So that was … 2013

Welcome to 2014!

And we welcome you to your next ‘open thread’, which will run until the 2nd February, when our conversation starters, and Casablanca’s Cache, will return.

It seems to be traditional at this time of the year to reflect on what has been, and to look forward to what is to happen.

To be fair, 2013 wasn’t the greatest of years.

They say the only constant is change. We leave 2013 with our third Prime Minister for the year and the election of a Federal Government of a different political persuasion to the one we started with. After the event, it seems that the newly elected Government’s politicians proposed to honour their promises more in the breach than the observance. If Parliament House had a ‘service desk’, it would be doing a roaring trade in exchanging votes this holiday season – if the polls can be believed.

Around the world, Barack Obama commenced his second term in January 2013 before walking into a ‘Government shutdown’ over Obamacare. Late in the year the world lost Nelson Mandela – one of the greatest identities of our era. (As an aside, Mandela was still on the US Government’s ‘terrorism watch list’ in 2008 and had to apply for special permission to enter the USA – yet US Presidents of the era still attended his funeral.)

The media landscape also changed in Australia during the year with the commencement of an Australian version of The Guardian. According to an online question and answer session with its editor during November, they are ahead of their expectations of success. The Daily Mail will join them by launching an Australian website in 2014. Various News and Fairfax publications erected paywalls during 2013 and seemingly aren’t commenting on the success of the ventures. NewsCorp is still ‘out to get’ the ABC – especially since the ABC and The Guardian teamed up to break the recent story regarding Australia spying on our neighbours.

The Political Sword is also constantly changing. You’ll find details of the level of change that occurred on this site during 2013 in the previous post. So far the response to the changes has been overwhelmingly positive, and the TPS Team are extremely grateful for your continuing support.

If you would like to write a piece in 2014 as a conversation starter for TPS, we’d love to hear from you. TPS is always looking for new voices, whether you’ve ever written a blog post before, or not. Send us an outline, or a rough draft, or a complete piece: we will be happy to work with you to bring your ideas to fruition.

The TPS Team is also looking for some more regular readers and/or commenters to join the team that now ‘manages’ TPS. Many hands make light work for all of us – and most of the present 2013 team have ‘day jobs’.

As you’re probably aware, all pieces submitted to TPS are reviewed. One way to join the TPS Team, but take on an easy task that doesn’t take a lot of time, and that doesn’t have to happen often, is to offer to review – that is, become a TPS reviewer. Reviewing is a bit like getting to comment, but before we actually publish a piece. (Needless to say, your comments ‘below the line’ are always welcome!)

We are also looking for one or two additional people who might have had editing experience and who might have time to edit a piece for TPS every now and again.

If you have any interest in writing for TPS or helping out as a reviewer or editor, do email us.

As we are in the middle of a period where cricket, surf reports and families seem to be more important than politics, rather than analyse what politicians said versus what they did – the TPS Team is interested in how you see 2014 panning out.

Will you have a great New Year’s resolution story (giving up smoking, catching the bus to work, travelling Australia)?

Do you think it will be a better year for the world, country or you personally?

Do you think Australian politicians will develop an understanding of the common meaning of the word ‘promise’?


The Political Sword Team wishes all our contributors and readers a wonderful year of discussion and of sharing various points of view.

As always, we look forward to you telling us what you think.



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1/01/2014TPS Team Thank you for the piece welcoming 2014, and for the invitation to our readers to contribute original pieces as well as comments, and to help in other ways. I hope this year will see a lot more involvement by many others, so that [i]TPS[/i] becomes truly a community resource and a vibrant and insistent voice for progressives.

TalkTurkey

1/01/2014Cripes I didn't know there'd be a new thread by the time I posted this, bit of a mess but here it is anyway. Will read about 2013 later. COLD TURKEY COLLATION Tweets fresh today. Some of my tweets are led by other conversations, some are my own spontaneous comments. Just so yous Swordies know I am very much around. My quotes/reports of others' comments may not be precise but I never mean to misquote intent OK?! So here's some of today's ones: Phil_B7 said Australians were [i]malleable[/i] (i.e. may be beaten into shape, e.g. armour ) TT: @Phil_B7 Never mind *malleable*, DUCTILE! (i.e. may be drawn e.g. into wire) We don't need beating, we follow like sheep to slaughter. @Alohaviola @JLMusicTherapy @MikeCarlton01 @laurieload Just saying to Comrade Archie re his Gravatar: @archiearchive Your Scream has never been more poignant. @ERN_Malleyscrub http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rK3s_BP9kE … (But watch the clip, everyone should see this several times before they die laughing. From the feel-great movie Down By Law) Someone asked if Candida (Is that Thrush? Ignorant male me) can cause further medical conditions. TT (‏insensitive and flippant bird it be) replied: @_Woman_health Don't know, but the chorus line always amuses me ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WROdwlk9_h8 … Quite a sweet song anyway. Well however bad things get Let Humour Ring if it possibly has a squeak of helping. (Some places there is no such squeak. ) Then "Remember what wisdom may be in silence" (Desiderata, as spoken by Don Dunstan) @bigambulboy commented re fact UK aired Pilger's movie (name?)whereas all Australian movie theatres refused. TT: Crouching Zion, Hidden Truth As I understand things Jews have an effective monopoly of movie making. Sure seems so looking at main directors & producers, and the pro-Israeli myth-making bias of most Western movies. Pilger uniquely has ever been a fearless warrior for Truth. He is virtually blackballed from MSM everywhere. @PattieHob @HeartsMindsEars commented that it is now 20 years since Sandinistas (did something notable, I didn't note it though!) I replied with their battle cries! VENCEREMOS! NO PASARAN! @bradthegunn talks of how he likes roast Turkey! TT:WE WILL GOBBLE YOU! Turkey Team: ATTACK! Go for the LIVER! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 7h @KieraGorden Abborrrrtt's hypocrisies r so legion no-one can keep all of them in mind.That's his secret,out-outrage rage! @ldquilts @SElizaP @HillbillySkill commented that Abborrrtt had emptied English of meaning, I agreed : Vacuous weasel-words! Journalist packrats are even dumber! NEVER call them on real meaning if any. @_sara_jade_ @Phil_B7 TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 7h Demonstrate. Unite and demonstrate. It can't be so hard to understand. TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 7h Hi Twitter! New letter: 13 bitter - 14 better. TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 7h @flabbergutsted said You never know from Mesma's face whether she is about to burst out laughing, or to shit herself! TT: I burst out laughing when I read that, first laugh aloud for 2014! @anncherie49 @judz52 @BreakfastNews Seen Mesma's message? (on ABC24) * If ur going Indo, well Govt has so trashed Oz reputation that FFS TAKE OUT GREAT BIG INSURANCE! * FED me DUCK! Lynnie our Peregrinating Tweety Bird as usual saying lovely things to Watermelon Man, she said 34,000 people have visited his blog this year. TT: @lynlinking Wow coincidence, that's exactly the same as the number of times I've followed your Links Lynnie! Love U & @watermelon_man both! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 7h @lynlinking Lynnie you always make me smile and both you and @watermelon_man are must-follows to many. 1. 2. to which Joan Evatt ‏@boeufblogginon sweetly said ... @TalkyTurkey @lynlinking @watermelon_man Best 2014 Wishes to three must-reads on twitter. May we be at our feisty best for the coming year. So I said @boeufblogginon Why thank you Joan, and Yes, Up and At 'Em, no prisoners! @lynlinking @watermelon_man On the Trickle Down Theory: TT @GaryFallon2 Not even a theory, a deliberate con! @Mysta @Darthspoog Someone commented on Mesma's "Cheesy Grin" Bad TT: @anncherie49 I don't want to see her cheesy grin, her face is bad enough! @judz52 @BreakfastNews

Pappinbarra Fox

1/01/2014I hope we all have a fruitful new year (in social responsibility terms). I would like to draw readers' attention to the top left column drop down list called " AA's Top Political Websites". It is an excellent short cut to other like minded blog sites and sites of interest.

Ken

1/01/2014I'd like to take up the challenge of what a promise means to a politician. Providing Remnants Of Mendacity In Serial Emasculations

Michael Taylor

1/01/2014Happy new year, TPS. I arrived back from America last night to learn that Abbott had been making a real mess of things while I was away. He's going to make our job easier in 2014. But do we let up? Never.

BSA Bob

1/01/2014Feeling crook so I've only made one New Year's resolution which is not to watch Mr Rabbit's New Year speech. Succeeding so far but it's not much of a challenge I admit. .

2353

1/01/2014BSA Bob - I like the concept and hope that you are successful. Miglo - Happy New Year to you and yours as well. 2014 could be really interesting. Ken - no doubt you can think of a few thread starters using the premise of broken promises. I certainly can. PF - I join you in wishing all a fruitful new year. AA's blog list is a wonderful resource. TT - Few have your level of fervour - that is a compliment by the way :-)

libbyx33

2/01/2014Happy New Year, fellow Swordsters, My resolution is to be here, on this site, more often. Cheers, everyone! Love to you & yours!

Catching up

2/01/20142014 and nothing seems to have changed.

2353

2/01/2014CU - [quote]2014 and nothing seems to have changed.[/quote] yet.

42long

2/01/2014I find it hard to be optimistic. With the abbott turning out much worse than my predictions (which were very critical). Poor Australia . Done it easier than any other comparable country with the GFC and end up with this utterly hopeless MOB who got in by voters being mentally lazy and being deluded by Rupee. There is much work to be done now folks to get us out of this mess and limit the damage. A crappy MSM is a large cross to bear. Democracy crumbles when the media is corrupted.

Ken

2/01/2014libbyx33 good to see you back and what a fine New Year's reolution.

Catching up

2/01/2014libbyx33 Welcome. A busy year ahead.

Bacchus

2/01/2014Creativity, imagination, vision - oh to have a government with these qualities again. :( Yes, it's an ad, but with these same qualities... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxy4n0UT82o

TalkTurkey

2/01/2014I'm starting to enjoy deleting spammers like the one who's not going to be just above this one here in a minute! :)

Ken

2/01/2014well done TT You are so effective, I rarely see them!

libbyx33

3/01/2014Thank you, friends :-) It's been a while. This Govt is turning out to be even worse than the worst I had imagined, if that's possible (and, sadly, it is). But please spare an extra thought for the poor people here in Qld. It's like we've got Nazi's in BOTH levels of govt :-( I'm posting a link below to an insightful opinion piece by probably the only decent journo in Murdoch's stable. You'll get a laugh. (I think it's paywalled, but I can post the whole thing if you like. Here's a snippet: [quote]"We can look forward to legislation that will ensure, via the new Green’s-Coalition alliance’s support for Tony Abbott’s signature $5.5 billion a year paid parental leave scheme, that no baby born of a woman earning $150,000 a year will be living in poverty. That should provide considerable solace to those lower-income earners likely to be asked for a modest “co-payment” for what used to be free, bulk-billed visits to the doctor. Double Bay and Clayfield mummies do it tough too you know and universal free health care is not all it’s cracked up to be. So stop whining. And don’t get sick." [/quote] http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/opinion-it-has-been-a-bumpy-ride-but-2013-is-all-over-bar-the-shouting/story-fnihsr9v-1226792144971 Don't just be afraid - be angry & active so this mob (at both levels here in Qld) are "oncers".

Catching up

3/01/2014Each day seems to be worse. Sometimes I wonder if we have it wrong, as no government could be this bad. Sadly, that does not appear to be the case.

TalkTurkey

3/01/2014libbyx33 Your New Year Resolution is the most helpful thing I've read all year. I know the year isn't so old yet but it could still be the most helpful thing all year by 31/12/14. On the behalf of TPS, the Fighting 5th Estate, Australian governance and the World, and including with you such other Wonder Women as Gypsy Janet, Casablanca and Catching Up, Thank You for helping to take the fight forward. Your Resolution does more than help to lighten and spread the load. It helps us all with our own mood and strengthens our own resolve. And to 2353: for this comment thank you too: [i]TT - Few have your level of fervour - that is a compliment by the way[/i] I wasn't about to take it any other way! Roget gives 3 sets of synonyms and allied meanings for fervour: Synonyms Antonyms 382 Heat 383 Cold 865 Desire 866 Indifference 897 Love 898 Hate As long as I am living, let me be fervent! And Ken - WRT Spammers - We've been a whole lot more successful Stopping the Spam than Abborrrtt has Stopping the Boats! TPS plainly has plenty of resolution of its own. Fight on Comrades. Oh and Miglo, you are a rock. Rock on!

TalkTurkey

3/01/2014KHTAGH I'll see your Methane Emissions And raise you 4 degrees! Not funny, no.

TalkTurkey

3/01/2014Dam then I forgot to post the link! http://www.salon.com/2014/01/02/earth_set_to_warm_a_catastrophic_4_degrees_by_the_end_of_the_century/ But [i]DON'T PANIC![/i] ?! H'mmm ... ... On second thoughts ..! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR6wok7g7do

TalkTurkey

3/01/2014Marijuana Majority ‏@JoinTheMajority 2m Check out today’s Denver Post front page. Welcome to the future, everyone. http://t.co/A1FrX5Bit4

Khtagh

3/01/2014Ah you got caught out too TT, was going back to the last article for 3 days & wondering where has everyone gone?.

jaycee

4/01/2014So this is where you have all been hiding!!.....I thought everyone had gone on holiday! Yes, well...got the skates on, ready to roll!....but i think we have to be prepared for a lot more bastardry from the experts in that field. I wonder how much longer those cretins are going to suffer the satire and slander they so richly deserve, without enacting some litigious clause upon the fifth estate and its users?

jaycee

4/01/2014Don't remember if I have posted this before...but anyway... What the political 'right" in this country omit to contemplate is the social legalities of their philosophical position. Of course, sitting here in Oz', quite comfortably ensconsed in all the trappings of a SOCIALLY secure environment eg. ; medical, legal, social saftey-net, policed streets etc.....they can afford to mouth their perceived virtues of the "individulist entrepreneur" and his meanderings into and out of a capital-based society, creating and/or taking wealth while at it, as they perceive is his right. What they fail to recognise is the "natural social legalities" of their actions. For every society in every time in history, whatever the culture, whatever the geography..there have been boundaries of social legalities that cannot be crossed (within that society) without social and physical collapse. History and archival evidence record these disasters....and brutal they are! The social legalities are thus : Thou shalt not kill (within your own society)...:Thou shalt not rob, steal or take from (those within your own society)...Thou shalt not isolate nor victimise minorities (within your own society)...Thou shalt not capitalise on opportunities that will dimish the social or capital position of others (within your own society) there are others on a sliding scale of relevance. Quite simple really...but like the thief who stands outside a house contemplating his next action...once he crosses that threshold, he has committed the crime. Once the opportunist takes a first step to capitalise on a vulnerable social loophole to either make capital gain or to diminish his fellow citizens, he has crossed a threshold and has to be knowledgeable that he is committing a social crime...he has disturbed the smooth plain of "agreed equlibrium of social stability". When the LNP. deliberately push to enrich certain sections of society at the expense of others, they are committing a crime.....we know it, they know it, but in their hunger to gain some sort of social-strata higher ground, to enrich themselves or their perceived associates, or to push forward a select philosophy that is excluding a great majority of the population, they have not considered the entire consequences of the societal damage they cause. A bit more critical theory analysis would not be remiss....but the application of such intellectual study to a social situation may be, for them, a bridge too far.....better to bring out the baseball bats!

libbyx33

4/01/2014jaycee, I agree with your sentiments above. With this mob of amateurs and buffoons, you really just have to look at the people they are targeting; child-care workers; women (gutting their super); the lowest-paid workers; the sick.... And after sweltering all the long day in 40+ heat, what global warming? After the official records show we have broken every record over the past 12 months for hottest day/week/month/pick a season/year since records began...let's have some "direct action", shall we? What a bloody sick JOKE! Talk Turkey, It's only the 4th of Jan, such a long, long way to go. But I do not despair, I have to keep the faith that this mob of fools will keep performing as they have been...as useless as an ashtray on a motorbike. Not that I want anything but the best for my country & the people in it. I just want this govt to disintegrate in the most combustible, spectacular public way. Like PK said "I want to do you slowly"!!!!!!!!!!! I just hope they don't take too many of us down with them. And on that note, as I've been away for a while (too long) and haven't seen what everyone's been saying, I'm wondering if any/all of you saw "The Keating Interviews" with our Red Kerry? I loved every minute, and by the 3rd installment, my Hubby/BFF had already ordered my copy which I got for xmas. Petty, really, that the only PM who ever came close to his reformations was a certain flame-haired visionary hounded out of office by a complicit media & rats in her own ranks. And hasn't the cricket been absolutely glorious? And to spoil me a little more, we get some tennis too :-) Good days, my friends.

jaycee

4/01/2014Libby...Yes, the Keating interviews brought out some good conversation.....most of us here watched them...I have to add that I thought it was a toss-up sometimes as to who was the best "on-set"..Paul or Kerry!

Jason

4/01/2014Here TT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-IF1U6Ych8

Catching up

5/01/2014".........Politicians who have missed the chance for a holiday dump should not fret. Mr Ralph reckons the year will offer plenty of other opportunities for the opportunistic politician. "A global disaster is a free kick for people that need to bury scandals," Mr Ralph said. "Because there's only one front page, and it's taken.".... Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/tis-the-season-for-mps-to-dump-unwanted-news-20140104-30apo.html#ixzz2pUQArLpf Are we really the fools, as this government believes.

Bacchus

5/01/2014Another excellent effort from Victoria Rollison (and friends): http://theaimn.com/2014/01/05/a-new-year-open-letter-to-tony-abbott/

TalkTurkey

5/01/2014Hi Folks I've been learning to Skype a bit and it's great fun, being able to show some of my tessellation graphics to a friend in Hawaii into similar graphics, you'll see some of my designs on his (most visited-in-the-world!) tessellation website, tessellations.org We spent two-and-a-half hours online, gee we managed to get a lot across with pix and voice and demos compared to email. He has full fibre connection, our 4G connection didn't do too badly but couldn't keep up with his.

2353

5/01/2014Anyone been watching the tennis. Apart from Hewitt beating Federer, when the Sports Minister mentioned "the Newman Government" she got booed! Times they are a changin . . .

42long

5/01/2014When Qld really wakes up we have it nailed.

jaycee

6/01/2014I see Cory B. has shot his mouth off again!…He’s more dangerous to himself than a mafioso-wannabe with a licourice pistol!…With his religious allegiance to THAT institution, you’d have to conclude that he only wants women to have more kids so as to supply the institution peds’ with “canon fodder”….what is he then but a “ped-pimp”!

Catching up

6/01/2014Albanese now on ABC 24. Worth following up. Cory's remarks seem to be going down like a lead balloon. This book came out in December. Why the beat up today? Cory got a hard time on the ABC. Seems his figures do not add up.

Khtagh

6/01/2014Finally the truth is coming out, they obviously can live in warm climates than we do. http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/09/13/russian-prime-minister-confirms-the-existence-of-intelligent-extraterrestrial-life/

Catching up

6/01/2014Looks like ABC are going to concentrate on the Cory announcements all day. Why? Would rather they go back the Albanese interviews. I like the announcer standing in for Virginia.

Ad astra

6/01/2014Cory Bernardi is showing his 'strict father' super-conservative orientation to family, and to politics. He is a Tea party advocate. Nothing he has said today ought to surprise anyone. He is much more a problem to Abbott and the Coalition that to Shorten or Labor. Abbott's office is backing off rapidly.

TalkTurkey

6/01/2014OWWWWW ! My middle finger right hand is BROKEN! Last joint but it HOITS! I squashed it in my van's sliding side door just as I was about to go to the doctor to get clearance on my Crispmess Day bladder infection. That was about ten days ago. I showed the doctor, he said put it in iced water asap, which I did. I didn't realize that with another document (which I thought was the important one, the one relating to the other matter) he had included one to go and get the thing Xrayed. I didn't find that 2nd document until late Friday, Xray mob closed all weekend, finally got the Xray today, took it back to GP, Oh he says you done a good job on it, it's broken and you'll need to get a pin in it (tomorrow), urghhh. It's one of my 2 typing fingers too! And since before that, this morning, I was unable to get online. Finally used System Restore and it seems to have half-worked, at last I got online at least, even though it said it couldn't finish because ... Oh forget it. Cheers friends. At least soon I will be able to watch RICHARD ROXBURGH as the wonderful lovable scallywag lawyer RAKE! And that will help. I reckon it's the best TV series EVER!

Catching up

6/01/2014TT you are having a rough time.

TalkTurkey

6/01/2014Catching Up These things mostly pass in days or weeks, and they only hurt one person at a time. Abborrrtt and his fascist thugs are the pain that keeps on hurting and they hurt so many so much. Thanks for the sympathy though. I've always fantasized scenarios like: there you are laying bricks, your mate comes along and tells you dead-set that you've had a $40 million win in Tatts, WOW, you are so astounded you drop a paver on your little toe! Which gets the attention, the dough or the toe? :)

Catching up

6/01/2014Could it be, that Morrison is pushing boards back to Indonesia. Seen two stories over the last couple of days. One, saying that they boarded the boat, put all into handicaps and tow the boat into Indonesian waters. Not sure where it ended up. Another today, saying they were re given life jackets, pushed back to Indonesia, where police found them on a nearby island. No comment on Indonesia reaction. Not sure whether they are just rumours or not. My gut says, there will soon be a reaction from Indonesia.

Catching up

6/01/2014TT, you are so right.

Pappinbarra Fox

7/01/2014TT I hope it was Not your tv remote finger! You will need to do some finger strengthening exercises. Might I suggest flipping the bird to Abbott I wish you a quick recovery.

TalkTurkey

7/01/2014Foxy One It is indeed my bird-flipping finger though I prefer the V for Vuck U sign myself, it's somehow lewd whereas the single finger is merely rude. But anyone goosed with mine as it is would have difficulty removing it, it's got a hooky end ... Actually the V sign doesn't have a lewd origin, it signifies from mediaeval times that you've still got both your arrow-holding fingers, (cutting them off as was often done to enemy bowmen effectively emasculated them as archers) but it always meant defiance. Really looking forward to having a pin put in Birdfinger I don't think. Catching Up Australia must now rank second in the world only to Israel as a pariah State.

Pappinbarra Fox

7/01/2014Mr Abbott's view of the meaning of life can be summed up in the phrase: The world is a business. Discuss.

Bacchus

7/01/2014TT you're having a wild time of it lately. Might need to change your moniker to 'Wild Turkey' ;-) First one little digit, then another - you really must take better care of yourself :D

Catching up

7/01/2014Change, to the world is a big global business.

