And why did the teleprompter fail for that matter? Either event would have stopped the Weekend at Bernie's POTUS from addressing the General Assembly, so the matter is not trivial.

Mechanical failure seems to have been ruled out, and I am unaware of the videographer having responded to the suggestion that he activated the emergency stop mechanism.

Lots of post address analysis by the media, much of it about the errors and incoherence of the address, but very little interest in potential sabotage, despite UN officials joking a day earlier about stopping an escalator.

Would anyone working in such an important organisation as the UN be so petty as to interfere with the US President? Surely not?

Gut feeling: my oath they would. The UN is the home of petty nutjobs.

I hope that there were no hitches with the technology that had Netanyahu's microphone used for his address to the UN General Assembly hooked up to loud speakers in Gaza for the benefit of the Israeli hostages still alive there.

The incident raised a few issues for me.

One was fact checking. Trump's address included a belief that the UN was corrupt and wasting huge amounts of funding, criticism of the previous US administration, a large amount of self-praise, the claim that the pursuit of net zero, especially with wind and solar, was economic suicide, and questioned the value of high rates of immigration. The address was subjected to rigorous fact checking, as seems to be the case for every public utterance Trump makes. In contrast, the UN explanation that the videographer hit the kill switch does not seem to entail much if any fact checking, such as could be provided by cctv footage or a statement by the videographer. For something so easy to do it seems odd that the information is not available.

The other issue is the question of what an appropriate response would be were the stoppage found to be deliberate?

As for Netanyahu's address, he stated that the Gaza conflict would cease were Hamas to demilitarise and release the hostages, and suggested that if the IDF did not achieve the objectives Israeli citizens would keep being murdered by Hamas terrorists. I agree. The conflict is founded on a murderous hatred of the citizens and State of Israel.

If you read further you will find that murderous drive is aimed a
whole lot wider than not just Jews and American unbelievers.

Bezza,

Freedom of thought is something that should be cherished. Did the Voice campaign or the debate about the MAD bill give you the impression that the government was crossing the line whereby you become a "bad person" because of what you think?

Now I am all for cutting the Oz taxpayer assisted (courtesy of Albo and PenPen) UNRWA child abuse (i.e. hatefully brainwashing Gazan kids that it is their primary duty to kill Jews and destroy Israel), but the reason the IDF is in GAZA is to destroy the means by which the murderous intent can be realised.

Japan and Nazi Germany had populations that many thought beyond redemption. That view was disproven by the subsequent embrace of democracy by those nations. If they did it I don't think it unreasonable to believe that anyone can (with the right encouragement).

Bezza,
They couldn't make it any more clear if they tried. Problem is that so many rose-coloured glasses wearers are still so blind to it all, here in Australia in particular. Maybe turning off Sport & the wiggles for a few days might wake the drugged & pi$$ed to the eyeballs Woke.

Horse Shite.

Bibi speech at UN.
Everyone upped and left.
But what he reiterated was that there will NEVER be a 2 State solution under his watch, all he has done is fight the entire M/E over the last 30 years against those who support the Palestinian cause.

This is all he cares about.

So long as there is no 2 state solution, there will always be a policy of harming and eradicating the Palestinians, at best making their lives unlivable and continual killings.

THERE WILL ALWAYS BE RESISTANCE WHETHER YOU CALL IT HAMAS OR SOMETHING ELSE.

Using the excuse 'We need to eradicate the terrorists (we created) is ridiculous.
There people fight for their freedom, just as anyone would.
You don't have to be a friend to Islam to see the conflict.

Hi AC,

I thought that Netanyahu was spot on. What you have in Gaza is a creed of hatred based solely on religion and citizenship. There is no place for that in a civilised world.(Hamas could end the conflict immediately by releasing the hostages and surrendering their arms, but they don't. Why? Because they won't give up their hatred.)

