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Christianity, like most religions, is a useful fiction to have in the background if you are interested in power. Here you have a collection of arcane stories purporting to be in someways associated with the word of God. People in power, in many places, often, refer to their own faith, as if it is a one size fits all stamp of righteous authority. That their belief in the God of the religion, shared by the dominant cohort, conveys some moral probity within their quest for power. Card carrying Christians wave their bonafides in the face of all and sundry who may question their ascendancy. The illusory nature of religion can be bent into all sorts of shapes.
Culture Fresh Power Religion
I am, by choice, petless in my life. That is, without a furry companion to share my domicile. For four weeks, however, this changed, when I was invited to house sit on holiday in WA. Thus, the title of this post – Doggie Dementia: My month of pet poop and piss in Perth. It was a family arrangement with a sibling, she and partner were off to Bali, whilst I would hold down the fort. Water a few sheltered pot plants, turn on the irrigation system, take out the trash, something about feeding worms, and look after Misty – the Shih tzu Maltese Terrier Cross.
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Here is an idea for Anthony Albanese to take up for the betterment of Australia. Ban companies that use tax havens. The PM could ensure that the Australian government does not do business with those multinational corporations who do not pay their fair share of tax via the nefarious means of profit shifting to tax havens. Microsoft does it. Meta does it. Amazon does it. Google (Alphabet) does it. News Corp does it. Apple does it. Pepsi too. Lots of them do it, as tax accountancy consultancy firms facilitate this behaviour.
Crime Democracy Economics Fresh Politics Power
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.
Contact sports in the guise of AFL or rugby are coming under increasing scrutiny in regard to head knocks to players. The truth is that modern human beings are not designed to crash and bash into each other at speed. We have, obviously, evolved away from the need to do so in the natural world. Survival does not call for such behaviour these days and that has long been the case. It is, rather, recreational pursuits in the form of team contact sports which have become the unhealthy danger in recent years. The professionalism and commercialism within these sports have motivated players to become bigger, stronger and faster in pursuit of material rewards. The resultant clashes between these modern day gladiators are fuelling an increasing amount of brain injury diseases showing up in past and present players. Is it a situation where caveman sports have no place in a healthy life?
Let’s take a peek inside the Aussie racist bubble. This is where those wrapping themselves in the national flag and marching against immigration reside. The thinking goes that if we keep out all those brown skinned people, we will not see horrendous events like the Bondi Beach mass shooting. White folk from, predominantly, Anglo stock do not commit such vile acts, according to their script. Shutting the big bad world out will protect us from the atrocities. Yes, some of our business elite sell weapons to war torn countries and our superannuation funds invest for profit in such stuff the world over, but that is beside the point. Yes, our soldiers have fought in wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East but that is not our concern, either.
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.
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Contact sports in the guise of AFL or rugby are coming under increasing scrutiny in regard to head knocks to players. The truth is that modern human beings are not designed to crash and bash into each other at speed. We have, obviously, evolved away from the need to do so in the natural world. Survival does not call for such behaviour these days and that has long been the case. It is, rather, recreational pursuits in the form of team contact sports which have become the unhealthy danger in recent years. The professionalism and commercialism within these sports have motivated players to become bigger, stronger and faster in pursuit of material rewards. The resultant clashes between these modern day gladiators are fuelling an increasing amount of brain injury diseases showing up in past and present players. Is it a situation where caveman sports have no place in a healthy life?
Culture Footy Fresh Health News Sport Contact sports in the guise of AFL or rugby are coming under increasing scrutiny in regard to head knocks to players. The truth is that modern human beings are not designed to crash and bash into each other at speed. We have, obviously, evolved away from the need to do so in the natural world. Survival does not call for such behaviour these days and that has long been the case. It is, rather, recreational pursuits in the form of team contact sports which have become the unhealthy danger in recent years. The professionalism and commercialism within these sports have motivated players to become bigger, stronger and faster in pursuit of material rewards. The resultant clashes between these modern day gladiators are fuelling an increasing amount of brain injury diseases showing up in past and present players. Is it a situation where caveman sports have no place in a healthy life?
Culture Footy Fresh Health News Sport
Contact sports in the guise of AFL or rugby are coming under increasing scrutiny in regard to head knocks to players. The truth is that modern human beings are not designed to crash and bash into each other at speed. We have, obviously, evolved away from the need to do so in the natural world. Survival does not call for such behaviour these days and that has long been the case. It is, rather, recreational pursuits in the form of team contact sports which have become the unhealthy danger in recent years. The professionalism and commercialism within these sports have motivated players to become bigger, stronger and faster in pursuit of material rewards. The resultant clashes between these modern day gladiators are fuelling an increasing amount of brain injury diseases showing up in past and present players. Is it a situation where caveman sports have no place in a healthy life?
Culture Footy Fresh Health News Sport
The Sydney Swans flop off the bye at the Gabba under fierce Lion’s pressure. Personally, I hate the bye and always have as a Swan’s fan. Too many times the team fails to fire after a week off. The Swans looked soft on this Thursday night featured contest with last year’s premiers. Brody Grundy gifted Brisbane goal scoring opportunities out of the centre 4 times on the night. These free kicks for crossing the line at the ball up are huge penalties to pay for this indiscretion, especially when advantage is taken and opposing players steal out the front of the centre square toward their goal.
Footy Fresh
You know a lot of the apparent support for One Nation comes from older white Australians. Pauline Hanson and her campaign machine promote the idea that things were better back in the day. This right wing idealisation of the past, of there being some sort of golden age, is nothing new. Fascists in Hitler’s era promoted the concept of the pure German who lived during a bucolic time of yesteryear. Romanticising the past appeals to older folk especially. Contrasting it with the present and focusing on negative stuff like urban crime and demonising special interest groups plays well with this audience. Hitler and the Nazis attacked the immorality of the Weimar Republic, which won them electoral support from conservate Germans. Pauline Hanson attacks Muslims, refugees and immigrants, as all things bad for Australia. The idealisation of the past is a never land, in that it never really existed the way they say it did.
