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TalkTurkey

20/05/2011AC I saw the Beatles here, O boy, They came to visit here in Adelaide; And though that was so long ago The memory moves me so! And now I know John Lennon made the whole world grow! He really turned me n~n~n~n~n~n~nn~n~n . . . .!!!!!!!!!

TalkTurkey

20/05/2011OOps on~ etc!

Feral Skeleton

20/05/2011Just a short note to say, "I loves youse all!", but my Modem has been confirmed to be in its death throes and is only coming on intermittently. Until I can afford the $250 crackers to get a new one(which won't be next week 'cause there was a birthday in the family on Tuesday), I'll just have to maintain a wraith-like presence and hang around the blog a bit like Banquo's Ghost, reminding everyone spasmodically of my presence with my hauntingly familiar remarks, along the lines of, Abbott=FUDdy DUDdy; Gillard=Gr8 Mate! Yup, here I'll be, like a bubble disappearing up into the ether and away again, only to return the next time I get life blown into me anew(well, the modem anyway), to let you know I'm still around, and have been watching Abbott go around and around in ever-decreasing circles. Fair Dinks, A Door-Making Factory, a school, and a Fish Market, all in one long day of his 'The Long Campaign' Tour. I suppose he should enjoy it while he can, because come July 1 he will be the one who will dry up and blow away as his bubble bursts.

Feral Skeleton

20/05/2011How could I have forgotten? Tony Toni Tone also went to a Nappy Factory. However, what is good to have seen is that the government were on his tail :) and pumped out a Press Release which collated the exact amounts the Price on Carbon would have on each item that he attempted to sensationalise today with his overblown rhetoric. And it was a matter of cents each. A lot of which would be compensated for generally. I think we're finally starting to see the personnel changes in the ALP, in the Secretariat, which were made since the last election finally bearing fruit. Fingers crossed they keep up the deconstruction of the web of deceit Abbott has woven..

Patricia WA

20/05/2011Great music selections, AC! I'd forgotten the fun we had with The Twist! Just been dancing around the kitchen! The counting will be going the other way if the Libs aren't careful. Do you think Tony will tell Cory Bernardi's friends at Menzies House to pull their heads in? No wonder Malcolm feels he can speak his mind! With him on the cross benches, and who knows who else might join him there, Abbott will look very silly indeed.

lyn

20/05/2011Hi Acerbic Conehead Thankyou Acerbic Conehead for being so delightful. Yes I remember those songs. The Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie pink Bikini”... reminds of my good pink bikini the one I have on in Patricia's photo. I am trying to unravel the news and what Malcolm Turnbull said, somebody here might know more than I can find out. I heard Mark Simkin on the ABC 7pm news say the Governments policy was going to cost 18 billion. I heard Chris Uhlmann say Abbott's policy is going to cost 18 billion . The Australian is reporting Abbott's policy at 18 billion. Malcolm Turnbull says on his blog the Governments policy is going to cost 18 billion. What Malcolm Turnbull says he said: .Lateline: What I actually said, Malcolm Turnbull [b]the Government buying offsets or otherwise directly paying for abatement the cost would be enormous – at $15 a tonne it would amount to an $18 billion [/b]annual cost to the budget. http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/blogs/malcolms-blog/the-lateline-interview-response-to-critics/ What the Australian says Malcolm Turnbull Said: Malcolm Turnbull costs Tony Abbott's carbon plan at $18bn a year , James Massola, The Australian MALCOLM Turnbull says Tony Abbott's direct action plan could cost taxpayers $18 billion a year by 2050, declaring it's only "fair dinkum" to admit the scheme will be funded by the budget. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/malcolm-turnbull-will-never-lead-again-liberal-mps/story-fn59niix-1226059726470

Ad astra reply

20/05/2011HS I hope you soon get your modem - we will miss you if it stops working. Patricia WA I'm glad the twist brought back happy memories.

Feral Skeleton

20/05/2011AcerbicC., You forgot 'Tony the Bikeshit Happens' favourite song: 'I'm A Believer(But Not In Climate Change) by The Monkees. I mean Big Gina is the Organ Grinder, and he is her Monkee, yeah? :)

Ad astra reply

20/05/2011Hi Lyn Malcolm Turnbull has sprung the Coalition climate change policy and its cost. It will use taxpayers’ money to meet the cost, whereas the Government policy will raise the revenue with a carbon tax on polluters. This all shows what a sham the Coalition policy is, and at long last it’s being exposed. Folks Time now for bed. Back tomorrow morning before departing early for the return trip to Melbourne.

Feral Skeleton

20/05/2011Ad Astra, But Tony says Malcolm agrees with the Coalition Climate Change policy. Whatever that means. Maybe it's the equivalent of the Coalition's costing of its election policies...the Accounting firm 'agreed' that the numbers added up, which wasn't the same as them telling the truth about them. :)

Feral Skeleton

20/05/2011OK, so who was the political party that introduced a 'Great Big New Tax'? The Liberal Party! Or, as they like to euphemistically style it: an increase in Royalties for Mining Companies.

TalkTurkey

21/05/2011Folks, I don't think splitting the threads is a very good idea. I don't know what the rest of you think but I'd like to hear. I'm putting this on the other one too.

lyn

21/05/2011 [b]TODAY'S LINKS[/b] [i]The Australian’ baits Australian’s, Ash, Ash's Machiavellian Bloggery[/i] The Australian’ is at its game of smears and allegations again. God I hope someone takes them on soon. Isn’t there a law about the truth content a newspaper has to have? http://ashghebranious.wordpress.com/ [i]The Wily Politician & The Naive Media, Neil Cook, The Bannerman[/i] The Australian, it’s editor in chief and most of the journalistic stable are considered laughing stock among the centre and left in Australian society http://www.waddayano.org/blog/2011/05/the_wily_politician_the_naive_1.php#more [i]Sabotaging the Country to win Government, Jeremy Sear, An Onymous Lefty[/i] by putting those people in Government, encourages the next lot to do everything in their power to sabotage the country to get their own way. http://anonymouslefty.wordpress.com/ [i]Liberals using WA to rip off the rest of us, Jeremy Sear, An Onymous Lefty[/i] through its cynical Liberal government, it is bloody well determined to keep it for itself.Screw the rest of the country http://anonymouslefty.wordpress.com/2011/05/20/liberals-to-get-wa-to-rip-off-the-rest-of-us/ [i]Why must Bob Brown be so mean to those honest, fair-minded gentlefolk at News Ltd?, Jeremy Sear, Pure Poison[/i] reporting on the Greens Like with outright lies.And publicly demanding that they be destroyed.Yup, the only explanation for Brown finally calling them on their continuing, shamelessly misleading campaign http://blogs.crikey.com.au/purepoison/2011/05/20/news-ltd-bullied-by-bob-brown/#more-10213 [i]Turnbull on climate change ,Gary Sauer-Thompson , Public Opinion[/i] Turnbull's commentary is a pretty effective in showing the limitations of the Coalition's climate change policy. The limitations are so great that Turnbull has repudiated the policy http://www.sauerthompson.com/archives/opinion/2011/05/turnbull-on-cli.php [i]Nervous not nasal, misunderstood not misleading – Julia’s just trying too hard, Cate Madill, The Conversation[/i] In order to help the listener understand what she is saying under the pressure of media scrutiny, she has lost touch with her passionate self, the real self that you and I recognise in ourselves http://theconversation.edu.au/articles/nervous-not-nasal-misunderstood-not-misleading-julias-just-trying-too-hard-1981?utm_source=The+Conversation+Daily+updates&utm_campaign=98d2f0eb3f-DailyNewsletter&utm_medium=email [i]Bob Brown v The Press, Ben Eltham, New Matilda[/i] In recent history, few have been prepared to publicly attack the Murdoch media — with well-founded fears about a savage reaction. But Bob Brown was already at war with the Murdoch newspapers, http://newmatilda.com/2011/05/20/bob-brown-v-press [i]Down To Rare Earths, New Matilda[/i] Protesters will walk to the Australian High Comission in Malaysia to protest against an Australian-owned rare earth refinery which, if plans go ahead, will begin operation in September. http://newmatilda.com/2011/05/20/down-rare-earths [i]Gillard is Howard, and Abbott's Ben Chifley. Confused yet?, John Quiggin, ABC[/i] The tax will have none of the disastrous effects claimed by its opponents. Its effects will be hard to detect against the background noise of a volatile economy. http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2721206.html [i]Galileo versus The Galileo Movement, Bicycle User[/i] The Galileo Movement: a conservative protest group targeting Australia’s carbon tax because anthropogenic climate change is a fallacy. http://bicycleuser.wordpress.com/2011/05/19/galileo/ [i]Al Gore hits out at Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, Guardian.[/i] UK "News Corporation is an international conglomerate with an ideological agenda. It seeks political power in every nation they operate. They wield that power to shut down voices that disagree with the agenda of Rupert Murdoch," http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/may/19/al-gore-rupert-mudoch-news-corp [i]Conversations: is the government struggling to sell a good story?, The Drum[/i] Does the government have a good story to tell? Is it merely struggling for the right form of words?Here’s what six leading academics made of Wilkie’s claim: http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2722020.html?WT.mc_id=newsmail [i]Climate science and James Hansen misrepresented, Geoff Davies, ABC[/i] The writings of climate “sceptics” typically betray a patchy and incomplete understanding of climate science, and the Cox and Stockwell commentary is no exception. http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2722486.html [i]The Greens and Fundamentalism, Don't believe the lies, critically analyze[/i] This is Abbott’s tactic: simply to oppose the government out of office. In this situation, Labor should deal sensibly with the current Greens’ leadership, who should accommodate http://kurtrudder.blogspot.com/2011/05/greens-and-fundamentalism.html [i]Missing Link Friday - Quick hits, Don Arthur, Club Troppo[/i] Does anyone like criticism? One of the key insights of the social media age is that journalists don’t like criticism, http://clubtroppo.com.au/2011/05/20/missing-link-friday-quick-hits/ [i]The ragged trousered philanthropist, David Horton, The Watermelon Blog[/i] All elections are critical, but the next one is arguably the most critical ever seen for the future of this country and planet http://davidhortonsblog.com/2011/05/20/the-ragged-trousered-philanthropist/

Ad astra reply

21/05/2011LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

Feral Skeleton

21/05/2011Talk Turkey, I'm with you on this one. A few threads ago I got left virtually talking to myself because I didn't know the thread had moved onto the next one and it felt kinda weird. Keep the threads tidy I say! So, your big brother is...:)

Feral Skeleton

21/05/2011Did anyone else see Steve Ciobo on Lateline last night refusing to acknowledge that Malcolm Turnbull had gone 'Off the Reservation' when it comes to the Coalition's Indirect Inaction Climate Change policy? It was positively Orwellian the verbal gymnastics he engaged in... And Ali Moore tittered away like the superannuated Private Schoolgirl she is and let him get away with it because it must constantly leave her in awe at how brazen the Coalition are, and that seems to engender journalists' respect these days. The corollary of which is that they get probed with the 'ABC Standard Lettuce Leaf'. Save the Sabre for Bob Brown and the PM, cause, like they deserve to be probed deeply, huh? And the Opposition, it appears from Chris Uhlmann's lamo response to the Get Up petition to the ABC, only 'deserve' a once-over-lightly. God, how the mighty ABC has fallen. Right into the lap of the Coalition. Like the tame little lapdogs they are. Only snarling and curling their lips at those who threaten Their Masters Voice. Lol. ReCaptcha: economy The ALP can't even manage to do a stellar job there and get appreciation for it from the media, compared with the debacle that is the Coalition's economic 'team' (who appear to have the 3 Stooges in charge, Abbott, Hockey & Robb), and who have their SNAFUs airbrushed from history daily.

