In a startling admission — which favours the Lowy Family — the electoral body has given the green light to political “donors” masking their true identity by funnelling money to political parties and candidates via little-known corporate affiliates.
Source: Lowy family use ‘loophole’ to donate $550,000 to Liberal Party
Sydney Morning Herald editor Bevan Shields has published an article titled “We are not above criticism but these attacks go too far” tearfully rending his garments over criticisms his paper’s three-part war-with-China propaganda series “Red Alert” has received from former Prime Minister Paul Keating and from ABC’s Media Watch.
Source: It’s good to be mean to war propagandists – Pearls and Irritations
His words were good too, though. Keating tore the concept of AUKUS – an alliance between two fading empires and their enthusiastic vassal state – to shreds, explicitly shaming Albanese’s barely beating lefty heart for selling off Australian sovereignty to the Yanks and Poms, paying an absurd amount of money for the privilege, and receiving a small quantity of chunky underwater boats and an endless quantity of nuclear waste in return. Art of the deal, baby!
Australia’s old media is fighting an internal civil war trying to justify their cheerleader style of reporting federal politics. In this case, it’s regarding Australia’s highly questionable $368 billion expenditure on submarines. The Canberra Press Gallery reporters have been exposed for failing dismally in doing their job to keep politicians accountable and they have spent the last few days attacking former Prime Minister Paul Keating to somehow justify their failings.
Peter Hartcher, on of the “Red Alert” journalists said regarding Keating “He made the absurd claim that the government had “no mandate” for the policy. In fact, Albanese took the AUKUS plan in principle to the 2022 election as Labor policy”.
The stupidity is that statement is both the coalition and Labor have AUKUS as part of their policy so voters had no choice and we never knew it was going to cost $368 billion. So, to say “Labor had a mandate” because they took it to the 2022 election is deceptive at best and dishonest at worst.
Not only have senior Nine journalists Peter Hartcher and Matthew Knott had their reputations trashed writing the Red Alert series but at least 2 other journalists, David Crowe, Malcolm Knox and SMH editor Bevan Shields have written pieces defending them and Nine’s papers which has achieved nothing except throwing their own reputations under a bus.
Peter Costello should resign as chairman of Nine Entertainment before more damage is done on his watch.
“Morrison says that to accommodate the AUKUS submarines deal, Australia’s defence budget will need to increase to 2.5 per cent of GDP, and there’s not much doubt he’s right. That’s an extra $10 billion or so per year, on top of a structural deficit of $50 billion a year, already rising to $70 billion. Make that $80 billion. So where is the money coming from? Tax increase or spending cuts?
Source: Budget balance: Spending like Europe means taxing like Europe
Australia’s landmark nuclear submarines deal has sparked an angry reaction from China, but the federal government remains hopeful the countries’ trade relationship will not be affected.
Source: AUKUS casts shadow on Australia-China trade relations – Michael West
Those with no money in the bank but on Robodebt in Australia weren’t forgiven in fact they were hunted down and named whether right or wrong. If a bank crashes here will the current government bail it out. The LNP would that’s without question.
UBS AG is asking the Swiss government to cover about $US6 billion ($A9 billion) in costs if it were to buy Credit Suisse, a person with knowledge of the talks says, as the two sides race to hammer together a deal to restore confidence in the ailing Swiss bank.
Source: UBS seeks $9b in govt guarantees for Credit Suisse deal – Michael West
Seventy-seven Palestinian-owned buildings have been destroyed since the extreme far-right government led by Benjamin Netanyahu took office, according to UN figures. The figure is nearly double the number of demolitions imposed by Israel during the same period last year. Ministers such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich publicly advocate for the expulsion of Palestinians and the demolition of their homes.
Source: Number of demolitions by Israel of Palestinian property doubles
Trump demands people to protest “hush money legalises rape” but never for abortion
Former US president Donald Trump says he expects to be arrested on Tuesday, calling on his supporters to protest as New York law enforcement prepares for a possible indictment against him.
