The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove

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The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove episodes

April 23, 2019 Episode 199 – Pentecostals, Pirate Party and Political Donations
We discuss Scott Morrison’s Pentecostal beliefs, Pirate Party policies and Political Donations.
2:28 Scott Morrison invites media into Pentecostal church amid election campaign ‘truce’
That could backfire.
From James Boyce in The Monthly.
Pentecostalism is,
…
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The post Episode 199 – Pentecostals, Pirate Party and Political Donations appeared first on The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove.
Mentioned in this episode:
Website
1 hr 53 min
April 16, 2019 Episode 198 – Samford Atheists, Falou and Assange

A big welcome to all of the Drunks, Homosexuals, Adulterers, Liars, Fornicators, Thieves, Atheists and Idolaters.
2:31 Anzac Day
It’s coming up on the 25th of April.
Paul from Samford Atheists had trouble getting permission to lay a wreath.
He received this email.
Thanks for your interest in laying a wreath on Anzac Day at the Memorial Service. As our service is a religious service and prayers are formally officiated by a priest, it would be at odds with the ethos of our service for us to promote a group that actively shuns this religious basis. So while the group’s name would not be announced you could lay a wreath at the end of the wreath laying ceremony when the public is invited to. Any promotion of your group’s name at the service will not be allowed. Thanks again for your interest in commemorating our Anzacs.
They have since agreed to let him lay a wreath.
5:51 Checkout the Defence Census from 2015

Compared to all Australians

20:21 My collection of Anzac Day programs
Things are getting worse.
27:48 Israel Falou

