Author: peterimrich

Shaken by Trump’s ‘Fuhrer Moment,’ Gen. Milley had to Blockade Washington, D.C., on Inauguration Day ‘to Keep the Nazis out’

The protagonist of the story as told is Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the top position in the U.S. military. He was deeply alarmed that Trump kept denying that he had lost the election in late 2020, and worried that the president might try to use the FBI, the CIA and the Defense Department in such a bid. Milley saw Trump’s refusal to concede the election as a “Reichstag Moment,” saying that Trump was “preaching the gospel of the Fuhrer,” the German word for “leader,” referring to Adolf Hitler.

Source: Shaken by Trump’s ‘Fuhrer Moment,’ Gen. Milley had to Blockade Washington, D.C., on Inauguration Day ‘to Keep the Nazis out’

The Inflation Bogeyman | The Smirking Chimp

You’re hearing a lot about inflation these days. Don’t buy it. Every time the economy gets a bit of wind in its sails and workers get a little wage increase, conservatives scream about inflation and price increases.

Source: The Inflation Bogeyman | The Smirking Chimp

Coal miners are on strike in Alabama for the first time in four decades, but cable news is silent | Media Matters for America

The logos for Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC and a question mark on a picket sign next to an outline of Alabama, figure of a worker in a mine, and the logo for the United Mine Workers of America

Union mine workers in Alabama are taking part in a historic strike, the first of its kind in four decades, accusing Warrior Met Coal of first exploiting its workers and now inspiring violence against them on the picket line. Freelance journalists are on the ground and local news has been covering the story from the start — yet more than three months into the strike, the historic labor action has not received so much as a single mention from CNN, Fox News, or MSNBC, according to a new analysis from Media Matters.

Source: Coal miners are on strike in Alabama for the first time in four decades, but cable news is silent | Media Matters for America

More than 1000 people missing in Germany, Belgium as towns left in ruins

More than 1000 people are missing in flood-stricken regions of western Germany and Belgium, where waters are still rising with the death toll exceeding 100 and communications in some areas cut.

Source: More than 1000 people missing in Germany, Belgium as towns left in ruins

War with China: zero logic yet the weapons lobby has 42% of Australians believing it – Michael West

Australia China relations, reds under beds,

Incredibly, a survey finds 42% of Australians believe China will attack Australia, this despite exports to China surging 36% over in the last six months, and despite there being no logical rationale for war with China, or an attack by China. Marcus Reubenstein analyses the ludicrous position of Australia’s China hawks and the mainstream media pushing their agendas.

Source: War with China: zero logic yet the weapons lobby has 42% of Australians believing it – Michael West

Australian Business Has Used the Pandemic to Attack Workers — Now It’s Time to Fight Back

Much of Australia is back under pandemic lockdown thanks to Coalition mismanagement. The Liberals have used the crisis to bolster big business. Now the workers’ movement needs to champion its own measures to counter the pandemic and rebuild the economy.

Source: Australian Business Has Used the Pandemic to Attack Workers — Now It’s Time to Fight Back

Scott Morrison accused of ‘misrepresenting’ Atagi advice to shift blame for botched vaccine rollout | Australian politics | The Guardian

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media at Kirribilli House

Scott Morrison has been accused of misrepresenting advice from the government’s immunisation advisers, Atagi, who he has sought to blame for the slow rollout of Australia’s vaccination program. The prime minister has incorrectly claimed that Atagi made an “assumption” in its vaccine approval planning that Covid-19 cases would remain low – when their advice on AstraZeneca vaccines in fact warned the opposite. Morrison made the comments on Thursday, doubling down on an earlier attempt to blame the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation for the botched rollout.

Source: Scott Morrison accused of ‘misrepresenting’ Atagi advice to shift blame for botched vaccine rollout | Australian politics | The Guardian

Old Dog Thought-Morrison’s PANDEMIC OF THE UNVACCINATED

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Old Dog Thought- Dan’s right we have PM for Sydney backed by a private media not yet militia. The ABC differentiates from America along with compulsory voting. But the LNP and GOP are Murdochian twins.