Source: Trump says he will be arrested on Tuesday, calls for protests
President Biden knows that a majority of Americans don’t want him to run for president in 2024. But Biden also believes he is the best candidate to stop Trump, who he views as the biggest threat to our democracy. So let’s take a look at more direct action that Biden can take to ensure Trump doesn’t retake the presidency: The president can voluntarily commit to not running for a second term if Trump also agrees to end his bid for the White House. To sweeten the deal, Biden could also offer Trump a pardon that’s conditioned on him not seeking the presidency.
It’s dawning on people that when the competition between businesses isn’t strong, firms can raise their prices by more than the increase in their costs, and so fatten their profit margins. What’s yet to dawn is that weak competition also allows businesses to pay their workers less than they should.
Source: Wage growth stagnation: Why concentration of market power might be to blame
“Morton’s journalism has marked him out as a writer of rare compassion and forensic curiosity, and across his memoirs, he’s applied that to questions of his own capacity and incapacity, and his 2019 diagnosis of complex post-traumatic stress …”
Source: Who is this bloke Rick Morton and what makes him tick? – » The Australian Independent Media Network
November’s revelation that the bitcoin giant FTX was nothing but a Ponzi scheme has contributed to the fears. Where were the regulators? Last Friday’s revelation that Silicon Valley Bank didn’t have enough capital to pay its depositors has added to the anxieties. Where were the regulators?
The PM says the base price for eight new submarines was $16 billion but ballooned to $386 billion after he added on heated leather seats, roof-racks, sports styling, Parking Assist and a range of other dealer extras.
Source: Albo admits he got talked into buying extras package on new subs | The Shovel
Who will control the Tomahawk Missiles? News that Australia will purchase up to 220 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles might seem like just another Defence purchase, but there’s a hidden sovereignty issue that needs to be examined. And that’s what Rex Patrick is here to do.
The United States Congress has just approved the sale of as many as 20 Block IV Tomahawks and 200 Block V Tomahawks for $1.3 billion dollars. The US will provide support consisting of unscheduled missile maintenance, spares; procurement, training, in-service support, software, hardware, communication equipment, operational flight test, engineering, and technical expertise.
Tomahawk missiles are a long range, all weather, subsonic cruise missile used to attack land targets. The intention is for these proven and highly effective missiles to be fitted to our navy’s three Air Warfare Destroyers. But while these missiles will be fitted to our ships and be under Australian command, the ability to target them properly may be constrained by the US. The purchase raises a sovereignty issue which must be bought out in the open and discussed.
Source: Uncle Sam, can you target my Tomahawk, please? – Michael West
While the former Coalition Government was never one to consider the frail, elderly, unwell or jobless as full members of society, you would expect better from an ALP Government. Perhaps we are expecting too much.
Source: Bright and shiny things – » The Australian Independent Media Network
That’s it exactly, isn’t it? Keating’s big crime was to be “far removed from the political mainstream”, and in so complaining, the editor of the SMH shows he is more interested in supporting that mainstream than in challenging it.
Source: Beating Keating and losing – Pearls and Irritations
In the Canberra press gallery, policy analysis takes second place to ephemeral politics, as highlighted by the response to Paul Keating’s criticisms of the AUKUS submarine deal.
During his recent National Press Club appearance, former PM Paul Keating scolded mainstream media journalists — who deserved every stinging syllable of his pinpoint-accurate words, writes Belinda Jones.
One positive derived from this fracas. The ALP doesn’t hide it’s disputes behind closed doors and allows for diverse comment. The LNP sacked Malcolm Fraser and want Turnbull to go as well.
In the face of his stinging critique of Australian leaders and journalists for putting the nation at risk with its ill-conceived submarine subservience to the U.S. and Britain, Keating sustained withering counterattacks. Rather than listen to him as an elder statesman, the way most societies throughout history have listened to their elders, he was condemned as yesterday’s man who had lost touch with the world today.
Source: A Sane Voice Amidst the Madness
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of being responsible for war crimes committed in Ukraine.
