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A nice juicy tale

The British House of Commons’ “Court of Star-fruit Chamber” hasn’t been as busy since The Monkees and Milli Vanilli were arraigned before it on charges of pretending to sing on their own records.

And, more recently, Rhubarb Rupert, Rebekah Radish and Jammy James have also been subjected to the pressure-cooker treatment.

So, to offer their mate Rhubarb some moral support, Tony Abbott and his Coalition friends have gone over to London.

Meanwhile, the managers of the House of Commons’ scullery, the husband-and-wife team, George and Mildred, are busily trying to order in enough food and drink to cater for the ravenous appetites of the Court of Star-fruit Chamber members upstairs. Eventually, their order arrives and is plonked at the back door. Mildred asks George to bring the crates of food and drink items in, whilst she goes upstairs to the Chamber to ask the greedy bastards what they want to eat and drink.

However, there are no flies on Tony and the gang, as, disguised as various food and drink items, they had already secreted themselves, back at the suppliers, in the appropriate crate. George now carts the wooden containers inside and awaits further instructions from Mildred. The over-fed seat-warmers upstairs, however, can’t make up their minds what to order, so George, to kill time, pops out to the yard to have a quick smoke. Tony and the others take advantage of George and Mildred’s absence from the scullery to break out of the crates and settle themselves quickly on the table. Ostensibly, they will discuss how they can help their mate Rhubarb, before he gets stretched on the rack.

So, just as during the French Revolution the poor downtrodden aristocracy had their champion in the Scarlett Pimpernel, now Rhubarb Rupert can turn to his very own home grown liberator – Tony the Annoying Orange!!!



Having finished his smoke outside, George wanders back into the scullery and notices some things on the table that weren’t there before.

George (to himself): Hmmmm...funny that...I wonder how they got on the table? Must have been Mildred when I was outside...She must have taken one item from each of the crates for our morning tea and lunch...anyways, those greedy bastards upstairs won’t notice a few things going missing...heh...heh...

[George saunters off to fetch some coal from the bunker, to ensure the ancient range has got enough heat in it to cook the meals for “that lot” upstairs. Tony the Annoying Orange seizes his opportunity. You see, Tony has an ulterior motive for coming to London. He wants to get all his leadership rivals in the one spot where they would most likely all be “taken care of”, Machiavellian-bastardry-style, in one fell swoop...heh...heh...His first target is Malcolm “Turnip” Turnbull.]

Tony: Hey, Turnip...Turnip...hey...hey...Turnip...

[Malcolm pretends he doesn’t hear Tony the Annoying Orange trying to attract his attention. “Who does this oaf think he is, addressing moi as a common vegetable”, he complains inwardly. And, talking of his innards, Malcolm isn’t feeling too well. The suppliers had boiled him in water for a quick preparation when he got to the Court of Star-fruit Chamber’s scullery, but the slack bastards hadn’t bothered to dry him off. So, he is now sitting on the table in the middle of a pool of water.]

Tony: Hey, Turnip...Turnip...hey...hey...Turnip...

[Tony the Annoying Orange, as usual, won’t give over. Eventually, Turnip snaps.]

Turnip: What is it, you moron? Can’t you see I’m not feeling well...and it looks like I have pissed my pants...

Tony: Hey, Turnip...Turnip...hey...hey...Turnip...I always said you were a bit of a wet...heh...heh...heh...heh...heh...heh...

[Turnip decides to ignore this imbecile from now on.]

Tony: Hey, Turnip...Turnip...hey...hey...Turnip...Masher...

[Turnip had been feeling so sorry for himself he didn’t notice Mildred coming into the scullery. Like George earlier, she is puzzled as to how only one item of the various food and drink orders had got onto the table. So, for her part, she assumes that George had done a bit of pilfering on their behalf...hee...hee...She takes a bowl out of the cupboard, lifts Turnip Turnbull up by the scruff of his neck, plonks him in and proceeds to quickly mash him to a pulp.]

Tony (to himself): Ouch...ooooohhhhh...that must hurt...But, anyway, c’est la vie – another leadership rival less to worry about...heh...heh...heh...heh...heh...heh...

[Mildred then leaves the scullery to run some other errands, so Tony the Annoying Orange seizes a further opportunity to cull his opposition. This time he picks on Julie “Bulls-eye” Bishop.]

Tony: Hey, Bulls-eye...Bulls-eye...hey...hey...Bulls-eye...

[Julie is not impressed by the conduct of this ruffian. She also ignores Tony.]

Tony: Hey, Bulls-eye...Bulls-eye...hey...hey...Bulls-eye...

[Julie can’t take any more. In a tone that would make Sybil Fawlty sound like the Avon Lady, she turns on Tony.]

Julie: What do you want, you freakin’ cretin?

Tony: Erm...if there were two bulls-eyes sitting on the table, would one be a copy of the other...heh...heh...heh...heh...heh...heh...

[if Julie had a lip, she would be biting it, hoping this idiot would just go away.]

Tony: Hey, Bulls-eye...Bulls-eye...hey...hey...Bulls-eye...Mouth...

[Just at this moment, George comes back in with a couple of buckets of coal for the range. “Yum”, he says, “I love bulls-eyes”, and proceeds to pop Julie into his mouth, sucking ferociously.]

Tony: Yuk...oooohhhhh...not nice...that fur-coated tongue...those yellow teeth...that foul-smelling tobacco breath...what a way to go...heh...heh...heh...heh...heh...heh...

[So, Tony is delighted at the demise of yet another leadership rival. His next intended victim, however, isn’t a currently serving politician yet, but has shown all the attributes of fitting right into the Coalition groove. It is none other than Declan “Lobster” Stephenson.]

Tony: Hey, Lobster...Lobster...hey...hey...Lobster...

[Declan, to be honest, doesn’t look like your common or garden regular lobster. Unfortunately, he had been born a mutant, with knuckles instead of claws. However, since birth, he had made the best of a bad job by dragging them across the sea floor, unearthing all sorts of tasty morsels to prey on. Now, looking around for his next victim, Declan is studiously ignoring this prattling, annoying, piece of fruit.]

Tony: Hey, Lobster...Lobster...hey...hey...Lobster...get back under a rock...heh...heh...heh...heh...heh...heh...

Declan: Hey – stop stealing my lines, you mongrel...

Tony: Hey, Lobster...Lobster...hey...hey...Lobster...Hammer...

[At that moment, the sickening thud of a hammer being wielded mercilessly by George reverberates within the prison-like walls of the scullery. Soon, Lobster’s flesh is being picked out, piece by piece, from amongst the detritus of his shattered shell.]

Tony: Ooooohhhh...not nice...not a fairy-tale ending...for him anyway...heh...heh...heh...heh...heh...heh...

[And so the carnage continues. Much to Tony the Annoying Orange’s morbid fascination, another pretender, Jonnie the Marble Cake, smothered in fresh cream, is munched to bits for morning tea by George and Mildred.

Joe “The Pie” Hockey is so convinced by Tony that he is the nicest pie in the world, he actually commits hari kari by eating himself! And David Bushby suffers the same fate as Joe by foolishly turning up as a tin of cat-food!

Scotch Morrison is downed in one gulp by a very thirsty George, whilst Christopher Pyne-cone is chucked on the hot-plate and roasted to perfection. And the two busy kitchen-hands also have half of a John “Ring Donut” Howard each for another snack. As Johnny disappears down their cake-holes, the last mocking words he hears from Tony are: “where’s your middle, donut? Is it one of your non-core promises...heh...heh...heh...heh...heh...heh...”

Finally, all of Tony the Annoying Orange’s rivals have gone to greet George and Mildred’s gastric juices. If he had any thumbs, he would be twiddling them, waiting impatiently for another food item rival to turn up. However, he has nothing better to do than listen in to George and Mildred’s conversation.]

Mildred: It looks like they’re finished questioning old Rhubarb Rupert and his gang upstairs, darl...

George: And about time too, love – we were just about to run out of wet lettuce leaves to flog ‘em with...hee...hee...

Mildred: Too true, snookums, too true...All this cooking and preparing isn’t half making me thirsty, though – is there any juice in the fridge, darl?

George: Hah, hon...those greedy bastards upstairs drank it all...But, wait a minute...what about that blender we brought back last year from our holidays in Wales...I’ll just grab it from the cupboard...

Mildred: Good idea, sweetie...I’ll just slice the peel off this nice orange, and then you can give it the works...

[Tony can’t believe his number’s up. His dreams of becoming the Chief Mandarin at the liquescent Lodge are now getting well and truly sliced open by Mildred’s sharp knife. This is bad. But surely the liquefier is going to be a lot worse.]

Tony: Noooooooooooo...not Julia the Juicer!!! I’m too young to die!!! I thought I would have at least two and a half years left in me to be the most annoying person in the world...Aaaarrrrrrgggghhhh...STOP THE JUICER!!!

[Shortly afterwards, George and Mildred are contentedly sipping their freshly-squished orange juice.]

Mildred: Y’know, George...when you were blending that orange, I thought the machine was making some funny noises...

George: Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that, darl...When you juice ‘em, it’s normal to hear the pips squeak...heh...heh...

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160 COMMENTS

Lyn

22/07/2011Hi Acerbic Conehead Thankyou for yet another entertaining piece, you really are a busy little bee. Annoying orange Abbott still has the same laugh in the blender, but didn't laugh long when he was reduced to juice did he, just a pips squeak. I wish Tony Abbott would shut up,not going to happen unless he falls in the blender. A couple of links showing Mr Abbott not a bit perturbed by Malcolm's speech, Malcolm didn't say what he said anyway. Not so, Mr Abbott said when quizzed by reporters in northern Tasmania on Friday. Sky News 'I agree with Malcolm, the science has to be taken seriously and that climate change happens,' he said, reiterating his position that humanity was making a contribution to global warming abbott says he and Turnbull are at one, Sky News http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories/article.aspx?id=641343&vId= Abbott defends broken Medicare promise, Jeremy thompson, ABC Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has defended his 2004 broken election promise on the Medicare safety net, saying it is not the same as the Prime Minister's carbon tax backflip http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-22/abbott-defends-broken-promise/2805876/?site=sydney Malcolm, Malcolm, Malcolm…Here We Go Again…, Yale Stephens,The red & The Blue Frankly, it’s time for Malcolm to shut up — something I wrote to him in a blunt and private email many months ago (over other similar outbursts at the time) and which I now say publicly. http://theredandtheblue.org/2011/07/22/malcolm-malcolm-malcolm-here-we-go-again/ Cheers:):):):):):)

TalkTurkey

22/07/2011Friday night and I'm freshly juiced, my vitamin A & C levels are hyper. Very droll AC. I imagine a series of short films, like Mondo Cane / Mondo Pazzo format maybe, with cumulative insanity of the viewer as the primary aim . . . :) Reckon you're the man to do it?! Nasking, I must side firmly with Feral Skeleton in the matter of Ralph Nader. He was the butterfly whose self-important wingflap split the Left vote and got Gore rolled and brought on the cataclysms unleashed by GWB. That's not even contestable. I could see it coming months before. If Ralph Nader could solve Europe and the US financial woes on his own acount it would never make up for the heedless harm he has catalysed. The parallel with the role played by the Greens in defeating Labor's CPRS legislation is painfully obvious. So is their [i]"Who, Me?"[/i] response. Hopefully everybody has learned from both experiences, just don't get sucked into splitting the vote or all the Left loses, it's just so obvious! It's no use opposing Labor at the ballot box once in four years, if you don't like their policies (but are anywhere Leftish) get in there and change the policies (eg same sex marriage) from within the Party. Because if you just get Labor kicked out, you ain't a-gonna get progressive legislation anyway and quite the reverse. Is it just me or do others think that the most obvious fact of political life? United we stand! [i]Venceremos![/i]

Feral Skeleton

22/07/2011AcerbicC., You are a good egg. :) You are not a Fruit Loop. You're blood is worth bottling and you go off like a piece of cheese in the sun. :D

nasking

22/07/2011[quote]I wish Tony Abbott would shut up,not going to happen unless he falls in the blender.[/quote] Lyn, Abbott needs to come clean. As does Turnbull. I'm sure these fellas wan't the same thing in the long run...plenty of nuclear energy in Australia. I would like to see how many shares in uranium & nuclear power-related stocks the Coalition and their families own. For that matter, ALP pollies too. [quote]China makes nuclear power breakthrough (AFP) – 3 hours ago BEIJING — China said Friday it had hooked its first so-called "fourth generation" nuclear reactor to the grid, a breakthrough that could eventually reduce its reliance on uranium imports The experimental fast-neutron reactor is the result of more than 20 years of research and could also help minimise radioactive waste from nuclear energy, the state-run China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) said. China is the ninth country to develop a fast-neutron reactor, which uses uranium 60 times more efficiently than a normal reactor, helping the country to reduce its reliance on imports of the mineral. The latest technological step comes after China succeeded in reprocessing spent nuclear fuel in an experimental reactor in the northwestern province of Gansu in January. Authorities said this would help extend the lifespan of proven uranium deposits to 3,000 years from the current forecast of 50-70 years.[/quote] http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jmQoKWnu2mzBFMfryuwQb0VnR5vw?docId=CNG.e089e5107d4cdab3c4baa81aae21ec64.e1 and: http://www.climatespectator.com.au/commentary/green-deals-get-ev-cook-dinner Seems to me that oneday Australia will have nuclear power...but will require a diversity of energy sources...we could even plug into the cocky flatulence of Piers Akerman who seems to be putting alot of his money on the French & their nuclear industry...I imagine Piers will eventually realise that putting all yer eggs in one basket, as he has done w/ his loyalty to the Murdoch empire, will prove to be a short-sighted choice. Ironic ain't it that one moment the Murdoch empire is boycotting France over their stance on a certain war (recall Fox News & Freedom Fries) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_fries ...and now some bellowers in the same media empire are kneeling at the French nuclear altar. And conveniently ignoring the investment in renewables the French are putting in to diversify their energy sources. A mix of energy down the road. As for here, I wonder if they'll reduce the starting carbon price...but slightly increase the super profits tax...w/ uranium covered. The Greens might wanna rethink their nuclear stance if they are determined to deal w/ climate change. Compromise. For longevity purposes too. We're still gonna have plenty of windpower & solar. And it helps gets rid of Hazelwood power plant and the like. Ya know, ain't Tony Abbott so full of sh*t? N'

Feral Skeleton

22/07/2011Talk Turkey, I can't say but that I agree with you. :) Ralph Nader is the epitome of the guy who dines out on one major achievment early on in his life for the rest of his life, thinking that one major achievment gives him carte blanche to throw a spanner in the works wherever he sees fit. A real 'Voice of the People' individual who ends up doing them more harm than good on balance. Sure, seat belts are a lifesaver, but so would a lot of other things have been if Al Gore had become President as he should have by rights. I mean, what's the point in having seat belts in cars if you die of heat stroke while driving your car in the middle of a Global Warming-exacerbated Summer Heatwave? That's an exaggerated example, I know, so maybe I should simply have said, what's the point of seat belts protecting you from the results of car accidents when what we really need is protection from Global Warming? And we're not getting that protection because Ralph Nader got in the way of Al Gore's election.

nasking

22/07/2011[quote]Tony: Noooooooooooo...not Julia the Juicer!!! I’m too young to die!!! I thought I would have at least two and a half years left in me to be the most annoying person in the world...Aaaarrrrrrgggghhhh...STOP THE JUICER!!![/quote] LOL AC. Abbott juice contains traces of BS & nuts. N'

nasking

22/07/2011[quote]He was the butterfly whose self-important wingflap split the Left vote and got Gore rolled and brought on the cataclysms unleashed by GWB. [/quote] Talk Turkey, don't believe the hype. The Democratic party had millions of other voters they could've got...but they didn't. They know why. N'

nasking

22/07/2011Anyway, I've written heaps on here the last few days and you focus on Nader. Interesting. Makes ya wonder why I bother. N'

TalkTurkey

23/07/2011Nasking, I told Folks that my computer has had the wontworks, I haven't been able to post, nothing to do with your previous posts with which I have not in any way disagreed anyway, and nothing to do with any hype neither, I don't need others to form my opinions for me, if I have the gen I make up my own mind. I was independently thinking that Al Gore was going to get rolled because of Nader long before the vote. (As I said in my last post btw.) As it was the election was knife-edged, Gore really won it by a hair but GWB had his brother Jeb as the Governor of Florida, oh I guess you know the story. So the votes Nader sucked, which were of course predominantly from *progressives*, were absolutely critical to the outcome. I'm surprised you see it any other way. And what do you want, Nas, that I agree with you on every little thing? I do not ask that of you. Please don't take on so. I've never been disrespectful to you, have I? (K)