The Folau family was Mormon before turning to the Pentecostal denomination, Assemblies of God, in 2011. While preaching at The Truth of Jesus Christ Church Sydney, Folau has been critical of “man-made” customs and traditions, including the way Christmas is celebrated and the “sprinkling” of water on babies’ heads at christenings.
How is this different to religious schools sacking a teacher who promotes an anti-christian lifestyle?
From The Law and Religion Report:
Celebrity rugby player Israel Folau is in a complicated legal position. He shared a “meme” on social media site Instagram recently, the text of which was: “Warning: Drunks, Homosexuals, Adulterers, Liars, Fornicators, Thieves, Atheists, Idolators: Hell Awaits You- Repent! Only Jesus Saves.” To this he added his own personal comment: “Those that are living in Sin will end up in Hell unless you repent. Jesus Christ loves you and is giving you time to turn away from your sin and come to him.”
Rugby Australia, … say that his comments breach a “code of conduct” which presumably forms part of his contract: “He cannot share material on social media that condemns, vilifies or discriminates against people on the basis of their sexuality.” They also allege that being “disrespectful to people because of their sexuality” would justify disciplinary action.
In theory it might have at first been thought that Mr Folau’s post was unlawful under NSW law. Under s 49ZTof the Anti-Discrimination Act1977 (NSW) it is unlawful to “incite hatred towards, serious contempt for, or severe ridicule of, a person or group of persons on the ground of the
1 hr 25 min
April 16, 2019 Episode 198 – Samford Atheists, Falou and Assange
A big welcome to all of the Drunks, Homosexuals, Adulterers, Liars, Fornicators, Thieves, Atheists and Idolaters.
2:31 Anzac Day
It’s coming up on the 25th of April.
Paul from Samford Atheists had trouble getting permission to lay a wreath.
…
Read more ›
The post Episode 198 – Samford Atheists, Falou and Assange appeared first on The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove.
Mentioned in this episode:
Website
1 hr 28 min
April 09, 2019 Episode 197 – Scare Campaigns, Batteries and Harry
According to conservatives, a Labor victory will be the end of the world or at least the end of the weekend. Meanwhile, Morrison burns cash and we discuss Taiwan and car batteries.
3:33 It will be the end of the world, don’t they know?
Terry McCrann says Bill Shorten and Chris Bowen have made it official and fully public: Labor has a two-stage strategy to destroy Australia.
No, I do not mean cause conventional left-wing pie-in-the-sky harm … Nor do I mean a Labor policy framework that threatens to take Australia to a crazy Gough Whitlam-style future … No, I really do mean destroy: as in demolish, level, raze, wreck and, most pointedly, end the existence of Australia.
6:10 Bill Shorten wants to end the weekend if the world hasn’t ended already … apparently
Scomo kicks off a scare campaign.
8:17 What is so special about the Big C – Jimmy Dancer?
From Tim Woodruff in the John Menadue Blog
This policy may be very helpful for those who wish to access private care. It will have minimal impact on those cancer sufferers who use the public system. The patients targeted by Labor’s policy who are affected by the huge out of pocket costs have chosen to seek care privately for a multiplicity of reasons. One is the wish to go to a doctor of their choice. This is very understandable especially for some of the common cancers like breast cancer. However, such choice is currently denied to those many Australians who know from the start that they can’t afford private.
It will have no impact on those who struggle with the delays and costs for non-cancer illnesses. Whilst cancer is the leading cause of years of life lost in Australia, our patients suffer and die from heart disease, strokes, kidney failure, diabetic complications, arthritis complications, asbestosis, mental illness, suicide, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis and many other treatable and often preventable conditions. As doctors we see the lot. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death. Mental illness is the leader when it comes to years of quality life lost. Patients without cancer often suffer as much or more than cancer patients because they live longer. To ensure excellent affordable access to care for patients who suffer from cancer is fantastic. To deny similar access to all the other patients with the many causes of pain, suffering, and death is an insult to doctors and their patients. It goes against every principle which guides our profession. We treat patients, not diseases.
14:45 Election not called yet
From The Shovel.
New Government Ad Just 30-Second Clip Of Scott Morrison Burning Taxpayer Cash.
After spending more than $250 million on official government advertising since January last year, the Coalition has decided to try another tactic to get voters’ attention, with a 30 second commercial that’s just Scott Morrison setting tax dollars alight.
A spokesperson for the Liberal Party said that after developing so many official advertising campaigns over the last year, the government had totally run out of things to promote and decided actually burning money was a more efficient way to fuck over taxpayers.
“For the past 15 months we’ve been burning taxpayer money in a figurative sense, so we thought we may as well get literal and actually just burn five million dollars, which is about the amount we would’ve spent this week on advertising anyway.
1 hr 13 min
April 09, 2019 Episode 197 – Scare Campaigns, Batteries and Harry
According to conservatives, a Labor victory will be the end of the world or at least the end of the weekend. Meanwhile, Morrison burns cash and we discuss Taiwan and car batteries.
3:33 It will be the end of the world,…
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The post Episode 197 – Scare Campaigns, Batteries and Harry appeared first on The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove.
Mentioned in this episode:
Website
1 hr 15 min
April 03, 2019 Episode 196 – Whispering Beta Males and Alpha Billionaires
It’s time for females and whispering beta males to get together and deal with alpha billionaires.
o:01 Back in Black?
2:03 Kenan Malik was in Brisbane
But he was a bit flat and lacking energy.
4:04 Landon Hardbottom
Landon sent us a message.
5:11 The Goodness paradox by Richard Wrangham
In this “Budget Special” episode, we will talk about tax and money and fairness and equality but let’s set the scene by first discussing us as a species.
How did we evolve as a species?
The Goodness Paradox by Richard Wrangham
We are low on the scale of reactive aggression (a hot reaction of lashing out and losing one’s temper) but high on the scale of proactive aggression( cold planned and deliberate).
Tolerance is rare in wild animals but common in domesticated animals. Humans are a domesticated version of an earlier human ancestor. We differ from our ancestors like a dog differs from a wolf. How did that happen? We self-domesticated through the selective force of execution which reduced our reactive aggression
Primitive hunter-gatherer tribes show very little infighting but high levels of inter-tribal violence. Among small scale societies such as hunter-gatherers, the kill rate is higher than rates recorded in Russia, Germany, France, Sweden and Japan from 1900 to 1990.
Reactive murderers have less activity in their prefrontal cortex associated with low concentrations of serotonin. The pre-frontal cortex underperforms.
Psychopaths use proactive aggression. They have lower activity in their amygdalae. The amygdalae underperforms.
Studies show that the two types of aggression can evolve separately.
Humans are far more domesticated than any other animal. We have inbuilt desires to co-operate and a high threshold before producing reactive aggression. Why?
Domestication has surprising biological markers. Floppy ears, white spots, smaller bodies, shorter faces, feminised males, smaller brains but not smaller cognitive ability. These are non-adaptive responses in that they don’t serve a useful purpose. Like a male nipple.
1959 fox experiment started. By the 4th generation, they were wagging their tales. After 10 years, piebald spotting appeared.
Neural-crest cell migration
Neural-crest cells are unique. They appear in embryos, migrate through the embryo but disappear very early however many organs are at least partly derived from them. Melanocytes rely heavily on neural-crest cells. If the neural-crest cells migrate slowly and disappear before reaching the tips of the body then the melanocytes don’t get there either resulting in tips and tails that lack melanin and end up white-haired.
Neural-crest cells give rise to the adrenal gland. Reduce it and you consequently reduce hormone production and consequentially reduce emotional reactivity.
Neural-cell migration affects jaw size and teeth size. Slow migration leads to smaller versions. Ears are floppy if internal cartilage is too short. Again, dependent on Neural-crest cell migration.
Brain size reduction seems to be associated with Neural-crest cell migration. The reduction seems to be in areas concerned with sensory processing and also seems to be associated with a smaller amygdalae.
Has domestication occurred in the wild?
Yes, Bonobos and Chimpanzees. Separated by the Congo River. Bonobos have higher levels of serotonin, smaller brains, shorter faces, smaller teeth and the males are more feminised. Also, more homosexual activity. There must have been selection against aggression which resulted in a domestication syndrome. Bonobos had better food sources (no gorillas). Females didn’t have to travel so far so could form larger sub-groups who became big enough and co-operative enough to fight off bullying males.
Could human females have done the same? No evidence of this.
1 hr 12 min
April 03, 2019 Episode 196 – Whispering Beta Males and Alpha Billionaires
It’s time for females and whispering beta males to get together and deal with alpha billionaires.
o:01 Back in Black?
2:03 Kenan Malik was in Brisbane
But he was a bit flat and lacking energy.
4:04 Landon Hardbottom
Landon sent us a message.
…
Read more ›
The post Episode 196 – Whispering Beta Males and Alpha Billionaires appeared first on The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove.
Mentioned in this episode:
Website
1 hr 14 min
March 26, 2019 Episode 195a – The mp4a version
Ok, bear with me. This is episode 195 but using a mp4a file which hopefully enables the chapter marks that I refer to in the podcast. Fingers crossed.
Fist.
1 hr 3 min
March 26, 2019 Episode 195 – NRA and DNA and MLAs
Cue the banjo music. NSW to exhume Joh Bjelke-Peterson and offer him a place in the Upper House where he will feel right at home.
NSW falls in love with the Shooters Party. Mark Latham gets a seat in the Legislative Council. All this in a State with the highest proportion of “NO” voters in the Marriage Equality plebiscite.
You guys are making Queensland look sophisticated!
1:05 One Nation
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation staff have been caught on camera asking the National Rifle Association for $20 million to help water-down Australia’s gun laws, as revealed by an extraordinary Al Jazeera investigation.
Pauline Hanson’s chief of staff James Ashby and One Nation’s Queensland leader Steve Dickson are both filmed meeting figures from the NRA, discussing the threat of Islamic extremism in Australia, and the need for NRA money to help emerge as a pro-gun force.
5:01 NSW Election
cue banjo music…
from Crikey
… the results from rural and regional NSW should induce a feeling of nausea. Not merely is the far-right Shooters Party, which wants to loosen gun laws, expand coal-fired power and hand the Murray-Darling back to irrigators, likely to pick up two more lower house seats, but in the NSW Legislative Council, around 11% of voters statewide saw fit to vote either for the Shooters and One Nation.
… The issue that really hurt the Nats in western NSW was water. The Shooters have dramatically increased their vote promising to bin the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and give irrigators as much water as they want. The issue is so toxic the Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair abruptly announced he was leaving politics yesterday, despite being re-elected to the upper house.
From the ABC:

