Category: Uncategorized

Business Crime, Corporate Crime, Uncategorized, White Collar Crime

Oracle and EY: 42 breaches of the Corporations Act and counting – Michael West

Oracle and EY: 42 breaches of the Corporations Act and counting

Despite being a serial law breaker, the Oracle Corporation is the beneficiary of government contracts from the likes of the Department of Finance, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Oracle is currently a key player in Australian Visa Processing Pty Ltd, one of two consortia bidding for the privatisation of Australia’s visa system.

Oracle cheats on Australian income tax but boasts the ATO on its client list. Oracle treats Australian laws with contempt but has various government departments fawning all over it. Imagine a shoplifter stealing from Woolworths and then being rewarded with employment shifts at the store on double time. This is the story of Oracle in Australia.

via Oracle and EY: 42 breaches of the Corporations Act and counting – Michael West

Informed Comment, Uncategorized

Essential poll: most think economic stimulus more important than surplus | Australia news | The Guardian

Josh Frydenberg and Scott Morrison leave the Reserve Bank building

Survey shows 56% of respondents would rather see the government fend off a downturn than deliver a surplus

via Essential poll: most think economic stimulus more important than surplus | Australia news | The Guardian

TAX, Uncategorized

Company of Anthony Pratt, Australia’s richest man, legally pays virtually no tax | Australia news | The Guardian

Donald Trump and Scott Morrison with Anthony Pratt during a tour of Pratt Industries in Wapakoneta, Ohio, 22 September 2019

Company of Anthony Pratt, Australia’s richest man, legally pays virtually no tax | Australia news | The Guardian

Fight against Fake News, Fighting Fake News, Uncategorized

Old Dog Thoughts- Morrison loves baseball caps Trump & the World Series. How he now hates baseball

scott morrison wearing a stupid cap

Fighting Fake News with REAL; 29/10/19; Mate I’m Scott Morrison; Don’t Expect Much; If you do; Winding up egg faced;

Media, Uncategorized

Trump Whines: My Murder Of A Terrorist Leader Is BIGGER Than Obama’s | Crooks and Liars

Trump Whines: My Murder Of A Terrorist Leader Is BIGGER Than Obama's

Trump Whines: My Murder Of A Terrorist Leader Is BIGGER Than Obama’s
One of the two main hallmarks of Trump’s Presidency* is his constant pathological need to outdo President Barack Obama.

via Trump Whines: My Murder Of A Terrorist Leader Is BIGGER Than Obama’s | Crooks and Liars

Trump, Trumpland, Uncategorized

Pelosi slams Trump for cutting Democrats out of loop on Baghdadi raid | World news | The Guardian

Nancy Pelosi talks to reporters on Capitol Hill this week.

Another UNPRECEDENTED move by  Trump ODT)

Top Democrats reacted with anger to Donald Trump’s decision to go ahead with the Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi raid without giving them advance notice, on grounds that they were not to be trusted with such highly sensitive information.

In a break with precedent, Trump excluded senior Democrats on the so-called Gang of Eight – the group of congressional leaders who by law are to be informed of covert actions ordered by the US president – from all operational intelligence.

Those cut out of the loop included Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, and Adam Schiff, who chairs the House intelligence committee.

via Pelosi slams Trump for cutting Democrats out of loop on Baghdadi raid | World news | The Guardian

Informed Comment, Uncategorized

Trump and Wall Street fear Warren and Sanders – they speak for the people | Robert Reich | Opinion | The Guardian

Elizabeth Warren speaks in New Hampshire.

via Trump and Wall Street fear Warren and Sanders – they speak for the people | Robert Reich | Opinion | The Guardian

Media, Uncategorized

Catalonia ‘separatists’ bad, HK ‘pro-democracy protesters’ good: Orwell’s 1984 becomes user’s manual for Western ‘free media’ — RT Op-ed

Catalonia ‘separatists’ bad, HK ‘pro-democracy protesters’ good: Orwell’s 1984 becomes user’s manual for Western ‘free media’

George Orwell’s novel 1984 was supposed to be a dystopian work of fiction, a warning of the perversions of truth which would be required to sustain totalitarianism if we were not careful.

In 2019, it has become a User’s Manual, a play-book, and some of the worst hypocrites in the world – otherwise known as the free-media in free-countries – deploy it to the nodding approbation of the political-classes they serve.  

