What's what?
four corners tonight
"China has infiltrated australias highest level institutions"
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2017/06/05/4678871.htm
Sypo.... Check my link out here, posted on 5th april, 7.48pm.
Should be a good read before 4 corners.
Fear alert. Propaganda Illuminati. You need us to protect you.
Fear alert. Propaganda Illuminati. You need us to protect you.
"His statement is certain to rile Beijing. It will also concern certain political players in Australia, who will be hoping that any inquiry is confined to finding gaps in the law and will not explore too deeply the previous conduct of individuals."
Great article Blowy. Politicians of all stripes must really think people are stupid (or maybe we are). I can understand philanthropy and the want to help your brother or sister, but NOBODY gives one, two, four million dollars to a political party without expecting something in return.
First, foreign political donations must be banned in Australia, second all political donations must be declared in a national register available in real time to any member of the public.
That's a start.
I know it's been tried before and failed, but any political contribution is a favour for a favour and all political donations should be banned. The taxpayer may have to foot the bill but at least it would be a level playing field.
What was disturbing in the four corners doco, was the fact that Chinese groups based at the Uni's were sending information back to mainland about other Chinese students here who were not supporting the 'mother country'. So there is more to this then simply a 'Dastyari Influence'. It's clear, all foreign donations need to be banned.
There is absolutely zero rational argument for a foreign entity to donate to a political party, other than for services rendered. I certainly wouldn't donate to an overseas political party out of the goodness of my heart. Of all the legitimate causes a foreign political party is just not one of them. It just stinks.
After reading the article , has it increased your respect for either Labor or the LNP ?
Has it inspired your confidence that either would put the country before the party at every level ?
Let's just ban political parties all together.
Should you extend this 'ban of foreign influence in politics' to commercial ventures, such as mining, which the local community is more than open too.
Hah! Robb! The clue's in the name!
Anyway, checked out this bloke? Great headline.
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/unveiled-australias-richest-union/
He's got the corporate media 'response' down to a tee.
1. ABC: top yarn but if we ran it we would look left wing so let's see what other media outlets do and if it becomes a big story, we'll follow it. Job at stake. Wait for steer from management.
2. SMH and Age: total chaos, what's this balance sheet stuff? Job at stake. Too hard, is income revenue or is revenue profit or what? Anybody know how to search ASIC? I need a latte. Looks like good yarn but Westie unreliable they say, let's ignore.
3. Guardian: this is definitely "us" - very left, love to smack the right, so let's wait for a couple of days and if it becomes a story we will jump on it first. No credit will be given to Westyboy as per our business model. Usual drill, bag his story as wrong while we are doing the follow-up.
4. The Australian: editor to business editor (both fantasising about being in the queue for frotage with Rupert): clearly we need to continue with our "unions are evil" editorial line but now we have found a union which is just the best. Get that bloke in Melbourne to do a picture story on this NSWBC guy, book him for our next "Business guys are Great" roundtable and get Terry McCrann to bag Westie again, extra hard. Don't forget the exclusive tag!
Still lookin' for "cut-through"...any CUT-THROUGH!
Third time's a charm...
https://www.buzzfeed.com/markdistefano/whats-the-point-of-australian-pol...
Cunt should be flogged.
Or should I say "cunts" , plural ?
And yet people still voted for the LNP.
What's the collective noun for a group of cunts ?
Whoops , I've already mentioned it .....LNP voters.
Is there anything on the face of this Earth more dispiriting than seeing an acquaintance, who is a plumber with 3 employees , "aspirationally " aligning himself with the big end of town and voting LNP ?
The plague of our times.
From The Guardian (erm, comments):
To summarise this patriotically holiday-shortened week thus far:
1. Mr Turnbull receives a Clayton's report from his Pet Scientist and still can't rally his colleagues to accept the overwhelming win for coal.
2. Mr Turnbull tries to score political points ranting about Chinese donations, but refuses to be bipartisan in launching a full independent inquiry, even when - or, perhaps, because - he finds his colleagues Gloriously engulfed.
3. Mr Turnbull's much-decried 'debt and deficit disaster' is disappeared as the half a trillion mark is breached.
4. Mr Turnbull's $1bn Carbon Tax [sic] clawback is rejected.
5. Mr Turnbull sees a Manus case settled, setting back onshore taxpayers another $100m.
6. Mr Turnbull condones the resurrection of White Australia in Mr Dutton's new uni-standard English-language test.
7. Mr Turnbull's bank-bashing ante is banked, raised and bettered by the Senate and yet-more remarkable House of Reps management sees debate on the matter prolonged.
All this, not counting Mr Turnbull selling down Australia's media diversification, effectively acknowledging the grandfathering of deductible gift recipient status to the Liberal Party's co-founder, the Institute of Public Affairs, and the - as the Americans say - 'interesting' foray into foreign affairs.