Feral Skeleton

21/05/2011Woot! The World hasn't ended! Or, maybe, because those American Evangelicals are so self-centred, or is that blinkered, that it won't end until May 22nd Australia time? :)

Feral Skeleton

21/05/2011PatriciaWA, I'll just fill you in on another little bit of Grog's blog history for your pome. Initially, he, as I, started commenting on Matt Price's blog in The Oz. Like moths to the blogging flame, loudmouths that thought our opinions should be heard by the great unwashed, we kept going even after Matt sadly passed away and The Oz employed Jack the Insider. Which is where I came across Ad Astra as well(who is definitely no loudmouth but a sage :) ). Then after Ad started his blog Grog came along to comment here with his old Avatar of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, except it was their movie versions of Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford, of course. Something happened along the way and Grog changed his Gravatar to the Ralph Fiennes one he has today. I think because he started his own blog and didn't think the old one appropriate anymore. There you go. If it's blog history trivia you want, I'm your girl. :)

Feral Skeleton

21/05/2011lyn, I just want to say this before/if my modem goes on the blink again, you have yet again drawn deeply from the well of blogs out there in cyberspace and provided us with a wealth of reading to get us going this crisp and clear Saturday morning. Thank you. I now download them all while I can and read them when the modem chucks a wobbly. :) Re Captcha is appropriate for you too: Quality

Feral Skeleton

21/05/2011'Decision and Delivery'!: http://www.smh.com.au/national/boat-people-abandon-travel-plans-after-malaysian-deal-20110520-1ewss.html

lyn

21/05/2011Hi Hillbilly I am worried to hear about your modem, I feel so sorry for you. My modem comes with my wireless plan do you have a different setup? I have a spare ADSL modem here. I could send it to you if you like. I am so pleased you love the links, the blog owners are a force on their own and the excellence is amazing. Cheers

NormanK

21/05/2011Acerbic Conehead Very soon we are going to be addicted to your weekly dose of irreverence and the weekends won't be the same without it. Thanks. Recently I was lumbered with the task of digitising all of the old family photos - great grandparents and great great aunties and the like. Sadly, one photo emerged of me in an Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini, ready to go to the annual primary school fancy dress ball. Is it any wonder that I am the twisted and tortured soul you see before you today? I should look on the bright side. That same year, my older brothers were dressed as The One-eyed One-horned Flying Purple People Eater and the bride in a wedding party. That's what you get for having a mother with a sense of humour.

thenewjj

21/05/2011I can see you are all loving Malcolm Turnbull shooting himself in the foot. Of course, you say, Turnbull is right about what he said about the Coalition's climate change policy on Lateline! But, that does not make him right when he debates the issues of the NBN! AA, he seems to be a conviction politician when he helps you, but a sellout when he doesnt... how about you choose between one or the other. As for Brown and the Murdoch press, well, all i can say is that Brown looked and sounded like a fool on the 7 30 report the other night, and so he should. This guy is economically illiterate, and yet he is the leader of what Brown himself likes to call, "a serious political party"! It is time the media started to question his conflicting statements and so called convictions... and if he cant take it, get out! You want to be a major player on the political scene, so expect to get the same sort of scrutiny that the rest of the pollies get.

Ad astra reply

21/05/2011HS Keep commenting before your modem dies, or the World ends – we do enjoy what you have to say. The link to the Malaysia story brings welcome news, but I note that Tony Abbott is still insisting anything the Government does ‘won’t stop the boats’. Even if it did, he would change his slogan to ‘The boats will be back’. I missed [i]Lateline[/i] – no TV here in Harrietville, but will catch up on iView. Regarding threads, the problem is that because of his occupation AC prefers his pieces to be up at the weekend, so do I close off the previous thread when I post his, or let it go as I did yesterday because there were still a lot of comments coming in? You and TT might like to suggest how we handle the changeover from one post to the next.

Ad astra reply

21/05/2011Hi Lyn Again, your links are fantastic. Everyone should read Ash's [i]'The Australian' baits Australian's[/i] http://ashghebranious.wordpress.com/ It is a stark account of the pernicious influence of the Murdoch media illustrated by a Siobhain Ryan story in [i]The Australian[/i]today [i]TVs, batts, solar: Julia Gillard's dollar dazzle[/i] that is one of the worst examples of deceitful reporting designed to portray the Gillard Government in a bad light. It's all part of News Limited's unremitting campaign to bring the Government down. Only by reading this lucid account will it be apparent how far disingenuous reporting has gone with the Murdoch media, and gives a glimpse of the venom behind its campaign to bring PM Gillard down. It really is appalling.

Feral Skeleton

21/05/2011lyn, My modem came with my plan too, except I'm past the Warranty period(built in obsolescence I fear), and so, in order to be able to do anything about it I have to pay for a replacement myself. Which I should be able to do in a couple of weeks time, so I'm limping along until then hoping it will keep going, spasmodically, until I can buy a new one off the Internet(lol) and get it sent to me. I think I'm also the product of my granfather's dictum that, "The cheapest item always cost the most to buy", as I usually purchase the best quality, which equals the most expensive on the day, product. At the moment my modem does ADSL2+, Voip and Skype, and Wireless connection. Well, it's doing it sometimes. The funniest thing was I was just reading a tech blog the other day and a commenter was bemoaning the fact that electronic gadgetry just tends to go on you out of the blue. I thought to myself, "He probably has bought cheap gear". Little did I know that my own electronic armageddon was waiting for me around the corner on my expensive gear. Sigh. Anyway, thank you for the kind and generous offer of a modem. I might just take you up on that, so addicted to the internet am I, are we all at our place. It's the cheapest form of entertainment around I guess. :)

Ad astra reply

21/05/2011Folks I'm getting on the road now for the return trip to Melbourne. I'll be back this evening.

Feral Skeleton

21/05/2011jj, Do you ever read back what you are about to post and consider it from all points of view before you press 'Send'? For example: [quote]'This guy is economically illiterate, and yet he is the leader of what Brown himself likes to call, "a serious political party"! It is time the media started to question his conflicting statements and so called convictions... and if he cant take it, get out! You want to be a major player on the political scene, so expect to get the same sort of scrutiny that the rest of the pollies get.'[/quote] All you have to do is substitute 'Abbott' for 'Brown' above, and you have an equally cogent and valid argument for why the media should also be placing the Leader of the Opposition's economic bona fides under the microscope. However, as last week's performances from Opposition figures such as Joe Hockey showed, they are being aided and abetted in their economic incompetence by the wider media at large who have their backs on all occasions. Except, and thankfully, in the narrowcasting situations such as at the National Press Club.

Jason

21/05/2011jj, The only problem with your take on Brown is, he will never form government! and needs not worry himself on such detail like how do we fund it! contrast that to the interviews he does with Abbott pre recorded allows the question to be answered,doesn't talk over the top doesn't look for the gotcha question etc. On poor performances did you catch Hockey at the press club? Couldn't answer anything from the dodgy figures he took to the last election,accused one journo of getting his questions from the Labor party and said nothing on how he would unwind the NBN or get rid of the carbon tax! Yet he and Abbott everyday of the week demand an election be called and he can't even tell us what they would do!

TalkTurkey

21/05/2011Lyn said "I am so pleased you love the links, the blog owners are a force on their own and the excellence is amazing." Yes Lyn but there is only one Lyn Lyn. You are the Link Link. The Australian blogosphere works better, and differently, because of you. You are a perpetual pioneer.

TalkTurkey

21/05/2011Anyone prognosticating on Turnbull's thinking atm? Does he really want to be Treasurer? Abbortt's treasurer? Hockey is a figure of derision now. Robb is in uncertain health, and not up to the job anyway. Turnbull could probably get the job, the Coalition would be doubly glad to have him there, one, he has fiscal credibility and ability, two, he would be conveniently temporarily resecured in their leaky boat's gun bay, but I don't think he could stand being Abbortt's (chained!) lapdog, nor do I think Abbortt could stand him standing so close to him . . . Pretty bad look . . . Turnbull is in a very interesting position the more you think about it. He got plenty of readies, he doesn't need the job really, and I had the feeling t'other day that he'd just about as soon chuck the bloody job anyway . . . but if the waters parted before him, as they should him being him, he'd accept the red carpet stroll back to the LOTOship. And he'd be not as bad as Abbortt, give him that. Abbortt must be losing a lot of sleep about him. Laura Tingle, the SOLE notable journalist in Australia who has my unqualified respect, thinks Turnbull is coming after Hockey's job, but I'm sure he's more about stalking Abbortt himself and jolly good luck to him too I say, even though as I've said elsewhere there is plenty not to admire Turnbull for too. Turnbull never meant to enter politics to play second fart to Abbortt. He thinks he's too special for that, not that that's too special of course. I think Turnbull seethes with spite for Abbortt under that polished facade, and the polish was pretty tatty the other night . . . repolished next day! I don't think he'd even want an Abbortt-led Government actually, 'fact I think he'd be aghast at the thought of having to apologise for it. This is one interesting war game . . . and Turnbull, not Abbortt, has the grenades, and nothing to lose, and possibly - just possibly - EVERYthing to gain. ". . . and the (bloggers) snuff the battle with delight"!

