To see the Australian cricketer Cameron Bancroft looking as though he was fiddling with the crown jewels when he was actually tampering with the ball wasn’t just a bad look for Australian cricket, but also an inditement of just how much public and private morality has slipped in our country. Call it ethics if you want l, or boil it down to cheating or better still, call it plain old-fashioned lying. Like rust it has now permeated itself into all facets of society. Or maybe we have just inherited another of America’s worst traits.
For the last 10 years or so deceit or lying in politics has reached outrageous proportions. The contempt with which politicians treat us is so perfunctory that they believe we actually believe them. Now we are not talking about little white lies … we are talking about whoppers. You know the ones that leave you breathtakingly open-mouthed for there unconscionable audacity.
Category: Informed Comment
John Bolton helped lie our country into an illegal war of aggression that killed several hundred thousand Iraqis, wounded over a million, and displaced 4 million from their homes, helped deliver Baghdad into the hands of Iran, and helped create ISIL, which blew up Paris. In a just world, Bolton would be on trial at the Hague for war crimes. Instead, he has been promoted into a position to do to Iran what he did to Iraq.
via Let’s Call Bolton What He Is: A War Criminal with Terrorist Ties, Not Just “Hawkish”
Firstly, Dutton’s hand-picked choice to head his paramilitary Border Force, a colleague from his days as a Queensland copper, was finally sacked for using his position to get his girlfriend a job and for not disclosing the relationship. Roman Quaedvlieg is obviously held to a higher standard than Barnaby Joyce who just took a self-imposed temporary demotion for the same thing.
Then we hear that, after meeting with Bob Katter’s son-in-law, who happens to be one of the largest gun importers in the country, Dutton is considering forming an advisory board where the gun lobbyists decide on the suitability of legislation.
That’s like letting the aluminium smelters advise us on emissions reduction or the cotton farmers advise us on water management. Or letting the mining companies devise a mining tax that costs them nothing.
via A big day for a little man – » The Australian Independent Media Network
The top ten challenges identified by the 18-35 year old age bracket were as follows:
Climate change / destruction of nature (48.8%)
Large scale conflict / wars (38.9%)
Inequality (income, discrimination) (30.8%)
Poverty (29.2%)
Religious conflicts (23.9%)
Government accountability and transparency / corruption (22.7%)
Food and water security (18.2%)
Lack of education (15.9%)
Safety / security / well being (14.1%)
Lack of economic opportunity and unemployment (12.1%)So how is our government faring in addressing the things that are of most concern to the young people of the world?
Now let me add that there is nothing wrong with opinions (we all have them) so long as there is a diversity of them. But the fact is we don’t have a diversity and we would be a much better society if we took the risk of thinking for ourselves unhindered by the unadulterated crap served up by a media who controls a large percentage of news in our major cities. We can also add self-interest groups and lobbyists.
The less-informed voters unfortunately greatly outnumber the more politically aware and therefore are the obvious victims of mainstream media deception where everything is reduced to simplistic slogans.
Unlike Andrew Bolt who has to write for an average age of 13 to suit the demographic of the publication he writes for, I as do the other writers for The AIMN, seem to attract people of a higher level of thinking with a greater sensitivity for the things that matter.
So with all that said I hope I have explained that the origin of my writing stems from a long-held interest in social justice and inequality: of those who are deprived of a decent education, as I was, the environment and an urgent desire to repair and improve the standard of governance our politicians deliver.
None of the things I believe in can be changed without a change in government. The AIMN is a blog that can influence that possibility. John Lord
Day to Day Politics: What I write and why – » The Australian Independent Media
Old Dog Thought: It ought to be said that money and the power of distribution of opinion differentiates John Lord from Andrew Bolt more so than their audience. news Corp provides Andrew Bolt with a bigger net
The Most Essential Read for understanding the Aussie Mob by Mike Dawson
“So here we are, with our parliament in stalemate, wavering at the crossroads. One of the two paths leads out of the jungle. The other is a dead end. That’s where all the screeching is coming from. The kings of the jungle don’t want us to leave. They like it here.
The rest of us need to decide. Because the jungle is not going to civilise itself.”
