living close to the CBD. Picture: Nikki Short/NewsWire

The pond had to concede Dame Groan's point. The thought of having her nearby in an apartment block was a terrifying prospect, and imagine her as chair of the body corporate.  

The pond suspects that even in a detached housing neighbourhood, the pond would like to be at least half way down the street from her, and preferably in another block ...

The pond should perhaps note it has recently spent time in an apartment block in Melbourne, left over from Adolf's Normandy fortifications, and it's actually been quite fine, but what would the pond know?

In both Victoria and NSW, the politicians wax on about the advantages of high-density living close to the CBD. The NSW Premier foresees a time when living in parts of Sydney will be like living in Brooklyn or Williamsburg in New York. Similar utterances are made by government Victorian ministers.A cynic might wonder whether people really want the New York lifestyle, shootings and all, but demonstrating political “leadership” on housing is in vogue at this point.
The Minns government has been explicit about siding with property developers over NIMBYs and their local government allies. There is a high degree of irony in fact that The Sydney Morning Herald frequently carries commentary favourable to high-density housing developments while containing separate stories about the worrying prevalence of defects in new apartment buildings and the expensive frustrations for owners with body corporate arrangements.
It has been estimated that well over half of recently built high-rise apartments have serious problems that require rectification, including waterproofing, cracking and mould. There have been instances where large apartment buildings have had to be abandoned.
Body corporate arrangements are often opaque and favour the developer. It is not uncommon for developers to stack the committee in the first instance – unsold units provide them with the numbers.
New owners find it hard to be heard and related party connections between developers and service providers are often undisclosed. In the worst-case scenario, owners are forced to stump up for a call to make necessary repairs that should have been the responsibility of the original developer. It’s not clear that the legislative solutions to any of these problems have been effective.
Add in the fact that most newly constructed apartments have only two bedrooms and it doesn’t take a high IQ to understand that couples with families are not attracted to this type of living. Of course, those who are locked out the housing market may end up taking what is on offer, even it doesn’t really meet their preferences. In fact, that’s the political plan. In turn, the size of their family is likely to be determined in part by the housing options available. Is it really any surprise children living in these apartment buildings spend hours on their screens – forget the 2-3 hours a week? Both the absence of a backyard and the lack of any convenient green space make this the only alternative for hard-pressed parents.
There is also the point that buying an apartment is a dud investment compared with a stand-alone house. According to James Kirby of this newspaper, over the past decade, the selling prices of stand-alone houses have done twice as well as units – rising 80 per cent against 38 per cent. More recently, two-thirds of properties sold for a loss in the March quarter of this year were units.

Forget the notion of different horses for different courses, it's Dame Groan's way or the high way, featuring more visual slop ... Repeated surveys consistently indicate detached housing is still the overwhelmingly preferred housing type. Picture: Gaye Gerard/NewsWire

Of course if you wanted land and a relaxed life style and cheap housing, you could head to the bush, but Dame Groan will have none of that ... it's Toorak, Vaucluse, or nothing ... 

Of course, you don’t have to have an economics degree to realise why this is so. The value is in the land rather than the building and stand-alone houses are always likely to outperform apartments. All this begs the question why so many politicians are keen to impose their housing preferences on citizens, rather than facilitate the fulfilment of their genuine preference for detached houses.
There are a variety of answers to this question, including the favouritism Labor governments typically show to union-dominated sectors of the building industry, including high-rise apartments. Until recently, the construction of stand-alone homes was largely undertaken by non-unionised subcontractors.
There is also the unwillingness by both state and local governments to fund the infrastructure needed to service new housing estates. Roads, water, sewerage, parks, schools and the like are required but local governments have often found themselves short of the funds to cover many of these expenses, even when upfront taxes are imposed on developers.
One unfortunate consequence has been underserviced new developments, particularly in terms of accessible roads. The assumption that there is under-utilised infrastructure in the middle suburbs regarded as ideal for high-rise apartments has also proven to be unfounded. The fact state governments have egged on the federal government to facilitate high migrant intakes has meant that demand has inevitably outstripped supply. Many politicians simply fell for the ruse that high-density housing is the only solution.
In the past, surging demand for housing was simply met by the private sector servicing the preferences of first-home buyers with a very small addition of public housing. After all, we have had periods of rapid population growth.
Today, there’s a dizzying array of government interventions, including low-deposit schemes, shared equity schemes and a step up in public housing investment. There is a distinct possibility these schemes will founder and expose taxpayers. Just watch this space.

And here's the pond's real beef with the Groaning. 

