Liu Xiaobo Has Died

Fiona Uncategorized

Photo credit: Committee to Protect Journalists

Some of you may ask, who was Liu Xiaobo?

A Chinese scholar, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010.

A proponent of human rights, someone who called for political reform in China. Someone who was brave enough to campaign for political rights – indeed, for the end of single-party rule in China. Someone who was made a political prisoner, convicted in 2009.

He died of liver cancer today.

Requiesce in pace

Why is this important?

Because we all know what happens to a country when critics are silenced.

1,011 thoughts on “Liu Xiaobo Has Died”

    • Lived through that still at college then made my way home by London underground and on foot never fogotten

  5. Manus Island closure: refugees forced out of compound and threatened with arrest
    Foxtrot residents told to leave ‘immediately’ as detainees fear Papua New Guinea government will resort to ‘force and violence’ as part of rolling closure
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jul/26/manus-island-closure-refugees-forced-out-of-compound-and-threatened-with-arrest

    That was yesterday.

    This afternoon there was an update from Behrouz Boochani,

    The pressure on the refugees is increasing day by day. Today they cut the water in Foxtrot, the largest compound in Manus detention centre, and they are planning to cut the power soon. Immigration officers and Wilson security are threatening refugees right now to leave. The government is determined to close the detention centre and the refugees are determined to resist. It seems there is not any way to close the detention centre except by force. The Australian government is blatantly violating human rights at the same time that it is competing with other countries to get a seat on the UN Human Rights Council in October. This government wants to take the refugees out of the detention centre before October so they can tell the world they closed this prison camp. I am asking all of those advocates who are fighting for change to Australia’s illegal and dangerous refugee policies to be with the refugees in this historical period

    https://www.facebook.com/behrouz.boochani.7?hc_ref=ARSZ6C746271LYAatuK_z9Y5BzQ6fJEcJivQLbMiG8E1JjcmmKEf7rU-B-eUkC5TmCQ&fref=nf

    Behrouz Boochani is a Kurdish journalist, human rights defender, poet and film producer currently detained on Manus Island.

  6. It’s no good hoping the next generation will be more enlightened, they are being raised to vote National and to hate Labor.

    Also any young people in rural areas who are of a left of centre persuasion tend to go to uni in the city and never come back.

  8. At least with the trend of young rural people leaving for the city is that there’ll be less rural seats in future. While kind of a sad thing for regional centres, it’s simply something that can’t be helped.

    In the upcoming decades I expect in states like Victoria that the amount of rural seats will continue to decrease, while the huge growth in the capital’s outer fringes will continue to gain seats from them.

    I mean, why should young people stay in the country if they see no future there, what with all the jobs moving to the Capital. That in itself will create a nightmare in the decades to come, what with Melbourne probably reaching 6 or 7 million before 2050 while the regional centers wither and die.

  10. We shall see

    One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts said he renounced his British citizenship before he nominated for parliament, but Britain only confirmed it in December — more than five months after the poll.

    Senator Roberts has told Sky News he received a form from British authorities on December 5 last year saying he was not a citizen.

    But he has not released the paperwork.

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-27/malcolm-roberts-says-he-renounced-british-citizenship/8750772

    Especially the document from the Brits that says: “Pursuant to your letter of …”

  12. Kirsdarke,

    [At least with the trend of young rural people leaving for the city is that there’ll be less rural seats in future. While kind of a sad thing for regional centres, it’s simply something that can’t be helped.]

    Since the 70’s the actual ‘bush’ outside the regional centres has been becoming devoid of young people other than those who will take over farms or viable businesses from their parents. Those who can get up and go have gone.

    For a while regional centres were holding mainly due to establishment of regional universities.

    We are becoming more and more big capital city ‘urbanised’ simply because that is where the opportunities are. People who go the regional centre university education route leave for the capital cities in pursuit of better employment once they graduate.

    With agriculture and mining now being more and more mechanised/automated the work that exists in the ‘sticks’ is boiling down to those operating/manning the primary industries.

    Australia will be a vastly different place in another 30 years.

  13. Canberra weather:

    1 degree C at 2am then 5.5 degrees at 3am and slowly climbing ever since.

  14. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.

