words matter
I was listening to the radio whilst driving my car and I was scanning stations for something that took my fancy. The 5pm news came on and I was on a Queensland station that I knew to be owned and run as a Christian radio station. Their news announcer reported that Facebook was now allowing greater free speech on their platforms. This struck me as a strange way to report that Facebook has ditched independent fact checking on their social media platforms of Instagram, Threads and Facebook. I suppose I should not be surprised at this interpretation of facts by a Christian mouthpiece in Queensland.
Culture Fresh
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 […]
Fresh
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.
Economics Fresh
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
The opioid crisis in America is a terrible indictment on American doctors. The fact that OxyContin was widely prescribed as a safe cure for pain despite being an opioid is testament to the stupidity and gullibility of American doctors. The training and experience of medical practitioners should have indemnified them with a healthy scepticism for claims made by the pharmaceutical companies in this instance. Opioids have been known to be highly addictive for many decades and there have been no exceptions to this over the period.
The term ‘woke’ is bandied about in the media and by politicians on the right all too frequently. However, ask many of them to define the term and they struggle to answer that question. I asked AI, what ‘woke’ is? Thinking that some cool headed clarity may assist those who are unsure what to make of the current debate. Is ‘woke’ a good thing or a bad thing? I think it all depends upon where in the room you are standing. It seems, that those threatened by sharing a place at the table with those historically excluded want to make ‘woke’ a dirty word. Read what AI has to say on the matter and make up your own mind on the issue.
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?
