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In the period since the end of the Cold War (c. 1991), there has been an upsurge in the number of states around the world that define themselves as ‘democracies’. So too this has been the case in Southeast Asia, if incomplete in some areas and with reversals in others. This is in part due to the turn towards electoral processes in formerly authoritarian client states that have since lost the patronage of one or other of the two then superpowers.

Technically, it is still very possible to survive as a squatter living off the margins of society. You don’t HAVE to have much money to survive, if you are healthy and don’t need to see doctors or dentists and don’t have any special dietary needs or children to take care of. This condition of self imposed poverty, while it can be a fun adventure and give people time for self discovery and exploration, it leaves people dependent on the assistance of others who do work or have resources for simple things like rides and anything that cannot be picked up for free or cheap.

Turkey has gone so far as to outlaw Kurdish language. They recently leveled most of a Kurdish city that had become restive. Turkey correctly views Kurds as a threat to their power in the hinterlands of Anatolia. In fact all of the states with large Kurdish populations - Iraq, Syria, Turkey & Iran - have fought against them, and all (but perhaps Iran) actually got paid by the US to do it. Turkey was the largest recipient of US aid under Clinton when they were taking their shot at them.

Peter Dutton would like to wish you all a merry Christmas, and you’d better all damn well wish him one back.

Like the good Christian he claims to be, the minister for Immigration has decided to use the Christmas season to stir up more division and hatred among Australians. ‘Tis the season to be vigilant, yes Dutton is calling for people to “rise up” and defend Christmas against the dreaded scourge of “political correctness gone mad”.

Let's welcome our new Commander in Chief by demonstrating how little he knows about the Constitution of the United States. Each incoming president is required on inauguration day to take the oath of office, affirming to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution." But Trump proved his ignorance of this document when he recently wrote, "Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag -- if they do, there must be consequences -- perhaps loss of citizenship or a year in jail!" The Supreme Court, however, thinks otherwise.

Oscar Wilde said that truth is independent of the facts always. Seldom has a truer truth been aired.

There is no "post-truth" world now dawning.

Truth has always been elusive, managed, hidden, denied.

What is dawning (again, as has happened plenty of times before) is an age of contested truths, independent of the facts, as always.

Let's be clear: climate change is not just capitalism's reckless pillaging of the earth; climate change is a war against you.

Climate change is the enrichment of a minority of human beings who care not an iota about their fellow human beings or life on earth.

What use is life on earth when life for the few is just so sweet?

For them, climate change will be an inconvenience at most.

They will have their gated communities, walled cities, fortified borders, automated luxuries, and squillions of dollars.

They play us like pawns, one against the other.

Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 makes it unlawful for someone to commit a public act that is reasonably likely to “offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate” someone because of their race or ethnicity.

Section 18D of the Racial Discrimination Act contains exemptions which protect freedom of speech. These ensure that artistic works, scientific debate and fair comment on matters of public interest are exempt from section 18C, providing they are said or done reasonably and in good faith.

Peter Dutton was born and raised in Brisbane. After graduating from the Queensland Police Academy in 1990, Dutton served as a police officer in the Drug Squad, the Sex Offenders Squad and the National Crime Authority. During the nine years he was in the Queensland Police Force, Peter Dutton did not achieve one single thing that was considered worth mentioning in his parliamentary biography, his maiden speech or any other public record.

From 1993 Dutton also served as a company director in his father’s building business.

SYRIA UPDATE: The situation in the North Aleppo countryside is rapidly escalating. As you may remember, this area is strategically important because the Kurds need to take it in order to connect their territories in Afrin and Kobani, and they need to do that in order to be a viable autonomous region in post-war Syria. The are started off mostly under the control of ISIS, with a small pocket held by the rebels. Turkey opposes the Kurds' efforts because they're afraid that a strong Kurdish presence in Syria will cause problems with Turkey's large Kurdish minority.