Christopher Pyne

Interesting piece in Crikey today about young Christopher.  Worth checking it out.

"I knew John Howard and I served John Howard and John Howard was a friend of mine. And you are no John Howard", Pyne declared - apparently.

The thing is that Australian's worked John Howard's game out - and we got rid of him in 2007.

Reminds me of the letter I wrote to Sturt residents in 2007.

Our CEO's

I know it's unfashionable to appoint Australian's as CEO's of real corporations.  At least in this country.

Because their international rivals are a lot better at spinning their own story - and our conservative, male dominated board's are very susceptible to spin and BS.

But this guy has the runs on the board and ought be a role model for all locals.

Forget the Trumbulls, the Trujillo's, the Joyces and the rest of the riff-raff - and start looking out for Australian - and New Zealand talent.

Because they actually get it.

Memo Julia and Bob

We stick up for our mates - if you don't then you're out.

Dribble and PageHitsVille

Right on cue the extreme h8ers emerge from their cracks at midnight to fill up the comments space of the serious media - with their concocted dribble.

Notice how these folks aren't literate - or numerate enough to pen their own articles and argue their own views.  Hell no - it's much easier to spread their bile in a paragraph of misspelt prose as a comment on The Drum, Crikey or elsewhere.  Indeed anywhere that allows it.

It's no accident that this phenomenon has mimicked the US - confirmation that our h8ers are really just sheep - meandering along behind "big brother".  Read any serious article from there and shake your head at the pure unadulterated ignorance that is masquerading as comment.

It's the only way that the extreme h8ers can get a word in - pig ignorant commentary penned late at night after too much booze and far too much Bob Francis.

If our serious media were half smart they wouldn't publish this junk - because what it is designed to do is drag the good stuff down to the h8ers level.

But the proprietors and editors are caught between a rock and a hard place.  On the one hand their publications earn credibility from serious articles - but on the other they are often sucked into getting aboard the "Express to PageHitsVille".

Classic case of sacrificing "long term viability" for "short term profitability".  It never works.

FIFO Me

Have you been to an airport and on a plane recently?  Unfortunately yes I have.

It seems as though the entire nation is now working on a FIFO basis.  For those who aren't up with the lingo - FIFO usually means Fly In, Fly Out.  And not what you are thinking Virginia ;-)

Which would normally be OK with me - except for one thing?

"Why do I have to sit next to a dust encrusted, thong and shorts wearing, fluoro vest adorned - actual Bogan" - at the airport and inside the plane?

There was a time in the not so distant past when people were actually a little bit presentable when they travelled on the big silver bird.  They saw it as a bit of an adventure that they "dressed up" for.  They were excited - a little bit.

Because they didn't do it very often and it was a *special* thing.  A bit like going to the *pictures* on Saturday night.  Or eating *fudge*.

Not any more.  Now it is as common as flushing the loo.  And about as interesting.

Which is why I prefer to drive.  A classic car, good company, great music and the right ocean road - bliss.

As Julia recently said - We are Us

I have been modelling the recent Census data dump and have identified the main characteristics of a "True Blue Ozzie" ;-)

We worship celebrity and sport - because we aren't big enough to stand up for anything of substance.

We mostly ignore our democracy because we have been trained to think there is no real difference between Tweedeldum and Tweedeldee.

We believe the main role of government is to distribute our handouts and to make it easier for us to acquire McMansions.

We think that our success at the Olympics and elsewhere results from our natural sporting prowess and enthusiastic spectating.

Our main interests revolve around football, fast food and fwd's with a slab of VB or XXXX thrown in for good measure.

Our choice of the brands associated with these interests depend on which *tribe* we belong to.

We don't value the press because we have no idea what its purpose is and anyway we prefer "Big Brother" and "Celebrity Chef".

We think it is natural to have limited choice and expensive oligopolies in almost every sector - banking, supermarkets, media, vehicles, airlines, insurance, utilities and communications.

We won't say "Boo to a Goose" about things that are a bit suss - because we have been trained to keep our heads down and our mouths shut.

We elect leaders who are associated with a sporting team - or who pretend to value the same things that we do.

And as a result we end up with leaders who reflect back to us the piss weak little things that we are concerned about.

Or leaders who know how to manipulate us - to get what they want.

It's just pure joy being an Ozzie - isn't it?

Constitutional Ornament #wikileaks #assange

When was the last time in history that a half dozen or more influential leaders of any so called *civilised* nation stood up publicly and called for the execution of a foreign national?