Mind, the response by the 'off-the-record'ers' to the peon polity regarding this magisterial display of political luminosity is clear:
'Why yes, Barrie /Laura /Niki /George /Fran /Phil /Mark /James /Kieran /David /Ahron /Ashley /Helen /Janine /Paul /Peter /Ross /Sabra /Leigh /Chris /other Chris /Andrew /other Andrew /Petra /Janet / Michael /Gerard /Malcolm /Karen /Dennis /Michelle /Patricia /Michael /Greg /Virginia /Annabel /[fill in the blank], I agree with you that Mr Turnbull continues to lead Australia brilliantly. Clearly, he has an outstanding record of achievement, and he is absolutely right to say so himself. This week, yet again, has been another truly exceptional week for the masterful Mr Turnbull and his remarkable team. That said, the insipid, lacklustre, uninspired, eternally hopeless, hapless, strident, divided, not ready to govern, unpatriotic, dimwitted, foolish, refusing to be bipartisan Opposition should get a mention. Overall, a marvellous, what, almost two years, really for the Prime Minister and the Coalition.'
Complicit, enabling, collaborating.
I'll tell you what's what -
Sitting on the East coast with a grey sky and a weak , cold sun barely glancing off the bay.
Acting as sole carer for the father in law for a while to give his mrs a
desperately needed break and some time out with her daughter as they have a little holiday together.
The old bugger is a goer . Golden gloves boxer in his day . Toured nationally as lead singer as the support for a huge international act. Fit as fuck . Legendary spearfisherman , handy with a wet line the rest of the time. Strong , well liked by his mates and well loved by his family. Only downside is that he was a clubbie. Gun clubbie .....but still. His love of the ski took him to most of Australia's best breaks. Always popular at a party with his buttery voice and his guitar. His nickname is Sack - ironic take on Sad Sack , cause he's always upbeat.
Now he's getting on.
Laid low by a devastating sequence of Ross River virus , prostate cancer , a stroke and all on top of Parkinson's disease.
A great bloke , never prone to the melancholy you'd assume would appear at any time .
Still, on a cold , grey winters day like today with the house quiet as he naps periodically it's nice , in fact it's fucking unbelievable , when he flicks on the little transistor radio that's by his Dawson recliner and perpetually tuned into the race channel and listens on spellbound as Pepperberry and Bonus spin cross the line neck and neck at race 5 at Gosford for the exacta.
The old bloke's lit up like Christmas.
Happy days !
https://m.
Love ya , Ronny .
Cool, now can you summarise herc's arguments that supposedly blew blowin out of the ring
Because I know he's got some good material, I just can't be fucked decifering it
That's your problem right there, Sippy. Can't be fucked 'decifering'.
Looking for dumbed-down and spoon-fed.
Poor pedagogical practice. No-one wins or is any the wiser.
To be fair , there's more likelihood of any Swellnet reading individual being able to decipher the Rosetta Stone from a standing start than any of the imbecilic utterings transcribed by that silly old fruit with his multiple pseudonyms
There's the Blowie we all know! After your nice little anecdote, with its quaint and humble tone (which I liked BTW), back to the full Blowie buzz!
Ya reckon Herc won't find ya here? Maybe Stu can help you out. But really the question begs, Blowie, ol' comrade, how many arseholes does one man need?
Two sides to every coin, Turkey.
Besides, it's just ever jokes on here.
I'd have a beer with Uplift any day.
Well, I'd have a beer and he'd have a protein shake.
And preferably he'd remain in SA and I'd be .....somewhere else.
Yes, even that is a pisstake. Despite the faux intensity , its more about the fun than anything else.
Hmmm, I don't know if "it's just ever jokes on here" really cuts the mustard.
Wise to never assume why people are on here posting what they do. Different strokes and all. The text is all there is, and the reader furnishes any meaning as much as the writer does.
Having said that, sometimes, maybe most times, it just is what it is.
If people want to find insult , offence or humiliation in anything I write well then good luck to them.
But as someone that appears to relish in frequently belittling people , maybe you'd be better off following your own advice.
Sorry , just reread your post . Seems you didn't actually warn off insulting people.
As you were.
You voting for Weatherill next year Turkey?
?
Wrong state, Gazzy. But lemme guess your intentions...erm, yeah, nah...
"If people want to find insult , offence or humiliation in anything I write well then good luck to them."
What a piss-weak cop-out, Blowie. Sounds straight outta that 'libertarian' numpty Leyonhjelm's song-book. “Offence is always taken, not given”, hey?
Jeez Louise, how come you didn't stump up for him instead of Poh-Lin? No candidates round your neck of the woods?
