Introduction

Way back when we first started writing the weekly newsletter, one of our earliest topics was the QAnon movement, and the shocking events of the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol in the US. This week, the committee investigating those events held its first public hearings on prime-time TV. I spent a little of my Friday afternoon with the live stream of it playing while I worked. There were some shocking revelations, though I'm guessing that many people already suspected a lot of what was revealed.

The hearings are set to continue over the next few weeks, no doubt revealing more and more detail that the committee has been able to discover by piecing together testimony of those there, and the communications between them.

From the revelations in the first public hearing, it seems fairly clear that there was a conspiracy, directed right from the top, to attempt to hold onto presidential power against the clear outcome of a fair election. The attack was planned - it wasn't spontaneous.

It was sad to see people, who were conned into believing QAnon conspiracies, and claims of election fraud, act on their beliefs and participate in that attack.

I'm still hopeful that those that orchestrated and encouraged the attack, and stood to benefit from it, had it been successful, will be held to account.

My feeling is that the purpose of the public hearings is to attempt to lay out all the evidence, to build a clear understanding in the public mind, and make the act of holding a former president to account actually palatable.

We'll have to watch and see. And while the events in the US seem far from our shores, there are those in this country who seem keen on importing and supporting those beliefs, and attitudes, and perhaps translating them into a political force. Let's hope that never comes to pass.

This week, I cover some further developments in the Peter Ellis case, look (again) as Voices for Freedom and their silly position on masks, and comment on a controversial weight loss approach offered by a media commentator. And our regular contributor, Bronwyn, covers yet another MLM scheme.