I read, I write, I tweet and retweet
Sydney
Joined May 2012
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Cat Vandermark retweeted
What a good, brave piece - and a horrible reminder of how Brand – like Epstein, Weinstein, Savile etc. – could dupe practically everyone through his bizarre fame, but probably not his new-found God.
I am going to describe some painful and personal things in relation to Russell Brand because I have been put in a position now where I feel that I have no choice other than to do so, given the misleading reports and speculation around the facts of a harassment injunction that was taken out to protect me and my family.
Firstly, and most importantly, I am and have always been strongly and unequivocally on the side of all of Brand’s victims. I am in awe of the courageous women who came forward at Brand’s trial, told their stories, testified and ensured justice was done. I have had my own personal experience of his violence, coercive control and abuse. I had to call the police to have him removed from my house in 2014 during a violent incident. I chose not to press charges at the time and not to go public with this, as I was worried about the impact of the press attention on my then teenage children. I have neither seen nor spoken to Brand since that period in 2014. Whilst my pain in relation to this, pales in comparison to what the women have testified in court have suffered, this was a difficult period in my life which has had a lasting impact.
Over several years, I assisted the journalists who finally exposed him; Ros Urwin, Louisa Compton and Dorothy Byrne. I also undertook to testify in court to his abusiveness, if the newspaper that published the victims’ accounts were ever to be sued.
I have spent much of my professional career trying to support unfairly demonised and silenced women, such as Monica Lewinsky and defending free speech.
In 2014, a harassment injunction was taken out against a woman called Szilvia Berki which was made final in 2015.
I fully understand the good intentions of those now advocating on her behalf online and agree with their demand for this harassment injunction to be varied, as my lawyer made clear to Berki’s lawyer in December last year.
However, the commentary and media reporting this week has presented an untrue narrative, which has opened me up to vile hatred and abuse online.
For this reason, and to correct the record, I am providing the factual background to that injunction to explain why The High Court found the campaign of harassment by Berki against me to be, "oppressive and unacceptable” and made the order permanent.
The background to this is that Ms Berki came to my house for roughly 30 minutes in June 2014, after I booked her to give a massage to Brand. By the time she arrived he had decided he didn’t want a massage and asked her to leave. She was clearly offended. I was present the whole time he was with her, and I did not see anything untoward, despite the fact that he was later found guilty of sexually assaulting other women and he later physically assaulted me. If I saw any man abuse any woman under any circumstances, I would do my utmost to stop them, without hesitation.
Ms Berki later reported to the police that Brand had pushed her in the back whilst she was leaving the house and that she also said she was “attacked” by my dog, which she described in her police statement as my dog licking her face. The police rightly investigated Ms Berki’s complaint. I cooperated fully with the investigation, provided a truthful statement about what I saw and also provided CCTV footage, which showed my overly exuberant but totally unaggressive dog jumping up.
Following an investigation into Ms Berki’s allegations, police concluded that there was no case to answer and that no criminal offence had been committed.
According to the police, at no time did Ms Berki ever state to them that she had been assaulted, threatened or falsely imprisoned.
There was also a subsequent review of the investigation by the IPCC and Thames Valley Police Professional Standards which found that the original police investigation had been correct in its findings.
In the meantime, several untrue stories appeared in the tabloid papers. Ms Berki forwarded an email to me confirming a payment for one such story she had received from The Sun newspaper. Articles were also published in The Telegraph, The Mail and The Mirror at Ms Berki’s instigation which contained her account of the alleged incident.
Then having at first said in a story published by the Daily Mail that she had found me to be “really very nice, very, very nice,” she later embarked on a campaign of vicious antisemitic and threatening abuse online and in emails.
Below is just a sample of some of those tweets and messages sent over many months (which were submitted to the judge who granted the harassment injunction)-
(Jemima is a) “deeply rotted JEWISH Bitch”
“Did you know that if your life is in danger you can LAWFULLY kill your attacker as defence?! … by now I could have lawfully kill at least 5-6 people who were hurting me”
“Also happy birthday (Jemima). I hope you have more. In other words I hope you don’t die this year.”
