The Star-Spangled Roo, LOLZ.

(source)

The newest US Navy warship — allegedly built Down Under — was named USS Canberra and commissioned in Sydney (Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!) a few days ago. To symbolize the US-Oz “alliance” nothing better than to overlay the Stars and Stripes on the kangaroo, the Australian Defence Force national marking (quite appropriately, actually).

Oz just gave another step in the road to become the 51st State of the Union. We’re neck to neck with Puerto Rico (eat your hearts out, Latinx!) and we’re gaining ground fast, because we’re buying our membership.

A high-ranking official, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed to Magpie News that Albo’s been promoted, from Prime Minister to Governor.

“Why now?” — I asked the source. “If not now, when?” — was the answer.

Un-fucking-believable!

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Sovereignty!

Explaining the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Choose one:
“Destruction of Ukranian w:BMP-3 IFV by Russian troops in Mariupol” or
“A destroyed Russian BMP-3 near Mariupol, 7 March 2022”. [A]

You know the conventional wisdom about the Ukrainian war: it’s all entirely Putin’s fault. That story is easy to understand, isn’t it? Politicians and journos and pundits for hire never cease to drive home the message.

It has its weaknesses though. One of them is that it needs Putin – who on top of having Parkinson’s disease and at least two different flavours of terminal cancer – to be both bad and kooky … never mind that madness precludes responsibility. Depending on who you hear, the bloke is a Machiavellian master manipulator … or an inept tin pot dictator. Incidentally, the same applies to the Russian military, at times described as a serious and imminent threat to the security of Europe, at times lambasted as useless, clumsy, incompetent and corrupted – sometimes by the same people, at the same time.

The Mountain in Labour: EU-CELAC Summit.

The mountain in labour (source)

The Summit of the European Union–Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC, by its initials in Spanish), held in Brussels just concluded.

Representatives of some 60 countries from the Americas and Europe, including President of the European Union Ursula von der Leyen and head of the European Council Charles Michel plus heads of state and government, gathered for the summit, the first in eight years.

Although the European side offered economic cooperation, one of the main topics on the agenda was to gain CELAC’s support in the NATO war against Russia. China was also part of the agenda.

Quotable Quotes.

(source)

Say what you will about us Aussies, there’s something you can’t possibly say: that we collectively suffer from pathological doubts about ourselves and our place in the world.

Did you [Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers] discuss the concessions that you expect from China on trade if there's to be a visit to China by you and the Prime Minister?

So, we are in a position to extract concessions from arguably the largest economy in the world, armed with ICBMs that can hit every major Australian city – including Hobart! – before we even talk, just in exchange for the privilege of setting one foot on their land.

NATO Summit 2024.

(source)

A high-ranking official in the Albanese Government, speaking under the condition of anonymity, confirmed to Magpie News that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was invited to the NATO Summit to take place in Gallipoli, Turkey.

Ukrainian President Vasily Petrovych Goloborodko has repeatedly asked for additional military assistance. It is understood that Albanese plans to donate one of the new AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines.

Military experts believe the Ukrainian military needs more materiel for their upcoming summer counteroffensive. “It promises to be as successful as their 2023 predecessor”, they believe.

Last week it was revealed that a number of Australian Army generals, with experience gained in Afghanistan and Iraq, are planning to travel to the Ukraine, to volunteer their expert professional services there.

“With that and the sub”, they say, “the war in the Ukraine could be over very soon, maybe even within ten years.”

Robodebt: the Week that Was.

Sometimes the do-gooder/bleeding heart image can be an asset.

Surprising? Not really. It’s been one of Labor’s traditional selling points: voters perceive Labor as “caring” about fairness.

Using his mum as example, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has gone to great lengths to highlight that.

(source])

There is a historical reason for that perception. Although the term “welfare state” is no longer fashionable, the Australian Labor Party was key in its adoption here, and its governments established its general institutions, including public health (under Medicare). They also created the main welfare payments. The age pension, for example, dates to 1908, during the Fisher Government; the unemployment benefits (currently called JobSeeker) was product of the Chifley Government in 1945. More recently, in 2013, it was under the Gillard Government that the National Disability Insurance Scheme was created.

So, unsurprisingly the Albanese Government launched the Robodebt Royal Commission last year.