Capitalism
“It’s a parasite, the ancient pathogen of rent-seeking. No need for invention or contribution. Just identify something lots of people depend on. Housing, utilities, jobs, transportation, health, education, credit. Then give your support to politicians who will help you extract a premium for nothing.
We carry this sickness in our body politic. When it flares up, it turns back the clock on the lives of ordinary people, as it is doing today. And it invites us, through spurious mythologies of origin and identity, to forget about the “fair go” and compete in a race that’s stacked against us.
Yes, Australia is still a benign place to live compared to much of the world. But the point is that’s changing. We’re slipping fast, down in the economic expectations of the IMF, down the OECD rankings for health, education and social security, and down the international indices of wellbeing.”
via No Joke: Capitalism, Australian Identity and The Threat to Unity – New Matilda
Democracy was designed to work for the masses. We don’t live in a democracy anymore, writes Mike Dowson.
via The Illusion of Choice: The Decline Of Democracy, Explained Through Olives – New Matilda
Business & Consumerism
The apparent growth of our economy hides deeper problems. Australia isn’t ready for another global crash, writes Mike Dowson.
I know the government is desperate to find jobs for regional Queenslanders since it is obvious coal mines can’t find private funding. I know the government sees national security as one of its strong suits. But this is getting ridiculous.
via Jobs come at a high price for little benefit – » The Australian Independent Media Network
The government would not make a decision on ending discrimination in marriage laws. They made us do it and have since formed a committee to fight for the rights of wedding retailers to turn customers away. One wonders how many of them actually want less business.
The government will not make a decision on Aboriginal recognition. They made our Indigenous People go through a lengthy and extensive consultation process to make recommendations and then threw them out without a second glance. They slashed over $500 million from Indigenous funding and then wondered why we aren’t closing the gap.
The central purpose of government in a democracy is to be the role model for, and protector of, equality and freedom and our associated human rights. Government leaders must set an ethical standard for the people to emulate.
In this regard, you are failing badly. The behaviour exhibited daily by our politicians would not be tolerated in any school, any workplace, any organisation.
If you want to help us address bullying, clean up your own act and set an example of how you would like our children to behave.
Anti- Multiculturalism drives Sinophobic Politics but Donations had Tony Abbott cosy up to Mr Huang yet call for the sacking of Sam Dastyari;
The debate about Chinese influence in Australia is an important one about our sovereignty and national interest. But it is also a test of our maturity as a multicultural society. Passing it will require a lot less panic, and a lot more sobriety.
via Beware fanning flames of racism over ‘silent invasion’ fears
Gun ownership in the United States, largely criminalized for poor people of color, is a potent tool of oppression. It does not protect us from tyranny. It is an instrument of tyranny.
via Guns and Liberty
Since John Howard came to prominence, and in the time since, especially under Abbott, the practice of politics now repulses people. We have been so let down by leadership that you would be hard-pressed to find 10% of the population who “trust” our politicians.
For his part Tony Abbott got slapped down after his “Immigration speech” by all and sundry: both friend and foe. Given his personal arrogance and hatred of Turnbull he will probably continue. Even his most ardent supporter Greg Sheridan got in on the act saying he was 100% wrong. I wonder where blind Freddy was? Perhaps Joyce and Abbott will form a tag team. Goodness, I’m seeing images of Barnaby in red speedos.
Abbott showed he had the gift for a bit of sarcasm by saying:
“… gratuitous criticism from ministers who are only in government because I led them there”, and that “you’d think a government that’s lost the past 27 Newspolls might be curious about how it could lift its game.”
We all have to ask ourselves this question. Why are they all doing this? It certainly isn’t for us?
Bill Shorten can now quietly claim the scalps of a Prime Minister and a Deputy Prime Minister. But as last week,s Newspoll showed, it doesn’t seem to hurt the Coalition at all. Almost half the population think they are doing a fine job.
via Day to Day Politics: Joyce and other self indulgences! – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Interest fuels the financial world. The money sitting in your bank account accrues it, and the credit cards in your wallet charge it. If you ever want money quick, you’re going to being paying a decent amount of interest for having that money now rather than later.