And when did this become acceptable for a nation that says it abides by the US constitution - and its amendments?  Perhaps Bob Carr knows the answer ;-)

And since when has it been acceptable for an Australian government to turn a blind eye and fall over themselves to encourage this scatty behaviour?

Unfortunately the US Constitution has become an ornament - to be trotted out from time to time by the clowns who are running the place - all to justify their "war on error".

And "war on error" it is - the US government is busy picking fights with the little guys and ignoring the bad guys in plain sight.  Bradley Manning and Julian Assange don't have the ability or the resources to fight back.

Meanwhile the banksters on Wall Street are stripping the place bare.

I suppose that is what happens when "an obvious collaborator with the IRA" is Chairman of your House Homeland Security Committee.

I want my government to pull the pin - to bail out of whatever sleazy little deal they have agreed with the US - and to stand on their own two feet while looking out for their citizens.

Let Them Eat Cake

If you have a spare 30 minutes then this podcast about the political goings on in Wisconsin might be of interest.

American democracy is such a beautiful thing - isn't it ;-)

Backfire #wikileaks #assange

The US and it's client states - Britain and Australia will need to be very careful.  Careful that their mad pursuit of Assange doesn't backfire in their faces.

Because their behaviour around Wikileaks and Assange to date has only served to generate a lot of anti US sentiment.  And it has put the focus on *why* they are trying to silence him.  All because the international bully doesn't like anyone who speaks "truth to power".

Wikileaks has exposed the anti-democratic, unaccountable and warlike activities of a quite mad US Congress and Administration.  And the subservient and unquestioning loyalty of it's clients.

Question to self - "What's in it for Britain and Australia"?

Plus, when was the last time in history that a dozen or more influential leaders of any civilised state stood up publicly and called for the execution of a foreign national?

As I said they will need to be careful - because the backfire could become big real quick.  And then they might discover that they aren't in control after all.

One Thing

There is one key thing that would add enormous value to the Australian business landscape and give a much needed fillip to small business while helping to connect the regions and mitigate against the effects of the two speed economy.

What is it?

The introduction of  a real consumer to consumer and business to consumer online sales and transaction system.  One that is frictionless or close to it.  If you know why that is important then read on.

Because Australia doesn't currently have one that works.  We have tired old eBay and a bunch of local online marketplaces - but nothing that was built from the ground up to deliver the services that are needed in this market and region.

Except for one - and we won't be enjoying that anytime soon.

Trade Me is New Zealand's top commerce site.  It is fantastic.  I have written about it previously.  But it is owned and operated by Fairfax.

And that is a problem.  They recently sold their stake down to 51% - all to generate some cash while retaining control.  But their focus is elsewhere along with their leadership.  If they knew anything about the digital economy then they would bring Trade Me to Australia and fund and resource it properly.

Because if they did that they would *own* this market place - and we would be happy for them because of the value that was created.  It might even resurrect some Fairfax reputations ;-)

But they won't so lets talk about how to set up something similar here to deliver the goods.  Interested - then lets talk?

The Horrible Truth - #wikileaks

If you have ever wondered what Wikileaks and Julian Assange have done for the US to go after them in such a heavy handed manner - then consider this.

Wikileaks is mostly about exposing the corrupt, illegal and warlike behaviour of the US.  Behaviour that their government undertakes in the name of freedom and democracy and god.

But as we have seen, the true nature of the place is to suppress the poor, encourage the right wing and the rich, manipulate their own and everyone else's democracy and engage in continuous war.

Their media - led by Uncle Rupert's Fox News - is a large part of the deception and their elites resent the intrusion of Wikileaks and Assange who has exposed the horrible truth to the world.

US bad habits and dirty laundry have been exposed - and they don't like that very much.

So naturally they are trying to shoot the messenger - and they have enlisted their client states around the world in support of that goal.

In the case of Australia what we are seeing is the government of a piddling little middle power fall over themselves to demonstrate their support for "Uncle Sam".

Mark Latham had a colourful phrase for it - "A Conga line of Suckholes".

Let me ask if you think that is good for our democracy?

PS - I missed this earlier - but well worth a read.

Overreacted Again

The vested interests are piling on the spin.  Telling us how we have "overreacted again" to the Fairfax stuff-up and the Murdoch re-org.

Everything will be fine they say - it's only Australia's newspaper and pay television industry - nothing to get excited about.

