What a pack of clowns they are. What a bunch of jumped-up nongs they must have been. The Liberal Party back-room apparatchiks now parading before the Independent Commission Against Corruption are revealed, at last, in all their infantile stupidity.

from Politicoz …..

In the age of Twitter, a 700-page book about wealth distribution is an odd pathway to celebrity.

from Politicoz …..

ICAC explodes on NSW Liberals …..

from Crikey ….

It's hard to recall a pre-budget process in which a government's messages have been more confused than this one.

from john passant …..

Ruling classes around the world have their national myths. These attempt to tie working people to the capitalist class through the false idea of nationhood – a recent historical development.

The Guardian has judged him as ‘’politically incorrect to the point of dementia’’

from Crikey …..

In Tasmania, even crooks like Gay can run a business

I'm confused. A few weeks ago we were told in the West that people occupying government buildings in Ukraine was a very good thing. These people, we were told by our political leaders and elite media commentators, were 'pro-democracy protestors'.

When Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas decided to defy the United States and Israel over stalled peace negotiations, he formally indicated to the United Nations last week that Palestine will join 15 international conventions relating mostly to the protection of human rights and treaties governing conflicts and prisoners of war.

“Moreover, Russia has pointed to America’s decision to go into Iraq as an example of Western hypocrisy. … But even in Iraq, America sought to work within the international system. We did not claim or annex Iraq’s territory. We did not grab its resources for our own gain. Instead, we ended our war and left Iraq to its people and a fully sovereign Iraqi state that could make decisions about its own future.”

introducing George Venturini …..

“One of the most horrible features of war is that all the war-propaganda, all the screaming & lies & hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.”

George Orwell