It’s been almost two months since the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to stop killing Gazans and destroying their means of subsistence. So let’s look back and ask (1) how Israel has responded to its “orders,” and (2) how hard the Biden administration has pushed Israel to abide by those orders. Spoiler alert: the short answers are (1) not well and (2) not very.
Source: Armed by Washington, Israel Trashes the Genocide Convention – CounterPunch.org
WHILST successive Australian governments have claimed unwavering public support for the alliance with the United States, the undercurrents of concern about it are strong enough to have sparked two public inquiries into attitudes to the alliance in the last year.
Source: Need for alternate foreign policy as U.S-Australia alliance questioned
The point isn’t whether or not the ALP’s proposals are better or worse than the LNPs but rather why has politics driven the ALP to come to an agreement of any sort with the LNP over the Kurri Kurri gas plant? It’s very existense serves no purpose now let alone in the future. If there isn’t a finacial case is there is there a welfare case for an electorate in transition?
The Kurri Kurri gas plant proposal. No financial case, no necessity, a billion-dollar price tag, infrastructure unfit for purpose, a nearby gas plant that does the same job and faces the rising affordability of batteries. Callum Foote reports on why Labor’s proposal may be even worse than the Coalition’s.
The PM’s dishonesty in dealing with the French has left Australia in the invidious position of being a country that can never be trusted again.
Source: Scott Morrison’s subs deal trashed all the rules of ethical procurement
Was the Afghanistan War a failure? Not for the top five defense contractors and their shareholders. Jon Schwarz
It’s fair enough to ask if Morrison has proved he is up to it, whether he has the courage, the ability and the wisdom to continue to see the country through these most testing times. Has the Prime Minister grown into the job? An increasing number of Australians think not. Has the Prime Minister grown into the job? An increasing number of Australians think not.Credit:Dionne Gain If you believe the polls, more and more Australians are nudging towards saying no: he does not. They question whether he has the physical, intellectual or mental ability or even the empathy to lead, to earn trust, build coalitions, forge consensus, or to be something more than a moneybags, a punching bag or a spokesman for the premiers.
Source: Prime Minister Scott Morrison in trouble but could again land on his feet
They’re all talking about the cost of everything. And they haven’t actually talked about the net benefit Carl Thompson
On trade, finance, migration, food standards and more, the UK suffers fresh ignominy on a daily basis
OPINION: Critical Race Theory isn’t the most racist theory of the past 30 years, it isn’t on the wrong side of history and it isn’t a worldwide movement to view all white people as privileged and innately racist, writes Luke Pearson and Natalie Cromb.
Source: OPINION: Critical Race Theory – what it isn’t | NITV
Increased public debt also makes sense when it is used to finance new investment, including investment in education. Particularly at the low rates of interest likely to prevail for the foreseeable future, properly selected public investments will generate more than enough income to service and repay the associated debt, leading to an increase in the net wealth of the public sector.
In summary, public debt isn’t “money for nothing”, but we shouldn’t panic about it.
Source: Public debt isn’t ‘money for nothing’, but we shouldn’t panic about it
In his inability to listen to women, Prime Minister Scott Morrison keeps digging a bigger hole for himself, as evinced by his popularity slide in Newspoll and his latest failure to take a stand against the trolling of women by Coalition MP Andrew Laming. Yet the repeated failures indicate this is not just a matter of a “tin ear” but rather a contempt for women, reports Elizabeth Minter.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison: a “tin ear” or a contempt for women? – Michael West
Could it be that Scott Morrison, the nation’s 30th Prime Minister, is trying his best – but is simply not up to the job? Could it be that he actually, genuinely doesn’t understand the angst and anger, the manipulations and missteps that have him kicking own goals every single time he speaks? Even if that is the case – and politics is taken out of this whole sorry mess – Scott Morrison’s performance over the past six weeks lends support to the view that he doesn’t actually have the leadership capacity to deal with the biggest recent issue to envelop his government. If he ran a company or a school, a charity or a sporting code, he would need to consider his next job.
Madonna King: Scott Morrison just isn’t good at his job
In summary, if Scott Morrison is a prick, how good a prick is he?
Scott Morrison is not a prick
Looking at The man who tried to market a miracle (ODT
Looking back over the last few years, I would sum it up like this:
We have a prime Minister who is not interested in honesty, does not seek the best for the Australian people, and has a single focus which is keeping his party – and himself – in power.
Integrity? MIA.
Transparency? MIA.
Suitability for office? Absolutely none!
Once more – this is my 2020 new Year Resolution:
“I will do everything in my power to enable Australia to be restored to responsible government.”
via The 3 Cs: Collusion, Corruption and the Coalition – » The Australian Independent Media Network
My thought for the day
The ability of thinking human beings to blindly embrace what they are being told in any area of scholarship without referring to evaluation and the consideration of scientific fact, truth and reason, never ceases to amaze me. It is tantamount to the rejection of rationale explanation.( John Lord)
John Haly and Dr Martha Knox-Haly discuss whether President-elect Donald Trump is fascistic or a fascist.
Source: Trump: Fascist or fascistic?
In June last year, the International Monetary Fund’s Strategy, Policy, and Review Department released a paper titled “Causes and Consequences of Income Inequality: A Global Perspective,” where they identify widening income inequality as the defining challenge of our time. Estimates suggest that almost half of the world’s wealth is now owned by just 1 percent…
olddogthoughts 
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