from Crikey ….

Australia a 'wrecking ball' at UN climate summit

from Crikey …..

Spooks harm the national interest in their great Anglophone game

I am trying to understand the utter inhumanity of this Abbott government towards asylum seekers.  First, let’s look at just some of what they are doing.

Australian journalist and BAFTA-award winning documentary filmmaker John Pilger has a strong investigative record spanning a 40-year career. In his latest film, Utopia, he turns his incisive hand to a topic integral to the Australian story, yet ostensibly glossed over by many of its own inhabitants – that of Indigenous Australia.

At Hogwarts, there are charms, spells and then there are unforgivable curses. There are gradations in the dark arts in the House of Reprehensibles, too.

WikiLeaks has exposed details of secret trade negotiations that could leave Australians paying more for drugs and medicines, movies, computer games and software, and be placed under surveillance as part of a US-led crackdown on internet piracy.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott's support for Cardinal George Pell over child sex abuse is inappropriate and factually wrong, victims say.

This new controversy came as the Speaker of the Victorian Parliament, Ken Smith, accused the former Melbourne vicar-general, Gerald Cudmore, of committing perjury in evidence he gave to a parliamentary inquiry in 1993. Mr Smith said highly placed Catholics stifled his inquiry's report.

from Crikey ….. 

'The stuff of nightmares': when who you are becomes a crime

I think that most people who gave the matter more than a passing thought, would believe that the primary role of governments is to protect its citizens and their rights; to ensure that proper infrastructure, such as hospitals, roads, schools and others, are set up and well maintained, and to ensure that the economy is stable, in order for the people to be safe, healthy and happy.

Department of State’s objection to release of key evidence may prevent inquiry’s conclusions from ever being published, except in heavily redacted form ….

from our friend Vacy Vlazna ….

'An iconic part of local heritage': Glasgow Council drops £65,000 plans to raise Duke of Wellington statue that regularly has traffic cones placed on its head …

like father ….

David Cameron calls for permanent austerity …. dressed in a white tie & standing at a golden lectern …..

Joe Hockey, Liberal Treasurer, announced some important tax changes today to help clear a backlog of measures announced but not yet legislated. Some date back to 2004 (and one to 2001) under the Howard and Costello government. Let’s look at a few of them to see who is conducting class war.