Every Tuesday she turns up and yet every Monday there's Mein Gott, and the pond always misses him. Why, reptiles, why are you so cruel, so unkind?

Dammit, the pond is always up for a bashing of vulgar youff. Cast off Dame Groan, make roomfor the Gottster ...

The header for a more sensible - ie 3 minute read - according to the reptile clock: Entitled young workers are a risk to productivity, New research has revealed trouble in the engine room of our economy, with family business owners saying productivity is a big problem, and attitudes of younger staff are to blame.
The caption for the incredibly shitty image, because the reptiles can no longer be bothered giving a jog to young graphics designers: Family business researcher Ross Cameron says the majority of employing business owners say productivity is a problem in their business. Picture: iStock
The irrelevant advice: This article contains features which are only available in the web version, Take me there

After the preliminaries, Mein Gott went on his vulgar youff rant ...

What is happening to the emerging generation of young employees?
Collectively the nation’s biggest employers, Australian family business owners believe that, unlike previous generations, too many of our young people have an “entitlement mentality”, and it’s devastating productivity.
Family business researcher Ross Cameron says the majority of employing business owners say productivity is definitely a problem in their business. And they blame the attitudes of their young staff.
Many see the implementation of technology, including artificial intelligence, as the way to reverse the culture and lift productivity.
My guess is, very few young employees understand that their employer is unhappy. Nor do they realise what is about to happen to them.
When Jim Chalmers calls together industry bodies to discuss productivity in August, almost certainly missing from the ranks will be enterprises from Australia’s business engine room – family enterprises.

Jimbo got dragged in, by way of rant and snap, Jim Chalmers should include family businesses in productivity forums. Picture: David Clark

And so to a real moaning, whining and caterwauling ...

To fill the gap, Cameron has just finished a wave of productivity research among small and medium enterprises around the country, asking them about productivity and what they are doing about it.
He concludes that the overwhelming productivity focus of SMEs is on staffing. They find it difficult to employ people in Australia and, regrettably, increasingly difficult to motivate staff.
And when things don’t work out, it creates even greater problems. They have arrived at a solution – embrace technology.
It’s summed up by one business owner who said: “We’ve been investing in improving for a long time. I’ve taken $1.5m in costs out of the business without impacting on revenue, mostly through AI, robotics and offshoring. I hate to say it, because I’m very pro-Australian, but it is very hard to make the case to employ in Australia. Before looking at some of the reasons for the change in young employee attitudes, here are some of the comments from family business owners which highlight the problem.

• “The desire to work hard has gone … it’s hard to find people that want to work full-time … after Covid-19, everyone seems to have slowed down … it’s like pulling teeth to get them to do the job they’re employed to do … they just don’t seem to have a sense of urgency to get stuff done.”
• “We have some really great staff members who work hard, but there are also some who, for example, will roster themselves off because it’s their birthday or even their boyfriend’s birthday. If I ever did that when I was 23 I wouldn’t have had a job! It’s just this sense of entitlement that they have. You’ve got to manage it, but it’s hard.”
• “What would improve our productivity would be a complete overhaul of the award system. The award system puts a stupid amount of restrictions on what our staff can do in terms of their work hours.”
• “The days of giving people feedback can now be considered as bullying. There’s a lot of stuff you can’t say and do, and as a result things don’t get corrected, so it’s a very delicate position we’re in.”
• “I used to have a rule of thumb that you’d have 80 per cent of people out there actually working – like producing the business’s income – and 20 per cent at ‘head office’ managing it or secretarial or whatever … But I’m starting to think that with AI it will change, it will be more like 90/10 per cent.”

The flow of impeccably shitty, deeply nauseating images continued, The community has invested substantial sums in trade education. Picture: iStock

That set the mood for a final bitching ...

Cameron does not offer reasons for the changing attitudes. One of the employers quoted above blames the education system for not preparing young people for work. There has certainly been an increase in non-work related cultural subjects and less emphasis on “success” achievers.
While that might be a contributing factor, the community has invested substantial sums in trade education.
I suspect a deeper reason is that clearly marked out career paths are much harder to find, and the advent of AI is going to make that worse.
Politicians at all three levels, plus the banking rules, have deliberately made it difficult for young people to buy a dwelling and raise a family. Instead of looking after our next generation, we have been enriching existing homeowners.
And there is the threat of climate change, which adds to a sense of living for the present rather than the future.
The abundance of jobs, particularly government-related jobs, reduces loyalty to a particular employer.
The industrial relations legislation has emphasised the rights of employees, rather than linking the success of the business with the rewards of the employees. That creates a vicious circle.
We have ahead of us a generation that is totally unprepared for what is going to happen to them in the new era of AI. It could be a brutal awakening.

