Once upon a time Victoria was a byword for conservatism. Then it raised a Cain. Before you could say wine bars and Sunday trading, the state was skipping past the rest of the nation. And no matter how the nation votes, it is likely to remain a fortress for the anti-conservative forces this year. Mark Sawyer looks at political trends in the People’s Republic of Below Murray.
On what grounds do we put boots on the ground? Australian politicians have been mostly unwilling to cede control of declarations of war to parliament. When it comes to committing troops, our closest security partners have moved towards parliamentary votes, but in most cases the leadership reserves the final say, writes Zacharias Szumer.
My thoughts for the day With the budget coming up in a few days, something has been on my mind for some time. My wife and I, together with other welfare recipients, would like to apologise to Joe Hockey for being such a burden on him in the 2014 budget. When drafting a budget for the common good what should your priorities be? ( John Lord )
Source: Brands Liberal/National are on the nose – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Another way confectionary and processed food manufacturers circumvent disclosures on sugar content is by listing a multitude of confusing ingredients which, in fact, are all different forms of sugar, they include: dextrose, maltose, glucose, fructose, corn sweetener, honey, corn syrup, sucrose, sorghum syrup, sorbitol, lactose, molasses, syrup, fruit juice concentrate and high-fructose corn syrup. All of these compounds have the exact same effect on the human body as pure sugar, some would argue worse because they are being consumed by people who do not realise they are ingesting excess sugar. Even Harvard University has moved ahead from its shaky 1960s position, now finding, “Beverage companies spend billions of dollars marketing sugary drinks, yet generally rebuffs suggestions that its products and marketing tactics play any role in the obesity epidemic.”
The shellacking the South Australian Liberal government suffered at the weekend shattered myths that have dominated the past three years and it spells big trouble for the Morrison government in Canberra.
Source: Paul Bongiorno: Scott Morrison isn’t facing Malinauskas, but it won’t matter
I don’t often agree with Greg Sheridan but when he described Scott Morrison’s announcement that Australia was sending weapons to Ukraine as “performative symbolism”, he was right on the money.
LNP ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT
The number of published results of the Coalition’s economic mismanagement which are the worst on record has now reached 60, as Alan Austin reports. NO PREVIOUS Australian government has delivered such low economic growth over a sustained period of years as the Morrison-Joyce Government. The mainstream media’s economics writers will not report this. But they should. This is yet another appalling all-time weakest statistic generated by the Coalition and starts this list of the next ten, which brings the grand total to 60. Yes, 60 – six-oh – outcomes which are the worst on record, or in a very long time, or have collapsed furthest on global tables. The first 50 have been published already, with links to the raw data.
Source: All-time worst economic outcomes under Morrison and Frydenberg hit 60
Dr Monique Ryan for Kooyong
The Australian Greens had the environmental vote sewn up. But the 2022 election may be the one where the tide went out for the party after 40 years of passion and picketing and manoeuvring. It may be the election where parliamentary activism on clean energy is entrusted instead to a breed of reassuring, female ‘’climate leaders’’ who better reflect the aspirations of middle Australia, writes Mark Sawyer.
Murdoch couldn’t save the LNP in South Australia the State that gave birth to his propagandist empire
The ABC had a choice this week: amplify Murdoch’s toxic “Mean Girls” coverage, or expose News Corp for exploiting the death of Kimberley Kitching for political purposes. It made the wrong choice. New management is in order. Michael West reports. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation is the story, not the sad, sudden death of Senator Kimberly Kitching. And certainly not the grotesque narrative being peddled by News Corp’s rabid propagandists. Manslaughter, that is, manslaughter by Labor senators Penny Wong, Katy Gallagher and Kristina Keneally.
Source: ABC should expose News Corp’s agendas, not Labor’s “Mean Girls” – Michael West Media
At long last, the Australian government has added one of Putin’s claque to the sanctions list, Origin’s fracking partner in the Beetaloo Basin. And dirty dealings in a dirty industry don’t end there. The case highlights the massive government outlay required for otherwise uneconomic projects, writes Kurt Johnson. It’s worth asking exactly why the Australian government dithered until today to sanction oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. This associate of Vladimir Putin, owner of world’s largest collection of Fabergé eggs, has a significant minority stake in Falcon Oil and Gas Australia. The company, in a joint venture with operator Origin Energy which together own three permits in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin, the keystone project of the government’s “Gas-fired Recovery Strategy”.
