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circus themed birthday

You know, watching the Donald Trump circus in America is pretty amazing. What did a commentator say recently, ‘hire a bunch of clowns and you get a circus,’ It is like someone has gone around and purposely brought together the dumbest bunch of people to run the country. It is the complete reversal of centuries of collective intention to attract the best experts in their fields for this national purpose. Now, you have law breakers serving as Attorney General and DOJ officials. Trade and treasury departments devoid of economists. Health department heads who know nothing about public health.  It is the biggest shit show ever assembled in Washington DC and Trump is never off camera for longer than it takes to take a crap.Continue Reading

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A lot of Australian politicians have a problem because Trump’s America has gone batshit crazy. Why is this a particular problem for them? Basically because they and their parties have been following the American lead for decades. Pissweak Aussie pollies have been following in the shadow of big brother for the longest time. Not having to really think for themselves or come up with anything original has attracted a certain kind of Australian to their ranks. This applies to both sides but the Libs and Nats in particular have been drinking deeply from that stars and stripes cup for many years. Australian politicians bereft of inspiration now.Continue Reading

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crop person showing mobile phone in park

Maybe you just don’t have the time or the inclination. Everything is available as a video or podcast anyway, you reason. Are you too dumb to read? Or just too lazy? Consuming information via videos also means, in the main, that you have no reference for the source material underpinning what is claimed by the speakers in the video. Most YouTube videos do not include this reference material. This is just another way we are all being dumbed down by the convenience of technology. It is one of the reasons why we are having to deal with Donald Trump because dumb Americans voted him back in despite the plethora of evidence against him.Continue Reading

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white and black typewriter on green grass

The true story behind the Trump tariffs will blow your mind. You may or may not know that the key economic advisor behind the tariffs is one Peter Navarro. Donald Trump originally came across Navarro thanks to son in law Jared Kushner. Apparently, he did an Amazon search for books on economics and found one with the catchy title – The Coming China Wars by Peter Navarro. In that book Navarro references repeatedly an economist named Ron Varo to bolster his economic theories about the effectiveness of tariffs. It turns out that Ron Varo does not actually exist and is an anagram of Navarro’s own name. The dishonesty of these right wing extremists around Donald Trump is gobsmacking.Continue Reading

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flag of america

In the wake of Trump 2.0 and the growing realisation that America is completely on the wrong track or, indeed, coming off the rails, do we need to de-Americanise Australia? Take a moment to consider how far down this Americanised route Australia has already travelled. In this Neoliberal Era, in which we live, it is big business running the show and Corporate Australia has imported most of their ideas and ways of doing things from the Yanks. Over decades, we have brought in American CEOs and many of our home grown business leaders have done their MBs at US higher learning institutions. Things like outsourcing jobs overseas to reduce labour costs and the rise of private equity investment are all American initiatives. Australian big business is very US orientated in the ways it goes about things.Continue Reading

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Political puppet master png sticker

Imagine electing a President capable of turning the world against you in record time. Trump making America hated globally. Have you ever had a relationship with someone who turned out to be the most selfish person you have known? Someone who may have started out promising you a shopping list of goodies but ended up costing you big time? I think many of us have met such individuals in out time. Donald J Trump is that man for the United States of America. Former friends and allies are having to make other plans, stung by his callous disregard for them.Continue Reading

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President Trump Calls Astronauts During First All-Woman Spacewalk (NHQ201910180018)

James Paterson reckons associating Peter Dutton with Donald Trump is a desperate smear. Well, there are differences, decidedly, Donald Trump has more hair for instance. It is true, however, that both men have cosied up to Benjamin Netanyahu on junket tours to Israel. Both right wing leaders do not appreciate the plight of Palestinians if their behaviours and statements are anything to go by. Bashing any protest against the genocide of women, children and men in Gaza, with the ‘antisemitism’ accusation.  The divisive Dutton has repeatedly called for the power for politicians like himself to deport dual citizens. In America, Trump is having masked, plain clothed police grabbing academics from campuses and disappearing them. These professors and Fulbright scholars who are legally working in the US and have broken no laws have been taken and locked up. The only thing they did was write a pro-Palestinian essay in an academic journal. This is the behaviour of a fascist dictatorship.Continue Reading

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Flag Israel illustration vector

Under the cover of immigration enforcement masked, plain clothed, police are grabbing people off the streets in America. The Trump regime are illegally disappearing academics who have spoken out about the genocide in Gaza. This is the fascist dictatorship we have all been warned about and it is happening now, as you read this. These nefarious operations have been filmed by passers by and are chilling to watch. The evil that is Trump and his right wing extremist regime is under way. These academics are legally in the US on working visas and have committed no crimes. Is this the death of academic freedom?Continue Reading

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Laocoon and the Trojan Horse

I don’t know if you have ever heard of the Trojan Horse? This is a device contained within the ancient story known as The Iliad. Whether it actually existed is debatable but it has become a popular symbolic metaphor down through the ages. Basically, it was a very large, hand constructed, wooden horse like tower. The story goes that the invading Greeks built it, hopped inside, and had it moved in front of the gates to the city of Troy. Eventually, the Trojans were intrigued enough to move it inside their city gates and later that night the Greeks snuck out and opened the gates for their army – final outcome the fall of Troy. Why someone would want a bloody big wooden horse structure, I don’t know. There are reasons given that the Trojans thought that it might be a gift from the gods. ‘Beware of Greeks bearing gifts’ – is one of many sayings to emerge subsequent to the reading of this chapter of The Iliad. What is today’s Trojan Horse?Continue Reading

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Football Record - AFL Women's (AFLW) Competition, Feb-Apr 2020

The truth about AFL football these days is that nobody plays on each other. If you look around the ground during a game, you will see 36 players standing off from one another. Sure, the full forward and full back may be nearer to each other than most, but nobody is wearing the other, like in the old days. The modern footy game is a high possession, low contest affair that sees the ball move quickly up and down the ground. This higher scoring style of play is by design. Rule changes by those in charge of the AFL have reduced the defensive nature of the game.Continue Reading