Open Forum: February 4, 2012 at Catallaxy Files

Open Forum: February 4, 2012

1,392 comments

Written by Sinclair Davidson

February 4th, 2012 at 12:01 am

Posted in Uncategorized

1,392 Responses to 'Open Forum: February 4, 2012'

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Keep your eyes on the road …

Rabz

4 Feb 12 at 12:01 am
I acknowledge the Indigenous people, on whose lands we meet today.

JC

4 Feb 12 at 12:05 am
And I acknowledge the British Empire for without them we wouldn’t be here.

Ralph Buttigieg

4 Feb 12 at 12:09 am
I acknowledge there is no way of knowing if the aborigines were the first human inhabitants of this land mass, in fact I think there is good evidence to suggest otherwise. Who got here first don’t matter, what matters is who got here and made something of the place.

John H.

4 Feb 12 at 12:11 am
Hear hear, John H.

Gab

4 Feb 12 at 12:13 am
Who got here first don’t matter, what matters is who got here and made something of the place.

Hey mordy – off to the dantesque hellholes with him, my learned friend!

Rabz

4 Feb 12 at 12:14 am
Ralph B,
Damn straight!

Skuter

4 Feb 12 at 12:37 am
Any truth in the rumor that Peter Garrett has a new autobiographical song coming out which recalls his experience in the Rudd and Gillard Governments? I have heard the title of the song is “who’s gonna save for me?”

John Comnenus

4 Feb 12 at 12:42 am
Haven’t heard diddly boo from Lurch for a while now. What’s he been up to?

Papachango

4 Feb 12 at 12:44 am
What’s he been up to?

Browsing here?

Rabz

4 Feb 12 at 12:46 am
US unemployment now at 8.3%

http://www.cnbc.com/id/46250775

Alex Pundit

4 Feb 12 at 1:00 am
I must say, I tired of JC’s welcome message many moons ago. Not your best work, JC.

Abu Chowdah

4 Feb 12 at 1:06 am
The economy is gathering a decent head of steam Rabz.

I’ve been thinking this was going on since about October last year as the US numbers kept coming surprising on the upside while Europe looked like imploding. I thought that if Europe didn’t fall over the cliff just yet the US could really rock and roll this year, which could put Odumbo is a firmer place, although I still think he will lose.

The US is coming back, despite the headwinds this prick is causing.

People shouldn’t think that a better economy means Odumbo is unassailable. Gore lost even before the tech crash was obvious to voterland. And he lost because he was a dick.

JC

4 Feb 12 at 1:06 am
Abu

Bad luck. Don’t read it if it bothers you that much. It’s going up at the top every week until the union clerks are out of office.

JC

4 Feb 12 at 1:08 am
JC

bho has to go.

If for no other reason than I’m sick to effing death of his intolerable windbaggery, pomposity and smugness.

The only thing of note the bleep eating bleeping bleep has ever achieved in his life is to render the US the brokest nation in history.

For that alone he deserves crucifixion.

There will be no resurrection, as is fitting.

And hopefully, all the virgins will be goats.

Rabz

4 Feb 12 at 1:42 am
Any truth in the rumor that Peter Garrett has a new autobiographical song coming out which recalls his experience in the Rudd and Gillard Governments? I have heard the title of the song is “who’s gonna save for me?”

No idea. But if it is true, he’ll have to talk about being stuck in the most indignant little corner of the ministerial wing. Would love to hear that in song…

Skuter

4 Feb 12 at 1:54 am
The best songs involve pain, so Garrettt would have some beauties saved up…

Skuter

4 Feb 12 at 2:05 am
Maybe he can cover this.

C.L.

4 Feb 12 at 2:43 am
What a shambles of a government.

The lying slapper’s supporters are warning that any shift to Kevin Rudd as prime minister would force “suicide” resignations from Labor MPs and a disastrous snap election, as ministers and backbenchers are being urged to close ranks and stop destabilising the government.

In the volatile atmosphere ahead of the resumption of parliament next week and the possibility of a leadership challenge to the Prime Minister within weeks, Slapper’s supporters are warning of forced by-elections if Mr Rudd becomes prime minister again.

The Foreign Minister’s backers say the former prime minister can count on at least 25 votes in the Labor caucus, and up to 40 of the 52 he would need if a leadership spill occurred.

JC

4 Feb 12 at 2:58 am
Lol, CL.

Maybe he is gonna sing:

‘How can we save when our cash is burning?’

John Comnenus

4 Feb 12 at 3:00 am
hahahahaa

Ms Gillard played down the speculation about her leadership, saying the Labor caucus was a “good team” and she was not fussed about the speculation.

“I’m already crystal clear on what the government’s agenda is for 2012 and I spoke . . . about our economic agenda during the course of this week and building the new Australian economy.”

What economic agenda? All they’re doing is counting votes.

JC

4 Feb 12 at 3:01 am
Peter van Onselen falls to abbottitis.

Labor has one thing going for it and one only (other than the potential for a short-term popularity boost attached to a Rudd return to the leadership). That’s Abbott. While the Opposition Leader deserves absolute credit for putting his foot on the government’s throat since he became Liberal leader, dramatically changing the political fortunes of both major parties, the truth is Abbott is not popular, especially with women. And I suspect voters are on the lookout for reasons to deny him the prime ministership. Labor’s dilemma, however, is that so long as the deeply unpopular Gillard and her incompetent strategy represents the government, Abbott presents as a lesser of evils. That reality is reflected in the primary and two-party polling numbers.

JC

4 Feb 12 at 3:04 am
The latest Mitt story demonstrate just how totally unelectable Mitt is. He has no feel or touch for politics. A primary win for Mitt will almost certainly mean another 4 years of Obama. Mitt is like Malcolm Turnbull. Everyone likes the guy, both were successful in everything they have done except politics. Neither could lead a political conga line at a wedding. Alas I fear Mitt is politically hopeless.

John Comnenus

4 Feb 12 at 3:05 am
JC it was funny the first few times. Now it’s shit. M’kay?

Abu Chowdah

4 Feb 12 at 3:13 am
Garrett will sing this to Gillard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y9gkQFnz_Y

John H.

4 Feb 12 at 3:14 am
JC,

PvO has always been an Abbott hater. I can’t recall a political leader that has been as viciously maligned by the media as Abbott. It is worse than Howard. I was at an Aust Day BBQ here in the nations capital where everyone was an Abbott hater. People telling me that he has no policies,that turn the boats around won’t work, that he is negative and divisive, etc etc. It was unbelievable how stupid these well educated people were when it came to Abbott. Meanwhile the Slapper was organizing a race riot to prove how divisive Abbott is. Unreal.

John Comnenus

4 Feb 12 at 3:20 am
Fitting that we should be talking about Garrett on this, the 53rd anniversary of The Day the Music Died.

spot

4 Feb 12 at 3:24 am
“Abbott is not popular, especially with women”

Keep f**kin’ that chicken, PVO.

No matter how old & busted it is.

spot

4 Feb 12 at 3:28 am
Okay

You guys keep saying Mitt can’t win. Fair enough you don’t like him and I went a little cold on him too. But how do you reach the conclusion he won’t win?

Jerkoff Odumbo is in trouble in almost all the battleground states and he only won last time because he stretched the black, Hispanic and young white vote to the edge. The every edge people thought impossible.

How the hell is that going to happen again? The Black vote will enthusiastically vote for him in big numbers again of course. But the Hispanic vote isn’t so enthused about him in the same way and the young are still unemployed and even less enthused.

He’s lost the white vote and they are the big whale in the room.

He’s down in Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Michigan and a few other states of lesser importance. And the other point to keep in mid is that the undecideds in these states where he’s down will break against him in a big way.

How is he going to win if he can’t get Florida and Ohio?… and if mitt is the nominee a decent chunk of New England and perhaps even mid Atlantic states like NJ and Penn could go his way.

I’m still tipping that he will lose New York as the jewish vote is going to stay home. They will not vote for Mitt, but they will stay home giving upstate more clout which is where the old Reagan dems are.

The prez election is a state thing and not a popularity game.