Source: Fog of War: how Australian taxpayers enriched Putin’s fracking mate – Michael West Media
This Australian government has been acting as Putin does.
Top-secret evidence will be allowed in the prosecution of Bernard Collaery, the man who exposed Australian spying in East Timor, an ACT Supreme Court judge has ruled. Greg Barns examines the implications. Here’s a test. You have been charged with serious criminal offences and are facing a trial. The prosecution says it can use secret evidence against you. Evidence you and your lawyers are unable to see. Instead the court will appoint a special advocate who can look at the secret evidence and represent your interests. Which country are we in? Russia? China? Or in the United States with its infamous Guantanamo Bay military justice system.
Source: Justice for whistleblower Bernard Collaery is as far away as ever – Michael West Media
MORRISON NEVER LIES! HOW DO WE KNOW? HE SAID SO!
This meme lists fifteen items which purport to show the Liberals beating Labor. It is blatantly dishonest.
Federal ministers have posted it on their Facebook pages with the comment “The next election will be a choice – a choice about who can best manage our economy to ensure a stronger future. It’s a clear choice.”
My thought for the day Often our opinions are based on our values rather than our understanding, and the difficulty is separating the two.( John Lord )
Angus Taylor helped raise our debt over 200%,. He made us the laughing stock Glasgow when turning our baks on global climate responsibility and now he’s claiming the ALP is fiscally irresponsible with his hand covering his heart! I thought bullshitters crossed their fingers when their lips moved.
While Energy Minister Angus Taylor and Shadow Energy Minister Chris Bowen quibble over the brass tacks, the states are getting on with the job of energy transition, writes Callum Foote, and in a mostly bipartisan way.
The upcoming federal election has spurred political sparring over Commonwealth energy policy. Labor is claiming the Liberals are dragging their feet on climate and the Liberals are claiming Labor is fiscally irresponsible.
Dismay at the decision was expressed by Amnesty International’s Deputy Research Director for Europe, Julia Hall. “The Supreme Court has missed an opportunity to clarify the UK’s acceptance of deeply flawed diplomatic assurances against torture. Such assurances are inherently unreliable and leave people at risk of severe abuse upon extradition or other transfer.” The next stage in this diabolical torment of the WikiLeaks founder involves remitting the case to Westminster Magistrates’ Court, which will only serve a ceremonial role in referring the decision to the Home Secretary, Priti Patel. Only the most starry-eyed optimists will expect extradition to be barred. (Patel is fixated with proposed changes to the UK Official Secrets Act that will expansively criminalise journalists and whistleblowers who publish classified information.) The defence will do their best in submissions to Patel ahead of the decision, but it is likely that they will have to seek judicial review.
Source: Rotten Rulings: Julian Assange and the UK Supreme Court – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Scott Morrison PM was asked, some 18 months ago, what his over 30 year relationship with the Stewart family amounted to? Tim Stewart and his son Jesse are central and religiously active Pentacostalists and active members of the radical extreme-right global internet conspiracy group QAnon. Tim Stewart has even been banned from Twitter and other social media sites. He has even hosted activist members from the US and Gold Coast at his home. It was suggested his wife didn’t know her husband and son were members of QAnon while living with the discussion group in the house.
Morrison our PM has strict security, bodyguards and so are we meant to believe that neither the AFP or ASIO even knew or warned him? That Morrison didn’t simply shrug their concerns off? Questions were tabled at a Senate Estimates Comittee by Penny Wong some 18 months ago and were put on record by Matthias Corman but have never been answered. In fact, refused to be answered despite Tim Stewart boasting about his influence over his bestie Scott Morrison the PM to QAnon. How his words “ritual abuse” were going to be included in a Morrison address as proof, and sure enough they were.
