Category: Uncategorized
You’ve been Trumped again America, (ODT)
On Thursday, Acting (of course) Customs and Border Protection commissioner Mark Morgan admitted to reporters that 70 miles of ‘new’ wall on the US-Mexico border are actually replacing old barriers.
The amount of “new” wall built so far?
ZERO.
via Surprise! Zero Miles Of Trump’s ‘Wall’ Has Been Built | Crooks and Liars
In cahoots with Bolivian fascists, military and police, along with US imperial tool Organization of American states (OAS), CIA dark forces toppled Morales for not subordinating the country’s sovereign rights to US interests.
via CIA Installed Dictatorship Replaced Democracy in Bolivia – Stephen Lendman
No such thing as “soft diplomacy” when it comes to American involvement in Bolivia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Yemen, etc etc (ODT)
U.S. President Donald Trump’s official statement, meanwhile, praised the military coup in Bolivia and noted that the events leading up Morales’s ouster “send a strong signal to the illegitimate regimes in Venezuela and Nicaragua that democracy and the will of the people will always prevail.” What role the U.S. may have played in Bolivia is certainly less clear than the overt attempt at regime change in Venezuela early this year.
Police state America and apartheid Israel can never, never be trusted at any time, for any reasons, with no exceptions ever.
Negotiating with them on any issues is an act of futility and self-betrayal.
They operate by their own rules exclusively — extrajudicially, not lawfully, doing whatever they please, blaming victims for high crimes committed against them.
Last weekend, unprovoked Israeli terror-bombing killed and wounded Palestinians in Gaza, others in Damascus.
Terror-bombing Gaza continued for a second day. After both sides agreed to a ceasefire, Israel preemptively resumed terror-bombing.
At least 34 Palestinians were killed, largely civilians, including women and children, over 100 others injured — the latest example of Israeli Nuremberg-level high crimes, unpunished each time committed.
Rockets fired from Gaza at Israel virtually always are in response to Israeli aggression — self-defense when attacked, permitted under international law.
UN Charter Article 51 affirms it, stating:
via Israel Terror-Bombs Gaza After Declaring Ceasefire – Stephen Lendman
What we don’t need is to waste hundreds of billions on obsolete weapons of mass destruction, billions on consultants and government advertising, and politicians who think attending sporting matches is more important than their day job.
We don’t need a surplus. We need someone who has a clue about how to invest in this country rather than their own political future.
via MYEFO will be interesting – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Now, Giuliani and Parnas snipe at each other through their lawyers.
Unlike Fruman, Parnas is no longer represented by one of the President’s former lawyers, John Dowd. “Igor has much more money than Parnas and can afford a strong defense team,” says one of their confidants, trying to explain the split.
Being attacked from all sides. Some attacks come from extremely untrusted parties like the IPA (ODT)
Of eight federal policies reviewed, four were deemed to have followed an “unacceptable” process, by failing to adhere to the basics of good public policy making, including: comparing the costs and benefits of alternative options, explaining how a decision would be rolled out and issuing a green and white paper for public consideration.
Trump has taken it to his own privatised Courtroom. It’s where all his appeals will land (ODT)
via Trump Asks Supreme Court To Stop The Release Of His Tax Returns | HuffPost Australia
Why then are the audit inspections blacked out? These are inspections of public documents, of public financial accounts for this country’s largest corporations yet the findings remain largely secret.
ASIC looked at 49 audits for “Listed entities and other public interest entities” and found failures across the board.
In the KPMG inspection, for instance, 19 of the audits were dodgy, or to quote the ASIC narrative from the bits which were not blacked out, “In our view, the auditor did not obtain reasonable assurance that the financial report was free of material misstatement in 15 of the 70 key areas reviewed in total across 19 audits”.
via Audit Blackout: gatekeepers cuddled while sleeping on the job – Michael West
reasons why this government has no mandate and does not deserve to exercise the control that it does. It and its predecessor governments over the last half dozen years have tripled Australia’s debt, yet have the gall to proclaim a surplus. Smoke and mirrors is its tactic.
Sadly, the growth of populism and the simplistic acceptance of selfish and discriminatory policies appeals to far too many Australians – and so this government was elected. Helped, of course, by smear campaigns against ALP candidates, lies about ALP intentions, and false advertising to capture the Chinese vote and that of others.
via ‘Profit before people’: the Government ideology – » The Australian Independent Media Network
My thought for the day
At some time in the future history will record that even though they should have known better the people of Australia made, in May 2019, a monumental mistake in electing a Morrison government. Subsequently some lessons will be learned the hard way. (JOHN LORD)
via Politically illiterate, or just plain dumb – » The Australian Independent Media Network
When a Surplus is more important than Australians in need. (ODT)
via NDIS funds ‘repurposed’ for drought relief under Scott Morrison’s plan
Unions, The ABC, Information, are all in for a challenging future until a year out from the next election (ODT)
Trump does this himself so therefore it must be alright(ODT)
The fabricated Time cover is just one in a string of Chang’s listed accomplishments and resume line items that has come into question after an NBC News investigation found the 35-year-old Trump appointee embellished her work history and made misleading claims about her professional background. It has been a persistent problem for President Donald Trump’s administration: an apparent failure to recognise red flags when vetting potential hires and appointees.
