Facebook’s thumbnail taxes down under

Facebook pays tiny tax bill

Nick Sas – The West Australian on May 12, 2016 | Yahoo

Facebook Australia has restructured its local business in the face of the Federal Government’s multinational tax crackdown, as the US giant revealed it paid just $814,000 in tax last year.

The West Australian has obtained the 2015 financial figures of the Australian arm of the social media company, revealing gross revenue of $33.5 million, up from $26.4 million in 2014 — a 26 per cent jump.

More: https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/31580302/facebook-pays-tiny-tax-bill/

A warning blares from around the world

Some of us may have a hard time hearing the voices echoing both in an outside the country, what with all the crosstalk. However, they are there. Just because some don’t care to hear doesn’t mean they aren’t there. But we can ignore them at our own peril.

The below article comes from a blogger I’ve corresponded with from Australia, who has done his share of traveling and keeping up with the world of politics. In it he offers a stern warning we’d be wise not to ignore. He left this in a comment but, with his permission, I’m posting it as it deserves. Thanks. Are we listening?

You might find this article I wrote a while back an interesting piece.
Cheers. – Emu (*Capitals* denote emphasis)

The Freedom of Speech is being stifled, all in the cause of potentially inciting hatred, bigotry and Islamophobia.

Sadly, having watched the political games being enacted around the world, on the political stage, America seems to have lost much of its heart. America used to stand on Integrity, Truth, Honesty and Justice; these tenets are disappearing rapidly out of the American language and Government.

No longer is America seen as a World Leader, no longer does America have a President who holds the values of Truth, Honesty and Justice in his hands.

It is sad to watch a great country like America unfold from internal means, a President who lacks empathy to his Servicemen and woman, both serving and returned. A President who places the acceptance of the Islamic Ideology into his country above the security of the people of America; a President who embraces the Ideology of the United Nations New World Order above the basics of security and well being of his own people.

America has lost the direction on the world stage. America has become a puppet of the United Nations. Not only America, our feeble minded Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has done the same, sold out Australia to the United Nations. Germany’s President Merkel has also sold out Germany to the United Nations.

How has this come about, a programme pre-ordained for a New World Order by the United Nations, and signed by Western and European World leaders?

The Islamification of the world is unfolding, the first indication is the denial of Freedom of Speech, this negates Bigotry, Racism and Hatred. All because we are led to believe that Islam is the answer to world peace and unity.

It is time the Western Worlds Governments, and European Governments, recognized the fact that Islam is not a Religion but an Ideology. In support of this statement, we need to remember the point that all Muslims are born under the Sharia law — an Islamic Ideology. Muslims who stray from the Islamic Ideology become Apostates or Infidels. The Islamic Ideology is contrary to the Global Humanitarian way of life, its Beliefs, and Culture.

Countries around the world, America included, need to debate the subject: Is Islam a Religion or Ideology. If it is a Religion, then is it compatible and harmonious to our Western Judea/Christian beliefs, and conducive to assimilation and integration into our culture. If it is not a religion but an ideology, then again we ask the question, is the Islamic Ideology also conducive to harmonious assimilation and integration into Global culture. At the moment, throughout the world, it is becoming clearer each day that Islam is an ideology which is incompatible with every Western and European country. The people of America and Australia should find the Ideology of Islamic Beliefs to be a Credible Threat to America and Australia.

I feel sad thinking back over the years when America was an Ally of Australia, an America that stood for freedom and democracy. A country that stood for the rights of their people, and all the peoples who were oppressed around the world. That dream has gone. America no longer holds my flag in support of Humanity — not only America but my home country Australia as well as Germany and Canada.

The Russian President Putin sides with the French President to face ISIL front on. The American President will not, simply because the American President wants Assad removed. Here we have two major country’s fighting the evil of ISIL for Global humanitarian reasons. America, under Obama, wants Assad out purely for political monetary gain, no word of Humanity out of Obama.