EMAIL- “If you make me very upset…you can expect the worts from me – I think you know this – without that I need to remind you”
“What is going on in Britain is a dictatory of J evils. English Jewish Evil dictatory”
“Would like to see justice, and I do not think that I should do it myself but what can I do when every organisation is scared of Jevils! ;)”
“They say … Do not hate all Jews because you know a few Jewish evils. They are on top always decadent and evils”
“Fortunately there are many mansions outside of the UK where Jewish money aristocrats are still not welcomed
#Germany #Austria #Italy #Hungary”
"Judge on High Court: I ordered her to shut up Jew. Do I have a case or not? soon we will kill her then".
“A pity that I was in the UK. BB In Hungary if you would report the Police they would for sure find it without an investigation already that the Jews are guilty. Sad”
“Every organisation is scared of JEVILS”
“When my great grandparents see what Jews did to me they do something in heaven to solve this. I will not make my hand dirty with Jews.”
“J evils … Rob, lie, crime”
“I am so happy I am free from the English Jewish Evil dictator and outside of England the High Court cannot rule”
“Probably I wait a bit more and than go public. What is going on in Britain is a dictatory of J evils.”
She sent an enormous volume of similarly disturbing emails and tweets to or about me, to my family, to my workplace, to journalists from the national media to members of my family, to UNICEF UK where I had been a goodwill Ambassador for decades, and to organisations my ex-husband was associated with, and to MPs.
She began disseminating on social media wild and untrue allegations about me, ranging from kidnap to cyberhacking, to having someone bump into her and laugh at her in the tube station, having her followed by two men, bribing the police, paying off a judge, and other false and alarming conspiracy theories based on my Jewishness.
The number, tone and content of these messages was extremely frightening. It was distressing for my then teenage children and my family. I was concerned that Ms Berki was potentially a real danger to my family and me. I have had stalkers before and this behaviour felt similarly threatening.
Although I was at this point no longer in contact with Brand, I agreed to the suggestion by his lawyer of a harassment order. My sole reason was to stop Ms Berki targeting me and my family. The harassment injunction was upheld by the High Court and Court of Appeal on several occasions.
I engaged a lawyer of my own when I was made aware that Berki was applying to the court to vary the terms of the injunction. And I instructed my lawyer in December last year to approach Ms Berki’s barrister to say that I agreed to vary the injunction so that she could speak to the police again if she wanted to. I also instructed my lawyer to engage on her other requests.
I did this despite my real fears that the harassment would re-commence and that her threatening antisemitism, if again unleashed, might exacerbate the danger to my children and me that we continue to face because of our Jewish heritage and their father’s political career and incarceration in Pakistan.
Her barrister has not responded to my lawyer since May of this year despite trying to engage him. I was informed by her lawyer that any change to the injunction must also be agreed by Brand. I have no ability to compel Brand in this matter, as I have not seen or spoken to him in over a decade.
I hope this information will help clarify speculation about my involvement in the anti-harassment order.
I am glad and relieved that Russell Brand has finally faced justice.
Cat Vandermark retweeted
Zohran Mamdani is at it again with these Fox news hosts laughing in their faces and ready with his slick answers and incredible thoughtful answers 😂
Cat Vandermark retweeted
Robert. One of our greatest public intellectuals
Robert Manne suitably outraged by the distortions and connivance in the Australian debate on antisemitism. Does so with considerable authority. Kudos, Robert. robertmanne.substack.com/p/o…
Cat Vandermark retweeted
Last night was one of the worst nights Gaza has seen. The bombs have never stopped raining down on them, and when the actual rain fell upon them, their tents flooded. So many missing limbs, all missing loved ones, most without homes. And the world just pretended it stopped. I didn’t even post an image with people this time because they’re sick of showing us images of themselves in desperation without action on our part. A reminder to you and me to not forget them because they’re no longer in your feed.
