Give A Man A Newspaper, and he can Overthrow Governments – by Penny Carter

We have all seen this quote:

But now, there is this:

text of images: Give a man a gun, he can rob a bank.
Give a man a bank, he can rob the world.

Give a man a newspaper and he can overthrow governments.

While the rest of us wait 4 years to cast our ballots, to choose governments, to have our say in democracy; the rich and powerful play by different rules.

They print front page headlines and entire governments can change. One person – One vote is meaningless when a headline in a neo-conservative newspaper can have more influence over the way the government runs, than every single voter who casts their ballot on election day.

Right now, Murdoch wants Labor and the Greens out of power, and their grubby headlines and their grubby puppets (for example Abbott’s homophobic innuendo against Slipper based on nothing more concrete than allegations) will say anything to make that happen.

News Limited will not stop until Tony Abbott is Prime Minister. News Ltd writers say that democracy is not sustainable, and they prove that every day, when a foreign billionaire (R Murdoch) has more power than every voting Australian.

 

Further reading: Rupert Murdoch’s war on Democracy… it is ‘not sustainable’ and interferes with his ability to make money

Defeated After Surrendering

image by @redglitterx
quote: It is far better to be defeated while attempting to implement Labor policies than to be defeated after surrendering them. I do not believe we can win by surrendering these or, if by any chance we did win, that winning would be worthwhile. Jim Cairns, 1975

Western Australia to the LNP – It’s not us, it’s you, we’ll call, we promise

This post is reposted with permission from Ærchies Archive – Digital Detritus. Thank you

Incompetence Shines Through

Posted on April 11, 2012 by archiearchive FCD

With all the polls indicating a crushingly anti-ALP mood within the Australian Electorate, fed by a conniving media, there are still some things which cannot be papered over.

Like the incompetence of the Barnett Government in Western Australia. Like the apparent fraud of the Rorts Royalties for Regions imposed upon the State by National’s leader, Brendon Grylls when he hijacked 25% of all oils and mineral royalties for his blatant pork-barrelling use. Like a perverted chair-sniffing adulterer in charge of the State Bank Account. It all adds up and electors DO have a memory longer than a goldfish!

The numbers are becoming disturbing and, to keep the current LNP Govt in the apparent lead, shenanigans have to be played with the numbers. The uncommitted are excluded and the 2PP number is based on preferences, not in this poll but on the last election, some four years ago! ALP + Greens = 46% yet only 11% of Other is allocated to the ALP to give an alleged 47% 2PP.

Think about it, then think about some of the other polling tripe we are being fed nationally!

Corruption, Theft, Incompetence, and Law Breaking in the Liberal Nationals

This is an old piece written by Senator John Faulkner (of NSW), from 2006 – but the incompetence and failures of the current Opposition – which was the government at the time the piece was written. The Howard Government may be gone, but some of the same people are still in parliament, and the hypocrisy does not go away.

Government Accountability – The Senate
Senator the Hon John Faulkner
Labor Senator for NSW
The Senate
2 March 2006

To this list can be added Mary Jo Fisher, current LNP senator from South Australia – shoplifter and security guard assaulter

And the Victorian LNP – who wants a corruption watchdog, but wants politicians exempt for any possible corruption (Victoria’s Liberal-National Politicians Exempt Themselves From Corruption Commission)

Then there is Hajnal Black, somehow over a million dollars of her clients money ended up in her bank account, she is a conservative from Queensland.

While not illegal, let’s also remember the Liberal from South Australia who told a female Senator she should be put down (South Australia, this man represents you: “You Should Be Put Down” MP Pengilly)

At the end of Faulkners very long list, he concludes:

Of course, all these sins mean nothing to the Howard government. After all, how can it repent what it cannot recall? This government, and its hand-picked sycophants, suffers from the worst case of collective amnesia in medical and political history. What are the bywords of the Howard government? ‘I cannot recall,’ ‘I don’t recollect,’ ‘I wasn’t informed,’ ‘I can’t remember,’ ‘I have no recollection of that.’

read more…

These are the people who talk about JuLiar and about Craig Thompson, who has NOT been found guilty of any crime.

a big thank you to @davidbewart for this link

text by @redglitterx
probably not endorsed by anyone in the LNP, use of Faulkner’s quote does not imply that he in anyway endorses the contents of this post or blog

oh, and I must add – ALLEGEDLY for all of this

Tony Abbott confronted by Craig from the Chaser about debt, and can’t give a straight answer (video)

From the man who criticises the Labor government of economic spending, comes the metaphor, you need to treat the federal budget like a household budget – but refuses to answer questions about his second mortgage.

Tony Abbott’s wife, Mrs Abbott, describes taking out that second mortgage:

She conceded that the family, who took out a $710,000 mortgage against their Sydney home when Mr Abbott’s pay was slashed after the 2007 election, could have done with a second income when their three daughters were young. But she had no regrets about her years as a stay-at-home mum.
Source: Family claims are Labor nonsense: Margie Abbott, Samantha Maiden, Sunday Herald Sun June 26, 2011

So even on their pay, which would have put Tony Abbott in the top 1% of Australian income earners, they still failed to manage their household finances.