I can’t see how Odumbo will win.

Metro, or 1080 as the idiot was calling himself recently kept posting bullshit about Odumbo’s support is a 50%. That’s a meaningless number because when people are asked, a large number that aren’t voting, or will even vote against him say they support the prez. They always support the prez as it’s patriotic! It still exists there.

The vote to look at is not just the likely vote poll but the one that asks if a person will vote. In those polls Odumbo looks fucked in the battleground states.. Polls and shit like that are seriously fucking complex in the US for a number of reasons and it’s not easy figuring out what will happen from polls unless you really know what you’re looking at and what they are saying.

Odumbo will lose, no matter what what happens to the economy, because he just isn’t as popular as he was before and people blame him for the fuck ups.

JC

4 Feb 12 at 3:30 am
My concern about Mitt is not that he won’t win, but he’ll turn mushy left like his dad.

JC

4 Feb 12 at 3:32 am
Barrette ode to the Rudd – Gillard Government’s would be this classic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9l9JkxrYlM

John Comnenus

4 Feb 12 at 3:34 am
Meanwhile the Slapper was organizing a race riot to prove how divisive Abbott is. Unreal

Unbelievable isn’t it. Just incredible.

JC

4 Feb 12 at 3:35 am
JC,
I agree with your other concern that Mitt just ain’t very conservative – maybe he will be the Malcolm Fraser of US politics. Mitt is a terrible choice and I wouldn’t underestimate Odumbo winning with the media in the tank and the economy finally improving after 3.5 years. To win any political battle you need to have some mongrel in the candidate. Mitt just doesn’t have it. On the other hand Newt is all mongrel and he lacks consistency and I really dislike him attacking Mitt from the Left. This was the GOP’s election to lose and it looks like they are going to stump up an unelectable Hewson like character. Losing this election might be very bad for the future of the GOP.

John Comnenus

4 Feb 12 at 3:47 am
Yep, it’s UN fucken real that the ALP organised race riots to try and nail the other guy as a racist. Worst of all is that the PM has been given a virtual pass by the nations media form doing so, even worse Abbott and the Libs won’t use it as a cudgel to destroy the ALP amongst ethnic minorities.

My attack ad would be: Good leaders works with people to help them achieve their potential. Bad leaders play on people’s fears. Whilst Tony Abbott voluntarily works in remote aboriginal communities to improve indigenous education, Julia Gillard promotes aboriginal grievance to score political points by inciting a race riot. Who do you want leading Australia?

John Comnenus

4 Feb 12 at 4:00 am
Rabz,
Good opening musical choice for this OT.

John Comnenus

4 Feb 12 at 4:04 am
John, I dare say the Opposition has a series of questions for Gillard re the race riot she organised when Parliament resumes.

C.L.

4 Feb 12 at 4:06 am
I hope so CL, it is the most disgraceful political behavior I have ever seen and it is already totally off the media radar. If people want to know why the ALP Caucus has gone off the Slapper, it is because of this incident. It was too much even for some of the ‘whatever it takes’ crowd.

John Comnenus

4 Feb 12 at 4:11 am
JC,
The GOP are doingntheir level best to match Odumbo’s lack of intensity amongst Dems by picking the guy who least enthuses the GOP. I’m tipping a low turnout election which means either side can win. Dont underestimate Mitts ability to piss off the base. Oh, and Odumbo hasn’t even started the Mormon attack ads. I am real worried and not nearly as upbeat as Steve Kates.

John Comnenus

4 Feb 12 at 4:16 am
Hey, I wouldn’t go dissing Peter Garrett’s position if I were you. After all, he has the backing of the influential Latham faction.

Oh come on

4 Feb 12 at 5:07 am
I think Ann Coulter’s pretty much right on Mitt. He sounds and looks like a moderate – and beyond the primaries, that’s a positive in terms of electability – but he may well not be. I think he knows what needs to be done.

There’s a lot of talk about Romney failing to excite the base. However, the point is being missed here. The base is already excited – by the President. And, as I said in a former post, it’s not the GOP that needs to be worried about voter turnout. Republicans will queue for miles to vote against Obama. Democrats, however, will stay home. Obama has been a colossal disappointment to just about every stripe of Democrat. And if Romney’s nominated, I just can’t see what there is for a Democrat to get worked up over. This wouldn’t have happened if Sarah Palin was the nominee. Romney’s “blandness” will propel him into the Oval Office.

Oh come on

4 Feb 12 at 5:17 am
What Mitt Romney needs is a mustache.
http://mittstache.tumblr.com/

spot

4 Feb 12 at 5:26 am
This Tory Shepherd bint is possibly the most irritating Punch contributor:

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-rinehart-whine-came-straight-from-the-heart/

The Punch is pure excrement.

Oh come on

4 Feb 12 at 5:31 am
John Comnenus

” … – maybe he will be the Malcolm Fraser of US politics.

Has Romney left his trousers somewhere?

Mike of Marion

4 Feb 12 at 6:48 am
The Punch is where Newscorp park the journalists no one reads, who write article after article that read like a job application for the ABC.

Seriously who pays attention to Sheppard or Farr except the other group thinkers at the ABC, Fairfax and Crikey?

Token

4 Feb 12 at 7:45 am
Living Treasure, Pat O’Shane, takes another step in her journey if shame.

NSW Supreme Court finds O’Shane biased and prejudiced matters before her in court.

Token

4 Feb 12 at 7:58 am
Good one Token. The sooner this affirmative action appointment is reversed, the better.
And when I become King, my cat, Fatso, will be made a Living Treasure.
That should bring the standards up a bit.

Winston Smith

4 Feb 12 at 8:32 am
I still like Tim Blair’s proposal as regards Australia’s ‘National Living Treasures’:

12. Upon the death of any Australian listed among our National Living Treasures (especially Phillip Adams, Julian Burnside, Peter Garrett, Jennie George, Marcus Einfeld, Bob Brown, Tim Costello, Robyn Williams, Pat O’Shane and Michael Leunig), citizens may help themselves to all their stuff.

spot

4 Feb 12 at 8:40 am
The good people of Castlemaine learn the seagulls from the inner city are bringing their inner city watermelon politics with them.

As the seagull mayor who was not around when the community was recovering from the Ash Wednesday bush fires says:

there is nothing special about the CWA

Token

4 Feb 12 at 9:29 am
H/T Bolta

Token

4 Feb 12 at 9:30 am
When you go through that list spot, there are so many that have acted in ways which would end the career of a non-luvvie.

O’Shane & Einfeld have brought disrepute to the legal profession. Lurch lead a scheme that killed 4 young workers & burned down over 100 houses. How many times have Adams & Williams been found to make factually incorrect statements full of hyperbole?

Is it a pre-requisite for the people to be dodgy?

Token

4 Feb 12 at 9:36 am
Nice link spot, I’d forgotten about that article.

Is Blair a clairvoyant or did he know something when he created #7?

That one should be expanded to include any member of a party that goes for any environmental warmup legislation.

Token

4 Feb 12 at 9:45 am
I agree that Romney sounds and looks like a moderate but I don’t agree that makes him more electable.

Reagan never sounded, pretended or looked like a moderate.

Reagan sold and explained conservatism and disproved to enough voters in the final 2 weeks of the campaign the Left’s smear campaign that he was a nutter. He was well behind a few weeks out and won in a massive landslide.

It’s the fearful refusal to triumph conservatism and explain why the free market is actually fairer to the poor that does the GOP in time nad again.

Mind you, Reagan had Laffer and Milton Friedman to undo his Bush 1 Primary opponent’s “voodoo economics” smear.

Santorum is the Tony Abbott of the GOP and Romney is the Malcolm Turnbull.

Abbott/Santorum will win the ‘Howard Battlers’ and tradies / Reagan Democrats whilst Romney and Turnbull never will.

Moreover the Progressives on the Left who dominate the MSM approve of Romnet and Turnbull until the election but will never never ever never vote for them.