But under Islamic law, interest is explicitly forbidden.
that the longer the stagnation and rot of a dysfunctional democracy went unaddressed, the more attractive fascism would become.
Zetkin warned, arises when capitalism enters a period of crisis and breakdown of the democratic institutions that once offered the possibility of reform and protection from an uninhibited assault by the capitalist class. The unchecked capitalist assault pushes the middle class, the bulwark of a capitalist democracy, into the working class and often poverty. It strips workers of all protection and depresses wages. The longer the economic and social stagnation persists, the more attractive fascism becomes. Zetkin would have warned us that Donald Trump is not the danger; the danger is the growing social and economic inequality that concentrates wealth in the hands of an oligarchic elite and degrades the lives of citizens.
Despite all of Barnaby’s failings and poor judgement calls, my real disgust lies with the other 20 Nationals in parliament who have implicitly condoned his behaviour using the Don Burke excuse. Barnaby’s ratings are so good that he can do whatever he pleases and they will still support him for the sake of their own incomes.
The “don’t tell us what to do” attitude is ludicrous. You are obviously so out of touch with what is appropriate, or you never cared, that you have lost all credibility.
You are enablers. And for that, you all deserve condemnation.
But perhaps some obligations should be beyond political calculations. Perhaps there are times to spend political capital on people other than colleagues, allies and donors. Perhaps there are times to spend it on those whose people were wronged enough to receive a formal apology a decade ago, who’ve since seen several policies that concern them effectively abandoned, and who in spite of that, when asked to give us their ideas share them from the heart. Perhaps, but apparently not this week.
via The unintended consequences of Barnaby Joyce’s affair
Michaelia Cash must have been hoping that everyone would keep looking at Barnaby when she chose to stick her head up today to spruik her take on the latest labour force survey but, thankfully, some journalists have memories that stretch back further than last week.
via Michaelia is hoping we have short memories – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Overall, according to the ABS, company profits rose by 20% to the year ended 30 September 2017, but the only wages that are going up are the excessive bonuses for CEOs.
The NAB monthly business survey for December said that “Strong business conditions are broad-based across all major industry groups with the exception of retail.”
The business conditions index was unchanged at a strong +13 index points, which is well above the long-run average of +5 index points.
So with business conditions and profits at very high levels, and supposed jobs growth of over 400,000, we should see wages going up.
Except they are not as the following graph shows.
via You may have to reconsider your reality, Scott – » The Australian Independent Media Network
IN 1998, RADICAL American Leftist intellectual Noam Chomsky made the telling observation that:
“The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum.”
Another name for this phenomenon is convergence politics.
In Australia there is convergence on the economy, with debates focusing on relatively minor differences; but where heated debate on the so-called culture wars fills the vacuum.
via Left turn necessary for Labor to end narrow policy convergence
As Ted Mack pointed out in his 2013 Henry Parkes oration:
Over the last 30 years politicians’ staff has increased dramatically. At federal level there are now some 17 hundred personal staff to ministers and members. The states probably account for over two thousand more. Add to this the direct political infiltration of federal-state public services and quangos with hundreds more jobs for the boys and girls, there is now a well-established political class.
But it’s not just a political class – it’s blatant nepotism.
Every decision the honourable members make will be based firstly on how best it serves his or her party. Rarely on how it serves the country and the people.
When the government announced that it would spend $400 billion over the next twenty years on defence materiel and that it would, in opposition to its supposed commitment to free trade, adopt a protectionist requirement for local content, foreign defence manufacturers flocked like bees to a honey pot.
Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein warned Friday that the Trump administration may be ushering in the darkest days in America since Joe McCarthy.
Bernstein blasted Donald Trump’s White House and Republicans like Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) who helped release a GOP memo on Friday attacking the FBI and Justice Department investigation of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Bernstein called the memo a “disingenuous partisan document.”
via Carl Bernstein: These Could Be The Darkest Days Since Joe McCarthy | HuffPost
“Good government is about making and implementing decisions that serve the common good. That give security to the people it governs. Follows the rule of law and is truthful about its intentions. When making decisions it must be responsive to the will of the people. It should allow its citizens to be participatory in the function of government. It should be inclusive, equitable and supportive of the people’s right to know. By equity, I mean the people have a right to a fair reward for the fruits of their labour. And above all it should be answerable to the people.”
