Cosmos037

"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

[Cosmos037 @cosmos37]

@encartitas @lennipap I tell them which one I’m leaving in charge

[Papa Leone XIV @Pontifex_it]

Rinnovo il mio appello affinché cessino le ripetute violenze contro la popolazione civile palestinese in Cisgiordania e chiedo con urgenza alla comunità internazionale di fare in modo che progredisca la soluzione a due Stati, per una pace giusta e duratura.

[Pape Léon XIV @Pontifex_fr]

Je renouvelle mon appel pour que cessent les violences répétées contre la population civile palestinienne en Cisjordanie et je lance un appel pressant à la communauté internationale de faire en sorte que la solution à deux États progresse, en vue d’une paix juste et durable.

[Ami Dar @AmiDar]

Two questions I'd love never to hear again: "The Arabs have 20 countries. Why can't the Palestinians go there?" For the same reason that most Chileans want to stay in Chile, and not move to Mexico or Argentina. Palestine/Israel is the place they love, most of them were born there, and they have as much of a right to live there as anyone else.

And the parallel question: "Why can't the Jews go back to Poland?" First, most Israelis today are descended from Jews that came from Morocco, Iraq, Yemen, and other North African and Middle Eastern countries. And second, same answer: most were born there, have no other passport, and have as much of a right to live there as anyone else.

Few things are more deluded, damaging, or dangerous than talking of "another Nakba" for the Palestinians or fantasizing that "the Jews will leave like the French left Algeria." Neither will happen. This can only end with *some* form of coexistence. There is no other way.

[Ami Dar @AmiDar]

A good moment to repeat this: if everyone, everywhere, truly accepted that seven million Palestinians and seven million Jews are not going anywhere, and that any possible future has to include and encompass both, the whole energy around this conflict would shift. There, and even more so around the world.

I mean truly, deeply accept. Stop obfuscating, wishing, avoiding, fantasizing, implying that this can end any other way than with *some* form of coexistence. There is no other way.

[😱 Scary Larry 😱 🇺🇦✊🏻🇺🇸🗽 @aintscarylarry]

14 year heroin addict who sounds like he’s gargling ground glass & has a serious case of the shakes spews lies about vaccines as the president sleeps & shits himself while the NodBot (no one knows who or what the fuck she is) nods & sways. Fucking surreal.

[Cosmos037 @cosmos37]

@hughriminton lovely writing from Sussan Ley

[Cosmos037 @cosmos37]

Really nicely done

[Aaron Smith @aaronsmith]

Thank you, Dave. I appreciate you reaching out to ask what you got wrong.

The clip we’re discussing is less than 90 seconds long. What I’m about to do demonstrates Brandolini's Law: where the amount of energy required to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude greater than that required to produce it. Or, in this case, it takes around 600 words to correct 90 seconds of your economic fan fiction.

1⃣ Between 0 and 30 seconds

You begin by confusing government debt with the Future Fund and appear to suggest that the Future Fund can't exist along side Govt debt.

They’re different things. One can exist without the other, and in Australia they do.

Australia's Future Fund was established in 2006 with an initial govt investment of about $60B. Its first annual report, in 2008, showed assets of around $64 billion - not the $100B you suggested.

Then, at around 27 seconds, you talk about the Future Fund as though it ceased to exist (you used the word 'had' as in past tense).

It still very much exists Dave. In fact, it's grown every single year since it was created. Today it's worth around $270 billion, or over $330 billion once the other funds under management are included (eg Medical Research / Housing Australia / Drought).

So before we're even 30 seconds into the clip you've managed to confuse government debt, the Future Fund, its size, and whether it still exists.

That’s a lot of economic history to get wrong in under 30 seconds.

2⃣ Around 32 seconds

You then claim Kevin Rudd used the Future Fund to "flush money through the economy".

