Latest Cenk/Ben discussion on Gaza
Here is my comment on the YouTube channel…
Yet another critical discussion that really should be on national TV IMO.
But on a side note, while I am much more on Cenk’s side over the issue, I also have serious concerns about his health when he gets riled up by this. As for Ben, I can totally empathise with his desire to defend his people and I have no doubt he truly believes that is what he is doing. But IMO his view is evidence of a biased Israeli groupthink which can only perpetuate the actions of their current government.
I am reminded of what happened in Northern Ireland (different situations I know, but still many similarities) in that Netanyahu’s red line of “all Hamas must be destroyed” is along the same lines as the Unionists’ one of “decommissioning” which stated that there could be no peace until the IRA had given up all their weapons. Neither is a definable position. When would we know the IRA had given up all their guns? When would we know all Hamas members were taken off the board? They are both policies that can only prolong a conflict. BUT – eventually the Unionists did relent after a lot of diplomacy from all sides, so we can only hope that eventually something similar can happen in the Middle East.
Jeff the Irish Dragon
Trollwatch : Ireland is full crowd = The Dark Side
Back when I was posting more regularly I shared exchanges between myself and someone known as “PD” in the comments section of my Facebook page. Well he’s back, or rather he never left in fact he has gone on to be quite prominent on social media and actually describes himself as a “citizen journalist” so I’m sure he won’t mind if I share what happened after he chose to respond to my reply to a tweet of his via DMs.
I know I deserved the response and I also know that getting into exchanges like this hurts the progressive movement to an extent because it presents a “both sides” element for unaware onlookers, but in this case I was triggered by his “and who is this foreign gentlemen with you?” comment in the video and, well, sometimes you just can’t help reacting, we’re only human after all, even if some don’t believe it of everyone.
PD : Any time you want to have an adult discussion Jeff give me a buzz. I think you might be the one who has fallen for all the lies and deceit… genuinely. If and when you refuse to have an adult discussion it will tell me all I need to know. So the offer is there. Surprise me.. take care.
JLP : I have had plenty of “adult discussions” with others who feel like you do and it is a complete waste of time – you may frame that as “telling you all you need to know” but I frame it as preferring to focus on issues that really matter to the country. We might as well agree that we will always disagree on that. But anyway if you genuinely believe in what you’re doing I suppose all I can say is I hope it makes you happy. Pretty sure you won’t be able to resist responding but if so, take care mate.
PD : Exactly the answer I expected Jeff. You won’t engage because your arguments are based on nothingness. Plain and simple.. just lookin at your X timeline I’d nearly describe you as a left wing cultural Marxist. Climate change ffs.. are you that naive Jeff?
Cenk Yuger? Holy crap.. you’re a fan of his? It saddens me to see grown men I once knew become so weak, scattered and crushed and can’tdiscern truth from lies.. I hope some day you find your way back from the dark side Jeff.. like I said I’m available for the adult discussion anytime. If you believe strongly in your values don’t be afraid to speak up for them. And if you believe in God Jeff… maybe say an oul prayer every now and again… I find it very helpful..I’ll say one for you this morning. Take care
JLP : I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist! And here you are with a reply of insults and misrepresentations of my beliefs expecting me to fall down another rabbit hole with you. To be fair, I expected this when I posted my tweet so I was ready for it and had this reply pretty much ready to go.
Philip, basically nothing at all has changed since you first appeared in my Facebook comments. We were at an impasse from the start.
You have your opinion on Trump, foreigners etc, I have mine. You believe I have been accepting lies all this time, I believe the same of you.
I have seen your “citizen journalism” work as well as your NP candidacy and this morning I finally decided to make a public comment which I still stand by – in my opinion you have fallen to the metaphorical dark side and for me that is genuinely sad. I appreciate this won’t change your view but I still feel the same. We really might as well leave it at that.
I will say one more thing though…I would hope one day to have the time and resources to do political podcasting of my own so when that happens, I hope you will be willing to engage in a proper public discussion where we can each lay out our views.
Take care man.