D Mick Weir

21/05/2011I just got rejected by Newspoll - Bu@@er I could have lied about my age group but not my gender :)

Patricia WA

21/05/2011Thanks, FS, that's very helpful. Also touches on my own quite recent happy memories of Matt Price, one of our own sandgropers. When I retired back here in 2005 I used to walk along South Beach to the Shack for a coffee and to enjoy his column. It was Matt who got me writing again because I'd come home to put a few words together myself, amused or stimulated by something quirky he'd had to say that day. He was a great journalist, honest and funny with it. So sad for all of us that he died so young. Such a loss to Australian journalism too. Now there's a gap that needs filling in our media. Who better than our Grog? Not at The Australian, I hasten to add! Matt's reputation shows how powerful a journalist can be if he stays true to himself. I'm choked up now remembering how we felt when he suddenly became ill and died and how we grieved for him and his family.

D Mick Weir

21/05/2011[b]A smug lucky country risks bursting its bubble[/b] Shaun Carney - National Times http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/a-smug-lucky-country-risks-bursting-its-bubble-20110520-1ewps.html#ixzz1Mx1WUppE [i]The political debate about economic policy is, for the most part, junk. The opposition is barely even bothering to pretend to provide an alternative policy. It cherry-picks whatever it thinks will work as a headline and it long ago abandoned consistency in its messages. Cuts are needed but not cuts that will affect anybody, and they're needed now but now is also the wrong time. This is what's been said by the Coalition either side of the budget. ... On the government side, there's a fascinating dialogue taking place about the look and structure of the economy in the future. The Treasury continues to advise the government to let Australia's manufacturing sector sink or swim, without recourse to co-investments and seed funding from the public purse. And the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, is refusing to take the advice.[/i] Interesting and sobering

Patricia WA

21/05/2011DMW - Interesting though - how did they eliminate you? What's the process?

lyn

21/05/2011Hi Hillbilly I have just got home, I had an invite to Peppers on the Ocean for latte, beautiful sunshine morning here. If you send your address to Ad Astra, I will ask him if he would email your address to me. I could post the Modem on Monday for you. If it works for you good, if not, nothing lost in trying. Cheers

Feral Skeleton

21/05/2011Talk Turkey, Can you imagine the fireworks between Abbott, Turnbull and Joyce(who is after all, Abbott's No.1 Gunner and aspirant to the Dep.PM job, therefore, nominally would be above Turnbull in the pecking order of a, Dog forbid, Abbott government. All the stuff of which you, and the delightful Laura Tingle(whom,sadly, I will never be able to forgive for having John Tingle, the first Shock Jock and instigator of The Shooters Party in NSW, as a father, though I would never shoot the messenger, Laura, as a result), speak today is just bubbling under the surface of the Coalition. As one astute observer, I think it was Phil Coorey, said this week, if it wasn't for the fact that the Coalition can sniff victory at the next election, then there'd be a lot of blood on the floor atm in their partyroom. To carry the gory metaphors just a step further than probably I should have. :) You can see the enormous discipline that Howard inculcated in them on show this week wrt the Turnbull breakout. Quite a lot of them would have wanted to hang,draw and quarter Malcolm after what he did this week, especially as Labor have been having so much difficulty getting the right handle on Tony Abbott's 'Indirect Inaction' Climate Change Fig Leaf(ew! the horror imagery abounds!). Malcolm kindly put the bell on the cat for them and hasn't taken a backward step on his blog either. Which has led to all the Orwellian Doublespeak about the incident from other Coalition MPs as they attempt to cover their bare you know whats. :) Now we have the ultimate in distractions from the WA faction of the Liberal Party, with their attempt to lob a political hand grenade into Federal/State relations and the Budget Bottom Line. 'Strange days, indeed. Most peculiar, mamma.' As the leviathan of 20th century culture, John Lennon said so succinctly.

Feral Skeleton

21/05/2011DMW, And what would Newspoll be polling for so soon after the last poll I wonder?

thenewjj

21/05/2011Jason, So what if he cannot form a government in his own right... he helped to form this one, and is quite pivotal in the decision making process. You continuously harp on about how the change in senate means that the Greens control the balance of power, which means that the Coalition is doomed. Well if the Greens are to hold the power to say ya or nay than they should also be subjected to the same sort of media scrutiny that Governments and oppositions are. Uhlman's interview was perfectly reasonable. Brown lied (Its all the Murdoch press' fault!) and then didnt answer Uhlman's question about how you would replace mining tax revenue. My point is, Brown keeps on saying that they are a major political party... well it is about time that they stopped being treated as commentators and more like a major political party. because at the moment, we know very little about the Greens party and what they truly stand for. By the way, you were anti Green a few weeks ago, now you all sound like Greenies. Make up your mind.

Feral Skeleton

21/05/2011jj, Just amazing how you can ignore the Coalition's woeful economic performance this week. You are truly a one-eyed Coalition fanboy.

Jason

21/05/2011jj, Not at all! Uhulman in his eagerness to get a gotcha with Brown on the Coal industry with his question "how do you replace $50 billion worth of export income?" This is my answer How are we going to replace it when we run out, or even earlier, when China doesn't need it any more? The coal industry has a finite lifespan - we can only argue about when it will die, not if it will die. Now it wont happen tomorrow so what are your thoughts on anything about the future? wait until it happens? jj Australia is a quarry once we have dug up the last of our minerals that's it,What does the prophet Abbott foresee?

D Mick Weir

21/05/2011Patricia WA @ 01:01 PM, I was asked if I was between 18- 35? And then if there were any others in the house in that range particularly female. As I had visitors I chose not to bluff. I am surmising a bit but I guess the interviewer was trying hard to fill the quota for that age group. FS @ 01:10 PM Ni idea as I didn't get to the questions but I did give them a small bit of my mind, err, a bit of my small mind. I told them the bleedin election isn't for more than two years and I wasn't interested in the irrelevancy of how I would vote in a mythical election and how that dog awful paper beat up the results was shameful. Probably a bit silly of me but there you go.

Gravel

21/05/2011Acerbic Conehead Wow have you brought back memories. Being a country girl, I didn't know that the Beatles had come to Australia till after their visit, but once I cottoned on to them I enjoyed most of their songs. Thank for that trip down memory lane. The last thread had a lot of great stuff in it, but it is confusing to have two threads going at once, although my habit of going back to the last entry I have managed not to miss any of it but too late to add to it. Ad Astra I think your ideas if you were to start a new party reflect what most of us abide by. We may have different ideas about some policies but if those policies contain the majority of your three basic tenets, it adds to the discussion, otherwise there would be nothing to talk about.

Jason

21/05/2011jj, As for your sneer that the "Greens" helped Labor for government, What is it with the Libs and the Nationals who helps who? However did you see this today ? THERE'S a golden glow in New England, enhanced by frequent bursts of cargo from Canberra, the occasional vroooom of RAAF jets and the crisp cutting of ribbons right across the House of Tony Windsor. Like many others, Col Murray, the Mayor of Tamworth in the independent MP's northeastern NSW seat of power, feels that lovely warmth, too. "Tony Windsor has got his little piece of sunshine, and I guess that he got the PM up here shows she recognises that he's got the sunshine, too," Murray told The Weekend Australian. In a season of supposedly "tough" budgets, Labor ministers have been making pilgrimages to this already bountiful region to deliver dams, roads, health facilities, training centres and more. Julia Gillard made a two-day visit to New England this week - an eternity compared with the usual prime ministerial drop-ins of a few hours - and she didn't come empty-handed or to boot-scoot. The trip's indelible image was the Prime Minister and local MP descending the stairs of the RAAF VIP plane in Tamworth in the bush regal manner of Liz and Phil, those other much-loved Windsors in these parts. Planes are a fixture in the skies here, with BAE Flying Systems winning a six-year, $120 million, Australian Defence Force contract the other day to continue basic flying training at Tamworth. On Tuesday, Ms Gillard announced $20m in new funding for medical training facilities in Windsor's home town and in nearby Armidale. Mobbed by schoolchildren, the Prime Minister opened a $10m sports dome in Tamworth, half of which was paid for by Labor's economic stimulus dollars. She and Windsor also visited Tamworth Hospital to promote a $120m allocation for a redevelopment and a $31.6m grant for a regional cancer centre, both projects financed by the $5 billion Health and Hospitals Fund. So far, NSW has been allocated $1.115bn from the HHF. Although New England is one of 48 federal seats in the state, its $151.6m represents 13.5 per cent of all NSW HHF grants. The following day, the House of Representatives partners travelled the 110km northeast to Armidale, where they flicked the switch on the first mainland section of Labor's $36bn National Broadband Network - a project Windsor has fervently supported and which he cited as crucial to winning his support for Labor after last August's federal election stalemate. The launch was attended by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley, although only seven of the more than 4000 homes connected in Armidale were using the fibre-optic network. This month, Health Minister Nicola Roxon was on hand with Windsor to turn the first sod on the site of a proposed GP Super Clinic at Gunnedah. New England has received a number of health grants from Labor's "nation-building" HHF, $1.8bn of which has been earmarked for a regional priority round, secured by Mr Windsor and his fellow NSW independent, the member for Lyne, Rob Oakeshott. Tamworth hospital's director of nursing and acting general manager, Chris Coombs, said the development would take the hospital from dispersed 1950s building stock into the 21st century. "The building will be state of the art," she said. "It's just wonderful." Coombs said that in the 13 years she has worked at the hospital, the number of emergency patients had grown from 18,000 a year to more than 50,000. Tamworth's mayor said he was delighted by the healthcare funding boost, but detected a subtle force at play. "We've been seeking funding for the base hospital for many years and it has been going around and around for a lot of years, but now there's been a flood of commitments delivered in the first year," Murray said. He also points to the Chaffey Dam upgrade, announced in February with $17m in federal funds. As well, Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese visited Tenterfield last Friday to promote with Windsor a $6m grant for a feasibility study for a realignment and bypass of the New England Highway. During her visit, Gillard was repeatedly asked about her special relationship with the New England MP and what locals saw as Windsor's uncanny ability to secure funding for a long "wish list" of projects. "Tony Windsor is a very important part of our Australian parliament, and of course his support for the government is important to me and to the government," the Prime Minister told ABC regional radio listeners on Wednesday. "Tony Windsor, I think, is a very determined person, a very methodical person, so he works constructively with the government, raising the issues of concern to the region and that's good to see. "It's what we want local members to be doing." Asked by The Weekend Australian if his position as a kingmaker had allow him to secure an unfair amount of funding, Windsor replied: "If that's the interpretation, I don't apologise . . . because I think country members have sold their electorates out in the past because of the need for the marginal city seats to receive the funding to buy the votes. I think it's rectifying inequities rather than some sort of pork barrel." In any case, Labor had laid the ground work for its wooing of the rural independents over the course of its tumultuous first term under Kevin Rudd. As this newspaper has previously reported, New England received above-average stimulus funds for the primary school building program and road "black spots". Grants for social housing ($81m) and community infrastructure ($9m) ran at twice the national average. Allocations from the Trade Training Centres in Schools program are running at almost $23m at five locations in New England. Labor has so far allocated $1.028bn over three funding rounds on these training centres. Given this program extends to every electorate, an average allocation would be $6.9m, so Windsor's seat has done extremely well from a measure Tony Abbott vows to cut in government. When Gillard was trying to woo Windsor after last year's election, she was able to present a dossier of local projects that would be lost under Coalition rule. Windsor said the substantive issues contained in the agreement he struck with Labor had benefited regional Australia generally, rather than one particular electorate. "I've been arguing for those things for a number of years," the independent said. "If you can put a bit more pressure on, well good luck." Asked if that extended to pressuring government for the benefit of his electorate, Windsor replied that that was his job. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/loyal-lieutenant-tony-windsor-royally-rewarded/story-fn59niix-1226059968485