JamesK

4 Feb 12 at 9:51 am
Something else to consider when looking at these unemployment figures in the US.

Go to the updates in Ed Morrissey’s post. There’s a figure in them that is literally eye-popping.

http://hotair.com/archives/2012/02/03/unemployment-rate-drops-to-8-3-243k-jobs-added/

Around 1.2 million Americans dropped out of the work force in the month of December!

Alex Pundit

4 Feb 12 at 9:58 am
Has anyone been paying attention to the recent decision regarding the Optus feature on their smartphones that allows streaming of broadcasts recorded by the user to their phones over the optus network?

According to most of the media, Telstra, AFL, NRL etc this is a bad thing, and sport is doomed. Telstra, which stupidly paid a lot of money for rights to broadcast over their mobile network, failed to account for the technological solution adopted by Optus.

Now, the key thing to me is, that the person who has recorded the broadcast (be the recording FTA or PayTV) of the sporting event is most certainly allowed to do so under the current copyright laws. If a person records an event, and watched it later on the second TV in their bedroom, nobody would blink an eye. They would only get into trouble if they gave that recording to someone else, or re-broadcast it at a public event, etc.

I can’t see how the tech that allows that same person to record a show ad then watch it on their own phone is any different to watching it later, or on their second TV.

But for some reason, according to the content providers, a person streaming it to their mobile is a mortal sin, and Optus are the equivalent of fencers, benefiting from the proceeds of crime.

This is the problem inherent in all forms of DRM. It treats consumers who have legitimately purchased content as criminals if they want to watch the content they have purchased they way they want to, or on more than one device. The producers, of course believe that they should be able realise new revenue streams by taking advantage of new technologies to monetise the content per device, rather than per user like they have always done in the past.

And they wonder why channel BT is so popular.

entropy

4 Feb 12 at 10:04 am
Entropy I have zero sympathy for the content providers and the ridiculous lengths they go to, including seeking massive government intervention. SOPA is a case in point and similar laws were passed in France a while ago.

Papachango

4 Feb 12 at 10:24 am
Number 8 is pretty apt today too, Token, given some of the pronouncements by our latest Australian of the Year. Blair could do a 5th anniversary reprint of that article, and it’d still strike the same chord today.

spot

4 Feb 12 at 10:56 am
As an addendum to my comment at 9:51, Milton Freedman on the free market and poverty

JamesK

4 Feb 12 at 11:06 am
It was unbelievable how stupid these well educated people were when it came to Abbott. Meanwhile the Slapper was organizing a race riot to prove how divisive Abbott is. Unreal.

John C., yes, this has been my experience in Canberra also. There is a zeitgeist that is totally anti-Abbott, no matter what you counter it with. Something infectious in the public and university sector I think, that spreads its germs even wider.

In general, not just Canberra, Abbott’s PR minders need to get busy on showing the Abbott homefront, the wife and two girls, the community service, the desire for a better Australia etc. Not Mr. No but Mr. Nice. He needs to smile more, be relaxed, laugh a bit, go for the less stitched-up. Jo Hockey does that well, so does Barnaby Joyce in his quieter moments. Role models for Abbott in this regard.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

4 Feb 12 at 11:19 am
Yes, Abbott running in a few iron man races do a good job of sending the luvvies spare but remind the rest of the population he has a bit of go in him. Sort of a two for one deal.

entropy

4 Feb 12 at 11:39 am
Yes Spot, Blair’s piece on our Bill of Rights is worthy of a re-print. Interesting 5 years on.

nic

4 Feb 12 at 11:50 am
Gingrich red meat (video): lays into “Obama-lite” Romney, notes that he’s been endorsed by former Nazi collaborator and Democrat Party owner, George Soros.

C.L.

4 Feb 12 at 11:51 am
When an artist criticises Obama, his work becomes “controversial.”

C.L.

4 Feb 12 at 11:59 am
When an artist criticises Obama, his work becomes “controversial.”

Don’t forget “racist”, CL. Did you click the Maddow caption-comp link? The racism is obvious according to those commenting…

Fleeced

4 Feb 12 at 12:22 pm
Labor MPs publicly bailing:

Gillard has credibility issue: Labor MP.

Ya think?

C.L.

4 Feb 12 at 1:03 pm
It’s Labor that has the credibility issue, not just Gillard.

Fleeced

4 Feb 12 at 1:10 pm
Fascist Obama administration bans Catholic chaplains from reading out bishops’ letter regarding government assault on religious freedom.

C.L.

4 Feb 12 at 1:42 pm
Note to self; Get T-shirt printed
FRONT; “Julia Gillard is Incredible ”
BACK ; Definition of incredible;

1. So implausible as to elicit disbelief.
2. Astonishing.

jumpnmcar

4 Feb 12 at 1:43 pm
Car ad featuring Jerry Seinfeld one of the best ads ever.

Via Hot Air.

C.L.

4 Feb 12 at 1:46 pm
I acknowledge there is no way of knowing if the aborigines were the first human inhabitants of this land mass, in fact I think there is good evidence to suggest otherwise.

There is?

Adrien

4 Feb 12 at 1:58 pm
I wonder how many ” conventions” are broken by traditional Aboriginal customs and practices?

jumpnmcar

4 Feb 12 at 1:59 pm
Santorum is the Tony Abbott of the GOP

Who?

Adrien

4 Feb 12 at 2:00 pm
Sorry CL, but that ad isn’t very good. I actually forgot what the ad was about, and I thought all the characters were annoying rich people. I didn’t wan to be them.

Contrast with last year’s Super Bowl volkswagon ad. You want to be that Dad.

entropy

4 Feb 12 at 2:04 pm
Not bad, and links to the vader ad at the end.

jumpnmcar

4 Feb 12 at 2:13 pm
CL,
I think one of the reasons the ALP has a credibility issue is because it thinks the problem is a messaging or communication problem.

The reason Julia has a credibility problem is because she has so blatantly and publicly lied so often, to so many people. If it were a one off people might move on. Unfortunately the lying has underlined perhaps a worse meme than the lying, that she will do and say anything to stay in the lodge. The race riot business will reinforce that meme, as does the HSU Thommo affair. Both issues are likely to demonstrate that she has lied once again.

Consequently people in the real world don’t believe her about the economy, especially when they review their own circumstances. The ALP has a credibility problem because it pretends that the issues I have just listed aren’t issues – it’s all about the message. If the ALP supports a liar who will do anything to stay in power then it fatally undermines its own credibility with all but the most rusted on. The fact that no one in the ALP seems to understand this makes the problem even worse.

Rather than have an ideas workshop this Sunday, the ALP should engage an ethics instructor, a group psychologist and a priest to hear confession or reconciliation and hopefully administer the last rites on this despicable govenernment.

John Comnenus

4 Feb 12 at 2:15 pm
There is?

Differing phenotypes re Kow and Mungo Swamps. Oldest mtDNA found in Australia but that was in 1995 and may be suspect. (Actually I think the mtDNA “clock” is a con foisted upon us by geneticists who need to justifiy their existence. It has value but is vastly over rated.). The Bradshaw paintings.

And irrespective of the above how is it possible to prove the aborigines were the original inhabitants. Even aborigines are on record as saying the Bradshaw paintings are rubbish and not of their making. They only changed their mind on that score when it was realised that many white folk loved the Bradshaw paintings. Furthermore it has been suggested the Bradshaw paintings indicate a differering phenotype of modern aborigines. I recall a Brain Res paper which suggested that one can find subgroups within aborigines that represent hybrids of modern and archaic humans, this ideas has been around for yonks, with overseas anthropologists suggesting that aborigines are the most archaic of modern humans.

All of the above is irrelevant, we can never know what really happened so this claim to be first peoples is just a boast.

John H.

4 Feb 12 at 2:19 pm
CL from that Jerry Seinfeld ad and the chef asking if he wondered about coming straight back to work after being to the loo.

A mate and I had ordered a hamburger from a small store and halfway through putting it together he announced he just had to go to the crapper- and disappeared for a while. We were too hungry to walk out and go to the next town. We didn’t die except for laughing.

Biota

4 Feb 12 at 2:44 pm
Sorry CL, but that ad isn’t very good. I actually forgot what the ad was about, and I thought all the characters were annoying rich people.