13:50 Mark Latham
Has suggested DNA testing for people claiming benefits as aboriginals. His detractors call him racist.
From Media Watch:
Paul Barry
So, what’s the gain in claiming to be Aboriginal?
According to Mark Latham, it is a treasure trove:

MARK LATHAM : There’s special education, health programs, Indigenous-only jobs in New South Wales, $5 billion worth of assets to join a land council in New South Wales. Jeez, there’s plenty of money …
– Sydney Live, 2GB, 12 March, 2019

Now you’d have thought that at this point, he might have faced a few tough questions, like:
Is this really so?
What’s the evidence?
Would DNA testing even work?
And isn’t it an appallingly racist idea?
But the media rarely asked them.
A proper journalist might have sought an Aboriginal point of view, from someone like Warren Mundine, who told Ben Fordham:

WARREN MUNDINE: That is the most bigoted, racist comment I’ve ever heard. Why should Aboriginal people be singled out to be done a DNA test for a welfare payment that every Australian gets.
– Sydney Live, 2GB, 12 March, 2019

A proper journalist might also have sought reaction from the Jewish community – who know all about race-based policies – and put that to Latham. Because its condemnation – in a statement on Facebook – was swift:

“The policy amounts to racial profiling and is fraught with danger. We call on all major political parties to utterly reject this poli...
1 hr 3 min
March 26, 2019 Episode 195a – The mp4a version
Ok, bear with me. This is episode 195 but using a mp4a file which hopefully enables the chapter marks that I refer to in the podcast. Fingers crossed.
Fist.
…
Read more ›
The post Episode 195a – The mp4a version appeared first on The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove.
Mentioned in this episode:
Website
1 hr 5 min