Watching Elon Musk reveal himself in recent weeks to be the world’s richest buffoon has certainly been entertaining. However, it could lead to the conclusion that billionaires are silly but harmless—which is far from the truth.
Source: Opinion | Billionaires Like Elon Musk Are the Most Dangerous People on Planet Earth | Linda McQuaig
He’s an expert in the Art of Delay not the Art of the Deal
The Supreme Court refused to hear Donald Trump’s plea to keep his tax returns out of Congress’ hands on Tuesday. This action finally ends the battle Trump began fighting in 2016, even before taking office when he became the first president in modern history to refuse to reveal what was on his tax returns.
Source: The Supreme Court Just Announced Congress Can Access Trump’s Tax Returns – Mother Jones
Of course The Australian republished Andy Kessler’s ridiculous Wall Street Journal column, “The decline of work in a spoiled society.” Those News Corp bedfellows continue to miss that they are at the core of the problem.
The pandemic drew back the curtain for the workers of the West, casting a glaring spotlight on the fact that they were cogs in a machine churning profit for the power brokers. Billionaires took off on joyrides to space, in rockets built of the workers’ stolen wages. Emergency workers received mere thanks for dying in excessive numbers to keep the upper echelons safely serviced in their beach home escapes. Nurses saw that their dedication had been exploited for unfair pay as their shifts ballooned. Teachers learnt they were actually childminders to allow capitalism untrammelled access to parent workers.
Source: Greed and a spoiled society: workers are not the problem – Pearls and Irritations
Matthew Guy claims he’s going to save them when they don’t need saving it would seem.Is he about to take the credit for something he hasn’t done?
The pay packets of employees at small and medium-sized businesses are growing faster than inflation, new data shows.
Source: It’s pay time for small business workers – Michael West
no one wants to talk about what I see as the root cause of America’s economic malaise – work under contemporary capitalism is fundamentally flawed.
As a political philosopher studying the effects of contemporary capitalism on the future of work, I believe that the inability to dictate and meaningfully control one’s own working life is the problem.
Democratizing work is the solution.
The Problem of Work
Now, this would be a win, Matthew Guy. It hardly seems a swing away from the ALP to the LNP
Across Melbourne, the Victorian Socialists have knocked on over 180,000 doors and signed up hundreds of volunteers. Their campaign has set its sights on two upper house seats in the coming state election.
Source: The Victorian Socialists Are Within Striking Distance of a Parliamentary Seat
The people of the Torres Strait Islands may soon be forced to leave their homelands if nothing is done to stop increasingly frequent catastrophic weather events and rising sea levels, writes James Fitzgerald Sice.
Source: Through hell and high water: Torres Strait Islanders fight for their home
Two lessons here.
First, corporations that regard employees only as costs to be cut rather than as assets to be nourished can make humongous mistakes. Elon Musk is Exhibit #1.
Second, where corporations view employees as costs, the traditional way for employees to flex their muscle is to strike, thereby temporarily closing factories and stopping the machines.
But where employees are a corporation’s key assets, workers’ greater power comes in threatening to — or actually — walking out the door. Elon Musk is Exhibit #2.
Israel creates uprisings to claim defence and colonise.
Blockades and closures have further isolated Palestinians in the occupied territory. As Israeli attacks intensify, so does talk of a new uprising.
Source: Israeli Raids in the West Bank Push Palestinians to Brink Again
It’s been the same here in Australia. Morrison did it in the hope of political gain with Deves. Pentecostalists have entered Politics and are spreading hate. The only reason we haven’t seen a mass shooting is because of our gun control laws and the level of tolerance and inclusion due to multiculturalism in this country. The LNP have simply tried to Americanise our politics and will continue to do so if Peter Dutton is an indication. He went straight to America after being nominated Opposition leader in parliament.
