Few of our politicians (and this would be true in many countries) have an in-depth understanding of science, and in Australia, under Tony Abbott, we even abolished our Science Department!
Category: Uncategorized
There will be no social reform under this government – no Voice for Indigenous people, no help for the unemployed, no fair distribution of the wealth earned from 28 years of economic growth, no action on cutting emissions.
They are paralysed by the bullet lodged in their spine.
via Government paralysis – » The Australian Independent Media Network
The clear result is that both greenhouse gas emissions and electricity prices are now surging to new highs under the Coalition and the last six years of policy chaos have seen households and businesses bearing the cost of poor system planning.
via Angus Taylor’s absence from Clean Energy Summit displays lack of leadership
Andrew Bolt has been attacking this young girl since she was 14 he can’t beat her on her arguments it seems so he does it visciously and extremely personally akin to verbal child molestation. Yes the same Andrew Bolt who went on a racist warpath against Adam Goodes. The difference however Bolt lied ,edited video footage in order to make the Australian of the Year appear to be the Racist abusing a 13 year old.. Bolt’s been convicted in our courts of Racial vilificationm isn’t it time he was brought before our courts again for his attack on Adam Goodes?
Greta well she’s shown incredible maturity given the personal onslaught and verbal abuse Andrew Bolt, a 60 year old News Corp wordsmith, heaped on her. Guess he must have learned that skill raising his daughter. He shames himself and Australia. He’s a proud Conservative and diametrically opposite role model Australian children need to Adam Goodes a deserved Australian of the Year.(ODT)
Greta Thunberg
I am indeed ”deeply disturbed” about the fact that these hate and conspiracy campaigns are allowed to go on and on and on just because we children communicate and act on the science. Where are the adults?
via Teen activist Greta Thunberg hits back at ‘deeply disturbed’ jibe from Andrew Bolt
Trump trumpets the low unemployment rate among blacks as proof that his body contains no racist “bones.”
But what Trump doesn’t say (and what the media doesn’t report adequately) is that the current unemployment rate for blacks remains about twice that of whites. The June 2019 national unemployment rate for whites was 3.3 percent compared to 6 percent for blacks. The June 2000 rate was 3.6 percent for whites and 7.8 percent for blacks. Since Trump has neither eased nor erased that long-standing unemployment rate disparity – one rooted in racial discrimination – he does not deserve credit.
via Presidential Racism: Shining Example Of America’s Somber Status Quo | The Smirking Chimp
Even any solicitation of the part of WikiLeaks to obtain such material (prosecutors, take note) was irrelevant. “A person is entitled to publish stolen documents that the publisher requested from a source as long as the publisher did not participate in the theft.”
The logical implication following from punishing individuals and entities for doing so, acknowledged the court, would “render any journalist who publishes an article based on stolen information a co-conspirator in the theft”. Assange and his legal team will be more than a little heartened by this acknowledgement, one that repels efforts to treat WikiLeaks as a hacking rather than publishing enterprise.
‘Cultural racism’ blames minorities for their inequality by suggesting that their low social position is due to a lack of effort or failure to adjust to a Western way of life. But active and institutional racism is the real culprit.
via How ‘cultural racism’ helps Israelis rationalize inequality, discrimination | +972 Magazine
Bolt’s Cultural Racism helps divide the class divide in America which is absolute structural and real. Black American unemployment is still X2 that of white and hasn’t changed one iota since Trump came into office. Trump’s family investments is into poverty stricken areas as Slumlords so yes he knows only too well how to exploit the poor in his rat-infested Baltimore. (ODT)
Our policy cannot just be pro-Israel pro-Israel pro-Israel. It has got to be pro-region working with all of the people, all of the countries in that area.
via Bernie Sanders would ‘Absolutely’ cut Military Aid to Israel to get Two-State Solution
Last week it was revealed that the Israeli military has decided to change its open-fire regulations, acknowledging it killed dozens of protesters without justification.
Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster, reported that the regulations were changed “after it emerged that firing at the lower limbs above the knee led, in most cases, to death, despite the fact that this was not the objective.”
Soldiers are now instructed to shoot below the knee “and then at the ankle,” according to the report.
A senior Israeli military officer told Kan: “At first, we told them to shoot at the leg. We saw that this can result in fatalities, so we told them to shoot below the knee, then we fine-tuned the regulations to shooting at the ankle.”
The classified open-fire regulations had been approved by Israel’s high court, which declared “there can be no doubt regarding their legality.”
via Gaza protester dies as Israel admits to unjustified killings | The Electronic Intifada
This is either the single most expensive single piece of paper in the history of this chamber, or a blatant rejection of the will of the Senate by a minister who is allergic to scrutiny
The government has defied a Senate demand to release the findings of its review of the Home Affairs portfolio by claiming it did not produce a “single consolidated report” despite spending $4.9 million on the effort.
The claim triggered an outcry in the Senate over the performance of the Department of Home Affairs and its minister, Peter Dutton, after the controversial creation of the vast portfolio two years ago.