    Roberts received confirmation that his British citizenship had been revoked in December – a full six months after he nominated as a candidate to the Senate. So maybe we will be rid of this blight on the Senate.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/malcolm-roberts-did-not-receive-confirmation-he-renounced-british-citizenship-until-months-after-election-20170727-gxkbtu.html
    It all comes down to Roberts’ “belief”.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/one-nation-senator-malcolm-roberts-denies-he-lied-is-choosing-to-believe-he-was-never-a-uk-citizen-20170727-gxjp3c.html
    Richo has his say on the Canavan case. Google.
    /opinion/columnists/graham-richardson/matt-canavans-italian-job-sounds-like-a-real-clunker/news-story/273f65b705bf7747caa0b1f939aba092
    Grattan on Friday – Michelle says Barnaby’s got his problems.
    https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-if-high-court-disqualifies-canavan-joyce-will-be-scratching-for-cabinet-replacement-81710
    David Crowe writes that questions of citizenship are now deadly serious for all sides of politics as Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten consider how an accident of birth could shift power in the parliament. Google.
    /opinion/dual-nationality-affair-labor-oddson-to-take-first-hostage/news-story/4155627d9aae532e63dce2b39cec9686
    Even if Matt Canavan did acquire Italian citizenship without his consent or knowledge, it may not be enough to save his political career, writes Sydney University Professor Helen Irving.’
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/australian-constitutions-wide-net-catches-unwary-mps-in-s44i-trap,10541
    An unimpressed John Hewson writes “Strategies are emerging, as evidenced by the two recent scene-setting speeches by Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten at the Melbourne Institute – the differences were stark, but the substance of each was minimal.”
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/bill-shorten-and-malcolm-turnbull-make-different-promises-but-all-are-empty-20170726-gxjje6.html
    Things are bubbling along nicely inside the White House.
    http://www.smh.com.au/world/white-house-rift-boils-over-as-scaramucci-jabs-at-priebus-over-leaks-20170727-gxkde2.html
    Trump’s new communications director has escalated his bizarre media interactions by phoning CNN to attack his colleagues, live on air, for leaking to the press.
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/07/27/scaramucci-makes-extraordinary-phone-call-to-cnn-to-rant-about-l_a_23051745/?utm_hp_ref=au-homepage

  15. Section 2 . . .

    The Chinese ban on beef imports from Australia is blamed on “human error”. At SIX factories??
    http://www.smh.com.au/business/human-error-blamed-for-shock-china-beef-ban-20170727-gxk7fc.html
    Protecting coastal infrastructures is just the beginning of our battle to survive the rising tide. Freelance journalist, Peter Boyer, who was awarded an OAM for services to conservation and the environment, reports.
    https://www.michaelwest.com.au/global-warmings-huge-and-endless-cost-of-rising-seas/
    London police say they have “reasonable grounds” to charge two organisations with corporate manslaughter over the Grenfell Tower disaster in June, in which at least 80 people were killed. There must be a blot of board members throughout the country shitting brick now!
    http://www.smh.com.au/world/manslaughter-charges-possible-for-grenfell-tower-disaster-police-say-20170727-gxkdip.html
    Barnaby Joyce’s demonstrates yet again his unsuitability for the job with his intemperate and revealing pub talk to farmers.
    http://www.smh.com.au/environment/stop-greenies-running-the-show-joyce-unloads-on-four-corners-water-report-20170727-gxjp8s.html
    Michelle Grattan says that in sorting out the UNHCR/government disagreement over refugee resettlement will be important to the credibility of both sides.
    https://theconversation.com/sorting-out-what-happened-in-unhcr-and-government-talks-on-refugees-important-for-credibility-of-both-sides-81568
    This 9 year old autistic girl certainly put mental giant Pauline Hanson in her place!
    http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/nineyearold-girl-with-autism-applies-filter-then-sets-pauline-hanson-straight-20170719-gxee18.html
    Mark Kenny on another difficult aspect of Section 44 on the constitution.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/the-absurd-case-of-dr-mike-freelander-demonstrates-a-constitution-in-dire-need-of-an-update-20170727-gxjwe5.html
    James Massola thinks Canavan might find some assistance from a dissenting view in the Cleary case from 25 years ago.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/the-dissenting-argument-from-a-former-governorgeneral-that-could-save-matt-canavans-skin-20170727-gxjxkr.html
    Laura Tingle has a close look at how the new Home Affairs outfit will set itself up. Google.
    /opinion/columnists/laura-tingle/home-affairs-and-intelligence-will-be-driven-by-the-dollars-20170727-gxjvpr

