"That's what I want to say to Jennifer."

This is long and these are not my words. But they summarise the reality of what is going on with the US in the Middle east so well, I had to share them.

I'm sitting in the carpool line at 3:15 on a Friday afternoon and I'm watching the world fall apart on my phone while "Sweet Home Alabama" plays on my radio and I swear to God I am going to lose my mind.

Brent crude just hit $90. The Strait of Hormuz is closed. The Dow dropped 900 points. 181 children are dead in Iran. And the President of the United States just posted "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER" on Truth Social with a hashtag. MIGA. Make Iran Great Again. Like he's dropping a new merch line. And I'm sitting here in a Chevy Suburban with goldfish crackers ground into the back seat waiting to pick up my kids from a school that looks exactly like the one he just bombed.

And I know, I know, that in about four minutes I'm going to have to stand next to Jennifer at the pickup gate. Jennifer with the "Ultra MAGA Mama Bear" bumper sticker and the Lululemon leggings and the iced coffee and the absolute audacity to call herself pro-life. Jennifer who told me last week that Trump is "finally showing strength in the Middle East." Jennifer who gets her foreign policy from a man who gets his foreign policy from whatever Fox News host he appointed to run the Pentagon this week. Jennifer who couldn't point to Iran on a map if her Botox depended on it but has very strong opinions about what should be bombed there.

And Jennifer is going to say something. She always says something. She can't help herself. She's going to flip her hair and do that little smile, that smug little "bless your heart" smile that Southern women use when they think they're smarter than you, and she's going to say "well at least he's keeping us safe" or "you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs" or some other bumper sticker bullshit she picked up from her husband's podcast rotation, and I am going to have to stand there and smile because our kids are in the same goddamn soccer team and I can't afford to blow up the only carpool arrangement that works with my schedule.

So I smile at Jennifer. I always smile at Jennifer. Every school pickup, every soccer practice, every birthday party where she corners me near the cooler and tells me I "just don't understand what Trump is really doing." Jennifer, sweetheart, I have a history degree. I understand exactly what he's doing. I understood it before you learned how to spell Iran and I'll understand it long after you've moved on to your next political personality and pretended this one never happened. Because that's what you'll do, Jennifer. That's what you always do. You'll peel that bumper sticker off your Tahoe like you peeled off your "Bush-Cheney '04" one and pretend you were "never really political."

But here's what I want to say to Jennifer. Here's what I'm choking on while I stand there with my school pickup smile and my $78 tank of gas.

Jennifer, 180 children died in a school. A girls' school. On the first day. Someone braided their hair that morning. Someone packed their lunch. Someone said "have a good day sweetheart" and those little girls sat down at their desks with their pencils and their notebooks and their little backpacks and then a bomb that my taxes paid for turned their classroom into a grave. And the man on your bumper sticker put a hashtag on it. You dropped your kids at school this morning, Jennifer. You kissed them goodbye. You told them you loved them. And 180 mothers in Iran did the same thing last week and their daughters came home in bags. Your president did that. Your guy. And you're standing here with an iced coffee telling me he's showing strength.

Jennifer, I used to be a history teacher. I know what happened in Iran in 1953. The CIA overthrew their democracy because American and British oil companies wanted their crude. Installed a puppet. Called it freedom. It led to the Islamic Revolution, the hostage crisis, and forty years of chaos. And your guy, Jennifer, your guy is doing the exact same thing. He said on camera he wants to pick Iran's next leader. Said he wants to do what he did in Venezuela, where he kidnapped a sitting president and handed the oil to American companies. He is not even pretending this is about nukes. It's the oil, Jennifer. It was always the oil. Seventy years of the same con and you fell for it because he said it in a red hat. But you didn't pay attention in history class, did you Jennifer. You were too busy passing notes. And now 181 kids are dead because people like you vote with their feelings instead of their brains.

Jennifer, I filled up my car yesterday. $78. Last month it was $66. You drive a Tahoe, Jennifer. You're paying more than me. And oil is heading for $100 because your president shut down the strait where 20% of the world's oil flows. He blew up the oil supply to steal the oil. Let that rattle around in your head for a minute. Take your time. I know critical thinking isn't something you picked up between the MLM calls and the mommy wine memes.

