Author: peterimrich

Victorian Government announces multi-million-dollar plan to end native logging by 2030 – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

A baby possum's face is cradled under a thumb as it sits in someone's hand, wrapped in cloth.

WHO NEEDS SOME TOTALLY AMAZING NEWS?!

Oh my god. Every day I clasp my hands together and thank the sweet universe that I live in Victoria. Thank you, Lily D’Ambrosio MP, thank you.

Please bear in mind: this timetable – and the money that the government are willing to put into it – gives the working people of the industry time and resources to *transition*. This is what we mean by a “just” transition. It is why it should be at the heart of every decision we make. (Van Badham)

Victorian Government announces multi-million-dollar plan to end native logging by 2030 – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Labor: “Our Campaign Had Too Many Messages”. Shorten: “I Reject That For The Following 17 Reasons” – The Shovel

Screenshot_2019-11-09 The Shovel - Australia's satire news website.png

via Labor: “Our Campaign Had Too Many Messages”. Shorten: “I Reject That For The Following 17 Reasons” – The Shovel

Old Dog Thoughts- News Corp’s $306 mill loss despite Clive Palmer’s$60 mill media spend and the Government’s $30 Mill

Image result for Bolt with Egg on his face

Fighting Fake News with REAL,9/11/19; News Corp posts $306 mill loss. Commentators are failing to rate and their incompetancy showing;

US and China agree to cancel tariffs, sending Wall Street to record highs – Business – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

A stylised image of a Chinese flagged export container sitting on a US flagged export container

Just how wrong was Trump when he started the trade war and put tariffs on Chinese goods. Now he’s doing a walk back and will media claim he has won. China has won the war they never started. (ODT)

via US and China agree to cancel tariffs, sending Wall Street to record highs – Business – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Trump Ordered To Pay $2 Million In Charity Ethics Lawsuit | HuffPost Australia

The Fraudster Family caught in action. Any wonder they don’t want their Tax Returns made public. (ODT)

via Trump Ordered To Pay $2 Million In Charity Ethics Lawsuit | HuffPost Australia

Fox violates its edict not to name the whistleblower | Media Matters for America

fox-news-fb.jpg

Fox News doesn’t have, or doesn’t enforce, standards the way a normal news outlet does. Its hosts frequently buck the network’s purported ban on participating in campaign events, its efforts to limit abject on-air bigotry only highlights the horrific commentary it is willing to let slide, and its much touted wall between “news” and “opinion” divisions is extremely permeable.

And so when CNN reported on Wednesday that Fox hosts and personalities had been ordered not to identify the whistleblower whose complaint is at the heart of an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump’s abuse of power, the question was not whether that edict would be violated, but when.

via Fox violates its edict not to name the whistleblower | Media Matters for America

Deconstructed Podcast: The Bernie Sanders Interview

via Deconstructed Podcast: The Bernie Sanders Interview

World’s thickest mountain glacier is melting, new NASA images reveal | Fox News

Fox News Flash top headlines for Nov. 7

via World’s thickest mountain glacier is melting, new NASA images reveal | Fox News

Oxfam report: world’s 26 richest billionaires own same as total wealth of the 3.8 billion poorest – CNN

via Oxfam report: world’s 26 richest billionaires own same as total wealth of the 3.8 billion poorest – CNN

The clock is ticking ever closer to Doomsday – » The Australian Independent Media Network

The population, science and business are all onside but the LNP isn’t(ODT)

We have truly lost our moral compass, following get-rich-quick cults and ignoring the needs of those who do not have a chance to ‘have a go’!

We waste food while the poor in other countries – and some in our own – are starving.

We have developed a throw-away economy where manufacturers build in obsolescence.

We pollute to the point that some fresh water sources are no longer suitable for consumption.

The rate of loss of species diversity is enormous. No surprise, when we recognise that humankind is the Earth’s most dangerous predator!

The clock is ticking ever closer to Doomsday, and all the wealth, in financial terms, which a few have accumulated, will not save them forever when the air and water are polluted and the temperatures soar out of control! They might end up living lonely lives in luxurious caves!

