Joe is back in his box

So big Joe is in trouble with the Banks. All because he dared to suggest that they are gouging their customers - and he wants an enquiry.

It's just hilarious. Doesn't Joe know what the game is? The Coalition are not supposed to *question* the social and ethical standards of big business - hell no they are supposed to help let them do what they like to maximise profits, feather their own nests and rip-off Australian's.

Jeez this must have come as a big shock to the Australian Banking hierarchy and its leadership - sitting in their plush offices with their feet up, overlooking a big brown land, dreaming up new fees and charges while raking it in.

They have the Government covered and have effectively neutered Wayne and Penny and Julia - who wouldn't dare suggest such a thing.

But they forgot to cover off on the Coalition - and who can blame them with Tony running around like a mad monk and following along compliantly in Rupert's wake.

Who would have expected the Coalition to grow a pair and take their responsibility to Australian's seriously? Rupert will be most unhappy.

But it's alright now folks; big Mike got up yesterday and read the riot act to Joe - so he is back in his box today. Thank goodness someone is managing the Coalition.

Fools and Broadband

So let me see if I understand this correctly.

During its 12 years in Government, the Coalition had no clue about fast broadband and was not at all interested in fixing up the mess that it had created with Telstra. In fact they made things much worse by trying to apply a US corporate dictatorship to this Australian communications icon - via the *three Amigos*. OK it was the Telstra Board rather than the *actual* Coalition - but the key people were intertwined. And you call that policy?

And ever since they lost control of the levers they have been outmanoeuvred by the current Government - who does actually understand broadband and has a plan to implement it for the benefit of the nation - including the regions.

But today we see a *new* policy from the Coalition which is apparently their "broadband plan" number 3 or is it 4? I have lost count but anyway you can find the detail - here.

Why would anyone take these clowns seriously?

* They couldn't understand it or get it right in the 12 years they were in the big seats in Government.

* They have had 3 or 4 different plans since they lost Government - will this one even work? I am looking forward to the next one ;-)

* They have been bagging the Government's NBN plan for a couple of years now.

* None of them actually use broadband for anything much and they clearly still don't *get it*.

* Except perhaps for Malcolm - who has a *Twitter* account - D'oh.

But a much bigger issue is that all this new plan will do is slow down the NBN rollout - and that is probably what they are hoping for because they see the NBN as a threat and are trying to kill it.

Just goes to show that the Coalition is not about looking out for the people and building infrastructure to help the nation advance - they are merely about power and politics and point scoring.

If they manage to kill fast broadband then the smart ones amongst us will get the message and move elsewhere.

The Coalition should change its name to "Delay & Deny" - because that is their dumb little game.

On Yer Bike

So Howard has written a book - and he is appearing on every TV and Radio show that will have him - trying to promote it. Good luck.

Please tell me again why I would want to look at or listen to his feeble little attempt at re-writing history? All designed to make him and his horrible right wing mate’s look a little more acceptable to the people?

It's all so boring and predictable. The man was a waste of space when he was occupying Kirribilli House - and nothing much has changed in that regard since he moved a couple of suburbs up the road.

In fact, I find his appearance on our television screens downright offensive - and won't watch or listen. It would take hours and pages to write about all the shitty things that he did and the resulting impacts on Australians. But I won't do that today.

There is only one substantial thing that remains on my list - everything else has been dulled by the passage of time or been reversed by the current Labor Government. So much for his "Legacy".

That is his "War Mongering". Particularly his sending of Australian's to War in Iraq and Afghanistan - without even a momentary thought for the people or the soldiers or even the Parliament.

If I had my way then he would be bundled off there with a uniform and a rifle and told to fend for himself. Good Luck.

Because it is clear to us all that with his mates "W" and "Bliar", he has created a monster that will take decades to fix - if at all. Wikileaks have shown us the full extent of the nightmare that has resulted from the "War Mongering" of the "Coalition of the Willing" and it ain't pretty folks.