It's not as if KFC has abandoned factory farmed chicken, McDonald's have found an alternative to cardboard or the national stock of McMansions have been found to have dry-rot AND salt-damp.  Nothing that significant.

And besides, our top quality morning television will just get worse to compensate for the bias elsewhere in our media - won't it?

And Malcolm tells us that "If there's an Abbott government, I'll be the communications minister and I'll be responsible for the ABC" - so everything will be fine and there is nothing to worry about after all.

Whew - thank goodness for all that.

Supplementary Question

A supplementary for those who are not as confused as I am.

If Uncle Rupert has been found "not to be a fit person to exercise the stewardship of an international company" and Cousin Julian has not been charged with anything nor had any judgements made against him.

Then why is Rupert still roaming around - buying pay TV networks and directing traffic - while Julian has had to pull his head in and seek political asylum in Ecuador?

Just asking.

PS - an update here.

Write the Script

I think I will write the script now - before anyone else gets a chance to enshrine their spin as fact.

The Fairfax papers are about to start bombarding us with previously unknown *facts* about the goodness of Gina's brand of extreme right wing capitalism and the badness of everything socialist and Labor.

News Ltd will be doing the same - just substitute Foxtel for The Fairfax papers and Rupert for Gina.

And Tony Abbott and his front bench will be telling us what a great thing it is for the nation and the people - while neglecting to tell us that this was part of the deal they negotiated with Rupert earlier - to entrench the conservatives in power forever.  The outstanding part is to neuter what little regulation we already have and to slash and burn the ABC.  But that will have to wait until after they get to pull the levers.

And Jet-set Julia and the rest of the Labor front bench will be all hand wringing and forelock tugging and complaining about the lack of media diversity and Uncle Rupert and Auntie Gina's dominance of our media and other blah, blah, blah.

All BS because while they will moan and complain and tell us how bad it is - they won't actually do anything.  Because they never actually do anything - just ask citizen Julian.

All this despite the fact that Rupert has been found elsewhere to "not be a fit person to exercise the stewardship of an international company" and Gina has made it clear that she wants to turn the place into a giant quarry.

And the Leveson enquiry is still underway in the UK and hearing evidence of News bastardry on a daily basis.

No wonder Assange wants to decamp to Ecuador.

An old boys club full of women and children

I think the Fairfax leadership just answered something that I asked last year.

"Why we insist on bringing these whiz-kids to Australia to manage our icon businesses is just beyond me"?

It might be that said *whiz-kids* are not often up to scratch - but clearly the local talent pool is even worse - judging by the performance of some of our corporations.

Many of us have long suspected that the closed shop of the "Australian old boys club" is really just a screen to shield dumb decisions, bad behaviour and poor performance.

The old boys club is built around which school they attended and what fancy pattern adorns their dark blue tie - all with a little bit of Latin thrown in for effect.  Nothing to do with intellect or capability or performance.  It's just assumed they know what they are doing when they inherit their fathers' seat at the club .  When in fact mostly they don't know dick.  I bet the wives do though ;-)

And they have gotten away with it for about 200 years because the regulators are as lame and as weak as they were back in 1788.  In the grand tradition that has allowed our monopolies to flourish - we throw in a few regulators as window dressing - all to give the appearance that we are doing something to control corporate excess.  When in fact what we usually have is a nod and a wink and a funny handshake between all the old boys.

What we really need is to open up the club and insert a few women and young people - preferably in the same ratio as they exist in our society.

As if that would ever happen.

Rabid and Redneck Right

My morning post got me thinking about all the things that are under serious threat from the rabid and redneck right.

For over 30 years I was a loyal Qantas customer - never considered alternatives and even thought of myself as a Qantas "rusted on".  If Qantas didn't go somewhere then I usually didn't go there either.  I used them domestically and internationally and viewed the flying kangaroo as a symbol of Australia's great success in the world.  I was proud to "call Australia home".

That started to change in the late 1990's as their leadership became much more rabid and it changed forever last year when the pompous little Irishman grounded the airline and its passengers - all to give the unions a good kicking.

Now I mostly fly Virgin - actually my new motto is "Anyone but Qantas".  And the experience has been eye opening.  Virgin and some of the alternatives actually provide a much better product and service - and they treat their customers and staff with respect and dignity.