TalkTurkey

8/01/2014I'm reposting this because anyone reading it will get a bit of a rush. [I keep saying - [i]Focus on the new Senators[/i]. They are not necessarily all going to be Abborrrtt's bum-boys. ... and then there's WA !] [b][u]A hideous beast awaits Abbott's return[/u][/b] Rob Burgess 15 hours ago 51 Politics Election National Affairs The sun rises on 2014 with an unfortunate guest waiting patiently in the corner of the Liberal Party Room in parliament house, Canberra – a giant creature wearing a 'G'day from WA!' t-shirt, guzzling cans of Emu Export beer and belching with abandon. Nobody wants to sit next to the elephant in the room, but it is there. It's the half-Senate election re-run in Western Australia, and on it a great deal of Australian history will pivot. To re-cap, the first recount of the September election took weeks to complete. It was asked for by the Greens, who'd worked out that the direction of preference flows came down to a crucial moment in the first count that relied on other parties having a lead of just 14 ballot papers. Having found 'handfuls' of miscounted votes, the Greens thought they stood at least a 50/50 chance of returning Senator Scott Ludlam if a recount was approved. It was, and they did. Yet in that process, 1370 votes went missing, leading the sheepish Australian Electoral Commission to itself petition the High Court to declare the election result void (Abbott's nightmare is unfolding in WA, December 10). All things being equal, that would not present the returning Liberal Party members, and their Nationals colleagues down the hall, with that noisy, smelly pachyderm waiting to disrupt their first joint-party-room meeting. But there it is. Things are not equal. One story that received little attention while the nation reverently tucked in to its pavlova and pinot over the past two weeks, was a shocking turnaround in the popularity of the Abbott government among sandgropers. While every poll contains a specific, statistically calculated, margin of error (usually around +/- 2 per cent) there is no good way for the Coalition to spin the last Newspoll which found a 10 percentage point drop in support for the Abbott government out west. Its primary vote fell from 51 to 41 per cent, while Labor's jumped from 29 to 36 per cent. The 'others' went from 10 to 13 per cent. That means that if the expensive, annoying Senate re-run takes place – and before Christmas, psephologist Charles Richardson agreed it looked 95 per cent certain – the voting patterns will be very, very different. Why is that important? Because the weak grasp Abbott has on an upper-house majority at present – in which he relies on the votes of the belligerent Clive Palmer and a motley crew of minor party right-leaning senators – could be lost if he 'unexpectedly' loses another friendly senator in WA. But how unexpected would that be? In the primary vote patterns described above, it is the 'others' that are most interesting. The first WA half-Senate election gave the Palmer United Party a third of a quota, but it is not unlikely that PUP would lose substantial ground next time around. Palmer has already been vilified by certain sections of the press. He would be heavily targeted by Labor strategists in a new campaign, and probably should have come up with a better name than 'China First' for his newly approved coal mine. 'Australia first' could be Labor's mocking retort. For a full breakdown of what could happen in WA, see my previous article on this topic. However, the only new development to date is the disappearance of one-in-five Coalition votes in the Newspoll. Where those votes would flow is uncertain, but is must be said that voters across the country have been told for several months now that they were 'gamed' during the elaborate preference swapping that got parties with tiny primary votes into the Senate – such as WA's Sports Party. Votes are likely to polarise away from minor parties, and back to a safe Coalition or Labor supporting options. On the other hand, they could easily flow to the two minor parties who came closest to the PUP primary vote – the Australian Christians and the Sex Party. (What an election-night party they could throw together!) There is a major fork in the road ahead in 2014. Repeal of the carbon and mining taxes, the unpicking of the NBN legislation, and a host of other major agenda items for the Abbott government hangs in the balance. Could be time for Tony to get out in a 'G'day WA!' t-shirt and shout a few rounds of Emu Export out west. More from Rob Burgess 30 Dec Rewarding the faith of mum-and-dad investors 27 Dec A new perch for the eagle-eyed investor 24 Dec Bringing homeowners the bacon 23 Dec Unleash the property wealth beast 20 Dec There's sense in Hockey's taper caper Connect with Rob Burgess on Google+ Related articles 07 Jan Govt under pressure on tourism 07 Jan Pilbara entitlements under fire 07 Jan Rankin urges 'humble' Asian policy 07 Jan Direct Action won't punish firms 06 Jan Merkel injured skiing More from Business Spectator Technology Adapt or die Commercial The Future of Energy Family Business Alan Kohler's Family Business China China Spectator Please log in or register to post comments.

jaycee

8/01/2014Another employee voluntarily takes the "high-jump" for Murdoch. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-08/rebekah-brooks-assistant-australia-move-allegations/5189732 The taste of Rupert excreta must be addictive!

The TPS Team

8/01/2014libbyx33, Can you contact the [i]TPS[/i] Team please (http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/contact.aspx). We need a current email address for you.

TalkTurkey

8/01/2014Comrades, There is a mischief being perpetrated in the defence of the murderer. I have emphasised it near the end of this report. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [b][u]Victorian man spoke of fear before death[/u][/b] Updated: 16:27, Tuesday January 7, 2014 Days before his death, homeless Wayne 'Mousey' Perry spoke about how he slept on the streets with 'one eye open in case he was robbed or stabbed'. On Sunday, Mr Perry, 43, was attacked and stabbed in central Melbourne before first light. He was taken to hospital but did not survive. Mr Perry had been known to homeless services since the late 1980s. The Salvation Army's Major Brendan Nottle, who met Mr Perry as a teenager seeking refuge in Fitzroy, described him as an incredibly generous survivor who had a kind and appreciative heart. 'It is incredibly sad, an absolute tragedy and it hits hard,' Major Nottle told AAP. 'It's a complete waste of life.' He said Mr Perry had spoken to a journalist about life on the streets days before his death and said: 'You always have to sleep with one eye open because you never know who's going to rob you or stab you.' 'It was almost a premonition to his death,' Major Nottle said. The Salvation Army had tried everything they could to get Mr Perry off the streets, but personal issues had prevented him seeking accommodation, Major Nottle said. 'He kept saying, I've got things I'm trying to sort through and then I'll go in,' he said. On Tuesday, Easton Woodhead, 19, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court charged with murdering Mr Perry, whose full name is Morgan Wayne Perry. The court was told that it was Woodhead's first time in custody. Magistrate Andrew Capell said Woodhead was at risk of self harm and had mental health issues. He asked that Woodhead be seen by a doctor as soon as possible. [b][i]The court was told that Woodhead was a cannabis user and was withdrawing from the drug while on remand[/i].[/b] Woodhead was remanded in custody to appear in the same court on May 27. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The mischief is this: [i]THERE IS [b]NO WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME [/b]ASSOCIATED WITH CANNABIS! [/i] [b][i]NONE![/i][/b] For Defence to claim that is spurious and reprehensible, sucking up to courts and judges and police to perpetuate a myth about cannabis being dangerous yadada yadada yah yah yah. A truly knowledgeable - or [i]honest![/i] - judge would throw it out of court, and tell defence that, if that is the murderer's main defence, then a maximum sentence will be imposed. I anticipate that the judge will instead pat the murderer's head for being "honest" about his "drug problem", a victim of unscrupulous drug dealers etc BS BS BS, and recommend a psychological report. This much is true: [i]had the murderer been stoned his aggression levels would reliably have been reduced and it is extremely unlikely he would have stabbed anyone.[/i] But that is all on its head do you see, [i]"Oh I didn't have any dope so I was aggro!"[/i], ... Yes, but [b][i]NO![/i][/b] It must not be allowed to stand as a defence. When you're a habituated stoner - cannabis user specifically - the effects of cannabis use really last no more than 3 hours, and if you haven't had any for 5 hours (being generous) you are simply straight - [i]absolutely ordinary[/i], no after effects, no high nor low, effects are gone like the sunshine when the sky quietly clouds over. Maybe you prefer the sunshine, but a grey sky shouldn't make you suicidal - nor murderous. It's the man's [i]straight[/i] self what done the deadly deed, well maybe he's psychotic indeed, (well you'd have to say to go and stab an old man to death he'd have to be, but then there's all the other sucker-punchers, and they're nearly all likkered up at the time, and emphatically [i]not[/i] stoned on cannabis!) To blame the absence of cannabis for the man's straight behaviour, now that's rich. See if I'm right eh. * I just read this story to an old friend R**: stoner, musician, encourager, onetime President of Young Labor, and possessor of a clear head. He agreed with every point and anticipated most of them as I was about to read them out. He ended the conversation by saying [i]There's one good thing happening though: [/i] [b][i]COLORADO![/i][/b] :) First US State to legalise recreational use of cannabis. "Prohibition" (i.e. banning of the deadly and deleterious drug Alcohol in the USA) lasted ? a decade? (I'm not sure but not all that long) The prohibition of the entirely innocent, useful *drug* Cannabis - and all the bewildering array of other uses for the Hemp plant - has lasted for 8 decades. [*drug* because there is some dispute as to whether Cannabis actually can justifiably be so designated. Don't diss that please, its action is unlike that of all other agents, and really hardly understood at all.] It's long past time the shibboleths like the one being used to defend the 19-year-old murderer were debunked, and the "War on Drugs" turned back on the abuse of alcohol and [i]its[/i] social effects instead. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It feels a bit lonely writing this on the Fighting 5th Estate. But as my dying mate Tony said to me 5 years ago, (as [i]two tokes [/i]on a Cannabis pipe utterly relieved his [i][u]nerve[/u] cancer[/i] agony for 3 solid hours - where morphine had failed to prevent it breaking through - Tony said, [i]if no-one speaks out, the truth is never heard.[/i] And Tony, knowing that he had just days to live, also said to me with deep sincerity - n.b.,[u] on behalf of all Humanity after he was gone[/u], - he said, [i]Use this story [/i](of how it absolutely relieved his overwhelming pain, gave him a full-on appetite, and brought a little bit of Tony-of-Old back into his eyes just 5 days before his blessing-of-death at 52), he adjured me straitly, [i]Use this story any way you can to help to hasten the full legalization and normal regulation of Cannabis.[/i] I feel compelled to honour that deathbed plea for the rest of my life. And the utter cynicism of the Defence's claim above makes me fume.

Michael

8/01/2014Can the Abbott gumnint get any more stupid? (Well, every day proves they can...) But this day... buying state of the orange art lifeboats for 'turned back' asylum seekers to navigate to Indonesia in!!!??? It would have to be the original boat's crew or an asylum seeker 'driving' the boat, because any Australian at the helm would be illegally entering Indonesian waters. 16 of them, which might possibly mean 16 'successful' utilisations, which will then most definitely mean... 16 expensive lifeboats sitting on Indonesian beaches. "Buy The Boats" would have led to an upswing in the Indonesian boat-building industry. This lifeboat (and they'd have to be blooming big, with asylum seeker vessels routinely carrying 40 plus 'passengers') 'policy' will provide local strip out anything of value trophies for wherever each lifeboat ends up. FFS, what does Abbott sprinkle on his breakfast cereal? http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-08/government-considers-plan-to-buy-lifeboats-to-ferry-asylum-seek/5189722

TalkTurkey

8/01/2014OOh I just had this emailed to me : http://www.acfonline.org.au/future-action?&utm_medium=email&utm_source=acflive&utm_content=2+-+Watch+thiS&utm_campaign=christmasreportback&source=christmasreportback Watch the short clip, it's funny and inspiring. Hope the link works.

Bacchus

8/01/2014He MUST have been of good character before the evil weed consumed him TT. Afterall, he did go to Melbourne Grammar... :-O https://twitter.com/fakeedbutler/status/420685561381154816/photo/1/large

Catching up

8/01/2014http://images.smh.com.au/2014/01/07/5059263/_20140107220653152542-300x0.jpg I wonder where the story of buying life boats comes from. I thought Morrison said they would be announcing nothing. I see where the Indonesian FM said he hopes that the two boats being pushed back, was an aberration. Then one would think he would know. He and our FM are in daily communication, it is said. I wonder if Morrison bothered telling FM Bishop. PS Laurie Oakes now on ABC 24 with repeat of an earlier address. Could Abbott's government be leaking , like a sieve.

TalkTurkey

8/01/2014Bacchus If it isn't the Weed, it's the [i]need[/i] of the Weed: So Weed's guilty, coming or going! They rant about the evil [i]trade[/i] in drugs But they bust just personal growing!

TalkTurkey

8/01/2014 in Share . 1 Repost This How Colorado disrupted the Drug War By David Sirota On January 7, 2014 joint-effortSince my home state of Colorado legalized marijuana last week, the primary question I’ve been asked by friends, family and colleagues in emails, text messages and phone calls is some version of: “Are you high yet?” I laugh along with the tongue-in-cheek queries. Look, I’d probably be ribbing my pals too if the shoe was on the other foot (er, weed was in the other bong?). What’s not such a laughing matter, though, is when the juvenile focus on getting high become the prism through which the national media caricatures our fight to finally disrupt, and ultimately end, the destructive drug war. When that happens, my state’s forward-looking attempt to answer some deadly serious criminal justice questions is flippantly marginalized as nothing more than a punchline for new riffs off “Half Baked” one-liners. This, of course, is what has happened over the past week. Amid sensationalist hoaxes and a carefully timed series of counter-volleys by the most committed drug warriors, the East Coast punditburo’s professional ignoramuses and its never-forget-we’re-the-real-story egomaniacs added the drug war to all the other misguided wars (Iraq, Afghanistan, Terror) they’ve so loyally flogged. In the former camp were the Tina Browns. Though allegedly not high as a kite, she nonetheless floated a free-association non-sequitur against legalization that was somehow even more psychedelically incoherent than anything you might hear in a hot-boxed college dorm room (“Ya man, legalizing weed might, like, hurt our race with China…puff puff pass, bro…”). In the latter were David Brookses and Ruth Marcuses – modern day narcissuses who ignored all the data about the wildly ineffective, institutionally racist war on cannabis and instead shrouded their anti-weed edicts in self-centered stories about their own personal experience inhaling. Lost in the sound and fury were the questions America should be asking as our state moves forward. Questions like: Why shouldn’t adults be permitted to use pot? SEVERAl PAGES OF VERY INTERESTING CANNABIS LORE INCLUDING EXCELLENT PHOTOS FOLLOW AT pando.com/2014/01/07/how-colorado-disrupted-the-drug-war/ …

TalkTurkey

8/01/2014That link didn't. Try this: http://pando.com/2014/01/07/how-colorado-disrupted-the-drug-war/

jaycee

8/01/2014A bit of "on the ground" reality check for the climate-change denialists...Drying and salinated bore-holes and aquifers.....The whole story is too big and too broad a problem to address in a single post...but take heed of my words...despite a lower than average rainfall throughout this area, many farmers reaped a good to bumper crop...because what rain that fell and in most areas (it was a good 100- 150mm. below average), fell at the right time, in the right place...very good fortune..and the sun shone at the right time, not too hot nor too cold....good year for most...but while the shallow-rooted cereal crops were ok, there was not enough rain to replenish the aquifers..consequently, a good many (how many..?)are now inoperable for stock, or have to be "shandied" (mixed w/ mains water) to bring them up to scratch. The cost of mains water / carting will push some marginal farmers over the brink..many have already diversified to stay viable..this will put more pressure on them....now the govt' has to choose if it wants to financially support another "unsustainable industry", or let it go to the wall. I wonder what they will choose

TalkTurkey

8/01/2014Jaycee I dig on your uncompromising posts. Should be many more like it across the 5th Estate.

Curi-Oz

9/01/2014I've just posted a copy of the letter I sent to my State MLC about the proposed shark cull in WA. http://tinyurl.com/lzg9kdj Don't know if it will do any good, but I feel better for having sent it to him. I think it was the image I saw of Premier Barnett holding one of the big hooks that would be used to catch the alleged offending sea creatures so they can be killed that finally got my fingers typing!

TalkTurkey

9/01/2014KHTAGH Check this Little Grasshopper! http://www.hightimes.com/read/giveaway-grasshopper-vape-pens

TalkTurkey

9/01/2014 [b]Oh, that Australia has come to this![/b] [u]Asylum seekers claim mistreatment by RAN[/u] Asylum seekers trying to reach Australia have claimed that members of the Australian navy subjected them to verbal and physical mistreatment as their boat was towed back to Indonesia. One of the migrants, Yousif Ibrahim from Sudan, said they were handcuffed, called insulting names, and one was beaten with shoes before and during their voyage back to Indonesia, where they arrived Monday. The 28-year-old also said four people were left with burn marks on their hands when they were forced to hold on to a hot pipe on their boat as punishment for wanting to go to the toilet. 'We asked for water, they didn't want to give us. They called us inhuman words, like illegal refugees, monkeys from Africa,' he told AFP. Another asylum seeker speaking to local media made similar claims. Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison refused to comment on the claims but insisted that Australian personnel act with the 'highest levels of professionalism'. Ibrahim was among 45 immigrants, mostly from Somalia and Sudan, who set off from Indonesia, a major transit point for would-be refugees, to make the treacherous sea crossing to Australia last month. But they were picked up on an island in Australian waters by officers from three Australian navy vessels and towed back to Indonesian waters, he said, as part of Canberra's hardline border protection policies. It was the first reported instance that the Australian navy has turned a boat back without informing Indonesian authorities, and prompted fresh anger in Jakarta at Canberra's policies. After stopping on the island, the asylum seekers found themselves surrounded by members of the Australian navy, Ibrahim said. 'They told us to go back to the boat, we refused. Then they used violence against us. One tried to run but they beat him with shoes,' he said, speaking from a hotel in Kupang, eastern Indonesia, where they are being housed while their cases are processed. 'They have pistols and weapons. We are afraid.' He said the migrants were handcuffed and taken back to the boat. They were released from the cuffs on the boat and then towed for four days towards Indonesia before the Australians left. They arrived on their own in Rote Island, eastern Indonesia, on Monday. Hidayat, a senior police officer from the Rote Island area who goes by one name, said one migrant had complained he was forced to hold part of a hot engine and had a blister on his hand. A Somalian migrant Marke Abdulah Ahmad, who was on the boat, also said the asylum seekers were subject to abuse. 'We were tortured and inhumanely treated by the Australian military,' he was quoted as saying by Indonesian news website Tempo. Morrison refused to comment on the reports in line with his conservative government's decision not to discuss 'on-water' activities that are part of its hardline policy, known as Operation Sovereign Borders. But he added: 'All personnel involved in border protection operations associated with Operation Sovereign Borders conduct their roles with the highest levels of professionalism, integrity and personal courage in extremely trying and challenging circumstances.'

Michael

9/01/2014Scott Morrison is a bum. He walks talks and smirks just like Alexander Downer in power. Bums.

Ad astra

9/01/2014Folks We are returning to Melbourne this morning.

jaycee

9/01/2014TT. I don't try to be uncompomising...It's just that sometimes the truth of an issue needs to be stated in an uncompomising manner! On the salinity post...; It came about from my research into the local history project I am doing....I have a map with all the allotments from late nineteenth centure landholdings in this area...most were cut up into 200-400 ac. without consideration to the Goyder line and all those ramifications. Now, one would presume that if one was going to farm such a small holding, one would want a reliable supply of water...rain / underground. There was neither here....if one goes to a certain gov. site one can see where and how many bore-holes were sunk in this area....literally thousands!...I asked my erst-wiley (spelling intended!) cousin farmer, who has a windmill and bore near our house how the ppm. was reading in his well....he hummed and hawed for a bit and finally admitted it was above 6000ppm. that means it is in effect..useless...I asked him if it was the same for farmer xxxx over the hill..."yes" was his answer...most in the district..I then opined that at leasty xxxx over near the foothills would be ok as they get more rain....but no..their century old spring / well had dried up and they were carting. My coz' only found out because he was noticing intestinal troubles with his stock (as are other local people with horses) and he noticed the sheep were staying at one trough and not going away to feed.....he tasted the water and didn't think it worse (more saline) than usual....so he cleaned the trough out and filled it with mains water...the stock drank and then went to feed..." I decided then to become the owner of a water tester"....That's right..he had up till then never tested the water...as a matter of fact, the water for that bore was last registered as tested in 1953 ! ...and it is the same for as many as I am aware in this district. This whole district runs on "rumour, envy and schadenfreude"....each farmer watching the other in case one is getting away with something they haven't got!...it is cruel, it is ignorant...and it is destructive..as we now see in the drying and salinity of the aquifers. There is apparently NO authority checking on these bores and recording the march of destruction in this district..each farmer keeping his own council...The ignorance of how aquifers function is endemic...one person, upon hearing that a moritorium was to be put on future bores, sunk nine bores on his property, all in near vacinity of which he uses two or three..the rest, he is "keeping in reserve"...another is of the opinion that the "underground streams" are as those one saw in the movies, like "journey to the centre of the earth"...or "King Soloman's Mines" when one was younger, rivers that flow freely in huge cavens underground!...the ignorance is endemic!.....I have little hope! So when I say..'Heed my words"..it is not as pretence wisdom, but rather as foretold warning!....alas..I am seeing myself as another Cassandra!

TalkTurkey

9/01/2014 Spending too much time a-tweeting! Twitter's great but it's so fleeting! The Sword is great cos it's so stable: Reasoned voice amongst the babel. Here's some (most) of my tweets in the last day: If I don't see some fight from Labor soon I'm'a have to think about voting Groon. Why aren't Labor MHRs saying everywhere Exactly what I'm saying here? HELLO - OHHHHHhhhhh ? ! ? ! ! ! BiLLLL - LEEEEE ???? WTF. Abborrrtt Govt has soured our whole image FOREVER with young Indonesians. We are pariahs now. White supremacist scum. FOREVER I said. Re AS turnbacks & much more: If Australia's society had humanity & courage we'd shut down business & services in face of Govt's perfidy! @dawkinsassange @mynamedebz Between people's stupidity and Jesus' turgidity The Christian religion means mental morbidity! joe.m ‏@joeman42 6h How #Zionism Hi-Jacked #Judaism pic.twitter.com/qekcF5ENdd Retweeted by TalkTurkey David Donovan ‏@davrosz 8h One of the great shames of Australia society is that Paul Keating has taken himself off to his cocoon with his classical music and cuttings. TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 8h @davrosz Methinks likewise. Tory Cory Bound for glory Nazi zealot End of story TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 8h CQ CQ : Any1 intrestd in 3D photo? U never saw y'sef right-way-round in 3D til u c y'sef in stereo on 3D TV! My W3 3D camera is AMAZING! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 9h In SA I haven't met any ALP ordinary members who don't despise Rudd as a traitor and rat. Bill Shorten is not getting much taller neither. @TalkyTurkey So come on Bill FFS, the Greens are CREAMING you With comments on important issues ! I HATE that! C'mon Albo much more please! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 13h (@tom_watson said of the Guardian (wtte) any news service that can get banned in so many places was his kind of news service) Well said Tom, and well done @guardian ! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 13h @Andy_Downunda @AndoJC @rupertmurdoch (Re Murdoch's culpability:) Kevin Maggot Rudd is equally to blame, and just as much of a rat. Both are traitors to Australia. TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 14h @ThumpersAunt @sarahinthesen8 @JuliaGillard (irony) No No NO, ASers being sent back to persecution or drowning but WE GREENS have MORAL HIGH GROUND! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 21h @mumbletwits @GrogsGamut @Rob_Stott (RE Gory Bernazi) The eyes of a fanatical zealot ... He's mucking fad!

TalkTurkey

9/01/2014jaycee A key principle of social contract is Compromise. What must never be compromised is Principle! (Ooohh that's deep for a Turkey.) jaycee While I think that your principles remain uncompromised, I never doubted that you are prepared to compromise in ordinary matters for fairness' sake. Which is to say that you yourself remain uncompromised. You wouldn't want to be, nor to feel, compromised, would you! (that's when you feel like the meat in the sandwich) It's a funny word eh, compromise, with almost-contradictory applications.

jaycee

9/01/2014TT...I'll take that as a compliment!...ta.

Catching up

9/01/2014What is Abbott on about, on 2GB this morning. He chooses his words carefully. He says, on twice, apparently, and or seemly a conversation took place between out military leaders and Indonesia. Surely a PM would know whether it did or not. Still does not get it. He does not seem to understand, the voters have a right to know what he is up to. Is Abbott on holidays or not? Indonesia still says there has been no agreements.

Catching up

9/01/2014Jaycee, I imagine if Abbott does build all those dams, keeping new water out of the system, the problems will become worse. Worse for water below and above the ground. Wonder what fracking will do? Nature is wonderful, but it does not take much to upset the balance. Look at the harm cuddly little rabbits have caused. I remember very clearly, a Social Studies text book when in about fifth class. Years, pages of pictures of erosion throughout the country. Great gullies and was always caused by overstocking of the land. It was something, I understood as a child. I live in areas where the erosion was great.

Catching up

9/01/2014Abbott does not talk like a PM who is in charge,m but like an observer, that has no responsibilty for what is going on. When one uses words such as seemly and apparently, it generally means one does not knowe. Apparent converstaion? What in the hell does that mean?

Catching up

9/01/2014Is Abbott playing divide and rule with Indonesian officials? ]I berlieve he has thrown out a challenged to the Indonesian leaders. There is an election shortly in that country.

Catching up

9/01/2014Would have liked to see the 2GB asked Abbott what he meant by apparently and seemly.

Catching up

9/01/2014http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pTdjNt2LWiU Little comedy.

TalkTurkey

9/01/2014Remember someone who used to post here often saying he was "a big supporter of Israel"? How could anyone except NaZionists support their brutality greed and arrogance? At the time, when I called that person on his attitude, I was called a bully for my pains. H'mmm. I'm not even a starter in the bully stakes compared to Israel. http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/watch-bbc-and-swiss-tv-comedy-sketches-skewer-israeli-colonization

Khtagh

9/01/2014TT Thanks mate, I want one, now!!

Jason

9/01/2014I know Lenore is better than most in the Gallery but just about everyone on the 5th estate have been asking/saying the same bloody thing about Abbott for the last F#cking 4 years! There are a lot of questions most journalists would like to ask Tony Abbott right now. The last chance to question the prime minister was a press conference on December 18, and immigration minister Scott Morrison's last "weekly" Operation Sovereign Borders briefing was on December 20, so there are quite a few unanswered questions about the coalition's asylum policy, for example. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/09/when-questioning-tony-abbott-less-is-moore

TalkTurkey

9/01/2014KHTAGH http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjUkiCffyX0 Great jug band song! But today, not [i]Viper[/i], [i]VAPER[/i] !

TalkTurkey

9/01/2014KHTAGH Jason reminded me of this one, a great parody if ever there was one! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip5e9NUvX6A

TalkTurkey

9/01/2014From AIMN: Via Carmel Nunan ‏@CarmelNunan on Twitter Selling the Golden Geese: http://wp.me/p30D9d-3E2 via @MigloMT

Khtagh

9/01/2014TT That second one is a scream, thanks, my parrot was looking at me real strange while I was laughed out loud.