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Whilst watching a documentary about Nazism and fascism in America back in the 1930s, my ears were pricked by the repeated expressions ‘ make America great’ and ‘one nation’! The modern day use of these terms as names and tag lines are by no means accidental. The white supremacist beliefs and racism, which lie at the base of MAGA and One Nation, in the US and Australia respectively, are the foundation of these movements and political parties. If you have read DH Lawrence’s book Kangaroo or seen the movie based upon it, you will know that Australia was not immune from the rise of fascism post WW1.
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Money originated from blood money, wergild, how appropriate when you think about it. This was a payment that had to be made to the family of who was killed or hurt. The price of blood, usually, the monetary value determined of the injury done. Now, when you think about the bastards you have done business with and their morally repugnant behaviour it all makes sense somewhere (LOL).
My heart feels for the forgotten Australians. For those who missed the advantages of well heeled parents and private schools. For those who never quite managed to save up enough for a deposit on a home. For those who rent their residence in an ever shrinking market but now pay through the nose. My heart goes out to the third of Australians forgotten by governments and swept under the rug of their lost concerns. Are we returning to an age where money and property determined your rights in the world? Perhaps, we never really left that unfair realm.
Government budgets are not like household budgets. They do not work in the same way. Nations like Australia with a sovereign currency, like the Australian dollar, cannot run out of money. Therefore, all this tut tutting about government deficits and spending is misdirection. If you print your own currency you can always print more. Yes, there are other economic constraints like inflation, but worrying about going bankrupt is not one of them. Governments are better off running deficits than being in surplus. In a national economy the role of government is to spend to further the wealth and wellbeing of its citizenry when required. Understanding money is not the same for the state and its citizens.
Bruce Lehrmann goes to a strip club in Toowoomba in 2021, where he hooks up with a woman who later claims he raped her. He is now charged with allegedly raping this woman and the matter is before the courts in Queensland. Mister Lehrmann has been on our TV screens via Channel 7’s Spotlight, where he is portrayed as a victim of political and judicial skullduggery. Bruce Lehrmann was able to walk free after the Brittany Higgin’s rape trial collapsed due to juror misbehaviour and the decision was made not to have a retrial on the basis of the dangers to the mental health of the alleged victim Brittany Higgins. He was not cleared of the alleged charge of rape, however.
Renters don’t matter in Australia if the current situation is anything to go by. The available rental stock nationally has fallen to 1.1%. This is the lowest figure on record in the history of the nation. So, let’s talk about the rental crisis in Australia. Rents in the capital cities have been going up 12% year on year on average. Of course, for some their rent has gone up way beyond that in the 20% to 30% stratosphere. At the same time in Australia wages have not gone up anywhere near this. Indeed, for most wages have not risen at all. This means that poorer Australians are going backwards economically at a serious rate of knots.
Conservative politicians and their backers are inviting Australians to embrace their worst selves. Peter Dutton in his successful campaign to defeat the Indigenous Voice referendum has galvanised the downward envy gripping this nation. Too cheap and nasty to do the right thing and redress the constitutional wrongs which have defined this country the Australian people have let themselves down. Expediency always costs much more in the long run. The limited vision expounded by the No campaign and Dutton will come back to bite us on the bum make no mistake. Denying recognition and a say about the things that impact their own lives is a serious slap in the face for First Nations people.
Thank Adele Ferguson for shining the spotlight on this alleged blatant exploitation by a Sydney podiatrist of vulnerable Australians. ABC reveals podiatrist ripping off veterans and the evidence is stacks up. This illustrates the malfeasance by medical professionals occurring within the Medicare system and other government schemes. We know that billions of dollars are being rorted by some within the medical fraternity in a betrayal of the trust put in them by the Australian public. The 7.30 Report shows the complete lack of oversight present in so many government-funded schemes in Australia. The idea that all doctors are good guys and worthy women is being shown to be a costly fallacy for tax payers down under. Thank goodness for investigative journalism.
If you want to see the cultural and institutional racism at work in Australia check out the number of missing and murdered First Nations women on our state record books. Literally hundreds of Indigenous women whose cases have barely been investigated let alone solved by our police forces around the nation. Dark skinned girls in regional areas hardly rate a mention by our media when they mysteriously go missing. They are not blue eyed and blonde haired. They are not from Caucasian homes. These daughters of desperate mothers are consigned to the rubbish bins of history by police and their masters who really don’t care much.
First up I want to say that I am a big fan of Anthony Albanese and support his having a go at getting the Voice referendum over the line. It was brave and hopefully not stupid. Australian political leaders have a pretty poor track record when it comes to doing anything about Aboriginal recognition, reconciliation, and treaty. Bob Hawke squibbed it. Peter Dutton’s decision to oppose the Voice and turn it into a political battle destroyed any hope we had to constitutionally recognise First Nations people in Australia. Non-partisan politics does not exist in this nation when it comes to Indigenous Affairs.
Since the global pandemic we have seen a trend toward a concern for individual freedoms. This is no surprise after the lockdowns, vaccine mandates, and heavier government controls. However, these social health policies were necessary and will be again if and when another virus emerges. I am reminded of times of war when governments are forced to curtail public freedoms and demand much more from their citizens. Do not fall for those promising some sovereign citizen nirvana because such things do not exist in reality. The world is not all about you or me, we are all a part of communities, whether we like it or not. Populations are rising and this by its very nature means more rules to govern the many.
