Jess Barratt

Australia was not established as a nation-building project. It was established as an extraction platform. The British did not colonize Australia to build a civilization. They colonized it to extract l; first convict labor, then wool, then gold, then minerals, then gas. The political architecture was built around that extraction logic from day one, and it has never been restructured away from it. You assume the state exists to serve the population, and therefore bad outcomes must mean the state is being run poorly. Australia is not a sovereign state that happens to have a mining sector. It is a private sector extraction platform that happens to have citizens. Every Australian who “owns” a home is servicing a debt instrument that enriches the FIC. The minerals get dug up by foreign-owned multinationals. The profits get distributed to global shareholders. The taxation office is structured; by design, through decades of lobbying, to ensure the extraction proceeds leave the country with minimal sovereign capture. The politicians are doing exactly what the structure requires of them: absorbing public anger, rotating every few years to reset the pressure valve. Australia is not mismanaged. Australia is managed perfectly, just not for Australians.

Palestine has ignited something unstoppable. A global struggle for global justice. It speaks the language of rights, freedom, dignity, humanity. I can hear it whispering: "We, The People".

When the Wilmas are fired up, the fuse is already lit. Herzog’s visit did that. @AlboMP knew — and went ahead anyway. #HerzogNotWelcome theguardian.com/australia-news…

Israel tortured and sexually humiliated Greta Thunberg. Some excerpts from her interview with the Swedish paper Aftonblatet: "They grab me, pull me to the ground, and throw an Israeli flag over me." "They dragged me to the opposite side from where the others were sitting, and I had the flag around me the whole time. They hit and kicked me." "They moved me very brutally to a corner that I was turned towards. ‘A special place for a special lady’, they said. And then they had learned ‘Lilla hora’ (Little whore) and ‘Hora Greta’ (Whore Greta) in Swedish, which they repeated all the time." In the corner where Greta was sitting, the police placed a flag. "The flag was placed so that it would touch me. When it fluttered and touched me, they shouted ‘Don’t touch the flag’ and kicked me in the side. After a while, my hands were tied with cable ties, very tightly. A bunch of guards lined up to take selfies with me while I was sitting like that." "They were thrown to the ground and beaten. But I could only see it out of the corner of my eye, because every time I lifted my head from the ground, I was kicked by the guard standing next to me." Greta was then taken into a building to be searched and undressed. "The guards have no empathy or humanity, and they keep taking selfies with me. There’s a lot I don’t remember. So much is happening at once. You’re in shock. You’re in pain, but you go into a state of trying to stay calm." Outside, she was forced to take off her clothes again, she says. "It was mockery, rough handling, and everything was filmed. Everything they do is extremely violent." "It was so hot, like 40 degrees. We begged the whole time: Can we have water? Can we have water? In the end, we screamed. The guards walked in front of the bars the whole time, laughing and holding up their water bottles. They threw the bottles with water in them into the trash cans in front of us." "When people fainted, we banged on the cages and asked for a doctor. Then the guards came and said, ‘We’re going to gas you.’ It was standard for them to say that." "This shows that if Israel, with the whole world watching, can treat a well-known, white person with a Swedish passport this way, just imagine what they do to Palestinians behind closed doors." Thunberg says the Swedish government greatly downplayed the abuse she and her fellow Sumud Flotilla activists suffered, and wouldn't even bring them water. "We were together and told them about the treatment we received. About the lack of food, water, about the abuse. The torture. We showed them the physical injuries we had – bruises and scratches. We gave them all our contact details – I gave them my father's number and the number of our contact in the organization. We were clear: everything we say now must be released to the media." "They didn’t do anything, they just said: ’Our job is to listen to you. We are here and you are entitled to consular support.’" "We said over and over again: we need water. And they saw that the guards had water bottles. The embassy staff said: ’We’ll make a note of that.’ One of us, Vincent, said: ’Next time we meet you, you must bring water.’ Then it took two days before the embassy staff showed up again. "They didn't bring any water, except for a small bottle of their own that was half empty. Vincent, who was in the worst shape, got to drink it. We kept asking the guards, 'Can we have some water?' but they just walked around with their water bottles and didn't answer." "I said, 'Are you going to leave us like this? If you leave now, they will beat us up.' But they just kept walking." When Aftonbladet compares emails sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to relatives, with what the captives describe telling embassy staff, it becomes clear that the seriousness of the situation has been downplayed. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs describes the scene at the port, where Greta Thunberg was beaten for hours, as follows: “She told us about harsh treatment and that she had been sitting on a hard surface for a long time.” On Saturday, several media outlets published testimonies that Greta had been subjected to torture. Aftonbladet has spoken to three other members of the flotilla who largely confirm what Greta Thunberg says and who have all experienced various types of abuse and humiliation. We have also spoken to relatives. Everyone is highly critical of how the Swedish embassy staff acted.

Blood moon from Western Australia, 2:08am.

Lord Thornton, by @jessb3 open.substack.com/pub/thedustybo…

Alcoa is also the reason a place called Hoffman Mill is closed. No one can go there while they conduct their “activities”. My Nan and Pop wanted their ashes and a memorial there. Now our family, and many others who have family memorials, can’t visit.

It was a scene of holiday bliss until a scream cut through the festivities.” Read the story of Varley’s Christmas Goose -> thedustybox.substack.com/p/varleys-chri… 📷 Marine Terrace in Geraldton circa 1893.

“On Christmas Eve, there was music in the air. The Temperance Brass Band was still practicing and had chosen to give a rendition of “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” outside a home at the west end of Marine Terrace.” #Geraldton

“It was a scene of holiday bliss until a scream cut through the festivities.” thedustybox.substack.com/p/varleys-chri…

“So judge our horror, our despair – Our anguish, our dismay – When we heard our hopes were blasted, That the goose had got away.” A Geraldton Christmas story from 1895 -> thedustybox.substack.com/p/varleys-chri…

While looking for something else, a familiar name appears. The Missing Friends notice for Thomas Tolhurst placed in The West Australian in 1909. You can read the full story here -> thedustybox.substack.com/p/a-moora-myst…

At Lightning Ridge, palaeontologists, opal miners and fossil collectors come together to dig up precious relics - ABC News abc.net.au/news/2024-11-0…

Many years later, bones were supposedly uncovered in a gravel pit nearby. No one knew if it was Thomas they had found, but many believed it was his ghost that haunted the Chitibin.

In later years, people who lived in the house experienced strange things. Doors would bang open. Footsteps paced the floor. Residents came and then left, refusing to live in a haunted house.

In 1866, Thomas Dent disappeared. Concerned for his well-being, William Chidlow placed an ad in The Perth Gazette and West Australian Times.

“On 5 March, ‘The Midlands Advertiser’ published a list of goods and parcels awaiting collection at the Moora Railway Station. Among the names listed was ‘T. Tolhurst.’ Thomas did not arrive to collect the goods, and on 7 March 1909, he was declared missing.”