May be an image of 1 person, standing and text that says 'SYDNEY HOBAI Herald Sun CANCELLI Victoria plunged into lockdown five Victoria will enter snap lockdown from midnight Telegraph Sunday CHRISTMAS COVID OUTBREAK FOR YOUR OWN WE CAN'T KEEP LIVING LIKE THIS. GOOD lockdow lo0 Bikinis, secret tattoo A esidents urged stay home anew do Northern beaches total Sydney facesnew restrictions CARRIE BICKMORE'S YEAR States tougher border rules stellar ishakday ಫ mமக RADING HOURS Harvey Normar'

Fighting Fake News with REAL 17/7/21; Pandemic, Money and Social Change Byron; Morrison ,Murdoch, China,

Report Card: Six Months Into Biden’s Presidency | The Smirking Chimp

Biden’s failure to make the right to vote his highest priority – to visibly fight for it, make it his own personal cause, and go on the road to take that cause to the American people – is not only bad policy for the nation. It’s also bad politics. It may cost Democrats dearly in next year’s midterm elections, and beyond.

Source: Report Card: Six Months Into Biden’s Presidency | The Smirking Chimp

The Moral Panic Over Critical Race Theory Is Coming for a North Carolina Teacher of the Year – Mother Jones

Coming to you Australia via the LNP, Minister Alan Tudge, and News Corp the “don’t hurt my white feelings”  Bill. An original carbon copy of America’s Republican push because the LNP simply has no original, even racist ideas of their own.

“I’m not trying to tell them how to live their lives or what their political ideology should be,” he says. “I just want them to be critical thinkers.” These days, he sometimes thinks of this quote by the American historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.: “Honest history is the weapon of freedom.”

Source: The Moral Panic Over Critical Race Theory Is Coming for a North Carolina Teacher of the Year – Mother Jones

Kremlin papers appear to show Putin’s plot to put Trump in White House | Vladimir Putin | The Guardian

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump at the G-20 summit in Hamburg in 2017

The paper refers to “certain events” that happened during Trump’s trips to Moscow. Security council members are invited to find details in appendix five, at paragraph five, the document states. It is unclear what the appendix contains. “It is acutely necessary to use all possible force to facilitate his [Trump’s] election to the post of US president,” the paper says.

Source: Kremlin papers appear to show Putin’s plot to put Trump in White House | Vladimir Putin | The Guardian

100 Israeli Troops who Served in Occupied West Bank call on Defense Minister Gantz to Halt Settler Violence against Palestinians and against Israeli Police

some 100 Israeli troops who served in the Palestinian West Bank have called on Defense Minister Benny Gantz and on Minister of Public Security Omer Bar-Lev to intervene to halt the violence of Israeli squatter-settlers toward indigenous Palestinians, which they say they saw with their own eyes. The call came in a letter that was sent on Wednesday by troops who had recently completed their military service, according to Israeli Army Radio. The troops said in their letter, “We, the undersigned, call upon you, male and female soldiers who served in the West Bank, to act now firmly against the phenomenon of settler violence.” They underlined that “Settler violence has been raging for years with tacit support” from the Israeli state.

Source: 100 Israeli Troops who Served in Occupied West Bank call on Defense Minister Gantz to Halt Settler Violence against Palestinians and against Israeli Police

Flooding in Germany and Belgium leaves more than 60 dead as streets become raging torrents – ABC News

An aerial shot of a half submerged train in a flooded village.

At least 58 deaths were reported in Germany and eight in Belgium The scale of the disaster is not yet clear France and the Netherlands have also experienced flooding

Source: Flooding in Germany and Belgium leaves more than 60 dead as streets become raging torrents – ABC News

India’s wicked problem: how to loosen its grip on coal while not abandoning the millions who depend on it

India is the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and its transition to a low-carbon economy is crucial to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. But unfortunately, the nation is still clinging firmly to coal.

Source: India’s wicked problem: how to loosen its grip on coal while not abandoning the millions who depend on it

Helen Haines: Could progressive Independents be the way of the future? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Could progressive Independents be the way of the future? The opportunity to reduce the influence of party politics and all the politicking that this entails, and return Australia to the people? If more of the calibre of Dr Helen Haines can be encouraged to enter Australian politics, then we can look forward to an Australia of Dr Haines’ goal of “high quality, safe and (an) enjoyable healthy life.”

