When Tucker Carlson set off a firestorm of criticism on Wednesday — by describing a 17-year-old Trump supporter who opened fire on protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday, killing two, as a well-meaning kid who decided he “had to maintain order” in the Democrat-run state because “no one else would” — the Fox News host was surfacing an idea that had already spread widely on the far-right.
Trump supporters defend teen who killed protesters in Kenosha
Given everywhere we’ve been over the past four years, there’s almost nothing interesting about this week’s Republican National Convention. The race-baiting. The allegations of a rigged election. The apocalyptic vision of an America under the Democrats awash with criminals and no guns to keep them in check. The idea that all that makes life good (especially in the suburbs) is under grave threat. And the insistence that only Donald Trump – “the bodyguard of Western civilisation” – can save the world. We’ve seen all these moves before.
Donald Trump’s strongman routine has finally failed him
GOP Convention Shows Footage From Spain To Warn About ‘Biden’s America’ | Crooks and Liars
Image from: YouTube Screenshot You didn’t expect anything truthful from the Republican National Convention, did you? On the first night, as one of their videos played, voiceovers forecasted the evil violent unrest that awaits should Joe Biden be elected president. The images that flashed across the screen, however, weren’t of unrest in Biden’s America. In fact, one of them wasn’t even a photo of America at all. It was a photo of fires burning in a street in Spain.
GOP Convention Shows Footage From Spain To Warn About ‘Biden’s America’ | Crooks and Liars
Betting against MAGA and booming (ODT)
There is something uncomfortable about the idea of getting fantastically rich off someone else’s misfortune, which is what happens when a “short” trade — or bet against a stock or industry — succeeds. The contrast is even more startling given that the pandemic, which has devastated the economy and hurt the livelihoods of millions, has turbocharged the bets that Icahn, McKee and others placed on the downfall of malls.
‘The Big Short 2.0’: The investors cashing in on US economic pain
The notion of a “common good” was denied after the 70’s and the idea of ‘we’ was thrown overboard for ‘me’ and we certainly have felt it today. The common good was increasingly stamped out smothered by the pollution of the idea that self interest is what improves the world we live in. I may have been a lucky one but at 74 that can’t be said of the majority of my generation and for the ones that came later. Luck, good or bad, merit good or bad had little to do with the patterns of institutional behaviours and so called irrational economic systems we created. Short term benefits maybe have been come about but long term pain a certainty when maintaining the SYSTEM. Today you will see massive money being bet on the stockmarket against Australia’s overvalued retail Malls not for them. Money against Private Aged Care and yet this government insists on privatising everything and handing the barbarians oligarchs the key to the nation.(ODT)
The Federal Government will continue to deny Australians the right to clean air as long as it stays partnered with the fossil fuel industry, writes Dr David Shearman.
Clean air is a human right our government chooses to ignore
Instead of offering assistance, our political system is one that would sooner incarcerate children in desperate need, writes Gerry Georgatos.
Dickensian Australia — homeless orphans and ten-year-old children gaoled
Explainer: can the federal government control the ability of states to sign deals with foreign governments?
In my life time only the LNP has been anti- Indonesia, anti-Vietnam, anti-China. Has seen and endorsed the deaths of 1 mill Indonesians, 1mill plus Vietnamese and is now prodding China. What’s with this insane government trying desperately to change the course of history of the Pacific region and ignore the social investment in our own country. So much for their talk of a ‘Free Market”. (ODT)
Explainer: can the federal government control the ability of states to sign deals with foreign governments? August 27, 2020 2.05pm AEST Author Luke Beck Associate Professor of Constitutional Law, Monash University Disclosure statement Luke Beck is rank and file member of the Australian Labor Party. Partners Monash University Monash University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation AU. View current jobs from Monash University View all partners CC BY ND We believe in the free flow of information Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under Creative Commons licence. Email Twitter1 Facebook4 LinkedIn Print Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced plans to introduce legislation that would allow the foreign minister to cancel agreements with foreign governments entered into by states, territories, local councils and universities if the agreement is contrary to Australia’s national interests.