Government funding cuts and concentration on research that brings in money has not yet quite destroyed the CSIRO. We have plenty of sources of viable plans for action.

via The clock is ticking ever closer to Doomsday – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Now the police want your passwords – and you could be fined $60,000 or put in prison for five years if you refuse

a man wearing a suit and tie: Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said encryption hurt national security and hid crime

via Now the police want your passwords – and you could be fined $60,000 or put in prison for five years if you refuse

Knapp: Big Four failed Australia for their multinational clients – Michael West

Knapp: Big Four failed Australia for their multinational clients

This submission by Jeffrey Knapp to the impending Parliamentary Inquiry into the Regulation of Auditing in Australia documents how the Big 4 audit firms – KPMG, PwC, Deloitte and EY – have undermined Australian auditing and financial reporting practice for multinational clients. Knapp includes a number of recommendations.

via Knapp: Big Four failed Australia for their multinational clients – Michael West

Old Dog Thoughts- Climate Change is real no matter the Murdoch denial supporting a minority.

An aerial view of Alaska's Taku glacier near Juneau.

Fighting Fake News with REAL, 8/11/19; Fake and Twisted Murdochratic News;

Trio of impeachment testimonies to tell full story of Trump’s alleged wrongdoing | US news | The Guardian

Bill Taylor arrives to be deposed behind closed doors amid the US House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry into Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington DC on 22 October 2019.

Bill Taylor, George P Kent and Marie Yovanovitch will tell complementary parts of the story and how it affects national security

via Trio of impeachment testimonies to tell full story of Trump’s alleged wrongdoing | US news | The Guardian

Democrats Rack Up Election Wins In The South Ahead Of 2020 | HuffPost Australia

Apparent Kentucky Gov.-elect Andy Beshear celebrates with supporters in Louisville, Kentucky, on Tuesday...

Democrats Rack Up Election Wins In The South Ahead Of 2020
In Virginia and Kentucky, Donald Trump hurt Republicans far more than he helped.

via Democrats Rack Up Election Wins In The South Ahead Of 2020 | HuffPost Australia

America: Bases, Bases, Everywhere, and Not a Base in Sight

https://media.juancole.com/images/2019/11/america-bases-bases-everywhere-a.jpg

The abandonment of about a dozen outposts across northeastern Syria likely constitutes the largest mass closure of military bases of the Trump presidency. (Since the Pentagon refuses to provide an accurate count of overseas outposts, however, there’s no way to make certain of that.) Still, while this reduction of outposts in Syria is significant, it hardly constitutes a substantial drawdown of U.S. forces in the region (especially at a moment when President Trump may be sending tanks and armored vehicles, with all the necessary supporting forces, into the area around Syria’s oil fields). With the president either reshuffling troops in Syria or merely relocating them elsewhere in the Middle East and a new contingent of American forces deploying to Saudi Arabia, there will actually be a net gain in U.S. troops in the region at this moment of supposed reduction.

via America: Bases, Bases, Everywhere, and Not a Base in Sight

Israel killed 222 Gaza protestors since 2018. Only one soldier has been indicted | +972 Magazine

A Palestinian woman seen after after crossing the a fence that had been damaged by demonstrators during the protest near the Gaza-Israel border fence, Gaza Strip, September 28, 2018. (Mohammed Zaanoun/Activestills.org)

via Israel killed 222 Gaza protestors since 2018. Only one soldier has been indicted | +972 Magazine

The Dr Mohamed Haneef case – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Following his arrest, Dr. Haneef’s family claimed that any link between him and the terrorists was only tenuous, and just a case of guilt by association, that he was not involved in the plot, and that he was returning to India for the already mentioned reason. Dr. Haneef’s father-in-law said that the doctor intended to take his wife and daughter back to Australia after getting the infant a passport, and – for that reason only – he was travelling without a return ticket.

The Australian Federal Police did not believe Dr. Haneef, despite the detailed explanation he had given while answering questions. And perhaps at this point, it may be said that Dr. Haneef is a practising Muslim.

via The Dr Mohamed Haneef case – » The Australian Independent Media Network

“How Good Is Putting Everyone On The Indue Card To Stop Secondary Boycotts?” – » The Australian Independent Media Network

As altruistic miners try to enter a building they’re stopped from their humanitarian aims by these incredibly selfish protestors who are just there for the fun of harassing the saints who, out of the goodness of their hearts, give up their spare time to find ways of giving people jobs. These saints of industry have worked tirelessly to eliminate all canaries from their coal mines and are moving towards a world where mining is fully automated and no humans will be forced to undertake such dangerous work. At such a time, they’ll then share the wealth they’ve created by donating their stuff to the people who can’t afford it at current prices because they’re such great human beings, unlike the bullies who are blocking their way just for the fun of it.

