Here we go again with a power play by Rupert Murdoch.

First Murdoch power played Kavanaugh on FOX News in a "PLEASE, PLEASE put me on the court" interview. Now, the Wall Street Journal is used for another power play by Murdoch. Oh, it must be an almighty feeling to be able to dangle judges and constitutions and citizens as if a carrot and stick in front of the people of the United States of America.

Where is Murdoch's magnificent Op-Ed supporting Dr. Ford and every other woman sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh? Will anyone ever read an Op-Ed by women that are sexually assaulted by men in the Wall Street Journal? This is exactly what everyone feared when the Wall Street Journal was sold, that it would become an OLD FRIEND unable to maintain it's dignity. Here it is. The Wall Street Journal is now part of the tabloid media of Rupert Murdoch and his need to power play in every country on the planet.

October 4, 2018

By Kavanaugh

...As I explained that night, a good judge must be an umpire—a neutral and impartial arbiter who favors no political party, litigant or policy. As Justice Kennedy has stated, judges do not make decisions to reach a preferred result. Judges make decisions because the law and the Constitution compel the result. Over the past 12 years, I have ruled sometimes for the prosecution and sometimes for criminal defendants, sometimes for workers and sometimes for businesses, sometimes for environmentalists and sometimes for coal miners. In each case, I have followed the law. I do not decide cases based on personal or policy preferences. I am not a pro-plaintiff or pro-defendant judge. I am not a pro-prosecution or pro-defense judge. I am a pro-law judge.

So, now Coach Kavanaugh is an umpire on the bench. Really?  Neutral and impartial. Does anyone believe him? No. The show of partisanship at the Senate hearing, the interview on FOXxy News and now this in the Wall Street Journal and Americans are supposed to believe Kavanaugh is not a partisan and won't be on the bench. 

I don't think so.

...As Justice Kennedy showed us, a judge must be independent, not swayed by public pressure. Our independent judiciary is the crown jewel of our constitutional republic. The Supreme Court is the last line of defense for the separation of powers, and for the rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution....

Kavanaugh is trying to tell Americans he will be another Justice Kennedy? What a joke. He is cozy in the membership with the Federalist Society, a wealthy organization that wants to change the USA Constitution. No more! There will no longer be hostile organizations in the USA seeking to change the USA Constitution. We have a hostile President that nominated Kavanaugh and now Kavanaugh wants us to believe he has nothing in common with the man that went to Helsinki and carried out a three-hour meeting in complete secret.

Kavanaugh has a vote in changing the course of American history and he will think nothing of it. There is far more on the line than Roe v. Wade, the very sovereign nature of the USA hangs in the balance. Kavanaugh is already known to be a justice that favors presidential power over that of the power of the legislature. That is backwards by every measure of the founders of the USA Constitution. The founders of this country never wanted a King to lead the USA and that is exactly what Kavanaugh believes should happen with the Executive Branch. His opinions are that of his own "God-Philosophy" and has no basis anywhere in the USA Constitution.

Mitch McConnell sits in luxury with his wife in the Executive Branch waiting to build a legacy for himself with this vote. His ego is so inflated at this point the country doesn't matter. Only good old Mitch's legacy is important. The blinders are on for the Republicans and the task master in the White House holds the whip.

Beer is not the issue. Beer is enjoyed by many people, both women and men, across the nation. Beer, craft beers and IPAs are not the problem. What is the problem is a man that saw no reason to remain sober throughout his early years. He not only enjoyed drinking so much, he believed the world was his to use as he pleased for his own reasons.

On July 1st, many, many years ago a list of young men were set for a good time with Brett's brewskis according to his calendar. Those same names happened to show up at the party an unwitting 15 year old young woman decided to join. She joined a party. She wanted to be involved with a group of young people socially. She was looking forward to that opportunity since she was mostly outside that group of young people because she went to a different school than some of them.

She was given attention by two of the young men, Kavanaugh and Judge. She was beginning to feel accepted and possibly even was attractive to one or both of them. She trusted them. She drank a beer and her inhibitions relaxed, but, didn't completely disappear as others after her would. She was escorted upstairs and into a bedroom. She remembers many of the details of that night including having Brett Kavanaugh take her down on a bed. He laid on top of her with so much weight she could not get away and she feared out of his own drunken state he would kill her by mistake. Those were real feelings and real trauma and she remembers every bit of it.

