Words for Web
when words matter most
ACHTUNG
when words matter most
SCOTUS has virtually guaranteed that Donald Trump will not be tried prior to the Presidential election of 2024. US Supreme Court slow walks Trump immunity claim appeal and stay from prosecution. By deciding to take the case it has undermined the unanimous denial of trump’s claims by the federal court of appeals. The stacking of SCOTUS with conservative GOP aligned justices by Trump is obviously paying benefits. The legal rule of law was really the last hope for America in holding Donald Trump accountable for attempts to subvert the Constitution in 2020. The US is now an international disgrace and no longer can be considered a leading democratic nation.
Fresh Politics
Trump has spawned the fantasist George Santos elected to congress in the US. Congressman elect George Santos of the New York district has lied about who is on his official CV. Santos claimed to have worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and this is a lie. George Santos put down on his resume that he received a degree from Baruch College and this is a bald faced untruth too. He put down stuff about running an animal rescue charity of which there is no record. Santos claimed to be Ukrainian and Jewish – both of which are further fabrications.
Fresh
Supposedly we live in an age defined economically, where the dollar worth of everything matters most. Why then are our politicians and their strategists forever focusing attention upon cultural stuff? The war on woke, the attacks on LGBTQI folk, and the endless anti-elite ethos. Every politician and political party wants to stand with the ordinary voter, apparently. Finger pointing at those categorised as elite reinvokes the old class warfare it seems. We the people vs those individuals too superior to represent our interests. These are all manipulations and part and parcel of the politics of grievance.
Culture Economics Fresh Politics
The recent decision by the Queensland state government not to build another sporting stadium for the Olympics is a sign of maturity. Brisbane and Australia are in the midst of an acute housing crisis, with too few houses and apartments available for demand. It would be a gross display of economic irresponsibility to build a massively expensive stadium when there are not enough affordable accommodation options available for the people of Brisbane. The builders and the investment should be engaged and spent on social housing rather than infrastructure for sport. Enough with the elitist sporting indulgence when a city, a state, and a nation is not taking care of its ordinary citizens. Not building another stadium is a win for Queenslanders.
Big congratulations to the Swans for their victory over the Giants at the SCG. It did not look like happening for much of the afternoon, as GWS were on top for three quarters. The Sydney Swans Qualifying Final win report card must pay the ultimate […]
Fresh Big congratulations to the Swans for their victory over the Giants at the SCG. It did not look like happening for much of the afternoon, as GWS were on top for three quarters. The Sydney Swans Qualifying Final win report card must pay the ultimate […]
Fresh
Does Australia really want to get closer to a nation, like America, that cannot stop its own citizens from the mass slaughter of each other? What kind of country arms its civilians with assault rifles and watches the slaughter of Innocent children without doing anything? A mass murder happens every week in the US. Australia should put America on probation as an ally. This is a country that voted for someone like Donald Trump to become president. Around 61% of voting age Americans cast a vote in the last federal election and 7 million less than half of them voted for Trump. That is an awful lot of really bad people.
The real estate business in Australia is a sacred cow. Home ownership is the great Australian dream. The residential property market is the most inflated sector in the nation at around 380% over the last few decades. The RBA does not include real estate prices in its inflation figures. The ABC’s Four Corners program exposed a few of the common practices within the industry, which are contravening consumer protection laws. Real estate in Australia: Sacred Cow enshrined shonky business practices. Collusion between agents representing buyers and sellers is one glaring example of this.
Afghanistan has been a nation in the news for all the wrong reasons. Understanding Afghanistan begins at the most basic level by learning about its people. Afghanistan is a diverse country with various ethnic groups, each with its unique culture, history, and traditions. The country has been shaped by centuries of migrations, invasions, and political changes, resulting in a mosaic of identities and communities. In this article, we will explore the different people of Afghanistan and their characteristics. What is the Afghan story?
Half of America must be so dumb it beggars belief. Otherwise how could they have elected Donald Trump to be president. The GOP: A political party of extremists and distasteful human beings. The Republican party sides with bigots, racists, misogynists, and far right terrorists – and that is on a good day. Cutting the US in half to leave all the red states on their own might be a workable idea but who would want that state on their doorstep. It would be like having Russia or North Korea on your border.
The Coalition had run a narrative about Australian dole bludgers and welfare cheats for decades. It was part of the right wing playbook of creating villains for the electorate to focus their frustrations and hate upon. The enemy is all those Aussies gaming the system and not doing their fair share. Robodebt was their policy initiative to clean up Dodge, as welfare cops on the beat clawing back billions for the budget. Robodebt abuse was built on Coalition lies to Australians. Scott Morrison was in such a hurry that he didn’t want to waste time on dotting the I’s and crossing the t’s when it came to the legality of the scheme. Kathryn Campbell, the public servant responsible in Human Services, would make the bullets for Sheriff Morrison to fire at the legion of welfare cheats downunder. A lot of paper shuffling went on between senior bureaucrats in the social security and human services departments. Pleasing the boss was paramount bin the minds of these highly paid functionaries.
Populism in US politics put Donald Trump in the White House. The buffoon turned out to be an incompetent and corrupt president who lasted just one term. The GOP MAGA politicians are right wing extremists who appear to be unfamiliar with the laws governing country. The US political system has been gamed by big business with members of congress and senators bought by vested interests. Populism has backed MAGA candidates as an antidote to this but they appear to be on the wrong side to achieve any real change.
The internet is here to stay and it is time to lock up trolls and online abusers. These cowardly bullies hide behind anonymity on social media and heap filthy abuse on women in particular. The legal framework around trolling is completely inadequate. The e safety commissioner is another toothless tiger in a streak of toothless tigers in Australia. The conservative governments have consistently delivered impotent human rights laws to Australians. It is time to recognise that these unsolicited comments in the online space should be treated in the same manner as libellous statements in the eyes of the law.
Many of us are doing it tough downunder. Stagnant wage growth over the last twenty years and now, rampant inflation is screwing the ordinary Australian. Is the Reserve Bank of Australia economically out of touch? Is Governor, Philip Lowe, who is instigating the fastest rise of interest rates on the cash rate ever seen in the nation’s history doing more harm than good? His warnings about the dangers of a wage-price-spiral are rooted in the experiences of the 1970s and not relevant to the causes of inflation in 2022-23. The RBA’s primary role is to protect the Australian currency and beating inflation is paramount to that function. If the governor, board, and bank’s economists do not properly grasp what is going on in today’s economy aren’t we flying blind?
The Queensland police declare Trains’ domestic Christian terrorists following an investigation into their murderous shooting in Wieambilla. Stacey Train and Nathaniel Train were school principals until recently and their conversion to mass murderers could not have happened overnight. This highlights the dangers of religious belief and how extremism is only an unknown distance away. If you believe in invisible supernatural entities then the sky is the limit when it comes to making up your own rules on planet earth. The thing about religion is that ultimately its adherents do not recognise governments over their gods.
Thirty years ago the average person didn’t worry about their digital footprint. They didn’t have a social media profile or a website in most cases. Individuals were footloose and fancy free without the ever present digital shadow hanging over them. Digging into your digital footprint can reveal how our cultural concerns are changing. Young people previously had lives which didn’t demand constant documenting via technological devices. Human beings had identities outside of the pixels and bytes forming shapes and images on screens. None of these things are possible today unless you are willing to swim against the current in 2023 and beyond. Kids are constantly checking their phones for updates re-their on-screen lives. Many cannot commit to things like watching a movie without reference to the small screen in their palm. Concentration levels have been diffused into a multiplicity of intermittent calls upon their flickering attention spans.
