Thousands of small businesses around Australia have been caught in the alleged scam which involves paying $430 a month to a finance company, under a three-year contract which will cost up to $15,500.
Small business owners like Harvey Levy, who owns lawn mower repair business Help Gardener, were told Viewble and its associated business The Shoppers Network would pay them $430 a month in advertising revenue for displaying the television which showed ads for local businesses.
Mr Trent said he became alarmed when he realised Viewble’s clients thought they were receiving the television for free because they would receive a rebate through advertising.
Month: November 2018
What we are seeing now however, is perhaps the first signs of the super wealthy becoming active, not just in a political sense to steer the ship of State in a direction most suitable to their means, but having reached a stage of “maximum saturation” of the limits of wealth accumulation outside of Nation State regulated control, they are using their immense wealth to buy influence or use existing ownership influence of media communications to not only lobby for political outcomes, but to actually use those politicians they have command over to pass legislation or simply to kill-off regulation or to sell-off State owned utilities and social welfare bodies so as to limit that same State control over their means of accumulating even more wealth and power … by forcing people whose wages and living standards are no longer protected by civil laws and codes or fair regulation to accept or perish on the harsh demands of the oligarch’s workplace conditions.
In short, the wealthy are attempting to destroy the stability of the Nation State.
And if this line of reasoning was followed through, it becomes clear that the wealthy to continue to prosper, must destroy the Nation State to replace it with a dictatorship.
For an individual to even want to climb to such a level of wealth without a desire to relinquish a goodly portion of such useless riches back into the community, demonstrates a personality that places no limits on its ambition … a greed unchecked, a venality unsatisfied, a desire insatiable, a depravity unstoppable!
The wealthy are working to destroy our Nation State … we, the citizen body depending on civil governance fair to all now, vital to all in the future, in benefit to the many, must now work toward destroying … for the good of the many, for the possibility of a future and for the good of the Nation State; the wealthy.
The wealthy must be stopped and contained.
via The wealth gatherers – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Our government understands at least some of these things, which is probably why it loves free trade agreements, and why Scott Morrison as treasurer was so dismissive of Tony Abbott’s suggestion that we slash immigration, citing the billions of dollars it would cost the budget. But this government has now entered a phase of reflex nationalist posturing (remember that thing about acknowledging veterans on Virgin Australia flights?). It simply cannot resist an opportunity to wear the flag as a cape and tell the world who’s in charge. You might love or loathe that as you please. The trouble really starts once you believe the fantasy it offers, because it’s unravelling around the world before our very eyes.
via Morrison, take heed: nationalist posturing comes back to bite you
When all the LNP does is listen to the IPA and Murdoch Media the poll then is really about the IPA & Murdoch Media and the likes of Fantasy their narrators like Andrew Bolt. How often has this right-wing pundit missed the barn wall firing his shotgun while locked inside? (ODT)
The downward trend is as neat and clear as you like.
In July, the Liberals were behind 49-51 and well in the race. By October they were out to 48-52. Now it’s 46-54.
But all the while, media were being briefed that everything was going great, things were “cutting through” that it “feels closer”, “Andrews is on the nose out there”.
via Victorian election 2018, Victoria votes, Matthew Guy, Daniel Andrews, Labor Party, Liberal Party
discuss Trump’s top ten lies and his totalitarian obsession with controlling what his supporters in particular define as true or false — and why this is all matters.
via The Top 10 Trump Lies and Why They Matter (With Daniel Dale)
Donald Trump has authorized US troops guarding the border against migrant caravans to use deadly force if necessary, it was reported on Wednesday.
The Fasclican Party:
The Fasclican Party is a creative formation forged out of the old Republican Party and the Alt-Right. Its most renowned leaders are Trump, Bannon, Hannity, McConnell, King, Nunes, Limbaugh, Miller, Ingraham and Kavanaugh. They mix together functions such as governing, judging and reporting, all highlighted by the recent presence of Hannity and Limbaugh at Trump rallies,
Michelle Obama’s book Becoming has become a massive hit.
Crown Publishing told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the former first lady’s memoir has sold more than 1.4 million copies in print and digital formats in the US and Canada in the seven days since it was released on November 13.
Invitation for Criminal Tourism (ODT)
The peak legal body has warned Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton an attempt to deport alleged foreign criminals before trial would endanger national security and undermine natural justice.
