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The federal Liberal Party returned to their spots, as the beast that reckons females have their place beneath a man. For many years, the Libs argued that it was purely based on merit why they had so few women in positions of power. Pull the other one boys. This sons of Anglo-settler political party sees power as the natural home of men born to rule. Going to the right private school and ascending gracefully via a network of old boys is the Liberal Party way. Sure, the odd woman, who can act like a bloke, is neither here nor there; but leadership is reserved for the right kind of man.
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The latest tranche of the Epstein Files released has revealed how far the tentacles of right wing wealth and power reach across the world. Bill Shorten, the favourite whipping boy of the Australian Right, along with being falsely accused of past union corruption had Clive Palmer spending big on attack ads during the last week of the 2019 federal election. Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s former campaign director, is claiming to Jeffrey Epstein that he advised Clive Palmer on this matter. Those on the Right are, as we know, terrible liars, and Epstein and Bannon are both headline acts in this regard. Taking credit for stuff is what these guys do. Whatever the factuality of this matter it reveals the network of wealth and power across the globe.
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If you are disgusted and horrified at Trump and the revelations of the Epstein files. Do your bit: Cancel your Big Tech subscriptions. Bill Gates and Trump are ball’s deep in the sordid world of the late Jeffrey Epstein. Rich men treat the world with disdain and think they can wipe their muck off on us. What can we do about this? What action can we take to send a clear message that this is not good enough behaviour? Ditch your Microsoft subscriptions. Hit them where it will ultimately hurt. Stop spending your money with Big Tech.
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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.
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.
We use the terms Right and Left as shorthand for political persuasions. So, what are 8 things that mean you’re right wing? In the current climate, this is likely to indicate that this person shares exclusionary cultural attitudes, which could be categorised as racist, maybe white supremacist, supports the ‘trad wife’ gender positioning, doesn’t like much government regulation, is anti-immigration, and wants to pay as little tax as possible. Whereas those on the left may support socialism, which is more and better government regulation, wants to see greater respect for diversity in all its forms, an expansion of power sharing beyond the white male cohort, and wealth being taxed to create real equity among more of us.
Michael Pezzullo, according to 60 Minutes, has been revealed as a Machiavellian character operating inside the halls of power in Canberra. Pezzullo pissing in political pockets in search of influence is operating well outside the remit of a member of the public service. The expose by Nine Fairfax investigative reporters shows him to be a right wing power broker rather than an apolitical appointment. The Home Affairs Secretary in his clandestine relationship with Liberal Party insider Scott Briggs has crossed the line repeatedly and consistently over many years. The trove of once encrypted messages now revealed should ring the death knell for his career.

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It is costing more than a billion dollars a day for the US to be raining missiles on Iran with its Israeli war mongering partner. Americans are spending an extra $200 million a day on increased petrol prices at the pump, thanks to President Trump’s war on Iran. Rich people doing war in the Middle East, whilst the rest of us struggle with affordability issues. Billionaires are likely cashing in on an oil price going through the roof. In reality, Donald Trump is an economic vandal with no care for the hundreds of millions of people doing it tough because of his illegal wars and tariffs.
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It is costing more than a billion dollars a day for the US to be raining missiles on Iran with its Israeli war mongering partner. Americans are spending an extra $200 million a day on increased petrol prices at the pump, thanks to President Trump’s war on Iran. Rich people doing war in the Middle East, whilst the rest of us struggle with affordability issues. Billionaires are likely cashing in on an oil price going through the roof. In reality, Donald Trump is an economic vandal with no care for the hundreds of millions of people doing it tough because of his illegal wars and tariffs.
Defence Democracy Economics Fresh News Politics PowerIt is costing more than a billion dollars a day for the US to be raining missiles on Iran with its Israeli war mongering partner. Americans are spending an extra $200 million a day on increased petrol prices at the pump, thanks to President Trump’s war on Iran. Rich people doing war in the Middle East, whilst the rest of us struggle with affordability issues. Billionaires are likely cashing in on an oil price going through the roof. In reality, Donald Trump is an economic vandal with no care for the hundreds of millions of people doing it tough because of his illegal wars and tariffs.
Defence Democracy Economics Fresh News Politics PowerAI digital technology is coming for your job. AI heresy a betrayal of humanity. Big Tech is being run by oligarchs hell bent on profitability at all costs. Ruthless American capitalism has no interest in you or your family. This is a betrayal of us all and not merely a fight between doomers and boomers. Read all about it, if you dare. Of course, you might not be smart enough? Your brain may have already begun to atrophy? Is AI thinking for you and making decisions for you in your life? Robert Sudha Hamilton has written The AI Heresy: A Betrayal of Humanity as a warning to us all. A clarion call to wake up before it is too late. Do you have the symptoms?