NormanK

21/05/2011Boy! I almost fell into a trap of my own making. One of Lyn's links this morning leads (eventually) to this article. [b]Forget the quick fix – rebuilding trust is the way to restore Labor’s brand[/b] by Paul Harrison (Senior Lecturer, Graduate School of Business at Deakin University A quick skim over the article came to a jarring halt when I read this: [quote]This is contemporary Australian politics. Constituents are customers. Votes are a commodity. Being in power is the organisational objective. The selling philosophy drives the political process.[/quote] http://theconversation.edu.au/articles/forget-the-quick-fix-rebuilding-trust-is-the-way-to-restore-labors-brand-1969 Talk about a red rag to a bull! This morning an unreasonable amount of brain-time has been dedicated to looking forward to returning to my computer to demolish Mr Harrison and pray to all of the gods that no political party ever seeks his advice on policy formulation. Of course, it was only fair that I read the article in its entirety in order to tear strips off it so I gritted my teeth and did so. Turns out I may have been a bit hasty. The quote above is 'descriptive' not 'prescriptive'. In other words it describes how Mr Harrison perceives the current state-of-play as it exists not as he suggests it should exist. The article is well worth a read because he describes, in marketing terms, some of Mr Abbott's tricks and some of Labor's shortcomings. In his defence, if you happen to choose not to read the article in its entirety, Mr Harrison concludes: [quote]If the Labor Party can answer this question[/quote] (what does it stand for) [quote]and then explain it (predominantly through its actions, rather than advertising campaigns), consistently, respectfully and incrementally to the Australian people, they may well be able to resurrect trust in the ALP brand, and combat the fantastical Tony Abbott and his magical Coalition.[/quote] Sorry Paul for all of the bad vibes coming your way this morning.

Acerbic Conehead 2

21/05/2011TT, Yes, it must have been a great occasion to have been at the Adelaide, or other Beatles, concerts. Were you actually there at the concert, or were you just living in Adelaide at the time and recall the fact they were in town? And I agree that John Lennon’s death was a great loss. However, his music lives on. FS, I’m sorry to hear your modem is starting to lose its mojo. Hopefully, Lyn can send you her spare one to tide you over, cos we certainly don’t want any breaks in transmission from your good self. Your contributions are too valuable to be curtailed. And thanks for that heads-up on the Monkees song, “I’m a believer (but not in climate change)”. BTW, didn’t Mickey Dolenz also act in a show about a circus? Maybe he met Tones there, lol. And as for Gina and her barefoot billionaire mates, we shouldn’t hold our breath waiting for their campaign against Colin Barnett’s raising of the mining royalties. Funny, isn’t it, how perspectives can change. PatriciaWA, I’m glad Chubby Checker got your twinkle toes going. It’s a great warm-up exercise on these chilly mornings or evenings. And yes, Tones must be very concerned that Malcolm Turnbull will spit the dummy and move to the cross benches. Interesting times indeed. Lyn, You can’t beat the old classic numbers for getting our feet tapping. And, for me, it’s great to allowed back on the computer. I was banned for a while when the missus caught me ogling at Patricia’s photo of you girls prancing around in your bikinis. Again loved your links today. Keep drawing them to our attention. AA, You’re right, Malcolm Turnbull is turning out to be a bit of a gadfly at the moment. Even such a biased MSM such as ours won’t be able to paper over the cracks that are developing within the Coalition’s ranks. Also, I agree with you that Tones is all over the shop in regard to STOP THE BOATS. It looks like the regional strategy from Julia Gillard and Chris Bowen has the potential to be a decisive “checkmate”. Have a safe trip back to Melbourne. NormanK, Your mother has a lot to answer for. After she dressed you up in a bikini, did the other kids call you Norma? Anyway, dressing up didn’t do Dolly Downer’s prospects any harm – even with his reputation for pulling on the fish-nets, he still managed to get that big job in Cyprus, lol. thenewjj, [quote]I can see you are all loving Malcolm Turnbull shooting himself in the foot...about the Coalition’s climate change policy on Lateline.[/quote] Nope – wrong issue! Malcolm Turnbull shot himself in the foot over the Godwin Grech Affair. On [i]Lateline[/i], MT aimed a salvo at Tony Abbott’s fast-diminishing credibility. Watch this space (or bullet-hole).

Feral Skeleton

21/05/2011Jason, jj appears to prefer to be associated with the 'Big Swinging Dicks' of the Coalition, rather than positive outcomes for his electorate. You know what the motto for country electorates under Coalition governments is? 'Treat 'Em Mean, 'N Keep 'Em Keen'. Young jj approves it seems. :)

thenewjj

21/05/2011Conehead, Just face it, neither Abbott nor Gillard have much credibility on this issue. Gillard said before the last election that Copenhagen changed things and that they would look at addressing the policy issue in 2012-2013. But in the mean time she announced a citizens assembly and a cash for clunkers scheme (which have since been dropped), as well as declaring that there would never be a carbon tax under the government she led. Now we are going to get a carbon tax before 2012-13, without anything really changing in terms of action globally (our major trading partners in particular). Sure Abbott may not have much more credibility, but at least he has only made one backflip, whereas Gillard has made 3.

thenewjj

21/05/2011Jason, I read the piece (i get the AFR, the OZ and the Leader every weekend), and there was nothing really new. I went to the opeining of the indoor sports stadium (which is already facing issues. No ventilation, air conditioning, viewing space, or proper sized eating area), and Windsor sounded pathetic! He sounded like a Labor minister, and looked like one to, nodding in the background like a ridiculous puppet. The question is Jason, what will happen when this hung parliament is over? Why wouldnt things go back to the way they were, where our region was deprived of funding (especially health) because we had a lousy independent member. Windsor will be gone at the next election. He will either retire or be defeated. People dont like egomaniacs who are on a continuous vendetta... that is why people dont like Windsor.

Jason

21/05/2011FS, Your right! young jj it seems loves the coalition motto!So why would anyone in their right mind vote in a National? they do Nothing but roll over and let the Libs walk all over them! Probably about time the Nats got a leader that said to the libs or Labor we will help you form government but we want? just like the WA Nats did! Can't see Truss being so brave!

TalkTurkey

21/05/2011FS, AC et al Yes I am since forever a Lennon tragic, and that really is a tragic to end all tragics eh. He shall grow not old . . . When they came to Adelaide I was a first-year-out primary-school teacher. The naughtiest girl in my Year 4 class, the naughtiest girl I ever taught indeed, was Debbie Foale, yes real name, she was killed as a young adult in the same car crash as her male companion Christopher Worrell, the Truro murderer. But in her beautiful moments she was the most delightful kid too, funny clever sparkling-eyed vivacious enchanting lustrous-curled Snow White archetype, and when I happened to see her at age 16, she was so pleased to see me, I was misty then and I nearly am now too, and she looked like my ideal notion of Bizet's Carmen - my favorite music btw. But Debbie aged 9 was mad on the Beatles, more than any of the other kids, and we were never better friends than when she realized that I loved them too. That's a good memory. But I didn't see them perform, I went to see them waving from the balcony of the old South Australian Hotel, now a memory too, part of a truly adoring crowd, all smiles and love, not a cynic in the many thousands packing the whole area. Adelaide forever boasts having given them the best reception ever, and I was there! But Lennon was the one I always acknowledged the best of them, and of all of us.

Jason

21/05/2011jj, For a man that is hated as much as you say Windsor is, could you clear this up for me? Enrolment: 99,616 Turnout: 94.88% First pref WINDSOR, Tony 56,415 COATES, Tim 22,991 He won the seat on first pref and got 71% of the vote. sounds like wishfull thinking on your part that he will get knocked off at the next election! http://results.aec.gov.au/15508/website/HouseDivisionFirstPrefs-15508-135.htm

Feral Skeleton

21/05/2011jj, Jeez you must have a lousy Council in Tamworth/Armidale to have approved such a dog of a building. Nationals are they?

Jason

21/05/2011Gillard takes aim at Abbott Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the opposition is pushing for an election this year because it knows its campaign against the carbon tax will be exposed as a sham next year. "There is a reason they are begging for an election in 2011," Ms Gillard told the Victorian Labor Party conference today. "And it is not because they think they can win in 2013. It is because they know that in 2012 this mindlessly negative campaign will be exposed before every Australian." Labor's carbon pricing scheme is expected to begin in July 2012. Ms Gillard said conservative governments, such as those of David Cameron in the United Kingdom and John Key in New Zealand, were acting responsibly on the issue of climate change. "Like me, prime ministers Cameron and Key understand that we must act to protect our environment and secure a strong, clean-energy future for our economy." She said the fight was not between right and left, but between right and wrong. The Prime Minister said she lamented the Americanised political style of debate which had come to Australia. "Tony Abbott has said of himself that he is John Howard and Bronwyn Bishop's political love child," she said. "Heaven knows, that's bad enough. But the truth is he is acting more like the love child of Sarah Palin and Donald Trump." Ms Gillard also took aim at radio "shock jocks" who, she said, "deny the scientific conclusions of NASA and the CSIRO". Ms Gillard's address came as new polling showed a collapse in her popularity in Queensland. Labor's primary vote has slumped to 28 per cent, a Galaxy poll conducted for The Courier-Mail newspaper has found. Voters in Queensland prefer former prime minister Kevin Rudd as Labor leader with a rating of 59 per cent compared to Ms Gillard's 19 per cent. Mr Abbott has overtaken Ms Gillard as preferred prime minister among Queenslanders. He scored 53 per cent, ahead of the prime minister on 47 per cent. AAP Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/gillard-takes-aim-at-abbott-20110521-1exkm.html#ixzz1MxmoppvE

Acerbic Conehead 2

21/05/2011[quote]Now we are going to get a carbon tax before 2012-13, without anything really changing in terms of action globally (our major trading partners in particular).[/quote] thenewjj, Didn't your friend, Mr Cameron in the UK, announce something the other day?