TalkTurkey

9/01/2014Lady in Red! http://t.co/BbG2qwcpZG

Michael

10/01/2014Catching Up has hit a nail on its head... If Abbott as head of government is not sure whether the head of this nation's military has had a conversation with the head of another nation's military then he has just given away his (claimed) main responsibility, the protection of this nation. There should be no policy/strategy/deployment discussions by the military without clear supervision of the terms and limitations of those discussions from the government, or the 'government', which is essentially the nominated proxy for the people, is failing to control Australia's military through oversight and direction - men in uniform owe allegiance to this country, not to the supposed ease of 'birds of a feather' conversations between military leaders of different nations. One wonders how much the President of Indonesia knew about this general-to-general conversation, that seems (one of Abbott's new buzz words) to be contradictory to announced government positions from either Indonesia or Australia. A nod and a wink between men with little gold stars on their shoulders is the thin edge of a wedge for 'military cooperation' that embraces 'tough guy/situation requires' behaviour all the way to torture. Military men are tools of government, not the defacto spokesmen of its 'true' policy, the 'realists' behind the smooth avoidance of politicians... except that the Abbott gumnint is all about avoidance and shifting responsibility to "experts". Once again, we see how utterly unprepared for, and completely incapable in, Abbott and his cabal are as a government. The Abbott Error stumbles on.

Catching up

10/01/2014Michael, I think I now know what Abbott meant, or more likely is up to. Abbott was well aware that he and his government were twisting the words once again of Indonesian officials. I believe one much question all this government has to say, as they act like trolls that visit these sites. Yes, they go through a comment, take a few words out of context, to give I see that Pyne is keeping his word, to put his own views on what the school curriculum should contain, into operation. Politicians should not be directly involved in what is taught in schools. That should be left up to the experts. Is it time that the sale of cigarettes be limited to a small number of outlets, not everywhere as it is now. Some mention chemists, but that do not make sense. Maybe a limited number of specialist tobacco shops are licensed, make it more difficult to buy. Take them out of the Super Markets and other similar outlets. PS. I am an ex-smoker, that smoked for a greater part of my life.

jaycee

10/01/2014http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-10/indonesia27s-military-chief-says-he-opposes-asylum-boat-turn-b/5193198 We will have to bear the brunt of this most disgraceful act. We are at the mercy of a ship of fools sailing, like children, into dangerous waters and they have no idea of the dangerous waters ahead. These pampered son's and daughters of pampered adults are but children in an adult world. Their brat-like behaviour is bringing shame to the national community. They are the the epitome of the vandalistic, delinquent children of the leisure classes..: all presumption, no responsibility.

Catching up

10/01/2014Just heard an interesting comment on ABC 24. The man said he believes that many of these violent people on the streets do not have father figures at home. Alternative thought is, maybe they have a father at home, that they learnt the behavior from. Most kids, whether they live with natural mum and dad, all have male figures in their lives. They have grandfathers and uncles for a start. It appears our illustrious PM, from his party saying two days they would have an intensive inquiry into alcohol and violence, to now saying, governments can do little.

Catching up

10/01/2014Morrison has now bought our head of ADF into the murky waters that is this government.

Catching up

10/01/2014It is time for the media to stop saying, pushing boats back into Indonesian waters. It is clear they are doing, what Abbott said they would not, is towing them back. Indonesia has warned the action will make matters worse, and will cost both governments. Could Indonesia be warning, they are taking action in retaliation. I cannot see how they could not. One cannot allow one's self to be bullied. This is what the actions of Morrison and Abbott amount too.

jaycee

10/01/2014Please!...somebody tell us this situation wasn't going to happen.

Ad astra

10/01/2014Folks Abbott is all at sea on every issue he gets his hands on, as we predicted over and again. Why is Lenore or anyone else surprised? And some issues have not even had the benefit of his hands at all. Where is his Direct Action Plan? Where is the 15,000 strong Green Army planting the 20 million trees that will soak up our CO2 emissions? Perhaps the answer is here: [i]There were two guys working for the city. One would dig a hole, the other would follow behind him and fill the hole in. They worked furiously all day without rest, one guy digging a hole, the other guy filling it in again. An onlooker was amazed at their hard work, but couldn't understand what they were doing. So he asked the hole digger, "I appreciate the effort you are putting into your work, but what's the story? You dig a hole and your partner follows behind and fills it up again." The hole digger wiped his brow and sighed, "Eeishh, normally we are a three-man team, but the guy who plants the trees, is sick today!"[/i]

jaycee

10/01/2014http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-10/abbott-likens-campaign-against-people-smugglers-to-war/5193546 The dickhead just couldn't wait!

jaycee

10/01/2014History wars, culture wars, smuggler wars!…this govt’ has gone “Queed” on us.

jaycee

10/01/2014Who voted these idiots in!?...I want names..I want faces to those names!....I want criminal charges to those names!...I no longer want to get even...I WANT VENGEANCE!!

TalkTurkey

10/01/2014jaycee Me too! I DEMAND HANGING-DRAWING-&-QUARTERING but I'm prepared to [i]compromise! [/i] ...on TARRING-&-FEATHERING and permanent exile to Nauru.

jaycee

10/01/2014Abbott's alma pater..from "Keating ; The Musical". http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=o+the+mateship+.+keating+the+musical&docid=5060701064593899&mid=DF6EAFA531084EBB045ADF6EAFA531084EBB045A&view=detail&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=DF6EAFA531084EBB045ADF6EAFA531084EBB045A Hilarious!!

Ken

10/01/2014Michael and Catching Up re Abbott not knowing whether or not there was a meeting between Austrlian and Indonesian generals. It reminds me of a line from Arlo Guthrie's song about Watergate when Nixon first claimed he knew nothing about it: "If you didn't know about that one, what else don't you know?"

jaycee

10/01/2014Somewhere, inside that "broad church" that is the Liberal Party...perhaps in the sacristy..inside a cupboard in the sacristy..behind the old dusty vestments, in a shoe-box, at the back of the cupboard, underneath a clutter of hymn-music sheets....is the husk, the shell of the soul of the Party founded on some vague principles of decency, honesty and the "forgotten majority" of Australia...an inside that shell is left a small "voice"..barely now a whisper that is crying out for it's basic decency to be heard....BUT!...are there still ears within the Liberal cogniscenti open to heed it's cry!...or will all decency that was left in the Party be extinguished forever?

jaycee

10/01/2014Sent that last piece to Malcolm Turnbull!

jaycee

10/01/2014AA. In the time alloted us before climate change really kicks in disasterously, there is no time left to reap much if any benefit from treee planting....and given the areas that would accomodate such large expected swathes of planting are dry at best and wretched at worst, the failure rate for such plantings would average at around 50%...and it takes at least four years before ANY carbon sequestration commences on any scale....I hold little...no, I hold NO hope for such a scheme getting off the ground. It is too late to absorb co2...we have to STOP producing it NOW!...no sign of THAT!

TalkTurkey

10/01/2014"If you didn't know about that one, what else don't you know?" [b]There are known knowns[/b] From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Known unknowns" redirects here. For the House episode, see Known Unknowns. "There are known knowns" are the best-known words of a verbal answer to a question at a US Department of Defense News Briefing made by Donald Rumsfeld while serving as United States Secretary of Defense in February 2002.[1] Contents [hide] 1 The Quote 2 Reaction 3 Substance 4 Earlier usage 5 In popular culture 6 See also 7 References 8 External links The Quote[edit] ... there are known knowns; there are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns; that is to say, there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we do not know we don't know. The above statement was made by Rumsfeld on February 12, 2002, at a press briefing where he addressed the absence of evidence linking the government of Iraq with the supply of weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups.[1] Reaction[edit] It was criticised as an abuse of language by, among others, the Plain English Campaign.[2] The comment also earned Rumsfeld the 2003 Foot in Mouth Award.[3] However, linguist Geoffrey Pullum disagreed, saying the quotation was "completely straightforward" and "impeccable, syntactically, semantically, logically, and rhetorically".[4] As for the substance of his statement, Rumsfeld's defenders have included Canadian columnist Mark Steyn, who called it "in fact a brilliant distillation of quite a complex matter",[2] and Australian economist and [b]blogger John Quiggin, who wrote, "Although the language may be tortured, the basic point is both valid and important ... Having defended Rumsfeld, I'd point out that the considerations he refers to provide the case for being very cautious in going to war."[5] [/b]

jaycee

10/01/2014Or in the case of Rumsfeld, Downer et all...there are the : "Knowns I thought I knowned".

jaycee

11/01/2014This creeping insanity called right-wing "thinking" is becoming all-pervasive!...I don't know if there is a way back from it. The rot set in with Howard..back then I found it difficult to believe he could be elected three times!...now we have this "lobotomy project" for a govt', I see it cannot have been an accident. In my work-related meetings with the "general public", I meet many unfortunate souls whose closest brush with rational thought is in counting out their loose change for a "Mars Bar"...and they tell me they vote LNP. coalition. I hold little hope.

TalkTurkey

11/01/2014 On Poor versus Poverty http://thekooriwoman.wordpress.com/2014/01/09/on-poor-versus-poverty/ People treat you differently when you’re more than poor. I have been poor all of my life, but its not until the past year that I have felt more than poor. For the first time in my life, I understand what poverty is, not poorness, but poverty. And although my life has been lived mostly on the margins, I now live outside the margin and the only thing keeping me from homelessness is the house I rent that is a contributing factor to my headlong dive into poverty. When you speak to people from companies on the phone and they realise your calling because you cannot pay, need more time, can’t just hand over your credit card details and sort the matter out, their tone changes, becomes a little more frosty, you are asked curtly to please hold while you are transferred to the – even icier tone – credit department. Your friends tones become hushed when speaking of outings. Your kids stop having all their friends over. It happens over time but it happens. I left a position over reasons at the time that felt empowering. I never thought in a million years I would not be able to get another job. I am experienced, hard working and qualified for many roles. In the 15 years to the minute I left my job, I had been out of work but had always been able to find another position within a few months. But not this time. I have become persona non grata in my very small community. I am an Indigenous woman who works in Indigenous fields that are managed by white people. My last role required a lot of community engagement, nationally. To cut a very long and complicated story as short as possible, we were woefully under resourced, inadequate conditions were contributing to the deterioration ... http://thekooriwoman.wordpress.com/2014/01/09/on-poor-versus-poverty/

TalkTurkey

11/01/2014This is a good article, and remnds us of just how incompetent Rudd was in defending the home insulation scheme, and how perfidious and ultimately self-defeating in shifting all blame onto Peter Garrett. Come on then RC give us a platform to attack back at last. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ upbeatme ‏@upbeatme 8m Pink batts RC could rebound on Abbott http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/pink-batts-royal-commission-could-rebound-on-abbott-20140110-30my7.html … excellent read #auspol

Ken

11/01/2014As much as I hate to say it, Rudd's warning that Abbott's boat policy could lead to a military confrontation with Indonesia seem to be coming closer to reality. What happens if Indonesia puts a couple of patrol boats out on its maritime border. Australian vessels won't cross that border but the Indonesian vessels could just as effectively turn the refugee boats back towards Christmas Island. What happens then? - apart from both nations being condemned internationally. And if Australian vessels did cross that border... who fires first in defence of their sovereignty? Do the refugees get caught in the cross-fire? Lots of 'wonderful' (LOL) scenarios this PM is leading us to!!

jaycee

11/01/2014This slow, dragging down into some kind of quagmire that is conservative "philosophy", can be quite depressing. I sometimes go to right-wing sites just to see if the opp'n is thinking....one is never dissapointed...but I sometimes want to take the piss out of this or that poster there...partiularly on the "denier" sites...You read one poster and you think "ooo!...that's sweet for a swipe!"....but the more you read, the more tragic and pathetic their personality comes through..till you can almost feel the hopeless tentacles of their sad lives reaching out of the monitor, reaching for you to drag you down like a leaden weight tied to your feet in a deep pool....and you have to get away! I've come to the conclusion there are three types that inhabit the denier blog world..none are bright buttons..there's no deep thinking going on, no discourse analysis..just accusation on top of delusion. The first type is the raving accuser..all science is crooked manipulated by the usual money-grubbing scientist suspects..this poster sails close to the wind of certifiable lunacy...or at least worthy of investigation for public safety's sake! The second type is the frustrated, quasi scientific type...he has "verification" at his fingertips in the shape of links!...He will deny for a few lines, in a spitting venom at those who belittle the man..."play at ad hominie" and will then back up his thesis with links, links and more links...mostly from Andrew Bolt approved links...he is like the drunk in the bar at ten o'clock being encouraged by the publican to drink some more when he really should be getting on home and thinking about it! The third is the most insidious...they usually have a direct vested interest in denying climate change on the grounds that THEY are part of the problem...being irrigation farmers or polluters of one kind or another who either deliberately aim to block any intent that would cut into their profits, or are operating a kind of cognitive dissonance that protects them from admitting to themselves that they have gone too far in damaging their environment and don't want to know about it! Whatever the circumstance of the poster, the fact that they now have a sympathetic ear in govt' has given them a shrill voice and a "legitimate demand" to question and expect answers from respected scientific institutions like CSIRO. or the BOM. to "prove" their results to a contentious, jeering audience of deniers. It is just too, too tragic. The words of Henry Lawson come to mind...; "...am I sane in a world gone mad, or mad in a world that is sane?"

Catching up

11/01/2014What happens, if the Indonesians meet the boats at their border, and accompany them across the open waters back to Australia? To do so, would be exactly what our navy is doing.

Catching up

11/01/2014What would be the outcry if Italy followed our example.

Catching up

11/01/2014I wonder what most men, when they say they want religion taught in schools. I am sure they will demand it be taught in a positive manner. Yes, I would also like to see it taught, warts and all. Yes, in a way, that explains what effect it has on society. Yes, all religions taught. If one wants the child indoctrinated, that is not the role of school. PS. Also, how religion, in all cultures change over time. Special emphasis to be put on fundamental and extreme forms of ALL religions. Maybe they can even describe what is the Christian religion in one paragraph. Will take some doing.

TalkTurkey

11/01/2014Catching Up said [i]What happens, if the Indonesians meet the boats at their border, and accompany them across the open waters back to Australia? To do so, would be exactly what our navy is doing.[/i] - except that the Asylum Seekers [i]deliberately[/i] leave Indonesia!

Catching up

11/01/2014TT, I cannot see the asylum seekers objecting, can you.

Catching up

11/01/2014Still, I expect action from Indonesia this week. I believe that Bishop has been asked for a please explain. Politicians will only get brownie points in the lead up to the imminent election. Both government and Opposition seem to have joined forces. After all, they will be using Abbott's electioneering practices, in attacking our PM and government.

Michael

11/01/2014At core, what every religion teaches is: "Follow us to go to Heaven". And everyone else will rot in Hell. That is NOT, incidentally, at the core of what the founders of every world religion offered, which more generally boils down to 'do unto others as you would have them do to you'. The confusion arises when 'religion' is 'organised' into 'church', or any cultural/linguistic variation on that concept. It's not a religion then, it's a dogma-centric social entity, which almost always manifests exclusion, itemised 'truth', and the assertion of the deity's directly designated preeminence, as its primary characteristics whenever and wherever it achieves dominance. Dominance achieved and institutionally protected by the strict definition of what is 'true faith'. Definition asserted by men presenting themselves as the single true spiritual heir of the religion's founder, but who are always no more than men grasping the opportunity to shape, control, and 'fix in concrete', a church. Pyne and co don't want to have religion taught. They wish to assert that the driving, urging, making 'soul' of this nation ("established in 1788" according to fast-pulled from the supermarket shelves T-shirts) must be seen as Christian, in the form filtered and ratified by the edicts and practices of the Roman Catholic church. Anything else is just mumbo jumbo. And certainly won't get you to Heaven.

jaycee

11/01/2014Fed up...: " Maybe they can even describe what is the Christian religion in one paragraph. Will take some doing." Jesus said.: "Thou art Petre (gr.;rock), the rock and upon this rock I will build my church." A pun...get it?..the christian church was built on a pun!

jaycee

12/01/2014I see Arial Sharon has died…..London to a brick there’d be more than one devout Moslem will be tempted to break their vow of alcohol temperance today.

jaycee

12/01/2014I don't know if I have posted this before, but in light of the call for "western civilisation" to feature more in education.... An interesting proposition. Now bear with me a little because, you see, I've been thinking. I was looking up a web site the other day on some subject when these two propositions leapt out of the page to me : Humanity in its' primary state we must agree, has mainly two driving imperatives that motivate its actions..one : Life imperatives (food, clothing, shelter) and two : The drive to procreate. If one was to accelerate humanity forward to an age of empires..say ; a couple hundred years BC....where isolated empires controlled huge sections of land mass, then the need to have standing armies of young males would demand an imperative for the tribe to increase its' population accordingly. The Roman historian ; Tacitus, speaks of this in regard to the Germanic tribes. The other imperative to have a higher population was prevalent in the all the other continents and that was large packs of dangerous carnivore killer animals. Both these factors would logically demand the development of more sophisticated weaponry and coordinated legions of trained warriors into organised armies to both protect and capture territory. All the above is known, reasonable and logical (if, in this discussion, somewhat truncated). Except in Australia! In Australia, there were no packs of hunting carnivore beasts that could threaten humans. In Australia there were no standing armies of warriors defending empires. In Australia there were (mostly) a plentiful supply for the necessities of life for the limited, scattered tribes. In Australia, there was no great extremes of brutal weather conditions. Ergo...in Australia there was never the imperative or social demand to procreate in huge numbers to fill the ranks of warriors, workers or mothers. The hunger for physical sensuality was never "promoted" as it was in ancient Greece or Persia or Asia where erotica became a part of the whole procreation structure. The indigenous peoples of Australia, I will have to propose, were therefore rarely beset with the probems of overpopulation and could, theoretically, exist within their tribal territories for infinity (saving occasional natural disasters eg; drought) without destroying their enviroment. And, by the evidence of approx forty thousand years habitation in Australia.....They succeeded! Friends....We have to regretfully conclude that with the arrival and introduction of western man and his capital-based economy.....We colluded in the destruction of the Garden Of Eden. The driving imperative now is..: Can we rebuild it?

Pappinbarra Fox

12/01/2014Good point JA YC. just Want to make a couple of points. Western civilisation at the time of the invasion of Australia was undergoing considerable change. Society had infected involved to accept pursue and embrace change. aboriginal cultures, and it must be remembered there were probably around 400 different cultures in Australia at that time, were geared to maintaining the status quo through traditional practices and mythologies. so when the Western culture adapted to change meta traditional culture adapted to maintaining the status quo it was inevitable that the traditional culture would not be able to cope. Even in those cultures, such as the North American cultures that were viewed to defending the land against invaders were not successful against the Western cultures adapted to change. The second aspect that we need to look at in relation to Australia and its capacity to carry populations and the basic functions of ecosystems. Australia was not able to carry a population that it currently carries. Globally we currently experiencing a massive extinction episode. This is happening in Australia to men clearing to carry population is one of the key elements of this but not the only one. Thirdly not sure that I would use a phrase from the old Testament, with all its religious connotations, to describe the existence of life in Australia prior to the invasion. Well we're getting back into the New Year and they would appear to be no limit to the types of travesties that this new government can impose upon the people of Australia. Let's do a little bit through the fifth estate and TPS to resist.

Pappinbarra Fox

12/01/2014I'm trying out Dragon NaturallySpeaking for the Mac. As you can see, it doesn't always recognise what I say, I find it difficult in the short space allowed here for typing to be able to proof read adequately. I hope readers forgive me and put in the correct words where they are obviously needed. You I just noticed and had forgotten about the preview tag

42long

12/01/2014Follow out teachings and BELIEVE or you will "Go to hell and suffer eternal damnation and hell fire" Or a shortened approach of cutting off your head if you are an unbeliever, which is probably more HUMANE if a little more basic. HUMANE is out of the equation for Theists as you also cannot serve Mammon and GOD A fair amount of coercion in selling the product there I would think. 50,000 years for Australian occupation makes the 6,300 years for the entire universe proclaimed by the fundamental Christians, a bit of a contrast. IF you consider precipitation and evaporation RATES Australia IS THE driest CONTINENT and for much of the time the Aboriginal population have been here this factor SEVERELY LIMITED THE POPULATION . I doubt that lack of LUST or frequency of copulation was the only means of limiting the numbers. There is evidence of other means (as you would expect)

Catching up

12/01/2014Pappinbarra Fox, same problem for me. Sometimes, when composing a long comment, I do it in Word, cutting and pasting into this space. Do not copy the format, and appears to have little problem. I hope all forgive me, for my errors. I am hoping, after visiting the eye doc, he can fix my double vision, so I can have the mature cataract removed. One can only hope. The double vision is being masked by the cataract. The other eye is deteriorating fast. Got my fingers crossed. I pick up the mistakes, as soon as I send. Maybe Pyne will start, with teaching the history of the RC in this country. Makes interesting reading, as Father Magire pointed out on ABC 24 this morning. Yes, history one will be truly proud of, not. PS, I have bigger problems reading the Captcha.

jaycee

12/01/2014Hey!...it was just a "interesting proposition".... not dogma! But you say , ; "IF you consider precipitation and evaporation RATES Australia IS THE driest CONTINENT and for much of the time the Aboriginal population have been here this factor SEVERELY LIMITED THE POPULATION ." Now, I don't necessarily agree with that statement. Here in the mallee, where a lot of clearing went on that opinion is widely held...trouble is, the mallee tree is quite a selective breed...ie; a certain species for a certain place AND rainfall. Here, for instance (and I have seen it also down the sth' east channel country), there is your bog-standard mallee tree and your selective Black- box or swamp mallee...these ONLY grew in wet land areas..no other place and only in the most wet areas....these are now dryer, yet the older ones remain..demonstrating that certain low-lying areas here-abouts were once wetlands. And where there are wet-lands, there is life...and where there is life there are hunters...from the smallest to the top of the food chain. While I do not doubt there was lust, what I am saying is that there was no "promotion" of sensuality as there is ample evidence for in the old empires.

Catching up

12/01/2014I live on the Central Coast of NSW, near the sea. I was raised in the Central West. What I noticed over the last twelve months, in snot only the lack of rainfall, but what occurs when it rains, Yes, within hours, all moisture seems to disappear. I can never remember the lack of humidity in this area, Walking through grassland, is like being out west. No moisture in the air or grass. Not that one misses the humidity when it comes to comfort. But to me, points to a great change in our weather. This could explain why those fires we had before summer began, spread so quickly. Like fires inland. We do not even seem to be getting the storms one expects after a few hot days, as in the past. Does not feel like coastral weather at all.

Catching up

12/01/2014Mr. Pyne says that the curriculum is left leaning and has to be balanced. How can one create balance when teaching history,. History is about what happened. Is not balance in any way. One can only teach what occurred. Does Pyne want to make a history up for the right, and have that taught?

TalkTurkey

12/01/2014Catching Up Dear Oh Dear my Dear! I'd forgotten that you had eye problems, seems to be the curse of the Blogging Classes. You will certainly get all the sympathy and moral support of all here when you have surgery, and I know from personal experience, the good wishes of other Comrades does help.

TalkTurkey

12/01/2014YEAH! I've looked up MarchinMarch time & again and I never find anything out, last time it said wtte the site was no more. Wotthehell is going on I wonder? http://theaimn.com/2014/01/12/when-asking-a-question-about-march-in-march-unleashes-trollageddon/

42long

12/01/2014Jaycee none of us were around of course but after a lot of trouble to obtain it I have a Book "The Archaeology of Australia's Deserts" by Mike Smith, which I understand is almost his whole lifes work. I am relying on it for those impressions and my statement applies to the later periods moreso than any other.

Bacchus

12/01/2014Do you follow Tim Jones (@forthleft) TT? He seems to be one of the organisers behind it. There's also this on facebook, if you like that sort of thing: https://www.facebook.com/marchinmarch

Catching up

12/01/2014I can see out of one eye. I am sure I am not alone. Hoping for a miracle later this month. Was glad when they said cataract. Until the double vision raised it's ugly head. Will have to convince the specialist to take a punt on operating. The thing I miss most, apart from reading labels, especially on medications, is reading. If an operation is possible, I will have nearly perfect vision back. As my daughter says, I should rejoice in the good health I have. She is right.

jaycee

12/01/201442 long...While I would not deny that a huge amount of research has gone into a 'life's work' and wish it well....Aust' is a big country and while I am not sure what the indigenous pop' reached at it's best, It seems like there must have been room for everybody. And while the debate on just how much wet or dry may have affected this or that part...I can rest assured on the fact (even the "unproven" fact) that any one species of tree, unique to a specific section of temp, water and soil...would, in a natural fertilized state taken a damn long time to perfect it's 'taste" for such a specific area of this country. The mallee, I believe, covered enough area of Aust' to make it one of the most vast bio-forests in the world...yet for all that, the many sub-species of that plant are only suited to very specific types of areas in themselves. I have seen some types limited to only several metres width of land at the edge of soaks in the sth east of sth aust'..no more, because of the water level of those soaks and no less because of the (once)regularity of the rise and fall of that water level. The mallee tree is a marvel of precise bio-evolution...as much so as the termite.....a real marvel and a real beauty at it's grandest! We have some out near us dated at over six hundred years old.

