The Global Financial Crisis, the extreme inequality of wealth world-wide, the materialism of modern life and the dire state of the planet are not accidents, nor just unavoidable consequences of the nature of things. They are the result of the modern practice of economics, which makes elementary errors of accounting, evidence, perception and theory.

Many of these errors have been noted for decades, but only by a dissenting fringe of economists and informed others. Their message is drowned out by the relentless repetition of the mainstream free-market mantra. Though many people are uncomfortable with economists‘ pronouncements, and some are aware of some of the errors, few seem to realise how many and how basic are the errors, or how far-reaching are the consequences.

read more: http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/philosophy/economics-2/eight-elementary-errors-of-economics/

This a great article by the team at IA...

The only element that is missing in the analysis, though always in the background, is THE HUMAN FACTOR.

As I call it above the human factor has mutated into greed and vacuous self-importance — greed having taken over the trees like fungus-killing elms, and narcissistic opportunistic individualism running wild under the name of Facebook... This degradation of our humanity has of course been cultivated by a cleverly devious media, a media that has lost its sense of responsibility to the planet long time ago, under the guidance of Uncle Rupe...

You have my permission to kick him in the balls.

TONY ABBOTT is channelling his mentor, John Howard, in declaring the coming election to be about “trust”. But how sound is this for a campaign strategy? Howard and trust parted company when we found out Australia had invaded Iraq on the basis of a lie.

Back in 2004, the “who can you trust” slogan was effective. It won Howard the election. Such was George W Bush’s admiration, he stole the line for his own campaign.

Abbott’s slogans,  published in the Sydney Morning Herald on January 30 2013 are lifted straight from Howard’s 2004 playbook:

Who do you trust to reduce cost of living pressures?

Who do you trust to boost small business and to boost job security?

And who do you trust to secure our borders?

But then Tony Abbott was never one for original ideas. Remember the carbon copy election campaign ‘marathon’ idea he stole from David Cameron?

Abbott’s strategy of evoking memories of John Howard as the symbol of ‘trust’ has the makings of a Romney-like campaign blunder. The lies about Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), the cause to which Howard committed Australia to war, Workchoices, children overboard, and the Australian Wheat Board scandal sparked a nation’s ire. Does anyone imagine John Howard being called ‘Honest John’ any more?

Political memoirs offer a chance to ‘fess up’ and clear the slate as a salute to historical accuracy, not to mention accountability — a last chance to make good. But, sadly, this is not the case in John Howard’s, self-serving, truth-dodging memoir, Lazarus Rising.

Unlike even Tony Blair, Howard says he has no regrets about Iraq. Australians are unlikely to ever see him apologise. This week, on Tuesday (8 April 2013), in his Iraq retrospective lecture for the the Lowy Institute, Howard remained unrepentant. Seizing the moral high ground in true Pecksniffian style, he labelled such claims “notorious” meriting the most “emphatic rejection”.

read more: http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/john-howard-lazarus-lying/

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Lazarus was lying, is lying, was smelly like a cunning turd... So is his side kick — the unoriginal idiotic lying Abbott. The name "Honest John" was actually a satirical piss take on the character of John W Howard. No-one, especially in his own Liberal (conservative) Party, could trust "Honest John". He would knife people in the back, make promises he would not sustain and, with the help of Heffernan's black list, make people in his party submit when the fruit of his next sin was ripe...

This morning Mr Abbott told commercial radio that the latest arrival was a "disaster".

But Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor accused Mr Abbott of "acting hysterically".

He said 19 boats managed to reach the mainland undetected during the years of the Howard government.

"If you're looking at any benchmark then every Immigration Minister during the Howard years should have resigned," he said.

"The difference is the then-Opposition was not acting hysterically and calling this a 'surrender' as the Leader of the Opposition has.

"Last week we had Tony Abbott talking about our economy and comparing it with Cyprus and today he's talking about surrendering.

"He is not fit for prime ministership."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-10/abbott-accuses-government-of-surrender-on-boat-arrivals/4620160

Can we give Abbott a broom and sweep himself out the door?...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2fRMy5rxuM