Well yeah. You think some work a day bum is going to be able to afford an Acura?

Infidel Tiger

4 Feb 12 at 2:46 pm
Sorry, shocking sentence structure- Seinfeld asked the chef and the guy making the hamburger went to the john!

Biota

4 Feb 12 at 2:46 pm
Haven’t heard diddly boo from Lurch for a while now. What’s he been up to?

Squealing like a pig, I suspect.

With Juliar as gap-toothed Hillbilly #1, and Kruddles as gap toothed hillbilly #2.

Mk50 of Brisbane

4 Feb 12 at 2:59 pm
Question Times should be a doozy next week.

Gillard must be asked a series of questions about her race riot, for a start.

I doubt she’ll last five minutes before she misleads the House.

C.L.

4 Feb 12 at 3:18 pm
I wonder how slippery Pete plays it out?

JC

4 Feb 12 at 3:29 pm
Haven’t heard diddly boo from Lurch for a while now. What’s he been up to?

Don’t worry, he hatching something up every bit as dramatic as burning 200 houses down and killing 4 people.

JC

4 Feb 12 at 3:30 pm
From Jumps link about an original owner.

Miller says the teenage girl he was convicted of having sex with had been given to him by her father.

Well, that’s okay then. Tribal customs have to be observed.

JC

4 Feb 12 at 3:34 pm
I doubt she’ll last five minutes before she ~~misleads the House~~ blames Abbott.

Nic

4 Feb 12 at 3:37 pm
Can someone please explain to me why we supported the Arab autumn when all we did was help install nasty governments that hate the west against previous nasty governments that were neutral to ambivalent about the West.

President Odumbo, being a leader of great vision and foresight must have had a strategy in place, right?

So did the little turd (Rudd) pushing for intervention to assist the Arab Springer’s against Col. Gad with western military assistance.

Does anyone understand what the fuck just happened here.
Street battles rage on outside Cairo Interior Ministry

http://www.france24.com/en/20120203-cairo-football-stadium-stampede-suez-riots-egypt-police-military

JC

4 Feb 12 at 3:49 pm
I doubt she’ll last five minutes before she misleads the House blames Abbott.

Abbottitis.

JC

4 Feb 12 at 3:50 pm
The study, published in the journal Psychological Science, examined data from two large-scale British studies, and found lower intelligence scores in childhood were predictors of greater racism in adulthood

HAHAHAHA

A secondary analysis of data from a U.S. study also showed those with poor abstract-reasoning skills were more likely to have anti-homosexual prejudice, partially linked to authoritarian attitudes.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

people with low intelligence are drawn to socially conservative ideologies

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/study-links-low-intelligence-with-right-wing-beliefs/article2325323/

Jarrah

4 Feb 12 at 4:13 pm
Does anyone remember that study showing that redistributionists were twice more prone to anger and violent thoughts (as well as racism) than non-egalitarians?

Fisky

4 Feb 12 at 4:30 pm
people with low intelligence are drawn to socially conservative ideologies

Prerennial dingbat Jarrah is now implying the group with the lowest IQ in the US – blacks – are conservative racists.

That’s the messsage from left-wing militant soft science ‘psychological science ‘ published drivel.

Redolent of much of ‘climate science’

Leftists ruin everything they touch – education, universities, minorities, poverty, social institutions, government, economics, border control, immigration, defence etc etc

JamesK

4 Feb 12 at 4:35 pm
Or maybe lower intelligence in childhood = social and economic disadvantage in adulthood and the attitudinal pathologies/prejudices commonly associated with the disadvantaged. For example, racism and indifference to bourgeois fag-haggery.

————————–

Psychiatrist: Modern Liberalism Is A Form Of Mental Illness.

C.L.

4 Feb 12 at 4:37 pm
Although re racism and hostility to the gay agenda, I do welcome the Jarrah link’s insight into Julia Gillard’s office.

C.L.

4 Feb 12 at 4:39 pm
Certainly, organising race riots would be good evidence of low intelligence. Hating Jews and seeking to destroy Jewish self-determination, also.

Fisky

4 Feb 12 at 4:41 pm
I don’t think Jazz was actually agreeing with the study. I think he was making fun of it.

Surely. jazz? Help me out here.

JC

4 Feb 12 at 4:45 pm
Prerennial dingbat Jarrah is now implying the group with the lowest IQ in the US – blacks – are conservative racists.

It certainly looks that way, doesn’t it James?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/11/70-of-african-a.html

California’s black and Latino voters, who turned out in droves for Barack Obama, also provided key support in favor of the state’s same-sex marriage ban. Seven in 10 black voters backed a successful ballot measure to overturn the California Supreme Court’s May decision allowing same-sex marriage, according to exit polls for The Associated Press.

More than half of Latino voters supported Proposition 8, while whites were split.

Fisky

4 Feb 12 at 4:45 pm
Mike Shedlock gives a very detailed analysis of the unemployment figures.

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/nonfarm-payroll-243000-unemployment.html

Alex Pundit

4 Feb 12 at 4:47 pm
I don’t think Jazz was actually agreeing with the study. I think he was making fun of it.

Jarrah has sniggeringly linked to studies showing a link between the “fear” parts of the brain and conservative ideology (whilst staying mum on the link between redistributionism and hatred), so no, I think he’s serious, JC.

Fisky

4 Feb 12 at 4:47 pm
I doubt she’ll last five minutes before she misleads the House.

Mmmm…she’ll probably walk out after 5 minutes. Not like she hasn’t done that before.

Gab

4 Feb 12 at 5:02 pm
Jarrah has sniggeringly linked to studies showing a link between the “fear” parts of the brain and conservative ideology

Ah yes, the amygdala, which is also linked to binge-drinking and homosexuality, wowserism, and heterosexuality!

Peter Patton

4 Feb 12 at 5:31 pm
so no, I think he’s serious, JC.

If that’s true my estimate of him went down even further than before.

Jazza, it’s face the music time.

JC

4 Feb 12 at 5:35 pm
Meanwhile, in Brisbane….Flannery scared all those succeptible to fright and in their terror of the return of the Ten Plagues they spent billions on a desal plant that remains rooted. And kept too much water in the dam because they thought it would never rain again. But it did rain and the dam overflowed (bloody near burst) and flooded and drowned a few.

Anna announces an inquiry. If she ever called it independent she lied. Government expert witnesses were assumed to be truthful. Documents that now call into question that assumption were not disclosed by the Government they were “found” by headley Thomas it seems.

Now it seems that one of the iquirers does a bit of work for Anna now and then.

This carry on is symptomatic of what happens in Qld if you have the misfortune to deal with a government directing a functionally politicized public service.

Pickles

4 Feb 12 at 5:38 pm
There’s science linking the “fear” parts of the brain with the ability to learn, too.

wreckage

4 Feb 12 at 5:47 pm
And don’t forget the profound differences between those who like Vegemite and those who do not.

Peter Patton

4 Feb 12 at 5:56 pm
Or that most accidents ocurr at home in the bathroom.

Pickles

4 Feb 12 at 6:00 pm
If you really want to understand what is going when the synapses reveal ideology, do yaself a disfavor, and have a squizz at LP. “Our blog, our rules”. Heil Luvvies!

Peter Patton

4 Feb 12 at 6:02 pm
I acknowledge there is no way of knowing if the aborigines were the first human inhabitants of this land mass, in fact I think there is good evidence to suggest otherwise.
I reckon whoever ate the megafauna probably ate the original inhabitants (that mysterious pygmy race?) as well. Hungry lot.

blogstrop

4 Feb 12 at 6:06 pm
Didn’t the recent migrants have if off with homo erectus, Cro Magnum, or some such, not to mention the Irish!?

Peter Patton

4 Feb 12 at 6:09 pm
Has the Fed fucked up again?

Last week (or the one before), Uncle Ben gave a regular post Fed meet press conference and spelt out that the Fed was lengthening the period it was going to hold zero interest rate policy from Mid year 2013 to late year 2014.

To be honest the US has spat out decent monthly economic stats since the September lows and it looked to me that the only thing holding it back was the European fiasco.