TalkTurkey

12/01/2014Stavros ‏@dodona777 6m Some good ideas from @MigloMT - Let's unite for a great #MarchinMarch Link didn't paste proper. Somewhere on AIMT but also, from Independent Australia: http://www.independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/tracking-tony-abbotts-wreckage,6044

TalkTurkey

12/01/2014Oops, apologies, not AIMT, but theaimn.com/.../ (AIMT is the Australian Institute of Mathematics Teachers, with which I had close contact a couple of decades ago!)

jaycee

12/01/2014But the sad thing is that it is not respected as a tree of significance, like the Redgum or the oak....When the tree-cutters from the electricty crowd came here to "trim" trees near the cables, I had to implore them to be gentle...as it was, the uninformed rabble hacked away regardless...not being aware that an inch of growth marked ten years of time...so a stick of branch they considered unremarkable was forty years of growth...won't get that back in my lifetime. I have counted the tree-rings on branches some of the useless "farmers" here cut down willy-nilly to replace fencelines and they heve been over fifty years old...just the branch...then they will grub out the trunk and all...a good hundred or more years old tree just ripped out to satisfy a "farmers" straight-line fence.....don't get me started!!....Joe Stalin was too soft! The Price of Vanity. Recently, we have witnessed the clearing and uprooting of some old mallee trees along the roadside vegetation on the Sedan-Angaston Rd. and also on the side road that runs past Mr. XXXX's (I deleted the name for TPS. post...JC) property. This was done to replace the fences that had deteroiated and needed replacing. We have addressed this problem before and indeed LAP. (Local Action Planning) has details of the legislation and suggestions to avoit tree damage when replacing fence-lines. The persons who did the work decided to dismiss those suggestions and cleared the mallee trees that they perceived were in their way and then brought in a front-end loader to grub out the roots and clear-clean the fenceline. Fair enough!...They believe they have the legal right to do so...any investigation by the Native Vegetation Unit acting on the photos of the project will ascertain the legalities of the action. Until then, I thought it worthwile to do a quick "back of the envelope" costing of the labour, machinery use and cleanup of the site...against if they had just stepped inside the paddock a metre or two and would not have to do a thing. I....Labour cost for dismantling old fence....Two men - one 8hr.day...@ $20.00 /hr.......$320.00. 2...Tree-felling cost..two men, chainsaw/ tractor/fuel/wear-n-tear,one day..2+machine..$420.00 3...Grubbing up stumps and clearing site...two men, front-end loader, truck.................$420.00 4...disposing of trimmings.....half day, one man, tractor.............................................$100.00 Total........$1260.00..approx. Not a bad price!...certainly cheaper than getting a contractor in to do the job.... Congratulations to the persons responsible......money well spent! Cost if suggested method drawn in LAP. legislation brochure was used:......Total.......$0.oo....approx! Damn!..if the Government doesn't just go wasting all our money!!! [This was posted on the community web-site. As it turned out, the real cost was at least double that!...useless bastards!]

jaycee

12/01/2014AND, I might add...the so called "Native Veg' Unit" that is supposed to oversee all clearing of native trees on road verges was as useless as a "c#nt-full-of-snow" (if you think THAT vulgar, rest assured I spared you what I really feel about them!). As I have written before of the conservative imprint in such districts..from the progreee assoc'ns, the local councils to the state authorities..they have not the slightest...NOT THE SLIGHTEST!..idea of where they are leading themselves and the community...to hell in a handcart would be the most pleasant description!

42long

12/01/2014Sub species adaptation may be more rapid than we imagine. things like eyes that are not used diminish rather quickly. Pigmentation varies too as to camouflage effects etc. there is plenty we do not know. Regarding population densities in arid parts of australia It would seem that they can be fairly well calculated in several ways from what food was available. The figures for some areas are very low compared with what I would have expected. Milling of grass seed gave greater flexibility and sustained through stressed periods.

jaycee

12/01/2014Not wishing to "bore" you on a particular subject, but...I wrote recently on the salination of bores in this district and the now reliance on River Murray water for agriculture...well, I thought I'd make a quick enquiry to another farmer in the mid-north cereal-growing area and he informed me that despite themselves now being also on Murray water, the wells and bores in his area are rooted(to use the venacular!)..have been for a while..too saline for stock in themselves. I then went to "Water Connect" to check the flows in the Murray and while they remain respectable..I note a diminishing of flow from (approx')11000Ml at the vic' border to 7000Ml over lock ONE at Blanchetown...that's the last lock (or first)downstream..that's 4000ML's , or 4GL used between those places....there's not many big cities up there....not a huge population...and when the next drought hits upstream and now we have more and more farmers drawing off the one supply that, regardless of the rumours, is NOT large enough to fill the wide open mouth of Barnaby Joyce..and now this leprotic govt' wants to reinstate water allocations to irrigators!!?..draw your own conclusions! But you see...there doesn't appear to be any oversight of just who or what is drawing from these aquifers out here....I talked to one farmer about his salinity problems and mentioned "overseeing" and he nearly had an apoplexy...'Don't go causing any trouble!" he pleaded..."TROUBLE" I replied "Jeesus, You already got more trouble than you can handle!....I don't have to do a thing in THAT department!" And that's it, you see...no oversight, no cooperation, no long-term planning..no idea! Jeezus H Keerist!..and they wonder why you feel like swearing....I'm going to attend the nags...catch u later.

Catching up

12/01/2014Jaycee, if you have an open fire, grab some of those mallee roots. Nothing better for burning and diving off a good heat.

Catching up

12/01/2014One of Pyne's men said that multi-culturism is wrong. The reason he gave, is that not all cultures are equal. I assume the same goes for religions. That was the excuse, I believe for colonization of much of the world at that time. As a child, I can still remember celebrating Empire, which later became Commonwealth day. Yes, was been a big thing It was reinforced into us, how lucky we were to be a part of the British Empire. Also cracker day, with big bin fires everywhere. Shown all that red that covered the globe. Is this the history that Pyne is talking about. By the way, neither Pyne or Abbott could have aimed for a high ranking job,their religion would have prevented them being hired. Talking about post war 1940-50s

jaycee

12/01/2014Catching up..: "Jaycee, if you have an open fire, grab some of those mallee roots. Nothing better for burning and diving off a good heat." BLASPHEMY!!!......HEATHEN!!

Catching up

12/01/2014Well, they are out of the ground. Also makes good displays. Add a few plants, in the hollows. Look great. My mother in the 1950's walked undergraound to the store ont corner at TownHall. Coles are there now. Cannot remember what it was then. She stood there , with a stunned look on her face, crying, I have burnt a fortue. Yes, the entrance was full of mallee roots, white washed, with plants in them, selling for ten pound each. Big money in those days. Cannot remember what the plants were. Some type of fern I think. I believe my father found after clearing mallee, one did ot get many good crops of wheat, before the soil became depleted.

jaycee

12/01/2014Catching up....This little piece I wrote for our blog will explain all... Climate Change and it's Effect on Biodiversity. My!..That's a big one! Well, the name ; Climate Change speaks for itself. There's no mistaking THAT title. But what of "Bio-diversity"? ..: Life-diversity..=Diverse life. What is that in regards to where we live and how will it be affected with slow or dramatic alteration? Years ago, we purchased a bush block out there near Yookamurra Sanctuary. Some of it was regrowth, but there were stands of original mallee forest. After we purchased it we went for an "explore". We walked down a track, on one side the evidence of regrowth, with its scattering of jagged limestone clusters, on the other much more dense and uniform mallee trees with the burnished silvered leaf-litter spread away inder the trees. Something caught my eye and I turned off the track onto the leaf-litter. I had only gone about five steps in when I became aware of walking on a deep, soft bed of what must be undisturbed litter. Self-consciously, I back-tracked to the hard ground and looked where I had stepped. My footprints had left an indelible impression on the litter, so soft and fragile was the organic makeup. On close examination, I could see the structure and substance of that delicate fabric spread wide over the forest floor. While the ground at my feet was dry and hard, the soil under the litter was moist, easily friable and composed of numerous tiny and minute insects feeding, no doubt, on many more decomposing insect, leaf-matter and fungi etc. Truly, the whole intricate composition of that sub-enviroment and the intertwined relationship with the insect kingdom had to be acknowledged as a natural work of art! I stood up and stepped back to see the picture as a whole. There above was the cloudy sky, then the mallee canopy down, down the silky branches to the scaly trunk and knobbly bole to the multilayered litter there on the forest floor. Each part there named adhered by an invisible tendon to the next and , as if in contractual agreement, one supplying the other with the necessities of life itself..take one away and break the link, the next will surely falter and, eventually, fail. So that is what climate change most probably will do to such a specialised, interlinked enviroment. Especially now that it is already far stretched by the culled resources and erratic weather conditions experienced in the mallee. Let us consider the poetical metaphor effect first promulgated by Edward Lorenz..that the infintestimal movement of air from the flapping of a butterfly's wing may create a "ripple effect" much like a pebble dropped into a pond, whose link doth cause a hurricane a thousand miles away!....We need to "see" the biodiversity in the enviroment as a poet "sees" life in the stanzas he composes, and then indeed, will we be mesmerised by nature's song!

Catching up

12/01/2014I have a soft spot for mallee. It surrounded the first two homes I can remember. A wonderful playground for a small child. It was at a place called Kikoira, not far from Lake Cargelligo in NSW.

Michael

13/01/2014Could the Coalition's blithe expectation that they will 'control' the Senate after July 1 this year come up against cold reality with Clive Palmer's manifest antipathy towards one of Abbott's primary 'bedmates', Campbell Newman? The PUP's promise to rescind every piece of legislation put in place by Newman's regime, legislation politically kindred to Abbott's intentions to equally eviscerate Australia as a fair society, signals that the 'new' Senate, along with whatever transpires in Western Australia's re-run election, may be just as, or even more of a challenge to Abbott than the current one. The bloke who figured government is all about bullying himself into The Lodge may well find his haymakers swooshing nothing but empty air, and his glass jaw left out hanging for any other politician with an ounce of wit about him to tap. Hard.

TalkTurkey

13/01/2014Catching Up, Jaycee I've mentioned this before here ... I was about seven when I was offered a ride on a tractor as it shoved a huge steel roller before it, smashing and flattening the whipstick mallee on lower Yorke Peninsula, where my father was born and where we often used to go for school holidays. For a few minutes only I was really impressed, the trees coming down in a constant ironing of the land, birds flying and little possums fleeing as the destruction continued inexorably ... And suddenly I was horrified : "What is to become of the little creatures that live here?" I asked of the farmers. Shamefaced, they said, "Oh, they'll just have to find somewhere else to live". I knew, and they knew I knew, that the little dispossessed creatures would have no such havens, that they were doomed. That single experience has (dis-)coloured my outlook for the rest of my life. Since that day I have carried with me an unshakeable sense of doom for Life on Earth, for exactly the sort of thinking of which you write so graphically. Kilgore Trout, Kurt Vonnegut Jnr's lugubrious anti-hero in [i]Breakfast of Champions [/i](or, [i]Goodbye Blue Monday[/i]), had a similar experience which likewise coloured his life, when as a child he had the melancholy task of helping his father document the deaths and measurements of the now-extinct Bermuda Erns, the biggest birds that ever flew, victims of a fungal infection that causes tinea in people .. [i]"Kilgore was born in Bermuda. When he was young, he worked with his father trying to save the endangered Bermuda Erns. When an Ern would die, Kilgore had the gruesome task of measuring the dead birds wingspan. He seemed doomed from childhood. "The pessimism that overwhelmed him in later life very likely had its roots in the bittersweet mulch of rotting Erns" (31). This pessimism destroys every human relationship Kilgore Trout has. For this reason, Kilgore is a lonely middle-aged man expecting nothing more from his life than to die alone. The only way he outwardly expresses himself is through writing science fiction novels and short stories." [/i] Sounds somehow familiar!

Ken

13/01/2014Sorry I missed yesterday's discussion - some interesting stuff. One point in response to jaycee @ 10.18. Aboriginals do have erotic art. I have been shown some but for cultural reasons shouldn't really say much more about it - but it does exist. The main reason for a fairly stable population was the relative lack of resources in the desert areas. Tribal areas ("country") were larger in desert areas and quite small in areas with greater resources e.g Cape York and coastal areas generally. It could be argued that the social system that evolved to cope with this was the practice of marrying young women to "elders" who would have a number of wives, leaving the young virile men without partners until they were older. The end result being that the years available for procreation were reduced. The practice was most pronounced in the desert areas which helps reinforce the link between social structures and environment. But one also needs to understand the Aboriginal idea of conception as it existed in traditional societies. It is sometime ago that I learned this so I can't guarantee that I have it 100% right but it went something like this. It depended on the woman realising she was pregnant. At the very moment this happened a spirit of the land where she was at that time had entered her - it provided the [i]spirit[/i] of the child. [i]Subsequent[/i] acts of sex would allow the male to provide the [i]body[/i] of the child.

Ken

13/01/2014Michael Agree that Palmer and his PUPs will not be a push-over for Abbott. Palmer has a history of disagreements with the LNP and that won't change overnight. Apart from his own mining interests, he is taking a populist stance and the populace certainly aren't happy with many of Abbott's decisions - so which way Palmer will go is anybody's guess at this stage!

Bacchus

13/01/2014Ken He's really gunning for Newman... "[quote]Clive Palmer says his party will contest the next Queensland state election, and will seek to "obliterate" all laws introduced by the Newman Government. Mr Palmer is the federal Member for Fairfax and the leader of Palmer United Party (PUP), which is set to hold a powerful position in the Senate come July. He says if elected in Queensland, PUP would introduce a bill to repeal all legislation introduced under Premier Campbell Newman. "A bill will be presented to the Queensland Parliament, which will be a simple bill," Mr Palmer said. "In effect, [the bill] will have a simple prevision ... that all legislation passed by the Newman Government shall be repealed forthwith.[/quote]" http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-12/palmer-vows-to-repeal-all-newman-legislation/5196196

cuppa

13/01/2014[b]March in March[/b] March for Medicare March for the NBN. March for Gonski. March for climate action. March for the carbon price. March for decent treatment of asylum seekers. March for an independent ABC. March for secular education. March for honest government. March in March Monday, 17 March 2014 Your capital city https://www.facebook.com/marchinmarch?hc_location=stream

Catching up

13/01/2014It is clear that Palmer will not support Abbott when it comes to asylum seekers. Today he has said, he will repeal all that the Queensland Premier has bought in. Palmer wants to go to Christmas Island. He has said he has concerns for the kids. Palmer himself has just had another daughter. Palmer has no love for Abbott and his cronies, such as Bough and Pyne.

Catching up

13/01/2014I love the way Campbell Newman describes Palmers promises as stupid. Is not what Palmer proposes exactly the same as to what Abbott is now doing with the previous six years of Labor legislation.

Ken

13/01/2014Well said Catching up What Palmer promises is what Abbott promised. And, as Abbott claims, he must be allowed to keep his pre-election promises!!!

42long

13/01/2014Palmer will have a REAL mandate if he goes to an election with a single issue. That's really the only way the claim stands. Claiming a mandate on a multitude of policies gets reduced to the reality of just having more seats in the Parliament. ( Lower House only at the moment for Phoney). Opposition members are just as elected to the House as anyone else. The PARLIAMENT is the total of the elected members. NOT just the majority party and in the LieNP case it is a co-alition as they themselves admit all the time. They wouldn't be there but for the NP, and if the NP wanted to push the point they would have Phoney over a barrel.

Catching up

13/01/2014So Newman thinks Palmer is short sighted and irrational. What does that make Abbott. ABC 24

Michael

13/01/2014As Campbell Newman is proving yet again, push a Conservative, you leave a smear along the floor.

TalkTurkey

13/01/2014Swordsfolks, I receive a free bulletin from the International Association of Cannabis Medicines IACM every month. [info@cannabis-med.org] And every month brings new revelations relating human interaction with the various cannabinoid molecules. It seems that the wiring of our endocannabinoid receptors and those molecules are almost magically in some sort of lock-&-key agreement. There is nothing vaguely like their action, ordinary pharmacology doesn't get there at all. But every month, as I say, from researchers into pharmacology and medicine in many parts of the world, come multiple findings, nearly all showing obviously beneficial implications, and even those which don't are not known to show any sustainable evidence of serious contra-indications in the use of cannabis. Rather, they show an ever-larger area where the cannabinoids are known to influence outcomes, [i]never[/i] to my knowledge for serious ill, in many many many ways for serious good, and presenting incredibly exciting scope for researchers into the future. But reseachers are well onto it already. No longer does the ignorance and arrogance of the US Right rule the world wrt cannabis. Just read this month's list, blackings mine. Just from the pain-relief point of view - one of many - you'd think the People wouldn't have stood for these laws as long as they have. But everybody's too chicken to stick their neck out and squawk about it of course. [b][u]OR[/u][/b] (and GET this [b][u]OR[/u][/b]) [i]Nobody in the 5th Estate thinks it a serious Human Rights issue[/i] - BIGGER than same sex marriage really. Except this dumb Turkey. [b][u]Gobbleobblllobblllobbblllobbbllllll ![/u] [/b] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IACM-Bulletin 12.01.2014 Newsletter Studies Database of Clinical Studies Law and Politics Medical Possibilities Frequently asked Questions Top-News [b]Uruguay Foreign firms want to study the therapeutic potential of cannabis in the country [/b]Foreign firms want to open laboratories in Uruguay to study the potential uses of medicinal cannabis now that the drug has been legalized in the South American country. Uruguay's Congress recently approved creation of the world's first national marketplace for legal cannabis. Presidential Spokesman Diego Canepa said that foreign companies have told the government they'd like to set up there. ... more [b]Science/Animal A natural hormone protects the brain from overactivation of the CB1 receptor by THC [/b]Two research teams of the French institute INSERM in Bordeaux led by Pier Vincenzo Piazza and Giovanni Marsicano discovered that pregnenolone, a molecule produced by the brain, acts as a natural defence mechanism against some effects of THC in rats and mice. Pregnenolone prevents THC from fully activating the CB1 receptor that when strongly stimulated causes the intoxicating effects of cannabis. ... more [b]USA World's first state-licensed cannabis retailers open doors in Colorado [/b]The world's first state-licensed cannabis retailers legally permitted to sell cannabis for recreational use opened for business in Colorado on 1 January with long lines of customers, marking a new chapter in America's drug culture. Roughly three dozen former medical cannabis dispensaries newly cleared by state regulators to sell cannabis to consumers interested in nothing more than its mind- and ... more [b]News in brief[/b] [b]USA 55 per cent support legalization of cannabis [/b]Another poll indicates a majority of Americans now support legalizing cannabis, a sharp turnaround from past decades. The poll conducted by CNN and ORC International indicates 55 per cent of respondents said the drug should be legalized; 44 per cent said it should not. The findings, CNN said, mirror a Gallup poll released in October that showed similar rates of response in favor of legalizing cannabis. UPI of 7 January 2014 [b]Germany/Holland Dutch clampdown drives cannabis farms to Germany[/b] Large cannabis plantations are popping up more frequently in Germany's sparsely populated north east. A crackdown in the Netherlands has pushed up production of the drug. Since 2011, police have uncovered around 50 cannabis farms in empty buildings across the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania. Before this they would find only a couple each year. Dutch authorities have been coming down hard on cannabis growers since 2011, according to Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania's office for criminal investigation (LKA), which published the figures. The Local of 2 January 2014 [b]Science/Human Sativex effective as monotherapy in spasticity in MS[/b] Over a 15-month timeframe, 120 patients with spasticity due to multiple sclerosis received the cannabis extract Sativex (THC:CBD spray). Sativex was used as add-on therapy in 95 patients and as monotherapy in 25 patients to achieve best-possible therapeutic results. The mean spasticity 0-10 numerical rating scale (NRS) score decreased by 57%, from 7.0 before treatment to 3.0 within 10 days of starting THC:CBD spray. The mean dosage was 4 sprays/day. Authors wrote that the medication “was effective and well tolerated as add-on therapy or as monotherapy in a relevant proportion of patients with resistant MS spasticity.” Marianne Strauss Klinik, Berg, Germany. Koehler J, et al. Int J Neurosci. 2014 Jan 6. [in press] [b]Science/Human Severity of MS associated with a certain variant of the CB1 receptor[/b] Researchers found that multiple sclerosis patients with certain variants of the CB1 receptor had more pronounced neuronal degeneration in response to inflammatory white matter damage both in the optic nerve and in the cortex. They wrote that their “results demonstrate the biological relevance of the (AAT)n CNR1 repeats in the inflammatory neurodegenerative damage of MS.” Clinica Neurologica, Dipartimento di Medicina dei Sistemi, Università Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy. Rossi S, et al. PLoS One 2013;8(12):e82848. [b]Science/Human Changes of the endocannabinoid system associated with irritable bowel syndrome[/b] Endocannabinoid and endocannabinoid-like fatty acid amide levels in blood plasma correlate with pain-related symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) suffering from diarrhoea or constipation. Patients with IBS and diarrhoea had higher levels of 2-AG and lower levels of oleoylethanolamide and palmitoylethanolamide. In contrast, patients with constipation had higher levels of oleoylethanolamide. Researchers concluded that the “here reported changes support the notion that the ECS is involved in the pathophysiology of IBS and the development of IBS symptoms.” Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases, University of Calgary, Canada. Fichna J, et al. PLoS One. 2013;8(12):e85073. [b]Science/Animal CBD inhibited cancer of the colon[/b] Both a cannabis extract rich in CBD and pure CBD reduced cell proliferation in tumour cells, but not in healthy colon cells. The effect of the extract was counteracted by selective CB1 and CB2 receptor antagonists. Pure CBD reduced cell proliferation in a CB1-sensitive antagonist manner only. Researcher concluded that CBD-rich cannabis extracts “attenuates colon carcinogenesis and inhibits colorectal cancer cell proliferation via CB1 and CB2 receptor activation.” Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Italy. Romano B, et al. Phytomedicine. 2013 Dec 24. [in press] [b]Science/Animal The endocannabinoid system is altered in epilepsy[/b] The concentration of anandamide (AEA) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of epileptic dogs was higher than in CSF of healthy dogs. Dogs with cluster seizures and/or status epilepticus and with seizure activity for more than six months displayed the highest endocannabinoid concentrations. Authors wrote that their results confirm the hypothesis that the endocannabinoid system is altered in epilepsy of dogs. Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Germany. Gesell FK, et al. BMC Vet Res 2013;9(1):262. Follow us on twitter @IACM_Bulletin where you can send us inquiries and receive updates on research studies and news articles © International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines Unsubscribe No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3658/6995 - Release Date: 01/11/14

jaycee

13/01/2014I don't know how many of us were born in a tent..with the tent-flaps open both ends and a dirt floor..But I believe most of us live in houses constructed and fitted out with our individual comforts in mind...air, dust, heating, cooling...(need I go on?)...But of course, we seek to create an environment most conducive to our requirements... So how can anyone say with sincere intent, that humanity has not, in it's seeking to create the most favourable conditions for itself in agriculture, production, lifestyle and city-planning...(need I go on?)...corrupted the biodiversity and the natural environment around the earth? Surely, plain logic and our own sense of reason makes it as plain as the nose on our face that in the "collective" manipulation of our earthly environment from one that was considered harsh, cruel, brutal and short...we have brought about a dramatic change in atmosphere, landscape and sea. In short, what we, as individuals have done in our own personal environment can sensibly be adjudged as transferable and magnified in the outside world so that climate variabilities have to be seen as man-made climate changes. So we must accept that the human body ultimately ; "is what it eats"...and if we eat crap food, we end up with crap health!...The earth is also a type of bio-organism, and humanity, in altering the chemical compounds that were naturally occuring, and pumping such compounds and gasses into the earthly body, we have, in short, fed our environment "crap food"....we are therefore responsible for the state of this earthly body. Anthropogenic Global Warming is our baby....it is no still-birth, it is alive and kicking!

Catching up

13/01/2014A must read. http://theaimn.com/2014/01/13/a-society-for-the-common-good/comment-page-1/#comment-52019

Khtagh

13/01/2014TT Easy way to have our herb freed, simply tell Murdoch/Abbott's Lieberals, it will create a more, compliant, accepting electorate, pliable to your every political whim. It will be legal, in shops overnight.