The President himself has overstated – often to an absurd degree – everything from his personal wealth to his charitable giving and his own IQ.
And in June 2017, half a year after Chang debuted her cover story, The Post found that Trump had his own fake copies of Time magazine – on display in at least five of his golf clubs.
She inflated her resume, peddled a fake Time cover. And Trump hired her
In a jaw-dropping operational security lapse, President Donald Trump discussed his demand for Ukraine to open investigations of Joe Biden and other Democrats in a cellphone conversation with an American diplomat who was in a restaurant in Ukraine at the time, the House impeachment inquiry was told on Wednesday.
Trump’s appalling operational security is notable because, during the 2016 presidential campaign, he frequently accused Hillary Clinton of having committed a crime and compromised national security by using a private email account as secretary of state. Since taking office, however, Trump has reportedly continued to make calls on his iPhones, even after warnings from American intelligence officials that Russian and Chinese spies are regularly eavesdropping on his calls.
via Trump Loudly Pressed for Biden Probe in Call Overheard on Cellphone in Ukraine
Giuliani will be thrown under a bus (ODT)
via In Opening Statement, George Kent Says Giuliani Sabotaged US-Ukraine Policy – Mother Jones
Trump ― the man who was obsessed with the fact that Hillary Clinton used a private email server as secretary of state ― continues to use a personal cellphone, despite warnings from security experts. The practice also, conveniently, allows him to avoid extra public scrutiny.
Trump’s cellphone does not have security features to shield his communications from espionage, and he has reportedly resisted measures to make his phone more secure.
via Rudy Giuliani’s Calls To Trump Are Conveniently Secret | HuffPost
he took a call with Trump in a restaurant. The call was about the Ukraine situation, and people at the restaurant table were able to hear it was Trump and some of the content of the call. (If this was Sondland’s personal phone you can bet the Russians heard it, too.)
Criminal investigations, as Chuck and I know, you build by taking these depositions, getting their testimony. Now Sondland has already had to come back once and say, oh, I forgot some stuff, here it is. Now he’s going to have to come back and say, oh, I forgot about that call I had with the President of The United States on my cellphone.
via ‘The Price Of Loyalty’: Trump’s Ally Sondland Is In Big Trouble | Crooks and Liars
“Ambassador Sondland responded that President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden, which [Rudy] Giuliani was pressing for,” Taylor testified, referring to the presidential lawyer and former New York City mayor, who had been conducting a back-channel effort in Ukraine on Trump’s behalf.
Thankfully, The Guardian gave space to ecologist Graeme Redfearn to fact-check Barnaby’s claims and – surprise, surprise – they are false.
We were duped, but Blair, Bush and Howard got their invasion. The take-away lesson that they and other politicians learned was that you can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time. To this day, John Howard has defended his decision and Australia’s role in the destruction of Iraq and Tony Blair has always stopped far short of admitting his deception.
George Pell has the right to appeal. Survivors of childhood sexual abuse in Religious Institutions also have the right to appeal.
And here’s where the absolute bloody bullshit of equitable appeal for justice for all here in Australia starts to kick in.
Whatever the source of those dollars, the fact is George Pell’s appeal has been buttressed and supported by a well-heeled appeal fund. Engaging high-flying barristers and solicitors are not cheap.
I, and many other Survivors of the heinous crimes that have been committed against us, would love to have our cases, and our stories, and our quests for justice, heard in the highest court in this land. Of course, we have a snowball’s chance in hell of that ever happening.
The majority of the Survivors of childhood sexual abuse are mired in poverty. They are beaten down not only by their punishing experiences, they are also gutted by years, decades, and in many cases, lifetimes swamped by the negative legacies of depression, and PTSD.
via No money? No justice for Survivors! – » The Australian Independent Media Network
And still there continues this saga concerning the church and the secular courts of man … and the once mighty, currently fallen.
via George Pell’s next-to-last chance: Cardinal takes final prayer to secular law
Greed of a few will drive this IPO initial opening offer (ODT)
And yet the future doesn’t look good for oil. The threat of climate change means most countries are looking for ways to reduce their use of fossil fuels and many investors are trying to reduce the number of oil company stocks they hold. So why is the company considered so valuable? A closer look at the data suggests the market sees Aramco as a short-term money maker but with much worse long-term prospects.
Because it isn’t only our dry and overheated forests and grasslands that are tinderboxes, just waiting for a tiniest spark to go up in flames. All around the world, our human societies, scorched under the stresses of late capitalism, are political tinderboxes as well.
via Forged in Fire: California’s Lessons for a Green New Deal
Even as Israel becomes chronically unable to form a government, the ‘Gaza consensus’ — the endless pounding of the strip into oblivion — persists. It could tip the scales in Netanyahu’s favor.
via To save himself, Netanyahu is going to war with Gaza | +972 Magazine
We can laugh away McCormack’s rants and Morrison’s raves, but the government that purports to stand for freedom is using the state to quell dissent