Source: Helen Haines: Could progressive Independents be the way of the future? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Grabbed by The Column: Morrison Loses Murdoch’s Favour? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

There is perhaps more truth in the phrase ‘COALition propaganda rag’ than I first thought. As much praise as this and other Murdoch rags have heaped on Morrison, he himself is not the target. Murdoch is not defending Morrison as an individual, but rather the Liberal Party as a brand.

Source: Grabbed by The Column: Morrison Loses Murdoch’s Favour? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Murdoch press shows media bias towards Liberal COVID-19 strategy

A biased narrative from the Murdoch press has become unstuck as the NSW COVID-19 crisis worsens, writes Dr Victoria Fielding. IN FEBRUARY of this year, after Victoria headed into a proactive “short, sharp, circuit-breaker” lockdown, Herald Sun and The Australian “writer” Sophie Elsworth published a piece titled: ‘Why Premier Daniel Andrews needs to be more like NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.’ This article started with the much-repeated trope that Victorian COVID-19 health restrictions were evidence of Daniel Andrews’ dictatorship, represented misuse of his power, were over-reactions and unnecessarily harsh:

Source: Murdoch press shows media bias towards Liberal COVID-19 strategy

Old Dog Thought- What use are luxury cars in a lock-down? Why is the top end of town retail essential? What if the top International brands leave the city?

Fighting Fake News with REAL; 16/7/21; Australia and beyond; SuperMarkets; Cuba; Fort Detrick; Israel

Tucker Carlson’s cameras in the classroom proposal will harm both students and teachers — RT Op-ed

Tucker Carlson’s cameras in the classroom proposal will harm both students and teachers

Paradoxically, while Carlson, Lowry, and other conservatives profess to see teachers as leftist ideologues secretly indoctrinating students behind closed classroom doors, the fact is that, under federal law, the public is already able to come in and observe classes. School administrators and district officials have the same right. Nobody is hiding anything. What we are trying to do is meet the needs of our students. The student bodies of public school districts in major cities are overwhelmingly black and brown. Issues such as police brutality, the wealth gap, housing inequality, mass incarceration and the school-to-prison pipeline, the lack of healthcare, living-wage jobs, and childcare, and others, are important to them. And you can’t talk about these problems without discussing race. These issues are our students’ reality. They’re what concerns them. What kind of educators would we be if we ignored this?

Source: Tucker Carlson’s cameras in the classroom proposal will harm both students and teachers — RT Op-ed

Extreme climate change has reached the United States: Here are America’s fastest-warming places – Washington Post

2°C: Beyond the limit Extreme climate change has arrived in America By Steven Mufson , Chris Mooney , Juliet Eilperin and John Muyskens Photography by Salwan Georges

Source: Extreme climate change has reached the United States: Here are America’s fastest-warming places – Washington Post

Broadcast and cable news coverage of the latest record-breaking heat wave in the West mentioned climate change but largely ignored its effects on vulnerable populations | Media Matters for America

Broadcast and cable news coverage of the West’s latest record-breaking heat wave mentioned climate change but largely ignored its effects on vulnerable populations

There’s still time to mitigate the worst consequences of climate change, but it will require an informed and engaged public to push for action. To that end, news outlets must commit to sustained coverage of climate change and its potential solutions and to challenge industries, policymakers, and public officials who continue to drag their feet and ignore the demands of millions of Americans who are increasingly concerned about how climate change will harm their lives.

Source: Broadcast and cable news coverage of the latest record-breaking heat wave in the West mentioned climate change but largely ignored its effects on vulnerable populations | Media Matters for America

“The Final Solution” Who Used The Term First – The Nazi Party or The Canadian Government? – Collective Evolution

Conservatives in Australia refuse to even address issues of this nature in Australia. Why was a population of 700k reduced to half in less than 200 years? Instead crying that any attempt to investigate these matters is necessary to do so is regaled as a form of “Black Racism”,  an effort to “Cancel and tarnish White Culture”, and some form of “Race Replacement”. Andrew Bolt, who is obsessed with matters of race rales against any critical assessment let alone discussed in our classrooms. British Colonialism arrived on these shores with a mindset well and truly established and practiced in other settler colonies and it certainly wasn’t one with human rights in mind.