Really? If those really shitty graphics are any indication, the brutal awakening is already here ...

And now to the apocalypse, in keeping with Golding's considered plan, which all the reptiles followed this morning ...

In case of made-up rapper crisis, bring hammer or Lynch mob...

Of course the pond had to cover the Lynch mob covering Glastonbury, it was only innate pond perversity that lead to him appearing last on the reptile set...

The pond should note for all the apocalyptic bluster, the Lynch mob could only manage a three minute read under the header Glastonbury is why Trump and Farage are leading a revolution, When it doesn’t flood at Glastonbury, a little piece of me dies. I could not wish more misfortune on a gathering that has come to symbolise Western ennui.

The caption: Under the bland Glastonbury festival motto of ‘hope, unity, peace and love’ lurks a disdain for working-class people.

The reptiles seized on the Lynch mob hysteria as a way of slipping in all kinds of visual distractions...

If the Church of England is the Conservative Party at prayer, then Glastonbury is the Church of Woke at play. Can there be a more concentrated form of hyper-liberalism anywhere else on the planet?

Sorry, the pond has a contractual obligation whenever that word is mentioned, and must offer its very own visual distraction:

Do carry on like a bad outing in a bad English comedy franchise ...

The Hindu Kumbh Mela festival, the world’s largest, commands less fervour. Muslims on their hajj to Mecca look agnostic in comparison. Judaism’s Wailing Wall lacks the virtue on display in sunny Somerset.
When it doesn’t flood at Glastonbury, a little piece of me dies. I could not wish more misfortune on a gathering that has come to symbolise Western ennui. Not even the anus mundi, that is the Eurovision Song Contest, which I so wanted Israel to win this year, comes close.

He watched Eurovision? What a gormless, mindless twit ...

Cue the first distraction, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Glastonbury organizers said on Sunday they were appalled by on-stage chanting against the Israeli military during a performance at the festival by Punk-rap duo Bob Vylan. Julian Satterthwaite with more.

The Lynch mob returned for just a couple of mindless, incredibly stupid lines...

When the Edward Gibbon of the Decline and Fall of the West appears, in around the 29th century, he’ll include a chapter on Glastonbury. It was when Western civilisation gave up, seeing its enemies as more deserving of support.

WTF? A rapper is up there with Caligula and Nero? 

Hang on, didn't the Empire somehow manage to lurch on to Marcus Aurelius and Rusty?

Never mind, it was only verbiage so the reptiles could slip in another visual distraction, People gather to watch an act on the main Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival.

Carry on Lynching ...

With two Jewish leaders fighting wars for civilisation in Ukraine and Israel, Glastonbury chose to offer a platform to tuneless Jew haters and the political genius that is Gary Lineker – fired from the BBC in May for inadvertently posting that Jews were rats.

Genocide in Gaza is a war for civilisation? Some civilisation, as the pond wondered how you might be in the West Bank flying any sort of flag ...

The Pride flags that adorn every corner of the Glastonbury fields could fly only in Israel.
Glastonbury this weekend blended a deep self-loathing of the West while maintaining all the privileges it makes possible.

The reptiles immediately flung in another AV distraction, the mob that gave the world the Cantaloupe Caligula 2.0: The Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Centre Director Nile Gardiner discusses British music act Bob Vylan after the punk duo urged “death to the IDF” at the Glastonbury music festival over the weekend. “Absolutely disgraceful scenes at Glastonbury over this weekend. Appalling,” Mr Gardiner said. “I think this is a demonstration of how far society has fallen in the UK when you have rappers advancing pro-death messages full of antisemitism … it is absolutely grotesque.”

It never occurs to the Lynch mob to wonder what role a genocide, still unfolding, might play in all this...

Israelophobic bands were applauded the loudest by 30- and 40-year-olds (the average festival attendee is 40) who could hold a Middle East Glastonbury nowhere except in Israel.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas chose a progressive music festival in which to make clear its genocidal intent. The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, arrived by land and air. The images remain haunting.

You won't find any mention of this sort of update ...(per Haaretz per AP, 7 hours ago at time of writing)

What you will find is another offering of reptile click bait, Bob Vylan performs on the West Holts Stage, during the Glastonbury Festival.

The Lynch mob asked a question...

Where was the minute’s silence at Glastonbury to honour the young men killed and women raped and kidnapped on that terrible day?