Explainer: can the federal government control the ability of states to sign deals with foreign governments?
The LNP since the 50’s have assisted in the deaths of 1 million Indonesians morally supporting the downfall of the Soekarno Government. Followed the US blindly into Vietnam to kill and to lose and stop nothing. Now they are sabre rattling again. Can they only rule by fear paranoia division and social control? Morrison on about National Security ” Cant’ talk about that” secrecy and Australia First.
They know how to bully and fight but not how to govern. They’ll readily share their fuck ups like aged care and the take the generosity. But deny that their Branch Stacking was the same .
Social investment and progress have largely been seen only at the hands of the ALP. Health, Education and Social Welfare would have remained a backwater if left to god bothering Christians like Kevin Andrews and Tony Abbott now it’s in the hands of an evangelical like Morrison. Does Australia really need another war for the sake of their political must win at all cost game. We pay them for service not to service us. (ODT)Liberal Party elder and former defence minister Kevin Andrews has launched a savage attack on the Chinese government in a private party forum, saying President Xi Jinping was running “the most complete totalitarian regime that we’ve seen probably on the face of this earth”.
Senior Liberal MP denounces ‘totalitarian’ Chinese rule on secret tape
No Body Bags: private aged care, private hospitals expose transport workers to Covid – Michael West
Private aged care homes and private hospitals in Victoria are failing to use body bags, putting frontline workers and their families at risk. Aged care is regulated by the Federal Government and hospitals are regulated by the state. Luke Stacey reports.
No Body Bags: private aged care, private hospitals expose transport workers to Covid – Michael West
Van Badham and Ben Davison discuss the Liberal Party branch stacking scandal, the economic threat to jobs and the Morrison government undermining people’s retirement by making people empty their super to survive the COVID crisis. Van and Ben are joined, from the parliament in Canberra, by Andrew Giles MP, Member for Scullin, Shadow Minister for Cities and Urban Infrastructure, Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Shadow Minister assisting for Immigration and Citizenship. They discuss the economic impacts of the crisis, what’s happening during this sitting and a possible cut to environmental protections by the Morrison government.
Source: Episode 2: Branch stacking, superannuation and Andrew Giles reports from Canberra
If Joe Biden promises to cancel all student debt, he will defeat Donald Trump in a landslide. Everyone who is serious about removing Trump from office should pressure him hard to do it right now.
If Joe Biden Wants to Win Big, He Should Pledge to Cancel Student DebtRather than motivate a large untapped base that would give it a sure win, Biden and the Democrats are playing a risky game and going for a miniscule margin of victory that relies on a small number of persuadable Republicans.
They aren’t acting like they think democracy is at stake. They aren’t acting like beating Trump is the world-historical task they say it is. Rather, what’s most important is beating him with a voter base that won’t push the party too hard to make things better for working-class and poor people. It’s worth it to risk losing, to win that way.
The most important thing is not really to win but, to quote Joe Biden, to make sure “no one’s standard of living will change, nothing [will] fundamentally change.”
It’s the year 2020, and anything could happen. Joe Biden could very well win this election. But if he follows the path he’s on, it won’t be because of anything he’s done.
Give us something to vote for, Joe. Cancel student debt.
It’s these situations that have increased because of Trump not despite him (ODT)
In response to the violence wrought by law enforcement, that night protesters took to the streets in Kenosha and protests continued over the next few days. Police officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets and protesters shot off fireworks and set fire to police cars and other property. Then on Tuesday, a group of white armed vigilantes shot three protesters, killing two. It should go without saying that their actions were illegal. Sadly, it probably also goes without saying that they were met with less police violence than Blake faced for turning his back on some officers.
