“From Alex’s point of view, he’s succeeded in a court proceeding, and yet nothing has happened, that’s a particularly hopeless situation to be in, when you win and your life doesn’t change.”
Sri Lankan refugee detained by Australia for 11 years despite government ruling he’s owed protection | Australia news | The Guardian
An organisation appointed to provide a surge workforce for aged care facilities is backed by a powerful business network with connections to the Liberal Party and News Corp.
Mable aged care app investors tied to Liberal Party and News Corp
Today news coverage shows that Americans broadly understand the racial connotations when Donald Trump talks about “restoring law and order” and protecting “the suburbs.” Such phrases are no longer dog whistles, though they are still referred to as such.
Trump’s appeals to white anxiety are not ‘dog whistles’ – they’re racism
Activism in the U.S. Presidential Election by senior military personnel, retired and serving, has reached an unprecedented level. Alan Austin reports.
U.S. military leaders line up to condemn Commander-in-Chief Trump
An elaborate confection of ego and insecurity and hormonal loss and want and need — you almost have to conclude it’s the thing he really cares about.
Consider, If You Will, Donald Trump’s Hair: 200,000 Are Dead — but It’s Perfect | The Smirking Chimp
My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Rushing to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg, McConnell shows power trumps principle | Robert Reich | Opinion | The Guardian
Or maybe it’s because Scott Morrison’s $70 million Covid tracing app… hasn’t worked? 
More here
A dangerous animal, the koala. A creature so foul, so cruel that no man yet has fought with it and lived! Heed the alarums of brave Sir Barilaro that the bones of full fifty men lay strewn about its lair and if you do doubt your courage or your strength, venture no further into its core habitat as defined by the State Environmental Planning Policy, for death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth.
The ballad of Sir Barilaro – Alien Sideboob
“The whole world is focused on China now; it’s actually the defining story of our age,” Grant said. “It’s probably the thing that is most going to set the course of the 21st century: the emergence of an authoritarian superpower like China, which is on track to become the most powerful economy in the world and by some measures already is, set against what is seen as a weakening of democracy in the world and certainly a more damaged United States.”
Stan Grant has joined ABC News as international affairs analyst
Newspoll, conducted September 16-19 from a sample of 2,068, gave the Coalition a 51-49 lead, a one-point gain for the Coalition since the previous Newspoll, three weeks ago.
Coalition regains Newspoll lead; time running out for Trump
As we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, we must reconsider how we value the jobs done by care workers
Australia has sleepwalked into a society where profit trumps quality care | Emma Dawson | Opinion | The Guardian
And with the money we save we could afford to give even greater tax cuts to those having a go. Yes, it’s all in how you frame it. Apparently it’s fine to suggest that we can’t afford any economic slowdown just to keep old people alive. After all, they’ve had a pretty good innings so they can just shut up and accept that Covid-19 will kill a few of them. Yes, that seems to be an acceptable way to treat the elderly if you’re a politician or an economist or someone who has a media gig… But if you should suggest touching their franking credits, you’re some sort of monster!
The Economy Above All – Even Life Itself! – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Trump is setting up the commission to teach students ‘the miracle of American history’ – which sounds like a core part of the fascist process of taking power
Trump’s 1776 commission is proof America is spiraling toward facism | Arwa Mahdawi | Opinion | The Guardian
Polls currently show around 95 per cent of voters say they have already made up their mind about how they will vote in the election. This means the key task for both candidates will not be persuading undecided voters but to ensure their voting coalitions show up to vote en masse. And, most importantly, to ensure that they show up in the states that matter.
US Election 2020: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Florida and four other states will choose between Trump or Biden
the Right’s resort to judicial supremacy is not a sign of strength, but an admission of weakness: a beleaguered regime calls upon the authority of the court only to achieve what it cannot accomplish through electoral politics.
How Abraham Lincoln Fought the Supreme Court
As Australia-China relations continue to plummet and talk of a new Cold War intensifies, how much do we really know of a nation that is set to define the 21st century?
China has told us how they see their place in the world. The question is, can we live with it? – ABC News
Five Aboriginal deaths in custody since June is a national emergency that needs urgent leadership, the national Aboriginal and islander legal services has said. The death of 49-year-old Sherry Fisher-Tilberoo last week while on remand in the Brisbane watch-house is the fifth Aboriginal death in custody since June, bringing to at least 441 the number of people who have died in custody since the royal commission handed down its final report in 1991.
‘National emergency’: urgent leadership needed after fifth Aboriginal death in custody since June | Australia news | The Guardian
Despite the slagging off at Labor by the Coalition, simply because of debts accrued to maintain the economy through an unexpected crisis – namely the GFC – the Coalition now finds itself in the same situation through COVID-19, and has to go down a similar path. Have they done as well as Labor did? NO! Why not?
We need truth and facts – not lies and spin – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Motives behind the Coalition’s intention to build a gas-fired power plant appear to be driven by ties to fossil fuel power companies, writes Richard Gillies.
