“These latest data are in line with long-term global warming trends that will continue to worsen unless heat-trapping emissions are slashed drastically—far more than what the United States and other major emitters are currently doing.”
Middle East Eye analyses figures of record Israeli violence in 2022 in which the majority of victims were civilians, including children and journalists.
David Milner has already labelled 2022 “annus stupidus”, but 2022 was also a turning point. From Scott Morrison to Christian Porter to Elon Musk, so much stupid was met with so much comeuppance. And for that, we should be thankful. Here are 2022’s top shit-heels getting exactly what they deserve.
If you’re thinking, ‘well he lost his job, that’s great, let’s move on’, sadly, we can’t just move on until we unpack all the shit that happened along the way.
Indian police are investigating the death of a Russian sausage tycoon, who died just days after another wealthy compatriot – the latest in a worrying long line of rich Russians to die in mysterious circumstances this year.
Public subsidies for coal plants are merely the icing on the cake of a triumphant year for multinational fossil fuel corporations operating in this country. Michael West and Callum Foote report on Fossocracy Australia.
It’s fair to say that the Republican Party of 2022 is a much broader coalition than it used to be. Once upon a time it was defined as the party of Main Street and the country club: white middle-class and upper-middle-class guys in gray flannel suits. But in recent years they’ve opened the doors and invited in a whole bunch of other Americans who don’t fit that mold. Starting in the 1960s they willingly veered into overt racism mantle and with their embrace of the Christian right in the ’80s, all the anti-gay, anti abortion flock began to move their way as well. The new Trump majority within the party captured a chunk of the previously nonvoting public that believes in fringe conspiracy theories and far-right ideologies and worships at the altar of vapid TV celebrity.
That said, the Republican coalition still isn’t very diverse. It’s nearly all white, of course, with only a tiny fraction of racial and ethnic minorities. It’s almost all Christian and most are non-college-educated and rural. And since virtually everyone who now votes Republican is indoctrinated with lies and propaganda, by watching and listening to the same information sources, there isn’t an independent idea to be f
Congratulations to everyone who worked to move the country and the world towards greater equity in 2022. Herewith are 10 of the most inspiring economic inequality victories of the year.
Amid extreme wealth inequality, Vijay Prashad considers the appeal of reactionary new religious traditions that measure salvation in the present balance of your bank account. By Vijay Prashad
The International Labour Organisation’s “Global Wage Report 2022–23” tracks the horrendous collapse of real wages for billions of people around the planet.
The gaping distance between the incomes and wealth of 99 percent of the world’s population from the incomes and wealth of the billionaires and near-trillionaires who make up the richest 1 percent is appalling.
During the pandemic, when most of the world has experienced a dramatic loss in their livelihoods, the 10 richest men in the world have doubled their fortunes. This extreme wealth inequality, now entirely normal in our world, has produced immense and dangerous social consequences.
If you take a walk in any city on the planet, not just in the poorer nations, you will find larger and larger clusters of housing that are congested with destitution.
They go by many names:
bastis, bidonville, daldongneh, favelas, gecekondu, kampung kumuh, slums and Sodom and Gomorrah. Here, billions of people struggle to survive in conditions that are unnecessary in our age of massive social wealth and innovative technology.
In a year marked by record-smashing floods, fires, heatwaves and droughts, the urgent need to act on climate change has never been more apparent. And yet, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has found coal burning for electricity generation will reach record levels this year.
Why? Largely because rising natural gas prices, due to sanctions on Russia, is driving demand for less expensive coal to fill the gap in energy supply. The report finds Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has “sharply altered the dynamics of coal trade, price levels, and supply and demand patterns in 2022”.
The good news is the world’s coal use has peaked – and will soon rapidly decline. Australia is leading the way, and the rest of the world must soon follow.