What Conservatives Really Mean When They Call for Law and Order – Mother Jones
We asked Australian comedians to tell us what makes them crack up online. For Jenna Owen and Victoria Zerbst of comedy duo Freudian Nip, it’s randy parrots and Harry Potter
Freudian Nip: the 10 funniest things we have ever seen (on the internet) | Culture | The Guardian
Morrison always wanted evangelicals and Houston in the White House.(ODT)
There is nothing very exceptional about American exceptionalism. Many Americans merely deem themselves exceptional and demand that others do likewise. Australian exceptionalism is risible.
The idea of American exceptionalism has infected Australia
Saddling individuals with a high level of future debt inevitably turns away those who do not have money in the first place
My university degree was life-changing. Putting them out of reach is elitist and wrong | Sarah Maddison | Opinion | The Guardian
Staff at RMIT University have expressed concern about the level of funding flowing to its blockchain research body and the links it shares with the Institute of Public Affairs. The Blockchain Innovation Hub has received about $6m from RMIT and benefitted from hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant funding from the federal government since it was launched in September 2017. Five of its 15 staff are either current or former fellows of the Institute of Public Affairs, a rightwing, free-market thinktank. The hub aims to be a global research leader in blockchain, the technology behind cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. One aspect of its research examines how blockchain can be used to transform government, including services, regulation and other interactions with non-government entities. Its researchers have helped guide the Australian government’s approach to blockchain through the National Blockchain Roadmap. The Blockchain Innovation Hub is co-directed by Christopher Berg, who is an IPA fellow. The other co-director is Jason Potts, who was previously an IPA fellow but has no ongoing role. Tim Wilson helped IPA and solicited Liberal party endorsement while in human rights position Read more Sinclair Davidson, another researcher with the hub, is also currently an adjunct fellow at the IPA. Other members of the hub include Aaron Lane and Darcy Allen, both of whom were former fellows at the IPA, but have no ongoing formal roles with the organisation. IPA fellows are not paid and the position is honorary in nature.
‘What is going on?’ RMIT staff irked by research hub’s links to rightwing thinktank | Australia news | The Guardian
Is ASIC a poodle for Rich Listers and big business or a serious corporate regulator? In their seven years in power the Liberals have appointed all the key personnel. The decision on whether to appeal the loss it suffered in the court case it brought against advertising mogul Harold Mitchell will be a key test. Stephen Mayne makes the case for an appeal.
ASIC grandly slammed by Harold Mitchell mates, must appeal Tennis Australia case
Our Democracy hinged on the ABC and it’s been eroded from outside and in and little is done about it, This alone is a reason to vote the LNP out. (ODT)
For those who watch the affairs of the ABC through the eyes of a critical friend, the removal of Emma Alberici, made public on August 21, is deeply disturbing. It is the climax to a destructive series of events that began more than two years ago and once again draws attention to two serious weaknesses in the ABC’s management arrangements.
ABC has for too long been unwilling to push back against interference – at its journalists’ expense
Remember when branch stacking was the biggest scandal in Australian politics? Sure, at the time there were other, far greater, unresolved issues that the Federal Government should have been made to address, but, well, the Victorian Labor Party was involved in branch stacking! The PM said at the time: “Albanese has been totally burnt by this scandal … We’re fighting for jobs, they’re fighting each other.” The Labor Party was, he said, “absolutely at war” — and he did not stop there, adding for good measure, at his unctuous best:
No Sukkar for Labor over Liberal branch stacking revelations
Announced speakers have appeared on Fox weekday programs more than 3,000 times since August 2017
The Republican National Convention, brought to you by Fox News | Media Matters for America
The moral case for egalitarian reforms is overwhelming. Obscene wealth disparities are a product of political and economic power, not virtue or extraordinary talent.
The Triumph of Monopoly Capitalism is Hurting American Workers’ Life Expectancy | The Smirking Chimp
Take him to court he has SCOTUS protection says Trump (ODT)
The chairman of a Democratic-led US House of Representatives subcommittee announced on Tuesday an investigation into whether Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s appearance at the Republican National Convention breaks federal law and regulations.
