One of the finest young classical music interprets. Deutsche Grammophon surely did well by giving him a recording contract.

“When he speaks at functions, Scott Morrison routinely pays tribute to present and past members of the Australian Defence Force.

It seems a very American thing to do.

But he is also putting the military on an extremely high pedestal. When some of those on that pedestal are found to have done appalling things, the shock is doubly great.

For many Australians, looking back on a history of war heroism, it will be hard to take in what the investigation by Justice Paul Brereton has found: 25 current or former soldiers, from the special forces, allegedly perpetrated, as principals or accessories, war crimes in Afghanistan.”

Read the full article in TheConversation

I was stunned when I saw Scomo not willing to properly apologise to the people who suffered heavily from the Liberal Party government’s Robodebt fiasco. Instead, he refers to the difficulties involved in debt collecting. What is this ? Do the people who were driven close to suicide when faced with huge sent-in-error Centerlink payback demands not deserve an apology? Reading the stories of affected individuals is heartbreaking. And what about the tax-payers whose hard-earned money has been so obviously wasted by the Liberal Government ? What was supposed to save the government 1.7 billion dollars now costs the tax payer 1.2 billion dollars. It is the biggest class-action in Australian history! This stinks and Scomo knows it. Read this very well written article in TheConversation.

It takes character and empathy to face the consequences of a big mistake on behalf of a government and deal with this matter properly. Scomo just does not get it and the voters will remember this. I am sure, Jacinda Adern would have dealt with this much more appropriately, if she were in Scomo’s place. She might not have allowed a computer-based debt collection process in the first place which is the real core of the problem.

Read this article in The Conversation

“Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election raises a perennial question about what Rupert Murdoch does when the candidate he has opposed wins.

Answer: He adapts and he waits. Electoral cycles last three, four or five years. Murdoch has been wielding power for five decades.

Murdoch is a chameleon. It is true that when political and business conditions are favourable he glows brightly in blood-red conservatism. But when, as now, conditions are uncertain, the colour dims and takes on a more complex hue.”

Murdoch has no permanent “friends” or permanent “enemies” – just permanent interests!

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