As Humpty Dumpty said, “The question is, which is to be master – that’s all.”

via Catalonia ‘separatists’ bad, HK ‘pro-democracy protesters’ good: Orwell’s 1984 becomes user’s manual for Western ‘free media’ — RT Op-ed

Australian Economy, Uncategorized

Australia’s alarmingly weak economy makes global headlines

“The fundamentals are good” economy makes global news for tanking. (ODT)

via Australia’s alarmingly weak economy makes global headlines

LNP Government, Uncategorized

Expanding GST would ‘boost economy’, says Liberal MP

via Expanding GST would ‘boost economy’, says Liberal MP

Fight against Fake News, Fighting Fake News, Uncategorized

Old Dog Thoughts- Kurds and Iraqi’s brushed aside. The man blew himself up & it was Trump

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi when last pictured in an latest Islamic State video.

Fighting Fake News with REAL,28/10/19; Bigger than Bin Laden; Even ISIS fighters didn’t know who he was; TV Reality Show; Aussie Economy;

Trumpland, Uncategorized

Did The White House Stage Situation Room Baghdadi Raid Photo? | Crooks and Liars

Did The White House Stage Situation Room Baghdadi Raid Photo?

Donald Trump is so weak and pathetic he actually may have staged a photo from Saturday to make it appear as though he was monitoring the raid on the Baghdadi compound when his official schedule shows that he was actually on the golf course.

It’s truly sad when the Reality Show President* is more concerned about appearances than doing the real work that every single other President did before him. Here is a great compilation of real and unstaged photos taken by Pete Souza from the Situation Room, taken during the raid on Osama bin Laden. The most iconic is this one:

Did The White House Stage Situation Room Baghdadi Raid Photo? | Crooks and Liars

Fox News, Uncategorized

Fox News contributor Solomon linked to pay-to-play news operations | Media Matters for America

John Solomon

Now at Fox of course it’s all about the money. Back in the 60’s DJ’s were paid to play records to insure higher ratings on Billboard whch translated to higher sales it was called “payola” That cash flow was eventually stopped. How is it Murdoch and Roger Ailes were allowed to apply the same formula with the NEWS. These days the money isn’t delivered in brown paper bags. It comes in the for of NDA contracts. (ODT)

Recently hired Fox News contributor John Solomon, a key player in President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani’s disinformation campaign against Joe Biden and his son Hunter, is now facing further ethical scrutiny.

According to a new report from ProPublica, Solomon was involved in an apparent pay-to-play operation at The Hill, involving him courting a conservative group for a six-figure advertising deal and also quoting its director in the Hill’s news content.

Fox News contributor Solomon linked to pay-to-play news operations | Media Matters for America

Trumpland, Trumpland Revealed, Uncategorized

Trump Impeachment Inquiry: Here’s What You Missed This Week — And What’s Up Next | HuffPost Australia

President Donald Trump delivers remarks in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on

via Trump Impeachment Inquiry: Here’s What You Missed This Week — And What’s Up Next | HuffPost Australia

Informed Comment, Uncategorized

Killing Me Softly with Militarism: The Decay of Democracy in America

https://www.juancole.com/images/2019/10/killing-me-softly-with-militaris.jpg

That’s not America. After all, Lady Liberty used to welcome newcomers with a torch, not an AR-15. We don’t wall ourselves in while bombing others in distant parts of the world, right?

Militarism in the USA & The Decay of Democracy

Democracy shouldn’t be about celebrating overlords in uniform. A now-widely accepted belief is that America is more divided, more partisan than ever, approaching perhaps a new civil war, as echoed in the rhetoric of our current president. Small wonder that inflammatory rhetoric is thriving and the list of this country’s enemies lengthening when Americans themselves have so softly yet fervently embraced militarism.

via Killing Me Softly with Militarism: The Decay of Democracy in America

Protest, Uncategorized

Over 1 Million Chileans Take to the Streets to Demand Political Reforms, Change to Country’s Neoliberal Economic System | Common Dreams News

Protesters wave a Chilean flag during the eighth day of protests against President Sebastian Piñera's government on October 25, 2019 in Santiago, Chile.

The World is Young and so there’s hope. You can’t get a Million people to a right-wing demonstration only guns(ODT

via Over 1 Million Chileans Take to the Streets to Demand Political Reforms, Change to Country’s Neoliberal Economic System | Common Dreams News

Economy, Uncategorized, US Economy

Boom, doom and gloom: The forces uniting Australia and the United States – Politics – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

A house auction in Norwood

via Boom, doom and gloom: The forces uniting Australia and the United States – Politics – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Scott Morrison, Uncategorized

Questions raised over Scott Morrison’s declaration he is not a New Zealand citizen | Australia news | The Guardian

Scott Morrison and his mother, Marion.