Jennifer, Congress voted this week on whether to actually authorise this war. You know, the thing the Constitution requires. That document you posted about on the Fourth of July between the firework selfies and the flag bikini. 47-53 in the Senate. 212-219 in the House. Your senators, our senators, voted to let a reality TV president wage an illegal war with no exit strategy, no endgame, and 181 dead children. Rand Paul was the only Republican with the guts to vote no. Rand Paul, Jennifer. When Rand Paul is your moral compass, your party isn't lost, it's in the ground and someone's reading it its last rites.

Jennifer, Pete Hegseth, the Fox News host your guy put in charge of the actual Pentagon, said they've "only just begun to fight." He's quoting the Carpenters, Jennifer. Karen Carpenter. While children are being pulled from rubble. The man running the largest military operation since Iraq got his job because he was good on a couch with a coffee mug and now he's quoting soft rock while 181 kids are dead. And you think this is what strength looks like. You think this is what a man looks like. Honey, your bar is so low it's a tripping hazard in hell.

Jennifer, they burned through 800 Patriot missiles in three days. Each one costs $4 million. They're shooting down drones that cost $20,000. That's 200 to 1 in Iran's favour. $3.2 billion in three days on missiles alone. My kids' school held a bake sale last month to buy new calculators. Jennifer was there. She brought store-bought brownies with a handwritten sign that said "homemade." That's Jennifer in a nutshell. Fake effort, real audacity. But sure, we can't afford teacher pay raises. We can't afford school lunches. We can't afford textbooks. But we can burn $3.2 billion in a long weekend shooting down things that cost less than Jennifer's Tahoe. The man who wrote The Art of the Deal is getting out-dealed by a drone that runs on a lawnmower engine.

Jennifer, "we want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran," your president said. He bombed a girls' school, Jennifer. On day one. 180 little girls. And Iran's foreign minister posted a photo of a dead mother holding her dead baby and your president responded with UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER in all caps and a hashtag. That's not harmony. That's not peace. That's a narcissist playing war with other people's children because he's never had to sacrifice anything in his entire life. Not one thing. Five draft deferments and a golden elevator and he's sending other mothers' sons to die in a desert so Exxon can pump crude. But you don't know about the draft deferments, do you Jennifer. You don't know about the bone spurs. You just know he "tells it like it is." He tells it like a con man, Jennifer. And you're the mark.

And Rubio told Arab foreign ministers this thing is going to last "several more weeks," Jennifer. Several more weeks of $90 oil. Of dead soldiers. Of bombed schools. Of your Tahoe costing $120 to fill. Of my family choosing between groceries and gas. Several more weeks and there is no plan to stop. There is no off-ramp. Your guy doesn't want one. He wants unconditional surrender from 90 million people and he wants to pick their next leader like he's casting the fucking Apprentice. But that's fine with you, isn't it Jennifer. Because you "don't really follow politics," you just "love Trump." That's not politics, Jennifer. That's a personality disorder. Yours and his.

That's what I want to say to Jennifer.

But I won't. Because her kid and my kid are in the same car three days a week and I cannot afford to drive those days myself. Not at $78 a tank. Not in this economy. Not in Jennifer's president's economy.

So I'll smile. I'll say "hot one today, isn't it." I'll load the kids into the car. I'll drive home past the gas station where the prices went up again overnight. I'll make dinner. I'll help with homework. I'll check my phone under the counter when the kids aren't looking and watch another video of another mother on the other side of the world screaming over another small body pulled from another pile of concrete.

And I'll hold my three a little tighter. And I'll think about the 181 who aren't being held tonight. And I'll wonder how the hell Jennifer sleeps. Probably fine. Probably like a baby. Probably in her "blessed" pyjamas with her essential oil diffuser and her Bible verse screensaver, dreaming sweet dreams while the world burns. That's the thing about Jennifer. She's not evil. She's just incurious. And in times like these, that's the same thing.

If I was still teaching history, I'd have to stand in front of a classroom this week and explain how checks and balances work. How Congress declares war. How the system protects us.