Similarly I was a reader of The Australian from the very early days.  I shunned the Murdoch tabloids and usually picked up The Australian most weekdays and always on the weekend.  And then Chris Mitchell became weekday Editor and it all went downhill in a flash.  His readership now comprises the entire Australian compliment of inward-looking, right wing and seriously up-themselves, geriatric, white males.  Otherwise known as Australia's power elite ;-)

The Australian is now focussed exclusively on appealing to old white conservatives who masquerade as Liberals - and the people who pay to advertise to them.  It's not at all representative of the people or the nation.  If I were Julia then I would stop all Federal Government advertising going that way - tomorrow.

There has also been a similar transformation underway within the Liberal Party - which is now owned and operated by the same old white conservative males.  The unfortunate thing about that is - most rusted on Liberal voters out in suburbia haven't yet noticed.  They certainly will when the muppets start flexing their muscles - after the next election.  It won't be just the unions who get a good kicking.

And so to the Fairfax disaster.  So sad that it has come to this.  The only quality newspapers in recent times have been from the Fairfax stable with The SMH and The Age.  Much of the content was not up to scratch and that has contributed to the huge decline in trust by readers.  Analyse the failure by all means but make sure you identify all the contributors and don't just blame the old conservative white males who are running the place.

I am not sure where it will all end up - but I do know that this relentless march to the right can't continue.  There will be a backlash - the only questions are "When" and "How Large" will it be?

Unfairfax

Andrew Jaspan has a really interesting article over at The Conversation about the takeover of Fairfax by big Gina.  I won't link to it - but if you are interested then it is easy enough to find.

Just another milestone on the march toward control of our important institutions by the rich and the right wing.

And the proles have no idea what it all means.  They are grumpy because their house values have been falling and that has distracted them from the real and important issues - like who owns our media.

Some of us who have lived through similar disruption could see the warning signs - but apparently not the actual journalists who work at Fairfax.  From what I can see very few of them had any idea that they would be out of a job anytime soon.

Many of them have been cruising along in complete denial about what would likely happen to their livelihood - all the while continuing to pump out the dribble that has contributed so much to their demise.

I suppose they looked at Uncle Rupert's little operation and thought that they could defy gravity forever too.

Well Blogger Me

I am so sick of the dimwits in our media writing self serving BS about how bloggers are not journalists and how we will all be so sorry when the *quality* journalists lose their jobs because people have stopped reading newspapers.

Well I don't know about the rest of the blogosphere - but I have absolutely no desire to replace any journalists.  They are doing a perfectly good job of killing off their industry - all by themselves and with a bit of help from Uncle Rupert.  They certainly don't need my help.

I write to express my opinion about the many subjects that I am interested in and because there are things going on around us that should be discussed out loud - but none of our *so called* journalists will touch them.  And even when they do their articles become so distorted that it is just bizarre.  I am so tired of their crap that I can't even be bothered linking to their failures ;-)

I would love it if *actual* journalists were willing and able to investigate and write about the consumer rip-offs of big business, the poor state of our education systems and the right wing nonsense that has infected the Liberal Party - amongst other things.  But they don't and they won't - because - well I think we all know why.

The reason that newspapers are dying is because their business model is broken and they have lost the trust of the people.  They have lost the trust of the people because they don't tell them the truth.  They don't tell them the truth because they have been captured by vested interests.  And they have become irrelevant.

It's a bit rich complaining about the fact that your ex-customers no longer consume your product - when your product no longer offers any value.

Your choice Gina

I know this might be a bit of a shock to some but most Australian's aren't interested in a trade or administrative or even a technical job that is located for - four weeks out of every six - in some dust infested hell hole on the edge of the outback.

Call them unreasonable but many of these folks didn't spend years learning a trade and then even more sucking up to their thick boss - just to end up wielding a spanner or a steering wheel or even a theodolite in a big quarry - miles from civilisation.

Plus why have we spent years encouraging them to lust after the ticky-tacky McMansion in suburbia with a new Land-Cruiser in the driveway and a shed full of boys toys?

Are we saying that we got it wrong and they will now have to spend most of their life eating dust and living in tin sheds with a few thousand others just like them - in order to pay for the lifestyle they left back home?

I don't think so Virginia.  What we should be doing is giving the Mining Magnates a choice.

Either they can build the towns and the infrastructure that is necessary to provide a decent social life for their workers and families - or;

We can tax them more and have the government provide the infrastructure.

Your choice Gina.