Whichever way you look at it, the protestors believe that they’re trying to save the planet. Even if you think that the planet doesn’t need saving, it’s really hard to argue that they’re the selfish ones. “You bastards, you’re only trying to save the Earth because you live on it! Have some consideration for people like Alan Jones who haven’t been on the planet for years!”

via “How Good Is Putting Everyone On The Indue Card To Stop Secondary Boycotts?” – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Underpaid workers remain out of pocket months after employers apologise – Business – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Woolworths

via Underpaid workers remain out of pocket months after employers apologise – Business – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Major super funds push BHP to cut ties with lobby groups

 BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie is facing increasing pressure to cut the miner's ties with lobby groups.

Is this the boycott Morrison is going to outlaw? (ODT)

via Major super funds push BHP to cut ties with lobby groups

Latest Aussie Tax Haven Sale: Pyramids of Brookfield get Treasurer’s tick to take aged care empire – Michael West

Latest Aussie Tax Haven Sale: Pyramids of Brookfield get Treasurer’s tick to take aged care empire

Five people died at a children’s hospital in Scotland built by Brookfield, billions have been stripped offshore in Australian assets, yet Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has approved the sale of the nursing home and retirement village business Aveo. It will be controlled in Bermuda. This follows the Brookfield takeover of 43 Australian hospitals.

via Latest Aussie Tax Haven Sale: Pyramids of Brookfield get Treasurer’s tick to take aged care empire – Michael West

Protesting and boycotting the Morrison Government way

via Protesting and boycotting the Morrison Government way

“I called the Royal Commission” – » The Australian Independent Media Network

A couple of days before the Four Corners investigation, Who Cares, was to air, Scott Morrison rushed to announce a Royal Commission into Aged Care. This was a government turnaround directly in anticipation of the damning ABC expose.

When interviewed for the program about a month earlier, Wyatt had said a royal commission would be an unnecessary move because the Government was already reviewing the sector.

“A royal commission, after two years and maybe $200 million being spent on it, will come back with the same set or a very similar set of recommendations,” he said, preferring to see that money go towards frontline aged care services.

Emails revealed at the RC show a flurry of activity in response to programs on the ABC whilst reports from the department on how to address the problems languished on the Minister’s desk.

Protecting his precious surplus, Morrison is willing to let people die while waiting for help.

Not only that, he wants kudos for calling yet another inquiry into a crisis of his party’s making in its never-ending pursuit of profit and deregulation

via “I called the Royal Commission” – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Old Dog Thoughts- What hurts the most a promise to pull out and don’t it constitutes rape

US ‘pullout’ from Syria looking more like permanent occupation with 800 troops reportedly tasked to ‘protect’ oil

Fighting Fake News with REAL;7/11/19; The pullout that wasn’t and the mercenaries for oil that are; The hidden bases that Australia doesn’t know about;

Impeachment Today Podcast: The Trump-Ukraine Transcript Isn’t Really A Transcript

via Impeachment Today Podcast: The Trump-Ukraine Transcript Isn’t Really A Transcript

Key Donald Trump impeachment witness changes testimony over Ukraine ‘quid pro quo’ 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2019/11/05/TELEMMGLPICT000213656468_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqI3FCE1f7boN3_RkHZJyAaSJ2hmdxzgkpja8nHX4emyY.jpeg?imwidth=1400

A key witness in the Donald Trump impeachment inquiry has reversed his evidence, indicating he did believe there was a quid pro quo in which US military aid would be denied to Ukraine unless it publicly launched a corruption investigation into Joe Biden.

via Key Donald Trump impeachment witness changes testimony over Ukraine ‘quid pro quo’ 

Lindsey Graham’s Trump Defense Blows Up After Transcript Shows Ukraine Extortion | Crooks and Liars

Lindsey Graham’s Trump Defense Blows Up After Transcript Shows Ukraine Extortion

via Lindsey Graham’s Trump Defense Blows Up After Transcript Shows Ukraine Extortion | Crooks and Liars

Syrian Kurds charge Turkey with Ethnic Cleansing as US Military frets it will be “blind” without Kurdish Help

https://media.juancole.com/images/2019/11/syrian-kurds-charge-turkey-with-750x422.jpg

via Syrian Kurds charge Turkey with Ethnic Cleansing as US Military frets it will be “blind” without Kurdish Help

Warning of ‘Untold Human Suffering,’ Over 11,000 Scientists From Around the World Declare Climate Emergency | Common Dreams News

via Warning of ‘Untold Human Suffering,’ Over 11,000 Scientists From Around the World Declare Climate Emergency | Common Dreams News

‘Extraordinary’: There’s a new name on the list of media-unfriendly nations

Australian Federal Police raided the home of journalist Annika Smethurst.