I do not cry for France, I do not cry for all those European countries experiencing terrorism, I do not cry for America or Australia when the next wave of terrorism comes. I cry for those world leaders who have sold their country out to Islam.

The Bald Eagle of America may be Bald, but the American Bald Eagle no longer has feathers under the Obama Government, and as such THE BALD EAGLE WILL SOAR NO MORE.

*The above written by a friend, an ‘old Australian soldier’, © Emu. (his blog)

Thanks for the heartfelt words and concerns for both our countries, and the West. America needs to hear the voices, be they in the election or on the survival of the country, or warnings on the West as we know it.

Sometimes people can’t see the forest for the trees in our own backyard. Yet they can see the same turmoil in other countries headed for us. Can we heed the warnings, finally? The clock is ticking.

Teacher rants about dead student on FB

Teacher Desecrates Dead Student On Facebook

Western Journalism

The department released a statement describing the behavior as “unacceptable” and explaining that the incident was reported to higher authorities.

One teacher in Australia recently exhibited behavior so crass that his comments have sparked international condemnation. Shortly after a 16-year-old student took his own life, the educator took to Facebook to posthumously attack the deceased based on his alleged behavior in school.

“You were a moody, disrespectful little brat in and away from school who was always given excuses by your parents and soft people in authority,” the teacher wrote.

The social media rant continued. “Your [sic] gone,” the teacher stated in the widely disseminated passage, expressing “no sympathy or empathy” toward the student.

Furthermore, the Facebook post indicated that the teen “made life hell for genuine students” and acted as “a bully to kids” in and around school.

Obviously, it struck many as the height of hypocrisy for an authority figure to attack the student under such circumstances while attempting to take the moral high ground by standing up for the alleged bully’s victims. Parents and members of the community began feverishly circulating the post, which reached a significant audience in a short time.

The Northern Territory Department of Education responded swiftly, assuring an outraged public that the teacher “is not at school and will not return.” […/]

More http://www.westernjournalism.com/wont-believe-teachers-cruel-gesture-toward-deceased-student/

What can you say about a teacher like that? Makes you wonder what he said to the student when alive – if anything? What would he have done before Face Book?

Oh yea, so how many likes did he get on it which is what really matters these days?

Ref: http://www.smh.com.au/national/teacher-stood-down-over-facebook-rant-about-boy-who-killed-himself-20140326-35hdj.html

Whiplash post Trayvon

People who claimed all along Trayvon’s shooting was about race, go out of their way to say this is not about race, as two black teens and one white shoot Australian college student, Christopher Lane, out of boredom.

Whether you think this shooting is race-related or not, it is amazing how quick they spin around in whiplash to say this has nothing to do with race. (The glove doesn’t fit…)

Then the wider factor: these shooters are essentially victims of a community, culture. They run out to dismiss racism from the conversation after talking about nothing but race for months. And after dismissing the cultural concerns surrounding Trayvon, like Chicago. Now ‘its the culture, stupid.’

Mark Geragos, CNN, suggested in the Zimmerman case that race is embedded in the justice and jury system, so race is unavoidably part of our process. Now he says the criminal justice system has been politicized. We don’t need Obama or pols politicizing this senseless shooting of an Australian college kid.

Now they tell us that it is the wider problems are to blame for this senseless boredom killing. They search for reasons to explain away the conduct of the killers. Remember, it is not race related in any way. But Zimmerman’s actions were driven by race.

See how they spin…whiplash…. what racism? (Video from CNN)

But this part is cut from the video, where Wright explained their change of heart:
KING: Crystal, it’s sad and we can’t jump the gun here, innocent until proven guilty. Sad to look at the young faces. You say that it’s not a gun problem but a breakdown of the Black family. How so?