Now, in an Op-Ed, Kavanaugh wants us to believe he is another Justice Kennedy. I guarantee if one held Justice Kennedy's decisions against Kavanaugh's they would not at all look similar. Kavanaugh must believe the country is drunk on his pretending and pandering to make him yet another personality, transformed by magical space in the Wall Street Journal.

Kavanaugh is a product of power and privilege. He expects his passage into power. The Republicans are voting for a partisan, not a judge. Kavanaugh has no great career and he was not admired and sought after for his genius, except for those in the Federalist Society and for that reason he found words that would serve his purpose and played with them to the content of all the conservatives in the Republican Party, espeically the most extremist, Donald Trump.

There is no reason to continue to pass power to Kavanaugh, it will never the USA and it's benevolence, so much it's destruction and the victimization of the powerless.

Russians are now finding it easier to hack computers and lie about doping than actually competing to win.

The greatest communist leader of all times anywhere on Earth, Vladimir Putin, is a CHEATER! Russia needs to be permanently suspended from international competition.

October 4, 2018
By Bart Jensen

Washington - Seven Russian GRU intelligence officers (click here) were charged with hacking computers associated with 250 athletes and anti-doping sports organizations in the USA and around the world, Justice Department officials announced Thursday.

According to the 41-page indictment, the criminal activity was retaliation against people and organizations who revealed Russia’s doping program for its athletes – revelations that led to the stripping of dozens of Olympic medals from Russian athletes and a ban on that country's athletes from the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The hacking that began in December 2014 and continued until at least May 2018 intruded into computers and networks of U.S. citizens and corporations and international corporations and their workers, the officials said.

“In other words, Russia cheated,” said Scott Brady, U.S. attorney for western Pennsylvania. “They cheated, they got caught, they were banned from the Olympics, they were mad and they retaliated. In retaliating, they broke the law, so they are criminals.”...

Tariffs won't change China's goals for domination of the South China Sea.

A US Navy photo shows a confrontation between the USS Decatur (left) and PRC Warship 170 (right) in the South China Sea on Sunday
(Yes, September 30, 2018)

4 October 2018

By Catherine McGregor

Last week, Jacinda Ardern (click here) received rapturous acclaim for her address to the United Nations General Assembly. Ardern is an inspiring, authentic leader. I admire her. Her speech was both eloquent and expressed noble sentiments. It provided a stark contrast to the ramblings of the American Caligula who is presiding over the death throes of Pax Americana. Yet despite my regard for Ardern and my contempt for US President Donald Trump, her clarion call for collaboration and multilateralism is likely to fall on barren ground as the post-war liberal order she defended collapses with the decline of American capability and resolve....

Caligula was the third emperor of Rome. In his seven month of his reign he was stated to have gone insane, but, maintained his power. He humiliated the Roman Senate, made Senators kiss his feet, etc., etc. In this context, Caligula is Trump and when understanding that breadth of that, it is mostly true.

Jacinda Arden at UN (click here)

Guardian record Prime Minister Jacinda Arden (click here) - Most notably she froze New Zealand's Prime Minister (Yes, she is the Prime Minister) pay to address the divide between rich and poor. She really is very genuine. If she is worried for New Zealand there is a solid reason why.

...But it was a speech that only a New Zealand prime minister could give. She spoke for a harmonious nation blessed with benign strategic geography, social harmony and prosperity. As David Lange once quipped, New Zealand is “a dagger pointed at the heart of Antarctica”. Even as Australia entered peak torpor with a long weekend and football finals in our most populous states, there were disconcerting reminders that we inhabit an unstable region....

...Likewise, when some racist ratbag demands a ban on Muslim immigration, ask yourself how you would feel as a patriotic Indonesian soldier or intelligence officer risking your life to contain the global jihad if your allies regard you as sub-human?

The Muslim nations in the world defeated Daesh. They have had enough of patronizing notions such as those of Trump.

Even more alarming was the near collision in the South China Sea between a Chinese destroyer and the USS Decatur near the disputed Gaven Reefs. There has little been manifestation of Ardern’s optimism in our immediate region, since China’s promulgation of its preposterous Nine-Dash Line over parts of the South China Sea. That claim derives no legitimacy from either history or international law. However, I have always believed that China’s militarisation of the reefs and atolls in that region was designed to acquire strategic space to deny the United States maritime access to the Chinese mainland.