I then asked myself how the Abbott/Turnbull governments stacked up against my thinking, and I had to admit they have been deplorable.
via Day to Day Politics: It’s all a secret. – » The Australian Independent Media Network
The inability of the political establishment and the press to moderate or reform Trump’s egregious behavior is rooted in their loss of credibility. The press, along with political and intellectual elites, spent decades championing economic and political policies that solidified corporate power and betrayed and impoverished American workers. The hypocrisy and mendacity of the elites left them despised and distrusted by the victims of deindustrialization and austerity programs. The attempt to restore civility to public discourse and competency to political office is, therefore, fruitless. Liberal and establishment institutions, including the leadership of the two main political parties, academia and the press, squandered their moral authority. And the dogged refusal by the elites to address the engine of discontent—social inequality—ensures that they will remain ineffectual. They lay down the asphalt for the buffoonery of Trump and the coming tyranny.
via The Useful Idiocy of Donald Trump | By Chris Hedges | Common Dreams
At the age of 77 I feel well-versed in voicing the opinion that contrary to what the Prime Minister said on the 26th that we are a very welcoming country. We are not. We didn’t welcome the Italians, the Greeks the Jews, Chinese or Vietnamese. It has taken maybe three to four generations to overcome our ethnic and religious aversions.
All up, the trip cost us $19,619.87.
According to the new “Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority”, any claim for expenses must be “for the dominant purpose of parliamentary business”, it must represent “value for money”, and parliamentarians must be “prepared to publicly justify their use of public resources in conducting their parliamentary business.”
‘Parliamentary business’ includes activities that fall within four streams:
parliamentary duties: covers activities of the Parliamentarian that relate directly to the parliamentarian’s role as a member of Parliament
electorate duties: activities of the Parliamentarian that support or serve their constituents
party political duties: activities of the Parliamentarian that are connected with both their political party and their membership of the Parliament
official duties: activities that relate to the Parliamentarian’s role as an office holder or Minister.
What I am, however, is an artist, an observer, and given that observation is the basis for all science I feel entitled to a view. For me the ability of thinking human beings to blindly embrace what they are being told without referring to evaluation and the consideration of scientific fact, truth and reason, never ceases to amaze me. It is tantamount to the rejection of rational explanation. Science has made in my lifetime the most staggering achievements and they are embraced, recognised and enjoyed by all sections of society. John Lord
For me, the changes brought about by the advancement of science and technology have been astonishing. As a progressive, I crave change that is worthy and is advantageous for the betterment of society and the world that we inhabit.
I believe that our lives should be subject to constant reflection, otherwise the way forward is locked into the constraints of today’s thoughts.
You cannot change what happens. Particularly when you have no control over it. What you do have control over is the way in which you respond.
Why is it, in “the name of free speech”, that we need to enshrine the right to abuse each other, in law?
You would think that an enlightened progressive free thinking society would want to eliminate it not legislate it.
It is not a question that requires great philosophical, ideological or even theological debate. It is a black and white question. Supposedly we live in an “age of enlightenment,” a period where the world has made enormous technological advances, but at the same time our intellects have not advanced the capacity to understand simple tolerance.Indeed, if we were truly enlightened we would treat our fellow human beings, with respect love and faithfulness.
We would do unto them as we would expect them to do unto us and we would strive to do no harm. We would love life and live it with a sense of joy and wonderment.
We would form our own independent opinions on the basis of our own reason and experience; and not allow ourselves to be led blindly by others. And we would Test all things; always checking our ideas against our facts, and be ready to discard even a cherished belief if it did not conform to them.
We would readily admit it when we are wrong in the knowledge that humility is the basis of intellectual advancement and that it is truth that enables human progress.
via Day to Day Politics: How enlightened are we really? – » The Australian Independent Media Network
But for me my early journey has shaped what I believe in, the way I think about social justice and my world view. I hope you enjoy this account of my first 14 years.
it’s hard not to see a group of people who have no idea how to govern for the country as a whole, who are purely in politics for what they are able to extract from being an MP for themselves, being able to win the next election.