CRYSTAL WRIGHT, CONSERVATIVE BLOGGER: Well, I want to go back to a little bit what Mark was saying. And you know, this is about race. It might not necessarily be a hate crime but it is very much about race. And what bothers me and strikes me about the media’s whole characterization about this case is never once do we hear about the fact, that two of the killers are Black, two Black teens killing a young White male and when we contrast that to Trayvon Martin, the news media rushed to judgment really quickly. And they said before charges were even brought against George Zimmerman, remember, it was a White man who savagely gunned down a young Black teen. And I think what this tells us is that America has gotten used to and numb to the fact that young Black males are doing the killing.

And that, however, at the same time when the news media reports on a crime, a heinous crime like we see where Christopher Lane, there is no acknowledgement of the reason why young Black males are killing. And you danced — you know, dancing around the fact. Let’s be politically correct.

This was a heinous, savage crime and the fact is, James Edwards did post White hate on his facebook page, on his twitter account, and he glorified hip-hop, which is also part of the problem. So yes, the fact that 73 percent of all Black babies are born into households that where they don’t have two parents is a huge problem. And I want to know when are we going to honestly talk about the problem? And Mark, it’s not — it is open and shut? So it’s open and shut when a Black — when Black kids kill a White boy, it’s open and shut. But it’s not — oh, God, it’s not open and shut when we know that White — and George Zimmerman, by the way, was not White. Remember, he was conveniently recast as a White-Hispanic, right?

I mean, the case should have never been brought to trial. I’m just — this makes me upset to my core because this is a setback for race relations in America on the 50th anniversary of what Martin Luther King fought for. [the video picks up after that]

Description: “As attention on the so called “boredom” killing of college student Christopher Lane grows, so do questions about the role of race. Some are already comparing it to killing of Trayvon Martin, and questioning why the media, and President Obama are not handling it the same way. Criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos, conservative blogger Crystal Wright, and B.E.T. editorial brand manager Michaela Angela Davis weigh in on the case.”

Michaela Angela Davis says “it’s bottom-feeding to make this about race.”

This is absolutely not about race, Davis said. Asked about the phone calls Obama has made to others like Trayvon’s family, Davis says “the president felt the entire whole world was mourning for Trayvon”. She says he can’t be calling families of every victim.  But Lane was a student from another country. Its simple, there is no political benefit for the community organizer in chief to wade into it, like everything else he stuck his nose in.

(CBS)
Peter Lane told Australian media there was no explanation for his son’s death.

“It is heartless and to try to understand it is a short way to insanity,” he said.

Thoughts – Flag Day

THOUGHTS

by

Just Gene

about

FLAG DAY

I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America;
and to the republic, for which it stands;
one nation, under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

 

Thanks to all the brave at Normandy, we still have our Republic and our flag. Never forget!!!

The UNITED STATES of AMERICA is the only country on earth where, when one becomes a citizen, they are equal to me and every other citizen. If one becomes a citizen of France, that does not make them French. If one becomes a citizen of England, that does not make them English, nor in Japan, nor in Mexico, nor in Egypt, nowhere except in the UNITED STATES of AMERICA. When one becomes an AMERICAN citizen, they become an AMERICAN, and if anybody who comes to this country doesn’t understand that significant difference, and refuses to pledge allegiance to the republic for which the flag represents, can use our open borders to get the hell out.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have just ONE politician in this country who had the cojones to do or say this???

Prime Minister Julia Gillard- Australia Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.. Separately, Gillard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying she supported spy agencies monitoring the nation’s mosques. Quote: ‘IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in Patriotism by a majority of Australians.’* ‘This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom’* ‘We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society … Learn the language!’* ‘Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.’* ‘We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.’* ‘This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom, THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.’* ‘If you aren’t happy here then LEAVE. We didn’t force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.’     GOD BLESS AMERICA

The Star Spangled Banner

Francis Scott Key – 1814

O say can you see by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation.
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

(Fifth stanza added by Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1861)

When our land is illumined with liberty’s smile,
If a foe from within strikes a blow at her glory,
Down, down with the traitor that tries to defile
The flag of the stars, and the page of her story!
By the millions unchained,
Who their birthright have gained
We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained;
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave,
While the land of the free is the home of the brave.

The flag that inspired it.