Educate me Virginia

I often wonder how our public education system got to be so bad and why the various State Government's don't invest much more in their primary and secondary schools and associated education systems as a priority.  And I don't mean new buildings Virginia ;-)

There is no comparison between the various health and education systems.  One is working effectively with it's limited resources and the other is barely working with its.  It's been like that for a generation or more.

I see the result of this failure almost every day.  Young (and not so young) adults who dropped out of the system early and who now have a menial job and a bad attitude - or no job at all and the same bad attitude.

Drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness and domestic violence - and other dysfunctional behaviour seem to be rife in communities with low levels of education.

Our usual response is to blame the victim and if that doesn't work then we ignore them.  Surely a much better approach would be to fix the problem at it's source?

And it occurs to me that a large part of the problem is that our education system has a one-size-fits-all approach.  We try to educate our kids on the basis of an *average* student - and the ones who don't fit that definition tend to miss out.  That could be an over-generalisation I know.

It's a bit like if we attempted to treat every hospital patient as if they had a broken leg.  So you turn up at Casualty with pneumonia and you get sent home with your leg in a splint.  Doesn't make a lot of sense does it?

I have huge respect for the various state health systems - they are all very capable - often with limited resources.  We should celebrate their success.  Perhaps we could learn a bit from that success and use it to *beef-up* the state education systems?

But beware state governments who attempt to build new *facilities* and to claim that as *evidence* of their commitment to this or that service.  In my experience there is an inverse relationship between the number of new buildings and the quality of service delivered.  Usually because the people budget has been raided to fund the bricks and mortar - all in an attempt to *stimulate* a particular industry.

South Boganville

There is a little town in rural South Australia where I sometimes build boats - for fun and recreation.

Most of the time it is a pleasant enough little place whose residents go about their business in an inoffensive way.  But there are two times each year when it isn't.

The January long-weekend and the June long-weekend are times when the place is invaded - by thousands of actual Bogans.

And while the folks who don't sell into a Bogan dominated market are horrified - those who do think all their Christmases have come at once.

If you sell drugs, booze, fast food, fuel, accommodation or any associated services in this town then today you will be joyous.  Because for the past three days you have been making extreme hay.

I can see a new top of the range Mercedes-Benz in the future of whoever owns the local KFC.  Too bad about the mess that has to be cleaned up and the reputational damage to the town - that is someone else's problem.  You sir are now considerably richer for the experience.

And this is what I was on about here.  If your objective is to be rich - then you need to get in on the act.  If your objective is public service - then get your bucket and mop and come with me.

Message from America

If you really want to understand where the Liberal Party is going with their new found aggression then look no further than the US Republican Party.

Where they go - Mr Abbott's puppet masters will soon follow.  It's become the Liberal Party in name only folks - LP HQ is now dingbat central.

And this discussion outlines in all the gory detail where the Republicans have been and where they are going.  Now it is true that the US system of Democracy is different from ours.  But there are enough similarities to keep us all awake at night.

All because they think they should be pulling the levers.  They're pulling something Virginia - but it ain't levers.  Mr Pyne might know the answer ;-)

And on top of all that we have this completely mad preoccupation with war and killing people.  Why on earth would you put Peter King in charge of Homeland Security - or indeed anything?

Both of these links - here and here - perfectly demonstrate what is wrong with the Republican Party.  It's instructive to read the comments and see what the American citizens think.

My question to self is - "Why would anyone want to import any of this stupidity"?

Perhaps someone can ask Mr Abbott.

Uninform me Virginia

In the same way that business prefer consumers to be uninformed - conservative politicians want a similarly dumbed-down electorate.

In the case of business it is easier to sell over priced stuff to people who don't understand true value.  In the case of politics an uninformed electorate is easily manipulated by unscrupulous politicians and their mates in the media.

This is mainly how our large retailers have gotten away with ripping us off.  They form cartels, limit choice and charge double.  And we have been falling for it for decades - because we seem to have too much money and too little intellect.

It's why the banks are so profitable, why we have been paying too much for houses and cars and why your local trades-person gouges you every time.  Their business model would collapse if we consumers were even half smart.

Fortunately consumers are being educated even without trying very hard - courtesy of the Internet.

It is also why our politics are broken.  Weird conservative ideology is really just a smokescreen for doing stuff that we wouldn't want them to do if we understood what they were doing.

As if you could grow an economy by slashing spending?  It's classic diversionary tactics designed to exploit our ignorance.

If - like the smart folks in the Australian Treasury - enough of us actually understood the impact of the *Carbon Price* then we would neither be worried about it nor fall for the BS of conservative politicians and the media.