The push by the Home Affairs department to allow unlawful non-citizens facing criminal charges to leave the country without facing court has also angered public prosecutors and attorneys-general.
via Lawyers warn Home Affairs bid to deport alleged criminals without trial threatens national security
News Corp raised the hatred of Muslims from 9% to 33% and proved it’s ability to create and not just report Islamophobia. It’s now doing the same with the Chinese. Scott Morrison has taken over from Abbott’s anti- Russian bent and his abandonment of the Pacific Region. However is he only dancing to America’s tune in being so anti- Chinese? (ODT)
Sinophobia in Australia is also emerging in debates about housing investment, donations to political parties, university campus politics, the purchase of agricultural land for mining, as well as general concerns about Chinese government influence, geopolitics and human rights issues in China. Public debate is appropriate, but emerging hysteria and sensationalism are shifting into animosity towards people with Chinese heritage in Australia.
Australia is sick of his BS and it shows in recent Warringah polls. So our Tony goes to the other side of the planet to be heard and we are paying his fare (ODT
“I just don’t think it’s right for a moment to say that Rupert Murdoch is this behemoth sitting on Australian democracy,” he said.
“And in any event, even if Murdoch’s opinions are more influential than that of the average person, in the end the best way to deal with a bad opinion is to argue the contrary. And I certainly don’t see any lack of debate in Australia.”
via ‘Not a behemoth sitting on Australian democracy’: Tony Abbott defends Rupert Murdoch
Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion has once again defended giving almost $500,000 to powerful lobby groups from funding earmarked for Aboriginal disadvantage programs.
Mr Scullion approved grants of $150,000 to the NT Seafood Council, $170,000 to the NT Amateur Fishermen’s Association and $165,000 to the NT Cattlemen’s Association.
But the amateur fishing group revealed two weeks ago it received funding from the government without ever asking for it, as calls for a full investigation increased.
But the scheme has been criticised over how much funding goes towards Indigenous people, and a lack of transparency.
via Scullion defends giving Indigenous funds to cattle and fishing lobbies | NITV
Abbott should read up on the importance of Indigenous connection to country after his latest opportunistic – or wilfully ignorant – stunt
The political map in Israel hasn’t fundamentally changed for the past decade, when left-wing voters migrated to the center and centrist voters moved right.
via The right keeps winning in Israel because Israelis are right wing
Clocks get more things right each day than Donald Trump (ODT)
It’s telling that Trump favors the most anti-democratic European governments and movements, the ones that peddle bigotry, while choosing to pick fights with the leaders of Britain, Germany, and now France. It’s no less revealing that other European far-right figures find him so appealing. None of this, however, should be surprising. The narratives of Europe’s right and the president’s rhetoric overlap, as do the policies they favor.
Two scholars of fascism, NYU’s Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Yale’s Jason Stanley discuss Trump’s brand of authoritarianism and dissect the similarities and differences between Trump and fascist leaders Mussolini and Hitler. Actor Ty Jones, producing artistic director at the Classical Theatre of Harlem, perform’s Langston Hughes’s poem “Let America Be America Again.” Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting’s Adam Johnson breaks down how white supremacy and fascism are discussed in U.S. media, hypocrisy on Saudi Arabia, and the false both-sides paradigm on radical right-wing violence and terrorism. And hardcore punk musician Julian Cashwan Pratt of the band Show Me the Body talks about “Work Sets You Free,” a silent visual essay juxtaposing federal prisons in America with the band’s own footage of visits to concentration camps while touring Europe. Info on the screening of the film can be found here.
via Donald Trump, Fascism, and the Doctrine of American Mythology
American Ethics on Display (ODT)
US President Donald Trump has signalled his administration will not seek any further sanctions against Saudi Arabia following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul last month.
Trump, instead, said his top priority is preserving America’s “steadfast” alliance with the kingdom.
via Trump stands behind Saudi Arabia after killing of Jamal Khashoggi
Brown University’s Costs of War Project this month released a new estimate of the total death toll from the U.S. wars in three countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The numbers, while conservatively estimated, are staggering. Brown’s researchers estimate that at least 480,000 people have been directly killed by violence over the course of these conflicts, more than 244,000 of them civilians. In addition to those killed by direct acts violence, the number of indirect deaths — those resulting from disease, displacement, and the loss of critical infrastructure — is believed to be several times higher, running into the millions.
via America Needs to Reckon With the Death Toll of Post-9/11 Wars
Ultra -Conservatives demand shrinking the economy (ODT)
The nation needs “well managed population growth” to help offset an ageing workforce, Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott says, joining fellow business leaders in warning against Scott Morrison’s plan to slash immigration.
via Australia needs ‘well managed population growth’, not cuts: business lobby
Does Kelly follow Bolt or Bolt Follow Kelly? (ODT)
Kelly is engaged in an intense campaign of deliberate misinformation about climate change. Amongst articles from very dubious sources and lots more about weather at specific locations (as opposed to climate), he occasionally links to genuine research from credible organisations.