Association for International Broadcasting is convening to explore the challenges faced by media organisations as they react to increasing infringements on media freedom in an ever greater number of territories.  What is extraordinary is that alongside the usual suspects of Iran, states in Central Asia and dictatorships across Africa where media freedom is a distant dream, Australia will feature prominently in our discussions, and for all the wrong reasons.

via ‘Extraordinary’: There’s a new name on the list of media-unfriendly nations

Free trade agreements are often ignored by business. So why has Australia signed a new one? – Analysis & Opinion – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Scott Morrison shakes hands at the East Asia Summit (EAS) in Bangkok, Thailand, November 4, 2019.

via Free trade agreements are often ignored by business. So why has Australia signed a new one? – Analysis & Opinion – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Why are so many so unaware of the needs of others? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Many people grumble about paying taxes, but if you look around the world, most of the citizens of the most heavily taxed countries are also the most contented. They willingly trade some of their earnings to ensure that everyone has a safety-net, there are no beggars, the sick get necessary treatment, education is available to all and necessary assistance in finding work is available.

This is not socialism in its derogatory context. It is essential humanity – which is MIA in Australia!

via Why are so many so unaware of the needs of others? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Old Dog Thoughts-Trump Shitstorm, The rise of Real news.

Fighting Fake News with REAL,6/11/19; A real Hard Day at the Office for Trump; There’s nothing Free in Free Trade Ageements; Killing the news;

The Enemy Within | The Smirking Chimp

The removal of Trump from office would not threaten corporate power. It would not restore civil liberties, including our right to privacy and due process. It would not demilitarize the police or champion the rights of the working class. It would not impede the profits of the fossil fuel and banking industries. It would not address the climate emergency. It would not disrupt the warrantless surveillance of the public. It would not end extraordinary renditions, the kidnapping of those around the globe considered to be enemies of the state. It would not halt the assassinations by militarized drones. It would not halt the separation of children from their parents and the warehousing of these children in filthy, overcrowded conditions. It would not remedy the consolidation of wealth and power by the oligarchs and the further impoverishment of the citizenry. The expansion of our prison system and of black sites throughout the world, sites where we torture, would continue, as would the gunning down of poor, unarmed citizens in urban wastelands. Most importantly, the catastrophic foreign wars that have resulted in a series of failed states and wasted trillions of taxpayer dollars, would remain sacrosanct, enthusiastically embraced by the leaders of the two ruling parties, puppets of the deep state.

via The Enemy Within | The Smirking Chimp

Top 6 Problems with Trump Taking Syrian Oil

https://www.juancole.com/images/2016/01/daesh-isil-carries-off-400-women-750x422.jpg

 

via Top 6 Problems with Trump Taking Syrian Oil

Impeachment: ousted US envoy to Ukraine felt threatened by Trump, transcript shows

Former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch became a primary target.

Republicans have called for the release of the transcripts as Democrats have held the initial interviews in private, though Republican lawmakers have been present for those closed-door meetings.

Laying out the anatomy of a chilling smear campaign, former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch told House investigators in a transcript released on Monday that Ukrainian officials warned her in advance that Rudy Giuliani and other allies of President Donald Trump were planning to “do things, including to me” and were “looking to hurt” her.

The former envoy, who was pushed out of her job in May on Trump’s orders, testified that a senior Ukrainian official told her that “I really need to watch my back.”

via Impeachment: ousted US envoy to Ukraine felt threatened by Trump, transcript shows

The FBI tried to make Iceland a complicit ally in framing Julian Assange

via The FBI tried to make Iceland a complicit ally in framing Julian Assange

No Australian city has a long-term vision for living sustainably. We can’t go on like this – Analysis & Opinion – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Early morning light hits the skyscrapers of Melbourne's CBD, as seen from above.

via No Australian city has a long-term vision for living sustainably. We can’t go on like this – Analysis & Opinion – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Asia-Pacific leaders ink world’s largest trade deal without India while China is accused of ‘conquest’ – Politics – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Narendra Modi is seen in a headshot against a dark background. A microphone is in front of him and he is listening.