It is a similar mindset of people who commented "he got what was coming to him" of the Charlie Kirk shooting, as is feeling entitled to commit an act of malice, like turning off an escalator, for the sake of a differing opinion.

I've often observed you attacked on olo for the sake of having a differing view. You are entitled to your views and world is a better place for you being able to express them. I've no problem with challenging views expressed, but attacking the person for the sake of having them is idiocy. I suspect that escalatorgate is an example of such idiocy.

Trump just used the teleprompter sabotage(?) as a reminder of what a pile of poop the UN, most of its members, and its staff, are. He doesn't need such devices. He always has a wad of paper, with a few key words on each page, to make everyone before and after him to look stupid. He also made the most of the escalator, mishap or misdeed. Idiots thinking that they can muck around with Donald Trump just end up looking like even bigger idiots.

Like the (Australian) ABC reporter who thought it was clever to ask Trump if he thought it was OK to be in politics and big business at the same time. Trump said, 'you are doing your country and lot of harm, now be quiet'.

Nobody can put a glove on Trump because he is a hugely successful businessman: unlike his political opponents and government-sponsored antagonists who wouldn't have a clue how to make a dollar on their own. And, honest man that he is, he recently said that he hates his enemies, so they will get no quarter from him.

ttbn,

If Trump really didn’t “need such devices,” then the UN teleprompter wouldn’t have been an issue in the first place. You can’t claim sabotage and claim independence from the technology at the same time.

And if his escalator stall was such a stroke of genius, why did the White House demand an investigation and preservation of CCTV tapes? Either it was a non-issue he turned to his advantage, or it was a deliberate act of sabotage worth investigating. It can’t be both.

As for the ABC reporter, telling a journalist to “be quiet” isn’t strength - it’s deflection. In every democracy worthy of the name, politicians are meant to answer hard questions, not silence them.

Finally, “hugely successful businessman” is a myth that doesn’t survive the balance sheet. Trump inherited wealth, burned through investors’ money in multiple bankruptcies, and survived only because of bailouts and branding. Being good at self-promotion isn’t the same as being good at business.

You’re free to admire his bravado, but bravado isn’t evidence. When every glitch is spun as sabotage, every failure reframed as brilliance, and every critic painted as clueless, that’s not analysis - it’s fandom.

"Nobody can put a glove on Trump because he is a hugely successful businessman."

He was born into money.
In a system where every concession is given to ensure the rich stay rich.
It'd be pretty hard to fail if you were given a real estate empire with 1000+ apartments.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/22/fact-check-did-kamala-harris-exaggerate-scale-of-trumps-pre-career-inheritance

Hi Fester,

"What you have in Gaza is a creed of hatred based solely on religion and citizenship. There is no place for that in a civilised world."
- Netanyahu can't make that argument without it immediately blowing up in his own face, true or not he's projecting what he's doing himself.

"(Hamas could end the conflict immediately by releasing the hostages and surrendering their arms, but they don't. Why? Because they won't give up their hatred.)"

Well they could.
But why would / should they?
Israel's been a horrible oppressor engaging in land theft, bulldozing homes, settlement building, long before Oct-7.
Why should they when they're being exterminated like vermin?
At least the world sees... can't do anything because of US vetos in UNSC.

Surprised Palestinians didn't dig other tunnels, right up to Netahyahus, Smotritch's and Ben G'Virs places.
Pop up in the middle of suburbia and take another 100 hostages.

Netanyahu doesn't care about them.
He needs to keep conflicts going to avoid prison, all these wars and plans are policy anyway.
He needed a reason to justify taking land so he has to enrage them Into doing something.
How many countries has he boasted of overthrowing and that he controls America.
Watch the recent Carlson take on things.

"It is a similar mindset of people who commented 'he got what was coming to him' of the Charlie Kirk shooting, as is feeling entitled to commit an act of malice, like turning off an escalator, for the sake of a differing opinion."
- People say lots of things, some don't care what others think and are hell bent on their cause and at war with those who oppose them.
There'd be climate warriors out there openly cheering if the CEO of a coal company and his family died in a fatal car accident.