PD : I would definitely be happy to go on a podcast as you are welcome to do a livestream discussion on my platform. On the insult part…can you show me where I insulted you. I expressed my opinion judging by what I have seen on your Twitter X account that your arguments and posts are based on nothingness.. that’s just my opinion.. not meant to be an insult.. get a helmet Jeff… ⛑️.. anytime for that private or public discussion give me a shout.. take care.. 🇮🇪
JLP : I’ll be in touch when I’m set up. Take care. 🌎
Justice is coming…so are more FPP posts (hopefully)

My 2024 resolution is to get back to some kind of regular posting on this blog, and it’s not like there won’t be material for me with a US election plus maybe an Irish one as well.
As you can see above, I have something to get me started – I finally got my hands on the new book from Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks so needless to say I will be offering some thoughts here as I go. I’m only on the 2nd chapter at this stage but it seems good so far.
I am doing my best to be objective and critical where I can and so far my biggest complaint is similar to one I have about their TV show, namely Cenk’s habit of finishing off a well-laid out point by saying something like “if that doesn’t make perfect sense to you, then you must be deluded”. We’re not going to win people over by calling them stupid in fact if anything that will have the reverse effect.
Anyway I’ll be back soon with more critiques and I’m also hoping to get Keego back for the odd US Election podcast. JLP
TYT host has a legitimate point but goes too far with it
I quote The Young Turks a lot on this site so in a way I’m glad to have the opportunity to show an area where I disagree with them. Although for the above segment, while I agree with the actual. point being made by the show’s Executive Producer Ana Kasparian, I really do think she devotes too much time expressing it.
Anyway I voiced my view in the form of a comment on YouTube, which will probably never be read, but for the record I’ll copy it here anyway…
Well I know Anna said she doesn’t care if someone disagrees with her but I’m going to do it anyway. Thing is, it’s not her main point of this segment where I disagree.
Of course it’s wrong to condone or defend or rebrand Hamas’ actions. I’m 100% with her on that, in fact to me it’s pretty obvious.
My problem is with the presentation. While her point is one that needs to be made, I totally disagree that it’s one that needs to be made in the A Block of the main TYT show, while finding about a dozen different ways to call people with those views “stupid” in the process.
For one thing, I find this hypocritical since having watched the show for years I know she often pushes back on Cenk when he goes too far on the intelligence of MAGA voters (and I also agree with her on this).
But what bothered me most about this segment was that Anna kept saying “I don’t know whether or not it’s a tiny minority who think this way” (paraphrase). If she didn’t have this information, maybe it wasn’t worthy of being the feature topic of the show, suggesting that this is the most important thing in the news cycle. My guess would be that this is a minority view on the Left so while it shouldn’t be ignored I don’t think it should be elevated to this extent either.
And one final point, Ana claims those voicing their opinions at the council meetings are “providing fodder for the right”, which is true, but I also think her segment does that because it would not be difficult for someone to either clip to make it look like TYT agrees with them, or at least highlight the left fighting among themselves.
To summarize, I love the show, I love both Cenk and Ana as well as all the crew, it’s just for this one segment I felt I had to push back a bit. Agree with the point, just not the framing. Keep up the otherwise excellent work guys!
Jeff the Irish Dragon
Three examples of important content for understanding the true nature of the Israel/Hamas conflict
Following the disgusting and senseless actions of Hamas we are now in yet another time of war involving Israel.
But it’s not merely the reports on the atrocities that instigated this latest crisis that we need to discuss. It’s also the actual reporting of it. Just a couple of weeks ago my wife told me she wanted to watch the movie 1984 with John Hurt and Richard Burton. And while the term “Orwellian” might be overused these days, it certainly has to be said that large portions of the mainstream media have reverted to 1984-style propaganda from the moment news of the (again, reprehensible just in case it isn’t clear how I feel) Hamas action broke.
I could go on about my feelings on this matter but the purpose of this post is to share some media which has been produced by people who understand the situation much more than I do yet find themselves able to approach it with a holistic view rather than a “we stand squarely behind Israel no matter what, and anyone who doesn’t totally agree with us is an anti-Semite” one.
So here they are, I hope you either have the time to watch/listen or at least have been able to find similar open-minded discussions and presentations out there.
