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One of the key parts of any functioning, modern government is the institutions that serve the needs of citizens. The government, therefore, generally relies on the good-faith participation of those at the helm, under the assumption that the polity isn't going to elect anyone so crooked, so clueless, so violently ignorant that they simply refuse to do their [bleep]ing job.

Ladies and Gentlemen of Isocracy, I give you: Donald Trump, and the incipient calamity of Hurricane Harvey, with all relevant government institutions headless, clueless, and practically penniless.

I was once protesting among thousands of Sydneysiders, from all backgrounds, in support of refugees.

The first time Israel hypnotized me, it was with the litter of history’s artifacts sitting untouched by the side of every highway.

Israel’s history was so rich, we were taught, that the rubble of limestone houses lining Israel’s highways can come from any empire between the Ottomans and the Ancient Israelites. How incredible, I thought, that these ruins have preserved themselves so well over thousands of years; our Israeli tour guide explained that it was because much of Israel were uninhabited for many years.

If your preferred system of economics permits and ignores situations like this, then your politics have failed. If your ideology permits and accepts situation like this, then your ethics and basic humanity have failed.

Humans matter more than 'the economy' matters. Bring the economy into line with human needs, rather than bringing humans into line with economic needs.
If you disagree with this, you are wrong, and I condemn you.

TW: Hospitals, blood, death, various unacceptable badnesses.

OK, so I'm back from vacation, and just starting to get caught up on what I missed. It looks like the big things are as follows:

Why it is so difficult to address homelessness in a society as rich as Australia has always baffled me. Despite the conga line of individuals and organisations that provide services (some government funded and others privately funded), homelessness is and continues to be a major issue. I’ve always thought the privatisation of homelessness is the single most important stumbling block to eradicating this scourge.

On Wednesday 5th July at the Defend And Extend Public Housing Australia rally on the steps of the Victorian State Parliament in Spring St, Melbourne, I noticed a tall 30 something unshaven lanky man join the rally. He listened intently to all the speakers. At the end of the rally he came up to have a few words with me. He told me he was from Ballarat and was homeless. He wanted to join Public Interests Before Corporate Interests (PIBCI) and wanted to know if he could use his mother’s address in Ballarat. He told me he wasn’t on the electoral roll. I told him it didn’t matter.

I posted this on a discussion on energy sources in a Greens politics discussion group.

It was deleted by the moderator because they didn't agree with some of the sources. Oh, and the author is an engineer for an oil company.

Hardly sufficient justification in my opinion, but it's their group and they can moderate as they see fit. If they want to have a dumb echo chamber, that will be their problem.

In any case, their actions have meant that I have left the group, and will promote the article as a contribution to discussion in other forums.

Money laundering, ripping off people, stealing their money, thumbing their nose at the law it seems like a page from an organised crime serial you’d see on television. Unfortunately it isn’t fiction, it’s real. No, it’s not the local drug dealer down the street or even the rapidly disappearing SP bookie. It’s not the kid with a gun or knife robbing the local milk bar or an outlaw motorcycle gang trying to make a name for themselves. It’s not corrupt politicians, standover merchants or organised crime figures.

Christopher Cantwell, former AnCap turned leader of the Alt-Right, is crying like a little snowflake on video because he's afraid to get arrested and just found out there is a warrant for his arrest. He bragged about the murder that took place in Charlottesville and then promised that the Alt-Right would kill more people.