  16. Section 3 . . .

    Labor is heading for a showdown over energy policy at its NSW conference this weekend, with the Australian Workers Union aiming to push the party into adopting a controversial gas reservation policy.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/labor-set-for-conference-showdown-as-unions-push-for-gas-reservation-policy-20170727-gxjx26.html
    If this doesn’t make you feel sick nothing will!
    http://www.theage.com.au/world/pakistan-village-council-orders-revenge-rape-of-girl-20170727-gxkck3.html
    Josh Bernstein says that wage fraud will continue until politicians stop it but doesn’t think that they will.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/27/wage-will-continue-until-politicians-stop-it-they-can-but-will-they
    Jennifer Hewett writes the politics of power Abbott style. Google.
    /opinion/columnists/lets-get-real-about-the-politics-of-power-tony-abbott-style-20170727-gxk4re
    Philip Nitschke puts his bit in as the Victorian voluntary euthanasia bill debate gets closer. Google.
    /opinion/our-aged-have-earned-right-to-make-choices-about-voluntary-euthanasia/news-story/7bbf471b41104356e45ff76f6769ddf3
    Josephine Tovey writes that it was always a con, and not a very good one. During his presidential tilt, Trump promised to turn the page on years of Republican hostility to progress on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights by being an even better friend to the LGBT community than his opponent, Hillary Clinton.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/trumps-transgender-military-ban-shows-his-support-for-lgbt-rights-was-a-con-20170727-gxjm17.html
    A new anti-discrimination complaint will test the limits of free speech and religious expression in Australia, with two preachers — a Presbyterian pastor and a street evangelist — accused of offending gays and atheists. Google.
    /business/legal-affairs/preachers-in-free-speech-test-on-atheists-and-gays/news-story/c6039963d5224a7922a8f5cbbd65755e
    Van Badham tells us that inequality is real and guess what. The voters have noticed.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/28/inequality-is-real-and-guess-what-the-electorate-have-noticed
    Gillian Triggs succeeded in getting under Mesma’s skin!
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jul/27/gillian-triggs-misguided-on-australias-human-rights-record-julie-bishop-says

  17. Section 4 . . . with Cartoon Corner Part 1

    The Coalition has defended more than $5 billion in controversial cuts to the public service and federal government programs, as new detail shows the health and social services portfolios have lost $4.7 billion through efficiency audits.
    http://www.smh.com.au/national/public-service/more-than-5-billion-in-public-service-efficiency-review-savings-detailed-20170725-gxi7o1.html
    The entrenched gender pay gap is expected to remain in Australian workplaces until at least 2067, a federal government agency has told Parliament.
    http://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace-relations/australias-gender-pay-gap-to-last-another-for-50-years-20170727-gxjmay.html
    Coca-Cola Amatil’s supermarket problems look set to deepen after Coles chief executive John Durkan warned the drinks giant’s Mount Franklin range of water products risked being cut back on its supermarket shelves.
    http://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/coles-boss-spray-deepens-cokes-water-woes-20170727-gxk0fw.html
    The tide has turned in the war on bikies, with more than 60 per cent of South Australia’s outlaw gang members now behind bars. Google.
    /news/law-order/correctional-services-figures-show-more-than-half-of-sas-bikies-behind-bars-as-crackdown-bites/news-story/bbc6d7ed16958fc03072b42f8844027f
    The dangers of “el desko” eating.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/lunching-al-desko-isnt-just-sad-its-bad-for-you-20170727-gxjqra.html

    Cathy Wilcox exposes Trump on his “support” of LGBTI.

    More form Ron Tandberg on citizenship for MPs.

  18. Section 6 . . . Cartoon Corner Part 2

    Tandberg brilliantly lines up Malcolm Roberts.
    http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/cartoons/ron-tandberg-20090910-fixc.html
    Broelman and the gatekeepers of Parliament House.

