Quick Quips: What’ll We Lose First, Money or Sanity?

15/07/2019

• As if anyone cared what her opinion was, Pauline Hanson has pitched in on the Uluru climbing debate. She doesn’t see the ‘cultural sensitivity’ seeing as people ‘have been climbing’ it for years. Reality check – yes, it has been a culturally sensitive issue all those years too, but finally Indigenous voices are being listened to. Just don’t climb Uluru – it’s that simple.
• Can the media please stop asking Hanson what she thinks?
• For Australians talking about ‘raiding Area 51’, we have a perfectly good US intelligence base near Alice Springs that could do with some dismantling.

• The billions of dollars spent on submarines may be a complete waste – not just because they are a complete waste of money, but because the submarines may be obsolete by the time they are rolled out. We put on a tough demeanour for defence, but realistically Australia would be screwed if we were actually invaded.
• What we could succeed in is exporting renewable technology and electricity. I’ve long believed we could be a force for good in the climate crisis, backing projects that see our emissions drop while still benefiting the economy (for those only concerned about monetary value). Given that our role in worsening climate change is greater than our government would have us believe, it would be good to see our exports transition from fossil fuels to renewables tech.
• Trump’s racially charged rant against Democratic Congresswomen of colour rightfully received the ire of most people. The very words he used to describe the governments of countries he told them to go back to, “complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all)”, could be thrown right back at his Administration. It’s also telling that he targeted just progressive women of colour – a triumvirate bound to give him nightmares, I’m sure.
• At least those women were properly elected to their positions – something the President cannot claim.
• The International Federation of Red Cross/Crescent in Africa has confirmed the first case of the Ebola virus in Goma, a DR Congo city of over 2 million people, placing it on alert.
• Amazon workers in Germany are going on strike to fight for fairer wages. Amazon, the second company to reach the $1 trillion mark, has been under fire for years and across the globe for its treatment of workers. I have written before about why I boycott Amazon – I still hold that anyone concerned with such blatant corporate greed should do the same.
• Sally McManus asked people on Twitter why they joined Unions. While the responses that came in varied, there was one theme that stayed true throughout – the idea of being a collective. The ability to band together as workers, as a community, as a group of individuals with a vested interest in each other’s success and living standards, willing to fight to achieve it.
• Tensions between China and the US rise further after China held military drills near Taiwan, attempting to enforce their rule over the small island country. The US has long supported an independent Taiwan, with independent simply meaning anti-Beijing and pro-US. If I were in Taiwan, I’d be concerned about being caught in the middle of a potentially dangerous conflict.
• A friend of mine spent over $600 at the dentist last month. Another friend, who had insurance, paid just under $200. If Medicare was properly funded, and dental care was added to it – which could’ve been done about 3 times over with the money spent on the recent tax cuts – then people who couldn’t afford insurance and/or be able to save up heaps of money might just be able to get the medical care they require.
• Why does the AFP need the fingerprints of ABC journalists? This whole investigation, from the raid on the ABC HQs, to the acquisition of travel records for the journalists in question, to the revelation that the AFP wanted their fingerprints – is there any more doubt at all that the ABC, and press freedom in general, is under attack? The government is using the AFP to criminalise reporting.

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