NewsPlentyFlaw doesn’t have the same ring…

edit: sleepy me misread ADF as AFP

Preferential voting is a huge step further than most other Western countries. Huge. To the point where states using FPTP should seriously hesitate in calling themselves democratic at all.

Yes, but you might be shocked at how many people discuss this kind of thing on Facebook, Whatsapp, and other US corporate-owned platforms (note: PRISM, and 5EYES, along with the basic class interests of such companies)

These places still exist, although admittedly they’re further from the spotlight and many were sapped by mainstream general-purpose platforms. But there are thousands of them around for those who care to look. I don’t even think it’s a stretch to say we’re on one, community hosted by Aussies for Aussies.

Another prime example of this is the false equivalence media often draws between fascism and antifascism, simplifying it down to “both of them sometimes use violence”. (anyone who cares enough to look will notice that violence is a rare, and never preferred, antifascism tactic)

Luckily there are a few semi-mainstream and occasionally mainstream outlets who don’t fall for this nonsense.

I completely agree. In fact, some of the best work I see are from tiny volunteer groups like Food Not Bombs, who literally won’t accept money (I’ve tried - my schedule doesn’t align with volutneering).

The Epstein saga was one more case of it becoming clearer and clearer that the status quo, normal, is unacceptable.

There are hundreds more problems where profitable industries, everything from non-renewable energy companies to car companies to dairy to lawn care to plastics to drugs to gambling and so many more use their weight to fund ways to downplay change. And this works because mainstream news sources (generally speaking) are complicit. Every time they pick a think tank prop as the ‘expert’, this is direct propaganda.

Yes, Channels 7, 9 and 10 can be bought out. They are for-profit broadcasters, and quite frankly it’s shameful to be watch any of them now that there’s such a rich, freely-available and accessible world of alternatives. Obviously other broadcasters have their own inherent biases, but a channel owned my major stock owners and paid for by advertisers has direct anti-social results.

The list of ways they can actually help are endless, they just don’t want to actually do any of them - they just want you to think they want to help.

This part is absolutely correct. A social billionaire is a direct contradiction.

The idea of billionaires self-regulating is utopian - if they were willing to do this without external coercion, they would already be doing it. At least something like a tax can be enforced, but even then, like you said, politicians who make laws are in the pockets of the owning class. We’d need a radical overhaul of the whole rotten system to be able to enforce any seriously important financial law on them.

That said, creating charities and aid isn’t a bad idea, it would be far better for them to support ones which already exist and are struggling. And it’s particularly difficult to trust billionaire claims of being charitable when so many already perform investment and other financial activity under the guise of philanthropism. Supporting grassroots aid efforts rather than building charities from scratch would demonstrate legitimacy. And like you said, there is no legitimacy in these claims.

Exactly

Something like this happened in Australia, with the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism being Jillian Segal, whose husband is a major donor to a right-wing think tank.

Gillian called out every little thing anti-Zionist thing they could imagine about pro-Palestine protests, while consistently ignoring white supremacists and even self-declared neo-Nazis, including the time they gave explicitly anti-Jewish speeches in public in front of NSW Parliament, holding up a banner saying “Abolish the Jewish Lobby”.

https://theklaxon.com.au/jillian-segal-misleads-senate-over-neo-nazis/

Even if you think it means to evict/kill all Jews in the land (which many people don’t mean when they say it), banning free speech threatens democracy itself, if people can be restricted from criticising unjust governments or policies.

Banning genocide advocacy, like suggesting people in a place should be killed because they are Jewish, really does not threaten democracy. Nor do anti-racism laws in general (the problem is that hate laws are being abused to include states like the Zionist Regime).

And of course, as we both know, this is just a hypothetical: the chant obviously isn’t anti-Jewish.

Yes.

(On the bright side, comments like that show just how blatant and out of touch the cops are, to a point where even those with faith in the police are starting to see what happens on the ground and can no longer find excuses. Moments of escaping a media filter bubble is often an early step towards changing ones own political worldview. So, while this event was horrible, I’m optimistic that it’s thrown away the curtains and shown clear unprovoked state + police violence on display to those who wouldn’t have otherwise seen it)

If you want a crazierfuckingvideo, look what happened when the coppers came across some Muslims in the middle of prayer, including some of the protest organisers in yellow.

Edit: see it at https://aussie.zone/post/29490599

Unfortunately reddit is the only source I can find right now: https://www.reddit.com/r/sydney/comments/1r00oj1/nsw_police_assaulted_muslims_praying_peacefully/

Amazing how big the list of protest locations has gotten. I wonder what impact this will have in the places outside of major cities. I hope this makes it easier for those out in the sticks to network and fight for change.

Correct. They’re wearing a White nationalist symbol and their speech left no room for imagination, no hiding behind soft language this time.

It’s what this rally aims to do and then does every single time with their “Open Mic” segment: have a Nazi plant speak openly, then pretend it’s just a regular member of the public and not the views of the event (despite using the Nazi organisations podium and megaphone and using them as uniformed marshals).

I reckon you’re right, I didn’t hear any complaining this year about the Triple J Top 100 being on a different date.

I agree, just let people lay in peace. Don’t embalm them, bury them in a wooden box or burn them up. It’s a waste, and insane that people still continue to do it.

It’s possible to celebrate what a nation has become without celebrating what they’ve done.

A nation’s actions are a direct result of what the nation is. And many of the shameful actions of Australia are ongoing.

I love this land, I love many, many people here, and I love many of the things we’ve created together. But I have no desire to celebrate this nation as it stands. I feel no more kinship with someone on the other side of the country to someone on the other side of the world - we are all fellow humans. I treat visitors and immigrants with the same respect I give local citizens. For the many positive parts of Australian culture, I spot as many negatives.

But even all that aside, if you want to celebrate the positive parts and ignore the negative… it’s embarrassing to plaster the United Kingdom flag everywhere. Green and gold > red, white and blue.

I knew before I clicked that some good options would have legal blocks, although it’s good to see that green cemeteries exist in most states, even if they’re currently sparse.

I just want to feed some plants and animals when I’m gone. Is that too much to ask?

It’s disappointing to see that the organ donation options seem to default to wasteful options. Although it would have been nice if the article author reached out to the university to clarify if green options are available, as it may simply be unlisted and in the hands of the family to organise.