I don't have to do that anymore. But I still have to explain it to my own kids. And I don't know what to tell them. Because I used to believe it. I used to teach it like it was true.

181 children, Jennifer. Remember that number.

I know you won't. You'll be onto the next thing by Monday. New nails, new podcast, new outrage about something a drag queen did at a library. But those 181 kids will still be dead. And you helped. You didn't drop the bomb, Jennifer. But you voted for the man who did. Twice. And you'd do it again tomorrow. And that, more than anything, is what I can't forgive.

Your senators sure as hell won't remember either.

But I will. And so will those mothers.

Every single one of them. Except for Jennifer. She doesn't even know what goddam day it is.

~Texas Mom, Facebook page: I Fucking Love Australia

Synchronicity and soul work

 

"People will do anything, no matter how absurd, to avoid facing their own souls. They will practice Indian yoga and all its exercises, observe a strict regimen or diet, learn theosophy by heart, or mechanically repeat mystic texts from the literature of the whole world – all because they cannot get on with themselves and have not the slightest faith that anything useful could ever come out of their souls." 

Carl Gustav Jung, Psychology and Alchemy.

It's been 12 years since I finished my doctorate, handed in my thesis and had an exhibition of my work at Curtin University gallery. After 7 years of intense study - which included a lot of self analysis and soul work - I was exhausted and didn't think there was any more to do in this particular field. 

Because I was focused on one particular area of archetype theory, there were huge gaps in my knowledge of Jung but there didn't seem to be any reason to persevere. I had done what I set out to do, gained some invaluable insights that changed my life and shut that particular book.

I was bereft for quite a while. I expected to be. But it was hard to endure. It was impossible to replace or reproduce the journey I had taken so I turned away from Jung. After going up several blind alleys, I eventually started using my graphic design skills pro bono for environmental activism. Back to the realm of humans with all their dysfunctions and miscommunications. I found the people politics very tiring but persevered.

I am very effective on Facebook - having beaten the algorithms, had several posts go viral and reached as far away as the eastern states. When Facebook disabled my account halfway through 2025, it was catastrophic. They reinstated it but then disabled it permanently. 

For 6 months I worked through someone else's account and posted anonymously but it was not very effective. I had lost my voice. I was angry and frustrated but after about 6 months started a new account. That worked for several months until Facebook cancelled me again. Instead of being furious, I took it as a sign because it was a clear example of Jung's synchronicity*. I support this theory because there have been many examples of it in my life. My return to Jung is one of them.

Joan Campbell was a Rosicrucian - a dear friend and mentor. When she died in 2015 at the age of 86 she left a short memoir for others to read. I don't know why but I never read it. About 2 weeks ago I started thinking about Joan and remembered that after 11 years I still hadn't read her memoir! So I read it. 

In her memoir Joan mentioned a psychotherapist she had worked with. I remembered her talking to me about that person so I thought I would reach out to them on Facebook. Soon after that my account was disabled. My partner had had a warning via Messenger that I may have been a scammer. I put 2 + 2 together and concluded that the therapist, who didn't know me, reported me as a scammer - which set events in motion.

I tried to get my account back but you may as well be talking to a brick wall when you are dealing with AI bots, so I gave up pretty quickly. That was it. No more. I was out. When I had worked through my feelings and frustrations I actually felt quite relieved. Facebook has become more and more toxic. It is populated by right-wing bots that infiltrate environmental and left-leaning groups. I predict it will collapse eventually because it is so full of propaganda, AI images and bots - you can't trust much that you see, read or hear on that platform now.

I had to laugh really. From beyond the grave Joan had indirectly hauled me out of Facebook. I took it as a sign that I should be doing something else, but what? 

Another bit of synchronicity got me to Substack where I found a link to a very useful website doing short courses in Jungian theory. When I started reading The Alchemist on Substack it was like I had never been away from Jung and his work is still the best guide for the soul work I have now resumed. 

*According to Jung, synchronicity is an 'acausal connecting principle, whereby internal, psychological events are linked to external world events by meaningful coincidences rather than causal chains'. 

