shirro

@shirro@aussie.zone

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Some NSW police are now armed with military-style rifles. And they could be deployed to protests⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  In this case it isn’t the Americanisation of NSW police. It is the Isrealification. Some might say there isn’t much difference.

  There was an abhorrent attack on Jewish people at Bondi. Australian’s reject political violence and were shocked by this incident. We do not want this bullshit in our county. Unfortunately ZIonists used the incident to push their political agenda down our throats. Jewish people do have some legitimate fears but this country is not a war zone and we should not behave like one.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Antisemitism envoy urges visa holder checks, mask ban and ABC, SBS changes⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  I wish the ALP would prioritize governing for the benefit of regular Australians a bit more. Come out to your electorates and talk to your voters instead of hand out positions and power to people like Segal or Inman Grant to make decisions impacting our lives with no mandate from Australian voters. It is a cop out and these conservative appointments have fuck all to do with the reasons we elected Labor or the things we are still waiting for Labor to deliver.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anti-government violence is growing. The response needs to be more than just increased policing⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I have been down libertarian and anarchist paths and in the end I want to live in a society where we are least likely to suffer at the hands of despots. There is no realistic path away from democratic society that doesn’t return us ultimately into the hands of kings and warlords. Democracy is imperfect but it’s the best chance we have to live the lives we want.

  Not opposed to Marxist critiques of capitalism but left and right, authoritarians and anarchists both form a horseshoe. The end game for either tends to be a single party state controlled through force by a corrupt elite.

  Social democracy or democratic socialism can both be made to work. Libertarianism and syndicalism deny human nature and experience.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anti-government violence is growing. The response needs to be more than just increased policing⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  In Australia we generally view government as our servants not masters. We don’t elect a tyrant to rule us. We elect a local member who we can meet and talk to and ask for help with problems.

  I disagree with my local member’s politics but I don’t regard him as a bad person or someone out to get me.

  I really don’t understand this. Any group of people living together inevitably creates rules and governance to serve their common interests. How are the roads going to be maintained and garbage collected without people contributing money into a pool and electing someone to administer it.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Greens senator takes leave amid allegations of inappropriate behaviour⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The fact that this is being dealt with under Shoebridge while it was possibly known under di natale, bandt and waters isn’t a bad thing for Shoebridge’s leadership.

  His bigger problem is that we aren’t going to forget the Ukraine comments. He needs to address that as it is a line in the sand for a lot of people.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨‘Don’t burn your bridges’: Shoebridge warns Ukrainian community over military aid⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I know it is existing and outdated Green’s policy that Shoebridge is defending but they need to take it back to the party and bring themselves into line with the european greens. The world has changed and the Greens need to catch up.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨"We're building an army:" Angry anti-renewable groups take to city streets ahead of state election⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  A small group of useful idiots fighting someone else’s battles instead of their own.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The Greens’ defence red lines: No weapons for Ukraine, curtail the US alliance⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Yeah, it sucks. They won’t wake up until they find themselves marching alongside One Nation and worse chanting support for Putin’s genocide. Perhaps not even then. They are the only environment, climate, social justice party of any substance and experience and they are still well worth a vote but they are stupidly naive on some issues. They need a long sit down with the German greens and a frank talk about Putin and Afd.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨News Corp does away with council reporters and replaces them with AI. The results? As you might expect. | Media Watch⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  At least their spelling and grammar might improve. News Corp is such a low bar for replacement with LLMs. All you need is an inbox full of press releases and a prompt to selectively quote from them, giving extra glow ups to anything politically or economically aligned with the owners.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨An OpenAI agent hacked Medicare. Will anyone be held responsible?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  AI does not exist. It is just a bunch of numbers and code. We need to stop anthropomorphizing stuff. We are adults, not kids watching Disney animations. A talking parrot is not a person. Cars don’t run over people. Drivers do. Ultimately there is always a person responsible and if they did harm judge them on whether it was intentional or negligent.

  Please push back on this bullshit. It was bad enough that we went with the auto manufacturers line on car “accidents” for years.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anthony Albanese says OpenAI agent hacked Medicare and he expressed ‘extreme concern’ to Sam Altman⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Our intelligence agencies keep warning about Chinese hackers but then hand over all our data to foreign companies for their economic and political advantage. Its fucking traitorous how we give up our sovereignty. Then despite other countries having their hooks deep into us they just blatantly attack our infrastructure. This on top of the massive foreign influence campaigns they conduct through social media that stir up dangerous extremism. It is a joke. If the government wants us to take threats from China seriously (and we should) we have to come clean about the amount of intelligence gathering and influence from countries.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Paul Keating says Aukus locking Australia into a US war against China, which it would ‘certainly lose’⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  We are all so captured by US cult

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨'Proud to be a houso': Anthony Albanese condemns Hanson's remarks on late mother⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Public housing started changing in the 80s I think when a lot of it was sold off and it became welfare housing. Remember his mother died in 2002. For most of her life public housing was affordable housing for working families.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨'Proud to be a houso': Anthony Albanese condemns Hanson's remarks on late mother⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Public housing in Australia was simple affordable housing owned by the state and rented at affordable rates to working families, filling a gap that wasn’t being served by the private sector. It wasn’t a privilege or a gift anymore than public schools, hospitals, roads or police. As policies and funding changed over the years perceptions of public housing changed. It became scarcer, trashier and stigmatized. I am not sure what your point is if you have one.