Anyways you look at it last night’s monthly payroll was quite decent and Purchasing managers was also decent(ish) suggesting expansion/recovery.

What the hell is the Fed going to do with interest rates if the economy really takes off and is stuck with zero rate policy to end 2014? If they go back on their word the Fed will lose a ton of cred. If the stick with it they also lose a ton of cred for making a big big error.

Meanwhile this is like the sudden appearance of the Gilded Age in US asset markets (as someone said) with the trend looking like things will go substantially higher. These turns from risk adverse to risk on is amazing.

JC

4 Feb 12 at 6:42 pm
I must say I’m disappointed. Rather than comment on the theoretical and empirical pitfalls inherent in such studies – like whether IQ is able to be precisely measured in the first place, or whether the questionnaire design was robust – most of you did very poorly.

Fisky tried a “look over there”, then tried an ad hom with a false attribution. JamesK did his standard “I don’t like the result, must be a conspiracy”, JC missed the point then used faux-concern to hide the fact he has no argument.

The only one with a decent reply was CL, with whom I actually agree on this issue:

lower intelligence in childhood = social and economic disadvantage in adulthood and the attitudinal pathologies/prejudices commonly associated with the disadvantaged

Jarrah

4 Feb 12 at 6:44 pm
So what headmaster Jarrah is saying:

Fisky F
JamesK F
JC F-
CL A+ (clearly teacher’s pet).

Gab

4 Feb 12 at 6:46 pm
Good lord imagine what the amygdala of a socialist feminist must look like. Kathy Bates wouldn’t have got the lead in Misery, if they’d discovered this bint.

http://larvatusprodeo.net/2012/02/04/pinkwashing-cancer-pink-ribbons-inc-looks-at-capitalising-on-hope/

Peter Patton

4 Feb 12 at 6:46 pm
Jarrah

IQ CAN be measured precisely. That’s the whole point.

Peter Patton

4 Feb 12 at 6:47 pm
JC missed the point then used faux-concern to hide the fact he has no argument.

Actually I thought your “hhahhahahaing” as a response to each quoted line was meant to suggest that these sorts of studies in fact aren’t studies at all but crap make to look like research.

I thought that’s what you were laughing at Jazz, so I really was making any argument, you dope.

What was the significance of all the laughs though?

My response to Fisky was in fact surprise that we both read opposite and that I may have understated your stupidity.

JC

4 Feb 12 at 6:55 pm
Study finds conservatives have primitive brains, fewer neurons.

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/brain-thickness-determines-political-leaning-study-20101229-199hk.html

Jarrah

2 Jan 11 at 4:23 am

Fisky

4 Feb 12 at 6:57 pm
How much did Penny Wong spend on MDB water buybacks and what are those rights worth now?

Steve of Ferny Hills

4 Feb 12 at 7:02 pm
Redistributionists two-to-three-times angrier, less altruistic, more prone to racism and marital dissatisfaction, study finds:

http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2011/04/sentences-to-make-you-angry-or-not.html

Fisky

4 Feb 12 at 7:06 pm
two-to-three-times angrier, less altruistic, more prone to racism and marital dissatisfaction

All of those attributes probably correlate with lower IQ as well.

Fisky

4 Feb 12 at 7:07 pm
For CL. Excellent cartoon.

Gab

4 Feb 12 at 7:13 pm
Thanks Fisk, so the dope actually reads twaddle like that.

University has absolutely ruined this kid. He was less stupid when he was a male model.

JC

4 Feb 12 at 7:24 pm
Paging John H.:

Anti-aging secret revealed

Gab

4 Feb 12 at 7:28 pm
JC,

of course the fed is keeping interest rates at zero. Imagine the budget blowout if the US debt had to pay 1% higher interest rates. Any interest rate rise will kill a US recovery in ints tracks.

John Comnenus

4 Feb 12 at 7:46 pm
Fisky

Unfortunately, that article is published by a Law school academic. In all my studies, I have to say that Law school academics are about as dopey as those in Education and Social Psychology. Doesn’t mean this particular Law school dude is a flake, just sayin’.

Peter Patton

4 Feb 12 at 7:49 pm
Some great match ups in the All Stars NRL game about to start, should be a cracker of a game.
Abos favorites.

jumpnmcar

4 Feb 12 at 7:58 pm
Some great match ups in the All Stars NRL game about to start, should be a cracker of a game.

I thought you were joking, jump.

There really is such a thing as the “Indigenous All Stars”.

Astonishing.

Pedro the Ignorant

4 Feb 12 at 8:19 pm
The murky 2010 election result and the Labor government’s subsequent survival are a total function of the the PM’s “superior negotiation skills” (aka devious dishonesty wedded to overweening ambition):

Labor could only scrape together a near win in 2010 by a leader being prepared to:

(a) lie about a carbon tax.

The alliance cobbled together in the aftermath of the 2010 result could only be created by a leader prepared to:

(a) make promises she knew she could not keep (b) offer bribes such as the NBN black hole (c ) turn her back on a promise made to the electorate

The government resulting from the aforementioned “skilful negotiations” could only be held together by a leader prepared to:

(a) turn a blind eye to alleged union corruption and support the likely perpetrator; turn a blind eye to sweeping the whole thing under the carpet for as long as possible

(b) tear up an agreement without which she could not have taken power

(c ) debase the office of the Speakership with a person held in contempt by everyone

The irony is that the very prime ministerial “skills” that brought Labor to power and maintains them in power are the very attributes which may destroy the party for a generation. The longer they clasp the viper to their bosum, the longer they will languish out of power and in ignominy. Shakespeare anyone? Faust anyone?

Viva

4 Feb 12 at 8:23 pm
CL A+

http://antimisandry.com/images/smilies/victory.gif

C.L.

4 Feb 12 at 8:24 pm
Some great match ups in the All Stars NRL game about to start, should be a cracker of a game.

Abos favorites.

Playing for Big Artie. Should be a great game.

I don’t share Bolt’s racism concern with this.

Aborigines throughout Queensland and PNG love this derby. The kids who get picked for the black squad get a real lift out of it.

C.L.

4 Feb 12 at 8:29 pm
Gab, great cartoon.

He really does see himself as the pope of government.

It’s truly hard to describe the sheer hatred driving that policy. Not to mention the sheer idiocy. It’s premised on the notion that pregnancy is an illness.

C.L.

4 Feb 12 at 8:31 pm
I remember reading somewhere that an indigenous cricket team toured England in the 19th Century. Did pretty well against the pommy sides too.

Fisky

4 Feb 12 at 8:37 pm
Playing for Big Artie. Should be a great game.

I don’t share Bolt’s racism concern with this.

Yep, it does more good than harm in my book.
( Bit of biff too )

jumpnmcar

4 Feb 12 at 8:37 pm
Delimite goes truth vigilante on Turnbull’s NBN lies.

m0nty

4 Feb 12 at 9:41 pm
Delimiter, that should read.

m0nty

4 Feb 12 at 9:41 pm
news.com.au plumbs new depths of stupid with the following article lead:

THE supermarket giants have been given the green light to continue with aggressive discounting, with worse to come.

Oh no, even lower prices! It’s just getting worse and worse!

http://www.news.com.au/money/cost-of-living/grocery-giants-free-to-milk-farmers/story-fnagkbpv-1226262384290

Oh come on

4 Feb 12 at 10:07 pm
Damn this takes me back to the good old 80s! A lot of long forgotten names…talk about a who’s who of WA Inc cronies and their wives in this photo gallery of Bondy’s wife Diana Bliss’s funeral:

http://www.perthnow.com.au/gallery-e6frg1vc-1226262579688

Oh come on

4 Feb 12 at 10:17 pm
Some great match ups in the All Stars NRL game about to start, should be a cracker of a game.

Bloody awesome. Nothing like a legally sanctioned game of Darkies versus Honkies. Should be more of that shit, but with cages and burning crosses.

What a retarded country we are.

Infidel Tiger

4 Feb 12 at 10:26 pm
Waitangi Day today. Couple of thousand Maoris gathered in a park around the corner to celebrate the glorious moment. Closed down because of a brawl.