Invariably, when he does so, he will cherry pick one piece of data, or a sentence or two, and completely ignore the context, other results, and the actual conclusions from the research.
Craig declares in Trump-like capitals, ANOTHER PROPHECY BITES THE DUST : MORE SNOW, NOT LESS, and links to the following graph of Winter Northern Hemisphere Snow Extent from Rutgers University Global Snow Lab, a well-respected source.
Aside from not understanding the difference between weather and climate, the stuff Kelly posts at times is doctored. Take the following graphic:
via How a climate change denier works – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Australia Institute finds employers get six hours’ free work a week from each employee, while thousands are underemployed
As Common Dreams reported, in addition to the White House’s attacks on CNN, Trump’s Justice Department also inadvertently revealed in a court filing that it has secretly charged WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been living in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since 2012 to avoid extradition to the U.S. for publishing classified and embarrassing information that the American government was keeping secret from the public.
Journalists and civil liberties advocates immediately decried the unspecified charges as a dire threat to the free press.
“Any prosecution of Mr. Assange for WikiLeaks’ publishing operations would be unprecedented and unconstitutional, and would open the door to criminal investigations of other news organizations,” Ben Wizner—director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project—warned in a statement last Friday.
Trump’s assures the US his thumb is on the pulse pity it’s Khashoggi’s(ODT)
Trump on Friday: “I’ve been fully briefed” but Crown Prince “absolutely” not involved. CIA, via Washington Post, later on Friday: Crown Prince definitely involved. Trump on Saturday: “We haven’t been briefed yet.”
Then there is the difference between Finland and California. Finland has…wait for it…rain. Year round. The climate is significantly different than drought-ridden California, where we have not had a major rainfall in a year and consistently higher than normal temperatures. There is no way a person with critical thinking skills could see parallels between the two areas and their fire remittance techniques.
So perhaps that’s why the Finns are having so much fun dragging Trump on Twitter.
One of the key complaints that one hears in many advanced countries is that the basic prerequisites of a middle-class life are no longer attainable. Very large fractions of the population feel more insecure. If you draw a chart of what’s happened to the average income of the bottom 90 per cent, it’s hardly budged. With a microscope you can see a little bit of an increase. But if you look at the average income of the top 1 per cent, it has soared exponentially.
But all this requires systems of truth-telling, of ascertaining, discovering what the truth is, verifying the truth. But, the demagogues, like Orban in Hungary, Trump in the United States and the LNP in Australia, are systematically trying to destroy all of our truth-telling institutions. Like media censorship and undermining the ABC, a judiciary to protect those with the most money, cutting funding to corporate regulators, opposing a federal corruption watchdog, ignoring human rights protection, environmental abuse and weighted education in law and economics to name a few.
The upshot of this is that our economic and social prosperity has been put into jeopardy. We need to be vigilant and we need to battle these demagogues and these right-wing conservative governments to restore some version of sustainable shared prosperity.
via Progressive reform in a populist era – » The Australian Independent Media Network
A post-statistical society is a potentially frightening proposition, not because it would lack any forms of truth or expertise altogether, but because it would drastically privatise them. Statistics are one of many pillars of liberalism, indeed of Enlightenment. The experts who produce and use them have become painted as arrogant and oblivious to the emotional and local dimensions of politics. No doubt there are ways in which data collection could be adapted to reflect lived experiences better. But the battle that will need to be waged in the long term is not between an elite-led politics of facts versus a populist politics of feeling. It is between those still committed to public knowledge and public argument and those who profit from the ongoing disintegration of those things.
SHARRI MARKSON is the national political editor for the Daily Telegraph.
She has won the prestigious 2018 Kennedy Prize for Journalist of the Year for her “scoop” in exposing Barnaby Joyce, in February this year, as the man who had impregnated his former staffer, Vikki Campion.
The only problem is that Markson was not the first person to reveal this truth.
As Bruce Haigh wrote in Independent Australia in August:
The problem is that she did not break the story of Barnaby Joyce’s affair or [the] pregnancy. Credit for revealing the affair goes to Serkan Ozturk, the editor of True Crime News Weekly on 24 October 2017. News of Joyce’s staffer’s pregnancy was broken three weeks later in Independent Australia, in a story by Sydney bureau chief Ross Jones on 19 November 2017.
via Marks off Markson: Daily Telegraph accuses IA of printing ‘garbage’
BCA, IPA, remain silent as does Sky and 2GB the media that claims to inform and be Fair and balanced. Underpayment and non payment of Super are crimes against Labor. Thank Australia for the ABC vote Labor (ODT)
Aaron Farrugia no longer works at the popular vegan restaurant Smith and Daughters in the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, after a recent roster change left his name off it.