Ah fairo thought you were from sa. I don't really care who anyone votes for i just know you lean that way and wondered if you would still vote the current government back in.
Ill be voting for nxt or conservative in the lower house. Id like to vote green above the line but cant until they put sea patrol out to pasture. Maybe the fishing party instead. Politics in sa is fucked.
Turkey - The irony of you accusing anyone of being a cop out . The day you nail your colours to the mast and declare what it is that you stand for rather than posting inferences , plagiaristic quotes and cryptic references then doubling down by shit canning those that actually have the minerals to state that which they believe , then and only then , will I devote a seconds consideration to anything you've got to say .
Got it shitbag ?
You've never even said who you voted for .
If you think that you're opinions are so brittle that you cant even reveal them , then good luck trying to cook those that do.
Best you register , cobber : https://thekookoftheday.com
I don't need to know who you are , just what you stand for.
Total fucken bullshit, Blowie. And you know it. You're not that punch-drunk, are ya?
You're gonna make me go back and expose your dribble for what it is? Again??
Ah well, stay tuned. I'll dredge up your personal greatest shits too. Well, in my humble opinion, of course.
Don't you go self-redacting. AGAIN.
Oh, and plagiarism is a strong fucken word, peanut. Do you even know what it means?
Till next time.
Classic how your first reaction is to dredge up what I've said.
I know what I've said.
It's what you've never said that is the question.
Who do you vote for ?
You might even have some insight , but how is anyone meant to consistently unravel the cryptic drivel you post ?
For instance : the spiel about Turnbull's shortcomings you posted earlier today . Cool and all , but where is the counter to the negative ? It's all obstructionism and zero forthrightness.
You are the Tony Abbot of Swellnet.
Great in opposition, but too afraid to ever directly state what it is that you do stand for.
Easy to counter. Just state your position.
I said I voted for Pauline and why . You shot me down. Again . And again . And again.
But who do you stand for ?
Zen writes "First, foreign political donations must be banned in Australia, second all political donations must be declared in a national register available in real time to any member of the public."
I'd ban donations altogether.... A totally new structure is needed. Id have parties tax funded.
The mathematics of it would take some doing, as in fairness, big parties compared to little parties, new forming parties, parties simply forming for a cut of pie etc. But donations leads to an erosion of true democracy.
I would also outlaw the practice of paying to see a minister. I believe Qld Labor has aped the former LNP state gov', accepting $10000 "payment" for one to have a private meeting with a minister..... That's trashy.
Blowin.... Enough passive aggressive bullshit, mate. Go back up to where your "rosetta stone" post...
It all turned to shit from there.
i can only assume you 2 blokes must know each-other in person. how anyone can muster the stamina for years worth of online arguing without having at least some affection for the other person is beyond me.
HappyasS - Im nothing like my online persona.
In the flesh I'm a sarcastic know it all cock with a shorter fuse than I'd like to admit.
But I see Sheepy as a fundamentally big hearted fella that has had to face a few entirely unpleasant situations that were not in any way a reflection of his personal decisions throughout his life .
So I've got a lot of time for him.
Doesn't mean I can't relentlessly take the piss out of his contrarian opinions and his perennial alignment with any minority that he attributes victim status irrespective of how erroneously the sentiment is applied.
Put it this way : if it wasn't for people like Sheepy, there'd be no concept of voluntary charity work . In a similar vein , if there were no people like Sheepy , I'm calling that the disability pension would be looking at a potential 75 percent decrease in liabilities.
"if there were no people like Sheepy , I'm calling that the disability pension would be looking at a potential 75 percent decrease in liabilities."
christ, how disabled is he ??? ;)
i was talking about TT btw. but while on topic, yes, SD seems like a pretty top bloke.
Blowin writes "But I see Sheepy as a fundamentally big hearted fella that has had to face a few entirely unpleasant situations that were not in any way a reflection of his personal decisions throughout his life ."
" if it wasn't for people like Sheepy, there'd be no concept of voluntary charity work . In a similar vein , if there were no people like Sheepy , I'm calling that the disability pension would be looking at a potential 75 percent decrease in liabilities."
That's all good.
I see Blowin as a guy that uses insults here as a form of self therapy. You'll note that his insults are actually about him. It's his form of blood letting. He often posts stories of his own "unpleasant situations", then a week later he tries to denigrite others... Almost a sign of guilt.. He posts all day every day, at all hours, weekdays included, publicly admitting to being stoned off his face, then paranioa kicks in that people have noticed his charade, so he yells "OVER THERE"!!!!!
That's the thing with Pauline Hanson voters...... Create a smokescreen whilst raking in the dodgy money. Dumb fucks.
Happy, I was a top bloke once.... But one too many surfs on the qld points changed all that ;)
Sheepy - not saying you're on disability - not there's anything wrong with that - but that it's the overly empathetic nature of people like yourself that allows others to rort the system .