AUSTRALIA, Brazil, Malaysia and Colombia all voted in reformist governments this year, after years of corrupt conservative Right-wing rule. Progressive governments were returned with strong mandates in Portugal, Malta and Denmark. Women were elected national leaders for the first time in Italy, Slovenia and Peru.
2022, an exceptionally dumb year, began with former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison advocating for the rights of disadvantaged children everywhere to be able to drive forklifts at Woolies; the pandemic had exacerbated global supply chain issues and, of all the imaginable remedies to this situation, minimum-wage kids operating heavy machinery appealed to Scott’s mindhole the most. The year ended, just as appropriately, with former American President Donald Trump dropping a collection of $99 NFTs, artificially scarce internet pictures that depict him dressed up as a superhero or a cowboy or a football player.
By copying voting software and distributing it widely, people and organizations can “use the software to undermine, disrupt, or tamper with elections in a number of ways,” the letter included.
The new $850 billion military budget, which the House just approved and the Senate will take up soon, is a giveaway to the arms industry. Is it a coincidence that House supporters of the bill got seven times more money from military contractors than opponents?
We have the technology but not the determination or leadership to do what has to be done as fast as possible. Imagine its the Fossil Fuel Industry that’s trying to control COP27 and like the Tobacco Industry which is declaring to be the world leader in QUIT SMOKING action. Fossil Fuel is declaring they are the best positioned to reduce CO2 emissions as they are the biggest current and future investor. The reality however is to slow what needs to be done in the interests of saving their bottom lines and not the planet
Despite this help from nature, the concentration of atmospheric CO₂ continues to climb. In 2022 it’ll reach a projected average of 417.2 parts per million. This is 51% above pre-industrial levels and higher than any time in the past 800,000 years.
Trump, despite losing the 2020 election by 7 million votes nationally and by 306-232 in the Electoral College, became the first president in more than two centuries of elections to refuse to hand over power peacefully. His incitement of the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol ― his last-ditch attempt to remain in office ― led to the deaths of five people, including one police officer, the injury of 140 officers and four police suicides.
Republican aides on Capitol Hill and GOP strategists are expecting the U.S. Dept. of Justice to indict Donald Trump within weeks or months of the November election, which is just eight days away. Some are warning if that is the plan it should be sooner rather than later. Former top Trump advisor Steve Bannon claims if the former President is indicted DOJ will be defunded “immediately” and Garland could face impeachment.
Addressing a trade union rally in London, the U.S. senator called for bringing “working people together in the fight for justice and a world that belongs to all of us not just the people on top.”
If the world halted planet-heating pollution today, the ice sheet would lose more than 3% of its mass in the coming decades, scientists warn. To prevent even worse outcomes, immediate climate action is needed.
it remains rather striking that while we are celebrating unemployment figures not seen since the mid-1970s, we are experiencing wage growth we haven’t seen this high since … oh, 2019.
The current circumstances allow us to put to the test a few economic theories.
By all accounts, wages growth should be skyrocketing. There should be a wages breakout due to the demand for workers. If not now, when? Wages are supposed to respond to lower unemployment and higher vacancies.
In case America forgets: Mary told you all the time who her uncle really was but you chose not to listen.
As we have learned from the committee hearings, Trump also understood that his Big Lie about election fraud presented him another opportunity for grift. He reportedly brought in some $250 million from his supporters for a nonexistent election defense fund (which was supposed to investigate nonexistent election fraud), emailing his small-dollar donors dozens of times a day.
Sometimes I wonder why something that I see as a simple idea isn’t being suggested by people in public office. You know, simple things like – given the shortage of workers in some industries – why don’t we double the amount that the unemployed could earn before they lose any of their benefits? It would…
It’s starting to sound all socialist and full of red tape and we all know that privatisation is the way to go because, hey, hasn’t privatisation worked a treat with all the areas where governments have privatised.
I’m trying to think of a specific example here, but I guess my trouble must be that there are so many of them,
Ah, Qantas. Once it used to be government-owned but now that it’s in private hands, they find your lost luggage much more efficiently because they’ve had so much experience at it…
All right, the Commonwealth Bank… Um, public transport?