TalkTurkey

13/01/2014Grasshopper I have long fantasized with this notion, instead of quelling riots with water cannon and tear gas and rubber bullets, imagine, [i]smoke pots[/i] (a la the way the Germans defended [i]Tirpitz[/i] from air raids in the Norwegian fjords by blanketing her with smoke in seconds), but with a bale of decent stuff per smoke pot ... Oh of course that will be ridiculed and trivialized by all authorities, [i]but it would plainly work[/i]. But Dog Alfighty you couldn't have peace breaking out could you! Better to use mailed fists and hatred than helping hands.

Michael

14/01/2014Paywalled stories over at The Australian about 'super agencies' for government welfare and splitting Newstart up into different categories based on who's receiving it, tell us all over again that Kevin Andrews should never, NEVER, be allowed near anything that has the potential to affect anyone else's life. The man has an unerring eye for the most destructive ideas that a minister of government can institute. Without care, concern, or consideration for real world impacts. He was, after all, Howard's Minister for Employment who introduced the Workchoices legislation to Parliament. And we know how well he did that.

Catching up

14/01/2014It seems this government is rounding up asylum seekers already in Australia, transferring them the Christmas Island. Will PNG or Nauru accept these people I wonder. If not, what does he intend to do with them

Catching up

14/01/2014Pyne on ABC 24, shredding the premiere of SA

Catching up

14/01/2014Thankfully Pyne is being challenged. GMH is the topic. Pyne accused of taking information out of context. It appears Holden is blaming free trade agreements.

jaycee

14/01/2014Saw Pyne being interviewed on 24. earlier....watching him spit his silly spats at Jay Wetherill....just watching him talk is akin to sitting on the "john" waiting for the enema to take hold!

jaycee

14/01/2014On the choice of Donnerlly and co. as educators..Really, what these older, white, well-educated males ought to be focussing on in education, is their own story...: LUCK!...they ought to be going hell-for-leather teaching about the only thing they have going for them...lucky to be born ; when, where and what colour skin!

Michael

14/01/2014Virginia Trioli moving from telly to radio, the ABC's AM show. Now, that's good news, now. "Now" kicked off just about every sentence Trioli uttered on the morning TV show - sent me batty! But not as much as her constant 'kick Labor' inanities.

Curi-Oz

14/01/2014Got a reply from my state MP regarding the proposed WA shark cull. http://tinyurl.com/mdftzxj Even though my original email with my full name was attached, he still spelt my name incorrectly in his reply. And tiny though it is, that hurts.

TalkTurkey

14/01/2014Michael She was Trivioli to me from Day 1 Curi-Oz I'm back on dial-up speed because I have overused my 8 gigs this month. And I can't open your link, I'd have liked to. Sorry. The shark cull is pure cynical populism. Compared to road trauma, shark deaths are minute. As are Pink Batts deaths compared to all industrial accidents. Seems when Murdochand the Right say Look over there! Australians will see the flea and miss the rabid dog.

Curi-Oz

15/01/2014TalkTurkey - I am laughing in sympathy at your lack of access ... I can totally relate on occasion. It's the smug tone of the reply and the lack of correct spelling of my name (though it was on the email Morton replied to and left attached to the reply) that I find ... irritating. Especially from someone who until last February was supposed to be a principal at a local "christian" college! Oh, yer ... that explains why. Bet he things the 'review' of the national curriculum is a good idea too *sarcasm, much ...*

2353

15/01/2014I see Morrison has now cancelled the weekly 'stop the boats' briefings preferring to only announce things that are 'significant'. One good thing is that 'detention centres' are being closed, however I bet that the poor people that were sentenced to these places won't be placed in the community. It will be interesting if the media is compliant in trying to sweep the issue under the carpet - because otherwise it certainly isn't going away.

42long

15/01/2014Moriscum is getting away with treating us all like the mugs we are for letting him do it. The military types are just being USED. Won't do their standing in the community much in the long term. I didn't vote for the Baskets. Don't blame ME.

Michael

15/01/2014Here http://www.canberratimes.com.au/world/australias-economic-freedom-outranks-us-thinktank-20140115-hv8hr.html?skin=text-only you'll find a conservative think-tank in the US praising Australia for what Abbott and co tell us we DON'T have - "low debt and 'flexible' labour force". You see, Abbott and Hockey and Corman... can lie until they are blue in the face (as their ties), but an honest perspective on where Labor had Australia economically is positive in precisely the areas where Abbott pronounced we were most negative. Did voters listen to the truth about Abbott's lies before the election? Will they listen now? Perhaps it does depend on who the messenger is, and politically conservative assessments from across the seas might bear weight. Whatever, it will be interesting to hear how the gumnint tries to spin bad news out of good. Probably just ignore it, secrecy being the identifying motif of The Abbott Error.

Ken

15/01/2014If Morrison is only intending to announce 'significant' things, I take it that means we won't hear from him again until he announces his resignation!!

Michael

15/01/2014Ken, you wish! That smug smirk was all over Scottlebutt's dial on 7.30 last night. He clearly figures he's got this minister of the government gig nailed! And the rest of us? Gullible fools he can ignore at will.

Pappinbarra Fox

15/01/2014quote]Last week, Prime Minister Tony Abbott defended the Coalition's approach to releasing information about asylum seeker boats, likening Operation Sovereign Borders to being at war. ''If we were at war we wouldn't be giving out information that is of use to the enemy just because we might have an idle curiosity about it ourselves.'' Mr Morrison similarly defended the government's position, comparing it to the secrecy needed around criminal matters.[/quote] People really need to burst out laughing in their faces when they come out with this nonsense.

42long

15/01/2014Shows the POWER of having the media on side. You can't run a country anywhere with a media monopoly like we have here. Gradually Murkey has got consecutive governments to hand more to him so that he will give them a good run. Trouble is enough is never enough. Power is an aphrodisiac. Power is everything..

Michael

15/01/2014This story http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/australians-want-boat-arrivals-treated-more-harshly-poll-20140108-30g97.html which includes this text... 'A strong majority of Australians, 60 per cent, also want the Abbott government to “increase the severity of the treatment of asylum seekers.”' ...might just explain why Abbott and Morrison believe they can (and are) getting away with their "war" and "criminal matters" vocabulary. Because so many Australians are right behind them.

Michael

15/01/2014There's something of a rejoinder to the attitudes revealed in The Age poll story here: http://theaimn.com/2014/01/12/you-are-a-disgrace-to-our-nation/ A 'rejoinder', that is, until the trolls take over the comments section.

Khtagh

15/01/2014Swordsters It has been over 12 months since I installed solar panels & I must say it is really hard to find the 30cents/day to pay my power bill. After a year I have done my budget sums, I now have a total outlay/yr for all services heating/cooling, cooking, hot water, electricity of approx $500/yr(includes gas for cooking/instantaneous hot water). Two yrs ago just one 1/4 power bill was over $600. Best purchase I ever made.

Janet (@j4gypsy)

15/01/2014 It's a G'Day from me, Swordsters, after quite an absence. Am back with a singular purpose. That is, to let you all know what is REALLY going on with #MarchinMarch14! How do I know? Because in a moment of appalling, ill-considered and unrestrained passion, I volunteered to help a bit with setting up the infrastructure to make #MarchinMarch14 happen. Why? Partly because I kept thinking about all the discussions we'd had on [i]TPS[/i] about how maybe now was the time to make protest very tangible and to take it back to the streets. As it happens, the task I've taken on, for a little while, is helping with the running of the #MarchinMarch14 Twitter account at: @14_MarchinMarch Note that this Twitter account has been live for just a couple of days. The original one that tossed the MarchinMarch idea into Oz consciousness, and was picked up again a week ago by the new volunteers, was hacked within a few days (as nerves were hit?). What with house, heat (it's looking like about 10 days straight around 40 degrees in Silver City) and almost overdue [i]TPS[/i] editing, am now a tad stretched – and it's all my own fault! :-) In brief, events under the #MarchinMarch14 umbrella will occur in locations across Australia between 15th and 17th March. The Canberra event will be Monday 17th march because it is a Federal Parliament sitting day. But, here is the link to the main Facebook page, which will lead you to the links for the individual location group pages for #MarchinMarch14: March in March 2014: https://www.facebook.com/marchinmarch You don't have to have an FB account to read the info, but you do if you want to interact. If you want to offer help, or even offer to coordinate an event somewhere new, you can tweet or DM to @14_MarchinMarch, or email 2014marchinmarch2014@gmail.com, or message the main FB page (if you do have an FB account). And yes, a website is coming, too. It's particularly important to find a lot of help in Canberra. Hint! :-) Please keep in mind that this process is only one week old – and is evolving organically. Much is happening behind the scenes that will unify the message in text and graphics for the many groups now participating. But many locations don't yet have the specifics sorted. So if you have questions, please direct them to the FB, Twitter or email accounts. (I won't be popping back here for a while.) This may be one of the most, well, stimulating, political activities I've been involved in in the last 25 years. Maybe the thought of feet finally hitting the ground again does that to one :-) How about you find your nearest group, and get involved? Oh, and don't forget to march! :-)

Catching up

15/01/2014Thanks Janet. The one thing we do not want to see happen, is what happen to Abbott, and the revolt/rebellion he was going got a lead. Even Mirableea for all her efforts could not get it off the ground. Will be turning up at one near me, if I can get the trains to work. I hope the Sydney one is near central, as in the past. There are so many issues, I can see a busy lifestyle for you, and those organizing for the next three years.

Michael

16/01/2014Yet another Abbott gumnint exaggeration (ie, lie) is exposed here: http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/australia-ranked-one-of-the-three-best-countries-to-do-business-in-20140115-30vaa.html?skin=text-only (not paywalled or limited as a 'text-only' file), where with particular relevance to Abbott's so-called Day of Repeal in late march targeting 'red tape', this concluding sentence appears: "It takes just two and a half days of red tape to start a business in Australia, compared with five days in the US and 12 days in Britain." The remainder of the story is all about Andrew Robb in Los Angeles talking up the Australian economic golden days of the last 22 years. Doom and gloom talking to Australians, sunshine and light for everybody else. You can be exposed as a liar telling the truth, you know, when telling the truth 'over there' is 180 degrees opposite to what's ranted about here.

Catching up

16/01/2014Mr. Hockey says Yesterdays senate hearings into the Audit Commission is a stunt. No, Mr, Hockey, the Audit Commission itself is the stunt. The Liberal senator in MHO made a complete ass of himself, trying to present the secretariat in a good light. So much so, at times they had to disagree with what he had to say. This one could backfire on Abboitt. One needs to be careful when one sets up such bodies. One can never be sure of the results. To me, we have seen yesterday, a group of people who have their own barrow to push. The same applies to Pyne's picks.

Catching up

16/01/2014Have I heard it correct. That the taxation office is to outsource their role to accountancy firms. This is to cut the onerous obligations that the business have dealing with the taxation office. I love the inference, that all business is honest, and will pay their taxes in full. They say, there will be few problems, as the firms have their reputation to uphold. One problem, I thought the business they act on behalf of is the client, not the taxation department. At the same time, we have this government not going ahead with raising the taxation, free threshold, that would allow many lower income earners not to have to lodge a return at all. No outsourcing there. Yes, we are indeed open for business. Open for business to extort all they want from this fine land of ours. Forget about the environment and all many hold dear. No longer count. It is a business that reigns, with no constraints at all. No, I must be wrong. Then one must keep in mind, one of the first action of this government was to tell the taxation to take it easy on business, as in their opinion, they were being too tough.

Ken

16/01/2014Jan March 17 may be a parliamentary sitting day in Canberra but it's also St Patrick's Day, which kicks off with a big breakfast at the Irish Club at about 7.30am. Are they serving Guinness at the march? More seriously, it is good to see some action being organised from the grassroots. Health permitting I will be there(between Guinnesses!!)

Catching up

16/01/2014"It takes just two and a half days of red tape to start a business in Australia, compared with five days in the US and 12 days in Britain." Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/australia-ranked-one-of-the-three-best-countries-to-do-business-in-20140115-30vaa.html#ixzz2qVjqHbHo Why the need on the assault on our regulations and laws that protect ourselves, and our environment. We have never been shut for business. Well, at least, since the days of Keating, and even Whitlam. Morrison is denying that any shots were fired, at any time.

Catching up

16/01/2014It was not a dream. [quote]Big business in charge of own tax[/quote] http://www.smh.com.au/national/big-business-in-charge-of-own-tax-20140115-30vat.html [quote]"Economists dispute audit commission's federal government growth claims" [/quote] Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/economists-dispute-audit-commissions-federal-government-growth-claims-20140115-30v9o.html#ixzz2qVqsa5oE One wonders what the real agenda of the government is.

42long

16/01/2014Robb feel's he can tell the truth when Toes is not around. Not permitted to say anything nice here. HERE it's LABOR's MESS and an EMERGENCY, requiring CUTS CUTS CUTS. Caught out a bit. Hockey is the same PRAISES our situation overseas and falls into line HERE. Everything's choreographed here. Twisted to suit the message desired. YOU are Being HAD in a big way.

Catching up

16/01/2014http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-16/natalegawa-says-australia-asylum-seeker-policy-a-slippery-slope/5202362

Bacchus

16/01/2014Janet - proof of the adage: "[quote]If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.[/quote]"

Ken

16/01/2014Does anyone have any idea how this thing with lifeboats for 'boat people' is supposed to work. If people are taken off a boat because it is sinking and put in a life boat, where does it go? They can be towed to Christmas Island but the government is saying that won't happen. They could be taken to another island, outside of Indonesian waters and put ashore. What happens then? They become castaways!! Australia would have to advise someone what has been done and simply dumping people on an island would go down like a lead balloon internationally. Or they can be taken back to the edge of Indonesian waters but what happens then? Does the government expect the Indonesian navy to come out and pick them up? Either Australian personnel have to continue into Indonesian waters, thus breaching sovereignty and threatening an international incident - or the people themselves continue back to Indonesian land and Indonesia gains a lifeboat!! Sounds like the most stupid idea in decades. They obviously have to have something in mind that works so as Australia gets to keep the lifeboats but I can't think what - especially with the way they are putting Indonesia so off-side. Any other suggestions?

Catching up

16/01/2014http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=184NTV2CE_c

Michael

16/01/2014Free lifeboats for Indonesia... Or rather, for enterprising Indonesians to pull the engines out of to then power uncatchable (unless shots are fired, of course) asylum-seeker bearing vessels. La la la Land is the only 'geography' known in The Abbott Error.

42long

16/01/2014They appear to be stark raving MAD with all of this. Whose idea is it?. Will somebody own up? It must be Great Scott Morescum. Could he work all that out on his own.

Michael

17/01/2014Orange lifeboat used to return asylum seekers to Indonesia. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/first-lifeboat-used-to-return-56-asylum-seekers-20140116-30y0d.html?skin=text-only Just about as foul as the use of the lifeboat itself is that Australian military held these refugees on Navy and Customs vessels for five days, which echoes for me refugees being held on the Tampa while a Coalition government decided what to do. In both cases, brusque treatment by Australian military was involved, acting no doubt as we are routinely told, to the highest standards. Net result, an expensive (taxpayers funded, of course) orange lifeboat sitting on an Indonesian beach, and its occupants abandoned to walk through the jungle and find help. Not every island in the thousands of the Indonesian archipelago is occupied. What happens when the first lifeboat with 'just enough' fuel to reach land ends up on an empty, waterless island? Sounds like reckless abandonment knowingly leading to the loss of human life to me. On top of that, how far can one of these lifeboats travel in 3 hours? Sounds to me like Australian vessels were well within Indonesia's sovereign territory waters. Does it feel to you like Abbott and Morrison are shaping orange-coloured shit specifically to throw at Indonesian fans? Asking for, what's the local word, konfrontasi?

Michael

17/01/2014Here's a little strategy for the Indonesian government to show their displeasure to Abbott and co. Refuse as of 8AM today to allow any Australian passport bearer currently in Bali to leave the island by air. Allow only the hiring of local fishing boats for transportation of the thousands of Australian tourists in Bali to reach the Australia mainland. Although, a glance at the map suggests Christmas Island might be more swiftly sailed to. Simple really, let's offer a real Indonesian holiday experience for Australians, at least 60% of whom we are told want the Abbott government to treat asylum seekers more harshly, who find it so easy to fly-in/fly-out holiday in Bali but want the rest of Indonesia ringed with razor wire.

Ad astra

17/01/2014Folks We are returning to the South Coast today. We hope that the weekend will bring cooler weather, and allow mowing and property maintenance to resume.

Ken

17/01/2014Michael The CT article is interesting. It confirms one of my scenarios. We are giving Indonesia free lifeboats. Talk about government 'waste'. How many more lifeboats will Oz need to buy if they can only be used once! And as you say, if a group that is turned back land on an uninhabited island, and there are deaths among them before they are discovered, then OZ will be in deep international 'poo'.

Ken

17/01/2014It is now clear that the secrecy surrounding 'Operation Sovereign Borders' is not because it is an 'operational' matter but because it is [i]illegal[/i]!!

Catching up

17/01/2014So our navy does not know when they are in foreign waters. Several boats on more than one occasion is accidental. ABC 24 Morrison and the general. At least they are getting a hard time with the questioning.

Ken

17/01/2014Catching up You stole my thunder. I was about to say the same thing. Morrison keeps telling us how good the Navy is but apparently they don't know where they are. Either the Navy needs some retraining or this is all 'spin' (read lies!). They knew exactly where they were. How else could they tell the people in the lifeboat that it would take three hours to reach the nearest Indonesian island?

Ken

17/01/2014One other point on boats knowing where they are. All the modern boats, Navy and Customs, are fitted with GPS. As I understand. a more accurate system than we use in our cars. I recall that normal GPS was accurate within about 10-20 metres but the miltary GPS was accurate to about 1-2 metres. So if their position was 1-2 metres out .... Guess the rest.

Ken

17/01/2014Sorry, forgot to add that I think the accuracy of the GPS has improved since I was told those figures some time ago.

Jason

17/01/2014Ken, Have a play with this! Although the Navy and customs boats turn their transponders off once they leave Christmas Island you can see on this link where any modern vessel with GPS etc is http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/home?centerx=30&centery=25&zoom=2&level1=140#

Ken

17/01/2014thanks Jason I have been aware of that site for some time and occasionally go into it just for fun but hadn't thought of checking our customs boats.

Janet (j4gypsy)

17/01/2014Morning all. #MarchinMarch14 now has a website at http://marchinmarchaustralia.org/ The site is very new so please be patient as it develops. The site 'takes feeds' from the city and regional Facebook pages, but is not an FB site - rather an especially developed website. It delivers all the information on FB pages onto the website. Jaycee, this means you should be able to open the link without causing computer crashings :-). Cheers

jaycee

17/01/2014Thanks Jan....have 'liked"..."have son-of-a-gun will travel" !

jaycee

17/01/2014Has anyone got a complimentry comedy comparison between Angus Campbell and Billy Connelly?....

Michael

17/01/2014The hi-tech Australian Navy doesn't know where it is on the open sea??? I can tell you where it is as long as it keeps following the Abbott gumnint's orders. Sailing deep into shit.

TalkTurkey

17/01/2014How many of these questions have been pursued by the MSM? (my tweet): Qs 4 journos 2 Govt: HOW MANY transgressions in Indo waters? HOW FAR in EACH case? WHICH VESSEL/S? WHO CAPTAINS? WHOSE ORDERS? WHAT ACTION?

TalkTurkey

17/01/2014Ad astra Don't I seem to recall a certain You only a couple of weeks ago bemoaning the failure of Summer to arrive on your doorstep? Classic case of [i]Careful what you wish for![/i] :)

Catching up

17/01/2014http://getup.climate-submission.sgizmo.com/s3/?t=dXNlcmlkPTM5NTMzLGVtYWlsaWQ9MzUzOQ==

Catching up

17/01/2014https://drive.google.com/a/student.unimelb.edu.au/file/d/0ByW2V3f-jYBRZUFyYXF4WjI3bmFkWEp1WnE0WVRpalBvTU5V/image?pagenumber=1&w=818

Michael

18/01/2014The less we see of him the better, far as I'm concerned, but isn't Abbott taking his 'on holiday' thing a bit far when Australia and Indonesia, the focus of his "Jakarta not Geneva" take on diplomacy, are at a crisis point? Ministerial responsibility I get, but right now, over the Australian Navy having no idea where it is at any given 'on water' moment, Scott Morrison is the voice and face of Australia dealing with Indonesia. Ugly. This was meant to be an 'adult government' with 'no surprises and no excuses'. Who'd have guessed these hairychests would be spending so much of their first six months in office apologising across the ocean waves? Which, incidentally, pisses off their 'natural constituency' from a quick scan of trollery out there. Imagine Abbott losing government because that infamous 60% of Australians decided he was a pantywaist.

TalkTurkey

18/01/2014 When Life seems sad and bitter, Uncaring, and unfair, You can always turn to Twitter And find some Friendship there. And if you are frustrated, Furious, or bored, Go and write your feelings out On [i]The Political Sword![/i] http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/ 1/2

TalkTurkey

19/01/2014Bloody talkative lot! Meanwhile ... I betook myself to the Adelaide organising cadre of the marchinmarch, here's their website https://www.facebook.com/MarchinAdelaide and here's the main one for all Australia https://www.facebook.com/marchinmarch (main page) ([i]Grace a Gypsy[/i]) Swordsfolks would know that I longed for such action [i]before[/i] the election, but now the Huns are in power, it is vital that all People with grievances of any kind against this horrid Government unite under a common umbrella to oppose it, with a mighty voice that makes it tremble. Do investigate the sites and please offer your help and support if you can. And we must convince enough of the new Senators that they should not let Abborrrtt get his way on some critical issues - and drive him to a double dissolution before the end of this year!

gerard

19/01/2014http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/01/18/sby-resents-abbott-his-new-controversial-book.html “In his new book, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has expressed disappointment at the way Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott handled tensions between the two nations after revelations emerged of Australia’s suspected wiretapping of the President and his wife in 2009. In the book, titled Selalu Ada Pilihan (There is Always a Choice), Yudhoyono said he initially refrained from following a harsh policy that could have affected relations between the countries after the eavesdropping revelations. However, Yudhoyono said the final straw came when he learned that Abbott viewed the incident as normal. “When my best friend Tony Abbott made several statements before the Australian parliament suggesting the case was normal and refused to apologize, I could no longer stay silent,” said Yudhoyono in his book, which was launched on Friday. He also said that as a strategic partner, he could not accept the rationale behind the incident, which violated Indonesian, Australian and international law.”

jaycee

19/01/2014" “When my best friend Tony Abbott..." I reckon SBY. just may have been taking the mick there!

TalkTurkey

20/01/2014Gerard, I'm not sure but I think you are a new contributor? Anyway you are very welcome to our thoughtful blogsite. You may be interested if so in the (self-recording) early history of Ad astra's site [i]The Political Sword[/i], all recorded in the Archives above. It includes has some great work. (I don't think any of us Swordsfolks reads our own archives enough actually. It is a record to be proud of.) Now, to the matter of SBY's comments on Abborrrtt - As Jason says, Abborrrtt thinks he can head up to the islands in a gunboat with some beads and blankets, and by carrot &/or stick diplomacy keep the brown non-Christian hordes of inferior culture in its rightfully-grateful subservient role to the White man, as it always was all the way up until 1972 when that Communist Whitlam buggered things up AND IT CAN BE THAT WAY AGAIN! now that they've got rid of Union power in Australia and can put their foot down and STOP THE BOATS! Can you imagine how that is going down with a whole generation of young Indonesians? I still start to arc up at the sound of Afrikaans, even though I wasn't subject to the apartheid regimes in South Africa that supercilious superior sneering sound still raises my hackles. Imagine how these young Indonesians, sensitive to nuance beyond Abborrrtt's imagining, justifiably resentful already of many things about Australians, and *Christians*, and Whites generally, are feeling about these insults to their President, and their society, and their sovereignty! My abiding picture is of Abborrrtt telling those brown people how things really are, with his foot on their food table. So when SBY calls him his [i]best friend[/i], that is biting irony, understood by every politically-aware young Indonesian. Abborrrtt is mad, and if only a bare majority of Australians know it so far, that is not true of the political classes amongst our Asian neighbours. Thanks to Abborrrtt, JBishop Morriscum and all, we stink.

