ARTICLES

Australia Punishes The Unemployed
5 mins 4 dys

Australia Punishes The Unemployed

AI is coming for your job. As someone who has just been replaced by an automated program this is real, let me tell you. In light of this it is pertinent to remember that Australia punishes the unemployed economically. It is bipartisan policy of Australian governments to provide below the poverty line welfare payments to the unemployed. This has been going on for decades and is one of the reasons why we have a substantial number of older Australians living in poverty. These folk cannot afford to visit the dentist to get treatment because it is too expensive and dental is not included in Medicare. This in one of the wealthiest nations on earth.

Economics Employment Fresh Politics Power
8 mins 1 week

Australia Has A Tax Problem

Australia has a tax problem and I am going to suggest something to remedy that. The ATO is in a hole for some $52 billion, mostly from Australians who owe back taxes. In the most recent financial year that we have records for, some 91 Aussies who earned more than a million dollars paid no tax on that income at all. They managed to do this via creative tax accounting paying professionals hundreds of thousands to make it happen. These folk would rather do this than pay their fair share of tax on their earnings. There is an American flavour to this – the idea that the rich shouldn’t have to pay a lot of tax is promulgated by the wealthy and the GOP in the US. America has a national debt of $37 trillion and this correlates with the reduction of taxes on the wealthy over the last few decades. The top income tax rate was in the 90% range in the 1960s and that has come down to 37% as of now – that is a huge drop. Company taxes have come down substantially, as well, in recent times. Wealthy individuals and corporations are not paying their fair share of tax.

Book Review Democracy Economics Fresh Politics Power
Australia Must Sanction Israel
9 mins 1 week

Australia Must Sanction Israel

The murder of an Al Jazeera film crew and prominent journalist in Gaza by the IDF in a targeted attack is the final straw. Australia must sanction Israel and cut off all ties with Zionists here and abroad. Enough is enough! The outrageous destruction of an entire city and the genocide of the Palestinians is well beyond the pale. Over 17, 000 children have been killed out of the more than 60, 000 Gazans bombed and shot to death by the IDF. Acts of terrorism are no justification for murder and destruction on such wanton levels. It is time that Australia gets real about what is occurring in Gaza and in the West Bank.

Crime Democracy Fresh Politics

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A large building that has a bunch of rubble in front of it
6 mins 4 hrs

A Right Wing War Criminal

I am sure that the fact that a right wing war criminal, who happens to be the PM of Israel, is unhappy with him is making Anthony Albanese, the Australian PM, shake in his bones. Benjamin Netanyahu, the man who has unleashed a genocidal war machine upon the people of Gaza, desperately wants other European-settler nations to back him in his mass murderous treatment of Palestinians. The old ‘white is always right’ approach to stealing the land of those who were there before the settlers comes to the fore. Netanyahu loved Peter Dutton and sponsored him on a junket tour of Israel prior to Peter’s cataclysmic defeat in the last federal election downunder. Dutton and his Rupert Murdoch News Corp mates ran on a pro-Israel ticket despite the killing of more than 17, 000 Palestinian children and the murder of aid workers and journalists in Gaza by the IDF.

A large building that has a bunch of rubble in front of it
6 mins 4 hrs

A Right Wing War Criminal

I am sure that the fact that a right wing war criminal, who happens to be the PM of Israel, is unhappy with him is making Anthony Albanese, the Australian PM, shake in his bones. Benjamin Netanyahu, the man who has unleashed a genocidal war machine upon the people of Gaza, desperately wants other European-settler nations to back him in his mass murderous treatment of Palestinians. The old ‘white is always right’ approach to stealing the land of those who were there before the settlers comes to the fore. Netanyahu loved Peter Dutton and sponsored him on a junket tour of Israel prior to Peter’s cataclysmic defeat in the last federal election downunder. Dutton and his Rupert Murdoch News Corp mates ran on a pro-Israel ticket despite the killing of more than 17, 000 Palestinian children and the murder of aid workers and journalists in Gaza by the IDF.