  Public housing was a very good thing that we walked away from because of this us vs them bullshit. It increased supply and put downward pressure on pricing. No wonder the landlords hated it and lobbied against it.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨'Proud to be a houso': Anthony Albanese condemns Hanson's remarks on late mother⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  I had an aunty with rheumatoid arthritis and I knew it was incredibly debilitating but I didn’t see her much and never really understood until I saw it hit my not so old wife. It is really fucking scary and a lot more than just joint pain. Fortunately she got to a specialist and on treatments that have it more or less under control but a lot of them wouldn’t have been around in the past and once joint damage is done it is permanent.

  Public housing didn’t used to be only for people on welfare, at least not over here in South Australia. It might have been different interstate. When the Liberal and Country League established it here 90 years ago it was affordable accommodation for working families to help industrialize the state. South Australia was always struggling economically against the biggest states and had to work harder and smarter to attract industry and workers. A worker might be ok with lower pay if rent was more affordable. Playford accelerated the industrialisation post WW2. People living in housing trust homes were making Holden, Chrysler, vehicle parts, whitegoods etc and while the homes were basic, the shit they had in England or wherever they came from wasn’t great either.

  I think the idea that public housing is a scarce resource for people who can’t or won’t work is a modern invention. It was supposed to be affordable housing, with no judgements. Anyway she was disabled with a severe chronic disease so likely didn’t have a lot of choices.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Alarming AI ads are flooding social media in the lead-up to Victoria’s election. But who is behind them?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Ads might be traceable but they are the tip of the iceberg for social media influence. It is almost impossible to know who is behind the memes and comments coming from foreign operations.

  Many social media posts of Australian politics don’t even originate in Australia and could be sponsored by literally anyone and are completely unchecked and unregulated. Foreign owned social media is a tool of political and economic destabilization.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨A 'huge' trade-off: One Nation's pitch for cheaper cigarettes⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  One Nation aren’t the answer but the government isn’t too smart with the way they are handling the tobacco black market. They have enormous power between legal enforcement and setting the rate of taxation to cyclically fuck over the black market in a huge way.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Albanese government rejects all UN recommendations on improving LGBTQIA+ rights⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Such recommendations need to go to the states/territories in our federal system. For instance conversion therapy is banned in SA, NSW, ACT, Vic. So the recommendations on that should go shit state/territories like WA, Tasmania and NT. Any attempt by the federal govt to legislate outside of its constitutionally defined powers would have to survive a high court challenge. The external affairs power worked for the Franklin dam but that was a specific set of circumstances.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Fred gambled away his inheritance. He says Labor's betting ad reforms don't go far enough⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  It takes two. A sucker and someone to take advantage of them. The government can’t do much about stupid people doing stupid things. Often there are underlying mental issues like depression etc I think. We don’t really want to be ruining peoples lives even more for being addicts as has happened with the war on drugs. There is a limit to what governments can do though. People do need to take some responsibility for being fuck ups but we don’t have to make it easy for the predators.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Under a real democracy nobody would be listening to her and she wouldn’t be a threat to our peace and prosperity.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Australia 'relies on immigration' and restricting numbers could backfire, government warns⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Immigration numbers aren’t pulled out of a hat. There are a lot of factors like skill shortages, demographics etc taken into account. We could reduce numbers but we would need to do it carefully and plan for the consequences.

  One Nation’s concern about immigration is entirely a dog whistle for racial intolerance.

  For shits and giggles the govt should announce a return of White Australia policy and doubling the intake and watch ON implode. Of course bringing out 10 bob poms to work in factories is fucking hopeless now we have shut them all down. What are they going to come here for? The skin cancer?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨'Disgusted': Albanese, Gillard condemn 'Ditch the Witch' campaign targeting Allan⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  It is more nuanced than just misogyny. It is targeted vilification for political purposes. The incitement is hidden behind social media sock puppets and the crazies so it can’t be traced back to anyone but I reckon a lot of politics these days operates two campaigns - the official regulated old media stuff and an unregulated underground shadow campaign.