"I've no problem with challenging views expressed, but attacking the person for the sake of having them is idiocy. I suspect that escalatorgate is an example of such idiocy."
I'm sorry if you feel I've attacked you or something.
If so it wasn't intended, sorry.

Why do you think Hamas took hostage, apart from attacking a military base?
The hostages were to trade for their own.
- Israel keeps thousands of them hostage without charge and subject to torture.
But Israel says no deal, we'll inflict collective punishment upon all of you, break every taboo, and there's no-one who is coming to save you.
...Kills everyone, starving women and kids coming for food, a problem they created deliberately so they could get people to snitch to find hostages. Kill the journalists and their families, bomb the internet cafe's, bomb the hospitals deprive everyone of food, water and medicine and put up loudspeakers reminding everyone that 'all this is Hamas fault'

Lol 1938 again "Come out Jews, The German people are your friend."

Rape the prisoners, kill the doctors, and paramedics, the babies.
Shoot kids balls off for sport.

- That's what you supporting Fester, no offense.

Thanks for the topic, Fester. Unfortunately the trolls and nutjobs have arrived.

ttbn,

When every critic gets written off as a “troll” or a “nutjob,” it stops being debate and starts looking cultish. That’s how cult dynamics work: the leader is always brilliant, setbacks are always sabotage, and anyone who points to contrary evidence must be cast out as the enemy.

It’s easier to call names than to explain why Trump’s bankruptcies make him a “hugely successful businessman,” or why a man who panics at a broken teleprompter supposedly “doesn’t need such devices.” If those claims had substance, they wouldn’t need the protection of insults.

Hi AC,

"I'm sorry if you feel I've attacked you or something.
If so it wasn't intended, sorry."

No, I often see you attacked on OLO, but you are always polite and respectful, as you are again in this thread. You uphold a good standard.

Netanyahu is certainly a man who raises passions, which is party why I chose the subject of an escalator failure. If the failure were due to sabotage, then it is part of the issue of people believing themselves entitled to harm others for the sake of a differing opinion.

ttbn,

We're all crazy nutjobs in someone's eyes. No escape for any of us. I see the expression of a wide range of opinion as an endorsement of free speech and democracy. A forum with all of of the same opinion would be dull, and one where some were fearful of expressing an opinion would be worse.

On the subject of the escalator, I noted that servicing technicians were promptly on the scene, so they would have determined if there was a mechanical failure or activation of the emergency stopping mechanism.

At this point, it appears the triggering of a safety mechanism was the cause of the stopping.

If this does indeed turn out to be the case, two points stand out.

Firstly, Trump’s own style of staging likely made the incident more probable. The UN explanation points to his videographer, who was filming backwards on the escalator to capture the “grand entrance.” Escalators are designed with safety cut-offs at the comb step precisely to stop if something presses too close. Add in the crowding of his entourage and the theatrics he insists on, and the chance of tripping the mechanism rises.

Secondly, the fact it ballooned into a conspiracy theory says more about Trump’s political baggage than about the UN. If this had happened to almost any other leader, it would barely have made the news. But with Trump, every hiccup gets recast as sabotage, because grievance is central to his political brand and his opponents are primed to amplify his stumbles.

It's a self-perpetuating cycle, and none of it bodes well for Trump.

Freedom of speech doesn't mean much when the same people keep saying the same things, as they do here, and have always done since OLO started many years ago. The only people who have any political influence are the 5% or so of voters who change who they vote for from election to election.

However, with the uniparty we now have, we no longer have much choice, because gutless Australians are too frightened to vote for the only party that can honestly call itself conservative. Poor bubbas don't like being called "hard right" by communist lunatics.