Crime Democracy Fresh Politics Power
A large building that has a bunch of rubble in front of it
6 mins 4 hrs

A Right Wing War Criminal

I am sure that the fact that a right wing war criminal, who happens to be the PM of Israel, is unhappy with him is making Anthony Albanese, the Australian PM, shake in his bones. Benjamin Netanyahu, the man who has unleashed a genocidal war machine upon the people of Gaza, desperately wants other European-settler nations to back him in his mass murderous treatment of Palestinians. The old ‘white is always right’ approach to stealing the land of those who were there before the settlers comes to the fore. Netanyahu loved Peter Dutton and sponsored him on a junket tour of Israel prior to Peter’s cataclysmic defeat in the last federal election downunder. Dutton and his Rupert Murdoch News Corp mates ran on a pro-Israel ticket despite the killing of more than 17, 000 Palestinian children and the murder of aid workers and journalists in Gaza by the IDF.

Crime Democracy Fresh Politics Power

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Israel Is Actively Starving Palestinians To Death
5 mins 4 weeks

Israel Is Actively Starving Palestinians To Death

In Gaza, Israel is actively starving Palestinians to death. This follows bombing the shit out of the place and killing in excess of 50, 000 human beings. Meanwhile, in Australia the politicians are worrying about antisemitism and a few criminal acts of property destruction. Whilst in America, it is all about a sex scandal involving the exploitation of underage girls by Jeffrey Epstein, who has been dead for 6 years. This is the world we live in. Protesting acts of genocide is being made illegal by the efforts of those working the system to the advantage of their influential friends.

The Prevention Of Voting In The US
7 mins 1 mth

The Prevention Of Voting In The US

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.

Sick American Corporate Culture
7 mins 1 mth

Sick American Corporate Culture

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.

AFL A Game Unfit For Human Bodies
9 mins 1 mth

AFL A Game Unfit For Human Bodies

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.

Did the Wealthy Really Need Another Tax Cut?
5 mins 2 mths

Did the Wealthy Really Need Another Tax Cut?

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.

US Republican Lawmakers Lack Courage
6 mins 2 mths

US Republican Lawmakers Lack Courage

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.

6 mins 2 mths

Australia Needs To Copy Canada’s Digital Service Tax

Canada is applying a digital service’s tax on US companies doing this kind of business in that country. This will raise billions, as they are making it retroactive. Australia needs to copy Canada’s digital service tax to get these companies to pay their fair share of tax downunder. This Canadian initiative will apply to Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and the usual suspects in the digital space. The reason that this is required is that these giant companies avoid paying tax by shifting profits to low tax nations like Ireland, the Cayman and Virgin Islands etc. plus, claiming expenses in higher tax places like Australia and Canada. It is a well known corporate rort exploiting loopholes in the tax systems of nations with legions of tax accountants employed by them.

6 mins 2 mths

Albanese Don’t Suck Up To Trump Over AUKUS!

Australians were never consulted over AUKUS it was orchestrated by former PM Scott Morrison without going to the people. This $368 billion bad deal for nuclear submarines with the US and Brits makes Australia dependent upon these nations for many decades to come. In a new world order where unreliable allies like Trump’s America prevail it is not a smart move to tie yourself down to another country. Anthony Albanese don’t suck up to Trump over AUKUS, the majority of Aussies do not support you on this. America has shown itself to be way outside of what we in Australia consider to be the acceptable standards of democratic behaviour and human rights.

Tom Papley
6 mins 2 mths

Accuracy Costs Swans In Epic Duel With Dogs

It was a great effort, albeit ultimately unsuccessful, by Sydney against the Western Bulldogs at the SCG on Friday night. Accuracy costs Swans in epic duel with Dogs. The lack of it to be more precise cost the Sydney Swans the match. When a key forward cannot kick straight from right in front of goals, like Hayden McLean, to give your side a chance in the final minutes it is a crushing blow. He was not alone, however, as once again Sydney players blew easy opportunities for goals again and again throughout the game.

lowering the company tax rate
6 mins 2 mths

Lowering The Company Tax Rate

Hey folks, lowering the company tax rate is not going to stimulate investment and increased productivity. For a starter, companies are going to spend money on AI, which is going to mean less jobs and more unemployment. Yes, that can look good on productivity figures because less workers producing more stuff is what that graph is all about. It is not going to be so great for the retrenched workers, however, and don’t give me that crap about them getting re-employed elsewhere. This takes time and the data tells us that these workers never recover the level of income they were previously on. They will just be collateral economic damage on the way to a more productive economy.  Who cares about actual people when there is an economic data graph at stake?