Exclusive: PM was entitled to New Zealand citizenship from birth, but it is unclear whether his mother registered it

via Questions raised over Scott Morrison’s declaration he is not a New Zealand citizen | Australia news | The Guardian

Scott Morrison, Uncategorized

Scott Morrison’s climate pact with the Pacific ‘family’ exposes the hollowness of his words | Katharine Murphy | Australia news | The Guardian

Scott Morrison at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu

” Hollowness of words” =Lying SOB (ODT)

One small exchange in Senate estimates has exposed the measurable gap between the prime minister’s rhetoric and actions

via Scott Morrison’s climate pact with the Pacific ‘family’ exposes the hollowness of his words | Katharine Murphy | Australia news | The Guardian

Asylum Seekers, Uncategorized

Mining company gets $20m contract to maintain Christmas Island detention centre that is holding four people | Australia news | The Guardian

The Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre

Peter Dutton’s Asylum Seeker’s Camp Care (ODT)

Mining company gets $20m contract to maintain Christmas Island detention centre that is holding four people | Australia news | The Guardian

Fight against Fake News, Fighting Fake News, Uncategorized

Old Dog Thoughts- The Joker, White Face, Black Face, Egg Faced, Betrayal, Coal and the UK

Joaquin Phoenix plays the eponymous character in Todd Phillips' Joker.Image result for Andrew Bolt with egg on his face

Fighting Fake News with REAL;27/10/19; Melbourne’s pychiatric fruitcake in a suit egg faced; American gives the nod to it’s terrorist allies to kill Kurds; Britain’s once a Coal Kingdom is going Carbon Neutral;

jews, Uncategorized

‘White nationalism is killing us’: Jews protest Trump, Fox ahead of Pittsburgh anniversary | +972 Magazine

Author and activist Abby Stein speaks at a protest outside Fox News HQ held to commemorate the first anniversary of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, New York, October 25, 2019. (Gili Getz)

In the week leading up to the first anniversary of the white nationalist terror attack that killed 11 worshipers in a Pittsburgh synagogue, progressive Jewish groups take to the streets to send an unequivocal message to Donald Trump and Fox News.

By focusing on Fox News, which frequently acts as a de facto state television network, the protesters sought to spell out the connection between the racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric of Donald Trump and large swathes of the Republican Party, and the acts of white terrorism that have struck at Jewish, Black, Muslim, Latinx and immigrant communities over the past few years.

via ‘White nationalism is killing us’: Jews protest Trump, Fox ahead of Pittsburgh anniversary | +972 Magazine

Trump, Uncategorized

US sends more troops to north-eastern Syria to protect oil fields from Islamic State, Kurds pull out – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

A United States military convoy moves through Syria.

via US sends more troops to north-eastern Syria to protect oil fields from Islamic State, Kurds pull out – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Trumpland, Uncategorized

Subscription war on ‘fake news’: WaPo, NYT ousted from White House, federal agencies told to follow lead — RT USA News

Subscription war on ‘fake news’: WaPo, NYT ousted from White House, federal agencies told to follow lead

via Subscription war on ‘fake news’: WaPo, NYT ousted from White House, federal agencies told to follow lead — RT USA News

Trump, Uncategorized

Trump Mulls Selling His DC Hotel—a Move His Lawyer Said Would Be a Huge Conflict – Mother Jones

via Trump Mulls Selling His DC Hotel—a Move His Lawyer Said Would Be a Huge Conflict – Mother Jones

LNP Government, Uncategorized

Toxic “Safety” orders the latest tool to shut down free speech – Michael West

Toxic “Safety” orders the latest tool to shut down free speech

via Toxic “Safety” orders the latest tool to shut down free speech – Michael West

LNP Government, Uncategorized

Scott Morrison banned Liberal MP Craig Kelly from the ABC’s Q&A program

Prime Minister Scott Morrison banned Liberal MP Craig Kelly from appearing on the ABC's Q&A program.

Kelly is welcomed on Sky but Morrison bans him from the ABC (ODT)

Scott Morrison banned Liberal MP Craig Kelly from the ABC’s Q&A program

Fight against Fake News, Fighting Fake News, Uncategorized

Old Dog Thoughts- I didn’t vote for them. Don’t blame me.