    A beautiful effort from David Pope! His depiction of Barnaby Joyce is fantastic.
    http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/cartoons/david-pope-20120214-1t3j0
    Zanetti takes to the dinner table of the Canavan family.

    Stephen Colbert fixes a Trump Tweet on LGBTI support.

    Mark Knight on Pell’s court appearance.

    David Rowe has Trump reporting for duty.

    Andrew Dyson and NSW water issues.

    Mark Knight with Canavan fronting the High Court.
    http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/3586ff347634a23b7c5e4ae94c48ac0e?width=1024
    Jon Kudelka with North Korea’s new weapon of parliamentary mass destruction.

  20. Simply delicious news that Malcolm Roberts might be kicked out of the Senate soon. Easily one of my least favorite Senators. I always liked him slightly less than Hanson, since while she’s the stupid whining, bigot, he always seems to be the more malicious Breitbart-style white supremacist. The Bannon to Hanson’s Trump.

    Next down on the list in the Queensland One Nation 2016 ballot is Fraser Anning, whoever that is.

    • Fraser comes from a sheep & cattle grazing family from far north west Queensland where he spent his younger years on the family property after completing his education in Brisbane. He married Fiona who was also from the land and they decided to find work in the city as the cattle industry was in crisis and the droughts in the area made it hard to survive.

      Fraser moved from the farm into the hospitality industry and within a year was appointed general manager & licensee of a large Hotel for Carlton Brewery. After managing this property successfully for a couple of years, the couple bought their first hotel.

      During the next 4 years the Annings bought and operated a further three hotels, later starting a Hotel rescue consulting business. This business still is in strong demand and has had the couple moving from one end of the east coast to the other, working for Receivers, private owners & Hotel groups, helping bring these properties out of financial difficulty.

      In the mid 1990s Fraser was asked to join an aircraft manufacturing company on the Sunshine Coast, and as he was needing a change and loved aviation, he agreed to take on the role of marketing manager of Skyfox Aviation. Over the 4 years he sold 110 of these great Australian built aircraft. The company was bought by an Indian group and shipped offshore, Fraser described it as a great loss to Australia.

      For the past 4 years Fraser and his family have lived and worked in Gladstone, in the Hotel industry & also in their own businesses.

      Fraser has always closely followed politics in this country and believes now is the time for a change stating, “we need to get Australia back on track with real people in government instead of the privileged fools we have in power now.”

      http://www.onenation.com.au/candidates/fraseranning

      Anning is a far right politician from Gladstone, Queensland. Anning is an early member of the One Nation Party, contesting the 1998 election for the seat of Fairfax. On account of Anning holding Alter Kampfer status, he was selected to run as the ONP number three in the 2016 election for the Queensland Senate. I guess his loyalty to fuhrer Pauline Hanson paid off cause I don’t see any other reason to run such a wet sock in parliament.

      https://antifascistactionsydney.wordpress.com/2016/07/28/fraser-anning/

  24. How privatisation pushed-up Australia’s electricity costs
    The Australia Institute has released a new report entitled Electricity costs: Preliminary results show how privatisation went seriously wrong. the report finds that electricity prices have increased at three times the rate of CPI, primarily due to companies ‘gold-plating’ financial assets and passing those costs onto consumers.
    https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2017/07/privatisation-pushed-australias-electricity-costs/

    Full report –

    Click to access P415%20Electricity%20costs.pdf

  25. Is there no end to the man’s talent?

    BuzzFeed News has confirmed the deputy prime minister billed taxpayers almost $9,000 for “special purpose” defence force charter flights on the same day he attended a rugby league game with his family.

    On Mother’s Day last year, it was organised for the Royal Australian Air Force to pick up Barnaby Joyce and National deputy leader Fiona Nash up from two regional NSW towns and fly them back to Canberra ahead of the first day of the federal election campaign.

    Flight records were uncovered by Stephen Murray on Twitter in the latest report to the Senate into the RAAF’s billed trips for federal political figures.

    https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2017-07/27/6/asset/buzzfeed-prod-fastlane-02/sub-buzz-6051-1501151919-1.jpg

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/markdistefano/joyce-on-the-raaf?utm_term=.xaRP2zGPO#.tqqN15mNX

    • And none of it listed on his expenses claims.

