There's No Profit In Ending World Hunger.

Each year at Easter, Christians all over the world spend Millions of dollars on chocolate eggs and hot cross buns, making corporations rich and our children fat. Try spending just $20.00 less this year and donate it to Unicef .

UNICEF works in over 190 countries to promote and protect the rights of children. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, clean water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and HIV.

 

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Your 2nd Amendment is Stupid.

Gun control works. 

Jake Bilardi. Why would a gifted student from Craigieburn join ISIS?

Neighbours and friends described Jake Bilardi as, “shy and confused”. He was living with two older brothers and a sister after his mother died in 2012. One of Jake's classmates said, “He was ­really smart but seemed to get even quieter after his mum died."  

So why would a gifted Atheist teenager from the Melbourne suburb of Craigieburn convert to Islam, join ISIS and become a suicide bomber?

If you ask Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, it's the use of social media by ISIS to radicalize impressionable young people that is the problem. I don't think that it's that simple. So if joining ISIS is seen as the solution for young people all over the world then what is the real problem? I mean you would have to be mad, a lunatic or in a pretty desperate situation to join ISIS.

In an article written by Kenan Malik in The Guardian titled "A search for identity draws jihadis to the horrors of ISIS", it discusses why middle class, English speaking background and non practising Muslim people are joining ISIS.

It can't be what is written in the Koran that is the lure, after all there has be a high population of Muslims  in western countries for many years now and this is a relatively recent problem. An examination of the purchases by some young recruits from England before they travelled to Syria discovered they purchased books like "Islam for Dummies" and "The Koran for Dummies". In other words, they had little or no understanding of Islam before travelling to Syria. So if Islam is not the problem, what is?

Malik's article discusses alienation, isolation, apathy and disconnection from society. It's not politics or religion but the search for belonging, the search for respect, something that we can all identify with, that convince young people to travel to Syria. Some of the entries in Jake Bilardi's blog, as quoted in The Guardian say, that he felt that his home, "wasn't really his home". "It has gotten to the point where it feels like I am on a movie set."  Going by these quotes coupled with the loss of his mother, it would seem that a perfect storm was created where by the sense of belonging to a group like ISIS was desirable. 

We all know that killing people is wrong but we can't solve the problem of young people joining ISIS by condemning individuals or blaming social media. We need to deal with the context in which it occurs. If you treat people like outsiders they will feel like outsiders and they will seek belonging elsewhere. Many young people around the world feel disengaged from society and seek to join groups such as ISIS where they can feel like they belong, they have a purpose. 

What Malik's article tells me is that our society is broken, it isn't working, the system isn't working, it's totally corrupt. If the insanity of ISIS can appeal to a certain section of the population we have a huge cultural problem. As a society we need to create a better alternative to ISIS and fix the problems that make joining ISIS the only solution. Until we do, the problem of young people joining ISIS will continue to escalate.

Australian Government Passes Laws To Invade Our Privacy

The Australian Government, with the help of the Labor party, has used the threat of terrorism to pass laws that will force Telecommunication companies and Internet service providers to keep your metadata for a minimum of 2 years.

The laws will also allow law enforcement agencies, as well as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), access to the information without a warrant.

Metadata is information and includes everything from basic phone call stats to specific information like the location of the user when they make a phone call or accessed the internet.

The government says they need all this information to keep us safe from terrorism, for security reasons. ASIC and the ACCC say they need the information to prosecute those that commit white collar crime. Why do they need it without a warrant? Why do government agencies need free access to metadata of everyone in the country whenever they feel like it?

It's not about security, it's about control. The government wants to know where you are, what you're saying and who you're saying it to. They want to find out if you know what they know, that the government all about secret deals that keep them in power and their corporate mates rich while ignoring the needs of its people.

You may be thinking, "I don't care about these laws because I have nothing to hide." But it's not about secrecy it's about privacy. It's about your right to move about freely without being tracked. It's about your right to communicate with anyone without it being recorded.

Big Brother is watching and he will know everything.