Morrison today has the gall to suggest Albo is influenced by the Chinese who have him in their pocket. Compared with QAnon, whose involvement in the Jan 6th riots in the US was plain to see. Their insane conspiracies pushed globally and Morrison’s personal, up close relationship with two of their most radical members who knew beforehand what was in his speech speaks to the fact we can trust Anthony Albanese blindly but can’t trust Morrison in the slightest. Albanese is an open book Morrison is totally closed with only a photo-manufactured veneer. He’s even got a trail of non disclosure agreements as part and parcel of his history,
The latest Newspoll is merely confirmation of the feedback they are getting in their electorates, best summed up by the comment “Morrison’s lost the mob. They have given up listening to him”. Labor has had an extraordinary run in the poll this year. It has led all four by 10 points or more – landslide territory if repeated at the election. Of course, borrowing from Italian opera, it’s not over until the fat lady sings, or more pertinently, till the last vote is cast.
Source: Paul Bongiorno: Not being Scott Morrison gets better for Anthony Albanese
Let’s not forget 2013 post-GFC Australia was voted the “World’s Best Economy” and Wayne Swan “The World’s Best Treasurer” all under a Gillard/ALP Government. They saved us from the onslaught of the GFC recession the rest of the world suffered. Even before Covid-19 the LNP had doubled our National Debt and they have more than tripled it since, plunging our economic standing in comparison with the rest of the world. The spring back they call a “recovery” after a bungee jump dive is now being touted by Frydenberg as the best on the planet. These assholes sure know how to strategise, blatantly spin and lie to the Australian people. Morrison has expanded that department.
Wages have shrunk, fallen 3.5% while Corporate wealth has risen and grown 13.5%. More Australians are in multiple jobs and have suffered wage-theft and Super theft amounting to billions of dollars while Morrison’s has done nothing but reward corporations with tax cuts, JobKeeper when they were already making profit through Covid not a loss. Taxpayer money they don’t have to pay back which also ran into the billions.
Morrison’s Bullshit Compared with the Facts
Speaking on Sky News on Monday night, he said the next three to ten years would be tough as Australia recovers from the damage inflicted by the coronavirus. “It’s going to be a tough next 10 years, next three years and you need a government to keep (the economy) in strong shape,” he said.
“What’s important is you take the fiscal settings back to an after-pandemic normal, and that’s what we’re looking to do.”
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has drawn level with Mr Morrison as preferred prime minister in the latest Newspoll, while Labor is still ahead of the coalition on a two-party preferred basis at 55 per cent to 45 per cent.
While the government is behind in the polls, Mr Morrison said he wasn’t concerned, adding voters would soon move from “sentiment to real choices”. “When it comes to these things, Australians will focus on these things, and the federal election is always close,” he said.
Source: Voter sentiment will shift pre-poll: PM – Michael West Media
It’s like watching a three-hundred-pound bully beat up a kid half his size, for no reason — bloodying the poor kid, pulverizing him. Yet you don’t dare try to stop the mayhem because the bully has a gun that he’ll use on you if you intervene. You look for police, but there are none.
Source: Helplessness in the Face of Evil | The Smirking Chimp
“In 1959, the BBC asked [Bertrand] Russell, [public intellectual, historian, social critic, political activist and Nobel laureate] what advice he would give future generations. He answered: ‘When you are studying any matter or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only what are the facts and what is the truth that the facts bear out. Never let yourself be diverted either by what you wish to believe or by what you think would have beneficent social effects if it were believed, but look only and solely at the facts.”
Ideology is not a bad thing. It’s of value, very important really. Each of us as individuals should have a fact-based and justice-seeking worldview that guides us as we go through life, day by day. But when that worldview doesn’t fit with the facts, as history and our lives develop, it’s time to make some practical and ideological adjustments, look at things more closely. Ideology grounded in facts, not blind ideology, is what we must strive for.
This isn’t splashed across the front pages of our MSM why? It certainly however indicates their right-wing, top-down propaganda bias. Morrison’s promised ICAC has been discarded and a stained promise remains. Australia’s international corruption index has blown out and the pigs are ripping the guts out of everything that remains. Super and wage theft have been gouged, while workers and their families have lost billions. $8 companies were given contracts that now values them at $340M. Mates have jobs doing sweet FA and earn $600K and grants well we saw the grants they came and went in some cases like Bridget McKenzie.