Illustration: Dionne Gain

Fighting Fake News with REAL 26/10/19; Sending Australians to the poor house singing dirty deeds done dirt cheap:

Political Crime, Uncategorized

‘The Highest of High Crimes’: Rudy Giuliani Accidentally Blows up Trump’s Defense Against Impeachment on Twitter | The Smirking Chimp

via ‘The Highest of High Crimes’: Rudy Giuliani Accidentally Blows up Trump’s Defense Against Impeachment on Twitter | The Smirking Chimp

Protest, Uncategorized

Deconstructed Podcast: Live With Ilhan Omar and Michael Moore

via Deconstructed Podcast: Live With Ilhan Omar and Michael Moore

Humour, Uncategorized

Journalists Need To Remember That Nobody Is Above The Law! – » The Australian Independent Media Network

via Journalists Need To Remember That Nobody Is Above The Law! – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Informed Comment, Uncategorized

House of Cards: is Brookfield the next Babcock & Brown? – Michael West

The Foreign Investment Review Board has already waved through the Healthscope acquisition and is presently deliberating on the Aveo deal. Yet the question must be asked; as Brookfield pays so little tax in Australia, what is the national interest in allowing this tax haven operator to buy billions of dollars buying key infrastructure when it merely siphons the profits offshore?

via House of Cards: is Brookfield the next Babcock & Brown? – Michael West

Uncategorized

Award winning journalist barred from Australian free speech conference

Mimi Mefo has been denied a visa to enter Australia.

Peter Dutton’s NOT TALKING (ODT)

An award-winning Cameroonian investigative journalist invited to give a speech about media freedom at a conference in Brisbane on Friday has been denied a visa by Australian authorities.

Mimi Mefo, winner of this year’s Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award, was due to give the keynote address at the Integrity 20 conference hosted by Griffith University, but was told in correspondence that Australian authorities, “were not satisfied that the applicant’s employment and financial situation provide an incentive to return”.

Award winning journalist barred from Australian free speech conference

Israel, Uncategorized

Golan Heights – Questions on Australia’s role still unanswered – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Australia’s disguised deployment in the assistance of theft by Israel of the Syrian Golan Heights oil fields and media silence. Murdoch’s interest in Genie Oil a pay off for silence. (ODT)

What is the Israeli/US interest in the Golans that has prompted Israeli occupation and such strong support from the US (and Australia) in violation of UN resolutions? The answer is partly settlement opportunities for Israel, but the other is oil. According to the Israeli operated Afek Oil and Gas there is ‘billions of barrels of Israeli oil’ under the ground. Except it is Syrian ground.

via Golan Heights – Questions on Australia’s role still unanswered – » The Australian Independent Media Network

AFP, Uncategorized

Police? Political? Nevah! – -Politics Australia » The Australian Independent Media Network

But hey, the AFP were very busy in 2012 investigating allegations by whistleblower James Ashby about Peter Slipper’s misuse of cab charges. Despite Slipper being exonerated of the heinous charge of using $900 to visit a winery – which he offered to repay but wasn’t allowed because the AFP were already ‘investigating’ – his career and personal life were destroyed.

Investigations by the AFP into the illegal copying and distribution of Mr Slipper’s diary to the media were dropped.

See – they do protect whistleblowers.

via Police? Political? Nevah! – -Politics Australia » The Australian Independent Media Network

Protest, Uncategorized

The Morrison Government is stupid and cruel, but I’m not giving in to it

It’s important we don’t switch off, but rather refocus our attention on effective, loud and colourful resistance.

There’s plenty of inspiring action going on right now in Spain, Chile, Lebanon, Hong Kong and other places. Extinction Rebellion is not going away. It’s time to get off the couch and join in.

The Morrison Government is stupid and cruel, but I’m not giving in to it

Fight against Fake News, Fighting Fake News, Uncategorized

Old Dog Thoughts- Trump Sponsored Ethnic Clensing, Free Speech banned or Racism Mr Dutton? GOP betrays Democracy

New video shows abuse of slain female fighter by Turkish forces

Fighting Fake News with REAL,25/10/19; LNP and Free Speech or simply Racism; Trump’s sponsored War Crimes and Ethnic Clensing; The Republicans are even more guilty;

Fox News, Uncategorized

Following Bill Taylor’s damning testimony, right-wing media works to defend Trump and discredit Taylor | Media Matters for America