Anyway, we know that it much be better because why else would governments keep selling off public assets to their mates?
At age 66, Suad Hirmiz found herself on the hunt for a new house to rent.
With her only income being Centrelink disability payments and her husband’s age pension, she resorted to selling her gold jewellery and offered to pay four months’ rent up front.
“No real estate agents would accept our applications,” Ms Hirmiz told the ABC.
“So I sold my gold. I just went down to Sydney Road [in Melbourne] and sold it.”
The couple are on a housing commission waiting list, but in the meantime nearly half of their fortnightly government payments go towards rent.
With little or no superannuation, increasing costs of living and limited access to suitable care facilities, many Australians are struggling to retire.
Opposition legal affairs spokesman George Brandis failed to identify any relevant law that might have been breached, either Australian or US. Liberty Victoria president Spencer Zifcak was “astonished” that a lawyer of presumed competence could have made such remarks. “There is no charge, there is no trial, there is no properly constituted court, and yet the Prime Minister deems it appropriate to say that Mr Assange has committed a criminal offence.”
Within less than a fortnight, the AFP, in concluding its investigation, informed Attorney-General Robert McClelland that “given the documents published to date are classified by the United States, the primary jurisdiction for any further investigation into the matter remains the United States.” After evaluating the material concerned, the federal police had failed to establish “the existence of any criminal offences where Australia would have jurisdiction.”
This week’s National Accounts show the economy growing solidly. But the growth is mainly benefiting businesses, especially mining businesses, while workers’ wages fall further behind. The
Despite what the mainstream press might have you believe, Scott Morrison has no one but himself to blame for his election loss, writes Dr Victoria Fielding.
Murdoch won’t change his whole global business model relies on competing for money due to the imbalance of the distribution of wealth in capitalist societies. They rely on supporting those governments that maintain the system of inequity. There might be some occasional criticism of personalities and strategies but when push comes to shove at election time the world knows who the Murdochs support. Their message is certainly not to inform the electorate or support any notion or ideal of a publicly owned media.
Founder and publisher David Donovan explores the significance of the new Labor Government for Rupert Murdoch’s stranglehold over Australia’s media.
“Nothing to see here,” Conway wrote. “Just a former president of the United States sharing a social media post advocating or predicting civil war in the United States. No biggie.” ( George Conway)
1-11 boxes all to be numbered with your order of preference. Place your choice FIRST and the ASSHOLES LAST. It’s your VOTE AUSTRALIA make it WORTHWHILE!!!!
Government is about making decisions that impact the lives of Australians in a fair, equitable, transparent and compassionate manner. If you are over 18, voting is compulsory in Australia. So when you go to cast your vote this week, consider this: No political party controls your ‘preferences’, you do. Follow the instructions on the ballot papers you are given and you will cast a valid vote. If a Coalition Government is so bad why has Morrison been part of one for almost a decade and do we really want to have three more years of a Government that is more concerned with staying in power than demonstrating accountability and transparency? Maybe that’s one reason why many Australians have lost faith in the political system. What do you think?
With prominent independents creating unusual contests in some seats, voters may be confused about how to allocate preferences. But there is a simple solution
Vote RYAN 1, and the LNP 11, UAP 10. The rest is yours to choose. Vote LNP 6 above the Line in the Senate
Around this time in the 2019 campaign, the confidence that was bubbling throughout the Labor camp burst out into full hubristic glory.
One leading daily posed the ALP team in chiaroscuro, looking one part Sopranos cast, one part corporate raiders. Bristling with purpose, they looked. The new crew. The mean machine. The none-too subtle message: Bill Shorten’s team is ready, ready to rule.
Meanwhile Chris Bowen’s Facebook page featured himself and four sober-suited colleagues in an impersonation of a high-end law firm: himself, deputy leader Tanya Plibersek, a chin-stroking Shorten, Jim Chalmers and Penny Wong.