Lyn

23/07/2011 [i]TODAY’S LINKS[/i] [i]I’m not a Conservative and neither is Toby Young, Andrew Elder, Poltically Homeless[/i] Journalists think they are usefully employed listening to politicians. If you want to know how we are governed, the last person you'd ask is a politician, or a journalist for that matter. What sort of conservative bothers much with either? http://andrewelder.blogspot.com/ [i]Sky should now withdraw its Australia Network tender, Tanya Penovic, Online Opinion[/i] the ABC has been lambasted for its programming, its culture, the quality of its content and even its revised editorial policies. In News Limited's Melbourne tabloid the Herald Sun this week, Neil Mitchell accused the ABC of 'following the grand television tradition that if you aim for the http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=12363 [i]News Corp defence … did James lie?, Crikey[/i] Torturous News Corp defence. The increasingly ramshackle News Corporation is doing its best to push back against phone-hacking — so it was inevitable it would turn to torture advocate, and privacy law expert, Mirko Bagari http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/07/22/media-briefs-news-corp-defence-did-james-lie-why-we-love-gossip/ [i]How safe is your privacy?, Bernard Keane, Crikey[/i] databases that still remain outside the restrictions of the Privacy Act in Australia. The major political parties have an entry in their databases on every single one of us, but you’re not allowed to find out what it says. http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/07/22/privacy-eye-the-vast-effort-to-find-out-everything-about-you/ [i]Unchanged Climate at News, Dave Gaukroger, Pure Poison[/i] So what sort of coverage would we expect of Malcolm Turnbull giving a speech on climate change, given its potential importance to the carbon tax debate?http://blogs.crikey.com.au/purepoison/2011/07/22/unchanged-climate-at-news/ [i]Malcolm Turnbull is Right to Defend Global Warming Science, Peter,Aussie Views News[/i] Not of course that one would expect that The Australian would be in favour of a serious consideration of the science of global warming. That paper could not be more biased against global warming if it tried. http://www.aussieviewsnews.com/2011/07/22/turnbull-global-warming-science/ [i]The Australian Newspaper Claims Sea Level Rises are Slowing: But Are They?, Peter, Aussie Views News[/i] The Australian does not think. It merely asserts that sea-level rises are slowing.And thereby deliberately adds still more confusion to the debate on climate change and global warming. http://www.aussieviewsnews.com/2011/07/22/sea-level-rise-rate/ [i]Blame Game, Ash, Ash’s Machiavellian Bloggery[/i] find this a little hard to swallow from Rupert. More so since his own papers here have been very meek to judge Rupert, but SOwilling to tear the government a new arsehole for the actions of others. http://ashghebranious.wordpress.com/2011/07/22/blame-game/ [i]Why Alan Jones and Andrew Bolt are morons, Ash, Ash’s Machiavellian Bloggery.[/i] Andrew Bolt and Alan Jones have been taking to the air waves in mock indignation of the term “Carbon Pollution”. I say mock indignation because they are either dumb patsies or manipulative deceivers.What most people do not seem to want to talk about is what actually comes http://ashghebranious.wordpress.com/2011/07/22/why-alan-jones-and-andrew-bolt-are-morons/ [i]Taxing times ahead, Colin Brinsden, Trading Room[/i] Tony Abbott has all but thrown the kitchen sink at the government in his mission to derail its carbon price policy. The opposition leader even dug out a line once used by former Labor prime minister Paul Keating as an added sledge. http://www.tradingroom.com.au/apps/view_breaking_news_article.ac?page=/data/news_research/published/2011/7/203/catf_110722_122300_6040.html [i]The Coalition plans to install 273 solar panels per day. Really, Peter Martin[/i] One of the Abbott direct action plans is to put "one million additional solar energy roofs on homes" by the end of this decade.To do this the Government would offer an extra $1000 rebate for either solar panels or solar hot water systems, with a cap of 100,000 rebates a year. http://www.petermartin.com.au/2011/07/coalition-plans-to-install-273-solar.html [i]Mr Turnbull a few follow – ups, Renai Lemay, Technology Spectator[/i] policy which has been worked through in exhaustive detail over the past three and a half years. It is now mature and very solidly in place. The Australian electorate will need a lot more detail before the Coalition can boast a substantial rival policy http://technologyspectator.com.au/nbn-buzz/mr-turnbull-few-follow-ups?utm [i]Asylum seekers and refugees: what are the facts?, Janet Phillips, Australian Policiy Online[/i] The purpose of this background note is to present information (in a simplified format) that may help address some of the popular misconceptions that surround asylum issues http://www.apo.org.au/research/asylum-seekers-and-refugees-what-are-facts [i]Respect the science. Respect the Turnbull, Malcolm Farnsworth, The Drum[/i] Turnbull represents some kind of middle ground that both sides are either unwilling or unable to move to. Like Kevin Rudd, he's in political purgatory. http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2805830.html [i]And you thought some of those climate change contrarians may have had a modicum of intelligence, Petering Time, North Coast Voices[/i] Yep, the little lad from Warringah really said that.Why have I set him in the dunce’s corner? Well…1. Carbon dioxide is not always invisible.2. This gas is definitely not weightless.3. It’s not always odourless either. http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com/2011/07/and-you-thought-some-of-those-climate_22.html [i]What is wrong with our Parliamentary question time. Christopher Welsh, ABC[/i] There was passion but the passion was authentic.... Very little posturing and cheap smartarsery http://blogs.abc.net.au/queensland/2011/07/what-is-wrong-with-our-parliamentary-question-time.html [i]Liberal Senator facing shoplifting, assault charges, Channel 7[/i] Liberal Senator Mary Jo Fisher has been arrested on charges of theft and assault, relating to an incident in an Adelaide shop last year. It's alleged she stole groceries from the Foodland supermarket on Glen Osmond Rd at Frewville, in Adelaide's eastern suburbs on December 15th. http://au.news.yahoo.com/sa/latest/a/-/article/9898135/senator-facing-shoplifting-charges/ [b]MURDOCH:-[/b] [i]James Murdoch misled MP’s on Tuesday – former News of the World executives, Cyril Washbrook, The Spy report[/i] The culture, media and sport select committee chairman John Whittingdale expressed concern at the allegations by Myler and Crone, saying that he would be asking Murdoch to clarify his evidence in relation to the "for Neville" email. http://www.mediaspy.org/report/2011/07/22/james-murdoch-misled-the-parliament-former-news-of-the-world-executives/ A[i] Great Day Dawns for UK Media , Misha Glenny, The Nation[/i] There is no statutory regulation of newspapers in Britain, but there is of broadcast media. This means that any television news operating in Britain must be politically neutral, which is why Murdoch could never attempt to establish a British Fox News. http://www.thenation.com/article/162207/great-day-dawns-uk-media [i]Corporate governance 101: the buck stops with Rupert Murdoch, Suzanne Young, The Conversation[/i] Rupert and James may seem to be weathering the storm, but it is up to the board to exercise its responsibilities to ensure the culture is set from the top and governance is strengthened through asking the right questions about behaviour and management practices .http://theconversation.edu.au/corporate-governance-101-the-buck-stops-with-rupert-murdoch-2418 [i]News Corp and phone hacking: Wilful blindness at the very top, Guardian UK[/i] All the coaching, PR and legal advice that was poured into grooming the Murdochs for this week's dramatic House of Commons appearance had one aim: to impress on the world that News Corp was now on top of the situation and was moving forward with honesty and transparency http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/21/news-corp-phone-hacking-editorial?CMP=twt_gu

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23/07/2011LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

Feral Skeleton

23/07/2011Nasking, I only engage when I disagree with you. (K) Anyway, for the first time in a long time I have a lot on my plate atm. I have a Casual job with the ABS to do the Census distribution, so I have been going to Training days and reconnoitering my patch, reading Manuals, doing tests, blah, blah, etc. etc., and then feeling dead at the end of some long, physically demanding days. Not only that, but, as you would know, school is back again and I have to get up at 5.30am Mon-Fri to get the kids ready and out the door. Also, I have been taking driving lessons, doing lots of practice, then taking the test(which I passed! Pretty good for an old chook). Also, my children have Dentists, Orthodentists, and Counsellors(sadly a result of losing their dad to leukaemia), to go to. Which is why I haven't written a new blog lately. Well, I did write the old one about Tony Abbott's speech, all 40 pages and counting of analysis, but it seems so passe now when Tony Abbott just rewrites inconsistencies in his ongoing narrative on a daily basis, and in this New World Order of Post Truth Politics it just doesn't seem to matter anymore anyway to point it out. Also, today, when good young Labour Party supporters in Norway have had their ideology and support for the Left of politics ended via the barrell of a gun, held, I believe, by a Lunar Right Wing zealot, plus are suffering, I believe, the results of a Timothy McVeigh-like attack on the offices of the Labour Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg, please accept my apologies for not constantly engaging with you. I'm sorta thinking today that those of us on the Left arguing about the fine details of the inconsistencies of the Right, and their mendaciousness, is irrelevant in the face of the might of the Right and their determination to intimidate those of us who disagree with them. Just ask anyone in Australia who has received a death threat from the unhinged of the Right in Australia recently how they are feeling today with the news from Norway. Capice, Nas?

debbiep

23/07/2011I Like and read all your comments nasking. Many(most, ugh sorry) a time with out telling you how much I do enjoy reading them, as I do with all that post here. But nasking you add a little more that hits home to me in many of your posts and I look forward to them even. So, if you ( or others) feel or think that your talking to yourself, well keep going, cause your not :)

Feral Skeleton

23/07/2011Everyone has to learn this off by heart and recite it next time a troll or rabid Abbott supporter trys to shout down the government's Price on Carbon policy: http://www.economist.com/node/18989175?story_id=18989175&fsrc=rss

Ad astra

23/07/2011Nasking It has been good to see you so active on [i]TPS[/i]. I trust you are feeling better. I have been preoccupied with technical issues the last few days – first my new modem to replace a faulty one that had intermittent WiFi, then finding where it worked best, then last night the long and tedious process of installing the new Mac operating system OS X Lion, which took all night to download via Telstra’s brilliant 3G service in inner Melbourne, then a couple of hours to install it this morning. It’s all been worth the time and trouble as the new OS has full finger gestures on the touchpad, a more attractive and utilitarian email display (identical to the one on the iPad) and many other improvements. So now I’ll try to get back to attending to the comments, before going to a family birthday this afternoon. We have a large family, so birthdays are always cropping up. I have enjoyed reading what you have written. Your comment at 10.59 pm was most interesting. The ‘nuclear breakthrough’ in China is important news. It seems to me that despite all the scorn that Tony Abbott likes to pour on China’s increasing carbon emissions, that country is doing a lot to develop clean energy, much more apparently than most other countries. Abbott seems unable or unwilling to grasp the concept that a nation like China can be running two endeavours in parallel that seem at odds. On the one hand China is trying to drag its millions still in poverty out of that state, and that requires processes that increase emissions such a electricity generation, which is largely still done by burning coal; yet at the same time developing non-polluting alternatives that will eventually take over from coal. Of course, addicted as he is to simplistic slogans, Abbott can’t capture that apparent contradiction in three words, and in any case he will cherry pick the bits that suit his argument of the day, whatever that might be. Your last comment about Abbott is spot on. Despite the apprehension generated by the Fukushima disaster, nuclear energy will continue to play its part and will likely increase, especially as safer and more efficient plants are developed. The reprocessing of nuclear ‘waste’ that the Chinese are developing may reduce the concern that people have about disposing of waste, which has been a major worry for the environmentalists. I’m sure you are right when you predict that we will have a range of energy sources that will enable the phasing out of the highly polluting ones for those less so. Human ingenuity has no bounds. As I am not up to speed with the Nader/Gore episode, I won’t attempt to comment about that. Thank you for your comments. I trust you will feel inclined to return with more.

Ad astra

23/07/2011FS Thank you for the link to [i]The Economist[/i] article: [i]We have a winner - British Columbia’s carbon tax woos skeptics[/i] http://www.economist.com/node/18989175?story_id=18989175&fsrc=rssDURING The first two paragraph just about says it all although the whole article deserves a read, and as you say committing its substance to memory: “[i]Canada’s 2008 federal election campaign Stephen Harper, the Conservative prime minister, warned that an opposition promise to introduce a carbon tax would “screw everybody”. Partly for that reason, Mr Harper is still the prime minister. But in the same year, the provincial government in British Columbia introduced a carbon tax of its own. Despite the levy, its economy is doing well. What is more, the tax is popular: it is backed by 54%, says a survey in the province by Environics, a pollster. Gordon Campbell, the Liberal premier who introduced the tax, won a provincial election the next year. “When arguing for the carbon tax, Mr Campbell faced the same political obstacles that have stymied such plans elsewhere. Only environmentalists were enthusiastic. Businesses feared it would add to costs and slow the economy. The leftish New Democratic Party (NDP) worried it would hurt the poor. But these fears have proved groundless. “The carbon tax has been good for the environment, good for taxpayers and it hasn’t hurt the economy,” says Stewart Elgie, a professor of law and economics at the University of Ottawa.”[/i] Cop that Tony Abbott and your skeptic mates!

Feral Skeleton

23/07/2011This is the guy who perpetrated the Oslo massacre: http://www.boingboing.net/2011/07/22/oslo-terror-suspect.html

D Mick Weir

23/07/2011And while we are digesting news on a clean(er) energy future from os another to throw into the mix [b]The world can be powered by alternative energy, using today's technology, in 20-40 years, says Stanford researcher Mark Z. Jacobson[/b] http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/january/jacobson-world-energy-012611.html [i]A new study – co-authored by Stanford researcher Mark Z. Jacobson and UC-Davis researcher Mark A. Delucchi – analyzing what is needed to convert the world's energy supplies to clean and sustainable sources says that it can be done with today's technology at costs roughly comparable to conventional energy. But converting will be a massive undertaking on the scale of the moon landings. What is needed most is the societal and political will to make it happen.[/i] Where there is a will there is a way.

Ad astra

23/07/2011Folks Have you seen the GetUp! ad campaign against the current one being run in newspapers by a self-interested coalition of coal, mining and business interests? Its ad looks remarkably like the mining ads! You can see it here: https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/climate-action-now/polluter-industry-ad/set-the-record-straight?t=dXNlcmlkPTE0LGVtYWlsaWQ9MjIx?t=dXNlcmlkPTI5NDg5MyxlbWFpbGlkPTIyMQ==

D Mick Weir

23/07/2011and if the laughs above were not enough to brighten your weekend pop over to [b]B Sides Monckton the Musical: Fiddler with the Truth[/b] [i]If I were a sceptic[/i] http://tjd.posterous.com/monckton-the-musical-fiddler-with-the-truth [i]If I were a sceptic, Dribble dribble weasel, bunkum bunkum silly silly dum[/i]

Jason

23/07/2011MIDDLE AGE TEXTING CODES: ATD -at the doctor. BFF -best friend fell. BTW - bring the wheelchair . BYOT -bring your own teeth. FWIW -forgot where I was. GGPBL -gotta go, pacemaker battery low. GHA -got heartburn again. IMHO -is my hearing aid on? LMDO -laughing my dentures out. OMMR -on my massage recliner. ROFLACGU -rolling on floor laughing and can't get up. TTYL -talk to you louder!