What a great country.

Infidel Tiger

4 Feb 12 at 10:35 pm
Aborigines throughout Queensland and PNG love this derby. The kids who get picked for the black squad get a real lift out of it.

Yeah, I agree. However, I’m a Bunnies suporter and am spitting chips that it looks like Inglis may be out for some time.

nic

4 Feb 12 at 10:40 pm
nic
“I’m a Bunnies suporter ”
My condolences, and a pity about Inglis too.

jumpnmcar

4 Feb 12 at 10:43 pm
Gee, Australia signs a UN treaty setting up a new global bureaucracy, the “ACTA Committee”, to police the internet and stop free speech and the denizens of CatallaxyFiles have nothing to say.

Don’t wait until this site disappears before realizing how import it is to stop this. It’s “about the direction in which our civilisation is heading”. But don’t take my word for it, look into it, starting here:

http://lovefreedomtruth.com/2012/02/anti-counterfeiting-trade-agreement-replacing-sopa-and-pipa/

Then take action. Do it now, while you still have the full suite of online tools available to you.

Robert Carruthers

4 Feb 12 at 10:43 pm
Jump. Bunnies will make the 8 this year, just.

nic

4 Feb 12 at 10:44 pm
Jump. Bunnies will make the 8 this year, just.

Iv’e said that for 3 years, hope your right,
Broncos to knock em out in week 2 of the finals.

jumpnmcar

4 Feb 12 at 10:58 pm
IT, the non-indigenous squad are hardly honkies. A lot of them are also black. Just not Aborigines.

C.L.

4 Feb 12 at 11:32 pm
Seems a silly concept to me, CL. When I first saw Artie many moons ago I didn’t even realise he was Aboriginal. I could do time for that these days, but I was very naive back then.

I realise therte are good intentions, but I’m very suss on any of these coming together of tribes gatherings. Next thing you know there’ll be quotas and other such malarkey.

For godness sake, they did a welcome to country at a wedding I attended recently on a vineyard. It hought JC had got his celebrants ticket.

Infidel Tiger

4 Feb 12 at 11:40 pm
IT,I know what you mean, but I have a feeling its games like that, that do more ‘good’ for Aboriginals, particularly self esteem than millions of Government dollars wasted on sit down money or public servants

nic

4 Feb 12 at 11:54 pm
Monty, that assumes that NBNCo will be able to honour its “Special Access Undertaking”.

I think Delimiter is either very credulous, or trying to have her cake and eat it, too, when you consider the article you quoted, and her other one here:

http://delimiter.com.au/2012/02/01/correction-cutting-the-nbn-wont-save-money/

Ultimately, one way or the other, the money is not going to be there. Either the “Special Access Undertaking” is broken, or the taxpayer has to fork out the loss.

2dogs

5 Feb 12 at 12:05 am
Should be entertaining…

The Bolt Report is on Channel 10 today at 10 am and 4.30pm, and at 4.30pm on Southern Cross.

With Tony Abbott, Peter Reith and Bruce Hawker. (Still no yes from Julia Gillard, whose fast running out of time to appear,) Peter Slipper explains some of his interesting taxi expenses.

Gab

5 Feb 12 at 12:24 am
It’s not a hate crime when you beat up whitey.

Anti-white “flashmobs,” deftly hidden by Big Media, have struck again, this time in Philadelphia, where a large group of black teenagers beat a white cab driver and his white college-age passenger while they were stopped at an intersection.

The execrable Philly D.A., however, has announced that the attackers will not be charged with committing hate crimes. City of brotherly love, indeed.

Gab

5 Feb 12 at 12:29 am
IT, the non-indigenous squad are hardly honkies. A lot of them are also black. Just not Aborigines.

Who says they are not aborigines? Mordy J will be frothing at the mouth in anticipation.

Pedro the Ignorant

5 Feb 12 at 12:42 am
New York man pays 102% tax rate.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/102-tax-rate-takes-cake-160010322.html

Alex Pundit

5 Feb 12 at 12:52 am
A Labor MP speaking to the SMH explains the etiquette conundrum in a meeting with Julia Gillard thee days:

You don’t say: ‘Explain why you’re so shit.’ ”

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 1:24 am
Latest from the Obama Arab Spring triumph:

Libya’s former ambassador to France tortured to death.

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 1:27 am
OMFG!

This may be the funniest thing I’ve read:

http://bunyipitude.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/thai-one-on-for-joppy.html

Infidel Tiger

5 Feb 12 at 1:31 am
I was just about to post that one as well, IT.

Jeebus, I love the Bunyip.

spot

5 Feb 12 at 1:32 am
MPs will focus on Ms Gillard’s inability to sell her message to the public.

From Cl’s link.

These idiots don’t get it, do they? There’s nothing wrong specifically with the selling of the message. it’s the message itself and the liar doing the selling that is the problem. These union clerks simply don’ realize how unpopular they really are and why. Not once have I see questions about the message itself being wrong headed.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 1:34 am
That is the craziest thing ever published in an Australian newspaper.

Gina certainly won’t be able to fire any editors. There is no way Fairfax have any.

Infidel Tiger

5 Feb 12 at 1:35 am
I took a screencap of that piece in the Age just in case a sober responsible adult (I know, right?!) wanders in in the morning and thinks to kill it.

spot

5 Feb 12 at 1:46 am
Metro was quoting Rasmussen as authoritative last week.

Rasmussen: Obama job approval among uncommitted voters at 20%.

Disapproval: 70 percent.

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 1:55 am
Christ on a bike. Livestrong founder Lance Armstrong has donated $100,000 to Planned Parenthood.

It burns.

Infidel Tiger

5 Feb 12 at 2:04 am
Obama’s fails set new, epochal records – almost defy existing adjectives:

Nationwide, about $500 million in Recovery Act funds were allocated to train nearly 125,000 people for green careers. Nearly a year and a half later, the audit found, only 52,762 people had been trained and 8,035 had found jobs.

Green-job training put on hold after program produces few jobs.

Worst president ever.

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 2:38 am
Shock horror. Jarrah links to a less expansive article on that Brock university “study”. Instead, he should linke to the one that Tory Shepherd cited (but didn’t read closely because it is not as flattering to the Left as it first appears):

http://news.yahoo.com/low-iq-conservative-beliefs-linked-prejudice-180403506.html

Hodson and Busseri’s explanation of their findings is reasonable, Nosek said, but it is correlational. That means the researchers didn’t conclusively prove that the low intelligence caused the later prejudice. To do that, you’d have to somehow randomly assign otherwise identical people to be smart or dumb, liberal or conservative. Those sorts of studies obviously aren’t possible.

The researchers controlled for factors such as education and socioeconomic status, making their case stronger, Nosek said. But there are other possible explanations that fit the data. For example, Nosek said, a study of left-wing liberals with stereotypically naïve views like “every kid is a genius in his or her own way,” might find that people who hold these attitudes are also less bright. In other words, it might not be a particular ideology that is linked to stupidity, but extremist views in general.

“My speculation is that it’s not as simple as their model presents it,” Nosek said. “I think that lower cognitive capacity can lead to multiple simple ways to represent the world, and one of those can be embodied in a right-wing ideology where ‘People I don’t know are threats’ and ‘The world is a dangerous place’. … Another simple way would be to just assume everybody is wonderful.”

LOL. You fucken ejeet, Jazzah.

Abu Chowdah

5 Feb 12 at 3:25 am
You know, like asylum seekers and cultural relativism. Everybody’s wonderful, right Jizzah?

Abu Chowdah

5 Feb 12 at 3:41 am
This is just sad.

spot

5 Feb 12 at 7:21 am
Who writes these Amazon reviews?

spot

5 Feb 12 at 7:24 am
Judith Sloan on Australian Agenda let Albosleazy get away with a howler. Alluding to Windsor’s claim that Abbott would do anything to get into government, Albosleaze took the high road and wouldn’t repest the allegation.

According to Windsor’s version, Abbott broke off negotiations saying, “I won’t sell my arse. But I’ll have to think about that.” After which Windsor struck a deal with Gillard.