AOC is right. This entire year has seen Republicans and their media agitators and MAGA supporters develop horrific conspiracies against the LGBTQAI+ community in order to gain political power. Revving up the hatred against “the Left” who only want tolerance and welcoming for all people.
It’s been sickening to witness.
Source: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Smacks Down Lauren Boebert Over Shooting | Crooks and Liars
The three hundred anti-gay pieces of proposed legislation and the rhetoric against gay people have largely come from Republican lawmakers, therefore bear some of the blame for whipping up this kind of hate.
Source: Top 6 Ways Republicans have Spread Hatred of Gays — Background to Club Q Mass Shooting
As you’ve probably heard by now, Donald Trump’s stranglehold on the Republican Party is currently on life support in the wake of the midterm elections, during which his endorsement became the kiss of death in a number of key races. As a result, many Republicans want him to stay as far away from the state of Georgia as possible until after the runoff between Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock, lest his stench push voters to cast their ballots for the incumbent Democrat, who won his runoff in the state against the Trump-backed Kelly Loeffler in January 2021. And we’ll give you one guess as to how he’s coping with the rejection.
This certainly isn’t new Catholics and Jews were kept out of politics in the 40s and 50s when it was considered an area exclusive to members of the English churches. Loyalty to Rome and Israel was considered dangerous and un-Australian. Some consider it should continue today and are fully-fledged monarchists and cultural assimilationists with a slightly broader attitude to the definition of Christianity and Western culture. Like Andrew Bolt who though born here claims he’s Dutch and who wouldn’t want to be excluded or return to the days when the English had no time for the Dutch whatsoever.
Victorian Liberal candidate Renee Heath is a lifelong senior member of an ultra-conservative church that has been secretly directed by its global leader to infiltrate Coalition politics, is opposed to gay, trans and reproductive rights and has left some former members traumatised.
An investigation by The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes has unearthed fresh evidence of disturbing conduct within City Builders and closely affiliated churches in Victoria that are part of a global network of Pentecostal churches.
Source: Liberal candidate Renee Heath ‘agent’ for ultra-conservative church, family says
Dore, who has edited The Courier-Mail and The Daily Telegraph, took the helm of the national masthead in 2018 after its former editor-in-chief, Paul Whittaker, was promoted as chief executive of Sky News. He began his career at News Corp as a copy kid more than 30 years ago and has worked across Australia and led tabloids The Daily Telegraph and The Courier-Mail as well as The Sunday Times in Perth, when it was owned by News Corp. He began as editor-in-chief of The Australian in 2018.
Source: Top News Corp editor departed after lewd comments towards woman
Fox News for nobody Cash for comment
Despite Fox News’ claims to the contrary, climate change was among top voter concerns during the recent 2022 midterm elections.
The nations of the world voted to terminate human civilisation and commit all our grandchildren to bake and starve on an uninhabitable ruin of a Planet.
Source: The world votes for “climate hell” – Pearls and Irritations
Beinin dives into his unique look into Israel beginning with his first visit to the country as a young labor Zionist in sympathy with the Labor Party then securely in power. He lived and worked on a kibbutz but soon began questioning a fundamental assumption of the new state: “Israel has the law of return, which permits Jews to come back, to go to Israel, even if they have no historic connection to the place and to become citizens. And on the other hand, Palestinians who were expelled from the country when it was established, 750,000 of them or thereabouts, are not permitted to return. So, in that sense, there is no difference between the policies of the most far right Zionist and the far-left Zionist. They agree on Jewish supremacy,” Beinin said.
Source: Joel Beinin: Is It Over for Israel? [VIDEO] – scheerpost.com
Reuters reports that social media sites carried video allegedly from Thursday night in the small town of Khomein in Iran, which appeared to show protesters setting fire to the childhood home of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Khomeini died in 1989. The house had been turned into a museum.
Just days after proudly announcing he would be giving away his wealth for the benefit of society, the world’s fourth richest man Jeff Bezos was astonished to learn that millions of other people are already contributing their money to worthy causes via an age-old mechanism known as ‘the taxation system’.
