2010. South Africa. They said theft will be at an all-time high. Unsafe for world cup. Didn't happen.
2014. Brazil. Complained about some of the remote places the venues were. Unsafe for players. Didn't happen.
2018. Russia. "It's not a democracy". There would be marginalization. People would not even be free or allowed entry. Didn't happen.
2022. Qatar. " Slave built stadiums ". A morally bankrupt nation. " It cannot be fun". The tournament is horrible. No alcohols. Religious intolerance. Didn't happen.
2026. US. All the above happening.
We see.
Thank you for your input Don, and I do understand the legislation reasonably well
It was Dreyfus who appointed Paul Brereton to what was essentially a blank slate (if you're familiar with the NACC Act, it's deliberately vague) and it was Dreyfus as the presiding Attorney General who offered little input or direction
As it is, the NACC has developed itself into what it sees as a public education and conferencing team, involving large amounts of travel and resources, with hard core investigations running a very poor third. That is on Brereton, but it is also on Dreyfus, which is I suspect, a part of the reason he is no longer Attorney General
The world just paid $2 trillion for a rocket company that lost $4.9 billion last year. And the rockets are not why it lost the money. They are the only part making any.
SpaceX went public Friday, the largest IPO in history. Up 19%, a $2 trillion valuation, Elon Musk the first trillionaire. Then you open the filing.
Three businesses sit inside it. Starlink, the satellites, brought in $11.4 billion, 61% of all revenue, and $4.4 billion in profit. It is the only piece that earns a dollar. The rockets that land themselves run a small loss reinvesting in Starship. And the AI arm, Grok plus the app once called Twitter, folded in this February, lost $6.4 billion in a single year on $12.7 billion of spending.
Read that again. The satellites pay for everything. The AI loses more than the satellites make. And the AI is the part the market fell in love with.
It gets bolder. The prospectus claims a total market of $28.5 trillion, the largest any company has ever put in a filing. Larger than the GDP of the United States. That is the number underwriting a $2 trillion price tag built on a division bleeding $6 billion a year.
Now the structure. About 4% of the company trades. That sliver sets the price for all of it. Musk is locked up for 366 days and holds roughly 80% of the votes. The public bought a company they cannot steer, priced on the one segment losing the most.
This is the whole year in one ticker. The profit is satellites. The story is AI. The market bought the story.
The rockets were never the risk. The risk is a $2 trillion price resting on the one bet that has yet to make a cent.
Australia’s housing obsession is one of its greatest weaknesses.
Rising house prices are not a sign of prosperity.
What they actually tell you is that more money is being borrowed from the banking sector to buy homes.
The cause of rising house prices is rising household debt, and that is unproductive.
House prices are now five times more expensive than consumer goods compared to 1970. We should never have allowed that to happen.
Housing should not be an asset.
It is not something you should profit out of. It is something you should live in.
The people who really benefit from rising house prices are real estate agents and property developers, not the families who live in them.
We are paupers living inside castles. Paying a fortune on the mortgage, a fortune on private schools, and out of the remainder, just trying to live.
For the more information, check out the comment section,
#SteveKeen #AustraliaProperty #HousingCrisis #MortgageDebt #Economics #HousingAffordability
The system is working exactly as it was designed.
▪️Adani’s $400 million royalty liability forgiven after a $600,000 donation.
▪️The gas industry paying less tax than beer drinkers.
▪️900 days of gambling reform delay with secret industry meetings running in parallel.
▪️The think tank that produced the Shadow Treasurer funded by the companies he now shadows.
▪️The party that wrote Australia’s donation disclosure laws writing itself out of them.
▪️A housing policy blaming immigrants for a crisis created by a 1999 tax discount.
▪️A leader who stepped off a billionaire’s jet to demand gas returns – then voted against the only mechanism that would deliver them.
▪️A political class that spent $22 billion on buybacks, while telling you to work harder.
👉 You want straight talking? Here it is. No jet required.: https://t.co/rOfK1aT89Y
“The Socceroos aren’t just a team. We’re a reflection of modern Australia.”
A desperately needed message for Australia, and Australians of all hues and backgrounds.
Bravo @Socceroos!!! 👏🏾 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
A hell of a lot of travel and "presentations" and conferences where they tell others about their job, the one they're not doing because they're all too busy travelling
Oh and lots of new office refurbishments, car space rentals, legal advice from outside. For example, the Robodebt debacle cost Australians almost $2 million to have re-examined and then Brereton charged us $220K for his legal fees to cover himself for investigations into his conduct
One conviction, zero public hearings
Huge win on lobbying reform today with reports the govt will establish a public register for sponsored pass holders replicating the voluntary register I established, limit access to the building & publish more information about who has access.
