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America Matters book cover Robert Sudha Hamilton

Historians have to be interested in truth. The facts matter to those endeavouring to decipher things that have happened. Historians, then, tell us stories about the things that occurred and what were the motivating forces likely to have inspired them. It is an inexact science, as much of life and the accounts of its people often are. Historians might scour the media for the reporting and op-eds, which appeared at the time, to shed light on the matters being examined. If the time frame is fairly recent, they may well interview first hand sources – those who witnessed directly the events in question. Primary sources are the gold for any historical account worth its weight and wishing to be counted as factual.Continue Reading

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person holding debit card

Welcome to Neoliberalism. Bienvenida. Here in downtown Neoliberalis there is a new kind of freedom. You are free to pay for everything. User pays, you see. There are no evil socialist  institutions, none left anyway. No universal healthcare. No social security, no welfare from the government. Indeed, we are doing away with the whole concept of government. Business can do it better. Business can do it cheaper and much more efficiently. Then, we don’t need public servants, do we? Non, monsieur. Only honest, salt of the earth billionaires to run the show. Welcome to Neoliberalism: Be free to pay forever.Continue Reading

close up of solar panels on a roof of a house

Professor Martin Green and his team from UNSW developed Passive Emitter & Rear Cell (PERC) technology, which graces the billions of solar panels transforming the energy grids around the world. Australian science paved the way for the solar revolution. A solar revolution has been happening globally and it is only going to get even bigger. Despite this Peter Dutton has nothing good to say about solar power in Australia. New Corp, who owns much of the media in this country, likewise, rarely, if ever, has anything positive or even balanced to say about solar and renewable energy in Australia. This strikes me as unAustralian. I wonder why the LNP Coalition and Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers and networks are in lockstep over deriding free energy from the sun? Could it be ideological? Indeed, could it, also, be about propping up the fossil fuel sector, and all those multinationals? Those campaign donors and mates in the neoliberal boys club, which likes to think it runs Australia?Continue Reading

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Bite and Smile book cover

Do you know why humanity has so much trouble with its teeth and gums? It is a sweet betrayal that has engendered centuries of pain. Take a moment to feel the sharpest strike of the exposed nerve of a dying tooth inside your mouth. Tooth ache is such an inadequate term for this throbbing agony. You cannot even bloody eat; it has stripped that basic pleasure away. A drink of water can bring on waves of pain that last for too f****** long. We all have to bite and smile in the face of the sugar conspiracy.Continue Reading

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red framed eyeglasses on newspapers

I do not want Australian tax revenue to prop up News Corp. The Albanese government’s plan to incentivise Meta, Google, Apple, Tik Tok and other big tech platforms and corporations to fund the Australian media sector is, as it stands, a bad idea. Do Not Prop Up News Corp, Please.Continue Reading

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Post Office Postbox

Many folk have been following the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry and many more have watched the Mister Bates vs The Post Office drama screened on TV. It is an emotive set of circumstances and an injustice on a grand scale. It, also, presages future issues with AI taking over the lives of workers and people, more generally. Computer trouble on the Horizon: Post Office scandal. It rang true for me and captured my interest as soon as it was brought to my attention. Possibly because I grew up in a small family business with a sub branch of the Post Office contained within it.Continue Reading

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Stoicism: above, suicide Seneca; middle

I could begin with a brief history lesson about Stoicism but this is not the essence of it. Being Stoic: What is it? Doing stuff you don’t want to do but know that you have to do anyway. The expression ‘soldiering on,’ invariably comes to mind, as soldiers have to do a lot of shitty things they really would rather not. Duty is a big one for Stoics. Virtue, even, more so. WTF is virtue anyway? It is a word, which has not stood the test of time. It exists as an anachronism, a term draped in cobwebs and an echo from the ancient world. This is old stuff and does it truly having any bearing on our lives today?Continue Reading

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man in blue denim vest and black cap sitting on brown wooden chair

Democrats in America are scratching their heads over Trump’s victory in the recent presidential election. Soul searching is going on, as to how they lost this contest. Democratic elections are popularity contests. They are part evaluations, part bribery, and mirrors held up to societies. Op eds are being written about the role of working class America in the outcome. Chasing this vote is problematic in my view. Why appealing to white working class folk is a race to the bottom? Demagogues, like Donald Trump, falsely court this vote and pretend to champion their grievances. Trump did not deliver for them the first time around and will not again. It is a cynical game and losers always lose out in the end.Continue Reading

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usa flag waving on white metal pole

The pundits say you should always back the horse called ‘self-interest’ in any race. Donald Trump franked this adage once again in the US Presidential contest over Kamala Harris. A convicted felon who mishandled a global pandemic appallingly, when he was last President, Donald Trump was re-elected to the White House. Trump had plenty to lose if he lost, in terms of numerous upcoming criminal trials and the very real prospect of going to jail. ‘The man was motivated,’ as they say on the street. Self-interest is trending in America. The Trump campaign stitched up every deal and sold every favour they possibly could. Elon Musk was literally jumping up and down for Trump.Continue Reading

President Trump Postlaunch Remarks (NHQ202005300037)

A majority of Americans have chosen Donald Trump, a known liar and convicted criminal to be their president. In a two candidate race they have chosen a ridiculous scumbag over having a capable woman to lead their nation. Make no mistake, America chooses a crook for President. What this tells the world is that the laws of the land and morality do not matter to most Americans. In the wake of all the crap that Trump spews forth daily and its divisive consequences more Americans have chosen this rather than a fresh start. This is a warning to the world about where the United States is heading and fast.Continue Reading