As for the trope everybody-is-entitled-to-an-opinon: yes, they are, no matter how silly those opinions are. What pisses me off is that three of those with silly opinions don't just express them, as is their right, instead of trolling every one who has different opinions.

ttbn,

If you’re going to accuse someone of trolling, you should at least show that their contributions meet the basic definition: posts designed to provoke without substance, derail the topic, or deliberately inflame.

I’ve done none of that.

What I have done is disagree with your claims and challenge your hero worship with evidence, reason, and clarity - something you’ve never seemed especially comfortable with.

You say I’m trolling, yet I’ve addressed arguments directly:

- I pointed out the contradiction in claiming Trump doesn’t need a teleprompter while also crying sabotage over its failure.

- I challenged the mythology around Trump’s business record using factual counterpoints.

- I questioned your tendency to label dissenters “nutjobs” rather than actually rebut them.

If that feels like trolling to you, then the issue isn’t with my posts - it’s with your threshold for scrutiny.

When every critic is a “troll,” every failure is “sabotage,” and every dissenting opinion is “silly,” you’re not engaged in debate - you’re engaged in self-protection.

You don’t have to like what I say. But if your only response is to call names and declare yourself the victim of trolls, then maybe you’re not here for debate at all. Maybe you’re just here to be applauded.

This is a debating site. There are plenty of forums online where you can voice your opinion without ever having to worry about encountering a different view or evidence - forums with strict conditions of entry and swift booting of anyone who is clearly not right-wing. These sound like they're more your thing.

The failure of escalators and telly prompters, is of little consequence when so many are dying unjust violent deaths in this world because of the murderous actions of others.

There are all sorts of theories about dealing with narcissists, windbags and trolls; but there is only one way - ignoring them. The problem is that the three of them here are so off their trolleys that it is tempting to occasionally check up on them up on to see if they are really are as mad as I think they are. It is really hard to believe that such crazies actually exist. But each 'check' reveals that, yes, they do exist. No more proof needed. Enough said.

I agree, ttbn.

Ignoring such people is an excellent strategy - so good, in fact, that if you ever find it isn’t working, it usually means you’ve misread the other person’s intentions.

Those who engage in good faith won’t be dissuaded by being ignored, because their motive isn’t mere provocation - it’s argument.

So when you find yourself unable to follow through on your own advice, it doesn’t prove your target is a troll. It suggests that you’ve mistaken debate for bait, and sound reasoning for provocation.

I find it pretty unlikely the escalator just happened to break down the moment Donald Trump stepped on it.
My whole entire life I'm not sure one ever broke down while I was on it, but I've seen them not working here and there.
Not saying it's not possible just seems unlikely.

If someone did it on purpose they should be told to find employment elsewhere.
I saw the other escalator next to it was still working, they could've just come back down the few steps they'd gone and used that one instead.

Armchair Critic,

Yes, it does seem a little too deliciously coincidental. But as I pointed out earlier, a God complex the size of Trump's increases the probability that things like this will happen.

A considerable entourage is required to service a Trump-sized ego, which in turn increased the chances that the safety switch was triggered in the way that it looks to have been.

Populist/authoritarian leaders stage-manage their appearances to heighten drama, which ironically makes them more vulnerable to the very mishaps they later spin as sabotage.

(But a little part of me is still hoping that God exists and that he loves us.)

I'll be interested to learn what the cause of the teleprompter outage was. Could be a case of "too many cooks..."

Hey ttbn,
You claim Christianity is the foundation of our society.
Start practicing it, turn the other cheek.

'to respond to an insult or injury not with violence or retaliation, but with love, forbearance, and non-violent resistance.'

You seem to have no problems doing so when Israel slaughters who knows how many women and kids, and you think others are the problem for caring.

Stupid troll.

AC

Like all bad people, you abuse the good graces of good people. Just like your terrorist mates take advantage of our democracy to wreak havoc against Australia.