Nine years ago we were voted best economy on the planet and our Treasurer then voted the world’s best and we had just faced the GFC and won governed by the Gillard ALP. Bills were passedbut then along came 9 years of listening to “nope nope nope” of LNP government with Frydenberg still telling us we are the worlds best economy when the world says we are not.
Our privately owned MSM Murdoch the largest is proving to be the Australian equivalent of Russian State Media a propaganda machine loved by Putin. It might well be criticizing Scott Morrison but it sure as hell isn’t criticizing the L-NP for dragging this country down economically or reputationally on every social metric. They are after all the worlds best promisers who do nothing and when and if they do it’s so late its a useless token gesture. Yes Morrison promises to make the NBN the best in the world and liberate Christians from discrimination. What criticism there is in our MSM, is minimal and isn’t calling for a necessary change of government. Quite the opposite in fact, they are still branded the best economic managers by corporate Australia while government debt blew out to almost $1Tr and filled the pockets of their donors. The truth is staring us in the face. Are we better off under a Morrison/LNP than we were under a Gillard lead ALP? Is our material Economy, Health, Education, Wealth, Housing and Welfare better? Have Corruption, Broken Promises, Discrimination, Racism, and Climate action improved? Let’s be the honest judges and not simply accept the word of the worlds worst salesman!
One guy prosecuted for allegedly running a company while bankrupt, ten Crown directors off scot free for washing $70bn through casinos for Chinese Triads, drug and sex traffickers and other assorted criminals. One rule for rich and powerful, another for the rest. Michael West reports on the world of deluxe double standards.
Source: Crown v Shannon: bigwigs off the hook, small fish fried – Michael West Media
When Scotty left his job with Tourism New Zealand, then sports minister Trevor Mallard laid the blame for problems at the Office of Tourism and Sport squarely with Morrison. Australian standards of public sector behaviour “are lower than ours,” Mallard told the NZ Herald. “My experience with Australian politicians is that rules and ethics are not as important to them as they are to New Zealanders.” Sorry, but this lot make me feel far from secure.
I used to believe several things about the twenty-first century that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and Donald Trump’s election in 2016 have shown me are false. I assumed: Nationalism is disappearing. I expected globalization would blur borders, create economic interdependence among nations and regions, and extend a modern consumer and artistic culture worldwide.
Source: Putin and Trump Have Convinced Me I Was Wrong about the Twenty-first Century | The Smirking Chimp
I don’t profess to understand how other countries operate but, in Australia, we rely on our government to make things work.Or we used to. Until politicians decided that the private sector, whose survival depends on making a profit, could do things better for cheaper.And where has that got us?
My thought for the day One of Scott Morrison’s most outstanding dexterities is his ability to sell his falsehoods and have people believe them. Unfortunately, too many voters consider him worthy of their vote at a time when change is badly needed. Australia cannot afford another term of this dishonest man and his government. ( John Lord )
This week, 27 foreign policy experts called for a no-fly zone in Ukraine that would lead to the shooting down of Russian planes — an idea that could lead to a nuclear holocaust. Their message is being bankrolled by arms manufacturers and fossil fuel interests. War,
Source: Corporate Interests Are Pushing the Disastrous Idea of a No-Fly Zone
To show how clear of eye Morrison has been, he has successfully made Australia the subservient partner in the AUKUS security pact with the United States and the UK. What was left of Australian sovereignty has been brazenly outsourced. The prime minister barely acknowledges the rationale of the agreement in the Lowy address, which has little to do with Australia eventually having its own questionable submarines with nuclear propulsion. The central point is granting greater access to US armed forces for easier deployment in the Indo-Pacific, a logistical benefit that is bound to make any war more, rather than less likely. Some freedom; some sovereignty.
Once again, the big four, the banks, lobby groups and the biggest industry players lined up to pay their dues to political party coffers. Even media companies got in on the action with Network Ten and the Nine Network each paying $27,500 for silver memberships to the Liberal Party. In 2019, Nine came under fire for a now infamous $10,000-a-head fundraiser for the Liberal Party at their Sydney headquarters. Since the 2015-16 financial year, Nine has donated $213,706 to the Liberal Party and $139,963 to Labor. The Liberal Party did not disclose the $27,500 contribution from Nine despite exceeding the $14,300 disclosure threshold.
