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How the ‘Gig economy’ feeds on its workers to profit its corporate masters and their shareholders? Technology has facilitated more services and cheaper rates for consumers. Delivery drivers and riders provide their own assets, like vehicle and smart phone, to make those deliveries possible. These, often, expensive assets depreciate through use and the gig worker must bear the cost and not the parent platform. The risks are all with the worker and not the platforms. Indeed, Uber has a pathway where drivers, often, end up paying for the shopping with their own money, which is to be reimbursed days later. If the worker was being paid extra for these financially onerous uses of their assets it might be OK, but they are not.
Economics Fresh News Power Workers
In Australia, on the political front, we have very little in the way of progressive or Leftist policy options. It is rather the choice of how far Right. Traditionally centrist positions have been favoured by most voters, usually Centre Right. The LNP Coalition has, over recent years, moved further Right in thrall to populist demagogues like Donald Trump. Neoliberalism via privatization has seen many previously publicly owned assets move into private hands. The energy utilities are an illustrative example of this, where numerous private companies operate within this sector, either generating, wholesaling or retailing energy. Despite promises to the contrary prices for energy have not come down. Those greater efficiencies have not materialised.
Democracy Economics Fresh Government Politics Power
Here are 5 reasons why Donald Trump is wrecking the global economy. The US has ruled the roost economically since WW2 and detrimental things that happen there negatively impact upon the world economy too. More than a million jobs have been lost in the US since Trump took over at the beginning of 2025. The labour market has been hit hard from tariffs and DOGE cuts shedding jobs. Things are in the doldrums in America and stagflation may well be on the horizon. Messing with the economy, as the Trump regime has, is having multiple effects.
Crime Defence Democracy Economics Fresh Government News Politics Power
Day 3 of having no power due to a storm. No service: Profitability is the new power. Yes, this post is written under the duress of being cut off from electricity in my home and work. We live in a time, where being connected to the grid is more essential than ever before. Everything now runs on electricity. My gripe is that despite this clear and present reality, we are still dependent upon outdated and fragile infrastructure. 50 years ago, as I was growing up, I heard about the plans to put the power lines underground. Indeed, this has been achieved in many new suburbs. I do wonder why in this wonderful new world of privatised utilities how so many more established suburbs and towns have not been transformed in this subterranean fashion. Storms wreak havoc to power lines on poles.
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.
In contravention of the AFL media’s obsession with star players, the art of coaching demands so much more than a roster of stars. Indeed, the mysteries of coaching AFL are on display for all to see throughout the season. Why is one team so good and another side so bad? The talking heads would like to make it all about the talent of the players in each squad but that is decidedly not the exclusive reason for success. In truth, the athletes playing AFL at this level are all very good, which is why they ended up on a playing list at an AFL club. Most of these young men have been playing footy for much of their short lives. They are remarkably talented with ball skills and have honed their physical endurance in readiness for the big leap to AFL standard.
Americans have a funny idea about democracy if their behaviour around voting is any indication. If you look at the current situation and at the history of voting in the United States there is a greater push to keep people from voting than any encouragement for them to do so. More eligible American adults didn’t vote in the last presidential election than voted for either main party by about 20 million voters. The prevention of voting in the US. American men in power prevented women getting the vote unilaterally in the US for around a century. Of course, racist America stopped black women from voting until the civil rights movement in the middle of the 20C. New Zealand gave women the vote in 1893. Russia in 1917.
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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.
Footy Fresh News Power
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.
Footy Fresh Sport
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
A little thing called the Internet. Social media platforms on smart phones and their algorithms are winding folk up. Most things you watch on your feeds are slanted toward generating outrage. Video makers want eyeballs on their product so they title them with words designed […]
You are probably seeing a lot more self service checkouts when you go to the supermarket, airport, banks, and other stores. What are the economics of self service? First up, there are less jobs for human beings in your community because the machines are taking their employment. So, if you care about this fact it is a good idea to take note of this. The next economic question is whether you are saving money because you are now doing the work of what used to be done by a checkout operator paid by the store? There is no guarantee of this and I have seen no dedicated savings based on this in my own experience.