BSA Bob

21/05/2011When Prime Minister Abbott rescinds the Mining Tax the miners themselves will be up for a $2 billion tax hit. Perhaps then we'll be told that the W.A. government's policy isn't much good.

NormanK

21/05/2011Gee it must be nice to be a political hack operating today. Not only are you never wrong (thanks FS) but on top of that, you're always right. Given the number of polls around at the moment, if you're having a quiet news day (nothing much by way of press releases in your in-box) you can always write about a poll. Nationwide poll, state poll, marginal electorate poll, independent Member's electorate poll - 'round and 'round it goes. The best thing though is that all of your bases are covered. If the government is up in the polls it is because they are populist, focus-group-driven poll-chasers. Note: no mention of 'listening to the people'. They are in front because their 'spin machines' are hoodwinking people into believing that what they are doing is worthwhile. They'll do anything to stay in power and are morally corrupt. They are unwilling to take the 'hard' decisions which we so desperately need. If the government is down in the polls it is because they are out of touch and not listening to the people and their 'spin machines' are not cutting through to an audience which has wised up to political spin. Their policy settings are wrong and they should immediately abandon them. At the same time they lack vision and don't have a set of policies that they can see through to completion. With a minority government you can churn out a story on any day of the week describing how risk-averse it is and how they are floundering around looking for policies which 'resonate' with the public (isn't that populist poll-chasing? No? I must have it wrong then.) As for risk-averse, could it be that the government is unpopular because they are taking risks in the first year of a three year term? Apparently not. You can always remind the public that we are one heartbeat, one by-election away from a change of government and that's why it is hamstrung and struggling. One day, journalists will look back on these as the 'good ol' days'.

thenewjj

21/05/2011Jason, The little problem with your election statistics is that the election, funnily enough, was before he decided to back the Labor Party. I am saying, that the result would be very different today. That little piece you have posted on Gillard this arvo just highlights the directionless nature of the Government. If they believe Abbott is going to lose in the long term, why bother playing the short term game? Ah, because they know that an ALP member could drop dead or decide to retire at any moment. Plus, any future food price, electricity price, gas price and fuel price increases in the future will be attributed to the Carbon tax. It is not all smooth sailing into the wonderful sunset as you all hope... there will be major short, medium and long term issues both politically and economically with this tax; and depending on when they occur, they could bring down the government. Conehead, The little problem with your comment is, well, Julia made her decision to go ahead with the carbon tax before Cameron decided on this target, so it is irrelevant. Plus, Britain is not one of Australia's leading trading partners... so really it does not matter what they do.

lyn

21/05/2011Hi Hillbilly been busy with visitors this afternoon. Did your read my comment at 1pm. Cheers

Feral Skeleton

21/05/2011lyn, Sorry, I did miss your 1.00pm post. I believe Ad already has my address because he sent me a lovely Thank You card once...because he is a big sweetie, as we all know. :) Thank you again for your kind offer. You are a big sweetie too. :)

Feral Skeleton

21/05/2011jj, The Gillard government 'directionless'? More Coalition fanboy projection. This is a government getting on with delivering on its promises. Obviously you didn't read your Mayor's fulsome praise of everything this government has done for your area over the last 3 years, even before the hung parliament when they didn't even need to. Abbott and Joyce will give you nothing and take your area nowhere, just like they always used to do when they held the seat. Oh sorry, I forgot, when they were being challenged by Tony Windsor they provided an Equestrian Centre which was mired in controversy about the corrupt way it was tendered out to a National mate and donor.

thenewjj

21/05/2011FS, Before you start lecturing me about what my mayor says, why dont you do a little more research to discover some of the many critical things he has said about Windsor, and his decision to back a Labor Government! This is a staunchly conservative electorate that has one of the lowest Labor Primary votes in the Nation, and yet our member sided with them to get back at the National Party. You have no idea what goes on in the electorate, or the mood of it, just as i do not know the mood of yours. But i tell you, people feel betrayed, and they know full well that if the Labor Party had of got in without needing the support of the independents, we, once again would be left in the doldrums. On another note, You have all been claiming that Abbott's credibility is gone... once again, what quantitative evidence do you have to back this claim up? Well, i have some to prove that his credibility is improving, as is the coalition more generally: Galaxy: 59-41 to federal Coalition in Queensland Friday, May 20, 2011 – 11:55 pm, by William Bowe The Courier-Mail brings a Galaxy poll of Queensland respondents which shows the Coalition with an imposing 59-41 lead on two-party preferred. This points to a 4 per cent swing compared with the state’s result at the election (55.1-44.9), which is entirely in line with the general picture of national polling. On the primary vote the Coalition is almost doubling Labor, with a lead of 53 per cent to 28 per cent. Even more remarkable is the scale of Julia Gillard’s unpopularity in Queensland: she is favoured as Labor leader by just 19 per cent of respondents compared with 59 per cent for Kevin Rudd, compared with 44 per cent and 33 per cent at the previous such poll in February (Wayne Swan has also dropped from 15 per cent to 9 per cent since then). We are variously told “Tony Abbott has pulled in front of Ms Gillard as preferred prime minister by a strong 16 percentage point margin”, and that “Mr Abbott has pulled ahead of Ms Gillard as preferred prime minister by 53 per cent to 47 per cent”. Hopefully the print edition will clear things up. ...and, JWS Research now has full results from its post-budget automated phone poll of the 20 most marginal seats, which collectively showed an 8 per cent swing to the Coalition since the election. It points to an exacerbation of the state-level divide recorded at the election, with Coalition swings of 8.8 per cent swings in the NSW seats covered (Reid, Banks, Lindsay, Robertson, Greenway, Macquarie) and 9.8 per cent in the Queensland seats (Petrie, Moreton, Brisbane, Forde, Longman), but only 3.6 per cent in the Victorian seats (Deakin, La Trobe, Corangamite, Dunkley, Aston). http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger/2011/05/20/galaxy-59-41-to-federal-coalition-in-queensland/ Hey AA, how about you pull up these trolls for just repeating Labor Party lines, rather than presenting the facts!

Jason

21/05/2011jj, "You have all been claiming that Abbott's credibility is gone... once again, what quantitative evidence do you have to back this claim up?" http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/dislike-of-abbott-cost-libs-election/story-fn59niix-1226059924848 Dislike of Abbott cost Libs election TONY Abbott looks like the giant-killer of Australian politics but according to new research, it was his unpopularity that cost the Liberals and Nationals the last election. The Australian Election Study, based on a detailed survey conducted immediately after the election in August, found that voters' dislike of the Opposition Leader added more than 1 per cent to Labor's vote. Julia Gillard's unpopularity also benefited the other side of politics but it increased the Coalition's vote by only 0.2 per cent. The net 0.9 per cent shift to Labor attributable to leadership was enough to keep Labor in power in an election where it finished with 50.12 per cent of the two-party-preferred vote and an equal number of seats to the Coalition (not including West Australian National Tony Crook, who sits as an independent). The calculations are included in an analysis of the survey results by two political scientists - Clive Bean of the Queensland University of Technology and Ian McAllister of the Australian National University. The survey asked voters to rate leaders on a scale from zero, representing strong dislike, to 10 for strong liking. Although Ms Gillard at the August election would have expected to be still enjoying a honeymoon after replacing Kevin Rudd two months earlier, she rated just below neutral at 4.9. This compared with Mr Rudd's score of 6.3 at the 2007 election. Ms Gillard's standing was slightly worse than the 5.0 rating given to leader Mark Latham at the 2004 election. But Ms Gillard was significantly less unpopular than Mr Abbott, who rated at 4.3 - one of the lowest scores recorded for a major party leader in the survey, which has been held after each election since 1987. It was even below the 4.4 for Paul Keating at the 1996 election, which he lost to John Howard in a landslide. "You could say that Gillard was doing her best to lose the election but Abbott trumped her," says Professor Bean. Mr Rudd, with a score of 5.0 at this election, outpointed both the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader. But Mr Abbott did outrate the Greens' Bob Brown and the Nationals' Warren Truss, both on 4.1 and Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan on 4.0. Australia's first female prime minister benefited from the support of women, with 44 per cent of them voting Labor, compared with 36 per cent of men. Men favoured the Coalition by 50 per cent to 41 per cent. Ms Gillard outpointed Mr Abbott on each of nine qualities that voters in the survey said described the leaders well. She was seen as providing stronger leadership and being more intelligent, compassionate, competent, sensible, knowledgeable, inspiring, honest and trustworthy. But her overthrow of Mr Rudd harmed her, with 74 per cent of voters saying they disapproved of the way the Labor Party handled the change. "All other things being equal, the analysis suggests that, had the Coalition gone to the 2010 Australian federal election with a leader who was viewed more favourably across the electorate, the outcome probably would have been a narrow victory for the Liberals and Nationals," professors Bean and McAllister write in a forthcoming book. The Coalition gained 0.7 per cent by being seen as better economic managers but this was almost cancelled out by the 0.6 per cent benefit Labor gained from the education issue.

thenewjj

21/05/2011Jason, Once again, you need to check what you post before you post it! This is quantitative evidence from the last election. What you and your fellow ALP buddies have been stating is that recently (in light of the Turnbull interview and before) Abbott has been losing credibility. Giving me a break down of the 2010 election doesnt back up your claim... it really just makes you look like a fool.

Jason

21/05/2011jj, I know I am a fool! However the results of the last election proves the fact Abbott lost and had no credibility, because he is still the opposition leader!and "the king" makers thought the same!

Jason

21/05/2011You have all been claiming that Abbott's credibility is gone... once again, what quantitative evidence do you have to back this claim up WINDSOR OAKESHOTT BANDT

Feral Skeleton

21/05/2011jj, As a good little Coalition fanboy, learning how to behave like your Masters do, you left out the truly ugly informatiion from the JWS Research which didn't suit the rosy picture you were trying to paint of Tony Abbott. Maybe others might be interested in it: [quote]'Much further detailed is offered in the link, from which Spur212 notes Tony Abbott’s astoundingly poor personal ratings among “soft” and anti-Coalition voters: his net approval is minus 35 among all soft voters, minus 74 among supporters of the opposing major party, minus 63 among minor party/independent supporters and minus 42 among the undecided. The respective figures for Julia Gillard are plus 1, minus 64, plus 3 and minus 12.'[/quote] So it's not just us here that think that Tony Abbott is a narcissistic cancer on Australia's body politic.