The allies need to start speaking loudly and clearly about how they have stood by the USA in Afghanistan and how they expect USA POLICY that is loyal to those values. New Zealand is reacting to the fact they put so much faith in the USA and now there is TRUMP and are unable to grow their own national defense in the face of abandonment by their much valued and endeared ally.


The People's Liberation Army was humiliated and shocked at its inability to locate the US naval carrier groups that sailed into the Taiwan Straits during the crisis of 1996. Ever since then, their military force structure and strategy have been fused under the rubric of anti-access area denial. Their aim is to achieve freedom of action to recover the wayward province of Taiwan, by a cross straits invasion. Until recently, I harboured the view that this was decades away. Recent Chinese behaviour suggests they are committed to dominating the sea lanes through which most of our trade passes in the near future. They appear indifferent to the risk of war, though the ground reality in the South China Sea is such that there is nothing left to fight over.

The allies also need to learn to speak the words INCOMPETENT when speaking about Trump and his administration. Abandonment of allies is no small matter and Trump is headed for isolationism to create a false sense of security within the USA borders.

"The Nine Dash Line and it's Basis in International Law" (click here)

As this crisis intensifies, we have learnt that our expensive submarine program is beset by problems. Our 2016 Defence White Paper belatedly recognised that the era of expeditionary land force operations by niche forces was over and that we urgently needed to configure the Australian Defence Force to fight a conventional adversary in the littoral approaches to our continent. Yet our most potent maritime strike platforms are nowhere near operational capability....

If the Kiwis want to argue how best within their country can lead a sovereign military that is capable of national security, that is up to them. But, I caution them to put a politician in charge so much as educating the public to their best outcomes. I trust the population to understand and make decisions. Their sovereign treasury and economy are intricate parts of these major decisions and the people will understand the future and what that might hold. I will say this, the Kiwis are very capable of understanding the Climate Crisis and to protect from it. I have confidence in their ability to wade into complex issues such as national security as well.

...Few Australians remember the last existential threat to our sovereignty. The Second World War ensued the last time two totalitarian quasi-capitalist rising powers challenged the global order. Those preconditions exist again today. We are sleepwalking into an era of unprecedented danger with a legacy force configured to contribute small force packages to the United States in hybrid wars. Neither our major ally nor our own forces are ready for the most dangerous threat to our security since the bombing of Darwin. I admire Jacinda Ardern, But Thucydides understood international security better than she. “The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”.

Democrats are calling it a sham and Republicans are stating it is the answer to their prayers. It simply backs up everything they believed about their nominee. 

In the real world where government represents the people, the consensus would be far closer. There would be a real concern going forward and it would not be dismissed as, a "witch hunt."

Republicans don't care about women unless they are barefoot and pregnant. But, after the baby is born she is on her own.

5 October 2018
By Jennifer Haberkorn & Sarah D. Wire and Chris Megerian

US senator Dianne Feinstein, (click here) the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said that the FBI report on sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was the "product of an incomplete investigation".

The White House received the much-anticipated FBI report on Wednesday night, local time, and will now send the findings to the Senate for review.All 100 senators began reading the report on Thursday (Friday AEST) under tight security and strict rules. The contents will not be made public.

"The most notable part of this report is what's not in it," Feinstein told reporters, adding that Kavanaugh, his accuser Christine Blasey Ford and several witnesses had not been interviewed by investigators.

However, Chuck Grassley, the Republican chair of the Judiciary Committee, said the FBI report found "no hint of misconduct".

There is only one woman that can speak for the Late Senator John McCain and it is his daughter Megan.

She needs to run for office and she will win.

Recently, Senator Lindsay Graham has stated he is the only one that can speak for John McCain. "W"rong, Lindsey Graham has indulged in drinking the "Trump Tonic Water" and he is nothing like the Lindsay Graham that was known during the time the late Senator was alive. 

I actually do believe, Megan McCain is capable of leading and being an elected official and fit into the shoes her father wore in the Senate. She doesn't have his war or POW background, but, she certainly has her father's love of the country. I think she would be magnificent.

I miss the Late Senator McCain. He was special and everyone that looked for his commentary can feel it.

The Trump Effect, keeping up with the Trumps.