Screenshot_2019-10-24 Following Bill Taylor’s damning testimony, right-wing media works to defend Trump and discredit Taylor.png

Call it for what it is FOX sets out to defend Trump and Discredit Taylor (ODT)

via Following Bill Taylor’s damning testimony, right-wing media works to defend Trump and discredit Taylor | Media Matters for America

Trump, Uncategorized

Trump Is Going Ballistic Because the Walls Are Closing In – Mother Jones

via Trump Is Going Ballistic Because the Walls Are Closing In – Mother Jones

Trumpland, Trumpland Revealed, Trumpsters, Uncategorized

Republicans are finally realising Trump is his own worst enemy – and theirs | Richard Wolffe | Opinion | The Guardian

Donald Trump

via Republicans are finally realising Trump is his own worst enemy – and theirs | Richard Wolffe | Opinion | The Guardian

Trumpland, Trumpland Revealed, Uncategorized

Trump Wanted Ukraine’s President to Smear Biden on CNN

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 22: Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine, arrives at a closed session before the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees October 22, 2019 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. Taylor was on Capitol Hill to testify to the committees for the ongoing impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Trump Wanted Ukraine’s President to Smear Biden on CNN

Uncategorized, USA

Bill Barr, Grand Inquisitor, Crusades for an Anti-Secularist Christian State | The Smirking Chimp

They are changing America’s essence (ODT)

Bill Barr, Grand Inquisitor, Crusades for an Anti-Secularist Christian State | The Smirking Chimp

Trump, Uncategorized

Trump Could Get Away With Shooting Someone, His Lawyer Says – Mother Jones

via Trump Could Get Away With Shooting Someone, His Lawyer Says – Mother Jones

Australia's Shame, Uncategorized

Whistleblowers: Australian intelligence officer in trouble with the law

Whistleblower: another Australian intelligence officer in trouble with the law

Excessive government secrecy and repression of whistleblowers and journalists is on the rise. This is a government which persecutes its citizens for doing the right thing. This oped, written befittingly by Name Withheld for Security Reasons, identifies another target whose name is also withheld for security reasons.

Whistleblowers: Australian intelligence officer in trouble with the law

LNP Economic Management, LNP Government, Uncategorized

ATO’s debt book grows to $45b as Australians owe more than ever – Business – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Description: $100 Australian dollar notes, pictured in Brisbane, August 20, 2013.

 

via ATO’s debt book grows to $45b as Australians owe more than ever – Business – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Filed under:
Fight against Fake News, Fighting Fake News, Uncategorized

Old Dog Thoughts- Minister for Self Interest Angus Taylor,Trump running out of wriggle room;

Fighting Fake News with REAL, 24/10/19; Fact Check Angus Taylor Minister for himself; Global Riots; Trump’s impeachment inquiry gives him no wriggle room;

LNP Economic Management, Uncategorized

Australia falls to stone cold last in Credit Suisse wealth report – Michael West

via Australia falls to stone cold last in Credit Suisse wealth report – Michael West

ALP, SocialProgressive, Uncategorized

Andrews signs new belt-and-road deal with China: ‘the right thing to do’

Premier Daniel Andrews signed the agreement with China on Wednesday night.

Victoria has signed a fresh deal with the Chinese government and its global ‘Belt and Road’ infrastructure project with Premier Daniel Andrew urging other Australian governments to follow suit.

The agreement, signed in Beijing on Wednesday evening, will deepen cooperation between the state and the Communist-ruled country in the key areas of infrastructure, innovation, ageing and trade development.

Wednesday’s deal was signed only a few hours after federal Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton questioned whether the Premier’s trade efforts in China were in the “national interest”.

via Andrews signs new belt-and-road deal with China: ‘the right thing to do’

Trumpland, Uncategorized

Top Diplomat Confirms There Was Quid Pro Quo Demand In Trump’s Ukraine Call: Reports | HuffPost Australia

Screenshot_2019-10-23 Top Diplomat Confirms There Was Quid Pro Quo Demand In Trump's Ukraine Call Reports.png

via Top Diplomat Confirms There Was Quid Pro Quo Demand In Trump’s Ukraine Call: Reports | HuffPost Australia

Trumpland, Uncategorized

Turkey and Russia strike deal on Kurdish withdrawal and joint patrols in ‘safe zone’ – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Turkish-backed forces from the Free Syrian Army stand in formation wearing red berets.

via Turkey and Russia strike deal on Kurdish withdrawal and joint patrols in ‘safe zone’ – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)