Source: Paying dues: party card is just the ticket for media giants – Michael West Media
Rachael Withers in The Monthly
“Writing in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday (Murdoch’s American Masthead) (and dutifully republished by The Australian), former PM Tony Abbott joined the raft of commentators trying to link Russia’s invasion to a “weakened” West’s obsession with social and environmental issues.”
Withers continued:
“He went on to criticise all three members of AUKUS for their focus on reducing emissions, implying that it was this that had emasculated the West (along with globalisation, “cultural Marxists”, COVID restrictions and the fact that you couldn’t even make Monty Python’s Life of Brian these days).”
(His camp follower)
Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt never to be left out of a bit of truth bashing, was not far behind ( simply paraphrasing) what he’d said
“… the war in Ukraine has exposed the lethal danger of falling for green myths … Russian president Vladimir Putin would never have dared invade Ukraine if the green movement hadn’t first made Europe look helpless,” he added.
All Abbott ever does when he enters the realm of serious discussion is highlight the fact that he was grossly unsuitable for the office of Prime Minister of Australia. However, the most pressing matters regarding climate action came out of all this unworldly nonsense.
The balance sheet of this enterprise is a poor one, and risks becoming more wretched. Tangibly, AUKUS has shown Australia’s diplomacy to be subservient and shoddy, alienating its European Indo-Pacific ally while also being laughed at by the United States. (President Joe Biden showed much contrition to Emmanuel Macron by suggesting, disingenuously, that the Australians should have told France earlier.) Even if these plans firm up in time for electoral exploitation, it will not clarify when these beasts of the sea will actually emerge from the cocoon of the imagination. In decades, the armchair strategists and naval cocktail circuit will be feasting over other prototypes and ways to burn money from the public purse. The Australian nuclear-powered submarine will be a comical relic, the butt of many a joke.
Josh Frydenberg has again claimed Australia is “outperforming all other major advanced economies” in a Liberal Party missive to supporters which cherry-picks 12 bright spots. Alan Austin details the 12 other things you need to know about Australia’s economic management.
When announcing the industry levy, ASIC said it was to ‘recover the regulatory costs of the ASIC through annual levies and fees-for-service’.
The Federal Government’s record-breaking $1.078bn profit from ASIC came in the same year that ASIC’s two Federal Coalition-appointed executives were forced to resign in a major expenses scandal.
Both ASIC chair James Shipton – a former senior executive with notorious global investment bank Goldman Sachs – and Daniel Crennan QC, a Melbourne barrister, were illegally paid almost $200,000 more than they were entitled to.
Treasurer Frydenberg announced a “review” into the scandal, but, as previously revealed, he released a doctored version of the subsequent report, from which three-quarters of its key findings had been secretly deleted.
Despite the severity of the situation – a cover-up of corruption at the top of the corporate regulator involving the nation’s Treasurer – not one other media outlet has reported the scandal to date.
Source: Frydenberg’s ASIC squeezes $1 billion profit from the public
White gatekeepers repeatedly approach Black people with a disingenuous ‘can I help you?’ It never stops
Source: In their place: the heavy burden of being Black in a white space | Elijah Anderson | The Guardian
Andrew Bolt actually posted on his blog that Wokeness just might win the war against the conservative Russian army. What he’s unable to say however, is that Putin, in who he actually believes, is on Bolt’s side of righteousness in the current culture wars. Putin, like Bolt, is anti- LGBTQIs, anti-multiculturalism, anti- critical theory, anti- feminist , is a racist, a religious discriminator, and an ultra-white Christian Nationalist. You see Bolt is totally anti-Woke and so pro-Putin. So are Tim Smith, Tony Abbott, the LNP, IPA and News Corp
Wokeness is just the newest boogie man hiding under the bed of every conservative commentator. But like all boogie men, if you shine a light on them, you quickly find out there’s nothing there. All you’re left with is a frightened child with an overactive imagination who’s too scared to go to sleep.