Coalition’s gas-fired recovery a benefit to its donors
Typical Morrison look over there don’t examine us too closely politics. Short term pain for long term gain isn’t in Morrison’s song book. NZ isn’t the resource rich country Australia is so the comparison is hardly justified let alone anything to do with Morrison’s actions. “History will ultimately judge who chose the best path and it’s probably still too early to say.”
Morrison however does mimic Trump doesn’t he? He & Frydenberg will be boasting the biggest boom in Australia’s history rather than the inevitable bungy rebound he has had no control over. He certainly hasn’t factored in the shitstorm he’s created with China. (ODT)
The point of raising New Zealand’s record-breaking downturn, of course, was to demonstrate the relative success of Australia’s crisis management.
To talk up Australia’s coronavirus economic recovery, Scott Morrison found the perfect weapon – ABC News
After Trump confidant Roger Stone drew widespread attention for advising President Donald Trump to declare martial law after Election Day, he has continued to promote conspiracy theories about Democrats stealing the election to justify Trump taking draconian actions to stay in office.
Roger Stone continues to lay the groundwork for Trump to declare martial law | Media Matters for America
Tucker Carlson opened the segment by telling his viewers that Democrats were promoting mail-in voting not as a way to boost safe turnout during a pandemic, but because “they want the uncertainty over the outcome of the election, so they can manipulate the results.” His guest, Revolver News’ Darren Beattie, then explained that “a very specific type of coup called the color revolution” is “unfolding before our eyes.”
Warning of a left-wing coup, Trumpist media prep their audience for election unrest | Media Matters for America
Another former member of President Donald Trump’s administration has denounced him and endorsed his Democratic opponent. This time it’s Oliva Troye—a former adviser to Vice President Mike Pence on homeland security and counter-terrorism and member of the White House’s coronavirus task force—who told the Washington Post she made her decision because of the president’s “flat out disregard for human life.” Troye left her position in August.
Former Pence Staffer Condemns Trump’s “Flat Out Disregard for Human Life” – Mother Jones
Forget about holding a Supreme Court seat open like in 2016 — because Republicans are in charge now
As soon as the news broke of the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at age 87, a number of right-wing media voices urged the rapid confirmation of a new justice — while the presidential election is less than seven weeks away.
“Let’s go for it.” Right-wing media immediately urge SCOTUS appointment during election | Media Matters for America
Earlier this year, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled that he was close to a decision to unilaterally annex the Palestinian West Bank, an aggressive and illegal move long championed by the Israeli right. Though Netanyahu ultimately abandoned the plan for temporary and tactical reasons, it illustrated a major theme of Shlaim’s historical work: the central role of unfettered military coercion in Israel’s conception of security vis-à-vis the Palestinians. In light of these developments, Douglas Gerrard spoke to Shlaim about the history of the two-state solution, the promise and reality of the Oslo Accords, the future of Gaza, and the prospect of a binational state in Israel-Palestine.
Israel’s Iron Wall Still Stands After Nearly a Century
A fever dream of dictators
For the signatories of the Abraham Accords, peace means squashing people’s freedoms in order to unlock unfettered exchanges of technology and weapons.
A fever dream of dictators
Switzer seems to have ignored totally the sudden origins of the current hostilities. The benefit it has for Trump’s American domestic politics. How the LNP has dependantly fallen into step behind Trump and How Murdoch and our media have amplified a state of affairs as was done in the 60’s to take us into a real and physical war Vietnam one we should have ignored.
China certainly hasn’t been proactive but understandably reactive to it’s sovereign right to progress (ODT)
The Sino-American rivalry is likely to be the defining feature of international relations in the century ahead and it’s mainly going to take place in our neighbourhood. This is not a welcome development by any means, but it is our future.Why can’t our leaders just repair relations with China? If only Canberra toned down its rhetoric, restored a dialogue and rebuilt trust with Beijing, all would be well. Instead, the federal government needlessly provokes our largest trade partner by implementing foreign interference laws, rejecting the Huawei 5G network bid, and calling for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus.
The good times with China are over. Get used to it
It found a further 25 companies in the ASX 300 who had been given JobKeeper support payments paid their executives bonuses totalling more than $24 million.
War is hell: how the corporate class is coping with Covid’s injustices (Crikey Sep 16, 2020) – Pearls and IrritationsPearls and Irritations
Overall the share of American income from wages and salaries fell significantly, from almost 71% in 2016 to less than 68% in 2018. There’s one more enlightening and perhaps infuriating detail. The number of households making $1 million or more but paying no income taxes soared 41% under the new Trump tax law. Under Obama, there were just 394 such households. With Trump, this grew to 556 households making on average $3.5 million without contributing one cent to our government. Again, Trump seems to have forgotten all about the Forgotten Man. But he’s busy doing all he can to help the rich, then stick you with their tax bills.
Ugly numbers of Trump’s tax cuts serve a warning for Scott Morrison – Michael West
Remember, Trump was willing to use tear gas and baton assaults against peaceful protesters just to keep them from heckling him. There’s no telling how far he’ll go to keep those same peaceful protesters from messing with his efforts to steal an election.