Trump's USA Treasury spending account has been overdrawn for the entire time he has been in the White House. I am confident there are peers of one cabinet official or another that gets the word, "Just charge it to the country, after all it is all country business." 

This is the problem with allowing business men or women to act as a government official; they believe their spending can be endless.

5 October 2018
By Nigel Gladstone

Assistant Treasurer (click here) Stuart Robert has been charging taxpayers more than $2000 per month to use the internet at his Gold Coast home.

Mr Robert, who has a masters degree in information technology, racked up monthly bills 20 times higher than the average cost of data provided to other politicians' homes, averaging $1845 during the latest six months of expenses.

In May, the most recent month reported, Mr Robert's internet use cost $2832, or about $90 per day.

The Fadden MP said he used "around" 300 gigabytes of data in that month and the bill was a result of exceeding his data limit of 50GB and having to pay per gigabyte after that.

Three hundred gigabytes equates to about 100 hours of streaming high definition shows on Netflix or Stan, playing 3000 hours of Fortnite online or streaming music for about 2600 hours....

All parties involved with the Kavanaugh issue need to be heard.

Senator Feinstein has acted in complete confidentiality as was Dr. Ford’s request since the beginning of their first contact. Unfortunately, when the word got out there was a letter, things changed. If Dr. Ford believes Senator Feinstein can contain confidenciality, perhaps her lawyers can pass on any records she believes are pertinent and allow them to be viewed in strict confidentiality as the FBI report is viewed in strict confidentiality. Others that believe they should be heard may want to act similarly with legal advise.

It is ONLY Thursday.

I am not confident about the integrity of the FBI report. It is more than the abbreviated investigation. Didn’t Trump see the report hours before Grassley saw it? Like 12 to 16 hours before? I don’t trust him. Is there a chance it could be tampered with? I find the roll out of the report really strange and delayed.

The four week moving average for unemployment claims is 207,000. The September 29th weekly new unemployment claims is the same number, 207,000. The four week average is 500 more than the four week average from the week before.

I haven’t read the entire report which I might get time to do this evening, but. my guess is technology is removing jobs. The huge tax break Wall Street received, after they stuffed shareholders pockets, probably gave them a business treasury that was bulging. Wall Street will convert to technology as a so called investment and put people out of work.

I believe the jobs the USA is losing are permanent losses due to new business infrastructure. The fact more than 200,000 jobs are being lost consistently for the past several weeks, it is a worry. Realize that in the past five weeks over a million jobs were lost. The job market cannot continue those losses without an impact to the USA economy.

When 2007-2008 came to a maximum the USA was shedding 800,000 jobs per week. I don’t believe this is good news. If these jobs are being replaced by technology that is a steady loss to the country that is unsustainable. The debt to the Treasury means there is no wiggle room for any future stimulus. Americans should be worried.

Businesses are also tightening their budgets due to the unknown factor of the tariffs. That is also an impact that is most probably not reversible. Like Harley Davidson the jobs that would generate tariffs are now being shipped overseas in new infrastructure where the clientele are and those will be permanent losses because of the significant investment in land and building new infrastructure in other countries.

The example of Harley Davidson is proof that tariffs as an income to the USA treasury is not sustainable and will ultimately hurt the USA economy. Those jobs Harley are moving to Germany are gone and aren’t coming back and the income from tariffs are going with them.

There are a lot of moving parts to the USA economy and with an average loss of 200,000 jobs a week, it simply doesn’t look good. No work - no economy.

Dr. ford is not lying. I don’t drink except for a rare glass of wine with dinner. When I a drink beer, I don’t dare drink another one. Virgin livers do not filter alcohol that quickly. That is the truth. One might remember Dr. Ford remembers all of the trauma. The trauma makes a mark on the brain permanently and is why women’s lives are so effected by these attacks. The attacker is not traumatized. 

Dr. Ford is not lying.

Pence will be a Trump pawn in the Senate to let a Senate Republican off the political hook.

The discussion about whether opposing a judicial nominee is a wise political move is exactly the dynamic that has brought the Putinizing of the USA. Americans need to be engaged in their democracy with the purpose of protecting it and eliminating the forces that want to destroy it.

The abbreviated investigation by the FBI in regard to the nominee to the Supreme Court is a failure of our democracy and a violation of the public trust. It is a serious concern due to the White House coziness with a communist power in Russia. Democracies are suppose to be open and transparent and that is now lost.