I’ve been going to my local recreation centre in Ballarat recently in a vain attempt to rid myself of the mid-life tyre that has accumulated around my waist.

Looking up from the machines in the gym you cant help but notice the TV’s which all play ABC News 24 on constant rotation.

I love the ABC but the non-stop vision of children and parents in Gaza either dead or screaming in terror is just making me sadder and angrier when I think of the insanity of it all.

Other than donating to UNICEF, there’s nothing we in our comfortable existences can do to help these poor people. The anger towards the war mongers making the decisions is all encompassing and begs the question as to how to switch off from the horror we see every day on TV.

As I was working out on the elliptical, ski machine thing, I started singing anti-war songs quietly to myself. Strangely enough it seemed to help. These are the songs I dug up from the recesses of what’s left of my brain.

1. Generals and Majors – XTC (1980). A highly underrated post punk band. Brilliant musicians and intelligent writers.

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2. In a World Gone Mad – The Beastie Boys (2003). Released around the invasion of Iraq and focuses on the lies surrounding that farce.

3. Masters of War – Bob Dylan (1963). Released two days after I was born and still as relevant today. Still the greatest anti-war song ever written.

4. Put Down That Weapon – Midnight Oil (1987). Despite Midnight Oil’s pleas in this songs, sadly nothing has changed. Perhaps US Forces could be a alternative release of energy.

5. Let’s Impeach the President – Neil Young (2006). Another song aimed straight at George Bush Jnr and his faceless war mongers at the time of the Iraq war, but the lyrics are pertinent to any timeline in history.

6. Killing in the Name Of – Rage Against the Machine (1992). Not exactly an attack on a  specific war, this powerful, repetitive rocker from a band with a serious conscious is an all-round assault on racism and authoritarianism.

7. Dear God – XTC (1988). A letter to the big one upstairs asking for an explanation as to what the hell is going on?

When you see footage of Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson visiting Israel, wandering around like a couple of Wombles on a paid tour a couple of weeks ago, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the world has definitely gone mad.

The atrocities of Gaza have just added to the madness of Ukraine so before I go mad, I’m finding music and books a healthy distraction and only hope that the conflicts end sooner rather than later and that the cruel, greedy, spineless men behind the scenes are held accountable.