Plundered
They came from the mountains and the swamps, crawled out of the sky and over the cliff edges, they were here and there and everywhere; and he, a mere fleck in all of this, could barely make sense of any of it, so overwhelming were the number, so overwhelming the force.
The Bible, one of the spiritualists muttered in his sleep, or in a direct message. Who would know, these days? The war in Iran had begun; and he, Old Alex, was instinctively sceptical that any good would come of it at all.
How was it even possible, this madness? How could people be so insane, waste so much money, so much life, so many assets; all squandered in a madness.
Certain people thrive in chaos. Others, perhaps most, go to the wall, or go into hiding.
Here, here this moment with the swirling sky cities and the past and the present; the future historians, almost a common phrase now so transactional was the moment, and they clambered up and clambered into the light, and whispered words of wisdom, let it be, let it be, to quote a song of his youth, but now?
Australia?
Well may you ask, this deeply divided country, riven by the elites and their manufactured concerns, their lies, their insanities, their bleak dishonesties so regularly, glibly repeated. All at the cost of the common man. Or as the phrase went, the working poor.
MAINSTREAM HEADLINES
MICHAEL WEST MEDIA
We’re going to need a bigger boat. Jim Chalmers’ tax reform fishing not serious
Treasurer Chalmers is floating tax reform balloons ahead of the May budget but Michael Pascoe warns he’s fighting the last war. The next one is nuclear.
If a week is a long time in politics, two months before the May budget is an eternity, plenty of time to float balloons to see what gets shot down, or what a timid Prime Minister might be game to risk.
Most of the attention paid to Jim Chalmers’ tax floaters is about how much the capital gains tax discount might be safely pared and whether – be still our beating hearts – the government might touch negative gearing.
CGT reform chorus in fine voice
A Senate committee hearing has been doing a fine job building the case for reducing the CGT discount, enticing a chorus of the great and good to approve the idea and discount the Liberals’ immediate scare campaign about “a tax on housing”.
Too bad it’s a sideshow, a fiddle around the edges of a bigger problem everyone knows about and a much bigger problem again that’s yet to break the surface. I’ll get to that.
The CGT and maybe-NG show is primarily being sold to punters as being about the cost of housing, our key political, social and monetary problem. Every little bit helps but halving the CGT discount or, more likely, trimming it by less than that won’t solve the housing crisis and is not what really interests Treasury.
TOTT NEWS
Queensland plans criminal penalties for use of ‘from the river to the sea’
SKY NEWS
‘The world is better off’: Hegseth lauds US, Israeli strikes on Iran
GUARDIAN AUSTRALIA
https://www.theguardian.com/au
Middle East crisis live: Israel launches new attacks on ‘heart of Tehran’; US fighter planes mistakenly shot down in Kuwait
Iranian strikes hit Saudi and Qatar energy sites; US crew bailed out safely after crash-landing, says Kuwait
THE NIGHTLY
https://thenightly.com.au/
Iranian missiles hit Dubai base where Aussies are stationed
MACRO BUSINESS
https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/
Following the announcement of its East Coast gas reservation policy before Christmas, which plans to force Queensland LNG exporters to divert 15–25% of new supply into the domestic market, the Albanese government held its first formal consultation meeting on the proposed scheme.
According to a report in The Australian, the meeting provided participants with little information about how the scheme would operate in practice, except that “foundational” export contracts are sacrosanct and will be protected.
“Sources briefed on the meeting said officials did not present a settled compliance model, enforcement mechanism or final position on how long-term export contracts would be protected”, reported The Australian. “Instead, they canvassed a wide range of possible design features, leaving attendees unsure whether the government is pressing ahead with a firm blueprint, or is still shaping the architecture”.
SPECTATOR AUSTRALIA
https://www.spectator.com.au/
Pauline, Tribune of the Disillusioned
Importing Islamist radicalism from Cairo to Lakemba
In response to the rise of One Nation in the polls, a consensus among the elites emerged last week: Pauline Hanson had to be stopped. The first reaction was to repeat the tired trope that One Nation is a party of complaint without policies. Yet, One Nation has clear, common-sense policies. Opponents may disagree with them, but instead of debating them, they pretend they do not exist.
An interview on Sky with Sharri Markson offered the coup de grâce. This relates to Pauline’s concern regarding radical Islamism, which leads to outrages like the Bondi Beach attack. A corollary is the problem of ‘good Muslims’ – those who want to assimilate. Why aren’t they in the forefront of defeating radicals, as Ahmed al-Ahmed heroically was at Bondi?
The reason ‘good Muslims’ are normally quiet is obvious: if they dare speak out, they know they will be dealt with.
ABC
Australian memorials for Iran's former leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned
In short:
Memorials and prayer sessions have been held to mourn the death of Iran's former leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Khamenei was killed in US and Israeli air strikes, and had ruled Iran with an iron fist since 1989.
NSW Premier Chris Minns and some Iranian Australians condemned the commemorations in Sydney and Melbourne.
A number of Shiite mosques and Islamic institutions in Sydney and Melbourne are holding public memorials and prayer sessions mourning the death of Iran's former leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The move has been slammed by the NSW premier, Iranian Australian community groups and anti-regime activists.
The Masjid Arrahman in Kingsgrove, Husaineyat Sayeda Zaynab in Banksia and the Arncliffe-based community organisation Flagbearer Foundation were among the Sydney organisations that invited their members to special prayer sessions to honour the ayatollah, who was killed in US and Israeli air strikes on Iran.
They were joined by the El Zahra Islamic Community Centre in Melbourne's Hoppers Crossing, which held a Majlis gathering in commemoration on Sunday night.
A livestream of Sunday night's service at Flagbearers showed Sheikh Mohsen Nassar Al-Aemeli offering condolences on the "martyrdom" of the supreme leader.
"Another red line and a big red line was crossed on this day and this is not the first time that the tyrants and the oppressors crossed a red line like this, where they target the people of knowledge, the carriers of the message of Allah," he said.
In a post to its Instagram page, the Masjid Arrahman invited its members to three consecutive nights of prayer sessions for the ayatollah's "pure soul and for the souls of the martyrs who rose during the American-Israeli aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran".
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