And Whyalla wouldn't be in danger of "being wiped off the face of the map" come 1st of July ;-)

We might moan and complain about business rip-offs and political bastardry - but the truth is *the main problem is us*.

And it won't be fixed until we deal with that fact.

Qantas

Don't you just love it when the little right wing - so called CEO's get a bit of pushback?

Only question is "how big will his payout be"?

And I will be looking forward to the board getting cleaned out as well.

Then we can all get back to supporting the place - after the new board ditches the dingbat right wing ideology.

Mona

Fascinating article in Crikey today about how MONA - David Walsh's "Museum of Old and New Art" at Glenorchy has singlehandedly saved Tasmania - OK maybe Hobart - from recession.

And it has - I wrote here and here about how mainland tourists are keeping the place going when I last visited.  MONA has provided a major fillip for the eateries and hotels and other service providers in Hobart.

Who said Australian's are philistines?

What is even more fascinating is how *none* repeat *none* of the other states have worked it out.

If any state Tourism Minister was even half on their game then they would be all over David and others like him - attempting to replicate his success elsewhere.

Instead they all sit around hand wringing and moaning and cutting jobs - instead of doing something useful.

Lightweights the friggin lot of them.

Democracy - have they exported too much of it?

I don't live in the US - and don't even want to visit anymore - given their scatty ultra right wing politics.  The nonsense that has been going on in Wisconsin is just way over the top.

The Republican Governor Scott Walker has been slashing and burning the place and feathering the nests of his rich ultra right wing mates - all to the detriment of Wisconsin citizens.

So the people decided to revolt and under local laws forced a *recall* election to bring him to heel.

But then his rich mates spent $30 million in the campaign - versus a paltry $4 million by the Democratic contender.  You can probably tell that it was a very even and well balanced contest ;-)

Needless to say Walker won the day and is back on his rampage again.

The Democrats were outplayed, outsmarted, outspent, outcampaigned and are now just out of it.  Obama must have known all of this because he didn't even bother to appear in the campaign.  His sole contribution was a *tweet* on the last day.

So much for American democracy.

PS Good update here.

Gutless Government and Opposition

To me, this demonstrates in large measure why Australian's have little respect for our political leaders.

Our media punditry are busy "talking crap" or promoting "fluff and bubble" - but few are brave enough to take up the biggest issue - which is;

"If our government is so gutless and so cowardly that it refuses to stand up for one of our citizens who is in trouble abroad - because it is scared of offending big brother - then the time has come to clean them out".

And if the replacement government is equally gutless then we should discard them as well.

And keep going through that process until we elect representatives who value the nation and it's citizens enough to stand up for them.

Another Day another Bad Opinion Poll

Today we discover that our government and its leader are still enormously unpopular - and the opposition leader is also on the nose. I am really surprised and shocked ;-)

Apparently Australian's would like to replace both the government and opposition leaders with their respective rivals - Rudd and Turnbull.  It's fascinating that Coalition voters prefer Rudd and Labor voters prefer Turnbull in the opposite roles.

I suspect that Australian voters are not nearly as wedded to the partisan political party process as are their politicians.  The make-believe *blue-red* conflict may keep our politicians and media happy but it does nothing much for the people or the nation.

And it would probably only take a bit of a nudge for the whole house of cards to collapse in a big smelly pile.  Many of us think we should work on finding the catalyst for that nudge.

It's just staggering that the politico/media JV seems unable to comprehend that they are digging their own grave.

I have given up on politicians ever waking up - their perks ensure that they won't.

But I am interested to observe *actual* journalists - who seem unable to understand the role that they play in this circus.  It's a bit like watching a slow-motion train wreck to observe them write and talk either "absolute crap" or "fluff and bubble" - all designed to snag a few extra disinterested eyeballs for Uncle Rupert and friends.

As if that process is sustainable.  Did they imagine that it could go on forever?  I suppose many of them did - because old uncle Rupert and Co. have been paying too many of them too much for aeons.  How else did we end up with The Australian, Alan Jones, breakfast television, Insiders, QandA and FOX News?

The old "scam the customer" business model is broken folks - my advice is to start re-training last week.

It probably won't help to go *on-strike* either.  Much better to just stay in denial and see if uncle Rupert and friends can engineer a new scam to keep you employed for another couple of years.  Or cosy up to Gina in the hope that she will keep the old Ponzi scheme going for a little bit longer.