TalkTurkey

21/05/2011Jason And WILKIE! Folks If you write here often, DO LOOK BACK! Such good and varied memories! Some of it such fun! Some so important that it be said! If it weren't for TPS most of us would never have written anything like it, and it would just be lost thoughts. Thanks always most especially to WebMonkey our silent toiler in cyberspace for engineering this site and archiving all our posts. And of course Aa, cela va sans dire. Recaptcha: Political daystu What IS daystu, exactly? May I have just have taste?

Feral Skeleton

21/05/2011jj, Don't you ever get even a little bit embarassed to be supporting so passionately a couple of political parties whose only claim to fame, in the polls you quote so slavishly when it suits you to, is that they are superior at politics, as opposed to policy, which the ALP are better at? I mean, name me just one policy that the Coalition have which is better than its ALP equivalent?

Ad astra reply

21/05/2011Hi Lyn, FS We're back in Central Melbourne among massive roadworks in Swanston Street right outside our window. So far I can't get my Telstra modem to work here although it did so perfectly in Harrietville at the foot of Mount Hotham 400 km north of here! I'll send you FS's sddress tomorrow Lyn. Good night to all the good folks at TPS.

Feral Skeleton

21/05/2011jj, There's so many polls around at the moment, all of them essentially meaningless 2 years out from a federal election, despite the narcissistic one's desires for an early poll, that I don't know why you gloat so much about them. They really are all over the place. Another one came in on Thursday last week: [quote]The latest Morgan face-to-face poll, conducted last weekend from 942 respondents (released a day earlier than usual for some reason), is somewhat better for Labor than last week’s shocker. Labor’s primary vote is up two points to 36 per cent, the Coalition’s is down 3.5 per cent to 44.5 per cent and the Greens are up two to 13 per cent. On the two-party measure which allocates preferences according to the result of the previous election, the Coalition lead has narrowed from 54.5-45.5 to 51.5-48.5.[/quote] So, you see, you can't make definitive statements about them at all. Anyway, going by Campbell Newman's record at Brisbane Council, another Liberal putting up taxes as soon as they got their hands on the levers of power, er, sorry, putting up 'Rates and Levies', and his 'Roads to Nowhere' mentality which saw him go on a construction frenzy to satisfy his engineering urges, I can guarantee that once the novelty in the Queensland electorate has worn off about him, should he win the next Queensland State Election and the LNP brains can keep coming up with enough Mickey Mouse policies to keep the electorate titillated till voting day, plus he can dole out lots of empathy for the plight of the badly affected in the wake of the Floods and Cyclones. After all that the electorate will have a very bad electoral hangover. Plus some Buyers Remorse. Just like the electorate is getting in Victoria and NSW. Because that's the problem, as I said before, the Coalition and their State counterparts, are very good at campaigning and politics, but when it comes to governing well, they are woeful.

Feral Skeleton

21/05/2011Good point made by Greensborough Growler at Poll Bludger: [quote]Its amazing how less often we hear that the voters hate early elections these days. Shouldn’t Parliaments run their full term so as to get full value for our democratic choice?[/quote] Remember how Howard always used to use that line?

Feral Skeleton

22/05/2011Tony Abbott stands for nothing according to Joe Hockey: http://www.smh.com.au/national/you-left-me-swinging-joe-to-tony-20110521-1exys.html Talk about a Nowhere Man.

Feral Skeleton

22/05/2011Oops! I forgot to add, Hello! It's May 22nd and I'm still here and so is the World. Have a nice day, as the Americans say. I can't wait to see what Jon Stewart makes of the conservative old fool who made his followers sell their homes and all their assets so they could buy Winnebagos to drive up into the hills and watch the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse come riding into LA from. :)

lyn

22/05/2011 [b]TODAY'S LINKS[/b] [i]The Rapture, David Havyatt, Anything Goes[/i] I can be excused for not knowing about the prediction that The Rapture is happening tomorrow, at least according to Harold Camping. http://davidhavyatt.blogspot.com/ [i]Turnbull adds a dose of carbon reality,Giles Parkinson, Climate Spectator[/i] Turnbull admitted, it was a policy that was pandering to climate sceptics, because it could be easily terminated if the science was found to be bogus. Otherwise, the policy was pretty much useless. http://www.climatespectator.com.au/commentary/turnbull-adds-dose-carbon-reality [i]Family assistance: what the changes really mean, Daniel Neyhery, Inside Story[/i] Tony Abbott has painted a picture of the government pulling the family assistance rug out from under the feet of families already struggling with rising costs of living. http://inside.org.au/family-assistance-what-the-changes-really-mean/ [i]Media Slant in Walkley, Joshua Gans, Core Economics[/i] To be precise, ABC Television News is significantly more likely to quote the kinds of public intellectuals that Coalition politicians mention favourably in parliament than the kinds of public intellectuals that Labor parliamentarians cite. http://economics.com.au/?p=4545 [i]The super sensitive, "Invisible Insider" explains why economists/journos got Budget wrong, Chris Joye, Aussie macro Moments[/i] No wonder Costello will go down as the weakest and most profligate economic manager Australia has ever had and Swan will inevitably be judged as a prudent, tough and flexible economic manager. [Ed: Cossie just tapped-out, while there are reports Swannie is standing three inches taller] http://christopherjoye.blogspot.com/2011/05/super-sensitive-invisible-insider.html [i]PM pushes carbon tax, Weekly Times Now[/i] We don't have time for politicians and shock jocks who deny the scientific conclusions of NASA and the CSIRO," she said. We don't have time for made-up figures and shameless fear mongering. http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2011/05/21/334885_latest-news.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter [b]Newspapers[/b] [i]Mogul in the corner , Bruce Guthrie, The Age[/i] it looks just as obvious that Tony Abbott has Rupert Murdoch in his corner. No wonder the Liberal leader has a spring in his step - the News boss is not in the habit of backing losers. http://www.theage.com.au/national/mogul-in-the-corner-20110521-1exun.html#ixzz1N1WfJuj7 [i]Guess who may turn the tables?, Ross Peak, Canberra Times[/i] His position seems unassailable now but he should keep a sharp watch on his back, because it looks like Malcolm Turnbull is testing support for a comeback. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/opinion/editorial/general/guess-who-may-turn-the-tables/2170436.aspx?storypage=1 [i]Turnbull's climate-change truth too hot to handle, Sam Maiden, The Telegraph [/i] First, he said the policies pushed by Tony Abbott were not a market mechanism such as acarbon tax or an emissions-trading scheme. Then he said that one of the best things he could say about the policy was that it could be "easily terminated". http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/turnbulls-climate-change-truth-too-hot-to-handle/story-e6frezz0-1226060182796 [i]Why the Greens are seeing red Editorial, The Australian[/i] In our first edition 47 years ago, we declared: "This paper is tied to no party, no state and has no chains of any kind. Its guide is faith in Australia and the country's future." http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/why-the-greens-are-seeing-red/story-e6frg71x-1226059919503 [b]Reading;[/b] Harold Bloom: An Uncommon Reader, Sunday Book Review my virtual swan song,” born of his urge “to say in one place most of what I have learned to think about how influence works in imaginative literature.” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/books/review/book-review-the-anatomy-of-influence-by-harold-bloom.html?_r=2&ref=review [i]Cardinal Pell's climate hot air, Tim Stephens, Eureka Street[/i] recent inflammatory statements by Pell, who often deploys more colourful rhetoric and invective on climate change than Tony Abbott or Andrew Bolt in his attacks on 'warmers' http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=26405

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22/05/2011LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

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22/05/2011Folks The 'Riley Report' on Channel Seven's 'Sunrise' program was a much better one for PM Gillard and not so great for Tony Abbott whose DAP was exposed as expensive, costly to citizens and devoid of compensation for them. The tide may be turning as the Abbott sham is exposed for all to see.

Feral Skeleton

22/05/2011Today's Insiders appears to be a combination between a Liberal Love Fest and an Anti-Gillard Bitch Fest. Which is the same thing these days because the Coalition have no policies to speak of, only slogans.

TalkTurkey

22/05/2011Hi Lyn. Thanks as always! Looks like we'll have to wait for the others to rise and shine. Or could it be that they've all been taken up and are now enraptured? Rapt? Wrapped? Rapped? Funny, last night just about 6PM, (International Rapture Hour), Flash! CRRRAKKKK! over Adelaide. We thought it was going to be all true! Adelaide went silly once before - some idjet predicted a massive tidal wave would take out much of the city, and a lot of people really did sell up and move. Don Dunstan went down to the beach that day to reassure the people, some went down there with him with surfboards, meanwhile I was living at Magic Valley in the very close foothills, and we held a Wipeout Day festival, only about 80 people but lots of fun. On that day Jan ('Yarn', Dutch bloke) had promised to bring the meat. He came up with chops and snags but he'd promised to bring some metwurst too, I asked him where was the metwurst, he said the butcher he'd got the meat from was bringing it up shortly, that was when he coined the immortal line which deserves a line of its own, "The Wurst Is Yet To Come!":) But it didn't, Adelaide survived and it survived again last night. Hockey and Abbortt falling out nicely, Sloppy accusing Abbortt of leaving him out to dry, it doesn't come much better than that. Turnbull and those two now circling each other, stalking, wary, eyes on the back in front of them and the front in back of them, O the LOVE! The LOYALTY to each other, and from their adoring disciples! NOT! This is, truly, what I have been predicting, the Coalition Cathedral is starting to shake apart with every little tremor, because they have nothing to hold them together except negativity and it's worn thin. It's Quarter Time yet in the Big Game, the Guvnors are still down several goals but we're raging now, the Coalgrubbers are panicking, wait till 2nd quarter when we got the wind! There goes Hockey now, on Onesiders (which has a different feel altogether!) losing it on the National Press Club, falling down his own Black Hole with spikes in the bottom, Oh they're stuffed, it's so Gooooo-ooood!

Crowey

22/05/2011Hi. Received an email from Getup, urging the Gillard minority Government, to save the Murray Darling Basin, your help by signing the petition would go a long way towards restoring it back to it's glory, so the more signatures they get the better it will be. www.getup.org.au/campaigns/murray-darling/petition/save-the-basin

TalkTurkey

22/05/2011FS I just saw your Lopsiders comment above. I don't agree, that Nikki Savva helps us every time she bitches she's so nasty and horrible - I DON'T want HER on OUR side! - And the rest of them seem a lot less negative, I think they're a bit chastened in approach! The Coalers' cynical Stop the Boats campaign is sinking and taking them with it. Poetic! Good on Brown! There he is telling the faceless creep (oh I JUST saw him, first time, a grubby-bearded slobby looking bloke!) and now here's Savva again, oh she is horrid, I said yesterday, my naughty student Debbie would have made a perfect Snow White, guess the role Nikki would get! Karen Middleton trying to defend her colleagues and their attitude, boy they don't don't like the heat turned back on them do they!:) Laura Tingle is the ONLY one who stands out eh! "Fair as a star, when only one is shining in the sky"! She'd make a great MHR, but she is probably more useful right where she is. oh and DON'T WATCH BOLT! Let him die of natural causes.