Source: The war in Ukraine has nothing to do with “wokeness”, you’re just a right-wing nutjob | The Shot
An exposé on Peter Dutton by independent journalist Friendlyjordies has been ignored by the mainstream media, writes Dr Victoria Fielding.On Friday last week, independent investigative journalist, Jordan Shanks (Friendlyjordies), released an explosive video about one of the most powerful Ministers in the Morrison Government. Since then, the story has sunk without a trace. What is going on?
Source: Friendlyjordies allegations against Dutton met with silence
There is plenty in last week’s quarterly national accounts that the Coalition Government does not want voters to discover, as Alan Austin reports. THE SHARE of Australia’s income going to workers is now at an all-time low. The big corporations are getting the highest share ever. These are two pretty important facts that the Morrison-Joyce Government and the mainstream media – who are all big corporations – want concealed. They are well-hidden in the extensive files published last Wednesday by the Bureau of Statistics. But they are there.
Source: Twelve more things revealing Australia’s poor economic management
The Morrison government has gone missing again at a time of crisis and devastation, despite its disaster relief fund brimming with $4.8bn. NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet finally made it to the outskirts of Lismore on the weekend, vowing support, visibly shaken at the magnitude of the devastation. Why the failure of governments to respond in times of crisis, asks resident Robyn Fitzgerald. Why no mention of “climate change”?
Source: Why the listless reaction from governments, the hush on climate change? – Michael West Media
“When you deal with such a dishonest propagandist—and that is what he is—there’s nothing you can take out of context, because none of it is real,” Stewart said. “He’s admitted when he’s cornered, he lies. It’s all a game and a performance. I mean, honestly, I have no idea what the fuck that guy believes, truly.” That goes for the whole network and its chairman Rupert Murdoch, who Stewart says is “trying to destroy the fabric of this country.” “I don’t know if it’s ideological or he just thinks, this is where the money is.
But how somebody can in good conscience put a shithead like that on television every night to say those types of things, that’s where the responsibility lies in my mind,” Stewart said. And now, for your edification, here’s Stewart telling Carlson who he was 18 years ago. The pinhead has only gotten worse since.
My thought for the day I think accepting and embracing change is one key aspect of what we try to define as wisdom.( John Lord )
Our arbitrary borders, miserly aid, and cruel policies ensure that those most victimized by conflict will remain adrift, wandering the planet in search of safety, discarded by the rest of us as marginal people on the margins of an unforgiving world.
Source: The River of Refugees becomes a Flood as 84 Million flee War, Violence and Tyranny
Without Morrison almost blinding himself with a welding torch and then having him put himself away in isolation the nation feels safer. But will he be rewarded for it in the next polls?
When people are sitting on their rooftops and clinging to discarded car tyres to avoid drowning as they watch all their worldly possessions float away in a torrent of devastation, what is the leader of the nation to do? Meet with Murdoch-installed far-Right nut-job Piers Morgan — of course!
Source: 9 things Scott Morrison could have done for the flood emergency — but didn’t
Josh Frydenberg doesn’t tell it all. The Great Bungee Plunge downwards was always going to rebound back but in a much smaller space than when it came down and no rise as far when all is considered. Frydenberg is simply using bullshit stats as truth by eliminating the history and the changed context in which events have occurred. Besides what did Josh Frydenberg do to make his “good news event” even happen?
The Australian economy at the end of 2021 rebounded for one reason alone – people coming out of lockdowns in the late winter and spring period spent their money. But ironically this massive surge of growth from households comes at a time when workers are receiving a smaller share of the economy than ever before.
It’s as true today in Australia as when Whites stepped off the boat in 1788 and imported Racism to this country. to say things have improved is to say if you were burien in 6 foot of shit and your now only 4 foot under things have improved Yes, Woke is BLM, the fact is that Black lives do Matter, and yes, it’s “cancel culture’ but more. It’s “change culture” for women for LGBTQI’s for the homeless etc. It’s for the betterment of us all and not just the maintenance of the privilege, and power generationally historically and structurally handed down to a marginal few. Woke is proudly multicultural, and the fact that our Institutions don’t reflect that is the reason for the drive and need to change.
Racism is not an opinion.
It is a fact.
This is true both in the United States and around the world.
