words matter
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In America, you get the sense that if someone made a fortune from murdering babies and draining their blood and selling it on the internet they would still be celebrated. The billionaire factory keeps churning out these obscenely rich individuals. Jeffrey Epstein was reportedly worth some $600 million at his death. This former math teacher (with no teaching qualifications) accrued an enormous wealth via his philandering, financing, blackmailing, spying, pimping and sex trafficking activities. Epstein was a celebrated billionaire buddy of Donald Trump for many years and they shared a passion for very young pretty girls, according to Trump himself.
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America is a strange place with its preference for really old men running the country. The mad, bad grandpa in the White House is a daily bullshitter. Telling lies and posting them on social media is, obviously, a compulsive habit of Donald Trump. It takes a special nation to elect the man who failed spectacularly during the global pandemic. Why would you put a x6 times bankrupt in charge of your country? This reeks of ignorance through disengagement with political and economic realities. Taking a compulsive liar at face value suggests that Americans are not the sharpest tools in the shed.
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You know, paying your taxes is pretty important for the country. It may not be popular but tax revenue challenges are vital to the future of this nation. ATO $2 billion scam failure lets down Australia. The ABC’s 4 Corners has exposed huge holes in the ATO automated system to the tune of billions of dollars. Local scammers and criminals have plundered the tax office to an extraordinary scale over recent years. The disappointing nature of this is not only the embarrassing hit to the nation’s coffers but the fact that ATO retrenchments directly contributed to the appalling loss and theft of funds.
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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 My gripe is that despite this clear and present reality, we are still dependent upon outdated and fragile infrastructure. 50 years ago, as I was growing up, I heard about the plans to put the power lines underground.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.
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.
The release of a trove Epstein emails has revealed Jeffrey Epstein agony aunt to billionaires and other elites. Prominent Americans sought both financial and dating advice from Jeffrey Epstein. Money and sex, it is like these two hot topics use the same hole or parts of the brain. Larry Summers, the economist and former President of Harvard University, is featured in these email conservations with Epstein, even after Epstein’s conviction for sex trafficking. It seems that the billionaire financier and sex trafficker had a reputation as an expert in both these areas of life.
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.
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I thought that it could be useful, in light of the apparent rise in the populist politics of grievance, to ask, so, what does it mean to be Australian? Anti-immigration is the flag waving vanguard theme of One Nation and the remnants of the Liberal party. Blame it on the immigrant appears number one on the political grievance charts downunder. Therefore, it provokes the question – what does it mean to be Australian? If it is not out-and-out racism, as those on the Right deny it to be, who, then, qualifies to be considered an acceptable Australian?
Culture Democracy Fresh Government Politics Power I thought that it could be useful, in light of the apparent rise in the populist politics of grievance, to ask, so, what does it mean to be Australian? Anti-immigration is the flag waving vanguard theme of One Nation and the remnants of the Liberal party. Blame it on the immigrant appears number one on the political grievance charts downunder. Therefore, it provokes the question – what does it mean to be Australian? If it is not out-and-out racism, as those on the Right deny it to be, who, then, qualifies to be considered an acceptable Australian?
Culture Democracy Fresh Government Politics Power
I thought that it could be useful, in light of the apparent rise in the populist politics of grievance, to ask, so, what does it mean to be Australian? Anti-immigration is the flag waving vanguard theme of One Nation and the remnants of the Liberal party. Blame it on the immigrant appears number one on the political grievance charts downunder. Therefore, it provokes the question – what does it mean to be Australian? If it is not out-and-out racism, as those on the Right deny it to be, who, then, qualifies to be considered an acceptable Australian?
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We have seen a spate of one-size-fits-all welfare payments and subsidies. You know, instead of governments helping the most needy they make stuff free for all. This is done for political purposes in attracting votes at elections. All this does is increase wealth inequality. Well off property owners should not be receiving government assistance in maintaining their lifestyles. This brings us to the Alan Kohler call for free childcare downunder. While I support the general idea, I question why wealthy Australians should qualify for these types of assistance. How about a carve out for those over a certain income and capital asset threshold? We need to reverse the widening wealth divide after decades of American style neoliberalism funnelling riches to a select few in Australia.
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Trump starts war with Iran in concert with Israel and vandalises the world economy. This irresponsible fool then passes the buck to America’s former allies, demanding they re-open the Strait of Hormuz. Nobody wants to follow the US into this mess of their own making. This is what you get when you elect a convicted felon and multiple bankrupt to the presidency. The stupidity of America is on full display. The greed and selfishness of Americans is up on the world stage for all to see. Listening to a lying, loud mouthed idiot is taking the United States and the world to the brink of collapse and destruction.
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We need an Inquiry into why LPG gas deals have been so financially bad for the nation as a whole. Why do the gas companies pay so little tax and royalties on the huge amounts of gas they export for enormous profits? When elected representatives are deaf to their constituents, you know something is wrong with our democracy. Polling has indicated that 75% of Australians support a 25% export tax on LPG gas. Yet, this federal Labor government has knocked back proposed legislation to make this happen.
