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Costa Rica- between corruption and fundamentalism Discontent with mainstream political parties is leading to bizarre political outcomes, not the least of which is the ascension of Donald Trump to the US presidency. Costa Rica is no exception. On 1 April 2018, Costa Ricans will vote in a run off election between two candidates who share the same surname- Alvarado. One is Carlos, ...
The Leap of Faith- Reza Aslan on ‘God’ Summary: There is either a God who cares about us, or an animating spirit that does not care, or creation is an accident. But the difference between an animating spirit that does not care about us and the accident theory seems negligible. Believing in a “God” that might just as easily be described as “nature’ ...
Sex, consent and harassment in the workplace Barnaby Joyce’s relationship with his now pregnant former staffer has led to calls for the Australian parliament to consider laws banning sexual relationships between politicians and their employees. On 6 February, the US House of Representatives voted to implement such a ban following a slew of sexual harassment claims. The US bill explicitly bans sexual relationships between ...
Tribute to Margret Holding Introduction Thank you for coming. Can I start by thanking Danny’s wife Delia, for doing most of the work to put this event together; thanks Delia. Margret was born in Vienna on 23 April 1932. Her father was Paul. Her mother Ilse had been born in Czechoslovakia. Her parents were secular Austrian Jews. Mum had a memory of seeing ...
Why would a Norwegian worker emigrate to the USA? Donald Trump does not like immigration to the USA from El Salvador, Haiti and African countries. “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” Trump asked at a meeting with congress members at the White House. Trump suggested the USA should instead focus its immigrant entry policy on countries such as Norway. But ...
Did Dastyari have to go? I recently had a disagreement with two well connected ALP friends over Sam Dastyari’s resignation/sacking. They thought Dastyari’s resignation was brought about by a media “witch-hunt” and that he had committed no breach that justified his removal or resignation from Parliament. I thought he had to go. First, let’s understand the South China Sea issue that Dastyari fell into strife ...
The Banks and the Creation of Money Most people believe that the bulk of money in the economy consists of notes and coins, that the government creates most if not all of the new money in the economy and that private banks only lend out money that has been deposited with the bank by the government or other depositors. But none of this is true. Only 3-7% of the money in our ...
Marx- identity politics and economic inequality Even ‘The Economist’ magazine has admitted Karl Marx was right about a good many things- globalization and international markets, the business cycle and the way economics shapes ideas, for example. But Marx’s most basic ideas also seem well founded- production is essential to survival and, in any system of production, human beings inevitably enter into social-economic ...
Trump Health ‘Reform’ Simply Explained Twenty five years ago health expenditures in the USA consumed 5% of GDP. Today that figure is around 17%. No other country comes close to this level of expenditure. In 2015, for example, per capita spending on health in USA was $9451 compared to Australia $4420. The USA pays more per capita for healthcare than any other ...
Random thoughts on the passing of a small animal Lucy, our cat, was a weakling. She was the runt of her Devon Rex litter and Devons are on the runty side to begin with. Plus she had suffered an allergic reaction to a vaccine as a kitten. This left her with a chronic nasal condition. She was a snuffller. When we bought her sister Evie, the breeder asked us to take Lucy as ...
Increasing Inequality The McKinsey Global Institute recently released a report entitled ‘Poorer than their Parents? A new perspective on income inequality’. The report states that “The real incomes of about two-thirds of households in 25 advanced economies were flat or fell between 2005 and 2014.” This is more than 540 million people. This contrasts to the period between 1993 and ...
Left Also Divided on Brexit The issue of Britain’s exit from the European Union divided the British Conservative Party. But the British left was also divided on the issue. The British Labour Party formally supported the ‘remain’ side. But leader Jeremy Corbyn has been criticised for being ambivalent about staying in the EU and for having pulled his punches in campaigning against an exit. Prominent ...
Our success as a species? How can we judge? Introduction Philosophers have considered the nature of existence (metaphysics), whether god exists (religious philosophy), how we can know things (epistemology), how we can lead a good, just or happy life (moral philosophy or ethics) and how societies can best be organised (political philosophy). Scientists, biologists in particular, have considered how species, including our own, are successful in ...
Mossack Fonseca the Tip of a Very Nasty Iceberg Money laundering and tax evasion on a massive scale has been revealed in the leak of more than 11 million documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. The documents show how Mossack Fonseca has helped clients launder money, dodge sanctions and avoid tax. The documents reveal activities by multi-nationals, current or former heads of state, high ...
Market Failure, Inequality and Inefficiency The ALP national platform says the following about markets and market failure: “Markets have fostered abundance and growth that would be inconceivable to previous generations. All markets are structured by legal frameworks, as well as underwritten by public investments in physical and human capital. Markets exist to serve communities and government can and should shape markets ...