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The RBA Funded Right Wing Think Tanks For Decades

We hear a lot about the independence of our central bank, but not so much of their political bias. The RBA funded right wing think tanks for decades. These are the intellectual influencers dedicated to promulgating neoliberalism and anti-unionism downunder. If you want to know why the gap between rich and poor has widened so immensely in Australia look no further than  these institutions and their influence upon the Aussie economy over the last 30 years.Continue Reading

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A World Chock Full Of Corporate Concentration

For many decades, America has been the cultural Capitol of the world. The super power led the way via popular culture – movies, music and celebrities pumped out an influential message across the globe. Corporations quickly cashed in and expanded the merchandising opportunities. Now, we live in a world chock full of corporate concentration. Just 5 companies control more than 90% of the major media platforms in the United States. That means that a few individuals are holding the reins of power when it comes to what we watch on screens. Most folk spend more than 10 hours per day watching screens.Continue Reading

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Is It OK For Private Individuals To Accumulate Billions?

The rise of the billionaire class presents our societies with new challenging questions. Is it OK for private individuals to accumulate billions? Everyday people may think to themselves, I want to be able to accrue as much wealth as I can through my life, unhindered by governments. Unfortunately, the unfetteredContinue Reading

The Legacy Of Slavery

British and American plantation owners imported millions of Africans into the colonies as slave labour. That is a fact. The legacy of slavery. American Independence saw, in time, many northern states abolish slavery in their territories. Eventually, the Civil War 1861-66 was fought over the issue of slavery and the north won militarily. The result left 6 million African Americans in the United States who had been previously enslaved. The vast majority of these people were in the south. An assassin murdered President Abraham Lincoln while he was at the theatre. There had been much debate over what to do with all these former slaves. White folk in the north, whilst despising the institution of slavery in their nation, were not real keen on having all these black folk in their midst either. Being anti-slavery did not necessarily equate with not being a racist.Continue Reading

Why Are Americans So Stupid?

Why would working class Americans vote for a political party that has done nothing for them over the last 44 years? Why are Americans so stupid? The Republican party, the GOP, has been feathering the nests of the wealthy, billionaires and oligarchs, since Ronald Reagan was president. Look at the facts and the reduction in wealth of the middle class over this period. The majority of Americans have been going backward economically, whilst the super-rich have been rolling in clover on steroids. How can a population of adults be gulled time and time again by lies and empty promises? Now, they have reached the nadir of conmen and grifters in Donald J Trump.Continue Reading

Dutton Was The Most Unpopular Lib Leader Ever

A survey was released recently, which indicated that Peter Dutton was the most unpopular Lib leader ever. The results of the last federal election told us that pretty darn clearly, anyway. Australia was forced to stick with Albo, after the insane energy policies put forward by the Coalition under the auspices of Dutton’s leadership. Nuclear power, which would take hundreds of billions of dollars and decades to ever come to fruition. Plus, it would never complement renewable energy by the very nature of the way it works. You cannot just switch on and off nuclear power stations when you need them – they don’t operate like that. This batshit crazy idea of Dutton’s sunk his and the LNP’s credibility when it cane to energy and the economy.Continue Reading

Albo The Zombie Neoliberal PM

Anthony Albanese and his Labor government have not addressed the housing crisis. Too afraid to offend anyone; they are hoping to shift the neoliberal economic levers to relieve the situation. Hoping to increase housing stock and have supply reduce the high price of demand. This is not working, however, as there are too many roadblocks in the way in Australia. Not enough tradies to build the needed homes and recalcitrant councils holding up planning and building approvals are just some of the intransigent problems. How many years are poor renters going to have to suffer exorbitant rents on homes? Meanwhile, the price of residential property in Australian cities continues to surge. Albo the zombie neoliberal PM.Continue Reading

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3 Important Reasons Why Reading Can Save Your Brain Health

A lot of us are using machines to do stuff for us, these days. We have been encouraged to think that hacks are smart strategies in life. The truth is rather different, when it comes to neglecting your own brain in favour of technology. Use it or lose it! Our brain functions do not improve with neglect. Reading and writing are the two things that set us apart from all other animals on planet earth. Language is our innate superpower and if we outsource the processing of it to machines and AI, we will be the mentally poorer for it. Here are 3 important reasons why reading can save your brain health.Continue Reading

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Americanisation

You know, I see quite a few of these YouTube videos where Americans compare stuff to what happens in Australia. It is not these that peak my interest, but rather that the global Americanisation is so ubiquitous. Everything about modern life is largely the same in the western world. Have a think about the computer age and where that originated. The internet and social media are American inventions. Smart phones are a big part of this and they too are a US innovation. Beyond this, to more prosaic trends and think about working out, bigger muscles and tattoos. These too, are American cultural shifts, which occurred over the last couple of decades.Continue Reading

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Truth Social & Donald Trump

Authoritarians and their regimes like to spell shit out for their subjects. Some of you older folk may remember that the USSR had a news organisation/newspaper called Pravda. This was the official platform of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Pravda meant truth and many of us in the west used to roll our eyes at what passed for truth and facts over there. Now, we have Truth Social and Donald Trump in America. The parallels are pretty frightening in this post-truth world. The thing is that people are getting dumber and that naming something like this is enough for the unquestioning among us. Irony is a rare commodity in the United States in the 21C, perhaps more so than these rare earths the Donald goes on about so often.Continue Reading