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Information didn’t reach anyone
Today my post on the WordPress platform has not brought any hits on my website nor interest in my novel Presumed Dead, a political crime fiction thriller. The book is set in a hung parliament. The title of my post was Must Parliament be Hung? It was inoffensive, apolitical and informative. I have received no complaint about the content of my post. I am disappointed that my information didn’t reach anyone..
I assume reach to my 130 followers was suppressed by a WordPress algorithm sensitive to political issues. I am alarmed that my post offering analysis and alternatives for Australia’s democracy has been taken out at a time when discussion is wanted. In the opinion of most people, a healthy democracy allows its political processes to be discussed respectfully.
Guy Debord, a French philosopher, wrote in The Society of the Spectacle (1967) that the people are exploited by the leaders for profit, with images created by the media and others. The spectacle is totalitarian. This theory would explain the suppression of my post, because discussion of a hung parliament could increase or decrease profits and leader interests.
If the algorithms would stop my post earlier today reaching anyone, then the spectacle could stop this one, because it exposes the monetisation intent of WordPress in allowing reach. Our future could be bleak.
martinknox.com

MUST PARLIAMENT BE HUNG?
If the Australian Parliament is hung, it could be an artificial impasse created by representatives who are prevented by self-serving parties from separating and compromising on issues because they want to force a change of government. Could the incumbent government better organise the parliament’s business to operate a minority government and avoid deadlock?
Presumed Dead is a crime fiction story with a hung parliament, resolved by an independent woman politician who opposes and ends partisan politics.
Reviews: martinknox.com

PETROLEUM SQUANDERED
Saving of oil resources is required to supply future aviation, road vehicle and maritime fuel demands. The novel Short of Love is set in the international oil supply industry, with dramatic events from the Beatles Era to the Global Financial Crash. When oil is produced by flushing it out with water, about 70% remains in rock pores. Tom Archer is a petroleum engineer concerned about this waste and champions a new technology which could make better use of depleting petroleum resources in Canada, Australia’s Bass Strait and the UK’s North Sea. Tom’s sights are set on becoming CEO of his large oil company. His partner Vicki campaigns for his company to be more responsible. Will they succeed? The story is an epic tale of love conflicted by career aspirations based on true events.
Available Amazon. Reviews martinknox.com

WHAT COULD A HUNG COUNCIL DO?
How unstable could local politics become when an elected council becomes hung?
If party politicians join independents on the cross-bench, would developments wanted by the public be more or less likely to be approved?
‘Presumed Dead’ is a novel by Martin Knox set in a fictional council chamber within the Westminster system. Corruption at the big end of town is suspected when Jane Kenwood, a feisty councillor, disappears.