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Trump Illegally Collected Some $170 Billion In Tariffs

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The US Supreme Court has struck down the Trump IEEMA tariffs on the grounds of unconstitutionality. SCOTUS has ruled that only Congress has the authority to set these types of tariffs. President Trump illegally collected some $170 billion in tariffs over the period in question. This money will have to be repaid and that creates a whole host of new challenges. This dysfunctional government continues to go from bad to worse. In reality, tariffs act as a consumption tax, as prices rise to cover the added impost of the tariff. The American people have been taxed by the Trump regime via these illegal and unconstitutional tariffs. My guess is that ordinary folk will not see a dime from this crooked administration.Continue Reading

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Albanese Is In Appeasement Mode

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In politics you are either moving forward or trending downward. PM Anthony Albanese, the surprise success story of the last few years, has seemingly stopped reaching for progressive momentum. His Labor government has the largest federal parliamentary advantage in Australian history. Indications are that his government is more about defending the status quo than actively making things better downunder. The trouble with thinking that you are representing more people is that you get into appeasement mode. Governments and their politicians begin to make their priority staying in the job rather than pushing for change. Albanese is in appeasement mode, it seems.Continue Reading

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Freedom Of Information Really Matters

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

In Australia, as in most places, we do not have direct democracy, rather we have elected representatives within political parties doing the job of governing, supposedly, on our behalf.  Freedom of Information (FOI) is an important conduit into that rarified air where the power is brokered. The Albanese government seeks to make that access harder and more expensive for us to really find out what is going on at the big table. Freedom of Information really matters. It behoves disbelief that the first thing this Labor federal government does, after achieving its largest majority in the parliament, is to reduce transparency on the pretext of lessening the workload for public servants.Continue Reading

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The Political Party Peddling Anti-Immigration Poison

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

The political party peddling anti-immigration poison is the same party that promotes deregulation wherever possible. The LNP Coalition, who governed Australia federally for a decade, prior to the Albanese government, let in the same number of immigrants as Labor when you adjust for the Covid bumps to the figures. This right wing beat up over immigration is another misdirected blame game strategy. The actual reasons why so many working Australians are struggling economically and why we have a  housing crisis are not because of high immigration. It is a confluence of economic policies, initiated originally by LNP governments.Continue Reading

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NACC Commissioner Brereton Must Go

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In: democracy, featured, Government, latest post, politics

Australians waited way too long for a National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC). The fact that it is failing in its intended reason for being is a disgrace. NACC Commissioner Brereton must go, as it is no longer tenable for him to stay in the job following his compromised performance. Robodebt hangs over the NACC like the shameful episode in Australian government history it is. Never have the Australian people been so betrayed by a federal government and its administrative bodies. It is topical too because this automated f*** up bears the hallmarks of AI – the much heralded artificial intelligence.Continue Reading

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Four Corners Exposes $50 Billion ATO Losses

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ABC investigative reporters at work, as Four Corners exposes $50 billion ATO losses. The old joke about feeling like a mushroom, kept in the dark and fed on shit, comes to mind when considering what really goes in the halls of power. Macro corruption is the term used to describe the situation in Australia, where the amounts are very large when dirty deeds are done downunder. Scamming millions of dollars from the tax office via bogus GST claims would be an unlikely occurrence one would think. I mean, the ATO is a pillar of our whole national edifice, so it must be bristling with top line security, right? Wrong, it is a $50 billion black hole bad joke on that score.Continue Reading

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National Space Council Meeting (NHQ201806180002)

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In: corruption, democracy, economics, featured, Government, history, identity, latest post, morality, politics

This land of billionaires and oligarchs who boast of enormous fortunes but still pay little tax. Where the rich grow richer and under Donald Trump slash any semblance of the welfare state. A nation where members of Congress stay in power well into extreme old age. Are Americans the most selfish folk on earth? The idea of community seems an alien concept and maybe they confuse it with communism? They idolise the wealthy and the largely fraudulent narrative of the self-made man. A nation of immigrants who now attack the most recent waves of immigrants, as bad people deserving of detainment deportation.Continue Reading

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person with smartphone standing in projection of zeros and ones

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In: corruption, democracy, economics, featured, Government, history, identity, latest post, media, mind, morality, politics, truth

We created a model of our lives. The model was called a computer. Lots of us thought this was really cool. Everyone got a computer if they could and lots of cool stuff was generated. The Internet, world wide web, and social media. More and more human activity was transferred to the digital realm. We became more dependent upon computers and the digital world. The computer transformed into a smart phone, which could do a bunch of cool stuff. Human behavior has been modified with generations of digital natives knowing little else. Now, AI is here and taking over much more of our lives. The digital world taking over the real world is actually happening.Continue Reading

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Post Office Postbox

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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

The Albanese Prime Ministership So Far

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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