Senator Keneally also claimed the department had wasted taxpayer money by spending over $450,000 on corporate hospitality, $100,000 on executive office upgrades, $132,000 on motivational speakers and $9 million on a contract with Toll Holdings for accommodation on Manus Island even though the project was abandoned.
Senator Keneally also cited an audit office finding in January this year that concluded the department’s Biometric Identification Services Project was “deficient in almost every respect” despite a cost of $34 million.
via ‘$5 million for a piece of paper’: Major review of Home Affairs did not produce an actual report
The thought of Spud as PM is nauseating but his unhinged, delusional ambition will contribute to the demise of the most appalling government this country has ever experienced. Go Spud – give it another shot!
First, white men at every education level are more likely than women and non-Asian minorities to get access to higher-wage jobs.
Second, while wages of average working-class people in the U.S. have stagnated in recent decades, and economic insecurity has grown, earnings for middle- and upper-class jobs – which are dominated by educated whites – have soared.
A third and more recent finding is that working-class white men are the group that is most racially resentful and most opposed to further immigration. This finding is based on analyses of survey data of the whole U.S. population examining both voting behavior and attitudes toward blacks and immigrants, zeroing in on President Donald Trump’s core supporters and the content of his political messaging to them.
This resentment probably explains why working-class whites, particularly men, are so receptive to President Trump’s anti-immigrant and racist messages – and why he targets them.
via Taking Focus off Wage Stagnation: How Trump’s Stoking of Racial Divide Harms the White Working Class
This is the per capita income of the poorest 10 states to have voted for Trump (in 2018 current dollars):
39 Florida 48,318
40 Arizona 48,055
43 Kentucky 46,898
44 Montana 46,609
45 South Carolina 45,280
46 Alabama 45,219
47 Idaho 43,430
48 West Virginia 43,053
49 Arkansas 42,454
50 Mississippi 37,948
ALL LESS THAN BALTIMORE
10 Poorest States in US, which voted for Trump, Poorer than Baltimore
Key points:
- The powers were introduced after the September 11 terror attacks, and are due to lapse in just over a month
- The Coalition wants to extend them for another 12 months
- A former national security watchdog is suggesting that is lazy politics
The Public Service and the ABC seem to be seen as something very different by the LNP in a Democracy. MP’s become the “experts” (ODT)
Clearly this Prime Minister sees no role for the public service in identifying and responding to present and future policy problems that should demand attention. That role would extend to helping the Government of the day to set its policy agenda. But according to Scott Morrison, any advisory role for the public service is limited to advice on implementation.
I would contend, however, that this limited role for the public service, with its focus on implementation is very different from the role that the Australian public service, at its best, played in the past.
As per his narcissism, Trump went off his prepared remarks during his speech and had to lie, bragging about his “role” at Ground Zero.
“Many of those affected were firefighters, police officers and other first responders,” Trump said.
He continued, “And I was down there also. But I’m not considering myself a first responder. But I was down there. I spent a lot of time down there with you.”
As Brad Reed writes, “There is no evidence that Trump helped search for survivors at Ground Zero, and retired New York City Fire Department Deputy Chief Richard Alles told Snopes last year that he never heard of a group of rescuers hired by Trump to help out. Additionally, Alles said that additional help from private responders was not necessary.
You have to be a pretty sick individual to constantly lie about the role you played during the 9/11 attacks.
But as for his right-wing media, supporters and political operatives, defending this liar makes you just as bad.
The whole Republican Party is complicit.
UPDATE: Here is video of Trump saying he was at ground zero with the first responders when he was, in fact, four miles away:
via Trump Lies To First Responders About Being At Ground Zero On 9/11 | Crooks and Liars
Key points:
- Mr Johnson met with Ms Sturgeon, who has been critical of him and Brexit
- He won’t meet with EU leaders unless they agree to re-open the withdrawal agreement
- The increased prospect of a no-deal Brexit has seen the Pound Sterling drop
Now that it seems that Labor has decided that their best strategy is camouflage – agree to everything and hope that Queenslanders mistake them for the Liberal Party – I’ve been trying to work out how it’s all going to play out in the coming years.
Personally, I found it strange to see these in the same week that Masterchef George had “mistakenly” underpaid his workers $7.8 million dollars…
Now, I probably shouldn’t put the “mistakenly” in inverted commas. That implies that I didn’t really think it was a mistake. I mean, mistakes are easy to make. I’m sure George would understand if I went into one of his restaurants and mistakenly ran up a bill of $500 when I only meant to spend the fifty I had, and he could take it or leave it because who could afford that sort of money for a meal so I just presumed that the prices were wrong…
via I Didn’t Realise That George Calombaris Was A Union! – » The Australian Independent Media Network
It seems maddeningly repetitive to have to return time and again to the fact that Donald Trump is a racist, but it must be done. It must be done because it is a foundational character issue, one that supersedes and informs many others, in much the same way that his sexism and xenophobia does.