When the serious quintet’s big play went unstuck, one user commented: ”All dressed up and nowhere to go.”
Contrast all that with Campaign ’22. Yes, Albo has modeled some groovy threads to go with his trimmer physique. But the group photoshoot has gone the way of Shorten’s jibes about the big end of town. No more moody magnificence.
Labor candidates emphasise how rare it is for their party to win from opposition. The years it has happened since the war are cited like bingo numbers: 72, 83, 07. It’s the talk of the poker player holding a straight flush.
Labor expects its proposed national integrity commission will examine alleged misconduct from as far back as 15 years, with both former and current politicians eligible to be investigated under a broad definition of corruption.
Unlike the Coalition, Labor has promised to create an integrity body with retrospective powers, meaning it could examine decisions taken before the commission came into being.
Undecided voters in marginal seats have named Anthony Albanese the clear winner of the third and final leaders’ debate which was a more sedate affair than the previous ‘shouty’ match.
The Final Showdown on Channel 7 on Wednesday night included a ‘pub test’ of 160 voters who scored Mr Albanese 50 per cent and Mr Morrison 34 per cent while 16 per cent remained undecided.
Meanwhile A YouGov poll of 19,000 voters commissioned by The Australian shows the Coalition heading for defeat, with Labor winning 80 seats and the Coalition reduced to 63. Seven seats would go to independents and one to the Greens.
Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has refused to say what his government believes the minimum wage should be, saying it “has not been our practice and that is not our policy”.
Frydenberg, who is in danger of losing his Melbourne seat of Kooyong next Saturday to “teal” independent Monique Ryan, told ABC radio this morning that the government’s strategy was to drive higher wages with a tighter labour market.
Morrison is who he is, and he will be given the sack yet again. But remember, he believes he’s ” been chosen” so the unpredictable still lies ahead within the Liberal Rabble.
One thing is for certain the ALP will be handed a poison chalice, and a decade of mess to clean with the commercial media still barking and chasing the money it feeds off. They still be dancing to the tune of those who have the bulk of it. The ALP will only have a short time to prove themselves and must SAVE THE ABC, et up an integrity commission, and create secure jobs transitioning to clean energy. The must revitalize our global reputation not just their domestic one.
Labor has increased its lead over the Coalition in two new polls as early voting centres open across the country on Monday, two weeks before the federal election. The Australian‘s Newspoll released on Monday shows Labor rising one point to 54-46 per cent on a two-party preferred basis (compared to 53-47 per cent a week before). Support for Labor is at 39 per cent, with the Coalition slipping to 35 per cent.
The second leaders’ debate on the Nine Network last night was full of accusations and acrimony. Amidst the shouting and over-talking coming from both Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese, it was easy for the facts to get lost. You’re probably wondering how close some of the things that were said came to being correct. RMIT ABC Fact Check has you covered.
Scott Corporal Schultz Morrison also said ” I don’t know anything about that”
Scott Morrison and Senator Anne Ruston, who is the Coalition campaign spokesperson, have both stated the $500,000 that will be paid to Rachelle Miller is a for a separate matter other than the ones that were the subject of the Thom Inquiry which means it has to be for the alleged sexual harassment / sexual assault by federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg.
Anthony Albanese has taken on the role of Biden in this Election 2022, allowing the Trumpish Rumplestiltskin Morrison whose been electioneering for these last 3 years to reveal who he really is. Imagine if he was debating Tanya Plibersek or Penny Wong the true Morrison would stand out in greater relief.
Scott Morrison is widely disliked, and his conservative government is divided, incompetent, and mired in corruption. Despite this, the Labor opposition’s platform is one of the most timid and conservative in memory.
When did our Elections become so Presidential, so American. Who turned it into a leadership and media battle?