Cat Vandermark retweeted
Robert Manne takes down Lord Andrew Roberts, Simon Schama & Jillian Segal on anti-semitism. And I dare say he knows what he’s talking about:
robertmanne.substack.com/p/o…
Cat Vandermark retweeted
This man is so wonderful! Amazing moral clarity
I've been in politics for a quarter century. It's hard to express how staggering it is to see a conversation like this on corporate US media. The Morning Joe panel gobsmacked by the directness of @AbdulElSayed's points.
(clip via @DropSiteNews)
Cat Vandermark retweeted
I've been in politics for a quarter century. It's hard to express how staggering it is to see a conversation like this on corporate US media. The Morning Joe panel gobsmacked by the directness of @AbdulElSayed's points.
(clip via @DropSiteNews)
Cat Vandermark retweeted
Zohran Mamdani is on fire. 🔥
🇺🇸JD Vance at 6:00 PM: We lost due to the Iran war which causes household inflation for Americans
🇺🇸Zohran at 7:00 PM: "Bro you are VP of USA, not a random Twitter troll. You can't post like it's someone else's war. You started it, You can end it. Stop tweeting and crying, start acting."
Brutally Cooked 👏
Cat Vandermark retweeted
It's insane that Australia is still using pesticides that were banned everywhere else years ago. David Pocock is tackling the issue in parliament. #auspol
theguardian.com/australia-ne…
Cat Vandermark retweeted
Now I can’t sleep.
Under pressure from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Trump administration may be within days of launching a nuclear strike on Iran. The target would be Pickax Mountain in central Iran, where Israeli intelligence claims the Iranian government has restarted its nuclear enrichment program. No conventional weapon in the American arsenal can penetrate 300 feet of solid granite to destroy the tunnels where enrichment is supposedly taking place. The only military option is a nuclear strike. Netanyahu has been pushing hard for one. “Bibi calls Trump about it every day,” says an informed observer.
Netanyahu is cornered and desperate. After last week’s election results, he can’t form a government unless Trump intervenes directly in Israeli politics and brokers a deal with other parties that gives Netanyahu 61 seats in the Knesset. Otherwise, he is out as prime minister and on his way to ignominy, investigations and possibly jail. Netanyahu must stay close to Trump. He needs this war.
To that end, he’s applied maximum pressure to his closest allies in the administration, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper. Both oppose a negotiated settlement to the war they’ve so grievously mismanaged; both are pushing to restart major combat operations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA director John Ratcliffe are also following Netanyahu’s lead, as are leaders of the Democratic Party. In a recent meeting on the subject, former president Barack Obama said he opposes the current Iran peace deal being drafted in Doha.
The rest of America’s longtime allies in the Middle East are terrified by the prospect of more war. On September 27th, Netanyahu flew secretly to Abu Dhabi to enlist the UAE in his lobbying effort for a final attack on Iran. The Emiratis refused. After eight months of conflict, Gulf economies are teetering. So are global energy and fertilizer markets. They won’t recover soon. Globally, there are a total of about 850 supertankers used to transport oil from producers to the rest of the world. In October alone, 11 of them were badly damaged in Hormuz. At this pace, a global depression is imminent. A nuclear strike would radically accelerate the destruction. Fallout from a ground explosion at Pickax Mountain would contaminate the Persian Gulf, poisoning the water supply for 100 million people.
And those are just some of the immediate consequences for the region. The rest of the world is every bit as exposed. No country other than the United States has ever used a nuclear weapon in war. Some would like to. An American nuclear attack on Iran would set a new precedent. The Russians have already told at least two other governments that an American nuclear strike on Iran would free them to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine. Pakistan and India would be tempted to do the same against each other, as would North Korea against Seoul. After the first nuclear strike, World War Three is inevitable. That war would be short and final.
We’ve been sleepwalking toward this moment for months. Since February, the administration has quietly rewritten America’s nuclear doctrine to make first use of so-called “battlefield nukes” easier and therefore more likely. No one in Washington in either party seems bothered by this. Now we’re on the brink of it.