Again, that’s simply false. The Future Fund wasn't used to fund the stimulus. It wasn't used to build school halls. It wasn’t used for any of the things you’re describing. In your defence, you do briefly flirt with the possibility that you don’t actually know what you’re talking about. Sadly, it was a very short-lived relationship.

The GFC stimulus was funded through government borrowing.

For context, construction approvals were collapsing, more than a million Australians worked in construction, and the objective was to stop unemployment exploding during the worst global financial crisis in generations.

You're welcome to argue that was the wrong policy (but you didn't). You’re not entitled to rewrite where the money came from.

3⃣ At about 44 seconds

You say, "I might be wrong".

I concede you were correct during this part of the video.

4⃣ From 44 seconds onwards

You make a series of broad claims about the GFC response.

Yes, government debt increased. That's true.

What you omit is that Australia's stimulus largely went directly to households rather than primarily rescuing financial institutions, as happened in many other countries.

The aim was simple: keep people spending, businesses operating and Australians employed while global demand collapsed. It's known as counter-cyclical fiscal policy.

Whether you agree with it politically is your business.

The specific outcome for Australia isn't contested though - Australia was one of only two economies in the OECD to avoid recession during the Global Financial Crisis. There's no reality where that wasn’t a comparatively impressive outcome.

The money didn’t need to "trickle down". The entire point was that it started at the bottom.

5⃣ Government debt

Throughout the clip (and in life generally) you repeatedly return to the theme Labor is responsible for Australia’s debt (which btw is comparatively low).

Here are the actual numbers of net debt added by each Govt since 2007.

> Rudd/Gillard: about $190 billion over six years.
> Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison: about $366 billion over nine years, around two-thirds of which pre-dated COVID.
> Albanese: about $75 billion over four years.

Those figures don’t support the story you've been telling people. And that’s really the issue.

This isn't about getting one date wrong or misremembering one statistic. Nearly every claim in your 90-second clip turns out to be either wrong or misleading.

If you're going to publicly lecture Australians about economic history, the bare minimum expectation is that you’ve first acquainted yourself with it.

Because once the errors have been pointed out, as they have been to you multiple times, every repetition stops looking like an accident and starts looking like a strategy.

Given your very public coffee with Angus Taylor last week, perhaps people are entitled to ask what that strategy might be.

[Cosmos037 @cosmos37]

@WalshFreedom “an issue”

[Cosmos037 @cosmos37]

@karlstefanovic Gross

[The Chaser @chaser]

Today, Pauline Hanson complained about people who have difficulty speaking English. Luckily, her speech provided the perfect example for anyone wanting to learn the language.

[Cosmos037 @cosmos37]

@AustralianJA Nothing shouts “antisemitism” louder than investigations allegations of rape by members of the IDF 🤦

[Randy Rainbow @RandyRainbow]

I get the strategy. But I have needs. 💍

#WhereTheHellIsOurCongress #WeDontWantAKing #NewVideo #parody

[Cosmos037 @cosmos37]

@Lina_rays1ya @lorraindeer I think he already knows

[Cosmos037 @cosmos37]

@isaacrrr7 Because for the vast majority of people, separating the actions of terrorists 25 years ago from the actions of a candidate today offering hope of a more egalitarian future is really not that hard.

[Margie Jones @MargieJay50]

Journalism as generous as the story told by Tony Wright in Saturday’s @smh

[Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @AOC]

Apartheid states aren’t democracies.

[Rock'n Roll of All @rocknrollofall]

One of the most intense moments in music history.

Stevie got all the attention but Christie McVie was so subtle and perfect in this live performance.

Fleetwood Mac took the stage to perform 'Go Your Own Way' live in 1997.

That golden times of music.

[Cosmos037 @cosmos37]

@LoveCrochet6 @cheryl_kernot @AustralianLabor @AlboMP Well, if if the previous PM was #scomo, I guess the matching moniker for the current one is #anal !

[Cosmos037 @cosmos37]

@strangerous10 Thorpe may be a loose cannon, but “I just got called a bitch by the racist”, what a zinger!