Crowey

22/05/2011 Just as major cracks are starting to show within the Opposition, up comes the compassionate Scott Morrison with a new agenda. The coalition has sought the support of the Australian Greens for a parliamentary inquiry into the immigration detention network.

Michael

22/05/2011Julia Gillard must get out of the same 'frame' as Tony Abbott. Instead of making Tony Abbott look on a comparable level of national prominence with her by constantly naming him in speeches, why not 'hit' him where it hurts - his credibility? The ALP (on their website, not the government's) should put out a weekly bulletin of Abbott's policy-attacking lies, obfuscations of economic figures, and avoidance of truth in Australian life generally during the previous seven days. Call it "Bad Abbotts". It would quickly become a weekly 'must read' by letting the man put foot in mouth as regularly as he does. There'd be no need for commentary - merely correcting his gaffes as to the price of fish or weetbix post carbon pricing, for example. The facts will speak for themselves. The man will say anything, make false claims at will, so let's see all those quotable quotes of his, the ones that make him so 'successful' as an Opposition leader, lined up together and contrasted with what is true, or otherwise not settled as government policy and thus absolutely fabricated. "Bad Abbotts". There'd be no shortage of material.

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22/05/2011Folks I thought that Barrie Cassidy was measured and balanced in most of what he had to say this morning on [i]Insiders[/i] despite the presence of the always-acerbic Niki Savva, the ever self-opinionated Karen Middleton, (who seems to know better than any politician what should be done) and the wishy-washy Mark Kenny of [i]Adelaide Now[/i] as panelists, and the blustering Scott Morrison as program guest who says he would be delighted if the boats stopped coming, but is hoping that they will continue so he can continue to flail the Government. The [i]Bolt Report[/i] was as appalling as ever, the only bright spot being Liberty Sanger of Maurice Blackburn who effectively countered the ultra conservative John Roskam, IPA Executive Director . Australia’s worst economics correspondent, Terry McCrann, but billed as the most prominent by Bolt, was trotted out to bag the NBN. It was another awful show with Bolt bagging Labor from beginning to end. Nicola Roxon, as usual, gave a strong performance on [i]Meet the Press[/i].

Feral Skeleton

22/05/2011Crowey, Just when the news is starting to look good for the government re Asylum Seekers, up come the Opposition(the Coalition+ The Greens) with a fishing expeditiion to see what sort of dirt they can unearth to throw at the government. So predictable.

Feral Skeleton

22/05/2011Talk Turkey, Rest assured, I will never fall into The Bolt Hole. :)

NormanK

22/05/2011Michael I must say you really do come up with some great ideas. I had intended to comment positively on your "DO" post the other day but, as is so often the case, the moment passed and the immediacy was gone. I too join in the chorus of voices suggesting that the government stop attacking Tony Abbott as an individual thereby giving his statements validity. More and more I look on him as the King of the Trolls, not to give him a silly name but because so much of his behaviour is on-line troll-like. Drop a bombshell and move on; ignore criticisms and corrections as though they never happened; blithely claim that what was said wasn't actually said and so on. If the advice to bloggers is to ignore the trolls then perhaps the government could also try this tactic. Not to say don't respond to Abbott's blatherings but rather address rebuttal to the Coalition as a whole. So too with senior ministers. Attack the whole team, not just the captain.

TalkTurkey

22/05/2011OOOHHH! "Bad Abbotts!" Michael that's BRILLIANT! H'mmmmmm! What can we do with that Patricia WA? Mr Conehead? (tick! tick! tick!) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sloppy Joe Hockey is always being described as a "lightweight"! Ain’t that a HOOT! It reminds me of the quirky yarn by H.G. Wells, about Pyecraft, an obscenely obese man who is the victim of his own gluttony, who demands time and again of the writer that he divulge the secret of weight loss gifted to him by his Indian shaman great-aunt . . . Eventually, though with misgivings, the writer at last relents and hands it over, with the stern warning that there may be unexpected results . . . That isn’t going to deter Pyecraft who is desperate to lose weight, though he never attempts to rein in his food intake. Next thing the writer hears from Pyecraft is when he desperately calls him (I don’t remember exactly how, I guess he must have telephoned him?), the writer goes to find out what’s wrong, there’s Pyecraft floating around the ceiling of his home, just as obese as ever but weightless! He’s lost all his weight alright, but not bulk! Ain’t that just our Sloppy Joe! :)

Feral Skeleton

22/05/2011Nice little Carbon Price table from Peter Martin's blog(which just emphasises in Black&White what a load of hot air and increased CO2 emissions the Coalition are coming up with on the issue): [quote]HOW BADLY HURT? Revenue cost of a $20 per tonne carbon tax (with compensation) Carbon steel 2.0% (0.1%) Flat glass 4.2% (0.2%) Cartonboard 4.4% (0.2%) Alumina 4.6% (0.3%) Integrated iron & steel 6.4% (0.4%) Newsprint 7.4% (0.4%) Aluminum 11.4% (0.6%) Glass containers 2.4% (0.8%) Australia Institute, assuming CRPS level of compensation[/quote]

Feral Skeleton

22/05/2011'Bad Abbotts' I second the 'Brilliant' from TT, and it made me think of the old Billy Field song, 'Bad Habits'. What AcerbicC. could do with that and its infinite possibilities is delicious to contemplate. :)

Gravel

22/05/2011Jason Thanks for your informative posts, they have been a great read. Talk Turkey Don't get too excited, remember Murdoch media are running the political reporting. When we get huge bad headlines from them then maybe things will start to turn. Ad Astra Sorry to bother you while your away, I have sent and email that I'd like a response to before tomorrow, thanks.

Feral Skeleton

22/05/2011Sad to see that the Victorian ALP squibbed a confrontation and a vote on the Same Sex Marriage issue. One day they will have to face up to the issue and the two factions within the party will have to duke it out, Social Conservatives vs Social Progressives. There's no avoiding it, really. Unless the party wants to lose even more members to The Greens. As I said, I personally think it's pandering to the social conservatives who believe in the concept of marriage, per se. However, if that's what they want, as long as they don't expect to invade the turf of the Churches who are Private Institutions with their own views about the practice, then it's fine by me. Also, considering that some Churches do allow gay priests, like the Episcopalians and Uniting Church, I'm sure the LGBT Community will be able to find a Church if they want one. I mean, even >50% of Americans support the concept of 'Gay Marriage' now. It's time to stand up to the ACL in Australia, show some backbone and compassion for the LGBT Community, and some leadership. And put the Catholic Right of the ALP to the Political Sword. They can always join the Liberal Party or the DLP. :)

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22/05/2011NormanK Thank you for your email to which I have replied. My reply should be in your Inbox soon.

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22/05/2011Gravel When did you sent your email to me? It is not in my Inbox yet.

TalkTurkey

22/05/2011Feral skeleton said "'Bad Abbotts' I second the 'Brilliant' from TT, and it made me think of the old Billy Field song, 'Bad Habits'. What AcerbicC. could do with that and its infinite possibilities is delicious to contemplate." :) . . . D'errrh! . . . :) What didja think I meant when I said "H'mmmmmm! What can we do with that Patricia WA? Mr Conehead? (tick! tick! tick!)" C'mon Swordies, what a great little challenge! Write the best verse! Rhyme and meter must be perfect, (every verse in the original is!) and it is so-o-o-o good an idea, merci bien Michael! "Bad Abbotts" eh! Better find it and have a listen! Billy Field RIP. GREAT number, smile on my face. Let's have a look-see . . . (If anyone finds a good videolink before me, post it please.) C'mon Swordies, this could be classic. Not just Ac and PatWA and TT. How funny can we be? I'll be BA-A-A-A-ACK!!!

Patricia WA

22/05/2011Talk Turkey, I'd love to take you up on those Bad Abbotts some time soon, but have just finished draft of my pome for Grog. Am ambivalent about the title which I want to read like a typical News Ltd. headline, but with the esoteric/historic connotations also there. Any input welcomed before I post it here where I won't be able to make further changes [quote]http://polliepomes.wordpress.com/2011/05/21/murdoch-battles-with-jericho/[/quote] If it works and doesn't seem too sycophantic/repetitious I'll comment with it here and also send a copy to Grog himself. Amazing, isn't it, how wanting to write to a good writer encourages us to really make an effort!

TalkTurkey

22/05/2011Oh yes, Gravel, I missed acknowledging you a few days ago, I put et al because I knew there was someone I missed, sorry! How could I forget you! But really I'd remembered you. But you just said "Talk Turkey Don't get too excited, remember Murdoch media are running the political reporting. When we get huge bad headlines from them then maybe things will start to turn." . . . ?Que? . . . (I don't know how to do ? upside down!) or as Pauline would say Please Explain? (Gee I love dat gal, like I love jj. Truly! No nastiness intended, truly. I just wish we knew how to turn their curdledness back to sweet that's all.) But Gravel, I woulda thought you thought as I think that the headlines the Murdoch media was giving the Government were just about as bad as you could imagine already isn't it? Gee I tell ya I reckon if in no other ways the media are truly clever it is in the headlines. So please, because I know you mean exactly something, what exactly did you mean? S'il vous plait? :) Gee some recaptcha challenges are just that! :) Anyone found a link to Bad Habits yet? I'll go and look now.

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22/05/2011Patricia WA I do like your poem dedicated to Greg Jericho whom we admire so much, but whom the Murdoch press seems to delight in demeaning. We know why - he pings and stings it more than most.

TalkTurkey

22/05/2011Yeah here you go Swordies. Self-Control Exercise ( Sitting comfortably?) 1. Google bad habits billy field 2. Follow the first video link 3. Sit perfectly still 4. Do not change expression 5. Repeat. Crinkling of eye-wrinkles means automatic Fail.

TalkTurkey

22/05/2011PatriciaWA Great tribute to Grog and all goodhearted people will agree. The archetype for your headline is JoshWA ( :) ) fit de Battle ob Jericho (An' de walls came a-tumbellin' down!) So Rupert #*:)*ed in Battle wid Jericho (or can't we say that?) OK Murdoch Fails in Battle with Jericho my second choice.

TalkTurkey

22/05/2011Patricia I think that :) in the middle of #*:)*ed was a big Fail! It would've been better if I'd used a glum mouth but I don't know how. Anyway I think your pome's true, Murdoch IS losing, to such as Grog, which is also such as US, as he really doesn't know how to deal with. Bitter hateful old bastard. He can't stop us here though, we cannot be prevented from using this medium, it smells like . . . Freedom!

