ray et al.

Democracy is simple: one person — one vote…

Then it becomes complicated. Who to vote for? Have we been influenced by various idiots to vote for a particular idiot? Do we toss a coin? Do we really know what we’re doing? Do THEY know what the’re doing? Is the price of fish slightly sarcastic? Should we beat the hell out of politicians like in the pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, to make sure they work for us, not for them? 

plumbers

eviction...

universe

gary johns

Civil Voices, an initiative by Pro Bono Australia and the Human Rights Law Centre, has found civil society organisations are feeling pressured to take a more cautious approach to advocacy in order to sustain and protect their other functions and services.

The research, carried out by academics at the University of Melbourne and launched on Tuesday, set out to examine how public debate and advocacy has evolved over a decade and whether NGO perceptions of their capacity to participate in public debate has changed. 

covid

Coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) has spread across the world. As of 4 July 2021, more than 183 million confirmed cases of covid-19 have been recorded worldwide, and more than 3.97 million deaths have been reported by the World Health Organization .1 

subs

Almost 10 years ago to the day, on June 10, 2011, under the headline “Not a single submarine seaworthy”, Cameron Stewart reported: “For the first time in a generation, Australia does not have a single submarine available to defend the nation today.

king

Rupert Murdoch’s role in a secret project jointly financed by the US government and wealthy backers in the private sector to influence public opinion demands the attention of Australian lawmakers. 

Rupert Murdoch’s rise to become the most powerful media proprietor in history was not by chance, according to documents released during the 1987 Iran-Contra hearings in Washington. 

His media assets were critical to the Reagan administration’s ‘public perception’ program aimed at winning support for an aggressive policy of ‘regime change’ in Central America.

doctor, doctor

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has returned to making specific vaccine target pledges, telling media outlets this morning that he expects everyone who wants a COVID-19 jab to be vaccinated by Christmas, with lockdowns to become “a thing of the past”.

war

Last week, the Senate Armed Services Committee passed a provision, to be included in the National Defense Authorization Act, that would require women to register with Selective Service, that is, the military draft. This is a grave mistake, but not a surprising one.

by Shaun Rieley

mittbiden

capitol

When It Stops Being A Laughing Matter

As the January 6 prosecutions begin and the hunt is on for alleged "domestic extremists," the politicization of law enforcement continues to accelerate.

He called himself a QAnon Tier I Ranger SEAL Operator, and had the 17 tabs down one sleeve to prove it. “In a situation like this, Embed, you stick to me and I’ll get you home, brother. Unless the GPS gets us lost again.”

cellist

We are precisely advised by the AZ vaccination bodies that a first jab could protect you from catching Covid-19 with a 30 per cent efficiency, that a second jab eight weeks later will protect you with 60 per cent efficiency and that should you get your second jab 12 weeks later your protection will be 80 per cent efficient. Drumroll, please.