It’s left a bad taste in his mouth.
In May, he had approached the owners on behalf of other staff members, asking why they were being underpaid.
The first approach was a text message to the co-owner, Mo Wyse.
“I didn’t really get a response from that,” he said. “And I think that angered a lot of staff.”
“So we sent an email to the bosses just requesting that they assess everybody’s pay and rectify it immediately.”
The email asked the owners to respond in 14 days.
But two weeks later, he said nothing had changed.
“So then we collectively got together and sent them the next email and still nothing changed. And that really outraged some of the staff.”
Mr Farrugia and his co-workers had checked their rates of pay after watching the hospitality industry’s open secret blow up in public around them.
Celebrity chefs and corner cafes were caught up in a deluge of underpayment claims from workers — from kitchen staff working 100 hour weeks but being paid for 38, to waiters who lost their share of tips to pay for breakages.
Abbott was once declared the Pivot of the Pacific who turned out to be the Pillock. He’s stuck,a regressive in our inglorious and colonial past. (ODT)
Tony Abbott has urged Prime Minister Scott Morrison to proceed with a controversial shift in policy on Israel despite a warning from Malaysia that the move could fuel terrorism and concerns from Indonesia over a $16.5 billion trade deal.
Mr Abbott said the “rhetorical backlash” from Muslim countries in Asia was always going to happen but that this should not stop Australia showing its support for Israel by moving the Australian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
via Tony Abbott rejects warnings, urges Scott Morrison to move Israel embassy
“[As] professionals committed to food sovereignty and food access for all, we know that none of us can lend our names or our cooking skills to an Israeli government-sponsored culinary event such as this one. Our values around good food must include everyone, including the Palestinian people,” the appeal states. Slamming Israel’s theft of Palestinian food and culture, including its declaration of falafel as an “Israeli” dish, Israeli activists from the group Boycott from Within also urged participating chefs to drop out of the initiative. “Israel is a settler-colonial state, perpetrating the erasure of the indigenous Palestinian people, both physically and by means of appropriation of their culture, including indigenous food,” the activists wrote.
Source: Chefs take Israeli propaganda off the menu | The Electronic Intifada
Remember when Abbott was called the Pivot… he cut foreign aid and went to Europe and the Middle East (ODT)
Key points:
- Analyst says the redeveloped naval base represents a pushback against Chinese ambitions in the region
- US Vice President Mike Pence spoke about the ‘great connection’ between the US and PNG
- The US, China and Australia have all been vying for influence in the Pacific
Plans to host US warships at a redeveloped naval base on Manus Island will undermine China’s plans to establish a military presence in the Pacific, says one analyst. Scott Morrison says PNG asked the US and Australia to get involved, as the countries vie for influence in the region.
Key points: Equity markets in China, Hong Kong and Korea are all in bear territory, others are are close Oil is down more than 20pc in just the past month Analysts warn of “flash crashes” as most markets haven’t bottomed
In 2016, the conservative bastion of Orange County, California, voted for a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time since the Great Depression. Two years later, Democrats succeeded in capturing all of seven of its congressional seats ― a stunning feat in what has traditionally been a seat of Republican power that catapulted both Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan to the White House.
Source: Orange County, A Conservative Bastion, Turns Blue For The First Time In Decades | HuffPost
![Supporters of Mahathir Mohamad are seen outside the National Palace, a day after the general election in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on May 10, 2018 [File: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters]](https://olddogthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/46e36333f8a74934bc188184ada8ff00_18.jpg?w=845 "Malaysia and Indonesia are bucking the global trend on democracy")
Much of the world may be having its doubts about democracy. Even in the Asia Pacific’s veteran democracy Australia, a recent poll showed that a third of the population favoured an authoritarian or “strongman” type leader. But in the Muslim Malay world, it looks like democracy is here to stay.
Source: Malaysia and Indonesia are bucking the global trend on democracy | Indonesia | Al Jazeera
Far from being open forums, comments sections filter out thoughtful conversation in favor of hate. Time to end them
Last year, Facebook recorded $327 million in digital advertising revenue in Australia, and Google reported $882 million. Many industry experts believe most of this revenue came from aggregating local news content and swaying advertisers away from media organisations through cheaper rates. Google and Facebook have not clarified the source of their revenue because Australian corporate reporting standards do not require them to. This is a problem — a black hole in the local digital laws. The fact that Google and Facebook can surreptitiously make millions from local news content and avoid paying any royalty to the source is appalling. Local news media is already struggling. Like a parasite living off its host, these two corporate behemoths continue to breathe down their necks and make money off them. As a member of the local media and journalism community, I demand that our Federal Government do more. Their counterparts in India have imposed a 6 per cent equalisation levy on Google and Facebook’s advertising revenue. In the EU, plans are underway to impose a 3 per cent levy which will bring in €5 billion a year.