It is time to ask yourself who you want to wake up with, again. Three years ago, we faced this decision with the disastrous reigns of Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull still fresh in our memories. While our elections are about individual members in individual electorates, the system has gradually become more presidential. The result may be that people vote for the local candidate if they like the leader of his or her party.
As for Labor, there is a powerful team. The likes of Penny Wong, Jim Chalmers, Kristina Keneally, Tanya Plibersek, and the find of the election, Jason Clare are all showing what they can do. It appears impressive.
Where will all this end? Not with two separate nations. What America is going through is less like a civil war and more like Brexit – a lumbering, mutual decision to go separate ways on most things but remain connected on a few big things (such as national defense, monetary policy, and civil and political rights). We’ll still be America. But we’re becoming two versions of America. The open question is analogous to the one faced by every couple that separates — how will we find ways to be civil toward each other?
Albanese then stepped in with a very pointed question of his own. “I’ve got my education spokesperson [Plibersek] here. Who is Scott Morrison’s education spokesman?” Advertisement Ad It is a good question no one can quite seem to answer.
Higgins MP and potential future frontbencher Katie Allen has been forced to execute a monumental backflip after issuing how-to-vote cards preferencing a United Australia Party candidate who has since gone bad. Very bad.
After last week’s ballot draw, Allen’s office reported UAP candidate Ingram Spencer to the federal police for allegedly acting aggressively towards people and “scaring everyone”. Days later, he was arrested for allegedly using a carriage service to harass someone and placed behind bars ahead of a first court hearing later this week.
So imagine the surprise among Higgins’ Liberal members and broader constituents when tens of thousands of them received Liberal how-to-vote cards instructing them to preference Spencer, a QAnon-following Vladimir Putin admirer, ahead of Labor and the Greens.
To get to the point, Labor may be streets ahead in the polls but Scott Morrison is now in his element. His government is a shambles but, with the three major media houses backing him, and the ABC and others truckling to their daily news agendas, Anthony Albanese will have to win this thing, not wait for Morrison to lose it. The propagandists of News Corp will run hard for Morrison. Already, according to their questionable Newspoll, the gap has narrowed sharply. Sure, they want a contest, it sells their propaganda sheets, but given all the subsidies and favours which Rupert Murdoch, Nine Entertainment and Seven have wrung out of the Coalition they will be surely be barracking for the Coalition and bagging Labor till the cows come home.
Morrison’s Circus is banging the freebie drum and playing Grasshopper in an effort to attract a swarm of camp followers to help create an increasing plague. The ALP have in the meantime been planning and beavering away putting together a plan to save SS Australia from sinking from rising debt, inflation, insufficient wages, and robber barons. Oddly enough but unlike Trump and Morrison, they do want Australia to be Great Again.
The Coalition has promised $833 million a day to electorates around the country since the week of the March 29 federal budget as it goes on a spending spree to hold on to power at next month’s election. From large-scale dams that have yet to be judged against a business case, to BMX courses and footpaths in must-win seats, the Coalition has announced $23.3 billion in projects in the four weeks since the budget at an average of eight election sweeteners a day.
Despite racking up huge debts and a structural deficit that will continue for years, the Coalition are still laying claim to being better economic managers, a claim that is debunked by Alan Austin in his article Worst debt blow-out in the developed world refutes Coalition claims of economic competence Having lost the battle to stop marriage equality, persecution of the rainbow community has moved to expelling gay students and stopping trans kids from playing sport. Different target, same bigotry. Oh, and death taxes….again. You have to wonder what the point is of this travelling circus since we’ve seen and heard it all before.
Murdoch won’t change his whole global business model relies on competing for money due to the imbalance of the distribution of wealth in capitalist societies. They rely on supporting those governments that maintain the system of inequity. There might be some occasional criticism of personalities and strategies but when push comes to shove at election time the world knows who the Murdochs support. Their message is certainly not to inform the electorate or support any notion or ideal of a publicly owned media.
olddogthoughts 