Donald Trump’s impeachment trial begins
Democrats serving as prosecutors opened their case by showing video of Trump supporters violently overwhelming police at the Capitol after he encouraged people to “fight like hell”.
If Donald Trump is on 'trial', who is the judge? Who are the witnesses? Can he appeal?
The impeachment trial of former US president Donald Trump begins, with Democrats trying to convince the Senate the former president encouraged supporters to storm the Capitol. So who is the judge, who is the jury, and will Trump give evidence?
UPDATE
Trump’s team begins impeachment trial with inept performance
The former US president’s lawyer’s opening defence argument was so cringe-worthy that Newsmax, the fiercely pro-Trump alternative to Fox News, cut away.
Since Trump is now a private citizen may be Newsmax didn't want to give Trump the opportunity to sue!!
Peter Dutton slashed funding for highly regarded community safety projects. Then he selected his own list to fund
Right to rule, right to pork-barrel: our political leaders are feeling bulletproof
27Ian McBurney
Freobrtruaahmiry SS8p adtofhhnssionf 9r:3g6leih PdlSuM
Héritier Lumumba and Sliding DoorsI’ve been a Pies fan since I could walk. So has my son. And my Dad. And my brothers. And lots of my cousins. And some uncles and aunties. And my grandfather was a Pies man too. My earliest footy memory was standing 15 rows back from Peter Daicos, the Macedonian Marvel when he took a mark outside the 50 and the crowd stood and began to roar because they knew what was going to happen next. Dad lifted me onto my chair so I could see him let rip with a 65m torpedo. The noise of that crowd still gives me chills. In the mid 90s Collingwood sacked Daicos a year or two early because footy had corporatised and fairytales and magic didn’t fit into the salary cap. My 16yo heart broke. Ten years later when Harry O’Brien was told he’d been drafted to Collingwood he was overcome and almost couldn’t speak. I remember reading that he then told Coach Mick Malthouse on the phone that he wouldn’t let him down. Harry mixed raw talent with hard work and he started out a bit all over the place. Gangly and young. He got better. He was respectful, he trained hard, he listened, he learnt and he improved and developed as a footballer. He always played with all his heart. Before long Harry was an All Australian, bustling, running, half back premiership player for Collingwood who looked after his teammates and played his role with all his heart. I’ll never forget his grand final goal and his celebration with two fists in the air, his body bending backwards in elation and the entire southern stand celebrating with him. He had grown up as a footballer. And then he grew up as a person. His travel opened his eyes, his African and Brazilian background was opened up to him and enabled him to look back at his own life and at Australia through new eyes. His charity work showed him injustice. Héritier Lumumba had arrived. And he began to speak up. He no longer tolerated being called “Chimp” by teammates. He spoke out about injustice at Collingwood and in the community. He saw his footballing celebrity as a chance to make a difference and to stand up for what is right. That was a sliding doors moment for Collingwood. Back then, Richmond was also having a sliding doors moment with another “different” individual, Dustin Martin. Dusty looked like he was going down a well travelled footy path to failure. But Richmond had decided to embrace individuals. Recognising that premierships are won when individuals are loved and valued for who they are. Richmond worked out what made Dusty tick, then they gave him unbelievable backing, support and personal development. They helped him to get his life on track and to be a great version of himself. He has paid Richmond back in spades. Over at Collingwood Héritier was offering his team more than a great player. Instead of embracing that, supporting him and learning with him, Collingwood decided to pull him back, to make him a lesser person and to ask him to stick to footy. They swept his criticisms under the carpet. Not only did they not listen to him, they sat down with the PR department and worked out how to discredit him. How to publicly humiliate a champion of their club. To tell the media that their All Australian premiership winning half back, their running, bustling champion was a problem. To imply he was lying about racism. That he was the problem, not fitting in with the team culture. The culture that has just been described by an independent report as systematically racist. His wellbeing began to suffer. Then his footy began to suffer. Héritier had played for Collingwood with all of his heart. Now his heart was breaking. Collingwood could just as easily have gone with him on the journey he offered. It would have made them greater. Who knows, they could have stood “side by side” with Herritier and won another flag or two. Melbourne helped Jim Stynes become a social justice legend. The AFL is still celebrating Jimmy. Richmond has helped Bachar Houli be an outstanding advocate for people of Muslim faith. Collingwood and the AFL could have made such a difference in this country and they would have benefited from it. How many fans have hated what has happened to Aboriginal players, for generations? Who saw Chris Lewis’ sublime talent be lessened by racism and hated it? Who saw the unrivalled talent of Nicky Winmar be lessened by racism and hated it? Who saw Michael Long abused and