What a disaster it would be, if for whatever reason they were given the reins for another three years.
When a party is in such disarray the need to stay in “power” becomes the overarching imperative. This gives rise to the likes of Dutton to take any short cut to maintain his and the government’s grip on power. The Coalition’s only policy has been the demonising of those who are not white, Anglo-Saxon, and Christian.
So Dutton and others see no reason to deliver good government so close to an election. They see the rhetoric of blame as a “winning formula”.
Day to Day Politics: Him or Him? What do you think? – » The Australian Independent Media Network
It was only seven months ago that Greg Hunt, Michael Sukkar and Alan Tudge, under threat of contempt of court charges, made an unconditional apology to Victoria’s Supreme Court for comments critical of terrorism sentencing.
In comments that were published in The Australian newspaper,
Chief Justice Warren said the court was “gravely concerned” there was a prima facie case that the ministers and The Australian had committed contempt. “But for the apologies and retractions we would have referred the groups, namely the ministers and The Australian … for prosecution for contempt of Court.”
So how come Peter Dutton is not facing similar censure for saying there was a “problem with some of the judges and magistrates that Daniel Andrews has appointed” who were wrongly allowing bail and imposing “very soft sentences” in the name of political correctness.
And this is not the first time he has made such comments.
But today, Mr Dutton stepped up the rhetoric against the judiciary, blaming “soft sentences” on the appointment of civil libertarians as magistrates, and labelling one Supreme Court judge a “left-wing ideologue”.
The judge in question, Lex Lazarus is one of Victoria’s most respected jurists and Dutton would know that by convention he is unable to reply.
And the “who” they want to be’ politician during times of poor leadership is a most dangerous animal because the likes of Turnbull have no power to stand up to them.
So Dutton will keep up with his sarcasm (except for when he sleeps) and other offensive expressions calculated to raise racial hatred and break down society.
We can only conclude that Dutton is not in it to help create a better society with a better future for all. He has been a failure at his two other Ministries and compassion has eluded him thus far in this one. I can only conclude that the Liberal Party when it comes to the immigration portfolio believes that it needs a mongrel in charge, so Dutton was an easy choice.
My thought for the day
“Sometimes it is good to stop, think, evaluate and formulate one’s own opinion instead of being influenced by the media and other vested interests.”
via Day to Day Politics: What makes them tick? – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Peter Dutton, speaking on radio said:
Following the Abbott handbook of “panic”
“I think the economy will come to a shuddering halt and I think the stock market will crash.”
“I think once people realise how dangerous Labor’s economic proposal is I think they’ll be happy to see an election and deal with it.
“Labor’s essentially said they want to lower house prices and they want to increase rents and I think that would be a disaster.”
Even if Trump doesn’t read, can’t follow a logical argument, and has the attention span of a fruit fly, it still doesn’t follow that he’s stupid.
There’s another form of intelligence, called “emotional intelligence.”
The new Minister for Anything approaching evil insists that “people are to scared to go out to restaurants of a night-time because they are followed home by these gangs”.
When asked to provide factual evidence of this the former copper from Queensland could not. No one is surprised for it is a method of demonising people that he has used for some time now.
Is it effective? Well, he must think it is because he takes every opportunity to use this malevolent methodology of scaring people at every opportunity. He is the sort of bloke I would never like to meet up a dark ally on a bleak cold winters night.
In short I have posted a summary of the qualities of some of our cabinet members. Surely the Liberal and Country Party can come up with better people than these.
“Our lives should be subject to constant reflection, otherwise the way forward is locked into the constraints of today’s thoughts.”
As I write I reflect on the year 2017. I can only conclude that it is another wasted in the advancement of our nation. I try to think of things positive that I might share but I cannot. I stop, hesitate, because marriage equality must surely go down as a magnificent victory for the people. I can’t even count how many pieces I wrote on the subject. Yes, it was a victory for the people, we did it in spite of the politicians not doing what they were elected to do.
We showed what we are capable of doing when we turn our collective attention to the common good.
olddogthoughts 
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