Issue 109: 6 Oct to 12 Oct 2022
HEAT AND RECESSION
How the US is unleashing a recession on the world
Mike Seccombe | The Saturday Paper
The power of the American dollar is driving up interest rates in Australia, as the Reserve Bank continues its unfounded approach to cutting inflation.
How the US, not just Russia, helped bring the world closer to nuclear war
Tom Plate | Pearls and Irritations
It is very hard to imagine the full extent of an unprecedented catastrophe until the blow-up happens in front of you. The predictions of loss from a nuclear war range from regional obliteration to planetary catastrophe
Australia, we need to talk about tax
Rachel Clun | The Age/SMH
The government has a problem with the r-word. No, not recession. I’m talking about revenue….Bernie Fraser pointed out Australians expect high-quality services, which makes spending cuts difficult, and any savings from axing Coalition programs would be minimal. “The government … has to have access to revenues to be able to follow through and develop those reforms that it’s proposing to make,”
Yes, the heat is coming off the housing market. But it wasn’t just on fire last year – it was burning uncontrolled
Greg Jericho | The Guardian
While there has been a very big drop in the value of home loans, the actual amount being loaned remains well above where it was before the pandemic.
The myth of fair trade
Lily Campbell | Red Flag
Even [fair trade] certification itself has become a commodity subject to market competition. In the race to compete with its global chocolate rivals, Mondelez has since found a cheaper way to paper over its involvement in slavery, establishing the in-house fair-trade certification CocoaLife. With even less accountability than Fairtrade, CocoaLife allows Mondelez the same cover for the same crimes, at a cut price
SECRETS AND LIVES
Exposed: “The most extensive case of covert pro-western information operation on social media”
Peter Cronau | Declassified Aus
Declassified Australia is publishing here a detailed analysis of the remarkable report by Stanford University’s Internet Observatory (SIO) and network analysis firm Graphika, released on August 24, into a covert online propaganda operation said to be the world’s largest promoting ‘pro-Western narratives’ …. operating primarily out of the United States, targeting Russia, China, and Iran.
Optus Hack just tip of the iceberg. FinTechs harvest bank details and passwords, can sell them too
Manal al-Sharif | Michael West Media
Australian FinTech companies collect your bank customer registration number and your password to access your bank accounts; and they keep that access even if you no longer use their services.
The rise of ADHD in the 21st century
Guy Rundle | Crikey
A new set of guidelines about diagnosing and treating ADHD is being treated as a world standard. But there are still questions about the condition that must be asked
A POSITIVE POLITICS: COMMUNITY INDEPENDENTS AND THE NEW WAVE OF POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT
Lesley Howard, Dennis Ginnivan | Arena Quarterly
Current discussions about a revolution in politics—a teal wave, or, if you believe some commentators, a teal tsunami coming to engulf us at every level of politics, rather miss the point. Behind every community independent is an independent-minded community of people who are prepared to support them.
PROTESTS, STRUGGLES, FIRST PEOPLES
Despite shortcomings, campaigners celebrate scrapping of Indue cashless welfare card
Alex Salmon | Green Left
Spirits High At Knaupf picket for workplace agreement
Chris Slee | Green Left
Statement on Iran: This cry is not a lament – it is the cry of a courageous popular uprising
ICOR | Vanguard