... and so did the pond ...

Where was the minute’s silence in the reptile hive mind to honour the 500 and more Palestinians killed while trying to avoid mass starvation?

Never mind, the pond is used to the hypocrisy of the Melbourne Uni prof ...

Piling left-wing hypocrisy upon middle-class privilege offers us a window into the appeal of alternatives. Donald Trump has given us one. For too long, a decadent elite preached the virtues of globalism, trans-nationalism and mass immigration. The result was an economic and cultural decline for pretty much everyone else.
Nigel Farage, Britain’s Trump (and the American President’s friend), is now more likely to be prime minster than is the leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch. Farage’s Reform UK members did not fill many fields in Somerset. They did fill ballot boxes in the May local elections.
This populist revulsion with the Glastonbury elite is, of course, grounded in economic dislocation. But Trump-Farage populism is more than class envy. It requires the mutual contempt of the propertied elite to give it power.

The reptiles slipped in another distraction, US President Donald Trump listens as Nigel Farage speaks during a Make America Great Again rally at Phoenix Goodyear Airport.

Back to the radicalised Prof, perhaps ready to acquire a 'made in China' Trump phone, with its golden glitter ...

Under the bland festival motto of “hope, unity, peace and love” lurks a disdain for working-class people.
Pulp’s Common People (the greatest pop song of the 20th century, I reckon), and a Glastonbury mainstay, has long concealed a progressive antipathy toward the actual common people.
They are not celebrated so much as controlled. Mass immigration diluted the working-class culture of England’s northern cities. Trendy redefinitions of the family could be funded in the homes of the Glastonbury set. They produced an epidemic of divorce and fatherlessness suffered by poorer children.

Sheesh, impossible to unpack all that fear and loathing, so the reptiles sent along another AV distraction, featuring the Ming the Merciless mob...Menzies Research Centre’s Freya Leach discusses the “pure hatred” going on at the Glastonbury Music Festival. “People that definitely need to be a little smarter are some of the people that performed at the UK music festival Glastonbury,” Ms Leach said. “Performances that are not music, not art, just pure hatred.”

Take a chill pill Freya.

The pond is possibly too old for all this, because the pond can remember the days when the Rolling Stones, even The Beatles, likely The Who, heralded the destruction of western civilisation, most likely by the end of the week...

The Lynch provided some hope ...

The traditional pastimes of working-class people – football especially – are now subject to progressive campaigns, from anti-racism to LGBT armbands. The implicit message: you can have your proley fun but, remember, we are watching you.

Football? Would you like some brain damage and dementia with that? Though possibly it explains the Prof because he seems only to be talking about soccer...

But when that elite parties at Glastonbury, there is no equivalent censor. Instead, every anti-British, anti-Israel, anti-western sentiment is indulged or excused. Gary Lineker is promoted to public intellectual.

To be fair, the Lynch mob is also promoted as a public intellectual, when really he routinely sounds like an hysteric serving as a gobbet provider between visual distractions, Members of the security forces continue to search for identification and personal effects at the Supernova Music Festival site, where hundreds were killed and dozens taken by Hamas militants near the border with Gaza.

Time then for the final nauseating gobbet of righteous indignation ...

It is, of course, a long way from Somerset to Appalachia geographically but less so culturally. It was a left-wing sociologist (is there any other kind?), Arlie Russell Hochschild, who explained better than any other commentator the Deep Story of those who found themselves in opposition to everything the Glastonbury elite symbolises.
Hochschild lived among the men and women of Trump’s base. They wanted to reclaim the certainties of faith, family and flag. No one sings songs from these common people at Glastonbury. But they possess a sense of identity deeper than the metropolitan identitarians so keen to deplore them.
There is a lesson here for parties of the right: do not assume the cultural dislocations of ordinary people can be assuaged by just giving them stuff. Rather, make them actors in the great drama of rebuilding a civilisation. That mission will inspire the songs of the next generation. The current generation died in Glastonbury this weekend.
Timothy J. Lynch is professor of American politics at the University of Melbourne.

In short, and to borrow Godwin's word, what a fuckhead.

The prof's generation died with the mango Mussolini, and to celebrate that passing, here, have an immortal Rowe ...

It's always in the detail, and what a fine collection were at the Mad Hatter's party ...

The pond did so like the teapot ... and the caterpillar's mighty fine, chugging away on his preferred brand of 'rooms...

And here's a few more celebrations of King Donald by the immortal Rowe which the pond thinks it missed while down in the deep south ...