India was once the production house for 37% of the global economy the British no, a Capitalist invention Multinational Corporation the East India Company put an end to that and reduced them to 3%. The company owned Britain, the West Indies,  and a Colonial Empire as well. Trading textiles, spices, tea drugs and slaves out of tax free ports. It destroyed the worlds biggest textile industry which at the time was India. It then whitewashed the history of the Colonial Empire (ODT)

His country already has a $60 billion trade deficit with China and there are concerns lowering tariffs, and allowing the flow of cheap Chinese products into India, would further increase that deficit.

via Asia-Pacific leaders ink world’s largest trade deal without India while China is accused of ‘conquest’ – Politics – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Tender Truncheons: Lendlease concedes Tax Office closes net on retirement village racket – Michael West

Tender Truncheons: Lendlease concedes Tax Office closes net on retirement village racket

The East India Company once owned the British kingdom. The State had no control today much can be said of the LNP and it’s Corporate donors today.(ODT)

“Outlaw these indulgent and selfish practices that threaten the livelihood of fellow Australians,” declared Scott Morrison last week as the protests raged outside a Melbourne mining conference.

Ironically, most of the pesky protestors who have been upsetting the Prime Minister probably pay more income tax than the big businesses the PM seeks to protect; party donors mostly. Lendlease is one, zero income tax in Australia in the past six years. Michael West reports on Australia’s tax dodge du jour.

via Tender Truncheons: Lendlease concedes Tax Office closes net on retirement village racket – Michael West

Official: Australia Committed to U.S. Partnership as Relationship with Beijing Grows More Complex – USNI News

Has anyone noted there is no mention of Vietnam in this speech in which we blindly followed the US into to fight the good war against “Communism”? China wasn’t involved in that war which we lost and drafted our young men to fight. Did we ever hear the LNP Government say sorry? They took us to Aghanistan, Iraq and Syria all at the behest of the USA. Australia has never been a committed member of our region. (ODT)

The alliance between the United States and Australia is a “mateship,” a relationship that began on the battlefields of France a century ago and continued into Afghanistan, Reynolds said. “But it is a bond that much be renewed with every generation.” in meeting the challenges of today and tomorrow.

via Official: Australia Committed to U.S. Partnership as Relationship with Beijing Grows More Complex – USNI News

Dutton’s facial recognition next step in burgeoning surveillance state

via Dutton’s facial recognition next step in burgeoning surveillance state

Don’t shoot the messenger – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Morrison has demonstrated a Trumpesque ability to fudge, mislead and obfuscate, and to also suggest things are the opposite of reality.

Rowan, like Morrison and Trump are shooting the messenger. While they have every right to disagree with the position reported by some or all of the media, they also need to provide the evidence and data that would be required to demonstrate the lack of accuracy inherent in the claim of fake news. Otherwise, why should you or I believe them?

via Don’t shoot the messenger – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Old Dog Thoughts- So out of touch with reality

Demonstrators gather outside the White House to protest President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the Unites States from the Paris climate change accord.

Fighting Fake News with REAL,5/11/19; Trump starts pulling out of the Paris Agreement; The private in the lives of the insanely rich;

Trump Dismisses Support For Impeachment: ‘I Have The Real Polls’ | HuffPost Australia

Embedded video

But doesn’t name them. 18% of Republican Voters don’t oppose impeachment or his removal and could vote either way in 2020. (ODT)

via Trump Dismisses Support For Impeachment: ‘I Have The Real Polls’ | HuffPost Australia

Trump Just Threatened to Pull Federal Funding From California Over its Handling of Fires. Again. – Mother Jones

via Trump Just Threatened to Pull Federal Funding From California Over its Handling of Fires. Again. – Mother Jones

US military convoy comes under fire of Turkey-backed militants in Syria, no casualties – Russian MoD — RT World News

US military convoy comes under fire of Turkey-backed militants in Syria, no casualties – Russian MoD

via US military convoy comes under fire of Turkey-backed militants in Syria, no casualties – Russian MoD — RT World News

Working in Australia for $3 an hour — life on the working holiday visa – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Winnie Phillips wearing a black felt hat, looks at he phone.

Welcome to Australia Morrison’s “Where the bloody hell are you? ” is now ” Philausophy”. “We will make you pay” (ODT)

via Working in Australia for $3 an hour — life on the working holiday visa – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Israeli Guard Shoots Unarmed Palestinian in the Back: Video | News | teleSUR English

Checkpoints are regularly criticized by human rights groups as violent mechanisms for Israel to sustain its power over the Palestinians.

via Israeli Guard Shoots Unarmed Palestinian in the Back: Video | News | teleSUR English