And what's wrong with posting on weekdays ?
I'm unemployed , you should be on my side !
"...but that it's the overly empathetic nature of people like yourself that allows others to rort the system"
And that's the way it should be. Welfare decisions should be based upon who needs it, not who rorts it.
If serving all people who legitimately need welfare means a few dodgy pricks also scrape through then so be it. I'm comfortable with that. Of course, the dodgy pricks should be caught and kicked off, but I can't abide by the downward-envy Liberal position that the biggest concern is welfare cheats.
The biggest concern is allowing less able people to live with dignity and not create an underclass.
To keep things in perspective think Panama Papers. The amount of tax avoidance is orders of magnitude greater than welfare rorting. The Coalition would really prefer you not to notice that, so instead of addressing the problem they attack an easy target.
and yet so easily fixed BB. all it takes is change in domestic tax laws. really makes you wonder.
though the skeleton is consumerism. you want, they provide, then you want more. now your addicted and they are in control. even the govt bows down.
"...though the skeleton is consumerism. you want, they provide, then you want more. now your addicted and they are in control. even the govt bows down.."
And for that exact same reason - the companies have a market here - they won't pack up their operations if domestic taxes are raised, as has been argued by some Business Council-types.
Fully agree with both of you .
The welfare net is probably our most defining trait as a nation. That oft vilified collective . The unarguable answer when people ask you exactly what is meant by Australian values and what entitles someone to feel the equally vilified pride in our society.
Having said that , its obvious that the system is being rorted well beyond any acceptable percentage in a necessary system.
It's possible to have an honest review of welfare whilst also seeking appropriate taxes from multinationals as well as any other whataboutery distractions you choose to raise.
The welfare system is as requiring of a top to bottom inquest as the banking system.
Let's not allow the political opportunism of the wretched LNP to diminish a pathway to improving the overall state of Australia by reducing waste of essential finances on piss takers.
And I didn't even mention my personal anecdotes regarding the dozen or so able bodied individuals I know that are reclining happily on the disability pension , one of whom is a literal millionaire. Almost didn't mention them anyway...
Actually the main offenders don't even need our consumerism. Think LNG.
if AUS (as a small nation) went it alone on tax avoidance, would we get stung? (e.g. apple raises prices for us, spending drops/GDP sinks etc etc). does this require a multinational soln? btw, i know nearly nothing about the topic of tax avoidance, so more than happy to be told otherwise.
The thing with trans national tax avoidance is that it's a zero sum game. Any profits that aren't diminished here enrich another nation either through their ( lesser ) taxation regimes or through capital inflow to provincial banks that then have the ability to onlend that cash to their host nations at cheaper rates than if they'd borrowed the money from international money markets.
So why would countries that are profiteering from asymmetric international tax structures even consider addressing the issue ?
That's why Trump's idea of reducing their corporate tax rate would be so successful while our LNP's similar plan would be a detrimental to our country.
The US is a business hub. Companies want to be located there but are reticent due to tax rates. If Trump reduces the tax rates then historically US companies such as Apple will repatriate their cash reserves that are currently languishing in offshore tax havens and therefore stimulating the US economy - Apple alone has an estimated $250 billion in cash offshore. The R and D alone that every dollar of this money could be employed in would benefit the USA exponentially .
But Australia is not a hub nor a large consumer base , merely a quarry or a drill hole or a margin market for existing product. There is no grand scale reinvestment resulting from lowering corporate tax rates in Australia . It's a profit enhancement scheme that will benefit the corporations and the recipients of their political ( and brown paper bag ) donations only.
Profit flows into provincial banks?
Maybe some. A nominal amount. The far larger slice of profit flows into corporate dividends and largely taken out of the system.
.
You sure ?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-13/us-government-now-has-less-cash...
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/02/apples-cash-hoard-swells-to-record-256-8-...
Provincial banks is the wrong term . Offshore tax havens covers it.
And here I was thinking provincial bank meant the Bank of Bendigo.
Illawarra mutual is closer to the mark.
You can't contradict my knowledge of the financial world , Stu.
I only recently finished a Paul Clithero book on investment that he released in 1995. Not that I really need advice , after all I borrowed it from the library rather than outlaying the $2 at a garage sale - I'm on my road to riches !
AN ALL-ENCOMPASSING KALEIDOSCOPIC JOIN-THE-DOTS/ADULT COLOURING BOOK EXPERIMENTAL PROJECT IN NARCISSISTIC/ONANISTIC BIG PICTURE PARASITIC FORUM BLEEDING.
LIKE POLITICAL LIFE, PARTICIPATION IS WELCOME, ENCOURAGED EVEN, BUT NOT NECESSARY.