Right-wing Talk about “Sedition” and the Insurrection Act Has One Purpose: Stealing the Election | The Smirking Chimp
Professional historians are not interested in history as a celebration of anything. What excites historians is explanation. Why did something happen when it did? There never really was such a time. Professional historians have always been skeptical and the very tools of their profession are seditious, because history teaches us that things could have been different (contingency) and can still be different. And that is what terrifies Trump and his white supremacist cronies.
Trump doesn’t Understand History any more than he Understands Epidemics
Pence’s Former Aide Endorses Biden, Recalls Trump Addressing COVID-19 As ‘Good Thing’
Pence’s Former Aide Endorses Biden, Recalls Trump Addressing COVID-19 As ‘Good Thing’
“At the heart of DeJoy’s and the Postal Service’s actions is voter disenfranchisement,” writes a federal judge in a scathing ruling that seeks to protect the integrity of the 2020 election
Post Office, Vote by Mail: Fed Judge Hits Louis DeJoy, Trump – Rolling Stone
Britain was reported to be considering whether to impose a new lockdown across the country, after new COVID-19 cases almost doubled to 6000 per day, hospital admissions rose and infection rates soared across parts of northern England and London.
Coronavirus: Boris Johnson says UK ‘now seeing second COVID-19 wave coming in'”
Anyway, this latest proposal should go a long way towards helping get us out of the current recession. There’s nothing like a power plant that hasn’t been built for bringing down energy prices. I can’t work out why some people are being cynical about it! Ok, back into the Delorean. I’d make a little trip into the future to see when the plant is actually built, but there may not be enough fuel in the universe to get there and back!
Reducing Energy Prices And Getting The Debt and Deficit Under Control or Back To The Future XXIV – » The Australian Independent Media Network
If one day in the future our children wake to find our prosperity gravely ill. It will be because Australia’s conservative politicians during the years 2013 to 202? Didn’t believe the science of a changing climate and left you with the consequences.
They built a disastrous NBN and now they think they can build a power station. Wow. – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Toxic emissions from burning coal can cause serious health damage to not only the environment but to all humans, including the unborn, writes David Ritter.
Coal burning causes capital crimes against humanity and nature
Roger Stone, long-time Rasputin-like political advisor and confidant to Donald Trump, should be in federal prison right now. Stone was convicted and sentenced for seven federal felonies, based, among other things, on his lying to Congress regarding his communications with Wikileaks about coordinating release of Hillary Clinton’s stolen emails for maximum advantage to the 2016 Trump campaign.
Instead, Stone is back on the streets after Trump commuted his sentence. Stone had told the media that Trump should let him out of the slammer so he could more effectively help Trump to stay in office. Trump apparently agreed
Coronavirus US: Trump claim on COVID-19 vaccine contradicted by top health official
Trump says the “best” Scientists in the world are wrong spreading the confusion division and chaos around Covid in the USA. Who would want to “buy American” when Trump says the best are wrong? (ODT)
One of the United States’ top health officials has contradicted President Donald Trump’s promise for a coronavirus vaccine by mid-October, telling Congress it may not be available until well into next year.
Coronavirus US: Trump claim on COVID-19 vaccine contradicted by top health official
The Pentagon Papers leaker previously called Assange’s prosecution the most “significant attack on freedom of the press” since his 1971 case.
Daniel Ellsberg Tells UK Court That US Seeks Both ‘Revenge’ Against Julian Assange and to ‘Crush’ Future Whistleblowers | Common Dreams News
New Zealand’s government recently put more than NZ$160 million towards developing a domestic recycling sector to create jobs as part of its economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
New Zealand invests in growing its domestic recycling industry to create jobs and dump less rubbish at landfills
Scott Morrison’s Grudge Against China Is About Capitalist Competition
Tony Abbott turned his back and faced Europe changing the nature of the region. (ODT)
After riding the coattails of China’s boom for decades, Australian conservatives are now railing against China. They’re not just following a lead from Washington — the Liberal Party’s corporate backers are anxious to maintain Australian dominance in the South Pacific.
After letting its guard down in the Pacific, Australia has found that the superpower whose growth has helped to sustain the Australian economy is now staking its own claim to a region it perceives as its own. Australia’s resource giants have long enjoyed the best of both worlds: a vast Chinese export market and privileged access to resources in the South Pacific. But now both privileges are in jeopardy, and Australia is struggling to formulate a response.
After three decades of a China-fueled economic boom, the bust may have deep and dangerous consequences — especially for Pacific island peoples who find themselves, once again, caught in a game where no matter who wins, they lose.
“If the aim of this code is to ensure the viability of Australia’s media, then the Government should ensure ABC is included, that AAP doesn’t fail and that small and independent publishers don’t miss out,” Hanson-Young said.
Include the ABC and SBS in media code talks, say the Greens – » The Australian Independent Media Network
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