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The Danger Of Land Ownership

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In: economics, featured, Government, history, latest post, media, politics, power

Land property has become majorly expensive in Australia. The housing shortage crisis has impacted upon prices and land values across the board. Until very recently, property investment in Australia was a rolled gold investment and this has contributed to the sustained growth in prices over many years. The great Australian dream has been narrated around owning your own home and for many this has seemed unaffordable on the basis of the high prices for land and housing. Alan Kohler has shown us that home ownership now demands up to x13 years of average annual incomes in places like Sydney. The danger of land ownership is not only economic, however.Continue Reading

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Digital Imperialism: The New Colonialism

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In: economics, featured, Government, latest post, politics, power, truth

Have you been getting the message that machines do it better? That AI is smarter than you? Have you been replaced at work by some sort of artificial intelligence program? Digital imperialism: The new colonialism is here. Now, you get to experience what plenty of Indigenous peoples have had to deal with over the journey. The clear and present inference that you are not good enough and too dumb to matter. Your culture thrown on the scrapheap of progress and advancement. This time, however, it is humanity per se copping it in the neck via a form of Social Darwinism. Only a small group of investors matter, those who are shareholders in the Big Tech companies overlording the rest of us.Continue Reading

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Pauline Hanson

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In: democracy, featured, Government, identity, latest post, media, politics, power, social media, truth

These are the things that Pauline Hanson said at her National Press Club speech recently.

Australian workers are lazy! Always on their phones rather than working. No more pay rises for them under One Nation. No paid parental leave for any workers, either.

51.5% of the Australian population were either not born here or their parents weren’t. Despite this, Pauline Hanson wants an end to multiculturalism and a return to a white, Anglo-monoculture. Talk about pipe dreams in a population of 28 million Australians. This is neither feasible or realistic. In line with this, Hanson wants an end to SBS and the ABC, as government funded entities. The white supremacist racist wants to cancel any media in opposition to her reactionary agenda. A vote for One Nation means her way or the highway.Continue Reading

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Australia Needs To Ensure Its Sovereignty

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In: economics, featured, Government, latest post, politics, power

The European Union and Canada are both reducing their reliance on US financial systems like the Visa and Mastercard credit card sector. This has controlled upward of 90% of their digital payment arrangements and the realisation has sunk in just how vulnerable they could be to having the plug pulled on this. Obviously these moves are in reaction to President Donald Trump and his regime’s threatening stance on everything from tariffs to NATO. Australia is in the same boat on this score and is it time to take control of our own digital money sector. In Brazil they have PIX which is a feeless digital payment system not dependent upon American multinationals. Australia needs to ensure its sovereignty around its financial sector and stop being so dependent upon American corporations.Continue Reading

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Break Up These Big Companies & Bust Their Monopolies

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In: corruption, democracy, economics, featured, Government, latest post, politics, power

We need to break up these big companies and bust their monopolies and oligopolies. Capitalism only works effectively for all when there is real competition in the marketplaces. Right now, this doesn’t exist in Australia and in most countries around the globe. There are too many sectors where only 2 or 3 corporations control markets. This prevents consumers having buying power and employees having any wage bargaining power. The chips are all in the corner of the bosses and the shareholders. Think about Coles and Woolworths dominating the supermarket and the liquor sectors. Think about the 4 big banks and the 4 big accountancy consulting firms. The insurance business is, likewise, dominated by a small number of giant companies. The telco business is Telstra, Optus and not much else. Big Tech is even worse, with most of them holding monopolies. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta and their ilk control their markets monopolistically. Consumers are screwed when multinationals have such domination over markets and sectors. Capitalism does not work when competition does not exist.Continue Reading

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Albanese Backs Gas Industry Over Ordinary Australians

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In: corruption, democracy, economics, featured, Government, latest post, politics, power

Labor is in the pocket of the Gas Giants, obviously, why else would they rather kick off 160, 000 disabled Australians from the NDIS than properly tax the gas industry to improve the budget bottom line. The facts are that the LNG export sector is worth tens of billions of dollars annually but the majority of the companies involved have not paid corporate tax for years and years. Most of the gas is sold royalty free and the PRRT fails to derive tax from LNG sales, according to the current rules in place. The whole thing is a scam. Why do our governments  support this ripping off of the Australian people in favour of foreign multinational companies? It is a combination of politics over good policy, revolving door corruption and stupidity. Albanese backs gas industry over ordinary Australians.Continue Reading

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American Lies Ruining Lives

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In: corruption, democracy, economics, featured, Government, latest post, media, politics, power

We live in a time of technological wonders. Technology, however, is not something just of itself, rather it comes loaded with revenue making deals for the vehicles that promote it. Think about the great choice of digital entertainment now available through all these streaming services. In the old days, we only had free to air TV offering limited content via broadcasting networks. Televised ads paid for these networks and programmes. Cable TV changed that and consumers paid a subscription fee and watched content ad free. Now, we get to pay those subscription fees and watch ads as well – how great is that! This is the progress running through Big Tech operations these days. The bean counters and CEOs are demanding ever greater ROIs to boost the share price. We were all promised better futures from these technological advances but instead we are saddled with higher fees and charges making our lives unaffordable. In reality, we have less now and are asked to pay more. American lies ruining lives, as ruthless business models exploit the citizenry.Continue Reading

One Nation Has Sung The Praises Of Donald Trump

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In: corruption, democracy, featured, Government, latest post, media, politics, power

I observed an older white woman proselytising about One Nation to another woman of her vintage at the local shopping centre the other day. I did not listen closely enough to pick up on the details of the diatribe. It got me thinking about this spread of disinformation being funded by billionaire sponsor Gina Rinehart and those of her ilk. Pauline Hanson, the leader of One Nation has sung the praises of Donald Trump and visited Mara Lago, quite recently. Pauline has, for all her time in parliament, rarely been in government. She has been a fringe player and outsider looking on. There are parallels here with the administration of President Donald Trump, in that nearly all of his cabinet are similarly inexperienced outsiders.Continue Reading

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Humanity Is Not Primarily Interested In Truth Or Factuality

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In: corruption, democracy, featured, Government, history, latest post, media, politics, power, Reading, religion, truth

There are rare exceptions, of course. Humanity is not primarily interested in truth or factuality. How do I know this? The evidence is there for all to see. Most of us prefer to read fiction over non-fiction. It is the same for viewing video/film, with documentaries trailing far behind made up stuff in popularity. In truth, what we call biography/memoir is largely fiction as well. Escapism is what most of us seek from our reading and watching stuff on screens. Many would say to this, I live in the real world and don’t need to be inundated with it in my free time. I hear you. The global success of the Harry Potter books and movies are a testament to this fact. The Christian bible purports to be the biggest seller in the printed books category but, again, I can tell you, as someone who has studied it academically, it is mostly fictional in content. This is why it has been popular, with content including unsubstantiated miracles and historical exaggerations and inventions. Telling a good story was the most important factor for historians and those selling religion in ancient times.Continue Reading

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AUKUS Means Albanese Has To Support Trump’s America

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In: corruption, democracy, featured, Government, latest post, politics, power, security

Australians who are looking for independent leadership in geopolitical matters will be sorely disappointed. AUKUS means Albanese has to support Trump’s America. Illegal attacks on Venezuela and, now Iran by the United States military have all received the green light of approval by the Albanese government. Australia as a vassal state of the US is well under way via the $368 billion AUKUS program dangling as carrot for this Aussie rabbit. Hey, we get to pay for the privilege of ceding our bases to the US and observing our own sovereignty as an illusion. When push comes to shove the little Aussie has to back the big bad Americans or we won’t get any boats.Continue Reading