Michael

20/01/2014Michael Bachelard at Fairfax, in telling a story which actually indicts Scott Morrison and the Australian Federal government as people traffickers (they moved asylum seekers around for five days), has clearly been fed the new "on water" phrase from the liars in Canberra. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/witness-reveals-asylum-seeker-suicide-attempts-on-high-seas-20140119-312s1.html?skin=text-only The story refers to the use of "a disposable Australian lifeboat". What? It's made of tissue paper? It self-destructs after 36 hours in seawater!? Or an inbuilt GPS signals that after reaching Indonesian landfall, all rivets and screws pop out, and the boat collapses into into parts only? Come on, what's wrong with the Press!? More BS from Abbott, "a disposable Australian lifeboat" which we know is solid, working, reliable (designed to save lives, not consign unwanted ones) after one use considered useless, "disposable". How much does each one cost Australian taxpayers? How many Australian taxpayers' dollars are considered "disposable" by the Abbott gumnint to achieve political purposes that put lives at risk? There's only one thing 'disposable' in this story - Abbott's gumnint. How much more of The Abbott Error will Australia have to ashamedly stumble through?

gerard

20/01/2014Thank you Talk Turkey. http://oosterman.wordpress.com/ Indeed, I am a newcomer to this blog. In case no one has seen Mr Abbott if full stride. Here is The Movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu3Gy9t_gF4 It isn't Mary Poppins but hugely entertaining.

Ad astra

20/01/2014gerard Welcome to [i]The Political Sword[/i] family, and for your comment that draws attention to SBY's new book. His comments are telling and his irony delicious. Do come again.

Catching up

20/01/2014Welcome Gerald. That new book where he talks about his friend Tony. Where he says he does not believe in trashing those that go before you. Yes, but he wastes his time. Abbott do not understand back handed comments.

Ken

20/01/2014Michael They have to be called 'disposable' because we can't get them back. And to think in my early post on this, I thought they may have had some other idea whereby Oz could keep the lifeboats. We need to know how much this is costing? How many boats have already been left on Indnesian shores? I was also wondering whether there was an inconsistency between Morrison saying no boat has 'arrived in Australia' and the report that the people on the boat that was turned back could already see Christmas Island. Were they already within the 20km territorial waters? That would mean that technically they had arrived in Australia.

Pappinbarra Fox

20/01/2014I would have thought that, on the high seas, as soon as an Australian boat came within hailing distance of a refugee vessel, people on that vessel called out we are refugees and we seek Asylumn, the Aus navy vessel could not turn them away without breeching all sorts of international obligations. I am also sure that the refugees would know this so the question is did the people on the boats ask for Asylumn and what was the navy response? We want answers!

Michael

20/01/2014Both Pappinbarra Fox and Ken make pertinent points about asylum seekers' status either 'in' Australia's territorial waters, and/or identifying themselves as seeking asylum. I doubt it will come as a surprise to anyone here that Australian authorities both 'on water' and 'in the bunker' in Canberra are almost certainly breaking international law, or flouting centuries old conventions of the sea, in their behaviour out on the ocean waves. Also no surprise to see and hear a floundering with flatulent and fatuous platitudes Abbott giving one of his his bogus pre-recorded 'press conferences' with no Press and no opportunity for conference before he heads off to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum. Our Glorious Leader (sic) made it quite clear that he would, in Australia's name, sort out all those other economic and social dunderheads running nations planetwide, enlighten them to follow the Coalition way, and save the world by lunchtime - if "open for business" would save the world that is. I can already see the footage from the leaders' meetings, with Abbott wandering around like a bedazzled hick. Forget "like"!

Michael

20/01/2014Two stories that make it precisely clear how hokum-spouting Abbott will be deeply out of his skimming depth at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland this week. And how shallow will be the meeting in Brisbane (by the Coalition setting up a hillbilly agenda for it) later this year. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-20/abbott-davos/5203036 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-20/abbott-urged-to-set-clear-direction-for-g20-at-davos/5208968 'Love child of John Howard and Brownwyn Bishop'? More likely the third conjoint triplet separated at birth and compass-scattered by incompetent doctors* - kin Berlusconi, Putin, Abbott. *They didn't scatter them far enough.

Jason

21/01/2014Despite getting their sums wrong and penalty rate having been paid in the hospitality industry for ever these people thought they could tell their staff the not worth they money they earn they told potential customers they were idiots. A PUB and restaurant in Adelaide has come under fire on Facebook after making public its dislike at having to pay workers 2.75 times the ordinary hourly rate of pay on public holidays. The Bombay Bicycle Club in Ovingham set up a sign at the front of its restaurant outlining just how much it would cost them to open on a public holiday. They multiplied everything on the menu 2.75 times in an attempt to highlight the "stupidity" of the new rate. The bread would be $19.25 under the cafe's calculations, while lamb korma was $65, salt and pepper squid $55, chicken schnitzel $48.50 and it would be more than $60 for a seafood pizza. After receiving negative feedback in person, the pub took to Facebook to explain the reasons behind the sign - but the instantaneous backlash forced them to pull the picture, and the sign, after just four hours. "Here's a quick maths formula. Multiply zero (which equals the amount I will now spend at your establishment) by 2.75 and see what it equals," wrote one person on Facebook. "Interesting to see that wages make up 100 per cent of your costs. While it must suck to have to compensate people fairly for working when everyone else gets a holiday, it must be nice not to have to pay for rent, insurance, or food," wrote another. "Pay penalty rates you bourgeois swine!" commented someone after giving the establishment a rating of one star out of five. "Again, WOW. The sign has been removed. Have read all your comments. I will keep my opinions to myself in future," a worker from Bombay Bicycle Club wrote - but not before news.com.au obtained the original post and the picture. You can read the post in full below: "In response to the previous reviews regarding our sign at the front entrance, which was demonstrating how ludicrous a multiple of 2.75 times is when applied to meal costs. "There has been no disrespect shown to our workers only to the idiots who believe that rates of 2.75 times (over $50 an hour) are justified and are sustainable by any business. We have no respect for those that are never happy and always want more. Fortunately our respected and valued employees are not in this group. "I can only imagine how much you would scream if you were charged rates of this multiple for anything. Imagine going to the movies for $49.50 a ticket on a public holiday or a $30 taxi ride costing $82.50 or a ticket to the footy costing $84.00. Just who is showing disrespect here? "We will continue to provide excellent working conditions and secure employment for all our staff and will continue to pay them as per the award. We do however believe we have a right to an opinion and we are not looking forward to this part of the new award coming in. "And yes many venues will close on Public Holidays when this happens as many restaurants in Adelaide already do because they are already on this award. And visit Melbourne on a public holiday, but check who's open. Not many. Remember that this new award replaces a successful one that all employees have been happy with for a long time. "It is the employees that will now get different lower rates under the new award depending on which days and nights they work, many being disadvantaged by this as wage rates during the week will reduce by 30 per cent. So by all means don't come back, and by all means complain about us pointing out the stupidity of a rate 2.75 times the norm but please don't insinuate disrespect by us to our employees. Our employees work here because they want to not because they have to." http://www.news.com.au/finance/small-business/the-bombay-bicycle-club-under-fire-for-complaining-about-public-holiday-rates/story-fn9evb64-1226806387651

adelaidegirl

21/01/2014Their food is crap, anyway.

Ken

21/01/2014Jason How stupid! The shop could have at least spent a little more time to do its sums. Even assuming wages amounted to 70% of their costs, that reduces the multiple to 1.925, then you have to remove the '1' because they are already paying that as the normal rate. So at worst costs would less than double - a $10 item would be $19 not $27. Perhaps they were only trying to make a point but did it very clumsily. Aside from the issue of people having to work on holidays. I must admit I always feel uncomfortable eating out on weekends and holidays, even at night, because I'm always thinking these poor buggers have got to work these odd hours just to feed me!!! The same goes for retail workers these days, when shops are open all weekend.

Jason

21/01/2014Adelaidegirl I went there once about ten years ago and wasn't that impressed then. penalty rates are a reality of life and they should be factored in all their costs through out the whole year.

Ken

21/01/2014On politics, I see the government is worried about the welfare budget hitting $70 billion (out of a total budget of $400 billion, or about 17.5%). Treasury has known for years that it was going to be a problem as the baby boomers aged - why do think Keating introduced the superannuation scheme. They knew it wouldn't stop baby boomers getting the pension but it would increase the number getting only a part-pension (a big saving to the government). And for future generations the old age pension pay-out will be even less as people come through who have spent all their lives in a superannuation scheme - providing of course the stock market doesn't crash again!! Although in many ways the sheme is beneficial, it is another example of risk being moved to the individual - the government and the employer no longer bear the risk when the stock market fails because individual's retirement income is now solely reliant on the growth achieved by the superannuation funds. The only risk to government is perhaps an increase in part-pension payments.

TalkTurkey

22/01/2014Greetings Comrades, No-one can quite believe Abborrrtt's horribleness. The feeling is palpable throughout the 5th Estate. Like a kick in the guts that keeps kicking. Abborrrtt (with a STUPID smirk) now telling Syrians that the best thing to do would be to lay down their arms. Yep, simple. Abborrrtt the World Visionary, strutting and smirking there at Davos, hosting the G20! He of the jeering at *J*U*L*I*A*s (subsequently-successful) efforts to secure that prestigious post for Australia, now [i]inheriting[/i] it! - A mug, a thug, trashing our country's reputation on an international stage! Australia is now a pariah to all fairminded nations. Whispering and laughing at our idiot PM behind his back, but quite fairly holding Australians as a whole to be hypocrites, racists and boorish hateful fools. Non-white peoples everywhere who have bought Australian goods and resources will be going out of their way to find alternative sources. Cattle sales to Indonesia as Jason points out would be a perfect, nicely-targeted industry to start. Indonesians [i]alone[/i] could [i]kill[/i] that trade. I almost hope they do. It's a horrible trade anyway, and cattle have rooted much of this land. Come on Indos, teach LNP a lesson.

Michael

22/01/2014http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-to-indonesian-president-sby-we-will-continue-to-secure-our-borders-20140122-317q2.html One Trick (Smash 'em) Tony is doing his best to trash the relationship with Indonesia again, patronising their President as part of the process. Even at an international meeting he's stuck in domestic politics gazing into his crap-encrudded navel.

jaycee

22/01/2014Just reading Abbott's Davos presser brainfarts over on Guardian....honestly...the man's a fool..an utter, complete simplistic imbecile...I will never forgive those MSM. wankers that gave him so much oxygen over the last three years. They have betrayed us completely....I will push for them to be deregistered the first chance I get!

Ken

22/01/2014And Indonesia is securing their borders. An Indonesian frigate to the area. An escalation ... could easily lead to an incident. War with Indonesia, all over an illegal response to legal asylum seekers!!!!

jaycee

22/01/2014I wonder if this is the moment where one ought to collect all the LNP. acts of bastardry into a list and post them to Fitzgibbon and say : "On your head be it!" ?

Michael

22/01/2014Scott Morrison's running scared, virtually spitting out a schoolyard challenge to prove 'his' military would never do nuffin' nasty with video allegations about Australian military personnel harming asylum seekers 'on water'. Ordered to do nasty, who can say what a stressed individual might force demonised targets to do? Abu Ghraib prison exposed an undercurrent capacity for brutality in US forces, nodded and winked at by their civilian political masters in Washington. Why shouldn't we consider similar signals release similar inhibitions in some Australian military personnel? Morrison has 'nodder and winker' written all over him.

TalkTurkey

22/01/2014jaycee, Fitzgibberer posted on Twitter this morning a photo of grape harvesting in the Hunter Valley, commenting wtte, [i]here's our next wines. [/i] I tweeted back: @fitzhunter As long as you can get drunk on red wine, all you have done to destroy the Labor Government won't matter hey.

jaycee

22/01/2014http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/22/internet-bullying-plan-for-childrens-e-safety-commissioner-under-fire Wondered when Brandis was going to sink his claws into the Fifth Estate.

TalkTurkey

22/01/2014TalkTurkey bids fair to be the nastiest person on Twitter and maybe the entire Fighting 5th Estate! And proud of it! Giant fat-bergs, huge lumps of fat reinforced by unspeakables, can occlude city drains. Then there's Baby-fat-Berg of the IPA on @ABCthedrum

TalkTurkey

22/01/2014Let the Asylum Seekers whose hands were burnt actually show where their hands were burnt on the actual engines! If they can't when given the opportunity then they are lying. If they can, there is strong supporting evidence they are telling the truth. [Otherwise, note, they burnt themselves there like that [i]voluntarily[/i] - WHAT!? ... Ever tried to hold so much as a finger in near-boiling water? - YOU CAN'T DO IT! And hot engines are ever-so-much hotter!] [i]If they are not given the opportunity[/i], that may be taken as proof that the Government is lying. Has anyone of the MSM proposed this avenue of investigation? What an Australia. What journalism. What a farce for smirking puffed-up Abborrrtt to be strutting on the G20 stage!

jaycee

22/01/2014"I tweeted back: @fitzhunter As long as you can get drunk on red wine, all you have done to destroy the Labor Government won't matter hey." TT. you're too polite...should've suggested he give his tonsils first taste of the new vintage..via his overworked anus...bottle first! If he needs a hand give me a hoi!..I'll bring the rubber malett.

jaycee

23/01/2014I’m waiting and watching for all those adjectives that featured so prominent in the MSM. journos’ vocabulary when writing of the Labor Govt’, to be front and centre for this “shambolic lot”..”this rabble “…”this complete shambles”…etc. etc. etc…..AAAND..when is Michelle Grattan going to “fall on her sword”?…and when is Chris Uhlmann going to once again suck-up to Tony’s toes?

2353

23/01/2014The Queensland Government's proposal to introduce voter ID - straight from the US Tea Party 'play book' - looks like backfiring. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/id-checks-at-poll-booths-unnecessary-20140122-3199p.html [quote]Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie said the introduction of ID at polling booths would cut down on electoral fraud. When introducing the proposal, he said the government would not force voters to show photo ID and a voter information letter the government plans to send Queenslanders advising them of the changes, if they go through, could be used as proof of identity. But opponents said it would result in those already marginalised sectors of the community, such as the homeless, those who speak English as a second language and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders being denied their democratic right to vote. Director of advocacy and research at the Victoria-based Human Rights Law Centre, Emily Howie, said the identification amendment was “simply unnecessary”, “as there is no evidence of electoral fraud in Queensland”.[/quote]

jaycee

23/01/2014The "Childe Abbott" breaks wind in Davos! http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/22/tony-abbott-goodies-baddies_n_4642072.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

Jason

23/01/2014Possum Comitatus ‏@Pollytics 6m Kevin Andrews announces taxpayer funded marriage vouchers while his wife owns a marriage counseling firm http://bit.ly/1aJR34h

Catching up

23/01/2014Wonder what Andrews intends to do with the many, that do not bother with marriage, marriage of any sort.

Jason

23/01/2014This is from Crikey in 2010 Andrews and his wife are hardline Catholic marriage counsellors (his wife has long edited the Catholic marriage journal Threshold) and Andrews maintains his membership of Catholic bodies such as Marriage Education and the Australian Catholic Marriage and Family Council, putting him in a hopelessly conflicted position in the event the Coalition should attain government and Andrews has responsibility for the Family portfolio and funding for family services. http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/09/15/abbott-line-up-follows-gillard-but-then-theres-joyce-and-andrews/

TalkTurkey

23/01/2014Good research Jason!

Jason

23/01/2014For all the ABC listeners – brace yourselves…… Virginia Trioli returns to ABC News Breakfast a week after leaving for AM Just a week after being announced as the new presenter for ABC Radio’s flagship current affairs program, Virginia Trioli has decided she is “unable to present AM” due to “family reasons”. Instead, Trioli will remain on television as co-host of ABC News Breakfast on ABC 1 and ABC News 24, and former 7.30 political editor Chris Uhlmann will move to radio. Uhlmann will replace Tony Eastley, who is leaving AM after 10 years to take up a new hosting position at ABC News 24 from mid-February http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/virginia-trioli-returns-to-abc-news-breakfast-a-week-after-leaving-for-am-20140123-31ay7.html

Catching up

23/01/2014Jason, that is disappointing.

Jason

23/01/2014Catching up I know! at least he only has to read a script and not really try his hand at interviewing again.

jaycee

23/01/2014http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-23/abbott-vows-to-promote-free-trade-as-g20-chair/5216230 The "child" has babbled!......Murdoch has sold Aust' a "pup" !

Michael

24/01/2014After watching Abbott's 'speech' in Switzerland I can't help thinking that anyone who was in the hall as he gave it must have collared any passing Australian afterwards and asked... "Is your Prime Minister really as simpleminded as he looks and sounds?"

jaycee

24/01/2014I think, with this unbridled beligerence coming from the LNP. coalition on all matters, we are witnessing the coming end of the Liberal Party and perhaps also the Nats’ by association. This surge to the right in recent years cannot support even the most benign social policies of a future Liberal philosophy….the Party has already ceased to exist in its’ old format and is remaking itself as another thing altogether….whatever that is, it certainly is not “liberal” and it certainly is not “Australian”.

Ken

24/01/2014Michael I'm surprised you had the stamina to watch the speech. I had to turn it off. The teevee and other furniture may have been in great danger if I had kept watching. I did go back and caught the end and thought the applause was merely polite, no more, as they were probably thinking exactly as you describe. I am surprised they didn't just sit in stunned silence wondering if this was real. And before I turned off, I noted that he still can't stop himself from discussing domestic politics (having a go at Labor) when in interntational forums. Who are his advisors? That's a rhetorical question because we know 'who' but it is a question of [i]their[/i] sanity. Abbott and his advisors seem incapable of escaping their Opposition mindset. It's not only embarrassing internationally, it's becoming 'Twilight Zone' stuff.

Michael

24/01/2014Fascinating how Abbott espouses getting big government out of the economy, but is about to legislate the forced abolition of all and any parental leave arrangements in Australia, private or at any level of government, so that ALL paid parental leave for working women (with aan equally remunerated two weeks for partners)in Australia will be administered through Centrelink and be provided through the Federal Government. If this isn't 'Canberra' meddling directly in peoples' lives, I don't know what is. Almost literally the imposition of a "nanny State". But, of course, this is Abbott's personally conceived 'baby' (puns are almost impossible to avoid in this saga), so everything else he says about government fiscal efficiency and the reduction of government regulations in Australians' lives goes out the window. However, because the Abbott PPL is so darned expensive, how much else of what Australians consider to be the 'business of government' when it comes to assisting its citizens will be sacrificed? So long as the country has lots of rosy-cheeked babies and plumply satisfied new mothers for Abbott to visit come the next election, I suppose it's all worth it... in Abbottania, this land wide open for business so long as "business" is whatever our guided by visions PM defines it as.

Catching up

24/01/2014I believe not many hung around for his speech. Maybe they do not like being lectured by such an ignorant person.

Ken

24/01/2014A joke which is relevant to all this discussion about 'big business'. A big mining company recently hired several cannibals. "You are all part of our team now", said the HR manager during the welcoming briefing. "You get all the usual benefits and you can go to the cafeteria for something to eat, but please don't eat any of the other employees". The cannibals promised they would not. Four weeks later their boss remarked, "You're all working very hard, and I'm satisfied with you. However, one of our Admin girls has disappeared. Do any of you know what happened to her?" The cannibals all shook their heads indicating "no". After the boss had left, the leader of the cannibals said to the others, "Which one of you idiots ate the Admin chick?" A hand rose hesitantly, to which the leader of the cannibals continued, "You fool!!!!! For four weeks we've been eating Managers and Supervisors and no one noticed anything, but noooooo, you had to go and eat someone important!!!!

Catching up

24/01/2014http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jan/23/davos-2014-world-economic-forum-day-two-live?CMP=twt_gu

Curi-Oz

24/01/2014I woke this morning to read that the Republic of Indonesia has planes that can reach the shores of Australia, and was also reminded (because I was reading the comments in the SMH) that Mr Abbott and the majority of Australians do not live in Western Australia. Also that RI seems to have a predilection for hanging on to the western halves of islands, like Timor and Papua, and that Australia is essentially just another big island. Somehow I was not reassured by the confidence expressed by some of the correspondents to the SMH article, that the US or NZ would come to Australia’s aid under those circumstances. (And one idiot actually suggested the use of nukes … ) At least now that the rest of the world has had it confirmed that Australians were stupid enough to elect Mr Abbott’s party at the connivance of certain stake-holders, they may actually find a way to mitigate the damage to other countries. I fear we are going to be in for a hard time though.

TalkTurkey

24/01/2014 Tony Abborrrrtt, mountaineering expert, delivers wisdom! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGMeXeFfZRw

Catching up

24/01/2014http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qS9RLdfLF9E it6 appears at the G20, they are talking climate change. What did Abbott stand up and proudly exclaim, that he has got rid of the two taxes. One, being the CEF cost of carbon emissions. The other for windfall profits in the mining industry. Many countries would find this rather strange. Keating still makes sense.

Catching up

24/01/2014USA will not be coming to Australia's aid. Why should they. What is in it for them? We were told this back in Howard's day, and the Timor matter. This video was back in Gillard's day. Nothing has changed.

Curi-Oz

24/01/2014I think this is a dubious first for my profession! http://tinyurl.com/lknlh9t Mind you, it just goes to show librarians are not necessarily the quiet mice we are often portrayed as *moderately amused* Still don't like the VLAD laws though!

Michael

25/01/2014How Australia actually is as we enter this Australia Day long weekend. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/putting-the-i-in-idiot-australians-dont-know-what-they-want-20140123-31ae7.html Hello John Howard, unleasher of the truly ugly Aussie.

TalkTurkey

25/01/2014Pretty good writing that, Michael. What a pity it's also so true!

Michael

25/01/2014Coalition gumnint caught out lying again, this time about how 'damaging' welfare spending is to the Australian economy. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/coalition-fears-on-welfare-spending-not-justified-says-labor-20140124-31ecw.html Compared to similar nations and economies around the world - but why would Abbott and co take notice of them? There are so many 'lefties' and 'socialists' that need beating up Down Under.

TalkTurkey

26/01/2014Israel makes me sick. Her sycophants and apologists are a disgrace to the human race. Her arms suppliers are the world's worst criminals. Here the Israeli sow puts on a pretty lip-sticked face to hide her theft of Palestinian land. http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/oxfam-backs-scarlett-johansson-despite-actress-endorsement-israeli-settlements

2353

26/01/2014[quote]First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.[/quote] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_... [quote]The Queensland Government says elements of new anti-bikie laws will also apply to paedophilia rings. Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie has just introduced the legislation into State Parliament for debate, having already revealed plans for a bikie-only prison. He says bikies face mandatory additional sentences of up to 25 years for serious crimes, and so could paedophiles. "The reason we've made a broad interpretation of that definition is so we can catch gangs that aren't operating under bikie colours or criminal motorcycle gang colours," he said.[/quote] http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-15/qld-government-plans-bikie-only-prison-under-new-laws/5022524 [quote]EVERY sex offender in the state faces being indefinitely held in jail unless they can convince psychiatrists they are unlikely to reoffend. From serial rapists to perverts who like to film up girls' skirts - hundreds more predators are in the firing line as the State Government moves to overhaul sex offender laws. Advisers informing the State Government's review of sex offenders laws want to widen the Dangerous Prisoners Sexual Offender (DPSO) Act to not only make it even tougher for the courts to release predators but also to include other sexual offenders. Asked about their advice, Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie said he was "open to any ideas'' and was consulting with relevant stakeholders. "The brief is simple. We want to make these laws as tough as possible to ensure the worst of the worst stay behind bars,'' Mr Bleijie said.[/quote] http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/lnp-government-in-push-for-indefinite-jail-time-for-sexual-crimes/story-fnihsrf2-1226810459030

Catching up

26/01/2014They can come for us. That we cannot stop. What we can do, is let them know they are wrong, and will have a fight on their hands. That they do not expect. They think they hold all the cards. Maybe, but I believe we have the aces. What was reassuring, was that G20 were not talking about or interested in Abbtt's message. The G20 we are hosting later this year should be very interesting. Wonder if many will bother to turn up. We had a PM who went three days too early, and seen no one of any importance while there.

Catching up

26/01/2014As for sex offenders, especially those who commit crimes against children are difficult to deal with. Locking them up, after they serve their sentences, in case they commit another crime is not on. Is not justice. The sentence the courts imposed must stand. Now, how do we deal with the problem, when the time for their release is another matter. A way must be found, that defends their liberty while protecting children. Maybe we need to build into their roles, undertakings follow restraints that the community imposes on them. This must be decided during the sentencing process. The biggest problem with many of these people, they do not see that have committed any crime. Therefore do not avail themselves of any counselling or other ways, of dealing with what is an obviously a big problem for them, and the children that come across their path. They are not all strangers to the kids. Many are natural fathers. They can be found across the community. Come in all shapes and colors. The ones that hit the airways, are so outrageous, but in reality, the easiest to deal with. It is those in families, that do the most harm, and are still hidden. Yes, some mange to go through three generations of their descendants. Stricter laws will solve nothing. Many do not see the law applying to them, as in their eyes, they have committed no crime. They see themselves as the victim., not the child, not even their own. Politicians should keep their snouts out of this one.