Lyn

23/07/2011Hi Ad Thankyou for your interesting replies: [quote]Cop that Tony Abbott and your skeptic mates! [/quote] Excellent your comment to FS's link [quote]Thank you for the link to The Economist article: We have a winner - British Columbia’s carbon tax woos skeptics www.economist.com/.../18989175 [/quote] Also the Getup Ad is excellent, they are clever making it look like the Mining AD's but with the truth. David Williamson says the level of venom and aggression is now accepted as normal, and the Press are promoting this vile behaviour by Abbott: Time for Gillard to set the Bulldog on the bully boy , National Times On the last sitting day of Parliament just over two weeks ago, Abbott's assault on Prime Minister Julia Gillard was so sustained and ferocious that she understandably turned her back. This only provoked Abbott to greater heights of bellicosity. The veins were literally standing out on his neck as he screamed ''How childish, how immature, how cowardly is this Prime Minister''. Something has changed in the tone of public discourse in this country, and it's the level of venom and aggression that is now accepted as normal. [b]Abbott has yelled the words ''gutless'' and ''cowardly'' so often at Gillard[/b] that it's become commonplace, but when [b]Alan Jones suggests he is about to ''put her in a chaff bag and hoist her into the Tasman Sea''[/b], it's something else again. To suggest our Prime Minister should be drowned like a helpless kitten was nasty and tasteless http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/time-for-gillard-to-set-the-bulldog-on-the-bully-boy-20110722-1hsu9.html#ixzz1Stjh9Me5 Cheers :):):):)

Ad astra

23/07/2011D Mick Weir Thank you for your link to the Jacobson/Delluchi article in [i]Stanford University News[/i] The first three paragraphs are telling: “[i]If someone told you there was a way you could save 2.5 million to 3 million lives a year and simultaneously halt global warming, reduce air and water pollution and develop secure, reliable energy sources – nearly all with existing technology and at costs comparable with what we spend on energy today – why wouldn't you do it? “According to a new study coauthored by Stanford researcher Mark Z. Jacobson, we could accomplish all that by converting the world to clean, renewable energy sources and forgoing fossil fuels. "Based on our findings, there are no technological or economic barriers to converting the entire world to clean, renewable energy sources," said Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering. "It is a question of whether we have the societal and political will."[/i] He’s right about political will, which has to fight vested interests that prefer the highly profitable status quo. As we are seeing with the carbon tax, any excuse for not acting, any fear campaign, any threat to our comfortable but highly polluting ways, is enough to turn the majority of the people away from what really needs to be done to spare the planet for future generations. Thank goodness for sound scientists with foresight. The article is an exciting read: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/january/jacobson-world-energy-012611.html

Feral Skeleton

23/07/2011Jason, You young whippersnapper! How dare you mock us MAFE's(Middle Aged For Eva!...as it is too embarassing to be acting like a young 'un anymore). :)

Feral Skeleton

23/07/2011DMW, On a day when young idealistic individuals of the Left have been literally attacked for their beliefs, we need a good laugh. My young sons are just like those who have been murdered today in Norway...except for the fact that they can't be bothered getting up off their hinies and attending any Young Labor Camps. Just as well, I suppose, when you consider the animosity and loathing Tony Abbott and his Conservative cabal have been whipping up in this country too. Anyway, I've just been hugging them every time I see them today, and vice versa.

Ad astra

23/07/2011Hi Lyn Thank you for your comment and the link to the telling article by David Williamson in [i]The Age: Time for Gillard to set the Bulldog on the bully boy[/i] http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/time-for-gillard-to-set-the-bulldog-on-the-bully-boy-20110722-1hsu9.html#ixzz1Stjh9Me5 If only he would write a play about our political scene for all to see its ugliness and anger. I’ll now be out for a bit. Have a happy day.

Feral Skeleton

23/07/2011Very sobering reading from a 'recovering' former Murdoch editor: http://theconversation.edu.au/confessions-of-a-recovering-former-murdoch-news-chief-2483?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=tweetbutton&utm_campaign=footer

2353

23/07/2011Noticed in the Courier Mail this morning that the offensive against an enquiry is going at warp speed. The upshot of the article was if we have to put up with it, so do various Government Departments who it is claimed have allowed breaches of privacy on everything from public transport smartcards through toll points and CCTV cameras. I think its fair to say that I read most comments on this blog and only respond if I feel the need, can add to (or subtract from) the point of in the case of the resident trolls under the bridge - point out the illogic of their non-argument. Yours included Nasking.

Patricia WA

23/07/2011'N complains that Talk Turkey only engages when he disagrees with him. If it's any comfort, 'N, he's the same with me! :) What do I have to do, TT, To make you sit up and notice me? There is one thing for sure it takes And that's my spelling or grammar mistakes. But when I say you're right, "Hear! Hear!" Do you acknowledge that? No fear! Even when I've eaten humble pie You just move on and pass me by! PS If we all acknowledged everyone and everything they write with which we agree nothing worthwhile would get written. The great thing here is the wealth of ideas and opinions exchanged and the links we get, particularly from Lyn and others like Jason and FS and DMW etc etc.

mick

23/07/2011Having a ten year old that loves to annoy the bejesus out of me with annoying orange clips this piece just had me dying with laughter..... No way I could drink that juice, way to bitter with overtones of denial and stupidity with undertones of sourgrapes!

Feral Skeleton

23/07/2011Yay! Ad Astra, your friend from Fukushima might be interested to know that this is the future for his country: http://www.the9billion.com/2011/07/22/japan-turns-up-the-heat-on-geothermal-energy-following-fukushima/

TalkTurkey

23/07/2011Gee the stuff just keeps coming. D Mick Weir, Thanks for that Monckton the Musical link, the song is hilarious, everyone should read it/sing it in your head or best of all aloud. It's both very perspicacious and very well done, Thanks B Sides. More please, we'll rhyme the bastards down eh. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Oslo Massacre: Plenty of time to reflect on this but it seems to me that the lesson is clear, arouse enough people with hate talk and you inevitably eventually will inspire odd unstable individuals to acts such as these. As Martin Bryant's case shows, some people don't even need a cause (though he said as he was about to start his shooting spree wtte "Hmmm, not many Japanese today" whatever that might have meant.) But how much more likely such events are made by the provocative language of the Rotten Right! Those revolting people screaming hatred at our Prime Minister, how many of them go home fulminating on the injustice of it all that Their Man isn't The Man, it's against Aussie principle and blah blah but it only takes ONE real maniac to turn hyperbole into actuality. We've been saying this here forever I know, well listen you voices of hate, WE'VE TOLD YOU SO ! It is one of your kind who have done this terrible thing, (Yes I'm prejudging because it seems cut-&-dried who dunnit, and if I'm wrong it's because of CRAP reporting by the rotten Murdoch tabloids) and guess whose kind of people he has done it to?! There is a typicality to this sort of attack, a profile as familiar amongst Rightist extremists as Jesus figures are amongst religiomanes. They are in their own eyes white knights (White is Right, Right is White!) riding to avenge their injustice and humiliation at the pollution of their blue-eyed genetic society, or variations on that sort of belief. It is absolutely anticipable that such events as McVeigh will occur when enough hatefilled simians are provided with enough opportunities and equipment - and it doesn't take all that much, ammonium nitrate's the go, it seems to me likely this bloke's been planning this for many years and I would bet that he was into farming for the very reason that would give him access to lots of it. Because this was a hell of a bomb. So you inciters of hatred, you wedge-drivers of society, just you bloody well pull your heads in. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lyn, Thanks as always, but especially in today's batch for the following: Sky should now withdraw its Australia Network tender, Tanya Penovic, Online Opinion the ABC has been lambasted for its programming, its culture, the quality of its content and even its revised editorial policies. In News Limited's Melbourne tabloid the Herald Sun this week, Neil Mitchell accused the ABC of 'following the grand television tradition that if you aim for the www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=12363 This article by one who knows is perfectly on-message for TPS. Tanya Penovic is a name to remember, she is someone who looks set to do a lot of good. Tanya Penovic, remember?

TalkTurkey

23/07/2011Gee I'm sorry Miss Patricia Seems I've stirred the Sword Militia! One because I did reply, One whose answer I passed by! Yes PWA I didn't see it, in fact I wondered whether you had replied, you aren't obliged to you know. But I am sure that, being a lover of Mother English and her best traditions, especially in such matters as parliamentary language and usages, you will have loved to be apprised of the distinction between the adverbial mand HERE HERE and the verbal mand HEAR HEAR. I never mean to be smart-arse to anyone not actually hostile, I do love English so though, and teaching, well you know it owns your soul if you care about it. I haven't seen your reply yet so I write with heart in mouth and bated breath as I go looking. (Can I survive?) When was it please in case I can't find it? Don't forget the Sword was down and my computer was failing, I can use the Sergeant Schultze defence! If it's good enough for the [i]Merde[/i] ochs . . .

Ad astra reply

23/07/2011Folks I'm off to the birthday party. Back tomorrow.

TalkTurkey

23/07/2011Tacker Thank you for helping me find this post by Patricia! 'Cheers and goodnight. At last! "Hear! Hear!" woofs Tacker who will never get into bed till I'm all tucked in.' Does anybody else remember, when Rupert owned only The News, (Adelaide) and boys sold papers at pubs and street-corners, a charming kids' daily comic - not strip, just one frame per day, and a little serial story - called Stumpy? He was always into adventure, and he talked with all the creatures he came across. He always prefaced his conversation thus (in reported speech), "Woof, Woof" barked Stumpy. The creatures always replied in kind, like, "Zeb Zeb" zebbed the Zebra, (and then went on to say its piece). The funniest one was when Stumpy went diving and met a Groper: Yep, "Grope Grope", groped the Groper, " . . . "Gobble Gobble" gobbled the Gobbler . . .

NormanK

23/07/2011Are you watching events as they unfold in Norway, Mr Abbott? Mr Jones? Mr Joyce? Mr Mitchell? Mr Bernadi? Mr Truss? Mr Hadley? And all of you other ratbags who think it is okay to wind people up and point them in the direction of our elected representatives, of whatever stripe. Not everyone understands what 'rhetoric' means and the purpose it is meant to serve. Not everyone understands what 'hyperbole' is and that it should be taken with a grain of salt. Some people believe you when you say that they have the 'right to be a little bit angry'. In fact they understand you to mean that they have the right to be very very angry indeed. Not all of them take that anger to the pub or the footie, Mr Abbott. Mr Jones. This is a dark day for Norway. A dark day for the world. It will be a very dark day for Australia [b]when[/b] some fool decides to act on all of this provocation and take matters into their own hands 'in the national interest'. Time to turn down the heat, boys and girls - you're overcooking the pie.

Lyn

23/07/2011Hi Mick A big Welcome to TPS. We have a few Mick's that comment on TPS, but you are a new one by your Gravatar. Thankyou so much for your comment, I am so pleased you enjoyed Acerbic Conehead's article and I must say I agree with you [quote]No way I could drink that juice, way to bitter with overtones of denial and stupidity with undertones of sourgrapes![/quote] Hope you keep coming back to TPS. Cheers :):):):):)

Feral Skeleton

23/07/2011NormanK, If I were Joe Hockey today I'd be feeling a little bit circumspect about giving tacit approval to the man in his audience who wished for laxer gun laws wrt his expressed wish of being able to take out his animus against the Prime Minister of Australia, the Right Honourable Julia Gillard.

Feral Skeleton

23/07/2011He was a Christian Fundamentalist Capitalist of course: http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpps/news/details-emerge-about-norway-terror-suspect-dpgonc-20110722-kh_14255246

Lyn

23/07/2011Hi Talk Turkey I love your comment to Tacker, I think Tacker said woof, woof to you [quote]Gee I'm sorry Miss Patricia Seems I've stirred the Sword Militia! One because I did reply, One whose answer I passed by! [/quote] Cute little poem Talk Turkey, also you have used some fabulous words in your comment above, july 23. 2011 03:45 PM, I am trying to keep some of them in my head for future use. "[quote]Gobble Gobble" gobbled the Gobbler . . . [/quote] Cheers :):):):):):):):)

Feral Skeleton

23/07/2011Another class Guardian story about the 'For Neville' e-mail that could rip up James Murdoch's carefully-crafted evasive testimony to the UK Parliamentary Committe last week: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/22/for-neville-email-empire

D Mick Weir

23/07/2011I think it was FS who pointed out a particularly worrying comment that appeared on a [i]Herald Sun[/i] blog on July 10 saying someone should assassinate the PM. In today's Weekend AFR [b]Brian Toohey[/b] has his two bobs worth in his [i]Capital Idea[/i] column. [b]Publish, and damn her[/b] from the print edition W'end AFR [i]There was a time when the police took a keen interest in anyone who called for the assassination of the prime minister. These days they seem to take a more sanguine approach, despite a political climate in which leading radio "shock jocks" and rabid online commentators foster a dangerous hatred of Julia Gillard. Committing or inciting acts of political motivated violence is a criminal offence in Australia. It is not a defence to say in court. "I used the internet, so I couldn't have incited violence". Guilt or innocence is not technology dependent. It has to be determined on the merits of the case. ... (the AFR) supplied the Australian Federal Police with a screen "grab" of the post and asked if it would investigate. ... the AFP made it plain it would do nothing ...[/i] Interesting reading and Toohey's column is worth more than 'two bob' this week. With eveyting else in this week's paper I reckon my three bucks was well spent. Some weeks I struggle to value it above $2.49 most others in excess of $3 but thems the breaks.

D Mick Weir

23/07/2011Hi mick dis Mick welcomes dat mick and echoes the 'tweetie pie' Lyn's words

Lyn

23/07/2011Hi DM Weir Thankyou so much for all your information today we sure do get a great education on TPS. Sometimes Toohey comes out with some reasonable stuff, but I have found him to be negative towards the Government on more than a few times, in fact he has annoyed me in the past. Love this [quote]dis Mick welcomes dat mick [/quote] Cheers :):):):):):):)

Jason

23/07/2011Hi Lyn, I can't find who the "guests" on the TV shows are tomorrow!

nasking

23/07/2011[quote]Also, today, when good young Labour Party supporters in Norway have had their ideology and support for the Left of politics ended via the barrell of a gun[/quote] Feral, doesn't it make ya wonder about what's goin' on in the minds of some right-wingers these days? They've had power so often the last few decades and can't seem to cope w/ any different governments & views. Now dreadful stuff in Norway...the shooting of that poor congresslady in America after Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Limbaugh & others in and supporting the Tea Party got so intense about Obama...people showing up to Tea Party rallies w/ guns...the Republicans risking economic mayhem by saying NO NO NO to any kind of tax rises... in Australia the ranting and raving by Abbott, Joyce & talkback shock jocks against PM Gillard & the ALP has led to WITCH placards, people asking if "they should take up arms"... and the Shooter's Party demanding in NSW gun training be taught at school... it's nutty & dangerous stuff. If authorities are going to investigate, imprison Muslims full bore the past decade due to terrorist acts...then perhaps it's only right that security be increased in regard to far right-wing attacks...that militias & extreme far-right groups be examined...and the media that pumps them up be scrutinised and investigated. It's time that right-wing leaders got saner, more rational. They sometimes are setting bad examples & precedents. Lacking compromise. N'

jj

23/07/2011Lyn, Well no you wouldnt want that would you (Brian Toohey can be "negative towards the government")! A journalist that disagrees with the government and is critical! You had better ring up the central media policing department and get him arrested for treason! He'll learn to tow the government line... media scrutiny of the Labor Party is just plain silly. Why i think Whitlam was a disciple of Jesus! Lyn if you are that one eyed than you should probably go and see an optometrist pronto!

Jason

23/07/2011jj, I don't know what you might be good at but it seems satire isn't one of the either!