Racism and white supremacy continue to structure American society, largely by privileging some groups (those defined as “white”) and disadvantaging others (especially those deemed “Black,” but other nonwhites as well). These outcomes are the aggregate result of individual, systemic and institutional discrimination and other forms of racial animus. This has been a fixture of American life and society since before the founding of the republic through to the post-civil rights era and now the Age of Trump and a 21st-century form of fascism. In practice, racism and white supremacy are a “changing same,” constantly adapting over time to fit American society in support of the maintenance and expansion of white privilege, white power and white control.
Source: How white supremacy fuels the Republican love affair with Vladimir Putin | Salon.com
Parts of NSW and Queensland are suffering unprecedented floods. At the same time, they are experiencing an unprecedented pandemic. Before that, they were dealing with unprecedented bushfires, following unprecedented heatwaves causing unprecedented drought. The loss of biodiversity is being labelled an extinction event as we clear land and destroy habitats. More pandemics are inevitable as we further crowd the planet. Despite decades of warning from every credible expert about the inevitable consequences of constant growth with no regard for the environment, our politicians assume surprise when their unbridled fetish for wealth and power wreaks havoc on the world. We have to sell coal because it increases our GDP. Temporarily. Until the next unprecedented “natural” disaster comes along.
Election diary No. 15: Wednesday, 2 March 2022. That I’m using the word “war” in my heading is unfortunate; however, it is what it is. A war started by an egregious international bully, an egotist with a right-to-rule attitude, a plank over his own eyes, and a blurred nostalgia for times long gone. The political…
We don’t pat ourselves on the back but MWM placed a mole (totally legit) inside Canberra and sniffed out some rotten deals. Jommy Tee continues his exposé of the rorts for the regions.
Source: Scraping the bottom of the (pork) barrel as big swill nears – Michael West Media
Contrast this with the toadies at the Republican National Committee who in February censured Republican Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois for participating in Congress’s select committee investigating the events of January 6, and who called the January 6 attack on the Capitol “legitimate political discourse.” Also contrast Zelensky’s courage with most elected Republicans who still refuse to stand up to Trump. Just yesterday on national television, Senator Tom Cotton refused four times to condemn Trump for calling Putin “smart” and “savvy” and NATO and the US “dumb.”
If truth is the first casualty of war, it is also under constant attack in the Morrison-Joyce regime’s love-in with spin enabled by Murdoch and a media oligarchy who help the Coalition demonise China and Russia, “shape the narrative” of foreign affairs, to distract us from its terminal, internal disunity and its own catastrophic incompetence.
Shout? You can hear him in Beijing. Or Kharkiv.
No-one will ever teach Morrison that it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt. Not that he cares just how awful he is with his harangue of the Opposition Leader for “being a small target” “or just small”?
But it won’t be his reducing of Question Time to howling abuse, that decides this election, nor will it be his despicable treatment of women, particularly his office backgrounding against Brittany Higgins and Grace Tame, although that could play a big part.
It is unlikely that any of Morrison’s chest-beating posturing on foreign affairs, reciting US talking points, will convince anyone that a PM who can’t control his own party is a strong man who will keep the nation safe. Nor will the happy family man fantasy even begin to atone for the leaked texts which reveal how much he is reviled by his party including his deputy PM.
The decider could be the sixteen billion dollar election war chest. Unless, of course, voters worry where the money’s coming from.
Source: The First Casualty – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Has Morrison stepped away from Murdoch? Will he? The ALP did years ago and Albo certainly has. Don’t be fooled. The Left isn’t cheering Russia. Murdoch’s Fox News certainly is and Morrison is showering him with money as is Australian Oligarch Clive Palmer and the many other non-progressive transactional interests and their dark money. Australia has dropped on the International Corruption Ladder under Morrison who won’t deliver an ICAC because it will damn him and his team. Vote for the common good not for the pigs with their heads in the trough.
My thought for the day In times of national security fears, the propagandists have successfully promoted the LNP as being best able to handle those fears. Or have they? ( John Lord )
On that final point, I have to stop writing. I was going to list Morrison’s non-achievements, but the list of things he hasn’t done is far too long for the one article. However, if any publisher would like to offer me a book deal I already have a title. “I’d rather spend my time in the prayer room than holding a hose!” ( Rossleigh )
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