      We do know that Barnaby chartered a plane to fly him from Canberra to Tamworth on 6 May last year, at a cost of $6240.00. Tamworth has regular flights from Sydney, there are regular flights from Canberra to Sydney. Did Barnaby choose an expensive charter because he didn’t want to change aircraft in Sydney? Too lazy to walk through a terminal?

      He must have been in a hurry to get home.

      Click to access P38_JOYCE_Barnaby.pdf

      Here’s a question – how many other ministers and backbenchers are hiding the real cost of their travel by using defence aircraft instead of commercial charters?

  26. I really don’t know what would be worse – Malcolm Roberts staying in the Senate or Roberts being replaced by Hanson’s sister. At least Roberts is occasionally good for comic relief, but TWO whining sisters would never be in the least entertaining.

    Judy Smith says she has a background in banking and is Hanson’s ‘closest economics advisor’. Geez!
    https://antifascistactionsydney.wordpress.com/2016/08/30/judy-smith/

    Judy’s husband, Greg Smith, is One Nation’s treasurer. He is a bit embroiled in the ongoing ‘who owns the plane’ saga.
    http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/04/04/hanson-issues-referred-australian-electoral-commission

    Putting Judy into the Senate might be a very big mistake.

  33. This is spot on, and it ties in with the inequality debate. There is also a flow-on to the health of our kids. When parents have to pay a huge power bill then something has to be cut. It means decent fresh food is off the menu, replaced by three minute noodles, pasta and lots of bread. No wonder kids are becoming obese.

    Soaring power prices forcing families to skimp on fresh food, Coles boss says

    RISING living costs and low wage growth are forcing many households to swap healthy food for cheaper packaged goods in a “disastrous” trend, Coles supermarket boss John Durkan says.
    Mr Durkan said soaring power prices in particular are a key constraint on spending for consumers who, as a result, are tightening their belts when it comes to buying food.
    “At a time when incomes are not growing much, many households are having to confront large price rises in other areas of everyday living,” the Coles managing director said in a speech at the American Chamber of Commerce on Thursday.
    “We are seeing people really being affected by utility prices across the board. They are having to choose not only what they are going to feed their family but how much of it, which is disastrous as far as I am concerned.”
    Mr Durkan said Coles customers, particularly in lower socio-economic areas, are shifting from buying premium products to the supermarket giant’s own range of private label products, and are spending less on fresh produce and fresh meat.
    “Undoubtedly this is happening,” Mr Durkan told reporters. “In essence, these

    http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/coles-boss-john-durkan-blasts-cocacola-for-its-expensive-water/news-story/5eee80dc4290441c88fedf6c49a98985

    • “It means decent fresh food is off the menu, replaced by three minute noodles, pasta and lots of bread. No wonder kids are becoming obese.”

      So true. Also: parents cannot save at all towards their children’s education.

  35. France will set up processing centres in Libya for asylum seekers trying to reach Europe across the Mediterranean, President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday.

    “The idea is to create hotspots to avoid people taking crazy risks when they are not all eligible for asylum. We’ll go to them,” Macron said during a visit to a refugee shelter in central France, adding the plan would be put in place “this summer”, with or without other EU countries.

    https://www.thelocal.fr/20170727/macron-announces-plans-to-set-up-asylum-checks-in-libya

  37. Over to you, Fizza Bananas

    An Australian state MP has been prevented from entering the United States, and fellow travelling politicians have been given no reason for the move.

    Lebanon-born Khalil Eideh, a Labor MP in Victoria, was stuck in Vancouver on Friday after a United Airlines staffer told him he was not allowed to board a flight to Denver with the rest of the group.

    “The United Airlines staff knew he had been denied entry to the US before any of us,” the Sex party MP Fiona Patten told AAP from Denver on Friday.

    “He was incredibly upset … disbelieving.”

    Patten said Eideh was not told why he wasn’t allowed on the plane.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jul/28/disbelieving-australian-politician-on-official-study-trip-denied-entry-to-us

    • Gawd! It’s hideous!

      I can’t see anything Matisse in this. Matisse liked to paint women, but he never showed them with a leg growing out of a shoulder.

  44. Oh dear, is Kylie Mole, MP for Chisholm in trouble? Not looking good.

    And John McCain has redeemed himself in my eyes. Hopefully Obamacare will continue to live.

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