And this man wants to lecture Wayne Swan – World’s Best Finance Minister – about how to budget?

text by @redglitterx
additional text by Mrs Abbott
use of video and quote in no way suggests that Tony Abbott’s wife, the Chaser, Craig Reucassel, the ABC, or Tony Abbott in any way endorses the contents of this post or this blog

Tony Abbott plagiarises Richard Nixon, Rush Limbaugh and Barack Obama (video)

Tony Abbott “quotes” famous speeches during his own.

Music Monday – US Forces: Midnight Oil

US Forces give the nod, it’s a set back for your country

Peter Garrett sang those words in 1982, and now, about wanting to get the United States military out of Australia and Australia’s foreign policy.

All these many years later, Garrett is part of a Labor government that just opened Darwin for permanent occupation by US Marines, complete with drones, and possibly nuclear weapons, and giving away Cocos Island for a US military base.

Activists fought to get US Bases Out in the 70s and 80s – and now it seems we have to fight those battles again in this century too.

text by @redglitterx
use of song is in no way intended to suggest that Midnight Oil, or the US Military in any way endorses the contents of this post or this blog

Liberals seek US-style ‘fix’ for seat to block previous candidate’s selection

Despite critics attacking the Labor plan of community consultation, using US-style primaries to choose a candidate, it looks like the Liberals will jump first, in Western Sydney.

The western Sydney seat of Greenway, which is home to many different communities, no longer just the rednecks of stereotypes, previously working-class but now full of aspirationals was won by the Labor candidate by just over 700 votes. Tony Abbott blames these people for him not being Prime Minister.

Michelle Rowland narrowly beat the Liberal candidate, Jayme Diaz, a migration lawyer who arranges visas for clients, also of Filipino descent, for the seat, which is in an area where border security is a sensitive issue, but also home to a large Filipino community.

Diaz also has the backing of the Religious Right, which may prove important in an electorate which is host to the Hillsong pentacostal prosperity-doctrine based church. The member for neighbouring Macquarie, the Liberal Louise Markus, who it seems is on the board of only one organisation, that is Hillsong. So religion, apparently is a factor when choosing candidates for western Sydney seats.

Abbott has found the solution, to the 702 vote loss, and has told the state party that he wants a different candidate.

A Liberal source said: The entire motivation for the discussion in the party around primaries was how do you fix the seat of Greenway. Which shows how hypocritical the Liberals are for attacking Labor for factionalism, when they are engaged in the very same behaviour themselves.

So, why bring in a US-style voting process, the same kind that have been used to mock Labor with as being out of ideas?

a US-style primary in the western Sydney seat of Greenway, one of the electorates Tony Abbott blames for his failure to snatch victory from Labor at the last federal election… will be sold as an experiment in democracy by giving the community a say in the party’s candidate to contest the next federal election.

However, party insiders say it is a calculated bid to prevent the previous candidate, Jayme Diaz, a Blacktown migration lawyer, from running again.

Why would Abbott, personally, champion a selection process that could see Diaz miss out as candidate, especially when he came so close in the previous election – unless Abbott still sees Western Sydney as the badlands populated by migrant-hating rednecks, which would be an outdated stereotype of one of the most ethnically diverse parts of Australia.

Image of Diaz, used without permission from Sydney Morning Herald, because people ask, and because there were no images in the public domain that could be found even after an extensive crawl of the web, forgive me SMH

text by @redglitterx
additional information from Liberals look to US for seat ‘fix’

 

Farewell the Honourable Lionel Frost Bowen AC

In a piece on the Labor Blog, the Prime Minister pays tribute to the late Lionel Bowen, former deputy prime minister and member of Gough Whitlam’s government.

Farewell the Honourable Lionel Frost Bowen AC
Julia Gillard posted Sunday, 1 April 2012

Lionel Bowen was good Labor man, who was passionate for the cause of social justice, and who was renowned for his integrity, honesty and fairness.
read more of what PM Gillard had to say…

Bob Carr paid tribute to Bowen His personality was very humble, he was the ordinary person’s representative in parliament… He was one of nature’s gentlemen.

Kristina Keneally described Bowen as a true gentleman, great family man, and a strong voice for Labor values.

for more on Lionel Bowen: here

added by @redglitterx
quotes by PM Gillard, Bob Carr, Kristina Keneally are in no way intended to suggest they in any way endorse the contents of this post or this blog

How To Tell When Tony Abbott Is Lying? He Promises Something (video)

Watch Tiny Abbott squire as Kerry O’Brien asks him a simple question – “how can voters know when Abbott is telling the truth?”, Abbott can’t even give a straight answer to that.

Abbott ties himself in so many knots trying to avoid answering, it would take him a week to untangle himself

added by @redglitterx