How to Use the Mandala to Advance Our Psychological Realization

https://jungianalchemist.substack.com/p/carl-jung-and-the-transformative

Image: Original drawing of an archetypal dream by author.

One of my favourite jokes

There were two prawns called Justin and Christian. They were just living their lives as prawns do but they were getting pretty tired of being at the bottom of the food chain, especially Justin who was slightly more ambitious than his mate Christian, so one day he saw Cod and said to him: 

"Cod, I am really fed up being chased by bigger fish all day who just want to eat me. Is there anything you can do to help?" 

Cod said: “Well as a matter of fact I have magical powers and I can turn you into a shark if you would like that". 

Justin said: "Wow that would be great, thanks", and Cod turned him into a huge shark.

So, Justin went about his business enjoying being a shark and terrorising smaller creatures. He was having such a good time that he didn't notice he hadn’t seen his mate Christian for a while. He went to find him at a favourite spot where they used to hang out together but when he got there, Christian took one look at him and fled. 

Justin suddenly realised his best mate was terrified of him because he was now a shark. He couldn’t let that happen so he went to find Cod to ask him if he could turn him back into a prawn. Cod obliged and Justin went off happily to find his mate. 

He couldn’t see Christian so as he neared the spot where they used to hang out, he called out to his mate "Hey, its me… where are you?" but Christian, on hearing his voice swam away and hid under a rock. Justin went after him and yelled out: 

"Hey, it’s OK. I am a prawn again Christian. I found Cod!!!"

NOTE: No disrespect to Christians intended.

Dreamers

This is possibly my favourite song. Hopium morphed into electronic music I didn't like, so that was a dead end. 

But Phoebe Lou who featured in this song was amazing. She may have been a high school student when she did this. 

LYRICS

You came home late last night
Stumble past half drunk beers
The day became weeks
How did weeks became years?
Back pocket excuses
But second chances don’t come cheap
You made yourself a promise
Then you forgot to keep it

Chorus: 
You said this would be your year
You said this would be your year
You said this would be your year
But you fucked around now December’s here
You must be one of the dreamers
You said that you’re tired of sleeping
And close the shutters when the sun starts creeping in
You must be one of the dreamers
You must be one of the dreamers

You put up a smoke screen
Hiding from the midnight sun
Made friends into enemies
But you were your worst one
It couldn’t be your fault
When conspiracy sounds so sweet
You fed yourself on lies
Now you’re fat with bullshit

Chorus: 
You said this would be your year
You said this would be your year
You said this would be your year
But you fucked around now December’s here
You must be one of the dreamers
You said that you’re tired of sleeping
And close the shutters when the sun starts creeping in
You must be one of the dreamers
You must be one of the dreamers

Outro: Phoebe Lou
I woke up this morning
It was extremely cold outside
The clouds were really grey
And I looked at the clock
And it was 12
And I thought the clock was tricking me
But I just slept for a really long time
The next thing I did was have a shower
And I felt safe because I wasn’t in the wind
And while I was in the shower my phone was ringing
Which is why I didn’t pick it up
I just thought I should tell you that
I called you back
You told me you'd got a job
I asked if you could get me one
And you said maybe
Then became very aware that I didn’t do much
But I guess that’s kinda normal
When you wake up at 12

Phoebe Lou (Phoebe Go), former vocalist for the band Snakadaktal and guest on Hopium's "Dreamers" (2014), transitioned into a successful independent career. She formed the group Two People, later released music as Phoebe Go with her debut EP Player (2022) and album Marmalade (2024), continuing her career as an Australian singer-songwriter.

Trump & the new world order

 

As a bit of an anarchist, I can see someone like Trump is necessary to pull down the systems that have been failing for quite a while. He is stupid but also very cunning. His tactic of throwing grenades to see what happens gives him more power than it should. He makes extreme threats and when he doesn't carry them out, his target audience is so relieved they are grateful, and happy to appease him in some way. It's Trump's 'art of the deal'. Not subtle, but quite effective so far as everyone tries to second guess his next ridiculous thought bubble. 

I think in activist circles it's called 'shifting the dial'. If you go radical, then come back a bit, people are happier to accept some change - because it isn't as scary as it was initially looking. It helps normalise things that may actually be more radical than most people were previously willing to accept.

