What does the prime minister stand for, and when will we find out about it?

The JIT report into the downing of MH17 in the Ukraine is no more than a sorry charade of an investigation. The victims and their families surely deserve better, writes James O'Neill.

Australia now has its worst unemployment figures since 1942. Contrary to the
official (read bogus) government figures of 6%, our real unemployment rate is 11% and rising. Compounding this, a staggering 19% of the workforce is either unemployed or underemployed. (Roy Morgan, 2016).

On Friday 30 September, on the eve of two football finals, the start of school holidays and a long weekend that would concentrate the attention of a large portion of the Australian population, an event took place relevant to the standard of living of all Australians.

In the wise words of Groucho Marx: “He may look like an idiot & talk like an idiot, but don’t let that fool you. He really is an idiot.”

from Crikey ...

Set aside two minutes to read this and watch a 20 minute video. It will truly astonish you, no matter how cynical you may be when it comes to the so-called ‘war on terror’, Iraq, Syria and many other conflicts around the world.

“Russia suspected of election scheme. U.S. probes plan to sow voter distrust.”

In December 2013, Joe Hockey declared on the 7:30 report, “There’s no free lunches from government.  The days of just handing out cash and helicoptering money out is just not possible.”

What part have newspapers played in the demise of our democracy? There was a time in my life when to miss reading The Age daily would bring on symptoms of withdrawal. Newspapers have been part of my daily life for as long as I can remember. I purchased them for reasons of a desire to be informed. To understand what was going on around me. To shape a world view.

Where the Rod Laver Tennis Centre now stands, in Melbourne, the area was once occupied by massive Elm trees under which fierce political debates once took place. Rather like Hyde Park in London. It was there that as a teenage boy I spent many a Sunday afternoon. Politics has been for most of my life something that sort of ties things together. Other than what one might do in bed I can think of little that politics doesn’t invade in one way or another.

To the politicians of Australia,

Let’s simplify the debate here.

Hundreds of thousands of unemployed people just want a chance to work.

It is a crisis when almost a third of young Australians are either out of work, or without enough work, writes Leon Moulden.

The Turnbull government would have us believe that they have been successful in job creation – it’s their mantra – but a closer look at the figures suggests otherwise.