I woke up yesterday, looked at my to-do list and saw that the top item was “delete your Twitter account”. I hadn’t tweeted in years, so it was something of a quiet protest, but Elon Musk giving Donald Trump the green light to use the blue bird was the final straw.
Source: Elon Musk’s idea of Twitter free speech could cost him $61 billion
We shouldn’t even pretend to take these people seriously anymore. It’s insulting to the rest of us. Daniel Andrews will win the Victorian election because his opposition is pathetic and Victorians are heavily inoculated against NewsCorp’s bullshit, having been shovelled such a relentless amount of it in recent times.
Source: NewsCorp’s Victorian election coverage is divorced from reality | The Shot
The Liberal Party’s Victorian director has denied he was aware of a candidate’s links to a controversial church at the time of her pre-selection.
Source: Vic Libs deny knowing candidate’s links – Michael West
At least nine senior Liberal Party members wrote to Opposition Leader Matthew Guy and other party leaders weeks ago to sound the alarm about the political risks of candidate Renee Heath’s controversial religious views, but were dismissed or received no response.
A sitting Victorian MP is under investigation after allegedly appearing to incite violence against Premier Daniel Andrews during a rally in Melbourne.
Source: Police probe Victorian MP for ‘incitement’ – Michael West
The honeypot of vast pools of government money inevitably attracts flies, from the two-bob rorters to billion-dollar corporates.
What they have in common is adding the expense of a profit margin needing to be skimmed between the taxpayer, the actual care provider and the client.
We’ve seen this movie before with every government service that has been privatised/outsourced/flogged off to the for-profit sector, from tertiary education to aged care to employment services to child care.
And now the NDIS.
Source: Michael Pascoe: NDIS honeypot inevitably attracting fat flies
We need to beat the lobbyists at their own game. Rather than blaming victims, we need to demand political action and stand in solidarity with those who battle to remain healthy within our transparently rigged and unhealthy food environment, writes James Muecke, with Grant Ennis.
Source: Sugar shovellers are making us sick, fat and poor (and check out what they pay in tax!)
Armed squatters under the protection of the Israeli army attacked the local population and pelted their homes with stones and empty bottles in Tel Rumeida, wounding several Palestinians, who had to be ta taken to hospital for treatment, according to Wafa, the Palestinian news agency.
On Saturday, hundreds of Israeli squatters massed on Bab al-Zawiya and Beersheba streets in downtown al-Khalil, assaulting Palestinians and their commercial establishments, under the protection of the Occupation army.
The “Israeli settlement” is an Israeli government-backed scheme to steal Palestinian-owned land and implant Israeli squatters on it so as ultimately to annex the Palestinian West Bank and permanently destroy any chance of nationhood and citizenship rights for stateless Palestinians. Al-Khalil, which the Israelis call “Hebron,” is a major Palestinian commercial center responsible for 30% of the Palestinian economy. It has between 160,000 and 200,000 Palestinian inhabitants, along with hundreds of militant Israeli squatters. But it is circumscribed by checkpoints, barriers, even cages, in an attempt to control the indigenous Palestinian majority while their property and autonomy are robbed from them. Some 5 million Palestinians are stateless thralls of the Apartheid Israeli regime, which has them under martial law.
What you don’t hear in the mainstream media.
The first week of November saw nine Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces.
Source: Israel kills nine Palestinians so far in November | The Electronic Intifada
The most disturbing outcome of Israel’s general election this week was not the fact that an openly fascist party won the third-biggest tally of seats, or that it is about to become the lynchpin of the next government. It is how little will change, in Israel or abroad, as a result.
Racial profiling in Israel is rampant. Abuse and invective are normal. This is the daily machinery of separating Jews from Arabs and justifying it in traditional colonial terms.