The world simply needs to stop reacting to Trump's every deliberately outrageous comment and responding publicly to his wild accusations and crazy statements. He craves the attention. There is a very damaged little boy in there who just can't get enough and we all know the naughty kids get the most. He wants to punish the world because he is hurting. He is a pathetic man with a child's brain - made dangerous by his weakness. 

It has occurred to me that he is the 'anti-Christ', manifesting at the 'end of days', just like the fundamentalist Christians predicted. We do need radical change and this is how we get it. Unfortunately it's not going to be pretty and it's always worse for those who are already vulnerable. I can't forgive him for what he is doing to women and minorities, or anyone who isn't white, male Christian basically. I predicted in his first term that there would be another civil war in the US. It's looking likely. But there is a lot more push back now, even from Republicans.

I don't think I will live long enough to see this new world order. It will take time to fully crash the systems we have, then there will be a long battle and eventually - maybe something better, if humans are still living on the planet that is. I can't complain. I am a child of the 60s - a better time for women than my mother's generation endured. I enjoyed a freedom I don't think young people have now. Most of my life has been pretty good - except where I mucked it up myself. 

Maybe climate system collapse will scuttle everyone's plans - including Trump's. According to Renew Economy, by 2030 there is a '"realistic possibility" of collapse of the boreal forests in Russia and Canada, the southeast Asian coral reefs and the Himalayan ecosystem by 2030, caused by climate change and other drivers....The Amazon and Congo rainforests and southeast Asian mangroves could reach irreversible decline by 2050".

But our government is keeping us in the dark - no doubt because they have no plan with which to manage the ensuing chaos and panic when more people become aware of what is actually happening.

A group of former national security leaders warn the Australian public is being left in the dark on potential “geopolitical chaos” detailed in a climate intelligence assessment produced by a key security ally.

Warnings of crop failures, water insecurity and disease outbreaks are contained in a redacted version of the United Kingdom report investigating the national security threats posed by global biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse.

Without supporting ecosystems, more people would be pushed into poverty and food insecurity, potentially fuelling higher migration rates, political polarisation and economic insecurity.

Graphic: Photoshopped by author in 2018 (yes, it's been going on that long).

Australia urged to release “terrifying” climate security analysis after UK report flags ecosystem collapse by 2030

https://reneweconomy.com.au/australia-urged-to-release-terrifying-climate-security-analysis-after-uk-report-flags-ecosystem-collapse-by-2030/

The Deafening Silence

 

This graphic is from Facebook. I am disgusted by Australia's misogynistic culture and tacit acceptance of mens' violence against women. I'll let the comments do the talking:

'15 people were murdered at Bondi. The LNP weaponises an horrendous occurrence for political gain. Between 58 and 74 women were murdered in Australia in 2025 and deafening silence'.

'A young, white, straight man was "king hit" in Kings Cross - outrage, much media coverage and law changes.

The terminology changed overnight to "coward punch" and lock-out laws were introduced.

Women get killed, a brief snippet in the news, if you're lucky and it's crickets from the politicians and nothing changes.

This should've been introduced into the recent hate speech legislation. It starts with verbal abuse (hate speech) and escalates to violence and femicide'.

If it was a shark attack, there would be calls for a cull, for emergency procedures to stop the killing......sadly, was not sharks, it was people, female victims sadly.'

Antidote to the chaos

 

Ólafur Arnalds performs live with his band from the volcanic wilderness of Iceland.

One of the comments on Youtube made me smile, because I can really relate to it:

While I was watching this, my boyfriend came home from work and told me "you're always listening to music that feels like I'm about to die." I laughed and realized that... yes. I do. This music makes me feel like I could die and it would still be okay. It makes me feel like I'm constantly trying to grasp the infinite wonder of this universe but I can never quite get there. It reminds me of how precious life on Earth really is. It makes me feel grief, awe, and hope, all at the same time.

It takes me to another world, which at the moment is probably not a bad thing. Atmospheric, other worldly and very soothing for a stressed out soul. 

Youtube: https://youtu.be/bMCiAKNUpTY?si=OitsSm74X3rCUWUI