This week 2GB Radio in Sydney got knocked off its number one perch. This right-wing gabfest has been at number one in the Sydney marketplace since 2004. It lost its spot to KIISFM which is an entirely non-serious enterprise. This is an important milestone. It marks a shift in the reading/listening/watching habits of the Australian populace; a change that will become ever more notable in the coming months and years.
Source: Big Media: Perhaps its grip is loosening? – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Australia’s old media are now being exposed daily for their biased reporting and failure to declare their conflict of interests which has to mean their days are numbered. The evidence for that statement and reasoning for writing this article is that I noticed that the last 3 videos I have published on YouTube are all…
But as was demonstrated again this past week, American capitalism needs strict guardrails. Otherwise, it is subject to periodic crises that summon bailouts. The result is socialism for the rich while everyone else is subject to harsh penalties: Bankers get bailed out and the biggest banks and bankers do even better. Yet average people who cannot pay their mortgages lose their homes. Meanwhile, almost 30 million Americans still lack health insurance, most workers who lose their job aren’t eligible for unemployment insurance, most have no paid sick leave, child labor is on the rise, and nearly 51 million households can’t afford basic monthly expenses such as housing, food, child care, and transportation.
Is it any wonder that so many Americans see the system as rigged against them? Is it surprising that some of them become susceptible to dangerous snake-oil peddled by demagogues?
Source: Who’s Raking In the Most From the Banking Mess? | The Smirking Chimp
He was standing before a lectern at Downing Street. The words on the support looked eerily similar to those used by the politicians of another country. According to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Stop the Boats was the way to go. It harked back to the same approach used by Australia’s Tony Abbott, who won the 2013 election on precisely that platform.
Source: Trashing Asylum: The UK’s Illegal Migration Bill – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Malcolm Turnbull has also questioned deal amid UK economy’s ‘existential problems’
There are few who think as clearly, who are as articulate, and who are prepared to speak out in the face of incredible stupidity in Australian politics as Paul Keating. And, as he made clear in his address to the press club this week, AUKUS is nothing if not an exercise in security policy stupidity.
Source: Paul Keating excoriates AUKUS as exercise in security policy stupidity – Pearls and Irritations
The American and British arms dealers are laughing all the way to the bank.
Australia is set to acquire hundreds of Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States as part of the AUKUS security pact.
Source: Australia to spend $1.3b on missiles in new AUKUS deal – Michael West
The AUKUS pact is a waste of spending that could go towards more needed areas such as medicine, housing and the environment, writes Dr William Briggs.
At the start of the pandemic, the head of the World Health Organisation, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, urged the countries of the world to be more collaborative and less confrontational, saying that “this is the time for solidarity, not stigma” and repeating, in the years since, that nations must “work together across ideological divides to find common solutions to common problems.” These wise words must be heeded.
Source: What Follows US Hegemony
In a sign of a major shift in U.S. public perception that’s largely generational, U.S. Democrats favor Palestinians by an 11-point margin. A decade ago, the gap was 36% in favor of Israelis.
Source: For First Time, US Democratic Voters Sympathize More With Palestinians Than Israelis: Poll
All of a sudden, civil war is on the minds of prominent Israeli politicians, who warn that if the current impasse between the government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Israeli people is not resolved, it could come to that.
Source: Israeli President cautions against Complacency and Warns of Real Possibility of Civil War
Capitalism is about the creation of debt and enslavement and is dependent on LOW-Interest rates. Reality reveals itself when interest rates are high. The ongoing wealth and income gaps increase and are easily seen. Any regulation merely attempts to keep that uglier of truths masked.
Only a few years ago, Buy Now Pay Later was hailed as the ultimate in consumer credit innovation. The current reality is massive losses for the providers while cost-of-living pressures escalate and the most vulnerable consumers suffer most. Welfare groups are demanding regulation, David Gilchrist reports.