Curi-Oz

26/01/2014Watching as all these stringent new laws are introduced unnecessarily (instead of enforcement of current laws) so that politicians can be 'seen to be doing something' makes me wonder how Germany wound back some of the more egregious legislation introduced in the 1930s and 40s, and how it is healing the divide between the old East/West legislative burdens? I wonder if Australia and her states will be able to do that...

Catching up

26/01/2014Getting ready for the real battle. That is when the protesters decide they have had enough, and take to the streets.

TalkTurkey

27/01/2014Those who suffer from sleep apn(o)ea, Type 2 Diabetes, glaucoma, depression, many other medical problems, and expecially from persecution under arcane laws, should register with IACM (International Association for Cannabis Medicines) I get an update every month. There are always good things to report re Cannabis, virtually no contra-indications at all. [i]Why ignore the gentle benevolent medical elephant in the room?[/i] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IACM-Bulletin 26.01.2014 Newsletter Studies Database of Clinical Studies Law and Politics Medical Possibilities Frequently asked Questions Top-News IACM/USA Cannabis is no more dangerous than alcohol Obama says President Barack Obama believes smoking cannabis is a "bad habit" but thinks legal penalties now fall disproportionately on minorities and that states legalizing cannabis should go ahead with their plans, he said in a profile released on 19 January. "As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as ... more Science/Human Sativex effective in peripheral neuropathic pain in large clinical study In peripheral neuropathic pain the cannabis extract Sativex may cause clinically important improvements in pain and sleep quality. This is the result of a clinical study with 246 patients at Gartnavel General Hospital of the University of Glasgow, UK. In total, 303 patients with peripheral neuropathic pain were screened; 128 were randomized to Sativex (THC/CBD spray) and 118 to placebo, in ... more Science/Human THC changes brain waves in patients with obstructive sleep apnea THC treatment yielded a shift in EEG (electroencephalogram) power toward delta and theta frequencies and a strengthening of normal rhythms in the sleep EEG of 15 patients with obstructive sleep apnea. This is the result of research at the University of Illinois in Chicago, USA. Obstructive sleep apnea is characterized by repetitive pauses in breathing during sleep, despite the effort to ... more News in brief Science/Human Legalizing medical cannabis reduces suicides The legalization of medical cannabis in certain states of the USA was associated with a 10.8% and 9.4% reduction in the suicide rate of men aged 20 through 29 years and 30 through 39 years, respectively. Estimates for females were less precise. Authors wrote that the “relationship between legalization and suicides among young men is consistent with the hypothesis that marijuana can be used to cope with stressful life events.” Department of Agricultural Economics and Department of Economics, Montana State University, Bozeman, USA. Anderson DM, et al. Am J Public Health. 2014 Jan 16. [in press] Science/Human Sativex had no relevant long-term effect on cannabis dependence in clinical study In a double-blind clinical study with 51 cannabis-dependent treatment seekers, Sativex reduced withdrawal symptoms. Both groups showed reduced cannabis use at follow-up, with no advantage of Sativex over placebo for self-reported cannabis use or cannabis dependence. National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Allsop DJ, et. al. JAMA Psychiatry. 2014 Jan 15. [in press] Science/Human Cannabis may improve sleep of patients with post traumatic stress disorder According to an analysis of 170 patients with post traumatic stress disorder of a medical cannabis dispensary in California those with high PTSD scores were more likely to use cannabis to improve sleep, and for coping reasons more generally, compared with those with low PTSD scores. Authors wrote that “sleep improvement appears to be a primary motivator for coping-oriented use.” Center for Innovation to Implementation and National Center for PTSD, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, USA. Bonn-Miller MO, et al. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2013 Dec 31. [in press] Holland There is no reason why cannabis should remain prohibited, report concludes Commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of justice, the independent policy research organisation RAND Europe wrote a review on the effects of cannabis policies. The report says that “it is clear that the report offers no significant reasons why cannabis should remain prohibited. Nor does the report show any findings that prohibition of cannabis has ever reduced consumption. The report certainly does recognise the emerging international consensus that cannabis has important medical qualities that are being recognised and commercially exploited.” Multinational overview of cannabis production regimes France/UK The pharmaceutical company Ipsen will market Sativex in Latin America Ipsen, a French pharmaceutical company, and the British company GW Pharmaceuticals announced that they have entered into an exclusive agreement for Ipsen to promote and distribute Sativex, a sublingual cannabis extract spray intended for the treatment of spasticity due to multiple sclerosis in Latin America (excluding Mexico and the Islands of the Caribbean). GW Pharmaceuticals of 14 January 2014 Italy The city of Turin decriminalised cannabis The northern Italian city of Turin has legalized cannabis for medical purposes in a new law and in the second part of the law overruled the restrictive 2006 Fini-Giovanardi law on drugs, which abolished any distinction between soft and hard drugs and introduced the same penalties for possession/use of cannabis and heroin. Now this part of the law may pave the way for legalization of recreational cannabis use in Italy. The medical use of cannabis has been already allowed in some Italian regions like Liguria, Tuscany and Veneto, but the recreational consumption of the drug is still taboo. Eturbonews of 15 January 2014 Science/Human THC influences endocannabinoid concentrations The endocannabinoid blood concentrations were influenced in 25 healthy volunteers, who received a large dose of THC (0.1 mg/kg intravenously). Mean anandamide increased slightly from 0.58 ng/ml at baseline to 0.64 ng/ml and mean 2-AG from 7.60 ng/ml to 9.50 ng/ml within some hours. Then they were reduced to a mean of 0.32 ng/ml for anandamide and to 5.50 ng/ml for 2-AG. Levels returned to normal within 48 hours. Department of Anaesthesiology, Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, Germany. Thieme U, et al. Drug Test Anal 2014;6(1-2):17-23. Science/Animal How THC reduces viral load in monkeys infected with the monkey version of the HIV It is known that THC reduces viral load in male rhesus macaques infected with SIV, the monkey equivalent of the human HI virus. New research indicates that “chronic THC treatment modulated duodenal T cell populations, favored a pro-Th2 cytokine balance, and decreased intestinal apoptosis.” Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Department of Physiology, New Orleans, USA. Molina PE, et al. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2014 Jan 8. [in press] Science/Human Certain variants of the CB1 receptor associated with irritable bowel syndrome A certain variation in the gene, which encodes the CB1 receptor, the so-called “(AAT)n repeat of the CNR1 gene” conferred an increased risk for developing irritable bowel syndrome. Department of Gastroenterology Hepatology, Guangzhou First People's Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, China. Jiang Y, et al. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2014 Jan 20. [in press] Follow us on twitter @IACM_Bulletin where you can send us inquiries and receive updates on research studies and news articles © International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines Unsubscribe

jaycee

27/01/2014With the Abbott being as mad as Richard 111…perhaps he can now be reffered to “affectionately”as “Dicktrios” and any stupid legislation he puts through the House as ‘Dictriating” ?

2353

27/01/2014This appealed to my (warped) sense of humour. [quote]In what some are interpreting an ominous sign for world peace, two white doves released from the Vatican have been attacked by two larger birds. The doves were set free as a symbol of peace from a balcony overlooking St Peter's Square during Pope Francis' weekly Angelus prayers, held at noon every Sunday. But moments later, a seagull and a black crow swooped down and attacked the doves, pecking at them repeatedly, as tens of thousands of people watched on.[/quote] http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-27/peace-doves-released-during-pope27s-prayer-attacked/5220114 Symbolism is a bugger isn't it ;-)

jaycee

27/01/20142353....Doesn't auger well!

jaycee

27/01/2014I posted this on a "deniers" site this morning...the subject was using "Fire-stick" methods to manage the environment. Comment from: jaycee January 27th, 2014 at 9:11 am I don’t know what the above is supposed to mean…code, I guess!…But on this fire-stick business…of course, “in the olde days”…when one had VAST areas of complete forest…chockers w / bio-diversity (it’s not a dirty word!)…a tribe or two of “black-fellahs” could burn out a couple of hundred square miles and it would hardly be felt!…and with the surrounding “reservoir of flora / fauna AND microbiology” recovery was only a few years away. Now…if one was to “fire-stick” (and they do anyway) one would be torching remnants of bush and scrub. In doing so, not only is the flora burnt, but also the fauna and the insects and the fungi and micro-organisms…and since there already is a break in the chain of bio-diversity, there is not the native animals nor reservoir to re-stock any recovered flora that you all wax so lyrical about! Oh my God!…The Lichen!..Won’t anybody think about the Lichen ?!! But hey!..Jennifer!…here I am preaching to the converted!…you know this already, don’t you…you got the Phd….you got the “no-nothing pontification” under your belt!…my apologies, I’m being disingenuous here..I really was talking to your acolytes…as you can read..they are just “skimmers” looking at the easy stuff…the surface material…but YOU know and it is THAT which disturbs the muse of your knowledge…I wonder if you are not betraying your education, your qualifications, your disipline by obfuscating and letting these “unfortunates” wander into areas where only the most dexterous Googlers and Wikists can survive? I worry about your soul, Jennifer. The site is ; "jennifermarohasy"...I think!

Michael

27/01/2014Working with the aged in care facilities calls for training, experience, and dedication. It's not a walk in/walk out occupation or skills set. The Abbott gumnint wants to force Work for the Dole participants to assist the aged. Along with picking up rubbish and maintaining public parks. Apart from telling us a lot about how Abbott and co actually rate aged care, they also plan to enforce a three months turnaround on Work for the Dole stints. So, how many people reckon anyone can learn everything they need to know about assisting the aged in care facilities WITHIN three months, leave alone being IN and OUT in three months??? Abbott used to accuse Labor of making up government policy "on the run". This mob are worse than that idea suggests - they are digging up failed policies from the past, and then willy-nilly adding extra layers of underconsidered and ideologically shaped requirements and impositions. Work for the Dole was never more than a 'make work' layer on social welfare. To make part of that 'work' in the future assisting aged Australians who require particular and trained care and won't get it from three-monthly blow-ins is callous, demeaning, and will actually make more work for the trained staff in aged care facilities to have to redress when untrained dole-recipients inevitably screw up. Typical gumnint thinking in The Abbott Error.

TalkTurkey

27/01/2014http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-27/peace-doves-released-during-pope27s-prayer-attacked/5220114 http://sploid.gizmodo.com/lightning-struck-rios-jesus-christ-statue-and-broke-of-1503947641 Is Sky-Wiz trying to tell Catholics something?

jaycee

27/01/2014" Is Sky-Wiz trying to tell Catholics something?".....Yes!..: "I want to hear those collection plates rustle, not rattle !"

Catching up

27/01/2014I have seen where one old lady said, who reared this man. No manners whatsoever, whether at the table, in the company or it appears on a stage where there is a singer in action. Appears to have no social skills at all. Peta, forget the voice lessons, bring someone in to teach him what his mother should have done. Please Peta, as your face showed with that official at the G20 meet, that even you have given up. Please do something. Maybe you can work on that smirk as well. I know I am asking for a miracle, but the man intends to be around for more than the next two years. There must be something you can do. Most PM learns quickly when they take the role on. This one is getting worse, if that is possible. How can one muck up Australia Day Awards, as he did. Could the problem be, that he has stayed hidden in the dungeon so long, that he has denied himself training, in practice and experience of getting better. Maybe you should send him out into the public everyday, to give him the chance of getting the hang of giving a simple press conference. They say practice makes perfect. Not that I am eager to see the man. Just want him to improve enough, that one does not cringe, when he performs on the world stage. Every occasion, so far, has been disastrous, in spite of him not allowing open media conferences. Home made, in house media conferences do not work. He comes over even more fake in those. No, I am afraid for Abbott to learn, he has to face questions from the media, which they are supposed to ask on our behalf. Peta, as you appear to be the only one he listens to, take PITY ON US ALL.

Catching up

27/01/2014Work for the dole helps no one. Just an expensive scheme to let the public know how tough they are. I believe the charities that use this free labour, treat the recipients like dirt The numbers on the dole, go up and down, in relation to unemployment figures. There is no evidence they are growing for other reasons. One needs to realize, at the end of the day, there are some that are unemployable, through no fault of their own. People that no one would want a job on site. They simply do not fit in. Maybe one needs to look for other outlets for these. Maybe be with a little care, they can be placed in the workforce. Money is better spent on education and skill training. More honest to take them out with shovels to the nearest beach. Have them transfer the sand from one end to the other. Where is the Green Army. I am sure, many will be hived off there. Not sure what skills they will learn. Hope we have wet enough seasons for the trees to grow. Still, I do not believe that will concern this mob.

Khtagh

27/01/2014G'Day swordsters. I'd like to know what your thought are on this idea, reposted comment from AIMN. This is step one towards Gina's free slaves for all Liberal businesses, the time is fast approaching where all the left will have to make some serious decisions, to take what is being dished out to us & just capitulate or actually get up off our arses & do something. We could change the status quo within 1 week if we wanted to. It is much simpler than you might think & although I will be there it is even more effective than the march in March. Here is how we do it. We pull out the keystone. If just half of all green & Labor voters went to the bank next week & drew out all their money the banks would go into meltdown, this intern would start a run on the banks & would snowball, once the rich think they will miss out panic will set in. The truth is your money is not there, it is not safe, it is not secure, it is an illusion, it is not even a house of cards its a house of $5.00 bills. We can jump up & down all we like, write blogs send letters complain till you are blue in the face, nothing will change, unfortunately the Lieberals have perfected the art of ignorance/arrogance, there is only one thing they take notice of money! & their want to have as much as they can in their own back pockets. Money=power, take away their money, you destroy their power, nothing hurts a Lieberal more than taking money off them, it is their Achilles heel. Gina would eat a mountain of weight watchers meals to save herself paying $1.00 more in tax. We are being treated with total & utter contempt by Abbott & his band of rorting crooks, we have the power, we just have to make up our minds if we want to use it or not, I don't know about you but I have had more than a gut full of this bunch of corporate thieves & the tame puppets with their puppet master Murdoch. Using this method we can even bring Murdoch down.

Catching up

27/01/2014TT, I have been around the drug all my life. Not even you can tempt me, even if good for those who suffer from sleep apn(o)ea. Sadly, I have seen it cause much harm. Yes, not necessarily the real cause, as I suspect many have underlying reasons for their finesses. I find it hard to believe, it has not made matters worse, especially in the strong form it is today. Then I am very interested in the results that mother got, with her daughters extreme epilepsy. From continues fits, doing great harm, fewer than a couple is indeed a great result. A great result for a few drops of the drug each day. What I cannot understand, is why not the doctors backing her. I have worked in the field, and no the damage this type of epilepsy does to babies and children. Still, the jury is always open.

Catching up

27/01/2014Khtagh, if we cannot influence the government or politicians, we have to concentrate on the voters. This PM listens to no one, Does not even pretend to. Look at his behaviour in Davos. Not interested in what others had to say. Not even talking about the same topics. Just went his own way. Saying what he went to say, then clearing out, before any could question him. They are not interested in identifying or dealing with the problems that beset this country They are so wrapped up in their own ideology and beliefs, putting it in place, that all is ignored. Even criticism that is coming from all quarters, not just the left. I cannot recall such a government in the past. One that is so dismissive of all around them. They are marching to their own drum, with all others being out of step. It will be interesting to see where this takes us.

Catching up

27/01/2014Yes, contempt is the name of this government. Contempt for all, outside their small tent.

jaycee

27/01/2014Catching up....well said on many posts..."respect"...as the young folk would say!

Michael

27/01/2014Remember when Joe Hockey used to rail against the Labor government because of a supposed spiral into financial ruin for Australia? Just quietly, 'tippy-toe tippy-toe, who else needs to know?' Joe has directed Treasury to extend their (that is, fellow citizens, our) borrowing to 500 Billion dollars. Now, that's a debt! To hide, apparently, since the directive was only made public on January 22. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2014/01/27/14/44/treasurer-sets-fed-debt-limit-at-500bn Can't stop lying, this mob. Lies of commission, lies of omission, The Abbott Error shuffles on. 'Commission'? The quoted story tells us the "The Treasury has now borrowed $500 billion...", a level of debt an 'adult Opposition' swore they'd never be party to once they ran the nation. 'Omission'? The nation's Treasurer keeps this borrowing secret as long as he can, gives it the go-ahead during national holidays, and since he was supposed, through an agreement with the Greens, to make public the official extension of government debt, and since neither he nor the Greens have seen fit to inform the public, then one wonders if the Greens have been informed, or simply omitted from the process once their vote had been bought to set up the procedure? Gee, will our grandchildren have to have off this pernicious government debt??? Or theirs? Or theirs? I know, let's whack the disabled and unemployed to balance off Jivin' Joe's 'free' 500 Billion bucks.

Catching up

27/01/2014I have no problem with government debt. I do have problems this government plays politics with debt. I have problems with how the debt is being accumulated. We are seeing cuts in all government services. We are not seeing infrastructure, such as NBN, Better School and CEF going ahead. We are seeing benefits cut. We are also seeing growing debt, unemployment and inflation. What is going on? We now have him saying, he is going to put a $500 billion cap on debt. Did we not get rid of the cap, a few weeks ago. Does this mob have Any idea of what they are doing. PS. We are at seeing industry such as the car and fruit manufacture sent to the wall. We see Canberra, well on the way to ruination. No jobs and falling real estate. Many other areas will not be far behind. Why the debt? [quote]Treasurer Joe Hockey has given a directive to set Australia's debt limit at $500 billion, despite parliament voting to abolish the ceiling altogether. The directive relating to government borrowing was officially gazetted on January 22. 'I direct that the maximum total face value of stock and securities that may be on issue is $500 billion,' Mr Hockey states. The directive expires on April 1, 2024. A spokesman for Mr Hockey said it was in line with the legislation passed in December to abolish Labor's $300 billion debt ceiling and 'satisfied funding and operation requirements'. The abolition of the debt limit was the result of a compromise with the Australian Greens, after Mr Hockey's initial attempt to legislate the $500 billion ceiling failed. The mid-year economic review released last year forecast debt to rise from $310 billion in 2013/14 to $460 billion by 2016/17, and $667 billion by 2023/24 if the budget is not brought under control. SHARE THIS ARTICLE:[/quote] http://www.skynews.com.au/businessnews/article.aspx?id=945300&vId=

Catching up

27/01/2014 RESULTS PER PAGE • First • Back • 1 • Next • Last SORT • DATE ∧ • TITLE ∧ • 09:00AM, 29 January 2014 Duration: , 8 hours NAME Senate Committee Hearing SUMMARY Select Committee on the National Broadband Nework: Inquiry into the National Broadband Network Save to private calendar Page 1 of 1 • 09:00AM, 31 January 2014 Duration: , 7 hours NAME Senate Committee hearing SUMMARY Environment and Communications References Committee: Inquiry into the Government's Direct Action Plan Save to private calendar • 31 January 2014 Duration: All day NAME Senate Committee Hearing SUMMARY Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee: Inquiry into a claim of public interest immunity raised over documents Save to private calendar

jaycee

28/01/2014http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-28/clc-rejects-mundines-indigenous-treaty-proposal/5221734 So...Mundine, on behalf of his masters tries the old "divide and rule" game...but i see they are a wake-up to him...very astute!

Michael

28/01/2014Mundine is a walking definition of "coconut". In bed with Abbott... the dictionary is wide open.

TalkTurkey

28/01/2014CU I appreciate your comments on [i]l'herbe superbe [/i]and I acknowledge that some people, nearly always novices, experience feelings of paranoia and panic. These events are in turn, nearly all short-lived, vanishing within minutes, or anyway by the time the stone has worn off, usually no more than 3 hours. Note that much of this may be sourced to guilt feelings associated with the illegality of using cannabis, coupled with the increased sensitivity that its use confers. Very occasionally people do suffer longer-lasting episodes but there are NEVER deaths from cannabis overdose (no such thing), no violence, no road rage, no liver damage, no obesity, no hangover, no withdrawal from its use ... Comparing that with alcohol ... ! The alleged "strong form" of cannabis, take my word, is a MYTH!proposed, promoted and perpetrated by the same sort of people as climate change deniers, antifluoridationists and immunisation opposers, and the forces of Law and Order of the Prohibitionist school. [i]Don't give them any credence[/i]. You were open-minded enough anyway to give credence to the story of the epileptic daughter, that's the important thing. No-one will ever try to make you smoke marijuana, not even in a ring of tokers, not like alcohol, "Arrrr come on ya weak ****, have another beer..!"... Cannabis users respect the rights of others, never any pressure to conform. CU you said then, [i]Then I am very interested in the results that mother got, with her daughters extreme epilepsy. From continues fits, doing great harm, fewer than a couple is indeed a great result. A great result for a few drops of the drug each day. What I cannot understand, is why not the doctors backing her. I have worked in the field, and no the damage this type of epilepsy does to babies and children. [/i] If indeed cannabis does have both positive and negative effects, it is vital that medical research be done to use cannabis to its best effect, and to guard against its worst. And that is now happening in many places around the world, as IACM posts show. I acknowledge your fairness in being prepared to see both sides CU, but I do think you needn't worry much about legalization. It seems from the evidence to hand that anywhere cannabis laws are liberalized, everything goes peacefully. But when finally you said [i]Still, the jury is always open.[/i] I thought, Well damn the [i]jury[/i], I'm sick of being [i]judged![/i] (But I know what you meant, and you are fair.) Onya Catching Up, thank you for the consideration.

DMW

28/01/2014... lurking

Khtagh

28/01/2014TT You could not have put it better, I totally agree with you on all counts plus a few of my own observations. I feel it does what no other natural drug does, although it is an extremely good pain killer, it doesn't actually kill the pain like say morphine. It takes your mind off it, if you do anything that would exasperate the original pain you know about it. It is the cerebral effects of it long term that are of real interest to me. Usage tends to drop off with age, but the original effects which tend to fade with heavier use like munchies, laughing fits etc return. If this rampant lie of addiction to dope was possible, someone through power of will alone would not be able to reduce usage to 1-2 cones/day(after tea)from 6-7/hr from breakfast to bed(original accident). This is over a 25+ yr period too. Maybe the eye opening that occurs when one first has a smoke & realises the powers to be have been lying about Cannabis all along flows over to many things in life, like seeing through political bullshit?

Jason

28/01/2014Is Tony Abbott about to appoint IPA to renewables review? The renewable energy industry in Australia might be tempted to pack their bags and find another country to conduct their business if the latest talk in Canberra is true: sources say that the Abbott government will name Alan Moran, an anti-renewable zealot from the Institute of Public Affairs, to a new panel that will review the Renewable Energy Target. According to sources, Moran will be one of three or four business people appointed to an “independent” panel that will get secretarial support from the department of Prime Minister and Cabinet – rather than the department of Environment, or the department of Industry, which includes Energy. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/tony-abbott-appoint-ipa-renewables-review-45647

2353

28/01/2014DMW - nice to see

Catching up

28/01/2014Well, how has one enjoyed the stage manage the effort, with the assistance of the ABC and Fairfax, to reveal that there are some crooks and stand over men, within the construction industry. Will wonders ever cease. Everyone, on the ABC have their own agenda and barrow to push. O'Farrell has The union is correct, if there is evidence of corruption, it is a police or ASIC matter, not a matter for the industrial courts. Can anyone tell me, how many unionists did Abbott's ABCC courts imprison,. How many employers ended up in strife. TT, watching those around me smoke cannabis for decades, I cannot agree with you fully. What I do know, alcohol has caused much more harm. My son for years, who gas a big alcohol problem, substitute the alcohol with cannabis. Much better for him. Does not like the drug. Blood testing for jobs, has taken him back to grog. Disastrous for him. I wish he would give all up. Those around me, all grow their own. It is a very private matter for them.

TalkTurkey

29/01/2014CU It seems to me that you are saying that apart from your lad's weakness for alcohol, it is the no-drug-laws that have caused him grief - not the cannabis, which you say is better for him (well not so bad anyway). It does seem to me that your attitude is a little ambivalent, even inconsistent. I do know people who only drink excessively when there's no cannabis around, or to put it more correctly, only stop drinking when there [i]is[/i]. If your son is one of those, you might see that the State is doing him a grave disservice in insisting on absolutely cannabis-free blood tests, when his last use of it may have been days or even weeks before the tests. (It stays dissolved in body fat, but [i]absolutely inert[/i], for quite some time.) I also know of one case of a man who only quit his nicotine habit by having a supply of cannabis, far far less damaging, (some research suggests regular cannabis smoking may actually [i]improve[/i] lung function!) Anyway CU I appreciate your sincerity, and the fact that you are not silent like 99.97% of the community including the 5th Estate! Amazing that gays and lesbians can come out in millions and be embraced, but poor old dope-smokers, of whom there must be far more again, are too scared to say Boo. Onya Grasshopper, one of the .03% !

