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Some of us never quite grow up, it seems. Guns are not big boy toys. Why do individuals who live in the suburbs need fire arms? Recreational pursuits, they say. Well, these are not toys to be played with, they are, in fact, deadly weapons which make killing human beings easy. A fire arm gets stolen every 4 hours in Australia, according to the latest research. We are putting ourselves at risk if we place the recreational desires of a few above the safety of us all. We are not talking about farmers and people who live in the bush here, as the vast majority of guns are owned by Australians living in cities.
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We live in interesting times, as the old Confucian adage goes. I write this in light of the inspiring speech delivered by Canadian PM Mark Carney at Davos. The Mark Carney middle power speech. His leadership at this time, provokes comparison with that of our own PM Anthony Albanese. Labor has come to power federally downunder on the back of being a small target, as political strategy. This continues to infect this government and its leadership, I find. The elephant in the room is, of course, President Donald J Trump. I wonder for how much longer will Albanese duck and weave in the face of this wrecking ball of the old international order?
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The foundation of organised religion is hierarchical authoritarianism. It is a patriarchal construct with an imagined divine father figure at the top. Just below this comes the actual top guy in the particular church. Pope, Patriarch, or Archbishop, as there are different names for this office depending upon the brand of Christianity. In the Evangelical or Baptist churches the local pastor or minister is the head guy for each local church in this more decentralised setup. There may be less hierarchy in these instances but the authority remains with some man ministering to the flock and interpreting the ‘so-called’ word of God. Christians are supporters of authoritarianism.
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The Trump regime is attacking boats from Venezuela, blowing them up in international waters. Why this focus on a South American nation? Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves. The US has a great tradition of going after countries with lots of oil and administrations that don’t bend over backwards for them. Donald Trump is a firm believer in fossil fuels. His administration has already reversed much of the good work that was done under Joe Biden, when it came to renewables and the transition away from climate damaging fossil fuels. Trump is the ultimate head in the sand guy, when it comes to global warming.
The Trump regime is attacking boats from Venezuela, blowing them up in international waters. Why this focus on a South American nation? Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves. The US has a great tradition of going after countries with lots of oil and administrations that don’t bend over backwards for them. Donald Trump is a firm believer in fossil fuels. His administration has already reversed much of the good work that was done under Joe Biden, when it came to renewables and the transition away from climate damaging fossil fuels. Trump is the ultimate head in the sand guy, when it comes to global warming.
Do the dulcet tones of the human voice do it for you? Are you a lover of aural pleasure? The spoken word read well, whilst you drive to work? Listening for both intellectual and sensual gratification? Learning stuff and getting where you are going at the same time? All of these things are possible via audiobooks. For the very first time, sounds of fanfare ladies and gentlemen, my books are available as audiobooks. And they sound pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. Now, you can take the banality out of traffic jams by listening to what I have to say on the really important topics.
The latest tranche of the Epstein Files released has revealed how far the tentacles of right wing wealth and power reach across the world. Bill Shorten, the favourite whipping boy of the Australian Right, along with being falsely accused of past union corruption had Clive Palmer spending big on attack ads during the last week of the 2019 federal election. Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s former campaign director, is claiming to Jeffrey Epstein that he advised Clive Palmer on this matter. Those on the Right are, as we know, terrible liars, and Epstein and Bannon are both headline acts in this regard. Taking credit for stuff is what these guys do. Whatever the factuality of this matter it reveals the network of wealth and power across the globe.
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It is amazing how often fate treats hubristic behaviour in lives of the rich and famous. It is, as if, a certain point is reached or crossed by the individual and this releases the hounds of hell upon them. Isaac Heeney, the No#1 rated player in the AFL for much of the season and the poster boy for toothpaste smiles has come a cropper in the shady wee hours of Melbourne with a lap dancer. Isaac Heeney: The boy next door is no more. No, the nice lad we once knew has morphed into a dirtbag hero. Strippers or exotic dancers crying sexual assault rings in the ears of the greater public. Victoria police are investigating an alleged sex crime and Heeney is at the centre of it.
