OPINION: 'The Blame Game', government and media continue to ignore Aboriginal genocide

The blame game is as old as democracy itself. In the most recent event (closure of a possible 150 remote Aboriginal communities) the government blames the individuals in the community for problems due to lack of funding, but isn't that the same as blaming a child for a bad report card due to poor public school funding.  

So why do politicians spend so much time blaming each other but never themselves, or do politicians just suck at self criticism?

REALITY:

Before this discussion begins there must be some grounding and it's healthy to start with the reality. "White Australia" has control of the land, the law and the implementation of that law. This was generated after the theft of the land an it's resources that we now call Australia.

Prior to this the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander lived for 60,000 years with hundreds of tribes and a complex social system.

OPINION: SBS sports reporter fired for criticising war

This whole issue around SBS sports reporter Scott McIntyre being fired for a comment on twitter is ridiculous and has seriously gotten out of hand.

Unsurprisingly the mass media has failed to grasp how his tweets were not not advocating for Nazi Germany or Imperialist Japan, but rather opposing Australia's role in it, and the continued attempts to glorify the loss of lives as a means to justify future wars and acts of aggression.

If you are looking for Nazi Germany supporters you just missed them, that was what the Reclaim Australia movement was about... although interesting to note no journalists had their jobs threatened for not just commenting, but supporting a racist movement.

OPINION: 'Reclaim Australia' is a sham. This is why.

In the lead up to and following the clashes around Reclaim Australia, a lot of people have been discussing and debating on the internet and in real life about the morality of blocking far-right demonstrations.

And the people who (often with perfectly good liberal intentions) defend the "rights" of the right to march, will often say to people like me (who support a No Platform policy):

"So its alright to protest unimpeded, but only if its for a cause that you support?"

And that's quite a hard accusation to deal with. Essentially one is being accused of defying liberal principles (that "rights" should apply equally regardless of what political position you have) and being hypocritical, because I support blocking their rallies, but would be pissed if they did the same to us.

OPINION: Naomi Klein addresses ECB at Blockupy 2015: "You're vandalism is planetary in scale"

"The fight against austerity and the fight for a safe and stable environment is the same fight and we need to be fighting side by side"

"So I have a special message to the ECB (European Central Bank) today. You are the true vandals, but you work on a much larger canvas. You're vandalism is planetary in scale. You don't set fire to cars, you are setting the world on fire." Naomi Klein stated, as part of the Blockupy 2015 movement against the opening of a new European Central Bank building in Frankfurt, Germany.

While the GFC is almost a decade behind us, Germany with assistance from the Troika (3 financial forces in Europe being, ECB, IMF & EC) continues implementing austerity measures against European allies. Greece most notably recently elected the left wing government 'SYRIZA' after mass opposition grew against the austerity measures implemented against their country that have done nothing to lift Greece out of recession. 

OPINION: Cate Blanchett is an Alien? Apparently.

In an interview on The Project to promote her new film "Cinderella" - in which Cate Blanchett plays the Stepmother - Jonathan Hyla asks quite possibly the most diabolical question. "Serious question", ok that's a good start "how were you able to get that cat to do what you wanted to on a leash? I tried put my girlfriends cat on a leash and it just never works for me."

How indeed Ms Blanchett... you have a lot of explaining to do. That cat walking skill certainly take a certain 'jena se qou' that no other Australian has mastered and must be the highlight of your career.

Cate answers in the only reasonable way possible "That's your question? That's you fucking question?"

Not only was it his question, but the end of the interview.

REPOST: The Warming World: Is Capitalism Destroying Our Planet?

World leaders decided in Copenhagen that global warming should be limited to 2 degrees Celsius. Achieving that target, though, would take nothing less than a miracle. With another round of climate negotiations approaching, it is becoming increasingly clear that mankind has failed to address its most daunting problem.

Humans are full of contradictions, including the urge to destroy things they love. Like our planet. Take Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Like everyone living Down Under, he's extremely proud of his country's wonder of the world, the Great Barrier Reef. At the same time, though, Abbott believes that burning coal is "good for humanity," even though it produces greenhouse gases that ultimately make our world's oceans warmer, stormier and more acidic. In recent years, Australia has exported more coal than any other country in the world. And the reef, the largest living organism on the planet, is dying. Half of the corals that make up the reef are, in fact, already dead.

POLITICS: 5 Ways Data Retention will Silence Journalists & Whistleblowers

The Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment Bill 2014, or 'Data Retention' bill, if passed will be the third installment of sweeping powers granted to Australian intelligence agencies. It will mean that every move you make, every call you take, the government will be watching you.

How then does this ubiquitous data retention impede the role of journalists, specifically investigative journalists and political reporters, and whistleblowers?

Reason 1: Meta Data Theft

Mandatory data retention requires Internet Service Providers (ISP) and Telecom companies to store data for 2 years. 

Does this then pose a risk of being hacked? According to the Executive Officer of Electronic Frontier Australia (EFA), Jon Lawrence, 'yes', responding to questions he stated:

"What this is doing is so comprehensive that the info will be held at many different organisations that have varying levels of security, many of those won't be as sophisticated as Telstra, and even Telstra has security problems. The reality is that this information will be compromised, no question about it."