Democratic US lawmaker says he is probing Pompeo’s Republican convention appearance
Trump screwed the Kurds helping Exxon in Syria. Dow Jones says it wasn’t worth it. (ODT)
“Big Oil has fallen. Our job is to make sure they don’t take us down with them.”
Proving ‘A Different World Is Possible,’ Exxon Dropped From Dow Jones After 92-Year Run | Common Dreams News
The Australian Catholic Church says it will not support a potential vaccine for the coronavirus, arguing that a more effective method would be moving the virus to another location and pretending nothing had happened.
Catholic Church Opposes Vaccine, Suggests Moving COVID To Another Parish Instead | The Shovel
Instead of crafting policies to tackle causes rather than symptoms, Australian leaders have used terror laws to turn social and national problems into security issues that demand a military response. Allan Behm investigates.
‘The only thing to fear is fear itself’ – the overreach of Australian anti-terror laws
When Politics is just a game it’s no longer of use or entertaining just an expense to us all The IPA don’t mind that as long as progress isn’t achieved .(ODT)
With Federal Parliament about to reconvene after a nine-week break, the PM met with his ministers to plot strategy.
Scotty and Co’s new ‘Blame Dan Andrews’ policy
If one considers the LNP to be better fighters because they have the IPA, Murdoch and money behind them does that mean they are better governors and organizers than the ALP? Australia would still be a backwater nation corporately owned more than it is now if it weren’t for the ALP. Unfortunately the privatization of everything has resulted in the dysfunction we are witnessing to day in our institutional inability to deal with eithet COVID and Climate Change. The battle for the common good is weakened by the neoliberal institutions we have inherited. (ODT)
August 25, 2020 — 11.59pm View all comments Branch stacking is one of the most unedifying, if not sordid, features of Australian politics. It is a fundamental tool of the factions evident in both Labor and the LNP. Labor has been at it longer, and is better at it. Indeed, Labor factions are more structured, disciplined and effective – LNP factions are more amateurish and aspirational.
Liberal and Labor leaders must respond to ‘cancerous’ branch stacking
No, really. They stand for nothing except support for Dear Leader. So much for “debating” Republicans.
The Republican Party Officially Has NO Platform, Only Trump | Crooks and Liars
Trump’s other big promises from the 2016 campaign — a grand infrastructure overhaul not seen since the 1950s and the replacement of Obamacare with an even better health care program — haven’t materialized.
The ‘I Alone Can Fix It’ President Asks America For A Do-Over | HuffPost Australia
Fox anchor and reporter don’t mention that Blake was unarmed when police shot him in the back
Fox News is already suggesting that Jacob Blake is to blame for police shooting him in the back 7 times | Media Matters for America
Video on social media appears to show officers in Kenosha shoot at Jacob Blake seven times as he leaned into vehicle
Wisconsin deploys national guard amid protests over police shooting | US news | The Guardian
Under pressure from the Trump White House on the eve of the Republican National Convention, the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization yesterday for a potential therapeutic against COVID-19. But mainstream news coverage of the announcement largely ignored objections from public health experts that critical data needed to justify this move from the FDA is missing.
Media outlets ignore objections from public health experts on FDA emergency use authorization of convalescent plasma | Media Matters for America
The Coalition Government favours fossil fuels at the expense of renewables, but Australia needs to get off coal to save both lives and money, writes Professor John Quiggin.
Every day, coal is killing us
Israel Is an Army With a Country Attached
A new book by an Israeli scholar dissects the extraordinary hold that the country’s military — and militaristic ways of thinking — have on Israeli society, and the ideological myths that keep the project afloat.
Israel Is an Army With a Country Attached
The rampant commercialisation of Australia’s public universities has been laid bare as they engage in behaviour more expected of multinationals than learned institutions. While huge numbers of teaching staff have been casualised, the sector is reporting bumper profits and eyewatering corporate salaries. Michael Sainsbury runs the numbers.