We still need more reform to ensure ALL lobbyists (not just 3rd party lobbyists) are properly regulated by a body with teeth, and to shut the revolving door between government and industries.
https://t.co/oeNJmEFgrt
The Privacy Commissioner took 4 years to find this American multinational broke privacy laws and then threatened the complainant. Our privacy laws and the institutions meant to enforce them simply aren’t in the corner of communities.
I’m deeply concerned about the precedent this sets for everyone else who makes a privacy complaint against a large multinational. This regulator’s processes have favoured the powerful institution, exhausted the individual seeking justice, then gagged him from telling the truth.
This began when someone he briefly dated used their job at AMEX to spy on his private banking, which then forced AMEX to admit it didn’t restrict staff access to most customers’ accounts. I’ve raised this in Parliament, this corporation should never have left people that exposed.
After years standing with this man as he fought for justice, he finally won. The Privacy Commissioner found AMEX breached privacy laws and ordered compensation. And then the Commissioner threatened him with legal action if he tells the full truth about what was done to him.
Trump Recalibrates offensive after Iran targets radars and base in Jordan
Donald Trump, right after Netanyahu’s offensive, decided to open fire against Iran, allegedly claiming the loss of a helicopter in a confrontation in the Strait of Hormuz.
Obviously, this talk has no basis in reality. If you employ helicopters to combat fast boats, some of which have anti-aircraft systems, you obviously already work with the chance of losing helicopters.
Trump bombarded more than 20 targets in Iran, focusing mainly on the coast, but several targets in the interior of the country were also hit, as I reported in yesterday’s post.
Iran retaliated and, although it did not fire a large number of missiles and drones, it used some upgraded missiles, hitting important targets that led CENTCOM to re-evaluate the continuity of the offensive in the way it was planned.
For example, the missiles fired against the Muwaffaq Salti airbase in Jordan seem to have hit their targets not only because of the two columns of smoke visible from several kilometers away, but the explosions were so powerful that its echoes were being heard in the West Bank and Jerusalem around 200 km away.
In the 40-day war, Iran had immense difficulty hitting this same base and only managed to improve its results against targets in Jordan after the destruction of numerous American radars, opening a corridor.
A similar situation had occurred the night before, when it was confirmed that at least one Iranian missile hit RAMAT DAVID AIRBASE IN ISRAEL.
This time, Iran also began targeting long-range radars, destroying the Jabal al-Dukhan Long Range Radar site, which was one of the main ones in Bahrain.
Some other radars were also targeted by drones , though without confirmation yet that they were actually hit.
Full Article
https://t.co/bGC2wzQ6GK
(Illustrative footage)
This is supremely embarrassing for AUKUS and Defence Minister Marles, the UK Defence Minister didn’t even reference AUKUS in his 2 page resignation.
But not as embarrassing as Australia pouring billions into the UK’s failing nuclear submarine industry, water in a sieve style.
My latest article in The Shot
After spending obscene amounts of taxpayer's money on luxury travel, office refurbishments and airfares from their homes to their Canberra office, I examine the high price Australians have paid so far for an impotent #NACC
.
https://t.co/BKPplkv0fZ
The NACC clearly lists the Commissioner's office as based in Canberra
The Remuneration Tribunal (Official Travel) Determination 2024, does not allow for travel expenses to be paid for public servants/staffers from their home to their principal office
Paul Brereton lives in Sydney and yet via the NACC, Australians have funded his commute from his Sydney home to his primary office in Canberra, in breach of the Official Travel determination
Why?
Is this a judicious use of taxpayer's money?
When Russia hosted the World Cup in 2018, it had to suspend normal visa rules for the tournament. Foreigners with tickets could enter visa-free, using a scheme called ‘Fan ID.’
Russia also had to do weird stuff to keep FIFA’s sponsors happy. For example, small shops near Fan Zones and stadiums could only sell Budweiser beer on match days.
So yes, FIFA absolutely does dictate conditions to host governments when it suits FIFA. Infantino pretending otherwise is nonsense.
Chill.
Unless you’re a fan whose visa was denied, losing your life savings.
A referee whose participation was withdrawn after a lifetime of work.
A player who couldn’t focus without certainty as to if, or when, you were going to be allowed to play in the biggest moment of your young life, and most precious memory as you will age.
A country that had to change venues because you’re being bombed by the hosts.
A staff member denied a World Cup after years of dedication in qualifying.
A spectator who sold your house to pay for exorbitant tickets.
Aside from that, relax.