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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.
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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.
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Donald Trump justifying his tariff policy trots out the line that other nations are taking advantage of the United States. That trade imbalances are an unfair attack on America and its people. This Trump claiming victimhood status BS has reached new levels of absurdity. Who buys that the most powerful economic and military might in the world is being taken advantage of? Come on folks, you might not be the sharpest tools in the shed, but really? This poppycock is a smokescreen for the fact that you will be paying another tax on everything you buy, which is imported or uses imported components. Hang on, wasn’t Trump going to make things more affordable? Didn’t he promise that for your vote?
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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.
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.
Do you find reading stuff to be a bit of a drag? Are you always on the look out for an easy hack? The bad news is that if you don’t exercise your brain function you will pay for it later on. Use it or lose it! Technology may seem great and so convenient, but it is dumbing us down and charging us for the service at the same time. Reading utilises different parts of the brain than watching videos. Processing the meaning of words and sentences makes you smarter and not the machine. Ruminating on important stuff via reading essays will make you wiser. Here are 5 good reasons why reading will save your brain.
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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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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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?
The Queensland police declare Trains’ domestic Christian terrorists following an investigation into their murderous shooting in Wieambilla. Stacey Train and Nathaniel Train were school principals until recently and their conversion to mass murderers could not have happened overnight. This highlights the dangers of religious belief and how extremism is only an unknown distance away. If you believe in invisible supernatural entities then the sky is the limit when it comes to making up your own rules on planet earth. The thing about religion is that ultimately its adherents do not recognise governments over their gods.