D Mick Weir

23/07/2011Is there a word for a jounalist that also writes opinion pieces? Until I find a better one I will go with [i]Opinionulist[/i] A regular opinionulist @ the National Times has a piece that whacks Mr Abbott with a limp lettuce leaf, [b]Abbott's climate of opinion change clouds the issues[/b] http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/politics/abbotts-climate-of-opinion-change-clouds-the-issues-20110722-1hswz.html [i]TONY Abbott put his foot right in it back in May last year, when he warned Australians not to take him at his word. Or so it seemed. ... In fact, that incident helped Abbott break free of the bonds that have normally restrained political leaders.[/i] The opinionulist goes on to catalogue some well known (to some) backflips and mind changes of the LoTO and asks the obvious question. Not even a baby step in the right (oops correct) direction though.

nasking

23/07/2011Talk Turkey, we'll agree to disagree on the Nader stuff...but the point I was trying to make by putting up an article of his after a long post I made on previous thread was to do w/ the phony patriotism of corporations...and how they can undermine laws & governments in various ways. I was also worried that Obama would make a bad deal over in America due to the pressure from corporate media and the radical Tea Party types who have taken hostage Republicans...this would motivate many progressives to walk away from voting for him in 2012 as they did Gore in 2000. The Democratic Party has to fight tooth & nail for its values & demonstrate it's not just another corporate lackey. Compromise is fine w/ rational Republicans...but giving away too much because you haven't got the passion & fire to stand up and win independents over...but rather kowtow to Wall Street mates just looks bad. It takes the motivation out of Progressives and others who are looking for real change & vision & integrity...not just the same old "bash the poor", "weaken the middle class" "keep the rich happy". I wonder sometimes if the right-wing shock jocks & such sometimes go about increase the anger in their ranks and naking veiled threats because they want to intimidate Obama & some other Democrats...w/ the Kennedy & Martin Luther King & Malcolm X assassinations etc. always in the back of their minds. It's time the bullies & bad losers were stood up to. And those socially, environmentally corporations that think they own this world. When Feral put up that list of companies & groups here that are funding the anti-carbon price ads, I thought, we should find out who the CEOs and top execs/chairman of the boards and such are and find out why they are so adamant about oppossing this government. How do they benefit? I bet their are many in those companies who don't feel the same way. N'

Lyn

23/07/2011Hi Jason I had a little look, your right not there. Sunday TV guide is not available this Sunday. We will just have to watch and see. Cheers :):):):):):):)

nasking

23/07/2011"there"...not "their". DebbieP, thankyou for the supportive words. I've been feeling a bit anxious of late due to the medical tests & lung ones coming up this week so I got a wee bit more frustrated than I should've. No worries...I enjoy posting here and will continue to do so. I hope you do too...I've dug yer comments on a number of occasions. ad Astra, You have my sympathy in regard to technical issues...there's is little more time consuming & frustrating than dealing w/ computer/internet-related ones? It has not harmed the quality of yer posts tho. :) Feral, you sound very busy...we do look forward tho to yer next post. Eventually I hope to do some...when the breathless lungs and swollen leg are dealt with. [quote]If it's any comfort, 'N, he's the same with me![/quote] LOL Patricia...I think Talk Turkey enjoys playing the rascally gremlin sometimes. :) Anyway, I shoulda realised that Nader would get some on here going...but I always think "It wasn't Ralph who put the nutbag in Bush...or the greed in Cheney...or the war criminal in Rumsfeld". :) N'

Feral Skeleton

23/07/2011Nasking, Someone made the point today that the tabloids and Shock Jocks exist to make the workers feel comfortable voting for the Tories.

D Mick Weir

23/07/2011A word to the wise? Maybe. Guidance for the unwise? Possibly [b]Sarah Burnside[/b] [i]a freelance writer with experience in law and policy, and a member of the ALP[/i] gets to put her two bobs worth in @ the [b]National Times[/b] [b]Plain speech can obscure truth as much as inflated language[/b] http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/politics/plain-speech-can-obscure-truth-as-much-as-inflated-language-20110721-1hqtx.html [i]Although there is consensus on little else in contemporary Australian political discourse, it is generally accepted that this is an age of deep disengagement from and cynicism with the political process.[/i] Interesting point of view that is put pretty well.

D Mick Weir

23/07/2011Hi jj, haven't had the chance to have a chin wag for ages. Nice to see you back for some political history re-edumification. [i]'He'll learn to tow the government line ...'[/i] Some more experienced students of politics know that the correct way to say/write it is: [i]... toe the party/government line[/i]. Some mistakenly attribute the saying to Reg 'The Toecutter' Withers a long serving WA Liberal Senator and sometime Mayor of Perth. Withers earned the nickname for his alleged uncompromising approach to enforcing party loyalty. btw young Reg was a turncoat as his father had been a Labor member of parliament in W.A. [i]Why i think Whitlam was a disciple of Jesus[/i] How absolutely silly of you to write that. Any half self respecting student of Aus politics knows beyond doubt that Whitlam was the messiah and JC a mere follower with a penchant for not so wise dalliances.

John

23/07/2011AC: you continue to be busy. I've been busy this week ... at work. I coudn't believe the British pollies bought Rupert Murdoch's line that he should not step down because he was needed to clean up the mess! He makes enough visits, by all reports, to grill his editors and managers, but it was obviously ineffective management on his part. N: [quote]I wonder sometimes if the right-wing shock jocks & such sometimes go about increase the anger in their ranks and naking veiled threats because they want to intimidate(their opponents)[/quote] ... Yep, that's exactly what they set out to do Oh ... and go the Wallabies. Making amends for loss to Fiji by taking it out on Sth Africa. Go you good things! :) BTW - new posting at: http://truepolitik.blogspot.com/2011/07/media-inquiry-and-privacy.html

Feral Skeleton

23/07/2011This blog about Hate Speech and the rise of political urgers and inciters like Tony Abbott in Australia, and the Tea Party in the US, is well worth a read: http://dancass.com/blog/post/hate-speech-violence-and-the-green-movement/

D Mick Weir

23/07/2011and to round out my contributions tonight A little bit of Tandberg http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/photogallery/opinion/cartoons/ron-tandberg-20090910-fixc.html?selectedImage=15 http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/photogallery/opinion/cartoons/ron-tandberg-20090910-fixc.html?selectedImage=11 Enjoy

Feral Skeleton

23/07/2011Someone on Twitter thought it wise for us to read Possum's 'The Great Unhinging' again. I did, and I agree with the advice. So here it is for anyone else who needs a bit of perspective on the political games being played: http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollytics/2010/09/08/let-the-great-unhinging-begin/

Acerbic Conehead 2

23/07/2011Lyn, Yes, one day [i]Tony the Annoying Orange[/i] is going to get caught in the blender. Karma, I think it’s called. And thanks again for another set of fascinating links. TT, I hope you didn’t get too freshly juiced last night, lol. I’m more of a reviewer of films than a producer. The latter involves too much hard work. FS, Thanks for all those kitchen analogies. Mmmm...methinks it’s time to visit the fridge. Nasking, Yeah, you don’t need to be allergic to nuts to stay away from Abbott juice. D Mick Weir, Thanks for the link to [i]B Sides[/i] and the [i]Fiddler on the Roof[/i] number. A person after my own heart. Jason, Lol with those middle-aged texting codes. AA, I hope you had a great time at the birthday party and scored a nice piece of cake. John, On your [i]TruePolitik[/i] web-site, you pose some very pertinent questions on the Australian media. If they are ever put to the main players, the answers could be very interesting and revealing. Mick, Welcome to [i]The Political Sword[/i]. Even though the [i]Annoying Orange[/i], Tones, has been liquidised, his Revolting Army of zimmer-frame-grasping supporters are mobilising themselves to carry on the fight. Just like Popeye got his strength from his spinach, Alan Jones and his cohorts have loaded the eskies with copious supplies of “Orange Crush”, as they sing their battle-cry, based on the REM classic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BvXBwtrs_k&feature=related :- ) Follow us, just follow us We’ve got our frames, we’ve got our orange crush Carbon tax, no carbon tax! We’ve got our frames, we’ve got our orange crush :- ) We are agents of 2GB Let’s have our fun and now its time to Chaff bag Juliar overseas Kicked out on her ass, yeah, by jee :- ) Don’t follow us, don’t follow us We’ve got a stitch, drunk too much orange crush Where’s the loo, time for a snooze Just change our drinks – Ovaline – no more orange crush!

Ad astra

23/07/2011mick Welcome to the [i]TPS[/i] family. We are always happy to see a new face. I'm glad you enjoyed AC's latest piece. Do come again.

Jason

23/07/2011AC, Is there a "psycho leader" in you to the tune of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REJ2qdZ_LRU

Ad astra reply

23/07/2011Folks It was a great birthday party. I'm calling it a day.

TalkTurkey

24/07/2011GO CADEL EVANS! Now 14 seconds ahead from what was it ?57? seconds down! I'm not a big sports fan but this bloke deserves to win Le Tour. He has a great heart and he has done it without help. Win lose or draw he has my congratulations and right now my hopes and best wishes. I never lose sight of the fact that when Aussies win at sport the rest of Aussies are more likely to support the Government! Adrenalin grippin me belly, I'm sittin' here glued t' me Telly While I root for Cadel - Sure he's going so well, But my interest's pure Machiavelli! GO CADEL ! He's flying Folks! I'm going to post now so I can bite nails on both hands . . . He's now 57 seconds IN FRONT! GO CADEL! By my next post it will be decided! STOP PRESS CADEL EVANS WINS TOUR DE FRANCE! WELL DONE COBBER!

Lyn

24/07/2011 [b]TODAY’S LINKS[/b] [i]Media Inquiry and Privacy, John, True Politik[/i] So, are there hard questions for Australia’s media, including, but not limited to, News Ltd? Yes, and I believe it should encompass print, TV, radio, Internet, and social media used by media organisations.Questions should include: http://truepolitik.blogspot.com/ [i]Bombs in Oslo-apalling coverage on our ABC, Mark Thomson, Seeking Asylum Downunder[/i] What a woeful coverage. Constant speculation whether it was a mad man, a terrorist or an alien. Constant simple-minded analysis as to Norway's international engagement, which is substantial and complex. http://seekingasylumdownunder2.blogspot.com/ [i]Julia Gillard and Newspoll: Will Fair Go Help Her This Time?, Peter, Aussie Views News[/i] The only thing that might save her is the Australian concept of fair go. Some people may think they havehit her enough in recent polls and give her small but begrudging lift http://www.aussieviewsnews.com/2011/07/23/newspoll-gillard-carbon-turnbull/ [i]Water Debate Lacking as Australia Hits Permanent Election Footing, Rick Bowden, the Angle[/i] baby kissing politicians are becoming more visible on our news screens, quality policy discussions on vital infrastructure issues appearto have taken a permanent back seat in favour of the personal political attacks, soundbites and slogans so favoured by our media. http://theangle.org/2011/07/23/water-debate-lacking-as-australia-hits-permanent-election-footing/ [i]News of the World Scandal Reveals Disturbing Organisational Behaviour, Alex Schlotzer, The Angle[/i] Ultimately the world’s law enforcement agencies should be concerned about the extent to which the bad management practices of the News of the World have infiltrated other parts of Murdoch’s empire. And it’s entirely appropriate for country’s to investigate the practices of the Murdoch’s various holdings http://theangle.org/2011/07/22/news-of-the-world-scandal-reveals-disturbing-organisational-behaviour/ [i]Malcolm Turnbull and reframing the Climate Change debate, Mark Bahnisch, Larvatus Prodeo[/i] What to do? Turnbull has actually pointed the way. Whether Labor is or is not capable of taking a leaf out of his book is moot. But Labor is not the only force involved in the climate change and carbon price debates. Others should take heed http://larvatusprodeo.net/2011/07/23/malcolm-turnbull-and-reframing-the-climate-change-debate/ [i]Imortant new book reveals that the far right doesn’t like The Greens, Jeremy Sear , An Onymous Lefty[/i] Christian fundamentalists don’t like the Greens? Launched yesterday by Kevin Andrews and Janet Albrechtsen, and containing chapters by luminaries like Wendy Francis, Kevin Donnelly, Mirko Bagaric, Peter Faris, and Ted Lapkin http://anonymouslefty.wordpress.com/ [i]Norway, Dave Gaukroger, Pure Poison[/i] The tragedy in Norway has shocked the world. Sadly, some elements of the media were quick to use it as an opportunity to push their own ideological barrows. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/purepoison/2011/07/23/norway/ [i]Confessions of a ‘recovering’ former Murdoch news chief, Michael Williams, The Conversation[/i] The feedback from the public has been universally hostile to the Murdochs. No wonder Britain’s Olympic team dumped their sponsorship deal fromNews International yesterday. I have heard many instances of people cancelling their subscriptions to The Times because they cannot trust its coverage of the scandal any longer. http://theconversation.edu.au/confessions-of-a-recovering-former-murdoch-news-chief-2483 [i]Herald – Sun Ethics Checklist, Balneus[/i] So, have fun ticking these dot points off for Muroch’s Melbourne rag for the first few points, using the Hun’s most notoriouspopular propagandistcolumnist as a touchstone: Andrew Bolt, or indeed, even the Murdoch broadsheet, The Oz: http://balneus.wordpress.com/2011/07/23/herald-sun-ethics-checklist/?blogsub=confirming#subscribe-blog [i]Police launch perjury inquiry into Andy Coulson, Cyril Washbrook, The Spy Report[/i] David Cameron is also feeling the heat after tacitly conceding that he discussed News Corporation's abortive bid to take full control of BSkyB with executives from News International. He refused to deny that such discussions took place despite being asked eleven times by Labour MPs on Wednesday http://www.mediaspy.org/report/2011/07/23/police-launch-perjury-inquiry-into-andy-coulson/?utm [i]NBN price shock: Plans start at just $34, Whirlpool[/i] I figured it might be worth a new thread about this, as the other one is primarily talking about the more extreme end of the NBN ladder – why not have a thread for the other end? http://www.exetel.com.au/residential-fibre-pricing-mainland.php [b]NEWSPAPERS:[/b] [i]Australian regulators turn on Murdoch , Ian Dunt, Politics UK[/i] [b]Foxtel and Austar are the only significant providers of subscription television services in Australia[/b]," the regulator said in a statement. "The proposed merger would therefore effectively create a near monopoly subscription television provider across Australia." http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2011/07/22/australian-regulators-turn-on-murdoch [i]Murdoch’s News Corporation scrambles to defend its media interests in Australia, PatrickO’Connor, WSW Org[/i] Yesterday, however, the ACCC announced it was postponing a decision on the Austar bid until September. The commission indicated that it hadserious concerns over the proposal, which it said would “create a near monopoly subscription television provider across Australia.” Austar’s shares plummeted on the news http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/jul2011/murd-j23.shtml [i]Murdoch 'wants Lachlan to buy Australian papers', Michael Bachelard , SMH[/i] RUPERT MURDOCH is trying to offload his Australian media business to his son Lachlan but Murdoch junior is not buying, according to the biographer Michael Wolff http://www.smh.com.au/national/murdoch-wants-lachlan-to-buy-australian-papers-20110723-1hu6i.html#ixzz1SxpDlC00 [i]Watch the watchdog , Wendy Bacon, SMH[/i] ''Your bias against our organisation over many years and the errors and omissions in your recent New Matilda piece renders your right to answers from me completely redundant http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/watch-the-watchdog-20110723-1hubv.html#ixzz1SxtLMlDC

Feral Skeleton

24/07/2011Talk Turkey, Not bad for a BMX boy from the Northern Territory, huh? :D My sons are on their bikes in the National Park across the road today! ;-) TT, I just thought of a delicious irony. Guess who's PM and who's not on the occasion of the first Australian to win Le Tour? :D :D :D

Feral Skeleton

24/07/2011You have to add Ash Ghebranious' latest post to the must read list today: http://ashghebranious.wordpress.com/2011/07/24/carbon-price-versus-effective-carbon-price/

Michael

24/07/2011Bad Abbottism as a handbook for the baiting and extremist-rousing behaviour of Conservative politicians... Leads all the way to Norway with a loaded chaff bag thrown into Sydney Harbour along the nasty-minded route.

2353

24/07/2011My "take" on the Norway tragedy is that fundamental anything (religion, conservationism or progressive-ism) is dangerous.

Patricia WA

24/07/2011Sorry, Lyn. I'll have to read your links later. I just carried away by FS and her reminder about http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollytics/2010/09/08/let-the-great-unhinging-begin/ [b]Cassandra Downunder?[/b] As Possum Comitatus A year ago alerted us The Great Unhinging has begun. No surprises for anyone. We see the embittered right With all their moneyed might And influence in the media Generating mass hysteria. The call for counter revolution To the fight against pollution Is one of many other means To discredit Labor, destroy the Greens. Character assassinations, Civil unrest. demonstrations, Talk back radio jocks all jeering Egged on by Abbott’s sloganeering. Why hasn’t common sense availed, Wise heads like Windsor not prevailed? Turnbull’s principles so distorted Only sour grapes and treachery reported? Now, surely Gillard, however deft, Can’t avert disaster for the left And save the future for our nation With its progressive, reforming reputation. For that outcome is banned, prohibited By the owner of News Limited. But here’s a twist, even Possum did not guess. A Deux Ex Machina! The mobile phone of a murdered child. STOP PRESS!

D Mick Weir

24/07/2011For something just a little bit different try this [b]First bloke embraces his 'normal' life[/b] Sally Pryor Canberra Times http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/first-bloke-embraces-his-normal-life/2235722.aspx?storypage=0 [i]'They like having people over, eating seafood and having weekend-long DVD marathons, and they try not to talk about work at home - just your average modern couple. But Tim Mathieson admits he's still not quite used to referring to his partner as ''the Prime Minister''. In fact, there are quite a few things the first bloke is still getting used to, ...[/i] Nice little 'puff' piece.

