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Colonising our consciousness one commodity at a time

US teenage pop star Justin Bieber released a book on October 12. First Step 2 Forever: My Story is supposed to be his autobiography. The notion that a 16-year-old has been through enough turmoil to merit an autobiography is bewildering, but then, I suppose only something his ghost-writer had to worry about. The book comes on the heels of Bieber releasing his own line of nail polish. Yes, nail polish. At least the marketing team behind 鈥淭he Bieb鈥 knows the target audience.

Public housing: privatised by stealth

Sources in Victorian public housing say proposed changes to the system will increase rents for tenants and replace government-funded public housing with more expensive privatised housing. Public housing in Victoria is being dismantled and privatised by stealth, without open and genuine public consultation.
Anti-war protest outside parliament. Canberra, October 19.

Parliamentary 鈥榙ebate鈥 on war a farce

On October 19, at exactly 3.30pm, the Lib-Lab politicians suddenly went from smirk to sombre as the Afghanistan 鈥渄ebate鈥 finally started 鈥 nine years too late. It was a farce.