“The Final Solution” is a term coined by the Nazi party, describing their plan for the genocide and murder of Jews during the second World War. It represented a policy of deliberate and systematic genocide which culminated in the Holocaust. The type of genocidal actions witnessed during World War 2, and in many other parts of the world, is something that also occurred in North America prior to the Second World War. Some Scholars have estimated that prior to the ‘discovery’ of the Americas by Europeans, the pre-contact era population could have been as high as 100 million people. We are taught in high school that the mass disappearance and depopulation of the indigenous was due to disease brought over by the Europeans, but recent history involving the Canadian residential school system may be a catalyst for many to question this narrative. There were most certainly other factors.

Source: “The Final Solution” Who Used The Term First – The Nazi Party or The Canadian Government? – Collective Evolution

Indonesia’s coronavirus cases hit a record 54,500 in a single day, overtaking India to become epicentre – ABC News

Workers in protective suits carry a coffin containing the body of a COVID-19 victim to a grave for a burial

Indonesia’s health ministry reported 54,517 new cases and 991 deaths on Wednesday The country’s real daily case count could top 200,000 by the end of the month Health authorities fear the Delta variant could hit more remote areas

Source: Indonesia’s coronavirus cases hit a record 54,500 in a single day, overtaking India to become epicentre – ABC News

More than $1 million raised for friendlyjordies legal battle

The overwhelming response – which followed a plea for donations on Shanks-Markovina’s YouTube channel – showed the public was on their side, he said.“We have received more than 24,000 individual donations – that’s more people [than] who first voted John Barilaro into parliament,” he said in a statement.Among his supporters is former prime minister Kevin Rudd.

Source: More than $1 million raised for friendlyjordies legal battle

‘My destiny to die’: Afghan who helped Australian soldiers pleads for visa

Hammedullah Hammedie, pictured here in 2013, says he will die if he can’t flee Afghanistan.

Here’s a Boat you wouldn’t want to be in and it’s not even on the water. There’s an LNP wall of silence in their way.

When Australian soldiers withdrew from Uruzgan Province, local builder Hammedullah Hammedie knew he had to flee as well. Because of his work for Australia, Hammedie says he was a target of the surging Taliban.

Source: ‘My destiny to die’: Afghan who helped Australian soldiers pleads for visa

Right-wing shock jock stoush reveals the awful truth about COVID, politics and media ratings

A COVID-induced rancour that has broken out between Sydney’s commercial radio shock jocks and the Sky News night-time ravers over Sydney’s lockdown would be funny if it were not so serious.

Source: Right-wing shock jock stoush reveals the awful truth about COVID, politics and media ratings

Just who is this man named Morrison that he needs Murdoch’s defence? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Soon all his marveled PR will be shot on green screen as he won’t be allowed out in public

Who is this man who would have you believe that he is God’s gift to all that bothers us? Has the nation finally woken to his lack of leadership, his character and his lying? Can he keep up this façade of broken promises and false credibility?

Source: Just who is this man named Morrison that he needs Murdoch’s defence? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Leadership Liberal style: Is PM Scott Morrison still here?

Is he being shot like a Marvel Production’s character on Green Screen? After all the money spent would suggest so.(ODT)

Since Scott Morrison pretty much governs in absentia, if he and his entire ministry disappeared, we would be unlikely to notice, writes managing editor Michelle Pini. PRIME MINISTER SCOTT MORRISON’s “leadership” is now so weak, he has all but disappeared.

Source: Leadership Liberal style: Is PM Scott Morrison still here?

Old Dog Thought- The clown you wouldn’t invite to head your child’s party

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Fighting Fake News with REAL; 15/7/21 Climate Change; Morrison Morrison Pants on Fire; Billionaires;

Trump’s ‘Stop The Steal’ Lying Lawyers Are In BIG Trouble | Crooks and Liars

Trump's 'Stop The Steal' Lying Lawyers Are In BIG Trouble

What you CAN’T do, if you are an attorney in court, is LIE to the judge. And if you bring a case to court, everything you, as an attorney, bring as evidence to the court? You’d better be sure it checks out. If you are sloppy, lazy, or lying, you can be fined, disbarred, and even jailed. Because you as an attorney are already considered “under oath” as an officer of the court. Lin Wood and Sidney Powell are sloppy, lazy, liars.