Crime Footy Fresh Media News Police Sport It is amazing how often fate treats hubristic behaviour in lives of the rich and famous. It is, as if, a certain point is reached or crossed by the individual and this releases the hounds of hell upon them. Isaac Heeney, the No#1 rated player in the AFL for much of the season and the poster boy for toothpaste smiles has come a cropper in the shady wee hours of Melbourne with a lap dancer. Isaac Heeney: The boy next door is no more. No, the nice lad we once knew has morphed into a dirtbag hero. Strippers or exotic dancers crying sexual assault rings in the ears of the greater public. Victoria police are investigating an alleged sex crime and Heeney is at the centre of it.
Crime Footy Fresh Media News Police Sport
It is amazing how often fate treats hubristic behaviour in lives of the rich and famous. It is, as if, a certain point is reached or crossed by the individual and this releases the hounds of hell upon them. Isaac Heeney, the No#1 rated player in the AFL for much of the season and the poster boy for toothpaste smiles has come a cropper in the shady wee hours of Melbourne with a lap dancer. Isaac Heeney: The boy next door is no more. No, the nice lad we once knew has morphed into a dirtbag hero. Strippers or exotic dancers crying sexual assault rings in the ears of the greater public. Victoria police are investigating an alleged sex crime and Heeney is at the centre of it.
Crime Footy Fresh Media News Police Sport
I am putting my hand up to confess that I am a longtime supporter of the Sydney Swans. What did Confucious say? ‘May you live during interesting times’ or words to that effect, perhaps. Regular readers may be aware of the many posts I have written about the fortunes of the red and white AFL side this year. In an ironic twist, I have been bemoaning the lack of on-field mongrel in this normally squeaky clean team. Hells bells, I did not wish to shake down the thunder from the sky. What I wanted was some more fight and desperation out on the footy field. What we have all got, it appears, is some God awful, alleged sexual assault.
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I hate to harp on a topic but… The Sydney Swans missing mongrel factor for finals remains a major concern. There I was chatting with a Brisbane Lion’s supporter whilst playing golf and this person was complimenting the Swans on a good season so far. I had to qualify the praise with a reality check because the Swans have struggled to beat top 4 teams this season. The Lions had monstered Sydney very recently in a contest at the Gabba. Things are getting real now, as the AFL finals are mere weeks away. Winning contest and applying physical pressure for 4 quarters are crucial elements if you want to win football finals.
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The Sydney Swans have taken on the old Muhammad Ali rope-a-dope strategy, it seems. Absorb the opposition’s punishment for most of the match and then come out all guns blazing at the death knock. In this edition, Bloods sacrifice to beat Saints. Unfortunately for Will Edwards and James Rowbottom it was their blood and bone sacrifices on the altar of victory. A terrible injury for the rookie defender Will Edwards has finished his brilliant season prematurely. Rowbottom will likely be back for the finals. The Swans needed this win to hold onto second spot on the AFL ladder and it did not come cheaply.
Footy Sport
The SCG is a disgrace in terms of the playing surface and dangerous for AFL players plying their trade on it. Sydney Swans home ground not up to AFL standard. Indeed, it mirrors the disappointing season the Swans are currently having in 2025. A concert was held on the playing surface some time ago and the ground has never recovered from the butchery engendered then upon it. Last night, once again, AFL players from both teams could not keep their feet and it is only a matter of time before a serious injury will entail. Perhaps, these have already occurred.
It only took them 81 years, but in Australia, the federal Liberal Party finally found a female leader. Of course, they only make these calls on merit and getting pantsed at the last federal election had nothing to do with it. I find in Australia, the Anglo-settler psyche only turns to women as a last resort and there are numerous examples of this over the recent journey. This is all about power and traditional blokes believe that they are best served by one of them holding the reins, so to speak. Peter Dutton made a meal of it but just about every recent Liberal leader has been turfed out of office by their own electorate in recent years.