Gravel

22/05/2011Ad Astra I have just resent the email, are you still at bigpond? Talk Turkey Sorry you didn't understand what I meant, my head is still not back in the right space at the moment. I meant bad headlines for the opposition, then we'll know that the media are starting to come around. They have gone softly softly so far in reporting the ructions of the opposition. If it had been Labor there would be thundering headlines, even as there has been and are over very trivial things.

lyn

22/05/2011Hi Ad David Horton has written another enjoyable article: Time Out, David Horton, The Watermelon Blog [quote]Email communication, twittering, threads shared on other blogs (hail fellow well met), are all so transient that we seem to make and lose new friends in the flicker of a modem light. Perhaps the Library should archive our online friendships as well as our deathless prose. All our friendships.[/quote] http://davidhortonsblog.com/2011/05/22/time-out-2/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheWatermelonBlog+%28The+Watermelon+Blog%29&utm_content=Twitter Cheers

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22/05/2011Gravel Your email has been received and forwarded.

David Horton

22/05/2011Billy Field RIP? Surely not. Always preferred "You Weren't in Love With Me" but "Bad Habits" good too. He coulda been a contender. Why wasn't he?

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22/05/2011Hi Lyn Yes, another thought-provoking article from David Horton. Thanks for the link. Did you get my email this morning?

lyn

22/05/2011Hi Ad I did receive your email thankyou so much Ad. I will send you a reply later on . Hope you had a nice day. Cheers

Patricia WA

22/05/2011Thanks TT, knew you would understand the subtleties of the title/headline. When I started thinking about the Battle of Jericho I turned my head inside out trying to get it so that Jericho won, which of course it didn't...'its walls came tumbling down!' and then I thought of a Murdoch misleading headline. But yes, TT, wouldn't it be wonderful if we could say 'Murdoch Falls in Battle With Jericho!' I think your 'f...ed' would be mandatory in the title if the text was to the beat of the Elvis song. Aha! NormanK just did some lateral thinking!......."Jericho's Walls Unbreached By Murdoch!" So..... on from there comes "Jericho Still Standing?" Or even "Jericho Still Standing After Battle With Murdoch!" Or even the truth which is "Jericho Stands Firm In Battle with Murdoch!" Murdoch media are so poisonously misleading, particularly when their first para follows with more of the same, then semi truth in the main body of the article and a mild disclaimer encapsulating the real story at the end. Yes, NormanK, it is a scary place sometimes. Perfectionism has its curses, and its joys too, of course. Wonderful though when things are just right. Rapturous really. Which reminds me. I imagine that many other Swordspeople will still be here at the end of today to keep TT and myself company with the dogs. Cats too, since it seems pets will not be taken up into the rapture. Most unfair on people like Janice. Janice! You and others may be interested to know we had a wonderful chorus from a flock of thirty or more white tailed black cockatoos in tall trees on our street this morning. They sounded so sweet and looked stunning as they swooped gracefully away across the silver blue early morning sky. I understand they are an endangered species? When I say sweet that's particularly so in contrast to the ugly croaking caws of big black ravens who hang around our yards. The noise of just one bird, they seem to travel in ones or twos, brings out the worst in Tacker who goes crazy barking at them to chase them away. That may have something to do with their scavenging habits and their intimidation of Sheba, his feline friend. They're oddly absent today.

TalkTurkey

22/05/2011Gravel RIIIIIIGHHHHT! Yeah! All true! Except the bit about your head. Your head's GOOD. Oh and Janice! PLEASE enter a Bad Abbotts pome, even one verse, this is a VERY rich vein of humour Swordsfolks, DIG! It is Queen Ridicule that drives Them down and crazy you know, not King Money, because you can only REALLY ridicule them when you have the wood on them. As the Government has now. And you know why I say this? Because firstly IT'S TRUE, and equally because nothing succeeds like repetition and advertising and derision and saying it when you can as loud as you can to as many as you can. It's as important as it can be. It doesn't matter how well the Gillard Government does if we don't get that truth and its urgency out there, (and They have all the bloody media except this one tied up.) BUT! We the Leftish alone use Humour, it's amazing, it is our one great advantage. This potential Song of the People, "Bad Abbotts" - (a tribute to Billy Field and no-one's going to try to SELL it eh, it's just satire!) - could be such a hoot and make Abbortt famous as the clown (a derided and discredited and abject one, quite sad!) that is his chosen m.o. "BAD ABBOTTS"! Now That's FUNNY! :) Easy to find the original lyrics. The song's really wonderful. Sad Billy Field died so young. t

Feral Skeleton

22/05/2011Talk Turkey, As no one else has replied to your questiion wrt upside down face :( let me. It's quite simple really, and is just the opposite of the smiley face. That is, do the colon : then do the open parenthesis ( . Of course do them together. :)

Acerbic Conehead 2

22/05/2011Hi FS and TT, As I find it very hard to work on things during the week, I've been working on something most of the day for AA's consideration. I just couldn't come up with the sting in the tail, but left it for a while and came back to it. It's wonderful what a clearer mind can achieve. We've got to go out now for the rest of the evening, so I haven't been able to do something with the Bad Abbotts thingo. Its definitely got potential, so hopefully I can come at it later in the week. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. AC.

TalkTurkey

22/05/2011Have I seriously exaggerated reports of Billy Field's death? I can't find anything definitive about it but I thought he died many years ago. Sorry if he's still alive! :) No really I love 'im.

janice

22/05/2011[quote]Oh and Janice! PLEASE enter a Bad Abbotts pome[/quote] If I could, Talk Turkey, I most certainly would. I envy the talent PatriciaWA and you have for writing pomes. I also envy those who can paint pictures, sketch and draw because I can't even do a reasonable stickman.

janice

22/05/2011Patricia, The white-tailed black cockatoo is only found in WA so I've never seen one. However, I'm told they are similar to the yellow-tailed black cocky that lives along the coastal areas from Adelaide to beyond the Q'ld border. Don't know if either is endangered though.

BSA Bob

22/05/2011Saw the last few minutes of my first Blot Report tonight, I think that will suffice. My principal impression was simply one of leering, smug self importance on the part of the supposed great man. And such a big studio to produce so little! People like this stuff?

David Horton

22/05/2011Billy Field seems to have still been alive in 2009, can't see anything since. Perhaps reports of his RIPness have been exaggerated?

Patricia WA

22/05/2011Jason, what seems to have happened at the Victorian ALP conference? Was attendance really that thin even for the main speeches? And was the lack a quorum 'organised' to avoid debate on gay marriage? Is it really that explosive an issue with nay sayers? It obviously is with those who want it. I found the Insiders footage on the whole thing rather confusing. Very depressing too if the whole conference was badly attended, in Melbourne of all places!

Feral Skeleton

22/05/2011Getting in early with Mr Denmore's latest blog. I especially liked comment #5: http://thefailedestate.blogspot.com/2011/05/journalistic-principle.html

Feral Skeleton

22/05/2011And a little cartoon to cheer us up: http://twitpic.com/510pze

Feral Skeleton

22/05/2011Do not believe jj or anyone else from the Coalition of Lying Liars when they say that Australia shouldn't get ahead of itself by putting a Price on Carbon, especially not until China, India or the US move first: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-01/india-to-raise-535-million-from-carbon-tax-on-coal.html

Feral Skeleton

22/05/2011Also, early Andrew Elder: http://andrewelder.blogspot.com/2011/05/fault-lines-more-one-of-most-popular.html

Feral Skeleton

22/05/2011Wow! Almost 30 years to the day, here's Billy Field from Countdown, May 31, 1981: http://youtu.be/eETES1xP-IM

TalkTurkey

22/05/2011Swordies This is just a beginning, no special claims for any of these verses. They're all right though. Come on all ye rhymesters! So many verses possible! It could make The Ballad of Eskimo Nell look like a nursery rhyme! Hope you don't mind the stress-hyphens. (Do they help?) BAD ABBOTTS Can't help myself Bad Abbotts I just sneer and jeer And say NO And I must - con - fess I just can't - say - Yes That's why I'm called Bad Abbotts Well I can't get power My expression's sour And religion's got A hold on me And Archbish - op - Pell Says I'll go - to - Hell If I stop my Bad Abbotts Well it just - ain't - right But I do it out of spite I can't help telling lies to everyone If it's not - wrote - down I'll deny I made a sound 'Cos lying's just my way to get things done! When I get caught out I don't jump and shout I just stand and nod I'm just dumb On the Tee - Vee - tape With my mouth - a - gape Can't help myself Bad Abbotts :) MORE WIT PLEASE! WIN WITH WIT!

Feral Skeleton

22/05/2011Paul Krugman nailing the 'Charlatans and Cranks'(and I'm looking in Tony Abbott's direction when I read this): http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/charlatans-and-cranks/

Feral Skeleton

22/05/2011Wow! My modem decide to keep working all weekend! Although, now that I've said that it will probably go, 'Oh, no I'm not!' :)

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22/05/2011Folks I have just posted a piece on the media: [i]The curse of the leading question[/i]: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/post/2011/05/22/The-curse-of-the-leading-question.aspx

Feral Skeleton

22/05/2011The Coalition don't waste and mismanage money when in government, do they? http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/state-government-slammed-over-queens-445000-elevator/story-e6frg13u-1226060562170

Jason

22/05/2011Patrica WA, I'm still waiting to hear what happend in Victoria,and will let you know soon! At any early glance it seems factional subversion with a lot of the union delegates not turning up, and then Conroy saying during the week there were no problems in the party! As chief Right wing warlord in Victoria I wonder if a lot of his finger prints aren't all over it?

Feral Skeleton

22/05/2011A globally important meeting occurred in Stockholm over the last few days. Here is the statement of principles: http://globalsymposium2011.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/The-Stockholm-Memorandum.pdf

Feral Skeleton

22/05/2011Lenore Taylor, calmly and factually lays out the Climate Change debate for us all to understand: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/hot-air-and-cold-facts-as-carbon-crunch-nears-20110520-1ewle.html

TalkTurkey

22/05/2011I am really seriously sorry to have thought Billy Field to be deceased, or to put it the nice way, delighted to hear that You are still with us Billy. The clip is TERRIFIC, the dancing pianist girl lovely, congratulations on this the 30th anniversary of that clip, erm, I sure mean no offence in writing satirical words that could conceivably be seen as being based on your brilliant song. And anyway I never started it Billy, it wasn't me, it was that Michael @ 11.27 AM! Viva!

sawdustmick

23/05/2011Michael, congratulations with Bad Habbotts, I hope you don't mind if I use your brilliant send up when the opportunity arises elsewhere.