Surely it’s clear whose arse was bought.

ar

5 Feb 12 at 9:10 am
CL

Latest from the Obama Arab Spring triumph:

Libya’s former ambassador to France tortured to death.

Hmm. How would the left respond…

1. Yawn. Scratch, scratch, scratch. He’s just a coon, comrade, who cares? Oh, hang on, can we smear Abbott with it? (assumption – the lefty think’s you are a fellow lefty)

2. Racist conservative pig. Moral relativism tells me that torturing people to death is a cultural tradition in Arab Muslim culture! You RACIST!!! It’s not nearly as bad as waterboarding three known terrorists wot evilChimpster W hitler did!!!!. And racist HoWARd was the racist Chimpsters racist deputy sheriff and so he’s responsible for that libyan dude getting tortured becuase they’d only do that because the racist capitalist racist west caused the problem at the start and racist Abbott took over from racist Howard so it’s ALL racist ABBOTTS racist FAULT!!!!!

(assumption: the lefty thinks you are a conservative)

Jeez, pretending to be a lefty’s easy. Either use their innate racism or gibber pure shyte and use lots of caps, exclamation marks and the word ‘racist’ as a verb, noun an adjective on all possible occasions.

Mk50 of Brisbane

5 Feb 12 at 9:35 am
Rupert Murdoch tweets:

What does POTUS think he’s doing upsetting and energizing 77 million Catholics. Ideology on show. If Romney has brains, this is a killer

He’s also had a few goes at Gillard and Rudd this morning – http://twitter.com/rupertmurdoch

spot

5 Feb 12 at 10:19 am
“In other words, it might not be a particular ideology that is linked to stupidity, but extremist views in general.”

I think I like that conclusion better than the original. Also, there’s something wrong with your keyboard.

Jarrah

5 Feb 12 at 10:37 am
What the hell has happened to the once professional AFP?

Syrian embassy in Canberra trashed at same time as other embassies including the London.

It seems like standards have gone through the floor. Abbott will need to clean out a few more Overland types to de-politicise & return this mob to be a professional organisation.

Token

5 Feb 12 at 10:52 am
LOL. You fucken ejeet, Jazzah.

University. It’s university. It’s killing him slowly.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 11:04 am
Poor warmies. This adds a few more kilos to their cement shoes.

Some choice lines:

An astrologer would throw up his hands in dismay at this sloppy reasoning and hazy science.

The truth is that forecasts about greenhouse gas emissions are basically worthless. These recent forecasts certainly were; the difference between 37 percent growth and 6 percent decline is 43 percent. That is about the level of accuracy you could expect from a blind monkey throwing darts at a wall.

Tell me again what glowball temperatures are going to be in a century, oh bedwetters of the ecocalypse.

Mk50 of Brisbane

5 Feb 12 at 11:46 am
So Bolt was right and the schleps making alarmist predictions were wrong.

A GOVERNMENT-run research body has found that the past 110 years of ocean warming has been good for the growth of corals spanning more than 1000km of Australia’s coastline.

The findings undermine predictions that global warming will devastate coral reefs, and add to a growing body of evidence showing corals are more resilient than previously thought – up to a certain point.

The study by the Australian Institute of Marine Science, peer-reviewed findings of which were published today in the leading journal Science, examined 27 samples from six locations from the West Australian coast off Geraldton to offshore from Darwin.

At each site, scientists took cores from massive porites corals – similar to a biopsy in humans – and counted back to record their age in much the same way tree rings are counted.

Although some cores extended to the 18th century, they focused on the period from 1900 to 2010.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/century-of-ocean-warming-good-for-corals-research-shows/story-fn7x8me2-1226261714210

JC

5 Feb 12 at 11:47 am
CL

IT, the non-indigenous squad are hardly honkies. A lot of them are also black. Just not Aborigines.

Are any of the indigenous players’s black, or are they all kids of da Behrendt-Lavarch’s?

Peter Patton

5 Feb 12 at 11:50 am
CL, Judge Mordy’ll be after you with a net.

Mk50 of Brisbane

5 Feb 12 at 11:51 am
Was Judge Maudy the ref?

Peter Patton

5 Feb 12 at 11:51 am
Snap.

Mk50 of Brisbane

5 Feb 12 at 11:51 am
~~Lying turd~~ Nice Guy*:

Barack Obama Lashes Out at Banks For Risky Mortgages in Weekly Address …Forgets to Mention His Lawsuit Forced Banks to Ease Lending Practices.

* Mitt Romney’s preferred description.

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 11:54 am
Syrian embassy in Canberra trashed

They knocked over a rubbish bin at Khalid’s Kebab van at the Woden Caltex?

nic

5 Feb 12 at 11:55 am
My principle has always been to only associate with people I consider honest and that if you hang around with dogs don’t be shocked if you’re trying to scratch away fleas.

This story is quite possibly one of the most despicable things any newspaper has ever done in Australia.

In some ways it’s worse than anything done by the UK tabloids.

A senior Victorian state labor minster was at the time forced to resign and his name dragged through the mud over an allegation hatched up by an Age journalist and her buddy- the supposed victim.

The Age’s shameful ruination of the career of a Labor minister – publishing rape allegations against him without revealing damning holes in the witness’s implausible story or her friendship with the reporter – now comes back to haunt it:

A WOMAN who falsely claimed to have been raped by former Labor minister Theo Theophanous is suing The Age newspaper for $20 million.

The woman, who now lives in Greece, claims Age journalist Carolyn Webb falsified an interview with her that led to a Greek court handing her a two-year suspended jail sentence for criminal defamation in 2009.

In a writ filed in the County Court last Wednesday, the woman alleges the interview detailed in The Age’s article was “the journalist Carolyn Webb’s figment of imagination”.

“I never gave an interview of any kind to the stated journalist and in no case did I ever give permission to publish anything regarding the case,” the woman said in the writ.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/womans-20m-law-suit-against-the-age/story-fn7x8me2-1226262728365

JC

5 Feb 12 at 11:55 am
The All-Stars concept is great – everyone loves it.

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 11:59 am
Pew: Jews, white protestants, Catholics dumping Obama.

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 12:00 pm
They knocked over a rubbish bin at Khalid’s Kebab van at the Woden Caltex?

A disturbing attack on ~~extra-territoriality~~ extra-mayonnaiseiality.

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 12:02 pm
Another for the reading list:

Review of Why the West is Best: A Muslim Apostate’s Defense of Liberal Democracy, by Ibn Warraq, (Encounter, 2011, 286 pp.)

A choice quote from the review:

Ibn Warraq is the pen name of a Muslim apostate who left his native Pakistan and now lives in the United States. …

… Warraq reminds us that “the economic and technological success of the West began with culture, and with principles embodied in its characteristic institutions.” …. Insofar as non-Western cultures embrace these ideals, they progress and improve; those that don’t find themselves mired …

Warraq also rebuts the charge that the West has been uniquely evil, that its record of slavery, racism, colonialism, and imperialism has made it history’s arch-villain. As Warraq notes, racism and slavery are universal human evils, but “it was the West that first took steps to abolish slavery; that took legal measures to end institutionalized racism; and that voluntarily withdrew from its colonial possessions and abandoned any imperial ambitions.” He dispatches the widespread lie that the West is responsible for the African slave trade. … And Warraq reminds us that Muslim Arabs “engaged in the slave trade for thirteen centuries and shipped far more black slaves across the Sahara and the Red Sea than were sent across the Atlantic” during the four centuries of European slave trading.

As for racism, Warraq quotes a thirteenth-century Persian Muslim’s view that “the ape is more reasonable and more intelligent than the Zanji”—meaning black Africans, still called “slaves” in Arabic today. And anti-Semitism, Warraq writes, “is widespread in the Islamic world, often encouraged by the state” … He shows how Muslim anti-Semitism has its roots in the Koran and the life and teachings of Mohammed, who deemed Jews “cursed for their unbelief” and who commanded, “Kill any Jew that falls into your power.”