Australia’s universities: bosses reel in $1m-plus salaries, $1bn profit on back of staff underpayment – Michael West
Twitter slapped President Donald Trump with a violation notice on a tweet he sent out Sunday regarding ballot drop boxes for the upcoming election. The flag appeared about five hours after Trump tweeted.
Donald Trump Slapped With Violation Notice By Twitter After Tweeting About Ballot Drop Boxes
These times are financially stressful for many Australians, but not everyone. Alan Austin examines indicators showing the sectors still dining out.
The economy is still booming for the rich despite the pandemic
According to the Pew Research Center, some 15 million adults participated in the protests, which makes it the largest movement in American history. In terms of interracial composition, three times as many whites as Blacks participated and the percentage of Hispanics was higher than that for Black people.
Which Black Voices Should Their White Supporters Heed? | The Smirking Chimp
The media continues to scapegoat China about a pandemic in nature as if China caused the spread of the disease in the UK and USA and what lays ahead. The Plague killed 50% of the world’s population, The Spanish flu (not Spanish more than the two world wars. The German measles weren’t German. Natural disasters happen the blame cast for them simply hides realities we refuse to admit to.
Covid-19 illustrates the difference social and political systems make when facing a universal existential threats. Nicola Smith’s article misses the point entirely. Science might make mistakes but what is done with those errors amplifies something else altogether.The success and/or failure of our management skills and our ability to work together. China, Cuba, Denmark Norway have managed Covid-19 far better than the USA,UK,Spain and Brazil. The plague was followed by the Renaissance and entirely new ways of thinking enlightenment. Will the same follow now? (ODT)
Nobody wants to be the bearer of bad news but in the case of local health officials in Wuhan, their reticence in coming forward with the truth in January may have been a decisive factor in allowing the coronavirus to inflict global havoc.
The world may be paying the price for Wuhan’s bungling bureaucrats
It’s possible to disagree – but still engage – with friends or fellow citizens who evaluate the benefits of test and tracing policies for COVID-19 differently, but how do we communicate with someone who – armed with the same public information – concludes that there is no pandemic?
How in the World did Americans make even a Pandemic Partisan? The Virus doesn’t Care
Microsoft is currently in talks with TikTok to buy out operations in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Considering Bill Gates and Microsoft’s massive failure with the Windows phone and in the battle with Android, they would be absolutely salivating at the prospect of owning a mobile app with over a hundred million young consumers. But will they protect private data? That prospect is highly doubtful. In early August, the Washington Post reported that Microsoft could use the data from TikTok for research and development in artificial intelligence. The only way forward is legislation that is both national and global in application and places democracy and the protection of privacy ahead of corporate interests and invasive security measures. Though with the governments of Trump, Scott Morrison and Xi Jinping, I don’t like our chances of that.
TikTok furore exposes data privacy hypocrisy in Australia and the U.S.
At the parliamentary hearing, he said: “From my perspective, creating jobs for people is much more important than preserving the credit ratings. I have no concerns at all about the state governments being able to borrow more money at low interest rates. The Reserve Bank is making sure that’s the case.” At one level, this is a sign of the momentous times we live in. Governments around the world are borrowing massively as the only way they can think of to overcome the coronacession. With interest rates on long-term government borrowing at unprecedented lows, what have they go to fear?
Coronavirus: Pandemic could kill off governments’ credit rating bogeyman
Berkshire Hathaway revealed this month it had dumped nearly $US6 billion ($8.4 billion) of its US bank holdings, including a majority of its JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs shares and about a quarter of its holding in Wells Fargo. It did, however, add to its stake in Bank of America.
Golden touch: Is Warren Buffett betting against America?
UK-based offshore drilling contractor Valaris has filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States, offering creditors to swap some $6.5 billion of its $7.8-billion debt pile for equity. The company is the largest offshore rig owner in the world.
World’s largest offshore rig owner files bankruptcy — RT Business News
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