Ad astra

24/07/2011FS Ash’s piece on carbon trading is very good. Why can’t the media do that? Because they don’t want to! It’s not entertaining enough, not titillating, not simple enough, not short enough for the brief attention span of the public, and for News Limited, it is not condemnatory enough of the Government. For anyone really interested in carbon pricing economics it is a must-read: http://ashghebranious.wordpress.com/2011/07/24/carbon-price-versus-effective-carbon-price/ Patricia WA Thank you for yet another pointed and poignant pome. It’s so apt. D Mick Weir Thanks for the link to the [i]The Canberra Times[/i]. What a pleasant change for our media to say something that is not condemnatory of Julia Gillard and Tim Mathieson!

Lyn

24/07/2011Good Morning Ad I hope you have a nice day today. Today's links weren't very interesting this morning. I'm thinking my efforts have reached their use by date. :):):)

TalkTurkey

24/07/2011D Mick Weir said Hi mick dis Mick welcomes dat mick and echoes the 'tweetie pie' Lyn's words Lyn [the 'tweetie pie' aka Tweetie Bird] said Love this dis Mick welcomes dat mick TT says Where be dat [i]Sawdust[/i] Mick bin got to den? On behalf of all regulars on this site, welcome all new posters, some I miss but it's not for lack of respect just lack of thoroughness. (Ad astra and Lyn et al do it better, but we all mean Welcome.)Every goodwilled contributor benefits and is benefited by TPS. And it is always a delight to see earlier and sometime posters, it must be even more so for Ad astra and those around at The Sword's inception. So don't forget to touch base OK?! It's important.

NormanK

24/07/2011Lyn Don't you even let that thought cross your mind! You are a facilitator not a creator. :D You rightly get credit when the day's links are stupendous but accrue no demerit points when the writers don't come up with the goods. I am entirely confident that no-one here would object if the list was short on occasion. Smile and be happy. If your Sunday down there is anywhere near as beautiful as mine is up here then you should be revelling in it. For mine, today is one of sombre reflection over the events in Norway. As is my wont (yes, it is the correct spelling), I managed to feel a bit guilty yesterday wondering what it was that I was doing when those poor kids were fleeing in terror and then their parents and siblings were awash with inconsolable grief. Probably pottering around the garden or tucked up in a safe warm bed. We are indeed lucky to live where and how we do. Following up on 2353's comment about fundamentalists, I wonder - if I were a cornflakes fundamentalist and found that my local store had discontinued stocking my favourite brand, would I be entitled to burn the building down? Or assault the owner? Or would it be better for me to behave like the vast majority of reasonable human beings and seek out another store? Or suggest to the owner that they reinstate my brand? Or, heaven forbid, entertain the idea of trying a different brand that is readily available? It seems that in the 21st Century, compromise is a dirty word.

Ad astra

24/07/2011Hi Lyn As I have exceeded my download limit with Bigpond, I have been slowed to dial-up speed, and have just now finished reading your links posted this morning. All of them are interesting and relevant, covering as they do a wide variety of issues, both here and overseas. I marvel at how adept you are in fossicking out items of interest, often from obscure places. There is no one in the entire blogosphere who presents a more comprehensive set of links – you are unique and way ahead of the field. You bring visitors to [i]TPS[/i] every day. We are deeply appreciative of your efforts. I can understand how time consuming it is to seek out links each day from your enlarging database. It is such a constant effort that I can see why you are asking yourself if your efforts ‘have reached their use by date’. For me, and I am sure for others who come here, the answer is a resounding NO. We deeply value your constant effort to keep us up to date. Without your links we would be less well informed and less able to participate in the complex political debate that swirls around us day after day. If you feel you need a rest for a while, please let me know. In the meantime, thank you so much for what you do for us every day.

D Mick Weir

24/07/2011This little story doesn't tell us a lot we don't know already but has some advice that unfortunately many will not understand or follow. [b]When in doubt, take an expert's advice over Tony's[/b] Stephaine Smart Canberra Times http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/opinion/editorial/general/when-in-doubt-take-an-experts-advice-over-tonys/2235736.aspx?storypage=0 [i]An Essential Media poll published on Tuesday found that 34 per cent of voters knew little or nothing about the carbon tax. Another 30 per cent said they knew ''something'' and 35 per cent said they knew a lot. When 64 per cent of those surveyed say they know no more than ''something'' about it, how does the same survey find that 69 per cent of voters think they'll be worse off with a carbon tax?[/i] Good question Steph, read on 'cause I think there some good points for us all to consider.

D Mick Weir

24/07/2011Bruce Guthrie's piece today in the National Times has me doing a bit of 'left-field thinkining'. (All smart alek comments on my thinkinking abilities will be considered on their merits :P) [b]Humble pie slap does Gillard an unexpected favour[/b] http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/politics/humble-pie-slap-does-gillard-an-unexpected-favour-20110723-1hubw.html [i]The Prime Minister should be grateful phone hacking hogged the headlines. ... Actually, Rupert and James Murdoch - and Wendi Deng - did Gillard a favour this week ... With their extraordinarily uneven and unconvincing performance, father and son pushed the PM's woes off page one, albeit briefly. Deng's roundhouse right and a prankster's shaving-cream pie helped too.[/i] Now is there anybody out there who can whip up a cream pie and at the right monent aim it at the PM and have the First Bloke come to the rescue and well ... Needs working on but I cann see a plan coming out of this.

Acerbic Conehead 2

24/07/2011Lyn, Your efforts, day by day, in chasing down all that information for us is very much appreciated. You must be up before the crack of dawn, seven days a week, ferreting away, so it's no wonder you are feeling a bit jaded. If you are feeling you need a break, take one and hopefully you will come back refreshed. Or maybe you could continue to do a weekend shift and have a well-deserved sleep-in during the week. Whatever happens, do what's best for you and your family. Whatever decision you come to, rest assured it will be fully supported by all your fans here at [i]The Political Sword[/i].

John

24/07/20112353: The tragedy in Norway is awful. Like others, I thought of similarities with the Oklahoma bombing by Timothy McVeigh, who also attacked a (US) government building. McVeigh's actions were praised by some right-wing, gun-carrying US loonies. You said that [quote] [i]fundamental anything (religion, conservationism or progressive-ism) is dangerous[/i][/quote]. Yep, and today I read that the Shooters Party in NSW is teaming up with Fred Nile's fundamentalist party to threaten Barry O'Farrrel into supporting legislation to open shooting in National Parks, allowing guns in the hands of children, and not requiring registraion of air rifles. Scary :)

John

24/07/2011OOPS - forgot to add, and compromise the teaching of ethics in public schools (Fred Nile's agenda)

D Mick Weir

24/07/2011Ahh Sunday Bloody Sunday, gotta love Sundays and Peter FitzSimons in his [b]The Fitz Files[/b] often puts just the right amount of bubbles into the day. [b]A little sizzle with the Chisel[/b] http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/a-little-sizzle-with-the-chisel-20110723-1hu0t.html A good bit about Cold Chisel, and Ita with Cold Chisel, something about Murdoch, there is life after politics and there is this bit that is, well, Fitz [b]Lead by example[/b] [i]After my item in support of the carbon tax last week, I received an avalanche of correspondence - not all of it written in crayon. In fact a lot of sincere, good-hearted people remain confused. Instead of understanding that the whole thing is as simple as putting a cap on the economy's greenhouse pollution and under that cap making the 500 biggest polluters pay for a permit to pollute so they will pollute less, they seem to think it is they who will have to pay a tax like the GST. A common plaint, however, is ''why should we do anything'', when bigger nations have not yet got on to it? I reckon it's like this: Say you and I are in a small room where 160 out of 160 people are smoking thick cigars and we're all slowly being asphyxiated for lack of clean air. Because everyone is addicted to smoking, to get everyone to stop at once is not realistic. But here's the thing. The first person who manages to give up, to live cleaner and demonstrate to others how it can be done, renders an enormous service to others. When two people give up, it puts ever more pressure on a third person to give up and the pressure grows more, until … over time you achieve clean air in the room and a better life for everyone. So, there you go. Fire at will, etc.[/i]

Feral Skeleton

24/07/2011lyn, Just got back to the computer from doing all those things that one does down here in Winter Low Pressure Cell territory(otherwise known as NSW), where the living is muddy, so I've been trying to get all the washing done and dry(because I refuse to buy a dryer and enlarge my carbon footprint :) ), and what do I come across? You undermining yourself! Now look here, young lady! If you don't realise how integral you are to The Political Sword, and I couldn't have said it better myself when I said the other day that you are the glue that holds TPS together on a daily basis. Without your links to spark us up every day we would become just another one of those blogs that are dull but worthy and who are lucky to get 1 comment a month at the bottom of their posts. All I know is that they are the magnet that draws us in to TPS in the morning. I know that some mornings I have been so desperate to see what your magic linking fingers have dug up for us that I just sit at the computer and keep refreshing the page until they come up. Then my morning, after the kids have been shovelled out the door to school, feels complete as I sit down with my tea and toast and read away. Now, as Ad Astra said, if you feel like you need a break then, by all means, take one and refresh yourself. However, if you think you won't be missed if you get the notion in your head that we won't notice you if you go, then you are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! Might I suggest a change of Gravatar, like NormanK is fond of doing when the whim takes him? A change is as good as a holiday you know. :) Anyway, these are for you(in a sisterly way, of course) : (K) (K) (K)

Feral Skeleton

24/07/2011D Mick Weir, You know I have contemplated over the past few days whether it may be appropriate to propel a Shaving Creme pie in Tony Abbott's direction. 1. He deserves it more than the PM. 2. He is a Clown. 3. He has turned politics in Australia into the Circus Sideshow that it is now. However, as he only allows other Liberal Party members anywhere near him so as to minimise the chances for an unscripted moment, which he is singularly unable to handle as we all know, then I guess my opportunities are limited. :)

Feral Skeleton

24/07/2011Anyone else notice how the Murdochs in the UK haven't learnt a single lesson from their recent contretemps there lately? Completely unabashed after their week before the Parliamentary Committee, in the wake of the Oslo Bomb and Massacre, they rushed to print, on Page 1 in The Sun, with their ill-considered opinion that it was Al Qaeda wot did it. Any other example that puts up in lights how unfit and improper they, as a News organisation are, and therefore unworthy of the control of BSkyB, I can't think of. What tha? My ReCaptcha word was Islamic!!! :)

Ad astra

24/07/2011jj I prefer not to respond to your comments here, but in looking though last night’s postings, I see you have chosen to have a shot at Lyn with your throw-away line: “Lyn if you are that one eyed than you should probably go and see an optometrist pronto!”, all because she wrote: "Sometimes Toohey comes out with some reasonable stuff, but I have found him to be negative towards the Government on more than a few times…" What on earth is wrong with Lyn stating her opinion in that way? And what is it inside you that evokes such a nasty and unnecessary rebuke? I have said repeatedly that courtesy to other bloggers here is a prerequisite to making comments. I you find it impossible to be pleasant, or at least even handed, please go somewhere else to spread your nastiness.

Feral Skeleton

24/07/2011These are a couple of articles taking apart the assertions of the front group for the Liberal Party, the Australian Trade Industry Alliance(note how they never use the dirty word 'Union'? Same difference though): http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Anti-tax-ads-a-furphy-climate-group-K38H7?opendocument&src=rss&utm_medium=twitter http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Govt-sticks-to-its-guns-on-carbon-tax-K34U5?opendocument&src=rss&utm_medium=twitter

D Mick Weir

24/07/2011Regulars know I don't have a high opinion of taking notice of opinion polls particularly so far out from the election. I have an even higher distrust of online opinion polls (admission of guilt - sometimes I cast a vote and then I look at the results :$) I gave my opinion in this one on The Drum [b]Is Malcolm Turnbull:[/b] [i]A voice for sanity A traitor to his party My preferred Prime Minister A risky maverick A lost opportunity All of the above[/i] I was taken with the option of 'All of the above' and well, my actual vote shall remain a secret between me and the server that accepted my vote.

D Mick Weir

24/07/2011Hi Lyn, I endorse what FS (and all others) have to say. I would of said it much in the same way as FS has except for being a bloke well if you don't mind I will leave the sisterly love bits out :)

Lyn

24/07/2011Hi Ad I am sorry to hear you have exceeded your download limit, I did tell you before to ask Mr Turnbull about the adequate service we are all getting,you know I don't think he will listen. I just changed to a Bigpond bundle $98.00 a month includes the phone, internet connection, phone rent and all calls. 25 gig a month ADSL. I have had it for about 4 weeks now and seems to be performing a whole lot better than wireless. Thankyou Ad for your lovely comment you are always such a nice gentleman. I think the other bloggers and us put together do certainly keep us up to date,so therefore we are better informed than some. I didn't mean to worry anybody else, but I think this awful killing people in Norway and the nasty fearful comments coming in daily from you know who. It's enough to make the best of us despair, of course throw Mr Murdoch for good measure. Did you see Stutchbury on the Insiders,we have a shakey Government he says, and he definately doesn't want anyone investigating the newspapers. Cheers :):):)

D Mick Weir

24/07/2011Hi FS, I sure have thought of putting a pie in LoTO's face and the ingredient would have a very brown tinge to it. I was doodling around the First Bloke maybe shining a different light on the PM. As I said needs working on, but I reckon FB could be a positive counter balance or influence maybe.

D Mick Weir

24/07/2011I didn't forget the results just thought I would wait for a few more votes to see if the results varied: A voice for sanity 42% A traitor to his party 10% My preferred Prime Minister 16% A risky maverick 8% A lost opportunity 11% All of the above 13% 4417 votes counted A voice for sanity 42% A traitor to his party 10% My preferred Prime Minister 16% A risky maverick 8% A lost opportunity 11% All of the above 13% 4450 votes counted 43 extra votes - about 1% of total, surprise, surpise no movement. What is a 'picelati'? Is it another way of saying LoTO? cause my reCaptcha says [i]'picelati unworthy'[/i]

Lyn

24/07/2011Hi Norman K, Dm Weir, Acerbic Conehead Thankyou for your motivation and inspiration, you are all perfect gentlemen.. You all make my efforts worthwhile. Ad Astra and TPS has provided use all a great place to be, why, if we didn't have TPS who else could we vent our thoughts and opinions on. Our other halfs would be driven mad. Cheers :):):):)

D Mick Weir

24/07/2011Andrew Leigh has posted [b]Sideshow @ YouTube[/b] http://www.andrewleigh.com/blog/?p=1259 [i]The ANU has recently posted on their website the video of Lindsay Tanner speaking about his new book, Sideshow (introduced by Gia Metherell and thanked by yours truly). It’s just on an hour long, but well worth watching.[/i]

Lyn

24/07/2011Hi Feral Thankyou to you for your thoughtful comments. I shouldn't feel tired, and worthless you are an inspiration to humanity. Oh boy the variety of jobs you do, and what did you tell us a tech course too. Your 2 boys are very lucky to have such an energetic Mum you tell them just so they won't forget for a little minute. I love you being the Blog Mum, but I will be pleased to have you for a blog sister that's nice.. Feral I can't change my Gravatar I won't know who I am. See they are saying Mr Abbott has opened up another front in his campaign: [quote]Chemists to suffer under carbon tax: Libs, Channel 9[/quote] Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has opened another front in his campaign against the carbon tax, saying pharmacists' costs will rocket under the planned regime, forcing some to cut back their opening hours. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8276536/chemists-to-suffer-under-carbon-tax Cheers :):):):)

Ad astra

24/07/2011Hi Lyn Thank you for your kind comment. What has happened in Norway is desperately sad, and shocking the way some in the media are handling it. Yes, as I watched Michael Stutchbury this morning on [i]Insiders[/i], I thought – Andrew Bolt has gone, Piers Akerman is not there, but we have the same performance from Stutchbury. Did you notice how, just like Bolt and Akerman, he bullied his way into the conversation, brushing aside Dennis Atkins and Misha Schubert, and even Barrie Cassidy when they disagreed and expressed another view. He was angry about the comments that Julia Gillard and Stephen Conroy had made about News Limited and was determined to get his say. He was intent on defending News Limited and lambasting the Government for having the temerity to question the mighty empire. Whether he was sent on this mission by John Hartigan or thought he would gain brownie points with his boss for taking this approach we cannot know. But the strategy was clear. Bully, over-talk others, keep bellowing the message, just as they do on Fox News in the US. It is a conscious strategy that they see working elsewhere, so they are pushing it here. I thought Stutchbury’s performance was appalling, his manner rude, his disrespect for Cassidy palpable, and his bearing aggressive. But he did expose for all to see his intent and his [i]modus operandi[/i] – he is a Bolt replica. The mask of mild mannered economics correspondent has fallen to reveal a bare-knuckle aggressor, Abbott style.