Catching up

29/01/2014TT Not really. He does not like the drugs, but used them, so he would not drink for over ten years. Now he is on his own, he has gone back to the grog. He is a person that should never drink. Same as his father. It destroys his life. With the cannabis, he was in control. Well, not in control, but not on the grog. I have never seen them have problems getting it. My son in law, which seems to have little problem with it, grows his own. Access is no problem. It is terrible, but sometimes, if he cannot give up the beer, I would rather see him on cannabis, but I do not think it is harmless. Nothing is simple. In my experience it is the ice and amphetamines that cause the most trouble. Personally, I like beer, maybe sometimes too much, but have never had any interest in drugs, even prescribe ones when I think of it. As it does not seem hard to obtain, why in the hell do they insist on banning it. When one thinks about it, it does an oath make sense. Police would be better employed elsewhere.

TalkTurkey

29/01/2014CU please be sure that in taking issue with you on a couple of points I mean you no animosity, just please take this all in your customary good humour. I'm using a couple of the things you said as cues for my own comments, it sure is nothing personal. You said [i]He does not like [b]the drugs[/b], but used them, so he would not drink for over ten years.[/i] When you say [b]the drugs[/b] what drugs would that be? Prescription drugs maybe? I must say I never met any cannabis user who kept using it when he didn't like it! And you said [i][Alcohol] destroys his life. With the cannabis, he was in control. Well, not in control, but not on the grog.[/i] In what sense then, still 'not in control'? You haven't explained. Couldn't it be that you are failing to recognize that cannabis could be the [i]best[/i] thing anyone could [i]prescribe[/i] to keep his disastrous alcoholism at bay? - I have seen such cases. Hooliganism and violence? - Not on cannabis, UNLESS it is mixed with other things.[i] By itself it is [b]innocent![/[/b]i], [u]why does cannabis always get the blame for the sins of alcohol, nicotine, heroin, coke, ice, inhalants, and everything else?[/u] And you said [i]In my experience it is the ice and amphetamines that cause the most trouble[/i]. Gee that's hard to reply to. Because it sort of automatically brackets cannabis in there with those other substances, whereas in fact they have nothing whatsoever in common except that they are both illegal. And that's not fair. It poisons the well for cannabis from the get-go. Cannabis and ice? The two are [i]more[/i] different than aspirin and alcohol! CU Apart from the actions of couldabeen employers in rejecting your son because he tested +ve to cannabis - which after all isn't anything to do with impaired behaviour on his part! - what really do you have against cannabis specifically? (and here you must attempt to separate out the effects of other substances.)Cannabis is forever lumped with ALL other illicit drug use as if they were basically all [i]BAD, OK?!,[/i] Just came across this! :) from Faux News http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcPF59CoGvs&feature=youtu.be CU be sure, you are one of my best-beloved on the Fighting 5th Estate. And I do think you fair, and I do respect your experiences, I just want to draw a distinction between cannabis on one side, and ALL other psychoactive substances on the other.

jaycee

29/01/2014I see we had a repeat of an episode of the "goon Show" on fran's breakfast this morning....one of the lesser ones, featuring Capt' Zero! ; aka. John Howard....it's amazing that with the passage of time he doesn't sound any better! Send him to The Hague!

Michael

29/01/2014Flat out lunacy as Abbott chats with Ray Hadley http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-29/tony-abbott-steps-up-criticism-of-abc/5224676 The ABC reports the news Abbott doesn't like, the organisation is 'unpatriotic', he asserts. Spell 'Abbott' "Stalin", spell 'gumnint' "totalitarian". But hey, we have a real military leader moving into Yarralumla soon. The bogus wannabe in Kirribilli House will be able to cross the lawn and talk manly stuff.

Catching up

29/01/2014TT, I am only talking about cannabis here, except to say, I see it as the least dangerous of any of the drugs, including alcohol. No insult taken. He struck with cannabis, not because he liked it, but as a substitute for alcohol, which he does. Yes, I have given a very confused picture when it comes to cannabis. As I said nothing in black or white. I wish he would drop all. That I know will not occur. With the blood testing, he was no way under in effect. But as you know it stays in the blood indefinitely. Not good, when one works in a field that involves casual work. Any sign, no job. I am inclined to come down on the side on decriminalizing. Abbott on ABC, wanting ABC to be a straight news reporting agency. Feels that he and many think they are not on the side of Australia. That is a mouthful for a man, that spent over four years, condemning Australia, its government and economy, here and overseas at every opportunity. Still does as PM. Abetz is lying when he says there has been wage out break because of the unions and bosses giving in. This is a bare face lie. Wages have risen less, than any other tinme in history. Abetz now on, making big noises, saying they are ignoring leglsitaion in the next sitting. On ABC about corrupt unions. Talking about a civil society. So it is unions and ABC under attack today. I see the polls are continuing to dimished for this PM. Of course there are no crooked bosses or developers in the new allegations.

TalkTurkey

29/01/2014 From Australian Independent Media Network Has The ABC Gone The Full-Teaparty In Attacking Workers and their Unions? By turnleft2013 on January 29, 2014 • ( 14 ) The following twitter exchange between Leigh Sales of ABC’s 7:30 Report and Dave Noonan the CFMEU Construction & General National Secretary about recent media allegations of corruption in the building industry, which somehow automatically becomes a story about unions. http://theaimn.com/2014/01/29/abc-teaparty/

Catching up

29/01/2014Well, at least Abetz did say, me there were bosses involved in the corruption. I will go further, if bosses and developers,involved, there would be no corruption. I see, once again, I am sadly correct. I have been saying doe weeks, to wait for the attack on workers and unions. Saying that this government would withhold assistance to industry, unless they take on the unions. Sadly, I see this is happening this week. Talk about an organized attack/. Even ABC and Fairfax coming into line, to provide the billets with their incorrect facts. Abetz is already talking as it Thomson has Benel convicted. Cannot wait for the verdict. Even it he is found guilty, it has occurred under laws already available. Labor did tighten up the FWA rules, to make it easier to get these people. Where is the evidence that says Abbott's ABCC was effective in any way. How many unionists went to jail.

Jason

29/01/2014CFMEU National Secretary Dave Noonan’s full interview recorded for last night’s 7.30 – because the ABC won’t show it. http://www.cfmeuvic.com.au/news/cfmeu-national-secretary-dave-noonans-response-to-allegations-on-the-730-report

Catching up

29/01/2014Senate Hearing on NBN now on. Parliament House. Just began.

Ad astra

29/01/2014Folks What a tragedy it is that we do not have a single politician capable of delivering a speech of the calibre of Barack Obama's State of the Union address today. It was truly inspirational. It exemplified the essence of Democrat (progressive) politics - the nurturant parent model. If you haven't seen it, see it here: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/state-of-the-union-both-parties-agree-the-economy-needs-a-boost/ Apologies for the ads. The transcript is here: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obamas-2014-state-of-the-union-address-full-text/ Note the grim look on Republican House Leader John Boehner as he sees success at the mid term elections receding.

Catching up

29/01/2014Ad astra, most could have applied to Australia. One that Abbott and Co should take the time to listen to.

Catching up

29/01/2014<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Abbott just basically played the treason card against the ABC in the kind of speech reserved for dictators! <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23AusPol&amp;src=hash">#AusPol</a> <a href="http://t.co/mmnaQU8s5r">http://t.co/mmnaQU8s5r</a></p>&mdash; Kiera (@KieraGorden) <a href="https://twitter.com/KieraGorden/statuses/428396836324270080">January 29, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Yes, playing the treason card.

TalkTurkey

29/01/2014Seems Tony & Margie have split! And as I've said before, I'm going for the Nastiness Award on Twitter. Here's my latest rotten rhyme: Tone & Margie don't share the same digs She goes to none of his gigs Tony's much sweeter On GirlFridayPeta Meantime, he sleeps with the Pigs! Just hope you don't miss the curly tail in that limerick! :)

Catching up

29/01/2014TT, one cannot jump to conclusions, even if the rumours have been around for years. Tied up with the remortgage, I have been told. Then, one should ignore all rumours I am told. That is, unless they are against woman PMs. Then, if a partner is not seen for a few hours, they have split. Why are they always sweetheart deals. After all, it was the Accord, under Hawke, where unions and employers worked together, that bought the greatest gain for all. Wages are not the major bugbear that Abetz tries to convey. All evidence points, that wages have little to do with industries such as GMH. Why this government believes there should be an ongoing war between Labour and bosses does not make sense. History proves they are wrong. Another fact, is the cooperation that occurred in industrial relations throughout the GFC. Yes, worker and boss pulled together. Many workers taking real cuts in money and conditions.

Michael

30/01/2014Malcolm Turnbull continues to prove his take on the world is arse-about. Interviewed about Abbott accusing the ABC of being unpatriotic, he said "What's the alternative … the editor-in-chief [of the ABC] becomes the prime minister?" The 'alternative' is what Abbott clearly envisions - the Prime Minister being the de facto editor-in-chief of the ABC - no story runs until it's been through the office of the Prime Minister and ticked off as 'fair dinkum'. The public shall only know what the gumnint wants it to know, when it wants it to know, and how it wants it to know... preferably through a Murdoch outlet. Sounds a lot like what the Labor government had to live through, when the gumnint was where it should have stayed, in Opposition. The Abbott Error continues. And Malcolm Turnbull misses the point... as always.

TalkTurkey

30/01/2014I can't read the small print but the cover note is the main point! https://twitter.com/Ben_Westcott/status/428648549069242370/photo/1

TalkTurkey

30/01/2014(Yes I can read it, using Ctrl and + together. I didn't think the definition would be any good when magnified but it is, and Well Done Vigilant Fighting 5th Warrior @Ben-Westcott in noting saving and publishing it!)

jaycee

30/01/2014I wonder if Malcolm will now cancel his fitting at the tailor for his black shirt…and Lucy will cancel her appointment at the hairdresser for the latest Liberal Ladies hairstyle..: “Eva Braun Bouffant” ?

2353`

30/01/2014Here is something really interesting from the Brisbane Times. Clive Palmer apparently is spending his own money to advertise the Brisbane Times (an on-line only Fairfax 'newspaper' based in Brisbane). http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/blogs/up-with-the-times/thanks-for-the-praise-clive-but-no-thanks-20140129-31mzr.html I've seen the ad on TV and it is truly cringeworthy. In a way it is good to see that Fairfax really hasn't stooped that low. While Clive may have a problem with the Curious Snail, this is a strange way of solving it.

Catching up

30/01/2014http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/special_eds/20100315/abbott/docs/Bulletin2.pdf http://nofibs.com.au/2013/03/28/tony-abbott-on-why-he-left-the-priesthood/ Just a reminder of Abbott, in another life.

Michael

30/01/2014This whole neutering the ABC thing is classic Coalition 'look over here' tactics that the middle class and 'lefties' are falling for. Instead of the real issues that this gumnint is/will be trampling all over, health, education, the NBN, cuts to welfare, reduction of the NDIS, asylum seekers going mad in detention centres, Abbott and co have feinted at the ABC. Hogging the headlines and firing up reams of outraged response. And the usual suspects have lined up to be set up as whale-lovers, unpatriotic, not fair dinkum, easily parodied on redneck media targets. Of course the ABC has to be defended from the Right loonies, but the Right loonies have a well-thumbed book of tactics for making anyone to the left of them look even loonier, by questioning just why these lefty loonies get so hot under the collar about 'nothing', over the most 'innocent' observations from a Prime Minister. Worked for Howard, will work for Abbott. Will it take Australia the same 11 years to work out how Howard was pulling the wool over voters' eyes and ears to figure out Abbott is using his master's tricks all over again? Not here, not me.

Catching up

30/01/2014http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/abbott-leans-to-guided-democracy-20100807-11oyh.html Guided democracy, is that really what Abbott craves. Information slow coming out of the first cabinet meeting for the year.

Catching up

30/01/2014Michael, one suspects, they have already awakened. Not even 11 months this time. Well one can hope. Hope there is some rain, that reaches inland in the coming cyclone in Queensland.

Catching up

30/01/2014So now, another inquiry. An efficiency study into the ABC and SBS. Will will wonders ever cease. No, yesterday had nothing to do with this, I am sure. Sell out SPC. Maybe they might have had more luck if Gonski was not involved, does open wonder. No, could not be.

jaycee

31/01/2014Abbott’s not running a country, he’s running his own fantasy country club! I wonder if we are heading into our own "Italy and/or Germany" moment.

jaycee

31/01/2014Trouble with our systems of democracy, there is no proceedure in place to pull-up a rogue govt' such as this..it is a case of "make your bed and lie in it"....there WILL be payback though, damn their eyes!

jaycee

31/01/2014Tony Abbott is not intelligent, at least not intelligent enough to be in command of a nation…he is almost exactly like the peter sellers character ; “Chauncey Gardiner”…itself a mistaken interpretation of a mumbled sound..and that is what was intended for the satire…a satire on exactly the sort of situation we (as has many before) find ourself in. The repeated mantras of a fool deludes those who ought to be more astute into looking for the clue as to which way to judge him…ie; are these the ravings of a idealogue dickhead or are they lines of wise instruction…sadly, the vanity of those followers who have thrown their lot in with blind foolishness does not allow them to perceive their mistake and they lay on in silly, smiling idiocy. Murdoch knows, hence the hyperbolic headlines..the “over the top” screaming from the dirt-sheets….Murdoch is the bully’s pimp egging the fool on. And I’ll surmise further…If we look to that old maxim ; “Birds of a feather flock together”..look at the people Abbott surrounds himself with…bunglers, mumblers, charlatans, criminals and fools….I surmise that in his past, Abbott has done something…something bad…Pell knows it as his confessor…Margie knows a little of it as his wife (but there is shame attached!)…Murdoch knows it as does certain quarters of the police…Look at them as a collective…have you ever seen such sneaky, duplicitous behaviour?….Certain players in the MSM. also have a whiff of it…which makes their behaviour even MORE untrustworthy. Sooner or later, truth will out!…..But I fear the damage that will be done before it is out. Murdoch has waited for years for such a sucker as Abbott to turn up…I bet it is hard for Rupert to keep the smile from his face…The perfect patsy!..he has the ‘goods” on “the boy”…he probably rubs the urn containing his father’s ashes while chanting in mock seriousness..: “Genie, genie of the lamp…three whishes pleeeese!” As an aside, who was it that Keating was reffering to when he accused them of having a “criminal mind” ?

jaycee

31/01/2014Always good! http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-30/clarke-and-dawe--turning-back-the-news-where-it-is/5228254

Michael

31/01/2014Dumping SPC Ardmona and by extension Shepparton township and all its surrounding farms and fruit suppliers will come back to smash Abbott between the eyes. This addition to the cumulative abandonment of Australian companies and enterprises will eventually touch voters nationwide. Twisting "There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead" into the false representation of a Prime Minister's words will pale into the most transparent insignificance besides the constant 'surprises' and 'excuses' of "no surprises, no excuses" Abbott. Fascinating watching Turnbull flounder on 7:30 last night, with all his "you knows" and rhetorical tricks trying to re-frame Leigh Sales' questions to then regurgitate 'his' question as his 'answer'. Adding up to nothing, flapping lips and shuffling-to-hollow-echo 'meaning'. One of the best things (really looking deep into the dark side here) that's come out of The Abbott Error is the exposure of the gutlessness and observable tinkle-bell timidity of hollow-man Malcolm. So spooked about stepping anywhere out of line and stirring up Tony and Peta that he reverts to his true self - posturing wannabe. In Opposition naive people could consider him the antidote to their fears about Abbott; in government his fear of Abbott is so unmanning of the myth of Malcolm there is only one "antidote" - dump 'em both. Dump 'em all!

Catching up

31/01/2014I posted this elsewhere. Wonder if some here have an answer. I watched the Senate Hearings with Morrison in tow. All I heard was, that we are at war. this is a military led operation. The question I see no answer to,who are we at war with. A question that none are asking. Who are these terrible people smugglers, that this country has called war on. Yes, we have as Morrison keeps telling us, a military action in process. We have heard so much about them over the last decade or so, but little that is concrete. Who are they. What are their names. Where do they reside. Why do the refugees put so much trust in them. All we have in our prisons. are adolescent and poor fishermen that steered the boats here. Who hired and paid these men?

Catching up

31/01/2014http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/the-pulse-live/politics-live-scott-morrison-and-top-brass-face-senate-inquiry-20140131-31rc6.html#ixzz2rx2hNdh2 Anyone interested in todays events.

Catching up

31/01/2014http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VN-hbWVXsyE

Ken

31/01/2014Catching up Some of the people smugglers are here in Australia but we haven't found too many of them as yet. Not looking very hard. And as to Abbott's 'no cuts'. He is abandoning every promise he made - or perhaps they were unscripted remarks!! He doesn't even say, as Howard did, that there are 'core and non-core' promises - he just ploughs ahead as if he has never said anything about it before. At his swearing in , he said he hoped to be judged by 'what we do, not what we said we do'. He is certainly living up to that one - but it was only said [u]after[/u] he as elected.

Ken

31/01/2014Has anyone looked at the Productivity Commission's report on the automotive industry. From my quick glance through it, it's time the Commission was given a new charter (to take into account a wider range of social variables) or be done away with altogether. I found it fascinating that the report mentions 'trade barriers' but I can find no discussion of them. The appendix showing the support a number of overseas countries give to their car manufacturers is the best part - although the Commission dismisses this in the main report because it says it cannot compare 'apples with apples". That appendix on its own is almost enough to justify continued assistance to the car industry just to create a level playing field - which is something Abbott's side of politics are usually keen on!

TalkTurkey

31/01/2014Adelaide Zoo's Greater, the oldest Flamingo in the Galaxy, is dead. S/He was an octogenarian at least. Gender unknown, so I'll call her a girl. In April 2011 four young heroes attacked Greater with sticks, breaking her beak and nearly killing her. These creeps escaped scot-free even though apprehended and the case against them proven. If I'd had the choice they would have been on the receiving end of the same sticks. Anyway I recorded that glorious event in immortal verse at the time. It takes the form of a parody on [i]Jabberwocky[/i] by Charles Dodson ("Lewis Carroll") in Through the Looking Glass. Sunday, May 1, 2011 Flamingocky 'Twas swillig: and four heroes young Did gulp and guzzle West End Draught Of Heroes deeds their Daddies sung And drunk until they barfed. Beware the Flaming-O, fair Youths! The Eye that's blind! The Plume that plucks! That swansome Neck! Those trampling Hoofs! The Beak that flips and sucks! They took their cudgels stout in hand: Eftsoons the pinksome Foe they found; Then two on two, there at the Zoo, They circled round and round. And whilst in circles round they pranced, The Flaming-O, with blinded Eye, And swansome Neck outstretched, advanced, And honked a Goossome cry! One! Two! Three! Four! Twelve times! A score! Their cudgels stout went Whack! Whack! Whack! They knocked it flat, and, feather in hat, They clapped each other’s back. Hast thou laid low the Flaming-O? Oh come to us, thou bold brave lads! Oh frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Rejoiced them thus their Dads. ‘Twas swillig, and four Heroes proven Do gulp and guzzle Tooheys New: On their brave deeds their Dads a-groovin’ Drink until they spew. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RIP Greater.

2353

31/01/2014Welcome to the 2014 version of 'The Finnigans" BISONs http://sallymcmanus.net/abbotts-wreckage/ Appropriately entitled "Abbott's Wreckage". Apparently the list is added to regularly.

Catching up

31/01/2014L see Abbott is going top deport asylum seekers whop swear, as that is anti social behavior.

TalkTurkey

31/01/2014Won't you fire up Bill Shorten? When you come home? We've cried the last 5 months! We watch Abborrrtt abborttin' He's trashed the land of OZ You hardly whimpered once! We remember that fateful morning You kicked our *J*U*L*I*A* out A gutless act of treachery We know you're to blame Atone for your shame! Bill Shorten won't you please fight Tone!

TalkTurkey

31/01/2014http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6ccPEsODiE

Jason

1/02/2014Insiders is back on tomorrow! and as well as coping with another 43 degree day here in Adelaide it gets off to a poor start! The Guest is Eric Abetz Panel is Dennis Atkins Tory Shepherd and Niki Savva

TalkTurkey

1/02/2014Ummm The Sword is virtually impossible for anyone on most connections. it takes ages to download. Hopefully Sunday will rejuvenate it and the rest of us. Jason thanks for that, so tomorrow holds great promise eh.

jaycee

2/02/2014[The Guest is Eric Abetz Panel is Dennis Atkins Tory Shepherd and Niki Savva] So nothing new then....just the same old opology for a stodgy custard!....onya!, ABC. ...; as thick and dense as a Beijing smog!

Catching up

2/02/2014Yes, I see the left wing bias is still evident. Trouble is, I have no idea what one has to use to find it. As for Nikki, she is pleased at how good Ms. Bishop is performing. Yes, it is indeed nice to have an FGM who is well spoken, and yes, can make a decision. I have not watched the show yet. Caught the last couple of minutes. If that was the standard, one can only say God help us. For those who don't believe, I do not know who to ask.

Ad astra

2/02/2014Folks Insiders was pretty tame. There was no forensic examination of the boat policy by the panel, just acceptance that many voters seemed to approve, so that makes it OK even if the Government upsets Indonesia. I was astonished to hear Niki Savva opine that Bill Glasson will not succeed in Griffith, seemingly reflecting inside LNP intelligence. Tory Shepherd made little impact. Dennis Atkins made more sense than the others. Will we get a searching appraisal of the Abbott Government from panellists on Insiders? Or is the Abbott intimidation muting them?

jaycee

2/02/2014[Will we get a searching appraisal of the Abbott Government from panellists on Insiders? Or is the Abbott intimidation muting them?] These days, Bazz Cazz's "searching apppraisal" is akin to a "foc'sle watch" searching the shoreline for dangerous reefs at the height of a storm with only a "low-wicked" kerosene lamp to spotlight them!

Janet (@j4gypsy)

2/02/2014One from Andrew Elder not to miss - on Indies and Labor making #onetermTony via rural and regional seats: http://andrewelder.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/the-new-marginals.html

Catching up

2/02/2014Well Insiders did agree, that both Abbott and Abetz were lying about the award conditions at SPC.

Catching up

2/02/2014We also found that the Labor candidate for Griffith is not a union hack, but a lawyer that has appeared for the union, as Julie, the competent, professional, polite FM, who can make decisions, did for asbestos firms. Does anyone really believe, the attacks on unions is getting traction. When one looked at that launch yesterday, one sees the reason for the attack. Is all that this government has going for it, is to demonise unions, in this day and age. Another lie put to bed. I suspect, that many in the community do not see these same unions as a danger, but as being too weak and ineffective. Abetz has been forced to extend the attack to the workers and weak knee employers.

jaycee

2/02/2014That old "brown-shirter" is just a marionette for whoever pulls his strings!

2353

2/02/2014Setting up Glasson for failure in Griffith is good politics. If it comes to pass that the ALP does keep the seat, they can sagely nod their heads and say 'I told you so' - if Glasson wins he is the new LNP hero and gets into Cabinet rather quickly as a reward. Griffith is inner south east Brisbane - it used to be very working class but is being gentrified in double quick time.

Catching up

3/02/2014Hockey just on ABC 24. One just has to shake one's head at the words that comes from his mouth. Do you know, it does not mean there has been no rain, when some say there is drought. Well, I have news for him, if there is not enough water for crops to grow, that is a drought. It seems that Joyce has it all wrong. Hockey is trying the honey today.8953229 Maybe Hockey needs to take time out to visit his own farm. Obviously has not, over his holidays.

Catching up

3/02/2014<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>In more tragic news for lovers of great journalism, <a href="https://twitter.com/TodayTonight">@TodayTonight</a> has been axed.</p>&mdash; amanda meade (@meadea) <a href="https://twitter.com/meadea/statuses/430120884511068160">February 2, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Catching up

8/02/2014Repeat of NPC with Paul Howes now on. Might be of interest of what he really did say. The union movement, yes movement, is under attack by this government. There are three unions in the government's headlights. Yes, first is thew AWU, Howes union., Abbott is going after Gillard with his judicial inquiry into twenty years old allegations and rumours. Could one say, that Howe is trying to get control of that agenda by getting first. The other two unions, is the Builders Labourer's and HSU. Howe has as important role to play in the coming battle, against workers, as the Opposition Leader has. Shorten, I believe, has to be careful, not to come across as a union leader, but as leader of Labor, and the Opposition. I believe that Abbott, thanks to Howe, is losing control of the agenda in this case. Just a thought. We have to keep focus on the real problems. That is the actions of Abbott. Abbott's strenght, is divide and rule. War is the only language that Abbott knows. War, is what we need to avoid.
How many Rabbits do I have if I have 3 Oranges?