  It is rare for people to dislike Hanson because she is a woman or in her 70s. Arguably its irrelevant to the politics she espouses. Women inside the Liberal party were copping a lot of shit inside the party but outside the attacks were relatively benign compared with the shit aimed at Gillard. I swear GamerGate hyping up the lame man-o-sphere during Clinton’s run was not a coincidence either.

  So yeah, attacking people on shit like this is weak and pathetic and easily dismissed by anyone with half a brain. But straight forward emotional appeals clearly have an impact with more ignorant voters and its a very cost effective ploy to appeal to a prejudice to sway a voter.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨One Nation wants to roll back abortion rights in Australia – and is emboldening activists seeking US-style laws⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Hanson is 72 years old. She wasn’t a particularly effective politician or leader even when she was younger. The collapse of the Liberal party has created an opportunity and the opportunists are climbing onboard a party with some momentum and billionaire backing that lacks the discipline or structure to enforce it’s identity and aims, such that they are.

  These people will do to ON what they did to the Liberal party, destroy it from the inside. It is my opinion that similar dynamics is why the Libs got wiped out in SA. They turned their back on the broadly popular moderate politics of Marshall and opted instead for extremist Christian identity politics. Having their pick speed run Christian cosplayer to convicted drug supplier didn’t help.

  In my opinion Hanson does not seem particularly religious (or perhaps at all) and I suspect opening the doors to the Christian fascist types is more a means to an end when it comes to re-establishing White Australia or grifting more money and power than anything to do with her personal convictions.

  If Hanson retains any control of her party she might seek to dump the lot of them if they start tanking her popularity. This isn’t the US.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Polling suggests one nation preferred over labor, negative perceptions and low awareness of budget blamed.⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  People have left reliable reporting and information sources behind and only subscribe to brain melting propaganda feeds which trivialize and distort.

  Emotional appeals such as ragebait and doomerism increase engagement and soc media platforms are all engagement farms. It is a combination of the algorithmic nature of those platforms promoting this sort of content and organizations that create content aimed at increasing societal division and undermining trust in government and institutions. As people are getting emotional manipulation in place of information it just naturally carries over into everyday conversation I guess as it fires them up.

  I admit I don’t follow the news like I did either. I would watch ABC/SBS news, longer form news/current affairs on the same platforms, multiple newspapers. I tend to just skim some web pages these days or find out about stuff because it gets mentioned here. I am much less informed than I was 20 years ago but with the media environment the way it is now I wouldn’t want to consume as much as I once did.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Former prime minister Tony Abbott elected unopposed as Liberal Party president⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Nailing the coffin shut.

  Abbott and co played their part in the purge of moderate so-called small l liberals and now they are a minor party that unsurprisingly fails to represent the broad interests of centre right voters.

  You can hate the ALP right for keeping public schooling down to look after religious schools, backing socially conservative policies, neo-liberal economics increasing the wealth divide, an erosion of workers rights and govt services, anti environmental policies and being the mates of big business and foreign lobbies. But they keep the ALP relevant to a wider range of voters than a socialist workers party ever could and keep them in government. The Libs had breadth and a huge brand and they chose to give it up because they couldn’t see the big picture.

  Now someone on the right might as well go for ON or a teal or perhaps even the ALP. Dumbarses.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Farrer presents One Nation as a genuine electoral threat rather than just a protest - ABC News⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Agreed but lots of dumbarses think we live in a two party system and when the Libs disappeared from their feeds the “never-labor” crowd could only see one choice. Blame the liberal party for shitting the bed.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨U.S. Pushes Allies to Chase a New Terrorism Target: The Far Left⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  That would be the majority of US citizens. Pity the dumb fucks don’t bother voting.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Fuel shortages set to drive up food prices across Australia⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  What are your citizens going to do with that that they could not have done already?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Fuel shortages set to drive up food prices across Australia⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Cut every US subscription you have. Netflix, Disney, Adobe, Microsoft. Don’t use their ad supported service either. Meta, Google.

  Don’t go to the cinemas and watch their movies. Don’t buy their books. Don’t vote for the people they tell you to vote for (PHON).

  Send them a message and keep your money in your pocket at the same time.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Pauline Hanson censured over remarks there are no 'good Muslims'⁩ ⁨⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  The nation is a federation of states used for convict transport and one colonized by free settlers. And although it is a blind spot for the Poms, then and now, there were people here before they arrived.

  The convict states are mostluy proud of their heritage. Highly recommend a visit to Port Arthur… A lot of the convicts were victims of prejudice and poverty., The people who come off worst in Australia’s history by far are the English who sent their poor and the Irish here to use as forced labour, committed genocide on the native people, nuked service people and traditional owners, and sent our young to die in Gallipoli.

  Everything this country has done and continues to do to redress the shit legacy of the british empire reflects well on us.