Feral Skeleton

24/07/2011Ad Astra, I agree, jj contributes less than zero to our discussions. All he appears to do, to my eyes, is jeer at those of us who still continue to support a good government in the teeth of a sustained attack from the media and the Coalition, based upon an avalanche of lies and the misconstructiion of the facts. jj appears to believe that's OK if it's a successful formula for the Coalition. Sometimes he comes out with a mealy-mouthed apologia about how he doesn't really like Tony Abbott, but his faith in whatever the Coalition does is unswerving, and his condemnation of us for our support for what the government is trying to achieve for the nation is just plain spiteful. Nothing the government has done/is doing is good enough for him and everything the Coalition says and does is just ace. Why I expect he'd even make the same sort of lame excuse for the violent shoplifter Senator Mary Jo Fisher that professiional depressive for the Coalition, Andrew Robb has. That is, she only did it because she was depressed, afraid, insert whatever simpering excuse the Coalition can come up with to get her off the hook, both in the eyes of the community and later in court. I'm sure they'll have a sympathetic psychiatrist on tap to defend her, even though to Blind Freddy the woman is obviously unfit for office. Fit for a Carnival Sideshow though, which is what the Opposition have essentially become. Not that jj will admit as much. To him all's fair in political slapstick, and war against the government, even if it debases parliament itself. They're just genius moves by the Coalition to jj. Plus anything the government and Julia Gillard does is deserving of derision, debasement and mockery. As are we. That's how he, and the Coalition, fight their political battles, in the most under-handed ways available to them. And they have no qualms about sinking to the sewers in order to succeed in their goal of delegitimising the government and their suppoters in the public arena. Well, this is one arena I am a part-proprietor and moderator of, and, with your permission Ad Astra, I am going to start behaving like any other media proprietor. I will review jj's contributions, as he is now on probation here, and if they don't meet an ethical standard that is basically encapsulated in a simulacrum of Fox News credo 'Fair and Balanced', that is, if I judge his comment to be fair and reasonable it will stand, if I adjudge that it is not, his comment will be binned. He can go 'slag and bag' elsewhere. I'm over being tolerant towards him when he is intolerant and abusive towards us on our own blog.

nasking

24/07/2011[quote]Anyone else notice how the Murdochs in the UK haven't learnt a single lesson from their recent contretemps there lately? Completely unabashed after their week before the Parliamentary Committee[/quote] Feral, About as cocky as Nixon's lot eh? Or Custer? N'

nasking

24/07/2011Lyn, keep up the good work. But don't be afraid to take a well-earned rest if yer health calls for it. It's easy to get dispirited if yer too tired or feeling unwell over a long period. I find yer links very useful...but there is only so much time in the day, so occasionally I miss a few...if I can, I try to hit a few of the past links if I miss them. I'm sure there are plenty of contributors who appreciate yer efforts. I certainly do. The blogosphere is fortunate to have you. N'

Feral Skeleton

24/07/2011Speaking of the Dirty Digger: * Here's a nice little computer app that a kind progressive computer geek has developed for us all: http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/firefox-and-chrome-tools-block-murdoch-owned-websites/ Also the latest Guardian piece about the News Ltd/Internatiional/Corp bullies and how they use the media they operate to intimidate politicians(a bit like Stuchbery was doing to the government via Insiders today and which occurs in the papers and behind the scenes in the same fashion as outlined in this article here too I'm sure): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/23/news-international-liberal-democrats-bskyb

nasking

24/07/2011[quote] I read that the Shooters Party in NSW is teaming up with Fred Nile's fundamentalist party to threaten Barry O'Farrrel into supporting legislation to open shooting in National Parks, allowing guns in the hands of children, and not requiring registraion of air rifles.[/quote] John, the lunatics have far too much sway these days. We are heading down the same road as the USA...and too many people think it's "cool". Including 'Underbelly' watchers. Too late for regrets when yer family has been sniped at from a rooftop...or yer kids sprayed in a school (think Columbine)...or yer mates blown away in a post office...or partner in a fast food restaurant...the list goes on. America has a brutal past & present...and it seems we are keen to join them. And of course the lovers of LIVE MAYHEM, the media, will spin & spin until many are convinced it's "migrant intake" that causes the problems. Nothing to do w/ the hate mongers who call for people to rise up...and use fundy religion, music, vids and barrages of negativity and conspiracy stuff to brainwash their too oft emotionally/mentally unstable audiences...some of whom have a cathartic act all over the public...like this extreme right-wing mental case in Norway. It amazes me that people ever listen to the contemporary media when it comes to such issues, including "privacy"...they're not exactly gonna go for the remedies that will help cure some of the diseases they profit from. N'

Feral Skeleton

24/07/2011lyn, Thank you for letting me know about Abbott's co-option of the Pharmacists in his dirty fight against the government. As one businessman let us know last week, in order to be part of Tony's gang-up-against-the-government campaign you have to agree to let your company be used by him in his fight against the government's Price on Carbon policy. You have to agree with whatever he says about it, right or wrong. Now, as a Pharmacist, I think I will be in a unique position to analyse the claims he is making(up). Which I will do. :)

nasking

24/07/2011BTW, did we ever find out who the source was that gave the Murdoch empire a heads up before the Operation Neath terror raids? http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/06/15/simons-on-the-drip-from-the-opi-not-likely/ I lost touch w/ the whole thing. N'

Feral Skeleton

24/07/2011Now, I have also been wanting to make this point for a while. Why is it that whenever Tony Abbott and various Coalition mouthpieces make the claim that Australia will be the only country with an economy-wide Carbon Tax even the most econoomically-illiterate of journalists don't pick them up on it immediately and say that is absolutely not the case because Agriculture is not included at all, and it is very definitely part of the economy? Not only that but the EITEI sector, with 95% free permits to pollute is all but exempt from the Price on Carbon/Carbon Tax. Instead what we seem to get is journalists standing there mutely, probably letting him get away with saying it in the knowledge that they are aiding and abetting his disinformation campaign. It couldn't be because they are too stupid to make the deduction about his statement themselves, could it?

nasking

24/07/2011Had to put this up before retiring for the nite: IT'S NOT DEFAULT OF OBAMA: JAIL GOP DEADBEATS FOR DEBT CRISIS by Greg Palast exclusive for Truthout/Buzzflash.com Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist gave debtors' prison a bad rap. Too bad. I'd say that locking away GOP Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a penitentiary for deadbeats seems like a darn good idea. Bush reads from My Pet BudgetLet's talk about how we ended up in this pickle, bucking up against the "debt ceiling." From 2001 to 2008, a Republican President took an annual surplus of $86 billion left for him by Bill Clinton and ran up the budget deficit to over half a trillion in a year ($642 billion in 2008). Altogether, George W. Bush blew up the national debt by over $3 TRILLION--then left the bills to Barack Obama. For eight years, Bush spent like a drunk monkey. The world was the GOP's Bergdorf's and they had our credit card. If there was a shiny new war on the shelf, they just had to have it: Iraq, Afghanistan, and let's not forget the Fantasy Wars, the half a trillion dollars a year on fancy-ass weapons for a war that won't happen. (Example: the Virginia Class submarine. The V-class was designed to attack Soviet subs. There are no more Soviet subs, but Bush ordered three dozen anyway--at $1.8 billion each.) And tax cuts? Don't get me started! The Bush Administration acted just like Sarah Palin when she was set loose in that Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis--grabbing whatever she could carry because Sarah could put it on someone else's account. The GOP's fattened frat boys feasted--but when the waiter arrived with the bill, the belching rich kids looked around, pointed at some poor schmuck sweeping the floor, Mr. John Q. Veteran, and said, "THAT GUY will pay." By the way: Congressman Cantor, the guy leading the Republicans' refusal to lift the debt ceiling, voted for the V-class sub as well as Bush's bogus scavenger hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. But now Cantor doesn't want to pay the bill. Y'know, Congressman, maybe you think my parents were fools because they taught me: If you buy it, you pay for it. Apparently, that's not the rule at Cantor's country club. The sick assumption of this entire debt ceiling debate, as we hear from talking heads whether on Fox or PBS, is that this is our deficit; as if you and I got a tax break or Amazon delivered that submarine to our door. And the flapping lips on TV also assume that there must be some kind of "compromise" in which the spending spree by the rich must be paid for by the working class. The Washington elite agree we must pay for tax holidays for hedge funds by closing health clinics. Of course, the GOP is right abut one thing. President Tiger Wuss will do just that: make the poorest among us pay the debts of the richest. Here we have a bunch of economic terrorists--"Agree to all our demands or the economy gets it!"--and Obama's idea of leadership is to offer the berserkers three-quarters of what they demand. Thank the Lord and Michele Bachmann that 75% isn't enough for these greedsters. Solution: Don't pay the banksters There's another wrong assumption controlling this debate over debt, that the banks, the debt holders, must be paid. When the bankers and the Chinese and the Saudis lent Bush three trillion dollars for his wild-ass buying party, they were betting, like any investor, on the good faith of the borrower to pay it back. So, let Hu Jintao and King Abdullah stick a collection agency on Cantor and the other Republican shirkers. Repossess their limousines or send The Boys around to remind Cantor what happens when you don't pay what you owe. The President should say to Hu, the Sheik and Goldman-Sachs: "I have identified $3 trillion in Treasury notes issued between 2001 and 2008 which were lent to fund President Bush's expenditures. Unfortunately, those who borrowed your money don't want to pay it back. You made a bad investment -- but that's how the free market works. Therefore, I am suspending payments on these Treasury notes until we can round up the deadbeats and make them live up to their commitments. As President, I have the Constitutional duty to pay the bills of the Veterans Administration, the Social Security fund and other vital services already voted and appropriated by Congress. Military pay before banker pay. Get used to it." Will the bankers have heart attacks? I hope so. (Maybe if bankers are ill, the GOP will vote for universal health care.) Will China refuse to buy more US debt? Not a chance: The Chinese cannot afford a devaluation of the $2-3 trillion in US Treasury notes they have in their pokey, a devaluation which would surely follow their abandoning the US treasuries. Note: Argentina defaulted and thrived. We can tango too. But that's all detail for me to argue out with other economists in some effete what-if seminar. Ultimately, "default" is not the issue. "Default," dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in that age-old battle between Them and Us. They spent the money and now they want Us to pay. Default lies with the Republican spendthrifts, Mr. President. So I suggest you issue an executive order creating a new wing at Guantanamo: a debtors' prison for trillion-dollar deadbeats. (Don't you think Eric Cantor would look good in orange?) *** Greg Palast, a forensic economist, is a Puffin Foundation Fellow for investigative reporting. He is author of the New York Times bestsellers The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Armed Madhouse. ------------- Love it. N'

Feral Skeleton

24/07/2011I don't know if lyn linked to this before now but if she didin't it's worth a read to see how low the uber conservatives and their stormtroopers will go to attack Progressives: http://annarose.net.au/2011/07/22/fear-and-loathing-in-australian-politics/

Feral Skeleton

24/07/2011This one is about media hysteria wrt NBN pricing(I'm just including these links because I like the piccies that they have used :) ) : http://delimiter.com.au/2011/07/23/enough-with-the-nbn-pricing-hysteria-already/

Feral Skeleton

24/07/2011PatriciaWA, I keep forgetting to say how entertaining and enlightening your pomes are. I just don't know how you keep on doing it, but please do. :)

Feral Skeleton

24/07/2011Nasking, Well may we continue to wonder if the AFP ever found out who linked Andrew Wilkie's ONA file about the Iraq War to Andrew Bolt.

Lyn

24/07/2011 Hi Ad Everybody must take a look at this from the AFR Article in the AFR about calls to assassinate Julia - http://imageshack.us/f/838/afrtoohey.jpg/ - (thanks to dave from pollbludger) #auspol Publish and Damn her, Brian Toohey On July 10th The Melbourne Herald Sun published an online post saying "[b]Someone needs to assassinate Julia Gillard NOW."[/b] The AFP however, should recognise that the anger and hatred now infusing National Politics could easily end in tragedy. It should not be ready to accept that calls to assassinate the PM are a regular online occurence. http://imageshack.us/f/838/afrtoohey.jpg/

Ad astra

24/07/2011Hi Lyn Thank you for the Brian Toohey link. His is a well written and important piece. I hope the media, particularly the shock jocks and those running vitriolic blogs, the talkback callers, the redneck bloggers, and the AFP take a hard look at this potentially dangerous situation. I'm calling it a day having written a piece for tomorrow evening [i]If Tony Abbott were PM[/i]. It's a political horror story.

Feral Skeleton

24/07/2011Guys, some good news to go to bed with :) http://twitpic.com/5v3wu8 Is the penny finally starting to drop?

Jason

24/07/2011Hi lyn, keep up the good work! don't let some of the nay sayers that get on here put you down!

Feral Skeleton

24/07/2011This encapsulates in a nutshell what is wrong with the ABC acting as an echo chamber for News Ltd talking points(just substitute News Ltd for Fox News): [quote]When the rest of the media follows stories ginned up by Fox to smear their political opponents, we all wind up working for Fox.~ Cenk Uygur[/quote] Cenk Uyger, my hero, just got fired from MSNBC because he was too outspoken against the Republican Party in America. The management of MSNBC asked him to tone himself down in order to keep his job, he refused. That's my kind of man. :)