If you want more information visit privacyinternational.org

Source - Sydney Morning Herald "Metadata retention laws will pass as Labor folds".

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The Origin Of ISIS

This video by Ben Swann investigates the origin of ISIS. Was ISIS created by "Inaction" by the United States Government or by "direct" action?

 

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Corporate Australia Avoids Paying Tax.

If the largest Australian listed companies paid taxes at the statutory corporate tax rate of 30%, it would produce an additional $8.4 billion in annual revenues. This would eliminate the need for educational, health and welfare cutbacks.

 

We need to pay tax. Taxes help pay for for infrastructure and services that the community needs. However, some of us aren't pulling our weight when it comes to paying tax. Over the last 5 years, the proportion of income tax from business shrank from 23% to 19%, while the proportion from individuals rose from 37% to 39%. [1] So ordinary workers have more share of the tax burden, while business is paying less.

 

But wait, aren't we constantly being told that there is a "Budget Crisis" and the government has to control spending. It's University students, doll bludgers, pensioners, asylum seekers and the health system's fault that there is such a large budget deficit. Australia doesn't have a spending problem, it has a revenue problem. The government is pointing the finger of blame at the most needy in our society while big business fat cats are getting away with legally exploiting tax loopholes that their mates in government conveniently leave open for them. Companies use Secrecy jurisdictions to avoid paying tax Secrecy jurisdictions such as, Singapore or Hong Kong, play a key role in multinational corporate tax dodging. They undermine the ability of governments to levy taxes in a just and fair way. Secrecy jurisdictions provide loopholes for the wealthiest to avoid paying their fair share of tax.

 

Here are just three examples of tax dodging 2004-2013. [2]

• Bunnings, average annual pre tax profit $51 million. Average ETR 0%
  
• James Hardie, average annual pre tax profit $203.6 million. Average ETR 0%
  
• Westfield Retail Trust, average annual pre tax profit $535 million, Average ETR 0%

Effective Tax Rate (ETR)

 

According to the United Voice and the Tax Justice Network this is how you fix the problem.

 

Disclosure and transparency of corporate tax practices needs to be increased. Greater public awareness of gressive tax avoidance will provide an incentive to Australian corporations to be less tax aggressive. Tax dodging practices, when exposed, will damage corporate reputations and may increase regulatory and financial risks. Responsible companies should not wait for inevitable changes to the rules before deciding to act.

 

The Australian government needs to stop blaming the people that need their help the most for the budget shortfall and target Corporations, close the loopholes and make them pay their fair share of tax, 30%. Nothing more nothing less. Another $8.4 Billion will eliminate the need for budget cuts.

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[1] AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS (2007-08 to 2012-13) Cat. No. 5506.0

[2] http://bit.ly/taxshort

ANZ has the worst record of all the banks for offshoring - 5,000 Australian jobs since 2007

 

 

ANZ announced today that they were cutting 140 jobs. ANZ said in a statement, "These changes are part of simplifying our business and being more efficient".  I don't believe that for one second. It's corporate greed plain and simple. 

Finance Sector Union (FSU) national secretary Fiona Jordan said it appeared the bank had made the decision to cut the jobs several months ago."

ANZ has the worst record of all the banks for offshoring - 5,000 Australian jobs since 2007 and still climbing," Ms Jordan said.

ANZ said staff would be given three months to move on but the bank was aiming to re-employ about 70 of them in other positions.

Some of the jobs were moved overseas to Manila in the Philippines and Bangalore, India, while others were cut due to "improvements in process".

These cuts don't just affect the 140 that are set to lose their jobs, the  FSU said up to 700 staff would be directly impacted by the job cuts and would potentially face increased workloads and stress created by the loss of staff.[1]

ANZ should just come clean and say, "We made $7.271 billion profit in 2014[2] and we want to make lots more in 2015."

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[1] ABC News ANZ cuts 140 jobs from its Melbourne, Sydney offices.
[2] https://www.shareholder.anz.com/sites/default/files/2014-ANZ-Annual-Report.pdf