Source: Trump’s ‘Stop The Steal’ Lying Lawyers Are In BIG Trouble | Crooks and Liars

Military Removes Training Document Conflating Socialists With Terrorists

ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND - MAY 24:   US Navy's Blue Angels fly over the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium during a graduation ceremony at the U.S. Naval Academy May 24, 2019 in Annapolis, Maryland. The graduating class will be sworn into the Navy as ensigns or into the Marine Corps as second lieutenants in the ceremony.   (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

A manual used in the Navy’s anti-terrorism courses lumped anarchists, socialists, and neo-nazis together as examples of “political terrorists.”

Source: Military Removes Training Document Conflating Socialists With Terrorists

Regime Change Advocates Don’t Care About Cubans

If people like Joe Biden and Marco Rubio actually cared about Cuban lives, they would lift the crippling blockade and end the 62-year-old US war against Cuba.

Source: Regime Change Advocates Don’t Care About Cubans

Justin Trudeau says his ‘heart breaks’ with more Indigenous graves found

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau lays a teddy bear at a small flag at the site of a former residential school where ground-penetrating radar detected a potential 751 unmarked graves, in Cowessess First Nation, Saskatchewan.

Is it any surprise that British Colonial settler territories have so much in common? Australian history with it’s “stolen generations” had very similar experiences even if the specific details differed. However Canada doesn’t have the denialist racist attitudes expressed by the Murdoch media organization when it comes to resisting the re-investigation of their history.

The Kuper Island Indian Industrial School was operated by the Roman Catholic Church from 1890 until 1969, when the federal government took it over. The school was closed in 1975 and the building was demolished in the 1980s.

Source: Justin Trudeau says his ‘heart breaks’ with more Indigenous graves found

ABC attacked by Christian right-wing Senator

A Liberal Party Senator has launched an attack on the ABC, branding it as a left-wing activist group undermining our society, writes Steve Bishop. A SENATOR from the Christian Right wing of the Liberal Party is “fabricating outrage” to foment division, paint mainstream Australia as radicals and suggest his extreme views are actually representative of  Alex Antic‘middle Australia’. ASIO has warned about extreme right-wing threats but Senator Alex Antic has identified a “taxpayer-funded left-wing activist group at war with mainstream Australian values”. He says it’s also the most “virulent haven of taxpayer-funded identity politics in the country”. Alex has launched a petition to curb the excesses of this organisation which he accuses of undermining our society. A clue: it purveys such subversive programs as The Religion and Ethics Report, Country Hour and Bananas in Pyjamas. Yes, it’s the ABC.

Source: ABC attacked by Christian right-wing Senator

Sophist’s choice – » The Australian Independent Media Network

As with the bushfires, the pandemic has exposed Morrison for who he truly is. No Facebooked curries, no borrowing of chickens or mounting of heavy machinery, no be-medalled general nor tame premier can hide his vacuity and uselessness. A coward who baulks at scrutiny and bullies any defiance, a clueless charlatan, a pig, a QAnon adjacent prosperity cultist who celebrated an affinity with Mr Tangerine Man, an overtly religious moral void, an inveterate liar, a poseur whose first instinct in a crisis is flight, whose vision is shaped by the rapture and whose ambitions are informed by an eagle painting will be desperately rifling through dumpsters for dead cats. This was Morrison’s chance to shine, to show up the doubters and haters, to prove he was worthy of the office, that he could confidently go to an early election. Instead, he shat himself. Again. Did you spot the musical reference?

Source: Sophist’s choice – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Australia’s Hermit Nation Strategy Unravels – » The Australian Independent Media Network

More practical approaches have come from outside government circles. Former Prime Ministers have shown Morrison up. The ever-connected Kevin Rudd made his own intervention in lobbying Pfizer’s chairman Albert Bourla. This effort was bitchily dismissed by Hunt and watered down by the Morrison government. Rudd’s response was a snarl. He would “definitely not seek to associate himself with the Australian Government’s comprehensively botched vaccine procurement program.” The Australian model, if it can be called that, has pricked international attention. John LaMattina, former president of Pfizer Global Research and Development, was all understatement about it in an interview on Australian television: “If I was an Australian, and I was seeing the rest of the world getting all these vaccine doses, and my country … was late to the party, I’d be a little disappointed to say the least. And it isn’t as if they were blindsided.” The Financial Review was less reserved. Australia may well have developed “an enviable test and tracing system” that helped keep the COVID-19 death toll to less than a thousand. But it had “squandered its early victory over the virus, despite being one of the

Source: Australia’s Hermit Nation Strategy Unravels – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Josh Frydenberg: Why Everything Is Labor’s Fault But Liberals Are Just Victims Of Circumstance! – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Is it too far-fetched to suggest that in the near future, we’ll have some Liberal-friendly commentator saying that the current mess is all the fault of Labor for not winning the last election?