The Murdochs cry free speech as a defense in the Dominion lawsuit while simultaneously attempting to suppress an Australian media company
What Albanese calls “a partnership”
The US has big plans for Australia in its preparations for a future war with China. US Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro recently said that he envisions AUKUS will turn the country into a full-service submarine hub that can oversee all allied underwater activity in the Asia-Pacific. Naturally, China views AUKUS as a major provocation as the submarines will be used to patrol waters near its shores.
Source: US, UK, Australia Unveil AUKUS Nuclear-Powered Submarine Deal – scheerpost.com
It’s all about Domestic Politicking not Foreign Policy
The report quotes Frances Adamson A.C., Governor of South Australia and former Australian Ambassador to China as saying that “deep knowledge of a country reduces the risk of strategic miscalculation – a real danger in an increasingly volatile world.” I think she’s right. I also think that kind of thinking needs a bit more priority in policy-making circles.
“Should Russia or China want to send a signal to Washington that it means business and ‘don’t push us any further’, a one-off nuclear strike on Pine Gap would do that very effectively, without triggering retaliation from the US since it doesn’t take out a US mainland installation or city,” says Dr Tanter.
Premiere to be held in Melbourne 6.30pm, March 22 at the Cinema Nova, Carlton.
Source: “Road to War” – » The Australian Independent Media Network
The Iraq War demonstrated hugely misplaced faith in what military force can accomplish. But after 20 years, have any real lessons be learned? Paul Pillar Mar 15, 2023 Responsible Statecraft
Source: Opinion | The Selling of the Iraq War Involved Mass Gullibility Atop Mass Hysteria | Common Dreams
Who is missing? Australia’s John Howard of course! However, he’s not really missing, just regarded as totally irrelevant from the looks of this photo despite that he was a dutiful camp follower at the time calling out loyally about the fake WMDs.
He pushed us with Bush to Iraq and helped create ISIS. Howard didn’t give any thought to the LNP’s chant “All the way with LBJ” the chant that took us to Vietnam in 1965. All these fools simply went on to repeat history with their fabrication of the ” Weapons of Mass Destruction”. Now in 2023, the ALP has seemed to have joined them in accusing China to be a WMD when the facts and history tell us it’s not.
They’re all doing great, thanks for asking.
Voltaire said that humanity invented hell to dissuade people from doing wrong when they noticed there didn’t seem to be any consequences for it here on Earth. On this bleak anniversary, you can certainly understand where he was coming from.
Jews Against Netanyahu’s Israel
The Times of Israel reports that 255 American Jewish businessmen, who have billions of dollars invested in the country, have warned Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that they will cease investing in Israel if he goes forward with his plans to gut the Israeli judiciary.
A monthly roundup of photographs documenting Palestine, Palestinian life, politics and culture, and international solidarity with Palestine.
Source: Palestine in Pictures: February 2023 | The Electronic Intifada
Reagan promised us if we’d just deregulate our media and abandon local ownership requirements for newspapers, radio stations, and TV outlets that we’d end up with a flourishing, diverse, and edifying media sector. He kicked it off by ending enforcement of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 and Bill Clinton carried it forward with the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Instead, a small handful of billionaires and rightwing companies own virtually every consequential radio and TV station in the country; most of our local newspapers are bankrupt; more than half of the ones left are owned by a couple of New York-based hedge funds; and hate, lies, and disinformation have proven more effective at driving profits than honest information or concern for the public good so they’ve become an unscrupulous business model on the right.
Source: Have You Noticed America Is Looking Like a Third World Nation? | The Smirking Chimp
Whenever you think the political world has gone quiet, a bit of scratching on the surface reveals that the early frenetic pace set by the Albanese Government has kept up its earlier pace.
Source: As the month of March rolls on, so does Albo – » The Australian Independent Media Network
The right’s agenda is no longer about manipulating the media, it’s about manipulating reality. And it is not a conspiracy – it is business.
It’s the business of pushing right-wing agendas, the business of creating chaos, the business of maintaining power. If progressives don’t start understanding and accepting that this is now part of how you maintain political power, if they don’t accept that this is happening, if they don’t start pushing and spinning the ball of manipulation back, they will ultimately lose.
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