Lyn

25/07/2011 [b]TODAY’S LINKS[/b] [i]Possum Comitatus – Cassandra Downunder?, Patricia wa,Polliepomes[/i] Tony Abbott both inside Parliament and out in the electorate the likely picture he painted then could not have been more accurate. Read his prophecy! The character assassinations, the trashing of parliamentary process, no distortion…..too large, no lie too http://polliepomes.wordpress.com/2011/07/24/possume-comitatus-cassandra-downunder/ [i]Publish and Damn her, Brian Toohey, AFR [/i] On July 10th The Melbourne Herald Sun published an online post saying "Someone needs to assassinate Julia Gillard NOW." The AFP however, should recognise that the anger and hatred now infusing National Politics could easily end in tragedy. http://imageshack.us/f/838/afrtoohey.jpg/ [i]Gender Benders, Mr Denmore, The Failed Estate[/i] In Australia, the masters of this 'fit-the-world-into-a-pre-made-ideological-template' are, of course, the News Ltd tabloid attack columnists like Tim Blair and Andrew Bolt. So we saw these two fire up their blogs on Saturday morning as soon as the news came out of Norway - http://thefailedestate.blogspot.com/2011/07/agenda-benders.html [i]News Ltd: a bully boy culture ,Gary Sauer-Thompson, Public Opinion[/i] Business as usual for News Corp means media dominance and a pattern of naked threats, bullying and intimidation to competitors, politicians, critics and staff. http://www.sauer-thompson.com/ [i]Carbon Price versus ‘Effective’ Carbon Price, Ash, Ash’s Machiavellian Bloggery[/i] They will THEN divide what is left to pay for services. This means less money to each state for hospitals, roads, education, infrastructure, subsidies and what have you. http://ashghebranious.wordpress.com/2011/07/24/carbon-price-versus-effective-carbon-price/ [i]Abbott’s climate fraud plan still going to tax Aussie’s the tune of $10B per year – Time for a 3rd party???, Oz Conspiracy House[/i] Treasury has calculated that a “direct action” response to climate change, which prevents companies buying carbon offsets overseas to cover their local carbon bills, would push up the cost of green http://www.ozconspiracyhouse.org/frontend/2011/07/23/abbotts-climate-fraud-plan-still-going-to-tax-aussies-the-tune-of-10b-per-year-time-for-a-3rd-party/ [i]Chemists to suffer under carbon tax: Libs, Channel 9[/i] Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has opened another front in his campaign against the carbon tax, saying pharmacists' costs will rocket under the planned regime, forcing some to cut back their opening hours. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8276536/chemists-to-suffer-under-carbon-tax [i]Murdoch’s Australian Hate Merchants, Murdoch's Propagandists Blog[/i] [b]the Australian loony right, are among the most prominent racist ultra right-wingers that Murdoch employs[/b]. Naturally, they all also happen to be climate change denialists and supporters of pollutionists. Currently, most of them are busy trying to isolate Murdoch’sAustralian propaganda machine from the fallout from the misdeeds of his UK propaganda machine http://murdochspropagandists.blogspot.com/ [i].Poor little Murdoch Hacks don’t like being challenged., Antony Loewenstein.[/i] Wendy Bacon, professor of journalism at the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism at the University of Technology, Sydney, writes today that the empire is feeling real pressure for the first time in living memory: http://antonyloewenstein.com/2011/07/24/poor-little-murdoch-hacks-dont-like-being-challenged/ [i]The Australian publishes for the lulz, Claencegirl, North Coast Voices[/i] Now I've stopped uncontrollably laughing at The Howard Abbott Gazette, I would point out to its management and staff that, as a newspaper in the News Limited group, it also has a Professional Code of Conduct which was drawn up by the parent company itself - presumably which it also uses to fan its face et ectera. http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com/2011/07/australian-publishes-for-lulz.html [i]Bloodbath as Murdoch Gang tears itself apart,Independeent IE[/i] legal payments, illegal payments, slaps on the back, jobs, information, political influence, parties and dinners, as the cops, the politicians and the Murdoch press looked after each other at the expense of the public. It must have been the most agreeable snake pit in the world." http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/bloodbath-as-murdoch-gang-tears-itself-apart-2829829.html [i]Norway attacker was a political terminator, Daily Kos[/i] It's an annual event of Norway's "Worker's Youth League," (in Norwegian, the Arbeidaranes Ungdomsfylking, or AUF), which is itself essentially the youth arm of the country's ruling Labour Party. And by "youth arm," I really mean something like a "farm team," to use a sports analogy. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/23/997883/-Norway-attacker-was-a-political-Terminator [i]Would a lone Green wiping out Young Libs be a terrorist, Balneus[/i] Let’s be clear – it’s time to good righties took charge and muzzled the rabid dogs among them.And just as importantly, the left should not use the tragedy as a pretext to attack reasonable righties http://balneus.wordpress.com/2011/07/24/would-a-lone-green-wiping-out-young-libs-be-a-terrorist/#more-5008 [i]Norway, Jennifer Wilson, No Place for Sheep[/i] Is it possible he could have done all this alone? Is it possible he was so isolated that no one had any idea of his plans? Will right-wingChristian fundamentalists think twice about their rhetoric? Is this an outcome they intend? http://noplaceforsheep.com/2011/07/23/norway/ [i]Govt holds stong on carbon tax, despite PM losing ground in own seat, Climate Spectator[/i] "The detail (of the carbon price) has been out for two weeks. There has been months of deceitful, misrepresentative campaigning by (Opposition Leader) Tony Abbott, supported by some others. http://www.climatespectator.com.au/news/govt-holds-stong-carbon-tax-despite-pm-losing-ground-own-seat [i] Newspoll – 56 44 to Coalition, William Bowe, The Poll Bludger[/i] the Coalition’s two-party lead has eased to 56-44 from 58-42 a fortnight ago and support for the carbon tax is up six points to 36 per cent, with opposition down six to 53 per cent http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger

2353

25/07/2011Lyn - in the words of the Fleetwood mac song "Don't Stop". The quality of your links are a product of the writers, your special knack is finding the good ones if they are there to find. FS - it's about time that this blog treats JJ & SIC with the respect they have engendered on this blog. Recaptcha bingo "and Apropore"

Feral Skeleton

25/07/2011lyn, Thank you. (K)

Feral Skeleton

25/07/2011THIS is the reason Glenn Mulcaire's legal costs were still being paid by News International until last week: [quote]All of this came from the files of jailed Glenn Mulcaire, who had been silenced by the payment of all his legal costs by News International. This only ceased after last Tuesday's Commons grilling of James Murdoch. Mulcaire may now feel inclined to talk to the police, further damaging the Murdochs.[/quote] http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/bloodbath-as-murdoch-gang-tears-itself-apart-2829829.html

Lyn

25/07/2011Good morning Feral I won't play favourites or Collectors Daily Choice because all the blogs are my favourites but guess I could play "read first" or don't miss. Murdoch’s Australian Hate Merchants, Murdoch's Propagandists Blog http://murdochspropagandists.blogspot.com/ Cheers :):):):):):)

Feral Skeleton

25/07/2011I see the Prime Minister's attempt to reach a bipartisan consensus with Tony Abbott on Climate Change policy going forward after he became Leader of the Opposition, via a story in the Financial Review today, is being spun by Abbott as the PM showing her true colours on Climate Change policy and agreeing with him on his Direct Action plan!!! No low is too low for that man to stoop to in order to get one up on the Prime Minister. Fair to say though that Sabra Lane when interviewing Abbott on AM this morning did ask him a sceptical question wrt this latest frame that he is trying to put around the PM. Actually ReCaptcha has just given me the gen on how Tony Abbott gets away with what he does by throwing up the word 'fallacy'. That is, he trades on 'logical fallacies'.

Ad astra

25/07/2011LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

TalkTurkey

25/07/2011j loses bottom! We are on our way UP! and the up side of a j gets taller. :) I have long awaited this moment. We actually bottomed on June 21 the shortest day of the year. I felt it happen! But as the weather itself goes on getting colder after midwinter, there is a delay in seeing any Up in the polls. Now it has happened, in phase with the temperature, our growth in popular support will grow exponentially, only slowly, but the Government has 2 full years to get appreciated. Abbortt too will be appreciated, where appreciated means people will appreciate just what a mug he is. Labor kept Australia from ever going into recession during GFC. Labor WON support of the sane IndependAnts (:P Bob Katter!) Labor has the NBN deal off and running Labor has dealt with the Cattle Revolt effectively Labor has struck best achievable asylum-seeker deals Labor has made Tasmanian forests and people happier Labor has smacked Big Tobacco Labor WILL price carbon Labor has passed every bit of legislation it has presented Labor WILL tax miners! If the economy were any stronger it would be dangerous. Meanwhile [i]Merde[/i]och is shamed and *J*U*L*I*A* and Conroy and Combet are going into attack about his disgraceful empire . . . and Abbortt's long rope is running out! [i]Courage, mes amis![/i] [i][b]Venceremos![/b][/i] Folks I haven't read everything above so if I've missed your comments pardonez-moi.

D Mick Weir

25/07/2011Maybe there some other meanings in [b]Ross Gittin's[/b] piece today. Take this par as an example: [i]I don't believe in troubling trouble until trouble troubles me - especially when there's nothing you can do about it. But it seems I'm in a minority. Scare yourself over some event that with any luck won't happen? Yeah, why not? Got to get some excitement in your life.[/i] For the moment I'll stick with the economic ones. [b]Don't wish a fall in interest rates on us[/b] http://www.theage.com.au/business/dont-wish-a-fall-in-interest-rates-on-us-20110724-1hvat.html#ixzz1T4iZsrPW [i]So you like the sound of a cut in interest rates? Don't get your hopes up. It's possible, but not probable. And remember, rates go down only when times get tougher. Is that what you want?[/i] Then again, a meaning of life thought [i]Be careful what you wish for, you may get it.'[/i]

Ad astra

25/07/2011Folks I'm getting on the road now for several hours back to the south coast. I'll be back this evening to post [i]If Tony Abbott were PM[/i].

Jason

25/07/2011If they think Annabell Crabb is the solution they sillier than me! if at all possible. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/content-in-question-as-muscle-added-to-730/story-e6frg8mf-1226100935419 THE ABC is drafting new journalists to its flagship current affairs program 7.30 as the ratings hit a dangerously low average of 586,000 last week. ABC managing director Mark Scott and his news director, Kate Torney, have signalled they want to use the ABC's high-profile commentator, Annabel Crabb, in her own segment on the show, but despite meetings there are no firm plans yet. The average audience for 7.30 since Leigh Sales and Chris Uhlmann took the helm in March is 636,000. In the same period last year, long-term host Kerry O'Brien was averaging 753,000. But looking at raw numbers alone is unfair because the launch of digital channels has splintered the audience across the board. The 7.30pm timeslot has also become extremely competitive in recent months with blockbusters such as Ten's MasterChef, Nine's The Block and Seven's Australia's Got Talent. The executive producer of news and current affairs, Denise Eriksen, told Media one of the journalists joining 7.30 for a stint next month was economics correspondent Stephen Long, and others would follow. Media understands executive producer Michael Carey has been pushing to bring in news-breaking journalists, rather than focusing on the longer-form softer stories the program has relied on. Carey, a former executive producer of ABC Radio's flagship current affairs program PM, took over 7.30 in the summer after a career in radio. "Kerry was the life and soul of The 7.30 Report and he was a large part of why people tuned in, and he was also a great interviewer," Eriksen said. "But Leigh and Chris are both very experienced journalists and they bring their own strengths and diverse interests." Media's exclusive last week that Sales is pregnant with her first child puts a question mark over how the show will be presented next year when the former Lateline host takes maternity leave. It's not yet clear whether the double-header is working. Certainly there is a feeling that the pair need more time to settle into the format and find their own voice. Without the dynamic presence of O'Brien, and the lengthy interviews he insisted on, the stories on the program have taken a more central role, and internal critics say they have not been hard-hitting enough. "I don't care how many bells and whistles you put on a promo, if it's a boring story no one is going to watch," one staffer said. "Kerry was such a dominant force, when you pulled him out of it there was a power vacuum," a source said. "It's not clear who is in control now: Denise, Michael, Leigh or the reporters?" Eriksen denies a charge she is micro-managing and says Carey is very much in control and she is assisting him from the sidelines. Eriksen says while she would love more "cracker stories", Uhlmann has broken several, including on the carbon tax and the Malaysian deal, and Sales has conducted some memorable interviews, including the recent one with John Hartigan, chief executive of News Limited, publisher of The Australian. When the new 7.30 launched back in March, the single biggest complaint from the audience was the bold, colourful set. "We hate the new format," one viewer wrote on the program's feedback website. Now in its fifth month, that garish set and graphics could be a significant reason why the program is struggling. Internal critics say there has been too much focus on "the look" of the show and not enough on the news content; that it's been a triumph of style over substance on every level. Eriksen says she has toned down the set and that the audience always reacts negatively to a change. The biggest change, of course, was the departure of O'Brien. Sources say rather than replace him with another single, dominant figure such as Q&A's Tony Jones, management chose Sales and Uhlmann as a way of changing the show's dynamic and ensuring one person didn't dominate again the way O'Brien did as host and editor. Desperate to "reinvent the wheel" after O'Brien's exit last year, most of management's time was spent on developing a new "look" for the show. Sales and Uhlmann were even barred from going to air until the set was ready -- despite their frustration about not being able to cover the floods and cyclones that hit early in the new year. Eriksen, who commissioned the set, was appointed to her current powerful role in March after she had overseen the internal review of 7.30 as a consultant. It is no understatement to say there was surprise when she landed the job because the ABC's director of television, Kim Dalton, had dropped her as head of factual after a restructure in 2007. Back then, Eriksen ran shows such as Gardening Australia so her elevation to a role overseeing everything from Four Corners to current affairs on ABC Radio was a shock to many ABC journalists. Eriksen told Media she began her career as a journalist and had been a news journalist for longer than she had been in factual television. Sources say the plan for the new show was for it to be more "collegiate" -- after 15 years with O'Brien conducting 14-minute interviews that "crowded out the stories". The interviews are indeed much shorter -- they've dropped to seven minutes

BSA Bob

25/07/2011Lyn I like your daily links a lot & hope you can keep finding the time & energy to continue. Best wishes.

Michael

25/07/2011Monday's Bad Abbott http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/abbott-says-pm-has-no-climate-credibility-20110725-1hvy6.html In this article Tiny accuses Julia Gillard of putting pragmatism before policy. Who'd do that???? There's no end to man's hypocrisy and sham sanctimoniousness. If you've read Chaucer, think 'The Pardoner'.

nasking

25/07/2011Whether it's Tony Abbott & his negabore goons...or John Boehnner of the American Republicans and their Tea Party dominators...it's obvious to many now that the Right-Wing in America & Australia have been taken over by extremist WRECKERS. And it's amazing how much they resemble the attitudes of Fox News...from Glenn Beck and his loopy conspiracy theories...to Sean Hannitty, one of the most biased characters on television & radio... and then there's Rush Limbaugh, Allan Jones & other hotheaded shock jocks who do the softly spoken, dripping w/ sincerity bit whenever people begin to question their usual attack attack attack antics. Bolt, Ackerman and other Murdoch empire types are similar. I've come to realise how much these people loathe government of any type...unless it's focused full bore on funding wars against their perceived enemies...and ramping up security to ridiculous levels. It's kooky control freak stuff that divides communities and sees enemies in every shadow. It bankrupts economies. And undermines peace & harmony & compromise in government. There is something worryingly similar between them and the Norwegian maniac... similar...not the same...they are not the type who would do such loathsome things... we know the people mentioned above would never act out their loathing of Social Democrats the way that Norwegian lunatic did... nor would they condone his actions... however, their loathing tends to feed the kind of extremism we've seen bubbling beneath the surface...exploding out into the airwaves, blogs, social networking sites, comment sections of newspapers, protest rallies... ...and now in Norway...as it did recently in America when congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head and a number of others killed... and crazed evangelical preachers burn the Koran regardless of the consequences for their overseas troops... in 2008 there was this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_assassination_scare_in_Denver and this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_assassination_scare_in_Tennessee So how responsible is it by these Right-Wing influential voices to be showing so much loathing...and pumping up hate of the governments?...feeding into Fox News shows & radio jocks that push "Marxist/Muslim caliphate" conspiracy theories...particularly when we have an election coming up in 2012 in America...heated times as they are... ...and by attempting to wreck the Obama & Gillard-led governments in such an irresponsible barrage of attacks & NO NO NO obstinate attitude that seems to call for sacrifices from all but the super rich... and stops essential climate & communication technology-related reform... and income distribution that will reduce the flood of money to the top in order to ease the burden on THE MANY... they are in fact showing a similar kind of fanatical & wrecker approach as the Norwegian maniac. Not as blatantly vicious... but possibly putting at risk many people's lives & livelihoods if the economy crashes...if global warming is not effectively dealt w/...if people who are now struggling are further put under pressure in order to keep a few chosen dynasties & corporations happy...and these wars are continued at bankrupting levels. Noone could accuse the Left of not compromising...they have compromised so much over the decades they are barely recognisable. It's time the right-wing hotheads & zealots got rational...and started compromising. Or they should be marginalised. The rational centre needs to demand such. My Grandad on my Mum's side was a Tory mayor in the UK...a tough man, a good man, a fair man. I do not recognise him in many of those who dominate the Right-Wing today. My other Grandfather was a dyed-in-the-wool Conservative, a Major in the UK army. Again...a tough man, a good man, a fair man. Again...I do not recognise him in many of those who dominate the Right-Wing today. The "anything goes to win" mentality...and the type of fanaticism & negative zealotry we see in too much of the Right-Wing is not something they would've been comfortable with... I like to believe. But I guess they lived in times when patriarchal white men oft got their way. I like to believe that their sense of "fairness" & compassion for others would not have diminished as we became more multicultural & globally-connected...and pursue equal rights for all. I like to believe that once the Right-Wing weren't just parties of chosen big business...obsessed w/ creating consumers & warriors...who loathed government...and saw enemies in every shadow. And apologists for criminally-tainted media empires. I hope, like many others, we will see compromise...and sanity prevail. The past decade has seen little of both. N'

Michael

25/07/2011Speaking of drafting new journalists onto 'flagship' ABC news programs, a 'new' political reporter for them is the continuingly moronic Latika Bourke, who managed over the weekend to describe people newly arriving by boat off Northern Australia, and thus likely to be re-transported to Malaysia under the new refugees centre deal, as "suspected asylum seekers". Asylum seekers seek asylum by arriving in a country any way they can and then asking that nation's authorities for asylum. I suspect, suspect, it is JUST possible that a small boatload of people traveling to this country by the recognised sea route from Indonesia just might be 'suspected asylum seekers'. But as soon as that suspicion is acted upon by Australian authorities and they board that boat to be told by those on it they are seeking asylum, then the only real suspicion that ever existed was in the mind of a Customs or Immigration officer looking through his binoculars and trying to decide whether P&O or any other cruise-ship company had branched out into leaky wooden boats to give their customers 'the full refugee experience'.