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Knowledge is Power. Beat Sticky Inflation, Recession & High Interest Rates. Money Matters: Navigating Credit, Debt & Financial Freedom is the new book by Robert Sudha Hamilton. In this collection of his articles on the Australian economy readers can take an investigative journey into the local and global issues facing us all in the current clime. The twenty-first century Western economy is built on the foundation of credit and debt. Credit and debt are intertwined and play a critical role in the functioning of modern economies. Money matters more now than ever before and things happen at breakneck speed in our modern digitised economies.
AFL has been messed with by former players and luminaries of the game to serve up a version their sensibilities are happy with. They wanted to turn the clock back to more high scoring and less ferociously defensive AFL games of the 1980s and 1990s. However, there are always side effects that come with any fixes – just ask the medical/pharmaceutical fraternity. AFL: What s**** me about the game and broadcasts. What we have in season 2023 is the ball carrier walking on water in terms of being protected by the umpires. Holding the ball has just disappeared from the umpire’s rules book it seems. Players must not attempt to fight off the tackle but just hang onto the ball for a ball up to be whistled. The obvious ramifications of this are the spate of dangerous tackles, as the tackler attempts to dislodge the ball and/or incapacitate the ball carrier because he cannot get a free kick for the now obsolete holding the ball rule. Players are getting head injuries and being suspended for dangerous tackles, as a consequence of this change to rule interpretation.
AFL side, the Sydney Swans, went down to Geelong undermanned and got thumped. Swans shellacking by Cats is déjà vu, after the 2022 grand final thrashing was repeated. The Geelong team were mighty and won the contest all over the ground. The Swans were missing their full back, centre half back, and other big man in defence. Sydney was also without their full forward and first choice ruckman. The Swans battled manfully and never gave up but were severely outclassed and outplayed. The result of the match exposed some serious flaws in the #Swans recruiting over the previous few years.
There is talk of the huge cost to Australians of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). The NDIS mess is made by bureaucrats. A worthy idea at heart the NDIS has been overloaded with many unnecessary protocols. The fact that individuals on the scheme with lifelong conditions are made to front an annual review panel to prove their disability is the perfect example of this. Who benefits from this? The bureaucrats involved, of course, they create employment and working hours for themselves to conduct these unnecessary reviews. Someone who is blind from birth is not going to suddenly see – no matter your religious beliefs about whether miracles exist. A quadriplegic or paraplegic should not have to prove their status every year. This is red tape wastage that makes the NDIS much more expensive than it need be.
Paranoid, racist, gun-toting society gone mad. This apt description of parts of America is a frightening fact for the world to consider. White people shooting black kids through their locked front door just for ringing the bell or knocking. White people shooting kids dead in cars for driving onto their property by mistake. This is a population out of control and dangerous to those around them. Guns make people, whatever their whim or momentary state of mind into potential killers. Talk about arrested development, the U.S. is stuck in a violent past, which had its day long ago. Corporate greed manipulating the constitution and the country’s elected representatives is keeping this society locked into a disgusting tableau of death and mass shootings.
Sydney Swans’ forward line is letting the team down with inaccuracy in front of goals. Sydney Swans poor kicking for goal costs wins. Lance Franklin has been poor and has missed the few chances he has had. Isaac Heeney is not doing enough and lacks reliability on his set shots. Will Hayward has tried his guts out and done some fine things, but misses too many shots at goal. Logan McDonald has shown some excellent signs and his goal kicking has been pretty good this year. Tom Papley is starting to hit his straps. Joel Amartey has been good but was ineffective in front of goals against Port Adelaide.
When the Liberal Party elected Peter Dutton as their leader what did they think would happen? This is the hard right face of this once broadly representative political party. Peter Dutton: Australia what did you expect? A party shunted out of office after 10 years of doing little more than protecting the status quo. At a time when Australia and the world required real leadership, we got jobs for the boys and heads buried in the sand. The Coalition was a federal government devoid of vision and tightly controlled by vested interests.
The Liberal Party under the leadership of Peter Dutton has moved further right into irrelevance in Australia. This is the party that has played politics over climate change for the last 15 years and bogged Australia into the slow lane on this existential crisis facing humanity. Now, the Liberal Party plays politics with Aboriginal Voice and reconciliation. It is a dreadful shame that our nation cannot move forward on something so important united on the political front. The Coalition parties, Nationals and Liberals, were never going to get on board this momentous recognition of our Indigenous brothers and sisters, as they represent the hard right racist minority within Australia.
The space agency NASA has fallen through the glass floor by announcing a team of socially disadvantaged astronauts to fly to the moon. In this brave bid to buck the decades of elitist expeditionary forces sent into outer space – NASA names first homeless astronaut to orbit moon. Diversity and social inclusion have come to the fore in the selection of these intrepid planetary trekkers. The theme of this team is outliers living the dream. More women, more people of colour, more neurodiversity, more people of all abilities, and from a much wider social circle. Frank Sinatra sang, Fly Me to the Moon, and he, although being blue eyed and white, was not of Anglo origin.
We are in the midst of a housing crisis. A 1000 new migrants are coming into the country a day. Rents are sky rocketing due to the shortage of available housing. Australian government does sweet f*** a** during housing crisis. There is a bill before parliament that if passed may build 30 000 social housing properties over 5 years. This, however, is an emergency and governments are doing bugger all right now to alleviate it. It is not enough to promise better things for the future. We need swift action right now to meet the challenges of this unfolding crisis.