hated it?How about the fans who turned off the Footy Show in the late 90s because they hated the bigotry? How many of us watched in horror while one of our all time greatest Adam Goodes was booed from the game for taking a stand against racism?How can fans like us love the game anymore when it doesn’t address racism, sexism and bigotry? I will not be a member of Collingwood now. I will not be going to games. I will not watching games on TV or reading footy stories in the papers. Not until Collingwood and the AFL get their act sorted. I can’t. Footy fans don’t need more spin. We need change. We need Héritier and Goodsey and Chris Lewis inside footy clubs and in the AFL telling the truth. We need Collingwood and the AFL to own their racism and learn from it and change who they are. We need Collingwood and the AFL to show they understand. To work hard to end discrimination and abuse and intergenerational inequality against the Aboriginal people who bring such joy to our game despite all the odds. The AFL should be fighting hard to make sure every Aboriginal kid has the same chance at making AFL as any white kid. Why not really get into it and push the federal government to embrace the Uluru Statement and give Aboriginal people the voice and the recognition and the control they deserve?Ask yourself this. Would John Howard have ignored Michael Long if the AFL CEO had walked to Canberra with him?We’re now at another sliding doors moment. If Collingwood and the AFL can humble themselves, listen deeply, feel the shame, think deeply and then get to work to make sure it never ever happens again, then they will get better fans, better players, better matches, better team cultures and better sponsors. They’ll get better footy shows, better footy show hosts and better commentators. They’ll get something we can all be proud of. And then people like me will come back. Thanks Héritier. And I’m sorry. I hope we can make this better for you and for the next talented kid who dreams of playing AFL and making the crowd stand and roar with pure joy.
Héritier Lumumba and Sliding Doors
I’ve been a Pies fan since I could walk. So has my son. And my Dad. And my brothers. And lots of my cousins. And some uncles and aunties. And my grandfather was a Pies man too. My earliest footy memory was standing 15 rows back from Peter Daicos, the Macedonian Marvel when he took a mark outside the 50 and the crowd stood and began to roar because they knew what was going to happen next. Dad lifted me onto my chair so I could see him let rip with a 65m torpedo. The noise of that crowd still gives me chills. In the mid 90s Collingwood sacked Daicos a year or two early because footy had corporatised and fairytales and magic didn’t fit into the salary cap. My 16yo heart broke.
Ten years later when Harry O’Brien was told he’d been drafted to Collingwood he was overcome and almost couldn’t speak. I remember reading that he then told Coach Mick Malthouse on the phone that he wouldn’t let him down. Harry mixed raw talent with hard work and he started out a bit all over the place. Gangly and young. He got better. He was respectful, he trained hard, he listened, he learnt and he improved and developed as a footballer. He always played with all his heart.
Before long Harry was an All Australian, bustling, running, half back premiership player for Collingwood who looked after his teammates and played his role with all his heart. I’ll never forget his grand final goal and his celebration with two fists in the air, his body bending backwards in elation and the entire southern stand celebrating with him. He had grown up as a footballer.
And then he grew up as a person. His travel opened his eyes, his African and Brazilian background was opened up to him and enabled him to look back at his own life and at Australia through new eyes. His charity work showed him injustice. Héritier Lumumba had arrived. And he began to speak up.
He no longer tolerated being called “Chimp” by teammates. He spoke out about injustice at Collingwood and in the community. He saw his footballing celebrity as a chance to make a difference and to stand up for what is right.
That was a sliding doors moment for Collingwood.
Back then, Richmond was also having a sliding doors moment with another “different” individual, Dustin Martin. Dusty looked like he was going down a well travelled footy path to failure. But Richmond had decided to embrace individuals. Recognising that premierships are won when individuals are loved and valued for who they are. Richmond worked out what made Dusty tick, then they gave him unbelievable backing, support and personal development. They helped him to get his life on track and to be a great version of himself. He has paid Richmond back in spades.
Over at Collingwood Héritier was offering his team more than a great player.
Instead of embracing that, supporting him and learning with him, Collingwood decided to pull him back, to make him a lesser person and to ask him to stick to footy. They swept his criticisms under the carpet. Not only did they not listen to him, they sat down with the PR department and worked out how to discredit him. How to publicly humiliate a champion of their club. To tell the media that their All Australian premiership winning half back, their running, bustling champion was a problem. To imply he was lying about racism. That he was the problem, not fitting in with the team culture. The culture that has just been described by an independent report as systematically racist.
