Politics is a dirty word

The JaguarRover classic car company has pulled off a coup with its electric E Type being used by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle after their wedding at Windsor. The company plans to retro-fit existing E Types with electric drive trains. turning them into E Type Zeros. It is expected that the company will manufacture new versions of the E Type fitted with electric power plants. Enquiriues have already started flowing in.

The Boards and management teams of the ABC and SBS have been negligent in their duties by wasting taxpayers money in sending celebrity presenters to cover the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle when both organisations already have reporting staff in the UK and Europe. Commercial tv channels only have to answer to their shareholders. But the ABC and SBS are misusing funds allocated by Government. It seems doubly strange that both organisations appear to support the concept of Australia becoming a republic but now are falling over themselves to present a royal spectacle.

Former Federal Treasurer Peter Costello was right when he said that most of us will be dead before Australia’s fiscal debt is paid off. At over half a trillion dollars the current Government must shoulder much of the responsibility because despite its rhetoric About good economic management and fiscal responsibility, debt has climbed steadily under its slack control. The latest budget does nothing to inspire confidence that politicians and treasury officials have the will or the ability to drive down debt. There are claims that the budget will return to surplus – but that seems to be a faint hope as the Treasurer is still addicted to spending.

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.