AN organization that champions dissidents must embrace dissent in its ranks. Over the last week, PEN American Center has been criticized by many writers, including some of our members, over our decision to present our PEN/Toni and James C. Goodale Free Expression Courage Award to Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine that was the target of a murderous attack in January. The heated debate proves the relevance of groups devoted to freedom of expression. It also demonstrates that in an open society, well-intentioned people with shared values can interpret and weigh principles differently.

Although censorship has traditionally been the province primarily of governments, attempts to curb speech are likewise undertaken by vigilantes who employ threats and violence. In the last few months we have seen shootings at Charlie Hebdo and at a free-speech event in Copenhagen; the hacking to death of two Bangladeshi atheist bloggers, one of them an American; a death threat against an Australian political cartoonist by jihadists; and the gunning down of a Pakistani social activist.

These audacious attacks aim to terrorize a worldwide audience into silence on subjects that, though sacred to some, affect many others and must not be above debate. While this is hardly the only free-speech issue on PEN’s long agenda of American and global concerns, the spate of homicides gives it particular urgency.

Great satirists — Jonathan Swift, Rabelais, Voltaire, Alexander Pope, Mark Twain, Stanley Kubrick — have all offended and been excoriated for it; Daumier was imprisoned after depicting a grossly overweight king excreting favors. Satire is often vulnerable to being construed as hate speech, especially at first blush. Many contemporary American voices jeer at vulnerabilities as a means of unmasking them — think of Joan Rivers, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Louis C.K., “South Park” or “The Colbert Report.”

Charlie Hebdo’s staff members knew that producing satire aimed at venerated targets was dangerous. Their valor lies in their dauntless fortitude patrolling the outer precincts of free speech. While many question the defense of that far-flung territory because of the bigotry that can lurk there, Charlie Hebdo has guarded it vigilantly, keeping it open for all should a time come when we, too, may need to challenge taboos and risk sacrilege. Without those who stake out the border provinces, we would all be forced to dwell in an ever-shrinking expressive terrain.

read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/02/opinion/why-were-honoring-charlie-hebdo.html?_r=0

From Hobart to Darwin people will today turn out to register their anger at the Barnett government's plans. Amy McQuire reports.

Thousands of Australians are expected to turn up at protests around the country, for the second day of action against the WA Government’s controversial proposal to close down up to 150 remote Aboriginal communities.

The protests are being held in all major capital cities, from Hobart to Darwin, and in a number of regional cities including Albury, Rockhampton, Broome, Moree, Newcastle, Cairns, Geraldton and a number of others.

Late last year, WA Premier Colin Barnett announced his plans to close up to 150 of the state’s 274 remote Aboriginal communities after the federal government signed an agreement with his government handing over responsibility for municipal and essential services.

The plans attracted widespread condemnation following Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s comments that the taxpayer shouldn’t be expected to fund the “lifestyle choices” of Aboriginal people who live on their homelands.

Premier Barnett later claimed that a review into the state’s remote communities was expected to uncover instances of domestic violence and child abuse.

- See more at: https://newmatilda.com/2015/05/01/resistance-closure-remote-aboriginal-communities-continues-protests-around-country#sthash.dfThfIHX.dpuf

Having personally visited remote Aboriginal settlements (WA and NT), I can say with confidence that many of which are dry, no more inclined to abuse than "normal" whitish societies and in general motivated to work — the work mostly restricted to produce masterly paintings where the sense of stylistic interpretation is anchored in a long tradition. 

The sense of culture and belonging is strong and this is what Turdy (Tony Abbott) wants to destroy. Because he could not do it in an obvious manner, he has restricted the budget to aboriginal communities so the Liberal (CONservative) States that are in charge of distributing the cash are unable to provide. Not only they Aboriginal were dispossessed as they fought the "Frontier Wars", now they are robbed of being able to survive on "their land" which of course will be mined and exploited for no return to a new generation of "fringe dwellers" who would have lost their last connection to the land...

Turdy Abbott is a little shit... No actually, he is a big Catholic sewer shit. Everyone in this country should protest loud and clear and stop Turdy in his tracks.

Meanwhile I have been duly informed by the dog of a friend of an enemy of some acquaintance that Joe Hockey will be selling his budget to the Chamber of Commerce of NSW for a modest luncheon fee of about $160.00 for non-members — a few days after he would have bored parliament shitless with it.

One must also remember that Joe had no idea that this Chamber of Commerce of NSW, the headquarters of which are located in his North Sydney electorate, existed. This is possibly why the North Sydney headquarters is doing the lunch for this outfit in the City, 2000.