Like all people who sneer at Christianity, you presume to tell Christians how they should behave. You don't believe, but you presume to know how I should behave as a Christian. Well, up yours. You probably don't have the guts to front up in the flesh to the actual people you are always criticising, but if you ever do, don't expect not to get your own cheek slapped by a Christian you mistake for some sort of pansy.

"Like all bad people, you abuse the good graces of good people. Just like your terrorist mates take advantage of our democracy to wreak havoc against Australia."

What makes you think you're a good person?
Aren't you supposed to defend the weak and innocent?
Isn't that what good people do?
What Christ would do?

I just show you your own hypocrisy, and the stupidity of it all.

What makes you think the Palestinians are my mates?
I didn't invite them here or allow them to come.
I'm not responsible for their displacement.

The nation you support is responsible for decades of this.
And you lot are just as much to blame for it as anyone.

Mike Huckabee’s old-school Christian Zionism is bad news for anyone who wants Middle East peace
http://forward.com/opinion/675457/mike-huckabee-christian-zionism-israel-evangelical/

Christians who support Israel who are devoted to Jesus return.
They're just as responsible for decades of war and millions displaced and the influx of immigration to our western nations as anyone.

So before you go whinging about my criticisms go look yourself in the mirror ask yourself whose fault this immigration problem is and you might find that it was YOU, in your blind support for Israel.

Neoconservatives and Christian Zionists became the central forces in maintaining America’s pro-Israel policies.

What do you think all these wars were to benefit?
War against anyone who supported the Palestinians or opposed Israel.
http://youtu.be/FNt7s_Wed_4
Where do you think the immigrants that have changed our countries come from?

"Like all people who sneer at Christianity, you presume to tell Christians how they should behave. You don't believe..."
- I don't necessarily have to believe to know some of what Jesus was claimed to have said, taught and stood for.

I know I don't believe in trying to bring about armageddon with blind support for Israels genocide.

And you're dumb enough to fall for every dumbass thing in the book.
Jedi mind trick. Just tell ttbn theres no such thing as Palestine or Palestinians and he'll repeat it like the killings don't even exist.

Praise Jeebus.

AC

With a temper like yours you need to be careful that you don't swallow your tongue or have a seizure.

... The escalator and the teleprompter at the same time though?
- It 'feels like' some snidely leftist was playing silly buggers.
Not sure if one person could do both the escalator and the teleprompter at the same time though, a coordinated attack, lol.

Maybe Donald thought there was a porn movie on the "other channel" stopped the escalator to get a front row seat, and pressed the 'Off' button by mistake.

What would happen to an escalator prankster doing the same to Xi, Kim or Vlad? Adolf would have seen them strung up with piano wire just in case.

Hi AC,

Why equate Israeli hostages with Palestinian prisoners? Neither side is perfect, but I don't see the comparison made by human rights organisations, and they tend to side against Israel.

In ask to your question Armchair Critic- "If you are a Christian why not turn the other cheek".

Answer-
Should you continue to turn the other cheek when the enemy keeps striking you. Strangely in Roman philosophy they believed you should hold contempt for those you've harmed.
God didn't turn the other cheek when he destroyed the Hebrew temple after they killed his son Jesus.

"Why equate Israeli hostages with Palestinian prisoners?"
- Because they are both groups of hostages essentially.

Palestinian prisoners.
If Palestinians are under occupation and under a blockade, sujbect to attacks, oppression and collective punishment and Israel detains a Palestinian in the place in which he or she lives, then takes them away from there, to an Israeli prison and held on 'indefinite administrative detention' without charge, and then subjected to beatings, rape, torture and more, are they a prisoner (awaiting their day in court) or a hostage kidnapped by a foreign government?

Israel has thousands in it's prisons, Hamas has what 20?
Netayahu is grandstanding on the podium doing his best 'Ber Hur' impression 'Let my people go'.
- He's got thousands of Palestinians in his own prisons held hostage.
And he's not negotiating any deal, he tried to wipe out the leadership / negotiating team in Qatar.