words matter
Trump is like the parent of a raped daughter who blames her rather than the perpetrator for the rape. Trump blames Ukraine for being invaded by Russia. Donald Trump is a disgusting human being. The Americans who voted for Trump should hang their heads in shame. We can only hope that someone with the courage can end this shameful chapter sooner rather than later. What the world needs now is not ugly Americans in charge of a corrupt and morally bankrupt administration. Stupid is as stupid does. Trump 2.0 is making America smaller not greater.
Crime Fresh Politics
American’s voted in Donald Trump as their president for the second time. What did someone famous once say about ‘once can be forgiven as a mistake but twice is no excuse’, or words to that effect anyway. Yes, Trump only won by 1.4 points but considering he was a convicted felon and well known conman it was a travesty. Americans have only themselves to blame on this score. Therefore, Trump’s America is the enemy. The enemy of those who believe in law and order. The enemy of those who value democracy. The enemy of those who oppose white supremacists, sexual offenders, and blowhard bullies.
Economics Fresh Politics
What does a bully or stand over guy do to his victim? He menaces then extracts some form of payment in lieu of not beating him up. This is what Donald Trump is doing on the international trade scene. Trump threatens and shakes down Australia. This is what he has done with Canada and Mexico, other US allies. The media plays right into his hands by creating this melodrama, where the little guy or gal gets put under pressure from Trump and then we are all supposed to feel gratitude when the threat does not eventuate. The tariff stand over tactic will not serve US interests long term, rather it will poison an already dirty well.
Economics Fresh Politics
Since the 1980s the way big companies in the United States do business has poisoned the well for the rest of us. The sick American corporate culture ruthlessly focusses on shareholder returns in return for enriching the executive to obscene levels. Stock options and company stock buybacks have become key ingredients in the billionaire factory churning out the super wealthy. This manipulation of the fabric of how companies do business has come at the expense of other stake holders like employees, consumers and the nations where these corporations do business. Downsizing, outsourcing, and profit shifting are all means by which companies have increased profits, reduced costs and avoided paying their fair share of tax. At the same time, these actions have reduced community engagement and care in return for outlandish levels of wealth for a few at the expense of the many.
Since the 1980s the way big companies in the United States do business has poisoned the well for the rest of us. The sick American corporate culture ruthlessly focusses on shareholder returns in return for enriching the executive to obscene levels. Stock options and company stock buybacks have become key ingredients in the billionaire factory churning out the super wealthy. This manipulation of the fabric of how companies do business has come at the expense of other stake holders like employees, consumers and the nations where these corporations do business. Downsizing, outsourcing, and profit shifting are all means by which companies have increased profits, reduced costs and avoided paying their fair share of tax. At the same time, these actions have reduced community engagement and care in return for outlandish levels of wealth for a few at the expense of the many.
Crime Culture Democracy Economics Fresh Politics Since the 1980s the way big companies in the United States do business has poisoned the well for the rest of us. The sick American corporate culture ruthlessly focusses on shareholder returns in return for enriching the executive to obscene levels. Stock options and company stock buybacks have become key ingredients in the billionaire factory churning out the super wealthy. This manipulation of the fabric of how companies do business has come at the expense of other stake holders like employees, consumers and the nations where these corporations do business. Downsizing, outsourcing, and profit shifting are all means by which companies have increased profits, reduced costs and avoided paying their fair share of tax. At the same time, these actions have reduced community engagement and care in return for outlandish levels of wealth for a few at the expense of the many.
Crime Culture Democracy Economics Fresh Politics
Since the 1980s the way big companies in the United States do business has poisoned the well for the rest of us. The sick American corporate culture ruthlessly focusses on shareholder returns in return for enriching the executive to obscene levels. Stock options and company stock buybacks have become key ingredients in the billionaire factory churning out the super wealthy. This manipulation of the fabric of how companies do business has come at the expense of other stake holders like employees, consumers and the nations where these corporations do business. Downsizing, outsourcing, and profit shifting are all means by which companies have increased profits, reduced costs and avoided paying their fair share of tax. At the same time, these actions have reduced community engagement and care in return for outlandish levels of wealth for a few at the expense of the many.
Crime Culture Democracy Economics Fresh Politics
The AFL has created a game that human bodies cannot actually cope with. How do we know this? Take a look at the number of soft tissue and knee injuries on the playing lists of AFL clubs. AFL a game unfit for human bodies. The evolution of the game has AFL players running at top speed, suddenly stopping, turning, twisting and being tackled. No bloody wonder that human joints and muscles cannot cope with the stress being applied to them under this kind of duress week in and week out. The physical conditioning experts employed by the clubs would know this but their well paid jobs encourage them to stay silent on this issue.
Footy Health Sport
In the land of billionaires and oligarchs did the wealthy really need another tax cut? You know at the beginning of the 1960s the top tax rate in the US was up there around 90%. It is now all the way down to 37%. Think about that for a few moments, a reduction close to 60%. That is a heck of a lot. Americans have been rewarding themselves at the top for 60 years with huge reductions in tax. Now, under Trump they are coming after social security and Medicaid for the poor and sick. You know where this is going to end, Social Darwinism and killing off the weak and the needy.
