Politics is a dirty word

Discussions between Kim Jong Un and South Korea’s President have been widely welcomed by the international community. It remains to be seen whether or not President Trmp can build on the new relationship when he meets with the North Korean leader. There needs to be a deal of thought into what is meant by the de-nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. Will the world be any safer if Kim Jong Un sells or gives his nuclear arsenal to an ally – such as Pakistan, Iran, South Africa or Zimbabwe?

There have been no real surprises uncovered by the Royal Commission into the banking and superannuation industries. It has been known for years that financial advisers provide advice that benefits the adviser rather than the client. Federal Governments allowed this to happen by failing to to ensure that the financial regulator, ASIC had a proper oversight of the industry. The regulator has a cosy relationship with the industry and successive governments endorsed it.Bank executives and board members should be made accountable - as should bureaucrats and politicians who sat on their hands while all this was going on in plain sight.

The US seems to be working overtime to start the third world war. Trump doesn't care if it's over Syria, North Korea, China or Russia - he just wants a fight. The latest American outrage over Syria is an example of not thinking things through. He and his Generals don't want to accept that Russia has developed sophisticated electronic waqrfare systems. It will be relatively simple to disrupt US missile attacks to the point where the missiles could land anywhere.Won't it be interesting for the US to conduct a strike on Israel?Another they have miscalculated is that the next world war will involve combat at home - something t hey haven't experienced since the Civil War. It's all very well stamping around the world killing people, but they it will be too late for second thoughts with the Russians, Chinese and North Koreans sweeping down from the North and South American forces marching north.

The Us seems prepared to go ahead with threats to launch missile strikes against Syria, even though no evidence has been presented to establish that the Syrian regime launched a chemical attack – and anyway, where were the weapons obtained – mostly from Western arms dealers, the US, UK and France. The arms trade has been a lucrative business for these countries who regard themselves as civilised, many of those weapons find their way into the arsenals of terrorist groups. If an attack is launched, Russia has said it will shoot down the US missiles and may strike the launch sites. Many in America think that is just empty talk but Russia has been working for decades on missile defence systems. It has already deployed S21 and S22 defence missiles in Syria and is reported to have an S 400 Triumf interceptor system in place with long range capabilities. It may also have satellite weapons systems operational to bring down cruise missiles.

The fuss over the Lidell power station is a direct result of the New South Wales Government selling the asset to AGL. If it was still owned by the Government, decisions would be easier to make. It was the same in Victoria after Premier Kennett privatised the State Electricity Commission – including the Hazelwood power station. Short term financial gain resulted in negative long term consequences for the community – a usual result of Government incompetence. Politicians are unable to grasp the concept of long term impacts and consequences. ‘Pie in the sky’ calls for the Federal Government to invest billions of dollars in building new coal fired power stations will achieve nothing but more debt for the country. Even if they were built, a future Government would sell them to private enterprise.But there is an argument that Australians may as well have the benefit of power generation from our coal, If the coal is sold and burned overseas we are contributing to world carbon pollution. It ...

The furore over Australian cricketers tampering with a cricket ball in South Africa should take no-one by suprise. Certainly it was cheating, unethical and just plain wrong. No question that everyone involved should never play cricket again. But the incident was a reflection of the dire state of Australia’s culture and values.It seems that almost everyone here thinks they have a right to have "more". Corruption and disrespect is rife in our financial systems, politics and bureaucracy. Just listen to parliamentary question time and hear the lack of respect our politicians have for each other - why should we have any for them!Politicians rort the system without a second thought. Cricketers are just rich bullies and thugs with an overwhelming sense of self-importance and entitlement (just like many others in our society).The fundamental probledm is that cricket was designed as a game for gentlemen and since game was monetized by people like Kerry Packer, there are no gentlemen ...

I agree with Paul Mason in his book 'Post capitalism' that our current economic system is unable to adapt.The digital revolution is ripping up the 'business as usual' rule book. The history of Western industrial development, economic theory, the labour movement and the evolution of technology serve as the foundation for Mason’s principal thesis: that capitalism itself is breaking up on the rocks of technological innovation, giving way to new political and economic movements. As he says, “capitalism has reached the limits of its capacity to adapt”.