On Saturday, US time, Trump tweeted that congressman Elijah Cummings’ district “is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess,” a “very dangerous & filthy place” and “No human being would want to live there.” Cummings is black, as are most people in his district.
via Trump racism debate: ‘The rot you smell is a racist POTUS’
Pro-publica and The New York Times did an expose on “JK2” — Kushner’s real estate company buying up hundreds of thousands of housing units in Baltimore in the last 2 decades, including in Rep. Cummings’ district, dontchyaknow. These neighborhoods have been dubbed “Kushnerville,” and are known for his company’s cruel practices and housing violations unchecked.
via Watch Out Donald Trump, Baltimore Strikes Back | Crooks and Liars
These companies have spent several million dollars on deceptive advertising, lobbying and campaign contributions to help elect politicians sympathetic to their cause.
In return, these politicians have proven dutiful beneficiaries, working diligently to secure almost a billion dollars of ratepayer subsidies for FirstEnergy and AEP.
As lobbying goes, not a bad return on investment.
This isn’t just happening in Ohio. Utilities across the country are pushing to delay climate action and stall the growth of renewables, which are already a cheaper source of electricity than continuing to operate three-quarters of US coal plants.
via While the planet burns, Ohio’s coal industry gets a bailout | Leah C Stokes | Opinion | The Guardian
Government renegs on it’s promises(ODT)
via The Government Still Hasn’t Responded To The Hamid Khazaei Inquest Findings
Australia’s jobless rate of 5.24 per cent now ranks 75th in the world and 19th in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). That’s the club of 36 wealthy, developed mixed capitalist economies with which comparisons can and should be made.
That is the lowest Australia has ranked since records have been kept. In June 2012 and June 2013, Australia ranked eighth. Just 12 months ago, Australia ranked 17th.
via Australia falls to all-time OECD low on jobs but $A rallies against Zambian kwacha – Michael West
The U.S. economy grew by only 2.1 percent in the second quarter of 2019, according to new data by U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
“The deceleration in real GDP in the second quarter reflected downturns in inventory investment, exports, and nonresidential fixed investment,” the bureau found. In other words, business investment is lagging — which is exactly what the GOP’s 2017 tax cuts were supposed to stimulate. But there was never much evidence to suggest that the tax cut would actually supercharge growth — it was a vain hope of Republicans who see lower taxes as the solution to everything.
At the same time, U.S. manufacturing is in a “technical recession.”
“Seems pretty notable that the president can no longer claim even one year of 3+% growth, with last year’s GDP numbers revised down to 2.5%,” she said. “After all the tax cuts and deregulation, growth is still plugging along about where it was under Obama.”
But we can conclusively say that if the economy isn’t soaring, then the president hasn’t caused the economy to soar. The president and his defenders have sold him as some sort of King Midas with the power to will economic prosperity into existence. And it’s just not true.
via The Myth of the ‘Trump Economy’ Is Going down in Flames | The Smirking Chimp
How Trumpsters roll (ODT)
Later, at a rally in North Carolina, Mr Trump accused the Somalia-born congresswoman specifically of being soft on terrorism.
“Omar laughed that Americans speak of al-Qaeda in a menacing tone,” he said. “You don’t say America with this intensity. You say al-Qaeda makes you proud. Al-Qaeda makes you proud. You don’t speak that way about America,” he added, referring to her remarks in a 2013 interview.
As he spoke about Ms Omar, he drew a chant from the crowd of “Send her back! Send her back!”
He later backtracked, claiming he disagreed with the chant and tried to stop it.
Ms Omar responded on Twitter, with a quote from civil rights activist Maya Angelou: “You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I’ll rise.”
via Donald Trump: Ilhan Omar slammed over ‘white men’ Al Jazeera footage
The New America (ODT)
President Donald Trump slammed one of his leading congressional opponents, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), in a Saturday morning Twitter rant calling him a “brutal bully” and berating his majority-black Baltimore district as a “rodent infested mess.”
It’s the latest in a series of attacks in which the president has used language widely condemned as racist to insult a nonwhite member of Congress, this time prompted by Cummings’ comments about inhumane conditions at the southern border.
via Trump Attacks Elijah Cummings As ‘Brutal Bully’ From ‘Rodent Infested’ District | HuffPost Australia
A UN Security Council resolution rejecting South Africa’s 1983 constitution shows that there is precedent and necessity to act against Israel’s Nation-State Law.
via Israel is no exception: Apartheid has to go | +972 Magazine
As you go stomping up and down your country promising the Earth and more to those who gather to see you, you will probably somewhere along the line become convinced that the handshakes and smiles and the shouts of “Go Boris!” are genuine. They are. The problem is, the minority that turns out to see you are the same minority that would pay to go and see a freak show.
via Boris Johnson: Unelected Pied Piper leading his country into the worst nightmare
The casualisation of university teaching is not a stop-gap solution. It is central to the business strategy of modern Australian universities.
At graduation ceremonies at the end of the year, universities will display their students’ achievements to friends and family and give them an opportunity to thank the staff. Most of the people who have taught them won’t be there.
olddogthoughts 
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