His wellbeing began to suffer. Then his footy began to suffer. Héritier had played for Collingwood with all of his heart. Now his heart was breaking.
Collingwood could just as easily have gone with him on the journey he offered. It would have made them greater. Who knows, they could have stood “side by side” with Herritier and won another flag or two.
Melbourne helped Jim Stynes become a social justice legend. The AFL is still celebrating Jimmy.
Richmond has helped Bachar Houli be an outstanding advocate for people of Muslim faith.
Collingwood and the AFL could have made such a difference in this country and they would have benefited from it.
How many fans have hated what has happened to Aboriginal players, for generations? Who saw Chris Lewis’ sublime talent be lessened by racism and hated it? Who saw the unrivalled talent of Nicky Winmar be lessened by racism and hated it? Who saw Michael Long abused and hated it?
How about the fans who turned off the Footy Show in the late 90s because they hated the bigotry?
How many of us watched in horror while one of our all time greatest Adam Goodes was booed from the game for taking a stand against racism?
How can fans like us love the game anymore when it doesn’t address racism, sexism and bigotry?
I will not be a member of Collingwood now. I will not be going to games. I will not watching games on TV or reading footy stories in the papers. Not until Collingwood and the AFL get their act sorted. I can’t.
Footy fans don’t need more spin. We need change.
We need Héritier and Goodsey and Chris Lewis inside footy clubs and in the AFL telling the truth. We need Collingwood and the AFL to own their racism and learn from it and change who they are. We need Collingwood and the AFL to show they understand. To work hard to end discrimination and abuse and intergenerational inequality against the Aboriginal people who bring such joy to our game despite all the odds. The AFL should be fighting hard to make sure every Aboriginal kid has the same chance at making AFL as any white kid. Why not really get into it and push the federal government to embrace the Uluru Statement and give Aboriginal people the voice and the recognition and the control they deserve?
Ask yourself this. Would John Howard have ignored Michael Long if the AFL CEO had walked to Canberra with him?
We’re now at another sliding doors moment. If Collingwood and the AFL can humble themselves, listen deeply, feel the shame, think deeply and then get to work to make sure it never ever happens again, then they will get better fans, better players, better matches, better team cultures and better sponsors. They’ll get better footy shows, better footy show hosts and better commentators. They’ll get something we can all be proud of.
And then people like me will come back.
Thanks Héritier. And I’m sorry. I hope we can make this better for you and for the next talented kid who dreams of playing AFL and making the crowd stand and roar with pure joy.
FAKE NEWS
In what world is this a crack down on tax avoidance? Why would Ch9 even report it as one? It's total interferance in the our free market and a gift paid forward for Murdoch's LNP promotion. When all said and done they got rid of most of their journalists. It's not about selling news but commentary and political promotion. The concentration of politically biased opinion serves the LNP when it's concentrated in the hands of MSM and not diffused by the algorithms of the Big tech platforms. Nor is it any advantage to have news generated and delivered by a nationalized public media source like the ABC, The LNP has been tackling both problems aggressively for the past 8 years since Abbott's great lie of "No Tax Cuts for the ABC".
Early in any election cycle they slashed the ABC's budget so much so today it is the equivalent of 1984. It's always been an IPA and Murdoch interest and backroom arrangement. Have we ever seen more interference and criticism of an independent statuary body than by the LNP government in the past 8 years? Have we ever seen more tax payer funded advertising on the ABC? The ABC and SBS look like commercial stations. Meanwhile they still employ journalists while Murdoch sacks his and is now basically a poltically driven propagandist for the government.
So it's the ABC that generates news yet initially the LNP wanted them locked out of the government forced deal on Google and Facebook but that was a a mile too far. Will the ABC be the only ones forced to be paid for "news"? Will the MSM be be funded for their opinionated promotion of the LNP? Which ever way you look this is doesn't benefit Democracy in any way. It does however increasingly put our so called news on a political one way street.
On the other hand have we ever seen greater government funds been handed directly to companies like News Corp and Foxtel? Even this government sees it can't keep doing that. So it has manipulated the Free Market in their benefit. If there really was a "crackdown" on tax avoidance the Murdoch would have to be the first in line. (ODT)
No comments:
Post a Comment