Close observers say Trump is likely to decide by next weekend whether or not to use nuclear weapons. That would be November 7, six days from now. To his credit, he’s hesitating. At the moment, Trump is listening to his vice president, JD Vance, and to his envoy and friend Steve Witkoff, both of whom argue a deal with Iran can be made.
They’re right, though it won’t be simple. The Iranians are famously frustrating to negotiate with under any circumstances, and elements of that government have become more radical since Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his family were killed in February. After decades of isolation, even relatively moderate Iranian leaders seem confused by how decisions are made in the West. (There is a widespread belief in Tehran, for example, that the United States government controls Israel.) But overall, people who have spoken to decision-makers in Iran say there is consensus there that more war is bad for everyone and a deal is worth making.
One group that hasn’t been consulted so far is the global population — the hundreds of millions of people who will be killed along with their children if Trump is pushed by Netanyahu into launching a nuclear strike next week. Now would be the time for them to speak up.
Cat Vandermark retweeted
Terrifying rumors are swirling about Israel pressuring Trump to launch a nuclear strike on Iran immediately after the midterms or some other major escalation. I wish I was sure that this was too unhinged to take seriously, but we do not live in sane times where these kinds of dismissals are possible. Instead, we live amidst the rise of end times fascism, where dangerous accelerationists hold enormous sway in both the Israeli and U.S. governments.
The hardcore religious end timers have partnered with criminals like Trump, Netanyahu, and several tech oligarchs whose only path to avoiding legal accountability for their many crimes is dramatic (and distracting) escalation. I desperately hope the rumors are exaggerated, but we need to be ready in case they are not.
That's why we are releasing this video today on the eve of the U.S. midterms. We can defeat these maniacs, but only if we know what we are up against.
youtube.com/watch?v=obZN_n53…
Cat Vandermark retweeted
Last night Trump said he could have won Vietnam in a week. His plan was “going after Ho Chi Minh City.”
Ho Chi Minh City was Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. Our ally. The enemy’s capital was Hanoi. We bombed it.
He called the presidents who fought that war stupid, then explained how he’d have won it by attacking our own side.
58,220 Americans died in that war. Trump got five deferments. Now he’s telling the rest of us how easy it would have been.
He’s had more than fifty years to learn which side we were on. He still hasn’t. That alone should disqualify him from sending anybody else’s kids to war.
Instead, he’s weighing more strikes on Iran after Tuesday. His administration has reportedly considered using the “mother of all bombs,” the one he calls “like a tiny nuclear bomb.”
The man who thinks we should have bombed our ally’s capital gets to choose the targets.
Cat Vandermark retweeted
This is a suicidal policy! If the environment dies, so do we. Money is something humans invented. Nature invented humans! theguardian.com/australia-ne…
Cat Vandermark retweeted
A Palestinian family from Yatta, Hebron District, 1921. What horrors and tragedies they and their descendants have had to face...
Cat Vandermark retweeted
I've been reading through this, which was released today, and let me tell you - it is a hot mess.
Jillian Segal (well let's face it, the taxpayer-funded team who work for her) has delivered a line of limited thinking that aims to insert itself into every aspect of Australian life - with no peer review, or any form of independent assessment. We are expected to simply take the Antisemitism Envoy at their word and shut up.
As usual, it presents as a wandering discourse of unevidenced claims, taking particular aim at the increasing dissatisfaction with Israel by most of the western world and hiding it within the cloak of 'antisemitism' - a word tossed about freely throughout the document, a word that underwrites the document and all it's radical thought-policing, but a word that they fail to provide with any concrete definition or cohesive meaning.
.
Cat Vandermark retweeted
Gutted to see our national science organisation keep losing talented scientists & expertise built up over decades.
A further 86 FTE positions cut in the lead up to Christmas, is devastating for those impacted, our community + sovereign capability.
Short-term thinking at its worst. We need to ⬆️ our scientific capacity & R&D spend to confront the challenges facing us.
canberratimes.com.au/story/9…
Join me in calling for the government to save our CSIRO: davidpocock.com.au/save_our_…