Crime Democracy Economics Fresh Politics
Something close to two thirds of surveyed Americans disapprove of the big bill that passed the senate. This bill takes from the poor and gives to the super rich by slashing Medicaid to fund tax cuts for billionaires. The US Republican lawmakers lack courage in the face of mob boss Trump and his MAGA machine. There is no place for individuals to stand up against stuff on behalf of their constituents in US politics anymore – the game has been rigged. Trump has corrupted the democratic process to deliver him the votes and the American people are the losers.
Crime Democracy Economics Fresh Politics
Indigenous Australians make up just under 4% of the population; and right now they are in the national spotlight. The coming October 14th referendum about amending the Australian Constitution to recognise First Nation’s peoples and the creation of an advisory voice to parliament on issues directly effecting them has thrust many into uncomfortable places. Not everyone feels at home being a spokesperson for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs. In light of this, it is not easy being black right now.
The housing crisis we are currently experiencing here in Australia, with rents going through the roof and a shortage of rental stocks, seems to be something terrible and uncharacteristic of the nation but it isn’t. Australia’s housing crisis is not new, in fact, it is a well-trodden path that we appear to traverse quite regularly. History tells us that housing has been a persistent problem upon our fatal shores for as long as white settlement has been around. There have been peaks and troughs but a shortage of housing stock has been the constant over hundreds of years. Therefore, the federal government’s identification of the cause may not be reason enough to hold out hope for any quick solution to this perennial issue.
The ACCC stands for Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Did you note that term ‘Competition’? This body is supposed to ensure that healthy levels of competition exist in markets. Yet, we in Australia have the highest levels of market concentration ever seen in our history. ACCC failings: What have they been doing? Down under in Oz we pay lip service to things to avoid actually doing anything about scams and fudges in the business world. Toothless tigers are our speciality when we establish the various commissions and overseeing bodies. Governments make sure that regulators like the ACCC don’t have the funding or the necessary connections to really achieve what their remit states.
The Sydney Swans AFL team made the finals in 2023. This was an achievement, as for much of the season injuries and form conspired to make this look unlikely. In a hope that AI might have some answers, I asked AI about the Sydney Swans and their season. So, John Longmire, if you get the chance to read this, may there be something of use in what Chat GPT had to say on the matter. Personally, I was a bit impressed, as the copy was not mere waffle on the topic but had a few pertinent points to make. Of course, my question contained the necessary qualifications to hone a reasonable answer.
Ancient royal soothsayers used to predict the future by throwing sticks and knucklebones on the floor and seeing what kind of patterns they formed. Today, we have economists to perform the same kind of thing but with formulars in dusty textbooks to guide them. There are strict rules around economic behaviours and outcomes like inflation. Different parts of the economy are linked, in their minds, like the unemployment rate with the level of inflation. They have been taught by their professors and textbooks to abide by calculations and processes considered to be carved in stone. Economics is fundamentally about human behaviours in the marketplace. The history of humanity tells us that there is only one thing that you can rely on and that is the unreliability of humans. Economists and soothsayers: Skin in the game.
10 years of Liberal/National federal governments stripped the public service of 15, 000 jobs and opened the door for consultants PwC, KPMG, EY, and Deloitte to feast on government contracts to the tune of billions of dollars. Coalition responsible for consulting crisis, as insider mates shuffle jobs between government and the big 4 consultancy/auditing firms to ensure the flow of business and big bucks. Four Corners has revealed the incestuous relationships in the Department of Defence and KPMG via whistleblowers telling their story about what has been going on. Pigs with snouts in the trough comes to mind as an analogy about what has been occurring.
AFL footy is a different game in the current clime. It started with outlawing the bump to protect the head. Players were told if you choose to bump you are likely to be suspended if you make contact with the head. Now, if you tackle too ferociously and bring the player to ground and he hits his head you can get rubbed out for 3 weeks, in many instances. 26 players have been suspended in 2023 for these kinds of things. AFL footy is a different game these days. Looking ahead the evolution of the game is probably morphing into a non-contact sport like soccer. The contact will not survive the civilising of our recreational activities in the future, I bet. There are very real issues emerging in both the men’s and women’s’ games in regard to the wellbeing of the players going forward.
It is time to call in the exterminators, according to the Senate review into consultancy firms preying on governments in Australia. These bloodsucking accountants and management consultants have managed to extract some $20 billion over the last 10 years. This is a direct result of the neoliberal push to privatise governments and their services. The public service has been gutted by a decade of conservative LNP government providing wealth to their mates via outsourcing to these multinational consultancy firms. Government pests: An infestation of accountants sucking the life and wealth out of Australia.
Robodebt was an ideological attack on the welfare system by the Coalition for economic and political gain. When they were unable to find the billions of dollars of claimed to have been rorted, they confabulated them via illegal means. Scott Morrison bragged about being a Robodebt welfare cop in his public announcements as social services minister. If he is not ultimately responsible for a scheme that has cost the lives of the innocent and vulnerable Australians who is. If Scott Morrison is not responsible for the $1.8 billion lost in a settled class action against the government who is.
The Coalition in opposition has voted against legislation designed to halt the massive increases to energy costs for Australian households due to the gas company cartel and its control of that market. The Coalition has, also, voted against the creation of a future fund designed […]
