Several tensions run deep in Russian society: Politics are decided by elections without democracy. A growing number of Russian billionaires have outlandish wealth but no political power. And Putin is a populist without the people.
Source: The Putin Regime Is Straining Under Its Own Contradictions
The news media bargaining code is part of the grand tradition of media policy being run in the interests of media proprietors — and with no heed given to the public benefit.
Australian media policy: of the mates, by the mates, for the mates
But Campbell was also, despite a slew of death threats he received from white segregationists, an unofficial chaplain to the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. He denounced and publicly fought the Klan’s racism, acts of terror and violence and marched with Black civil rights protesters in his native Mississippi, but he steadfastly refused to “cancel” white racists out of his life. He refused to demonize them as less than human. He insisted that this form of racism, while evil, was not as insidious as a capitalist system that perpetuated the economic misery and instability that pushed whites into the ranks of violent, racist organizations.
The contradictions of “cancel culture”: Where elite liberalism goes to die | Salon.com
Ever seen a lying POTUS? You can find one in Trumpland a curiosity theme park intended to terrify like Jurassic Park (ODT)
“We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States for 85 years with all of those benefits,” Trump said during an interview with Axios scheduled to air as part of a new HBO series.
via Donald Trump flags end to ‘ridiculous’ citizenship rights
When arguing against the formation of a Federal ICAC, both major parties have used the reasonable proposition that there are already “multiple levels of integrity and assurance in place at the federal level”. Except they don’t seem to work. Take the Securency/Note Printing Australia case. In 1998, two RBA officials made a secret trip to…
This is the best evidence that he’s his own worst enemy.
Source: Watch Donald Trump Contradict Himself on Every Major Campaign Issue | Mother Jones
So Joe Hockey is telling us that we can’t afford to go to war and Tony Abbott is telling us that we can. Joe Hockey is the more persistent of the two, today telling us that Labor needed to pass stalled budget measures to pay for Iraq war.
To Bill Shorten’s credit he asked Tony Abbott whether he backed Joe Hockey’s comments. There was, of course, no response. Tony Abbott would have looked a fool if he had answered the question, and still manages to look like a fool for remaining silent. Perhaps, in future, before he talks about our fiscal position he might want to confer with the Treasurer. Whilst I have no confidence in the Treasurer (or the PM) it would be a big plus if they trumpeted a consistent message. Seriously, do these fools know what they’re doing?
As you can see it’s easy to assume that the Bible might have been talking about these too men with the quote, which I will repeat:
The mouths of fools are their ruin; they trap themselves with their lips.
I am also unable to comprehend why the media in this country hasn’t asked the same simple questions as Bill Shorten. One says we can afford to go to war, while the other says we can’t. And the media swallow each comment without even thinking of saying; “Hang on, the other day the Prime Minister/Treasurer said . . . “.
But can these fools ever be trapped with their lips while the media allows them to flap them about so thoughtlessly?
olddogthoughts 