Big Ears Had To Bow Out From Noddy: The Woke Conspiracy.

‘If you don’t know, vote No!’ This tag line from the recent Voice referendum captures succinctly the political stratagem of the conservative right. Turning ignorance and indifference into celebrated public virtues in a bid to capture the vote of the dominant white cohort. The sustained attack on all things ‘woke’ is part and parcel of this 21C campaign. Identifying examples of woke in workplaces and public life have been vote winners for socially conservative candidates and parties. I remember it began with things like the apparent banning of racially offensive terminology from children’s books. Niggers and gollywogs were the first to get the chop. White folk were upset about the removal and amendments of characters and aspects from much loved stories from their childhoods. Big Ears had to bow out from Noddy: The woke conspiracy. Roald Dahl stories were full of inappropriate and politically incorrect characters and terminology. There was this air of ‘how dare they!’ The majority white view was – can’t these people take a joke. Of course, this is the problem in a nutshell, because unless you are in the shoes of those being racially slurred you have no idea what it feels like.Continue Reading

orange and white plastic toy

A new study has revealed the fact that many Trump Evangelicals are not really Christians in the sense of church going folk. Their evangelical badge is more a cultural identity as white Christian nationalists than a true faith based calling. It is a very American transition that their Evangelical identity is more of a brand thing in the 21C. Many of these folk do not regularly attend church and their understanding of the gospels in the bible seems scant. How else could they match Trump with Jesus if not by blind ignorance about what is written in the gospels. Similarly how could they justify their guns and threatening behaviours if they were truly Christians?Continue Reading

white blue and gray concrete building

There are housing crises happening all over the world. Rents have sky rocketed and property prices are unaffordable for many citizens. Market forces are not meeting the needs of the people. Some operators within the industry are telling us that it is all about a shortage of housing stock. However, houses and property are so expensive now it is no easy thing to just build more houses. Quite simply, the current set up is not working. Providing shelter is a basic prerequisite for governments in their role of looking out for their citizens. The economic settings are making some people wealthy via property ownership and another section of the community poor because of their omission in this regard.Continue Reading

#UNGA President Donald J. Trump

America is the great democratic experiment. Although, this is getting on for some 250 years now. This nation is in the grip of the politics of grievance. Partisan politics in America is more about hating the other side than particularly loving the side you are voting for. Americans have been encouraged to focus their attention upon their grievances via decades of negative campaigning and attack ads. Demonizing ‘the other’ is the favoured political pastime in the 21C. Identity politics and social values are the main game these days. Economic issues are now seen through this ideological filter.Continue Reading

flag of america

The white supremacist Republican Party doesn’t recognise slavery. Hey, that is critical race theory! The warped and distorted truth according to the GOP exists in another dimension entirely from the rest of the world. Nikki Hayley don’t mention the Civil War. The Trumpist GOP marches to the beat of an election denying and coup trying demagogue. A compulsive liar who has spun so many mistruths he is a deflecting destroyer of democracy. The loathsome racist past of America is emerging from the shadows to once again dance on the graves of its many victims. Wilmington, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the decades of lynchings in the South. Memories of the time before!Continue Reading

The Albanese Prime Ministership So Far

Anthony Albanese was an unlikely choice for Australia to elect as PM. During his campaign in 2022 gaffes were front and centre. The press pack descended upon these like hungry wolves in search of blood. If Scott Morrison had not been outed as such a compulsive liar and his Coalition government not soiled in Robodebt and Brittany Higgins’ merde, well, you know the story. Albo waltzed into office on a fresh bouquet of wattle bringing with him the hopes of Aussie progressives. Nearly 10 years of LNP incompetence and corruption had left us short of breath for an optimistic future. The Albanese Prime Ministership so far, however, is losing its shine, it seems.Continue Reading

photo of people campaigning

How can you have a candidate running for office in an election who continually claims that the electoral system has been defrauded? Surely, all candidates must respect the electoral process publicly? If a candidate is undermining the democratic basis of the electoral system it must make him or her unfit to stand. Democratic elections stand against tyranny. America is deficient in its laws governing the character and behaviour of those taking part in presidential elections. Trump has been allowed to go about falsely claiming that he won the 2020 election but was cheated out of office. Numerous enquiries have found no evidence for this. These include investigations paid for by his own legal team. There was no defrauding of the election – it is the big lie!Continue Reading

white house

Listening to some talking heads in the US there seems to be a collective downer across this once great nation. The diminishing American hegemony has quite a few gnashing their teeth and crying ‘poor me’. Of course, the Trump cult has this populist blowhard claiming he can arrest the slide by closing the borders and deporting people. Donald the compulsive liar is hoping to pout his way back into the White House. Americans looking for someone to blame for their less than stellar place in the world is putting their nation on a civil war footing.  Continue Reading

colorful geometrical stained glass window with rood

Yes, it is that time of the year again, Season’s Greetings! Do you know the golden rule of present giving at Xmas? It is an undeniable truth that showering your love and generosity upon others can make you feel mighty good. The power of giving is often sold short in our economically obsessed world view. Economists don’t like ‘giving’ as a concept, it must be said, they find it simply uneconomical. It does not fit in with their strict interpretation of how markets and the world works. Neoliberalism would choke into its empty trickle down effect vessel if too much giving went on in the economy.Continue Reading

america ancient architecture art

Any sane person watching on has concern enough to be worried about Trump’s America. The very fact that this guy is still the leading GOP candidate for the 2024 presidential election is a judgement on the American people. Despots and dictators don’t rise to power without the help of the people. Everybody knows that Donald J Trump is a liar and a cheat. I mean, the guy is compulsive in both these character failings. More concerning is that he has broken the law on numerous occasions and has managed to avoid prosecution or conviction. No one voting for Trump is truly unaware of who is and how he goes about business.Continue Reading