Book Review Culture Fresh Media News Power WritingDoes anybody else find it ironic that a would-be-dictator is bragging about killing a dictator of another country? I am talking about President Trump, who tells Americans there should be no separation between church and state, and the theocratic leader of Iran, the late Ayatollah Khomeini. Donald Trump previously claimed to be worthy of the Nobel peace prize, as the war stopper par excellence. Hey, he has obviously moved on from this deeply held moral standpoint. Boredom is Trump’s greatest threat, it seems. Donald Trump is, without doubt, the biggest liar that the American presidency has ever seen. Therefore, his claims are as credible as the boy who cried wolf.
Crime Defence Democracy Fresh Government Politics PowerYou know, a long time ago, I removed liars from my life. I made a conscious decision not to have people who dissemble around me. I suppose, I thought, that things can be fairly challenging without the added complications of not knowing if that person was spinning me a tale. Talking shit! Making stuff up to suit their own purposes. Since that self-imposed rule came into my life, things may not be as exciting as they once were but they are a hell of a lot simpler. This is probably why I have no time for Donald Trump at all. Once I worked out that the man is a compulsive liar and has zero respect for the truth, I will not waste my time listening to his crap. I do feel sorry for those Americans who have to endure such a waste of space pretending to be someone worthy of being their leader.
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Project 2025 and Project Esther are right wing authoritarian blueprints for the disempowerment of progressive influence in the United States of America. Antisemitism has been weaponised by the Far Right as a witch hunt. This is a global campaign supported by the Trump regime and […]
The last refuge of the incompetent is violence, to paraphrase a line attributed to Isaac Asimov. This truism is particularly apt for Donald J Trump and his regime in the United States. Busy stuffing up the world’s greatest economy, Trump and his cronies are now turning to violence to compensate. Venezuela is their first port of call, amid BS about attacking drug dealers, they are going after this nation’s oil. Venezuela has the world’s largest reserves of thick crude oil. The bully in the White House is picking on a weaker opponent, as bullies always do. You do not see Mister Trump taking on Vladimir Putin and Russia. This is despite the fact that Putin’s Russia is clearly the biggest villain in international terms. No, Trump and his kind pick on the weak, like undocumented immigrants in America.
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.
I see reports that the alleged Bondi Beach gunmen were on ASIO’s radar. Well, further investigative reports tell us that they travelled to the Philippines in November and attended militia training there in the south. This would involve firearms training and learning strategies for shooting people, I would suggest. It seems that our security agencies are not all that we might hope, if the evidence is anything to go by. This in conjunction with gun laws that allowed an individual to have licenses for 6 firearms. What do you need to have this many guns for? It is time to stop treating gun owners with kid gloves and get real about the dangers these deadly weapons pose to the greater community.
We can bang on about terrorism and causes but it was guns that made this horrific Bondi Beach incident so costly in lives. Why does a gun licensee need 6 weapons? For those that might require reminding, guns facilitate massacres by making it easier to kill people. 16 people are dead from this mass shooting event at the time of writing. It is lax and over generous gun laws which have provided these killers with 6 guns to use in this devastating attack on multiple victims. Nobody needs 6 guns, whatever their circumstances; and the Bondi Beach victims have paid the price.
How the ‘Gig economy’ feeds on its workers to profit its corporate masters and their shareholders? Technology has facilitated more services and cheaper rates for consumers. Delivery drivers and riders provide their own assets, like vehicle and smart phone, to make those deliveries possible. These, often, expensive assets depreciate through use and the gig worker must bear the cost and not the parent platform. The risks are all with the worker and not the platforms. Indeed, Uber has a pathway where drivers, often, end up paying for the shopping with their own money, which is to be reimbursed days later. If the worker was being paid extra for these financially onerous uses of their assets it might be OK, but they are not.
In Australia, on the political front, we have very little in the way of progressive or Leftist policy options. It is rather the choice of how far Right. Traditionally centrist positions have been favoured by most voters, usually Centre Right. The LNP Coalition has, over recent years, moved further Right in thrall to populist demagogues like Donald Trump. Neoliberalism via privatization has seen many previously publicly owned assets move into private hands. The energy utilities are an illustrative example of this, where numerous private companies operate within this sector, either generating, wholesaling or retailing energy. Despite promises to the contrary prices for energy have not come down. Those greater efficiencies have not materialised.
Here are 5 reasons why Donald Trump is wrecking the global economy. The US has ruled the roost economically since WW2 and detrimental things that happen there negatively impact upon the world economy too. More than a million jobs have been lost in the US since Trump took over at the beginning of 2025. The labour market has been hit hard from tariffs and DOGE cuts shedding jobs. Things are in the doldrums in America and stagflation may well be on the horizon. Messing with the economy, as the Trump regime has, is having multiple effects.
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.
Politicians on the Right have no long term solutions for anything. Short termism infects everything they do and say. Their intentions are all about getting elected via the politics of grievance. Once in power they achieve little and go about milking the system for their own benefit. Donald Trump is a clear example of this, campaigning on high prices and the cost of living under Joe Biden. The US economy is now in far worse shape since he returned to the White House. More than a million jobs have been lost and stagflation is on the horizon for Americans. Trump now has the lowest approval rate in the polls in US history. If you ask many of his voters if they are happy with his handling of the economy their answer would be in the negative.