Source: Josh Frydenberg: Why Everything Is Labor’s Fault But Liberals Are Just Victims Of Circumstance! – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Kevin Rudd asked to save Australia from Scott Morrison

Obviously, nobody from Pfizer, let alone Dr Bourla, is in the least interested in catching up with Morrison in any capacity and frankly, who could blame them? It could also be something of a relief that we will see more of the Lieutenant General and less of Morrison and Hunt, except for the fact that we are paying these men to do jobs they increasingly outsource. Not that they knowingly outsourced to Mr Rudd, they simply underperformed so dramatically that non-government actors felt obliged to step in. Well may we ask, why even are they?

Source: Kevin Rudd asked to save Australia from Scott Morrison

Scott Morrison blames Atagi doctors for Australia’s slow Covid vaccine rollout | Health | The Guardian

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison

Morrison’s outsourcing and blaming everyone he can for us being last among the wealthiest nations and not even in the world’s top 100 in vaccinating their citizens. He’s certainly proved he’s never “held the hose” on fires, the pandemic, or anything when leadership has been required. He has however been  Australia’s No 1 tourist PM rather than its manager. Proof he has been sacked from even that role in more than one country.

In an interview with 2GB Radio on Wednesday, the prime minister said “very cautious” decisions by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisations (Atagi) had slowed the rollout “considerably” and “put us behind”.

Source: Scott Morrison blames Atagi doctors for Australia’s slow Covid vaccine rollout | Health | The Guardian

Coronavirus Australia: Kevin Rudd claim reveals the call Scott Morrison never made

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian  announce COVID-19 financial relief.

Scott Morrison faced an inevitable question in the hours after former prime minister Kevin Rudd confirmed he had spoken to the global chief executive of Pfizer two weeks ago to ask for more vaccines to be sent to Australia. That question? When did Morrison speak to the Pfizer boss, Albert Bourla? Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announce COVID-19 financial relief. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announce COVID-19 financial relief.Credit:Wolter Peeters The answer? Never. The Prime Minister told Sky News on Monday he had met one of Pfizer’s senior directors in Europe last month but had mostly spoken to the company’s Australian managing director.

Source: Coronavirus Australia: Kevin Rudd claim reveals the call Scott Morrison never made

Old Dog Thought- Political Parties, Nationals, Liberals, One Nation, are no longer a service to Democracy when their value power for powers sake stands before the service they were elected to do.

Fighting Fake News with REAL; Morrison, Hunt outsourcing the work we elected them to do; Hiding behind Generals; Abject Failure of the Early Election; A Grumpy Geezer’s response;

There’s A New Big Lie In Town | Crooks and Liars

There's A New Big Lie In Town

Embarking on a vast propaganda campaign designed to erase one of the deadliest bouts of domestic, political terrorism in this country, Trump media and their GOP acolytes are moving quickly to peddle the next Big Lie, claiming that the January 6 insurrection never happened.At this point, there’s nothing too big for the right-wing noise machine to try to whitewash and gaslight — like the fact that a pro-Trump horde was responsible for breaking into the U.S. Capitol, attempted to disrupt the congressional vote certifying Joe Biden’s electoral victory, and then chanted death threats against then-Vice President Mike Pence.Yet leading the charge on Sunday, Trump during a Fox interview called the insurrection “a lovefest between the Capitol police and the people that walked down to the Capitol” that day. He insisted the protesters were “peaceful.”