Lyn

25/07/2011Hi BSA Bob You're a sweetie thankyou so much. Cheers :):):):):0

Lyn

25/07/2011Hi Jason Thankyou to you too, I am lucky to have so many friends. Thankyou for your link http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/content-in-question-as-muscle-added-to-730/story-e6frg8mf-1226100935419 The ABC just won't get it will they, that Sales and Uhlmann are the problem with the 7.30pm report, they try to make all the excuses under the sun. If they put Annabel Crabb on her own show I won't be watching, I can't take one word Annabel says serious, she's a sort of comedian but no-one laughs. Cheers :):):):):)

nasking

25/07/2011Interesting perspective on the present US debt-ceiling debate from Robert Kuttner: Obama Holds the Cards -- If He Will Play Them Well http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-kuttner/obama-holds-the-cards-if-_b_908190.html [quote]The New York Times had a very instructive chart today, by the indispensable Teresa Tritch, showing that most of the budget shortfall going into the financial crisis was the result of the Bush tax cuts and wars -- and that most of the rest of it since 2008 was the consequence of lost revenues from the recession itself. It had very little to do with public spending. This is the kind of detail that gets lost in the contrived hysteria. My guess is that the Republicans are so intoxicated with their own negativity that they will not be able to get to yes, even though Obama keeps trying to give away the store. The House Republican Caucus, in thrall to the Tea Party, is just too locked in to the premise of no new revenues under any circumstances So then we are left with the president's powers under the 14th Amendment, an approach that Obama seemed to rule out last week, but may need to come back to. The fact is, the ritual of Congress periodically voting to approve an increase in the national debt only dates to the World War I era. Before that, government incurred debt and rolled it over as necessary. Congress, of course, approved legislation to levy and collect taxes, but management of the public debt was the business of the executive branch. And playing cute with the debt ceiling only dates to New Gingrich in the 1990s. Before that, increases in the debt ceiling, as necessary, were entirely pro forma votes. The 14th Amendment, in Section 4 provides that "The validity of the public debt of the United States.... shall not be questioned." Although the 14th Amendment was part of a package of Amendments intended to resolve issues left over from the Civil War, the Supreme Court has interpreted the public debt provision as giving the president very broad authority. The government can go on selling bonds to cover its costs as long as money markets accept them. Lately, the Federal Reserve has been helping that process along. Whether Congress has voted to increase the permissible amount of total debt is a technicality. It's not as if the government runs out of money next week. If President Obama were to invoke that emergency authority to prevent the economy from collapsing as money markets began shunning U.S. government bonds, it is hard to imagine Republican leaders suing the president... to demand what? That he let the economy go off a cliff? And it is even harder to imagine the Supreme Court, even a Court as partisan and corrupted as the Roberts Court, voting to tie Obama's hands in an economic emergency that -- keep in mind -- is entirely contrived.[/quote] ------ Great quote on NBC's 'Meet the Press' today: Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing...after they have exhausted all other possibilities. (Winston Churchill) N'

BSA Bob

25/07/2011Googling about, a couple of news groups are displaying the piece about Gillard & her suggestions re carbon referred to above. Let's hope an issue isn't created from this to again imply duplicity on her part. Depressingly familiar how something that seems to essentially say "can we work something out here?" can immediately be spun as deviousness & a suggestion that "Tony's been right all along, let's do what he wants."

nasking

25/07/2011Lyn, thnx for the link to Mr. Denmore's piece @ The Failed Estate blog...it's certainly worth reading...particularly in its assessment of reporting & opinion-making related to the Norway massacre: http://thefailedestate.blogspot.com/2011/07/agenda-benders.html [quote]Yes, Bolt did update his blog to correct those initial impressions and provided accurate, real-time cut-and-paste updates from the wires. But he quickly lost interest in the story when it didn't fit the single narrative his readers constantly look to him to deliver - like small children wanting a parent to read them the same story over and over again. You see, people don't read Andrew Bolt for news. They go to him to have their prejudices confirmed. [/quote] Indeed. N'

nasking

25/07/2011Thought provoking article from Waleed Aly @ The Drum opinion This is not a crazed loner, this is a terrorist [quote]Already you can see the rhetorical slide. What began as an unambiguous act of terrorism is slowly becoming the work of a "lone gunman". It's not, in the words of a Norwegian police official, "Islamic-terror related", so he must be a "madman". Terrorism is appearing in some reports of this most recent tragedy - certainly more than it did in the Loughner case - but nowhere nearly as frequently as it does when the perpetrators aren't one of "us". There's a problem here, and it has nothing to do with political correctness. It's not even simply about public language. The problem is that the more we explain away acts of domestic terrorism as isolated cases of madness, the less capable we become of spotting it. Having realised the weekend's attacks in Norway weren't Islamist, we must do better than lazily assuming Breivik is just Norway's answer to Martin Bryant. Martin Bryant he is not. Bryant is a loner who massacred 35 people apparently as a way of getting attention: to "make everyone remember me". Breivik is a committed political activist. His manifesto (which for the time being is on YouTube), if correctly attributed, makes this abundantly clear. It is deeply implausible that this was anything other than a textbook case of terrorism. It was fear-inducing violence by a non-state actor in the service of a political cause. Understood this way, we can see that Breivik is far from an isolated case. This is clearest in America, where the phenomenon of "domestic terrorism" has been on the rise for the last three or four years. Here, I'm not talking about "homegrown" Islamist terrorism, which has also increased. I'm talking about people who, crudely speaking, are like Breivik: white, male citizens with some or other political axe to grind in their own nation.[/quote] more here: http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed It's time we looked under the carpet to see what the obsession w/ Islamic-based terrorism swept under there...conveniently. A trip down memory lane: [quote]US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has declined to criticise a senior army officer who told audiences the war on terrorism is a battle with Satan. Evangelical Christian Lieutenant-General William G Boykin was also quoted as saying a Muslim warlord in Somalia had an "idol" for a God. Secretary Rumsfeld, questioned by journalists, defended the general's statements as "a private affair". An American newspaper found him addressing church congregations wearing his uniform. [/quote] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3199212.stm N'

nasking

25/07/2011From Paul Bremer in March 2010: [quote]It is a fact of history that Europe is based on Judeo-Christian values. But Europe seems unwilling, or perhaps afraid, to acknowledge this reality. European bureaucrats omitted any reference to it in their draft “constitution,” reflecting a willful disregard for the continent’s intellectual, moral and spiritual roots. European countries have a large, and in most places, growing Muslim population. The vast majority of these men and women are not terrorists. But as events have shown, there are among them extremists who reject everything the West and Europe stand for—the separation of Church and State, universal suffrage, women’s education, free trade unions, a free press. And especially democracy which the extremists such as Al Qaeda define as “a new religion that must be destroyed by war.” Europe also faces a demographic time bomb. The population of every major European country is falling. This will place unsustainable burdens on the elaborate and expensive welfare programs built up over the decades. As the Muslim populations grow in proportion to overall populations, it is vital that Europe find a way to integrate peaceful Muslims while defeating extremists.[/quote] The entire interview is worth reading: http://bellum.stanfordreview.org/?p=1514 Lewis Paul "Jerry" Bremer III (born September 30, 1941) is an American diplomat. He is most notable for being the U.S. Administrator to Iraq charged with overseeing the country's reconstruction after the 2003 invasion. In his role as head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, he reported primarily to the U.S. Secretary of Defense and exercised authority over Iraq's civil administration. He served in this capacity from May 11, 2003, until limited Iraqi sovereignty was restored on June 28, 2004 (Wikipedia) N'

Patricia WA

25/07/2011Jason and Lyn, Hear! Hear! to comments on 7.30. That was really enlightening info on behind the scenes decission making, Jason. Flippant Crabbe making light of everything and anything she thinks will demonstrate her wit and wisdom (not!) to world would be the last straw for me. If, instead of Uhlmann we could have more Stephen Long in the manner of his pm report on Abbott http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2011/s3272060.htm then I'd applaud that.

TalkTurkey

25/07/2011"The slyly-sidling Crabbe . . . " One by one the descriptions of my impressions of Journalists in Our Lass At Yarralumla are being reinforced and drawn in clearer focus! From the extremity of the slant of this story one might think it would require walking on [i]underhangs[/i], like a great black hairy underwater spidercrab whose mode of protection is to look so ridiculous and unappetizing that no-one bothers much attacking her. It the most perfect and transparent example of an attempt to spin straw into dynamite that I can ever remember. I don't say that with less than full intent, and what it means beyond any doubt is that Crabbe is prepared to - (here fill in your requirements) ............................................................................................................................ in return for the following conditions of Ms Crabbe ......................................................................................................................... ABC What does she think she'll get out of this dumb story? Ms Crabbe - As if you hadn't heard the ABC people saying it for *J*U*L*I*A* - She NEGOTIATES! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49zF8m7ys24

Lyn

25/07/2011Hi Nasking Thankyou for your comments, every one of them are enjoyable to read, and also thankyou for your encouragement. You have always been appreciative and a valuable contributor to TPS. Yes Mr Denmore! he certainly is to be admired for his brilliant articles that never fail to delight. I love his genuine matter of fact opinion. Mr Denmore would have been a fine ethical journalist badly needed in the press today. [quote]The Failed Estate blog...it's certainly worth reading...particularly in its assessment of reporting & opinion-making related to the Norway massacre: [/quote]thefailedestate.blogspot.com/.../...a-benders.html :):):):):)

Jason

25/07/2011Hi Lyn, Have you come across anything that has said Virginia Triolli is leaving the ABC? Good news if she is!

Lyn

25/07/2011Hi Jason No, I haven't heard that Triolli is leaving, but I did see someone say she was in tears over the Newspoll results this morning. Very sad to see Labor picking up a few points. Cheers :):):):):)

Jason

25/07/2011Lyn, Speaking of "Newspoll" jj must be all teared up as well! silent as a grave today

TalkTurkey

25/07/2011Lyn Is it true do you think about Trollolli being in tears? Over Abbortt's beginning his lo-o-o-o-o-ong slide down? Gee what a loss if she departs ABC eh! NOT! Leigh Sales is pregnant I'm told, she wull have to leave for a while, :), what can we do with Ooohman?

Feral Skeleton

25/07/2011Jason, Virginia Trioli is going to Channel 10, probably to host Big Gina's new Conservative Breakfast Show. Frankly, I'm not surprised she has sold her soul to the she-devil.

Jason

25/07/2011FS, Great! What happens when we have our own "Norway" type incident? or don't some of our hard right seem to bothered about this constant "dog whistleing" to the more unstable in the community?

2353

25/07/2011Jason, ^^^ They will be blaming others - as usual. Where is the report on the Newspoll? I've looked on the ABC and Fairfax with nothing to be seen. Although there was a three line thing on the screen beside the lift on the way home from work tonight that the Gillard Carbon Tax message was getting through.

Feral Skeleton

25/07/20112353, If it's good news for the government it will be hard to find it getting wide coverage.

Feral Skeleton

25/07/2011Chris Bowen is being interviewed on Lateline tonight.

Feral Skeleton

25/07/2011Jason, As Nas so eloquently pointed out above, if we have our own 'Norway', he will be a 'crazed loner', not a Christian Fundamentalist Right Wing Terrorist. ;-)

nasking

25/07/2011Cheers Lyn, thnx for the motivation. I found that Brian Toohey link of yours eye opening too. Interesting the ever anally retentive Murdoch empire should let such a dreadful "assassination" comment thru. To appeal to their masses of hate?...or something more menacing? --------------------------------------------------------------- [quote]Virginia Trioli is going to Channel 10, probably to host Big Gina's new Conservative Breakfast Show.[/quote] Feral, where did you hear that? I don't mind Virginia. Apart from a determination to read from or point out the Murdoch empire paper's headlines & articles, I find her fairly balanced. If she's gone to Lachlan Murdoch at Ch.10 then it will demonstrate she was promoting the Murdoch stuff to get a job there. That would be very sad. I thought it was just because she knew alot of news people over the years and was just overreaching on the "balance" stuff due to Coalition member's complaints about the ABC. -------------------------------------------------------------- Patricia, Stephen Long has indeed done some top work on Lateline. I look forward to his analyses on that show, usually at the end of the week. N'

Jason

25/07/2011FS, He may well be a loner, but I would suggest that such a person will have lived on a diet of 2GB,Bolt Morrirson Bernardi and the others Normank pointed out on Saturday! Look at Joe Hockey last week standing with someone who thought it would be a good idea to take up arms against the PM, or this "A TOWNSVILLE man is behind bars after being arrested for threatening to kill Prime Minister Julia Gillard. http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2011/06/10/238375_news.html Loners they may be! but they hear the call to Arms by those preaching it.

nasking

25/07/2011[quote]As Nas so eloquently pointed out above, if we have our own 'Norway', he will be a 'crazed loner', not a Christian Fundamentalist Right Wing Terrorist.[/quote] In fact Feral, it was Waleed Aly that made that astute observation/guess...but I'm glad you picked up on it. There is somethin' highly disturbing about the double standards of much of our so called "western press". If the extreme right-wing media, religious characters & politicians were put under the same type of scrutiny as the Muslim ones I reckon we'd have a different public perception of them. They've been gettin' away w/ "hate mongerin'" for a good long time. How can we justify exiling & verbally slamming & jailing Muslim religious, media & political figures for their hatespeak, and inciting terrorism...and put non-Muslims who do the same on a pedestal? It's not only dangerous, as we've seen tragically w/ Norway & in America...but it sends out a terrible message that feeds negative opinion & conspiracy theories in Muslim nations & others regarding the countries who have invaded Afghanistan & Iraq...and trying to free Libya from Gadafhi. N'

Feral Skeleton

25/07/2011Nas, Firstly, wrt Virginia Trioli, I think it waas either Ash Ghebranious or some or other, in the know, Twitterer who stated that LaTrioli would be headed to Channel 10. I guess if it happens you could almost excuse it because it would probably have been an offer too good for her to refuse, and I can imagine VT doing a good impersonation of a Conservative Grand Dame interviewer. Lots of archness, lots of acid barbs, and her relentless dog around the ankles style of interrogation. Lots of nipping and snarling. Anyway I guess we'll see in the coming days. As for the US coverage of the Fundies and their increasing proclivity to throw Jesus under the bus and just go for it in sanctimonious righteous fevered fervour, well, you might like to run your eyes over this(Enjoy:) ): http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/michele-bachmanns-holy-war-20110622?link=mostpopular3

Feral Skeleton

25/07/2011I include this because it contains a beautiful photo of Julia with a dog(no, not that 'Dog', TT ;-) ), even though the photo editor probably thought it cast her in a poor light because it shows a few wrinkles: http://ghostwhovotes.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/newspoll-110725.pdf

Feral Skeleton

25/07/2011It's interesting to note that our PM isn't the only PM who has suffered a ratings slide in the polls: http://liberalconspiracy.org/2011/07/24/how-camerons-ratings-have-collapsed-since-election/

Ad astra reply

25/07/2011Folks I have just posted [i]If Tony Abbott were PM[/i]: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/post/2011/07/25/If-Tony-Abbott-were-PM.aspx

Feral Skeleton

25/07/2011Peter Martin nails the Anti Carbon Tax ads to the toilet door where they belong: http://www.petermartin.com.au/2011/07/dodgy-but-what-heck-anti-carbon-tax-tv.html

Jason

26/07/2011Aa, I must say that last nights Q&A was a welcome change! instead of hearing from the usual "suspect" from Western Sydney, we got to albeit for one night see what was on the minds of others. I shall write to the show today and ask them to get out of Sydney more often.

Ad astra reply

26/07/2011Jason I agree with you about [i]Q&A[/i]. The very first question was a ripper and set the tone for the program. On the whole I felt the audience was supportive of the progressive side of politics and antagonistic to the regressives. I agree that getting out of Sydney is essential to achieve balance. Also I wonder how Barrie Cassidy is viewing the success of [i]Q&A[/i], and wondering what he can do to resuscitate his faltering [i]Insiders[/i].

Ad astra reply

26/07/2011FS Peter Martin’s piece show that deceptiveness is not confined to the Coalition; their mates in business engage in it with alacrity.

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