In fact, it is so ugly that the man should hang his head in shame.

Woodside Wingnuts

I am saddened a little by the words and actions of the "Woodside Wingnuts" - and the exploitation of them by the local Liberal MP - all as described here by Grogs Gamut.

This particular phenomenon is the result of a long term assault on the culture of the place and its people - by rich and powerful vested interests.

Including;

* A Premier who prefers "spin" over "substance" - and has done so for a decade or more.

* Encouragement of an insular, self focussed and unreal view of the world - all designed to keep "confidence" up and citizens "spending".

* Using an organisation dedicated to marketing the "benefits" of the state - to the "people" of the state.

* Combined with a major education deficit in the State - resulting in the lowest education achievements in the nation.

* All fanned by 40 plus years of *Murdoch Manufactured Mush* from the daily newspaper.

* Which has resulted in many citizens having a "pig ignorant" view on most issues of substance.

And now we are seeing the result of all this - so why is anyone surprised?

Man Bites Murdoch

Been reading Bruce Guthrie's account of his life as a newspaper man for the past few days - it's been hard to put down. And it is a great read - funny, informative with lots of inside information about Australian newspapers and their people and culture. A review is here.

It's an incestuous and belligerent little industry - dominated by the right wing moguls and their friends and hangers on and bum boys in the Melbourne Club and elsewhere. I am afraid that Melbourne has got a lot to answer for. John Elliott for Christ sake. And Jeff Kennett.

Successive Australian Governments have lost the ability to regulate and control our media - and that is why we have ended up with Prince Rupert force feeding us his world view - through the *numbnut* filters of "Andrew Bolt" and "Chris Mitchell". What sad personal lives these people must have - with their thinking having already been worked out for them?

I think Bruce is a good guy and there may even be more of them out there but this is not an industry that can or will survive in its current form for too much longer.

The post Murdoch world will look significantly different - I just want to be around to celebrate it in style.

Let Me Be Clear...

"Let me be clear: We will vigorously pursue the truth – and we will not tolerate wrongdoing".

D'oh - wonder if he has bothered to tell his Australian Editors about this new plan?

The man is personification of "Portnoy's Complaint" and this speech is a painful reminder that the person who owns and operates 70% of Australian Newspapers is just another right wing *numbnut*

Stealing more Crikey Content

Found this in Crikey today and just had to share it - and you must watch the speech that Adam Bandt made in the Parliament yesterday. Truth is finally meeting Politics head on.

Chris Hunter writes: Re. "Video of the Day: Adam Bandt's speech on Afghanistan" (yesterday, item 8). Adam Bandt's premise that Australia is engaged in Afghanistan because the US asked it to be there serves the Australian argument about involvement but fails to illuminate the big picture question "why is the US in Afghanistan?"

Before the twin towers fell, Osama Bin Laden was asked in an interview what it would take to cease hostilities by his organization against the west, namely the US. His answer was simple enough "The US must get out of Arabia". In short the US must economically decouple from Arabia to avoid future antagonism, such as September 11. Anyone who cares to peruse the Guy Debord literary classic Society of the Spectacle will recognize that the US is the ultimate "spectacle" -- totally hooked on consumption, sickeningly overweight, a grotesque spiritually bankrupt community chewing up world resources alarmingly, with a bevy of willing backslappers such as Australia, Britain, etc.

If the US cannot "survive" without dominating the resources of other countries then it must accept that terror is the price it must pay. And we as its doppelgangers must also pay. If China were to invade Australia for its resources then who would be surprised if Australians fought back, using whatever tactic given the inequality of the fight.

No, I am not endorsing terror. But if the west is seeking a solution then it should be prepared to slim down, demand less, unhook itself from the terrible addiction that has befallen it.

Our politicians have to grow up and get over the fundamental greed that has poisoned their thinking and morally bankrupted our society. Terrorism and economic domination go hand in hand.

We want to live like kings when most of the world goes without and not pay the price? Tut tut.