Source: There’s A New Big Lie In Town | Crooks and Liars

Trump supporters think they’re players — but they’re still just pawns | Salon.com

Donald Trump at CPAC | Anti-vaccine rally protesters hold signs outside of Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, on June 26, 2021 (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)On Sunday night, we got strong evidence that, for the most part, Republican voters understand that the Big Lie is indeed a lie. They just repeat it because they view themselves as co-conspirators in perpetuating it. In his speech at the second “annual” Conservative Political Action Conference of the year, Trump bragged about how he lies about polls and elections when he doesn’t win them. “You know, they do that straw poll, right?” Trump asked, referring to the 2024 GOP nominee straw poll CPAC conducted of attendees. “If it’s bad, I say it’s fake. If it’s good, I say, that’s the most accurate poll perhaps ever.” The “humor” of this not-actually-a-joke is due to being a sly reference to the Big Lie — an admission on Trump’s part that he didn’t win in 2020 and is merely saying otherwise for political gain. And it’s no surprise that Trump went there. He loves to brag about how much corruption and crime he gets away with. What is perhaps more important is the audience’s reaction to this not-a-joke.

Source: Trump supporters think they’re players — but they’re still just pawns | Salon.com

Bernie in Trumpworld: Sanders visits ‘imperative if democracy is to survive’ | Bernie Sanders | The Guardian

Bernie Sanders speaks on the National Mall in Washington in June.

He gave Biden credit for confronting “realities” from climate change to healthcare, “concerns progressives have had for decades”. He also dismissed criticism from the left for his relative closeness to the Biden White House. “You know politics,” Sanders said, “with a shrug”. “You can’t please all of the people all of the time.”

Source: Bernie in Trumpworld: Sanders visits ‘imperative if democracy is to survive’ | Bernie Sanders | The Guardian

‘Which Side Are You On?’: Poor People’s Campaign Pressures US Senate on Democracy and Justice | Common Dreams News

Participants hold "Don't Filibuster" banners during the Poor People's Campaign news conference in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on July 12, 2021, to announce a season of nonviolent direct action. (Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Beginning with a “massive national call-in to every U.S. senator,” the Poor People’s Campaign on Monday launched a monthlong campaign to push Congress to eliminate the 60-vote filibuster, pass the For the People Act, restore the gutted Voting Rights Act, and raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour—progressive goals that have been thwarted by a combination of Republican obstructionism and Democratic acquiescence.

Source: ‘Which Side Are You On?’: Poor People’s Campaign Pressures US Senate on Democracy and Justice | Common Dreams News

Westpac and ASX silent as BT gouged over a billion from customers

Westpac has continually failed to answer questions about the extent of its short-changing of customers through its superannuation entity BT, writes Anthony Klan.

Source: Westpac and ASX silent as BT gouged over a billion from customers

‘Environmental accounting’ could revolutionise nature conservation, but Australia has squandered its potential

Let’s say a new irrigation scheme is proposed and all the land it’ll take up needs to be cleared — trees felled, soil upturned, and habitats destroyed. Water will also have to be allocated. Would the economic gain of the scheme outweigh the damage to the environment? This is the kind of question so-called “land accounts” grapple with. Land accounts are a type of “environmental account”, which measures our interactions with the environment by recording them as transactions. They help us understand the environmental and economic outcomes of land use decisions.

Source: ‘Environmental accounting’ could revolutionise nature conservation, but Australia has squandered its potential

‘Carporks’: #Carparkrorts are far worse than we originally thought

Carporks government funding

As has been the pattern with the Morrison government’s rorting of federal grants for electoral purposes, it turns out the “#carporkrorts” scandal is even worse than it first appeared.

Source: ‘Carporks’: #Carparkrorts are far worse than we originally thought

Kevin Rudd, Harold Holt, And 4 Other Former Prime Ministers That Are Doing More Than Scott Morrison Right Now | The Shovel

We learnt this week that, in the absence of a full time Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd has been hitting the phones with Pfizer, to try to sort out Australia’s vaccine debacle. But it turns out Kevin isn’t the only former Prime Minister doing more work than Scott Morrison right now. With the vaccine rollout in disarray and a Prime Minister that seems to vanish faster than an AFP hacking investigation into Greg Hunt’s porn tweets, almost every former PM with a pulse (and a few without one) are doing more than Scomo.

Source: Kevin Rudd, Harold Holt, And 4 Other Former Prime Ministers That Are Doing More Than Scott Morrison Right Now | The Shovel