Dean Cox presents yet another Sydney Swans side unprepared to play AFL football. The team that fronted up against Essendon were uncompetitive and disorganised. Very soon they were 8 goals down and 3 of them were due to ill discipline and 50m penalties, which resulted […]
Willi Rioli is in trouble for carrying things too far in the internecine trench warfare that goes on during AFL matches. The AFL is the home of the cheap shot. Unsportsmanlike behaviour is rife in games with players illegally slapping and bumping usually from behind. This stuff must come from the coaches and is part of some sort of psychological warfare to gain an edge on the day over their opponents. The unexpected hit from behind and trash talk are marring our great game. It is not a good look; and in Willi Rioli’s case things have gotten out of hand.
The Liberal Party of Australia have won no metropolitan seats in Adelaide and almost none in Sydney and Melbourne. Where does the greater part of the Oz population reside? In the cities, of course. Modern Australia no longer represented by Libs. This once popular political party is no longer representative of the modern Australia and Australians. Peter Dutton led the Libs further Right and has taken them into the smaller territory of that extremist category within the political sphere. It features a male dominated, Anglo-settler white is right, ethos which regularly attacks multiculturalism, refugees, LGBTQI folk, renewables and climate change, and ‘woke’ – which is really an attack on smart women and diversity. Inspired by Trump in the US, the Libs want to turn the clock back to an Australia where patriarchy and white men rule the roost and others know their place at the back of the queue.
Unless you are dumb and disengaged you would be worried about where the world is heading. The US is in the hands of a madman who fluctuates between acts of stupidity and evil. Global trade is being threatened and thus the interconnectedness of humanity is going backwards. What can you do about such matters? Boycott Trump and don’t buy American. Send a message through your actions as a member of the global community. The one thing that clearly impacts men and regimes like Trump’s is financial pressure. You are not alone in your rejection of these economic policies and concerns about what a trade war will do to the world.
Leadership on the national stage is no easy thing. In a largely two party political system it is not a dualist situation like that between good and evil. More is the pity, in the opinion of some. No, rather there are similarities and mutual understandings in Australia between the Labor and Liberal Parties. Timid or terrible: Australia’s choice is the description given to the current selection of leadership candidates on display. The former is, oh so careful, not to create a political rod for his own back by any moves too willing to be offensive to anyone. The latter refers to the opposition candidate’s proclivity for alarmist rhetoric about everything under the sun. He is quick to condemn those falling outside of the propertied white male category.
There is a bloke named Daniel Hoyne and he is from Champion Data, which is a mob responsible for a lot of interesting AFL stats. In the current AFL media echo chamber, it is this chap who provides all the talking heads you hear and see with the basis of their insightful analysis. Those blowhard footy experts on Fox, Nine and Seven, with the pedigree of being ex-players, that many of us slavishly listen to. Hoyne and his fellow champions of AFL data are providing the real gold for footy analysis. The David Kings’ and others may talk loudly and stridently on topic but the actual data is identified by Mister Hoyne.
Most people know that far right politics are nasty, when you get down to it. Populist moaning and blaming others when given power turns into fascism and authoritarianism. We are seeing it in America, where the Trump regime is flouting the law and stripping people of their basic human rights. The Right is on the nose, at the moment, as folk realise the damage being done to the economy and international goodwill. Losing trust in your public institutions, when corrupt billionaires goi after your Social Security, Education and Food Safety, to name just a few, spells the end of government for all the people.
The LNP Coalition are never shy in making big statements about emotive topics like defence and law and order. Security is supposedly their thing. Expensive Coalition promises lite on detail. “$21 billion on defence”, as if just saying a big price tag will make Australia safer. Unfortunately, for us, it is a tiny bit more complex than that in the real world. Mere words and brash statements without proper costings are par for the course with the Coalition. This mob are going to build a bunch of nuclear reactors, despite there being no experience locally and no interest from those in the private sector who make their living from such investments.