Note the cartoonist mentioned in the Charlie Award article above is ... Oops sorry. I wont mention him. He is a right-wing pen pusher.

The Federal Government is set to sink $14 billion deeper into deficit next financial year, according to an independent budget analysis.

The Deloitte Access Economics report likened the 2015-16 deficit figure to the work of horror writer Stephen King and Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, who is internationally famous for his tortured artwork The Scream.

Deloitte said the retreat of the Chinese commodity boom could be a "budget bust" for Australia.

It also identified the pressures in Australia's domestic political climate, and the resulting gridlock for the Government in the Senate on a range of significant savings measures.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-04/budget-deficit-figures-likened-to-stephen-king-novel/6441346

Meanwhile as China's economy cools:

The amount borrowed by investors to purchase stocks has quadrupled from a year earlier, fuelled by a recent surge in margin trading, which, in turn, is often funded by China's infamous shadow lending sector.

Investors continue to pile in at an increasing rate. Five million new trading accounts were opened in March. And, just last week, another 3.3 million new share accounts were created; 10 times more than normal.

Many economists and demographers point to the lack of a comprehensive social welfare net in China as a key reason for its people's stereotypical streak of conservatism and a high savings rate.

However, the inverse is also true, and many, especially younger Chinese, are entrepreneurial, willing to take risks, particularly when there is fast money to be made.

Anecdotes run rife of ordinary Chinese investors selling their homes (as the housing market cools) or quitting their jobs to speculate in – or, as it's known colloquially in Mandarin, to "stir-fry" – stocks.

Every significant sharemarket move is reported on the front pages of not just the financial dailies, but often on the more widely read city tabloids.

However, perhaps best encapsulating the sharemarket craze's mass appeal was a photo that went viral on Chinese social media this week of a street vendor selling bananas, engrossed on his laptop with share price graphs clearly visible on the screen. It evoked the famous anecdote of the "roaring twenties" just before the Great Depression hit, where famed US investor Joe Kennedy's shoeshine boy offered him a stock tip: "Buy Hindenburg."

Instead, Kennedy sold all his holdings, thinking: "You know it's time to sell when shoeshine boys give you stock tips. This bull market is over."

However, far from ringing alarm bells, even typically bearish China analysts consider it feasible that the sharemarket will continue its phenomenal run; for the simple reason that the Chinese government wants it to.

read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/share-trading-frenzy-grows-as-chinas-economy-slows-20150503-1myq9r.html

Tension is high across Australia in anticipation of the Abbott Government’s Budget extravaganza, B2 — a vaudeville-cum-variety show, which opens in Canberra next Tuesday. 

The existential angst of aid workers attests to this tension, as ActionAid Australia's Holly Miller confirms:

"The whole of the aid sector is hanging on the edge, waiting nervously for the May budget when it will be revealed exactly which parts of the aid budget will be cut — a bit like a doomsday clock." 

Tellingly, the ABC’s attempts to seek details were evaded.

"The Treasurer isn't engaging in budget speculation."

So much for "consultative government".

Time is not only ticking down for aid workers, however, the clock is also running for our PM and his mate. Hockey is on notice that he will be replaced if he fluffs this budget, Niki Savva says sagely, whilst others believe a dud budget will also terminate Abbott’s flagging career.

Abbott, however, brushes aside the rumours, some people just make stuff up, he says. We will just have to take his word for it.

Will B2 be a hit?  Even if he has to fudge it, Abbott will do anything to save his neck — even contriving to appear fair.  He’s dropped his "debt and deficit disaster" scaremongering. He’s flip-flopped on debt from Labor’s "disaster" of 13 per cent of GDP to now call projected debt of 50 to 60 per cent of GDP as "a pretty good result".

Abbott, the eternal pragmatist, now favours restraint, while Hockey wants to cut further. Little wonder relations appear strained in recent images taken to show palsy collaboration and budget chumming up.

https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/b2-the-bringing-down-the-budget-show,7690

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Meanwhile the Turdy government is planning some sugar coated child-care chimeras, not for this budget but the next one in two years time... Is this a political ploy. YES, it is... 

See toon at top....

Almost 80,000 new mothers will lose some or all of their government parental leave payments in a move slammed by a key consultant for the paid parental leave scheme as "the mother of all insults". 

Treasurer Joe Hockey made the surprise announcement on Mother's Day, as the Abbott government revealed its new childcare package ahead of Tuesday's budget.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/almost-50-per-cent-of-mums-to-lose-government-paid-parental-leave-entitlements-20150510-ggy8xq.html