Source: A fair go for local news media
I mean, have a look at this latest mob now in power … can anyone for the life of you recall … even in your own workplace or pub … in rumour or frustrated experience … a worse, more hopeless collection of crooks and fraudsters hell-bent on screwing over what should be a healthy (for everybody), wealthy (for the economy), and well educated with excellent communications systems society … and we end up with nothing but the threat of bankruptcy in every aforementioned topic!
Source: The gross incompetence of a mediocre middle-class – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Something remarkable happened in the last few weeks: progressive candidates won elections in Israel and the United States, despite the rise of far-right, anti-democratic politics in both countries. Related stories Israel’s next elections will be about who is more violent to Palestinians By Haggai Matar | November 14, 2018 The rise of the global far-right could energize the anti-occupation movement By Eli Bitan | November 4, 2018 How the settlers took over Israel By Rami Kaplan | November 2, 2018 A rotten system, not just rotten apples By Libby Lenkinski | August 1, 2018 This might come as a surprise, but it shouldn’t be. Many Jewish Israelis support ending the occupation, women’s right to pray at the Wailing Wall, and LGBTQ’s right to get married and adopt children. Similarly, most Americans approve of labor unions, support same-sex marriage, want stricter gun control, and oppose illegalizing abortions. So why do the policies of the Israeli and American governments fail to reflect voter demands?
Source: In the age of Trump and Netanyahu, progressive values are winning | +972 Magazine
“It’s not surprising at all, but there is something extra evil about ordering the death of a bunch of people who tortured and murdered a dissident on your orders while you pretend you had nothing to do with it.”
A stronger phrase than abject shamelessness needs to be coined in order fully to characterize the cheapness of what the White House is apparently considering. (Note that the White House denies the NBC story; but four sources are pretty damning).
Source: Trump said Considering Extradition of Turkish Cleric to Quiet Erdogan on Khashoggi Murder
Behind the scenes at Westminster and the teetering fate of the British government lies an even more profound change in British politics: the very real possibility of the break-up of the United Kingdom. In this situation Australia needs to tread carefully and maintain its good relations with what has emerged as its more stable European partner, the European Union, while offering silent support for whatever governments or countries could emerge from Brexit. Is the UK headed for dissolution?
Source: The Brexit mess could lead to a break-up of a no longer United Kingdom
It found that, despite the long Brexit referendum campaign and the subsequent two years of endless debate and analysis, the British public still don’t know key facts around Brexit. For example, less than a third knew that immigrants from European countries paid billions more in taxes than they received in welfare benefits and services. The majority of Leave voters believe European immigration has increased crime, decreased quality of healthcare and increased unemployment among low-skilled workers: all these beliefs are wrong, according to a recent report by a UK parliament committee. In the cafes and hairdressers of middle England, they expect their government to get on with Brexit to solve problems they perceive as real.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has ambitions to reshape the global economy by connecting more than 60 countries across Asia, Europe and Africa through trade and infrastructure projects. All told, it’s envisioned that nearly two-thirds of the world’s population will in some way be connected through BRI projects in the future. Some economists estimate BRI could increase global trade by 12%. Despite these benefits, many questions have been raised about China’s motivations for the initiative, and whether Beijing can afford the US$1 trillion it has committed to infrastructure projects and its partners can afford the debt they are taking on. Some fear BRI could be a Trojan horse for global domination through debt traps.
Source: Will an ambitious Chinese-built rail line through the Himalayas lead to a debt trap for Nepal?
New Zealanders will soon be getting internet speeds 20 times faster than those enjoyed by most Australians for just a few dollars more a month, further widening an already-huge gap between the two countries’ broadband networks. Chorus, the ASX-listed company that operates New Zealand’s broadband network, revealed on Wednesday it would slash the wholesale price of its ultra-fast one-gigabit plan. From the middle of next year, the price of the plan will go from $NZ65 ($61) to $NZ60 ($56.30) a month. Chorus will further reduce it to $NZ56 the following year. Internet speeds of one gigabit per second (Gbps) are 20 times faster than the most popular speed available on Australia’s national broadband network of 50 megabits per second (Mbps), the plan almost half of NBN users are on.
Source: Kiwis to get 20-times NBN speeds for similar price | afr.com
olddogthoughts 
You must be logged in to post a comment.