Apologies for not posting for so long, I could literally produce multiple posts every single day but most of my online time has to be taken up with rugby, especially now. I’m hoping to start a TikTok account for this site soon. JLP
1. POD SAVE THE WORLD
First we have a podcast from Pod Save The World, an excellent production featuring Tommy Veitor (of parent show Pod Save America) and Ben Rhodes (who worked with the US State Department under President Obama) which generally talks about world news from a US perspective, which some may see as a contradiction as the vast majority of the population is definitely ignorant of anything to do with global politics. They normally have a show during the week but they got together for this special one immediately after the news broke, and this is why I appreciate their extremely balanced view which pointed out the actions of the Netanyahu government as well.
2. THE YOUNG TURKS
Next up we have The Young Turks, generally hosted by Cenk Uygur and Anna Kasparian, but for their first show after the Hamas attack, Anna gave up her seat to occasional guest Ben Gleib, and Israeli-American comedian who is always promoting Progressive values, a fact proven by his very existence as a TYT host. But with a lot of his family members living in Israel and some directly affected by the Hamas attack, he is of course extremely well placed to offer that perspective.
So for this protracted debate, which I would recommend you watch in its entirety, we not only have the standard “anti-Occupation” viewpoint offered by Cenk, but it also comes with strong rebuttals from someone speaking for Israeli citizens in the aftermath of a horrific atrocity.
Unfortunately the video is age-restricted so I can’t share it directly to the page, so instead I will add the link below.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE YOUNG TURKS DEBATE ON YOU TUBE
3. THE DAILY SHOW
Even with the terrible nature of a story like this, it is actually possible to turn to comedy for both solace and, most crucially, information.
This clip may not be a current one from The Daily Show (it first aired in 2014), but it is still perfect for illustrating just how polarized the media landscape becomes whenever Palestine is in the news.

Debate worth watching as Progressive view of Biden’s presidency is challenged.
I watch the Young Turks’ main show most days – not all of it, but normally at least two or three segments from it. Many would say that makes me some kind of a cult member, and I can appreciate where that opinion would come from. The reality is that I watch more for the overall mindset behind the material as opposed to blindly agreeing with absolutely everything they say.
Anyway, I’m not sure whether or not this “proves” my assertion but I would still like to share this video where TYT host Cenk Uygur has a debate with another online political content creator named “Destiny” who apparently is a Democrat supporter who tends to lean more towards the “centrist” position. That makes this a discussion that’s very worth watching if for no other reason that it allows for respectful pushback on the Young Turks’ position.
I’ll let you judge for yourselves who “wins” the discussion. JLP

A Progressive monologue in Ted Lasso
“How much more money do any one of you actually really need? Why would you ever consider taking something away from people that means so much to them? This isn’t a game. Football isn’t just a game. It’s one of those amazing things in life that can make you feel shit one moment and then like it’s Christmas morning the next. It has the ability to make heroes and villains out of ordinary men. People love this game. My father used to love this game. You all used to love this game, I’m sure of it…Just because we own these teams doesn’t mean they belong to us. And I don’t want to be part of something that could possibly destroy this beautiful game. Because I would hate for all those little kids and grown-ups out there to ever lose access to that beautiful passionate part of themselves.”
Rebecca Welton [played by Hannah Waddingham] from S3 E10 of Ted Lasso
She may be talking to the owners of the richest football clubs about the formation of a “Super League” but in reality this speech would be suitable for just about any board of any corporation that produces any product needed or enjoyed by the masses.
A very progressive monologue, one might say. JLP

One media story, three media clips, three media opinions
The “one media story” is all about the GOP and what they’ve done since they’ve taken over the House of Representatives (albeit barely).
We all knew that serving the American people was furthest from their minds, and in a way it’s to their credit that they didn’t even bother hiding the fact that a major priority of theirs was to use the subpoena power of committees to find, or at least create, enough dirt on Joe Biden & his family to trash his name as much as possible in the build up to the 2024 election.
Now to the “three media clips” in question. One is from MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program, the second one is from “The Young Turks” and the reason you don’t see a third in this post is because it is the clip the other two are talking about, namely one from Fox News as Maria Baritiromo interviewing James Comer who is the GOP Chairman of the House Oversight Committee that is one of many gunning for the Bidens.