MOVIE REVIEW: Citizenfour (2014)

Citizenfour
Directed by Laura Poitras
Staring Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald & William Binney

Directed, filmed, and produced by Laura Poirtas, Citizenfour is a documentary about exposing the truth and danger of mass surveillance in our present society. It takes the viewer on a thrilling journey of how the story unfolded away from the spotlight and gives a truly uncensored glimpse at the largest whistle blower in modern history and how it all began.

This is the final documentary in a trilogy made by Laura Poitras post 9/11 and follows on from My Country, My Country (2006) about the Iraq war and terrorism, and The Oath (2010) about Guantanamo.

In 2013 Laura Poitras was contacted by an anonymous source going by the alias 'Citizenfour' claiming to be a senior member of the intelligence community. This alias claimed United States National Security Agency (NSA) Director Keith Alexander lied to congress "which I can prove".

What followed next, led to Citizenfour.

POLITICS: Leaked documents reveal global tax evasion is rife within the UK's largest bank HSBC

#SwissLeaks relating to HSBC brings systemic tax evasion into the spotlight in Australia and around the world.

Green Left Weekly reported on how the leaks effect Australia, but of course the financial industry and corporations do not restrict themselves to country boarders.

POLITICS: Australia ranks 25th in Press Freedom

Reporters Without Boarders: 2015 World Press Freedom Index

Australia (25th) came in at almost half that of the US (49th) as ranked by 'Reporters Without Boarders' (RWB), however countries like Ghana (22nd), Namibia (17th) and New Zealand (6th) show there is still a long way to go.

Before we start, let's take a step back for a second and ask, what does "press freedom" actually mean. Freedom of the press is supposed to give a voice to the voiceless and hold the government to account. It means being bold, daring and taking on challenging stories domestically and internationally. At a time when technology is connecting us our press seems to be disconnecting us.

COMMENT: Propaganda, it's the American way!

I have known for a while that pretty much everyone on TV is American corporate propaganda, that entices you into materially and intellectually consume you way to an early grave.

There is a moment however when you truly grasp the bullshit you have been watching your entire life. I finished watching Good Game tonight, yes I am a massive gamer (as much as I have time for). I finished watching it and start talking to friends. I flicked the channels and "NCIS: LA" was on. I have to say at this point, before I became politically active about 2 years ago, these kind of shows were part of my regular viewing, my entertainment if you will.

POLITICS: Libspill, ego's and education... where does higher education fall?

Students might be excused for thinking that higher education reforms are obsolete like [Prime Minister Tony] Abbott and the LNP are at the next election. While #libspill came to a conclusion with the Liberal Party standing behind the current Prime Minister, albeit narrowly, the alternative is not much better.

The question students, activists and wider community need to answer is how the failed liberal spill, education reforms and ego's in our politicians impact our national education system.

MOVIE REVIEW: Rosewater (2014)

Written for the screen by Jon Stewart, 'Rosewater' is a movie set in Iran about the ever present danger of an unaccountable government.

While this movie focuses on the Iranian government, it also reflects back on the Australian, American, New Zealand and British governments. While the Australian government champions freedom of the press around the world, celebrating the release of journalist Peter Gresta, they simultaneously subvert liberties and silence dissent. No more is this obvious than in the recently passed legislation that criminalises journalists, for 10 years, who publish “special intelligence operations”.

Most governments would like you to believe the threat to democracy is some far off distant concept, but it couldn't be further from the truth. No politician has been held accountable for the illegal invasion of Iraq and subsequent deaths of thousands, tens of thousands of innocent people. No politician has been held accountable for torture in GITMO. No politician has been help accountable for the ubiquitous surveillance unleashed by the NSA and five eyes which Australia is privy too.

POLITICS: Defeat for LNP in Queensland state election

NOTE: To be updated when final election results are available.

Post by March Australia - Brisbane.

In a huge swing election with help from the Greens, the ALP look like they will either secure enough seats to form government or fall just short and create a hung parliament. Either option, it is a massive outcome for all of Queensland that voted against the Newman government. They put an end to a government suspected of widespread corruption that took them back to the Joh years and the Fitzgerald inquiry. While not identical, a quick look back shows the sheer arrogance of the Newman government:

• Severe cuts to the public sector
• Undermined and insulted the judicial sector
• Threatened the health sector

POLITICS: South Brisbane candidates make final preperations for State Election.

Days before the QLD state election 3 candidates for the seat of South Brisbane attend a politics in the pub session.

All candidates, aside from the LNP, attended the meeting to discuss policies.

The night was organised by West End Community Association (WECA) in association with the local newspaper "The Westender".

The candidates are Karel Boele (Independent), Jonathan Sri (Greens) and Jackie Trad (Labor)

MOVIE REVIEW: American Sniper (2015)

Clint Eastwoods 'American Sniper' is a movie with two clashing stories. The first about a soldier in the army (i.e. the movie). The second about war and terrorism (i.e. the discussion).

 

Where the movie fails is by not explaining these issues two topics. As a result leaving the viewer is left to make up their own mind of whether the action of the soldier should be applauded. Of course, for many Australians the view of the American soldier fighting for freedom while their corporations exploit the worlds resources and government remain highly corrupted, is laughable.