Source: How It Feels to Visit an Apartheid Country – scheerpost.com
If the powerful leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Jim Inhofe (R-OK), have their way, Congress will soon invoke wartime emergency powers to build up even greater stockpiles of Pentagon weapons.
Soaring corporate profits are being blamed for fuelling inflation, as figures show companies in Australia are enjoying sky-rocketing profits despite the pandemic.
Source: The profit crisis is the inflation-driving pressure we don’t talk about – ABC News
Has the government forgotten who employs it? Everyone should get their Freedom of Information requests dealt with in a reasonable time, writes former senator and transparency warrior Rex Patrick.
Source: Come on Mr Attorney-General, transparency is more than a cry for opposition benches – Michael West
When we go to sleep, our brain gets to work restoring and repairing itself. Although it doesn’t look like much is happening on the outside, the inside is a hive of activity.
Dutton doesn’t let facts get in the way of politics.
As Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton doesn’t have to deliver anything until the next election. He has plenty of time to seek information, take advice, form a considered opinion and explain how his proposals would benefit Australia and Australians into the future far beyond the potential timeframe of either an Albanese or Dutton government. Pity he seems to be not letting the facts get in the way of a good story.
Source: Coming back to haunt you – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Marxist historians in Britain — like E. P. Thompson and Eric Hobsbawm — sparked a revolution in understanding the role of working people in making history. Their work is still fresh and vibrant today.Working people
Dutton avoids responsibility and simply victim blames for his transgressions.
Mr Dutton has stated that Australia should not help poor Nations which have done little to increase global warming, while Prime Minister Albanese has left the question open at present. Australia is one of the world’s largest exporters of greenhouse gases; hence Australia is partially responsible for the plight of millions of people overseas. The LNP view of having “No Duty of Care” for young people falls into a similar belief as not caring for people when the emissions exported by Australian fossil fuels corporations is deadly for people especially in poorer countries, and to a lesser extent for Australians. The effect of greenhouse gases knows no borders.
Source: Science vs Lies – We have been Conned – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Climate and energy minister Chris Bowen announced Australia will bid to co-host the UN climate summit with Pacific island nations in 2026.
So much for back patting we are still laggards
Australia continues to trail other developed countries in addressing the climate crisis, in part due to the Albanese government’s support for new fossil fuel developments, according to an analysis released at the Cop27 UN conference in Egypt.
To get to where they are, imperial powers will deceive, dissimulate and distort. The US imperium, that most awesome of devilish powers, has tentacled itself across the globe, often unbeknownst to its own citizens.
In a report released by the New York University School of Law’s Brennan Center of Justice titled Secret War: How the US Uses Partnerships and Proxy Forces to Wage War Under the Radar, there is little to shock, though much to be concerned about. The author of the report contends that the list of countries supplied by the Pentagon on US military partnerships is a savagely clipped one. The list is so wrong that 17 countries have been omitted.
Source: The Secret Wars of the US Imperium – » The Australian Independent Media Network
But if Republicans prevail in the House, even by one or two votes, Democrats’ senate bills won’t go anywhere, anyway.
Perhaps that’s what Americans have opted for. After years of tempest and tumult, it may be that most of us want nothing more dramatic than a competent government that acts reasonably and carefully — and doesn’t make any waves.
Source: Keeping the Senate! Woo-Hoo! (Almost) | The Smirking Chimp
But the decision has infuriated some Liberal Party members, with one senior figure – who asked not to be named so they could discuss internal matters – labelling it “Trumpian bullshit”.
“I had many voters tell me that they normally voted Liberal, but couldn’t vote for Matthew, and my understanding is that there was some polling a year ago telling us that he was the biggest drag on our ticket,” he wrote.
“Matthew told members – including me directly – that if he lost this election he would be resigning from parliament quite quickly afterwards. He needs to do so now.”
Debt makes a profit
Banks rake in $29 billion profit bonanza as rates on mortgages outpace rates on savings
Source: Michael West Media – investigative journalists – always independent
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