Most of the time it would be counter-productive to share rhetoric from people like Comer, not just because it’s designed to smear, but also because it is so boringly predictable. Naturally we know it boils down to “Biden=bad” which is the red meat Fox viewers want to hear and at this stage they don’t even need to have found actual evidence to do an interview like this, all they need is for Comer to say something like “We are hearing reports that….” and their work is done.
For these clips, the story is about a “whistleblower” that they claim has information about Biden supposedly working for the Chinese government. They announced this a week or two ago, but now it seems the whistleblower has “gone missing”???
Which brings us to the other two clips. First, here’s Morning Joe, hosted by former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough. He now hosts the morning show on MSNBC which would make you think he’s a Democrat now, but I reckon he’s the guy on which Aaron Sorkin’s character Will McAvoy in The Newsroom was based. But that’s a debate for another day, for this clip Scarborough plays the exchange between Bartiromo & Comer before having a long laugh about how the GOP “lost” a whistleblower, like that’s the biggest takeaway from the Fox clip.
So I watched this on Monday, and I couldn’t believe that even though Joe goes from his monologue to talk to about eight different “co-hosts” about the clip, none of them appears to notice the obvious. They make it out that “even Maria is disgusted” by the disappearance of the whistleblower, when IMO it doesn’t take a whole lot of grey matter to see that what Maria is doing is trying to make it look to the viewers that Biden, who they’re trying to maintain is some kind of Don Corleone figure, somehow had the informant “whacked”.
Thankfully by Wednesday we had this coverage by The Young Turks where they see it for what it is. Now THIS is proper analysis.
The girl on the left, Emma Vigeland, usually isn’t on TYT anymore this was a guest appearance – she was a host up to a few years ago but now she works with Sam Seder at The Majority Report, another quality outlet I must say. And actually in another clip on this show, she vehemently disagrees with Cenk on the Debt Ceiling crisis, which is always good to see in these videos because if everyone agrees on everything life would be pretty boring.
But overall I’ve done this post to highlight the difference between right-wing media, “corporate” (or as they’d call it “centrist” media, and progressive media. You can probably tell which I feel is the most reliable. JLP

Pushback on buybacks… 🙄
Over on my rugby site I recently saw a link on Twitter to an article I wanted to read and to read it I had to get a free subscription to the publication so I signed up with a view to cancelling once the money was about to kick in.
Well, that time is approaching so I thought I’d share this “article” with you because I thought the headline was hilarious.
“BUYBACKS AREN’T BAD”???????????
One of the reasons they ARE bad is that corportions used govt handouts after COVID to buy back their own shares rather than to help their customers by lowering prices. This article tells us it’s a good thing because it helps provide a good dividend for investors. Well DUH!!!! That’s like a bank robber saying the theft was good because it helped him buy a Rolls Royce!!!!
The argument laid out in this argument is essentially “trickle down economics” which is all I need to know that I should NEVER pay for subscription, Shame, because they do have quite a few rugby articles, although if anything that fact helps underline the contradiction of a Progressive following rugby union! Might as well move into golf and Polo as well while I’m at it!!!
I have copied a bit of the article just to show I’m willing to let the author make his own argument, while respecting the firewall by not publishing the whole lot.
When companies buy back their shares, as AIB did two weeks ago, it’s common for them get stick for it. You’d expect criticism of the practice from The Guardian, but even the Harvard Business Review is piling on.
Their argument goes like this: it’s bad when companies buy their own shares back because it’s money that could have been used for wages or investment. The argument is that buybacks reduce wages and investment, so they’re bad for society.
But buybacks are good for investors. And more importantly, they’re good for society.
A company is doing a good job when it’s maximising its value. Obviously that’s true from the perspective of the company’s shareholders. But it’s true for society too.
When a company is maximising its value, it’s combining a bunch of inputs like land, labour and machinery in such a way that the whole is more useful than the sum of its parts. Society gets more value from a bakery than it does from flour, workers, vans, ovens and land. The extra value created for society is reflected in the value of the combined entity, relative to the value of the separate inputs.
Sean Keyes on investing: Buybacks aren’t bad bad