Queensland is a different state. Peter Dutton, the leader of the Opposition, comes from and represents Queenslanders. The bad cop on the political beat downunder. Many of its sons and daughters are proudly proponents of a white Australia. Especially in regional Queensland, where there is blatant racism expressed by townsfolk toward those not cut from the same cloth. The banana bending state:
“Queenslanders voted against the Voice to Parliament — more than any other state or territory in Australia”
Donald Trump, the President elect, has picked cabinet appointees as compromised as himself. I mean, nominating Matt Gaetz for Attorney General was an attempt at putting the sleaze in place early. Gaetz, like Trump, is a serial sexual abuser of women and these are the people Americans want in charge of their country. Low lifes put in charge by Trump. The Gaetz nomination failed early but it set the tone for the next Trump administration. Trump wants others around him who are as compromised as himself, as it is easier to manipulate those who owe you something. The nomination of Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary is another clouded in similar issues around the treatment of women.
Why do we have wars and the mass killings and destruction they engender? Men. Power hungry men who see violence as a means to an end. An end they desire, with their cabal in power. Why do we have wars? A current example of this is the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where Mr Putin’s trying to take control, by force, of a neighbouring country. There is no valid justification for killing people, whatever the political situation. Many of us shrug our shoulders and say, well, that is how the world has always been. Perhaps, but it is not good enough and we should never stop striving to progress beyond this reversion to violence and brute force.
We have just seen Australia worst child sex abuser caught sentence to 27 years in prison for his offences. Ashley Paul Griffith. However, in 2009, a complaint was made by a mother about this guy and her young child in his care at the time. No action was taken and the cops spent very little time interviewing the child. Queensland police failed to act on worst paedophile ever. Another 2 complaints are in the police system relating to complaints made by parents against Griffith, which again led to no action being undertaken by police.
I have just had the fortnight from Hell. A week of agonising tooth ache followed by root canal and another week of painful recovery. What is it with human teeth not being up to the job? WTF cannot our teeth last the distance along with other functioning parts of our body? I am angry about my lousy teeth. And like all good humans I am looking for someone or something to blame. I have walked the straight and narrow, for a decade, when it comes to my oral hygiene. Done the right thing diet-wise, according to the experts. Still I suffer like a bastard left out in the cold.
Do you know what has happened in our world? Everything has become about making profit. Look at the example of healthcare insurance. It would be logical to think that the care of the patient would be first and foremost in this sector. You would be wrong, since privatisation has come in via neoliberalism, shareholders have become the primary concern of those in the business of providing healthcare insurance. We are now putting the cart before the horse. CEOs and boards place profitability and returns for investors above all else. Patients do not get the timely care they need because it is all about spending less. These companies like United Healthcare are making $450 billion revenues annually. Neoliberalism puts consumers and workers at the bottom of their priority list and shareholders at the top – this is wrong. Healthcare should put patients first not shareholders.
Only in America, the land of unchecked greed and guns, do you half expect these sort of things. Rapacious health fund CEO gunned down in New York city. The assassin had marked his bullets with the words ‘deny’, ‘defend’ and ‘depose’. These are the insurer’s mantra when refusing payouts to policy holders. Brian Thompson was the CEO of United Healthcare a company on target to make $450 billion revenue this financial year. This is America where healthcare is first and foremost about profitability for investors and executives. I suspect that this way of doing business has made the company plenty of enemies.
The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) regularly makes billions of dollars profit every year. The share price of CBA is one of the highest for any bank in the world. $157.06 as of the 6th of December 2024. Despite this someone at the bank felt that it was a good move to charge many poorer Australians $3 every time that they withdrew cash from their own CBA bank accounts. This is the world we live in. The Commonwealth Bank fleecing Australians to extract even more profit out them during a cost of living crisis.