Finally, no people have been as successful at conquering, occupying, and exploiting territory as Muslims, eradicating the cultures they conquered and impelling their victims to believe, as Warraq puts it, “that their whole prior cultural heritage was worthless.”
RTWT

Mk50 of Brisbane

5 Feb 12 at 12:03 pm
I think one of the reasons the ALP has a credibility issue is because it thinks the problem is a messaging or communication problem.

Indeed John C. These people think that all they need is a competent sales and marketing team. They never seem to cotton on to the fact it is that their product – their ideas – are shit. It is their ideas that are not credible and they can never deliver on their promises because they always oversell what can be achieved and never acknowledge any unintended consequences. For them it is always just a problem of flawed execution not shitty ideas. Fortunately, a substantial portion of the population has realised this. What is scary though is the persistence of the ALP base. That around a third of the population can still vote 1 ALP is mind-blowing…

Skuter

5 Feb 12 at 12:06 pm
Pew: Jews, white protestants, Catholics dumping Obama.

Still strong support in Rev Wright’s congregation though.

It may be time to forget the Nov election from now on and just focus on what a Romney president will mean.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 12:06 pm
MK50

Jesus – or Christ on a bike to quote IT – three posts at 11.51 am!

Peter Patton

5 Feb 12 at 12:08 pm
Obama’s re-election strategy seems to be to alienate Jews, white protestants, Catholics, the working class, energy workers, the elderly, the wealthy, southerners, the Mid-West and instead wait for blacks and the lesbian slappers of Planned Parenthood to deliver him sweet sweet victory.

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 12:09 pm
Looks like Obama and the Gang are dodgying up the black unemployment numbers:

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/326447.php

Infidel Tiger

5 Feb 12 at 12:13 pm
Obama’s re-election strategy seems to be to alienate Jews, white protestants, Catholics, the working class, energy workers, the elderly, the wealthy, southerners, the Mid-West and instead wait for blacks and the lesbian slappers of Planned Parenthood to deliver him sweet sweet victory.

Include voter fraud and it’s a masterful strategy.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 12:16 pm
Also at Ace’s, Steyn on the Democrats and lefty ‘tolerance’:

Democrats are just a collection of rent-seekers, beak-dippers, and vig-skimmers, who have convinced themselves that it is not only acceptable that they should collect rents, dip their beaks, and collect a vig on everyone else’s transactions, but that to deny them such rents, dippings, and vigs constitutes the most hateful, vicious, and fundamentally un-American behavior they can conceive…

As Senator Obama said during the 2008 campaign, words matter. Modern “liberalism” is strikingly illiberal; the high priests of “tolerance” are increasingly intolerant of even the mildest dissent; and those who profess to “celebrate diversity” coerce ever more ruthlessly a narrow homogeneity. Thus, the Obama administration’s insistence that Catholic institutions must be compelled to provide free contraception, sterilization, and abortifacients. This has less to do with any utilitarian benefit a condomless janitor at a Catholic school might derive from Obamacare, and more to do with the liberal muscle of Big Tolerance enforcing one-size-fits-all diversity.

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/326441.php

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 12:21 pm
Obama’s re-election strategy seems to be to alienate Jews, white protestants, Catholics, the working class, energy workers, the elderly, the wealthy, southerners,

But apart from that he’s hoping the disabled vote really kicks in and he can ride to victory.

nic

5 Feb 12 at 12:23 pm
They never seem to cotton on to the fact it is that their product – their ideas – are shit.

Reminds me a lot of a Wall Street Journal Op-ed at the time HillaryCare was being proposed.

It was an op-ed that must have been written by the redoubtable Bob Bartley the WSJ editor. The White House the time kept talking about how the prez was telling his minions they had to fan out across the country as he/they weren’t doing a good enough job of selling it and it needed extra effort.

Bartley disagreed. He thought the White was doing a great job of marketing the policy to the public. However, as more people got to understand it, the less they liked it and the polls sagged even more.

The union clerks can’t conceive the possibility their policies are despised.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 12:23 pm
Wow:

Rasmussen presidential match-up…

Santorum: 45 percent.
Obama: 44 percent.

So much for that whole ‘only Mitt can win’ bullshit.

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 12:27 pm
So much for that whole ‘only Mitt can win’ bullshit.

Dick Morris was strongly advising Republicans in one of his vids not to try and vote strategically in an attempt to figure who could beat odumbo. He suggested they should vote who they thought was the best candidate out of the three (Romney, Gingrich and Santorum) as he told them all three of them would be able to defeat Odumbo in an election.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 12:31 pm
Allen West: Obama’s Jerking Us Around With Falsified Unemployment Numbers

“Can someone tell me how employment in the black community has improved at a rate three times the national average in just a few months?? With numbers like today, urban communities should be well on their way to economic recovery then! There is something suspicious about the job numbers released today and it has me very concerned,” West wondered Friday.

“Is this dramatic supposed decrease in black unemployment a result of job creation or is someone playing around with the census numbers??”

Hmmm…

spot

5 Feb 12 at 12:33 pm
Sorry, IT. Snap.

spot

5 Feb 12 at 12:34 pm
It’s absolutely true, isn’t it?

Labor just keeps wallowing in denialism, ‘we need to sell our message better’ etc.

No, morons.

You sold the carbon dioxide tax, the asylum-killer policy and all the other junk very well.

Everyone HATES the policies.

You failed, douchebags.

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 12:35 pm
And CL, they have constantly lied.

nic

5 Feb 12 at 12:49 pm
“If only we had a better jingle, people would start buying our dogshit.”

Infidel Tiger

5 Feb 12 at 12:58 pm
Obama:

Almost too stupid and immoral to bother condemning anymore.

It’s simply a given.

http://www.jammiewf.com/2012/obama-to-unveil-new-vote-buying-scheme/

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 1:09 pm
The study that found a link between low IQ and racism… On what basis did they then classify racism as socially conservative?

Fleeced

5 Feb 12 at 1:13 pm
“Obama to Unveil New Vote-Buying Scheme”

Obama Learns From Howard

Jarrah

5 Feb 12 at 1:29 pm
“On what basis did they then classify racism as socially conservative?”

They didn’t. Those were two separate findings.

Jarrah

5 Feb 12 at 1:30 pm
Is Newt gonna quit after the Nevada caucuses later this afternoon?

Gingrich to Hold Post-Caucus Press Conference

JamesK

5 Feb 12 at 1:32 pm
Romney 39.3%

Gingrich 25.1%

Paul 22.1%

Santorum 13.1%

after 7.5% of caucuses reporting (138/1835)

JamesK

5 Feb 12 at 1:35 pm
60.3 for the non-Roms.

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 1:40 pm
This is just sad

A couple of years ago I did an business under grad as an adult student and one of the subjects was “government and society”.

In the first tutorial we were given a quiz and it was the same sort of result.

About 70% knew who the prime minister was, less than 50% the opposition leader, when it came to QLD only about 10% knew who the opposition leader was, only about 10 % knew who the Australian Governor General was, and it was about the same for who actually knew what the role was about.

It was fun though because we used to have lots of debates which over the term of the semester became ‘the rednecks’ (my friend and I) verses the ‘young luvies’ (the rest of the class), let’s just say I gave them one hell of an education.

CraigS

5 Feb 12 at 1:46 pm
Tory windfarm revolt:

A total of 101 Tory MPs have written to the Prime Minister demanding that the £400 million-a-year subsidies paid to the “inefficient” onshore wind turbine industry are “dramatically cut”.

The backbenchers, joined by some MPs from other parties, have also called on Mr Cameron to tighten up planning laws so local people have a better chance of stopping new farms being developed and protecting the countryside.

boy on a bike

5 Feb 12 at 3:23 pm
When to see Tinker Tailor this arvo. Great movie. Gary Oldman was tremendous in it as George Smiley.

Highly recommend it.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 3:54 pm
Why is Bligh wearing country attire?

Who is she kidding?

JC

5 Feb 12 at 3:59 pm
Gary Oldman is a brilliant actor, because you rapidly forget it’s Gary and just see the character. Cumberbatch and Mark Strong were also very good.

I haven’t read the book, so I had a different experience than someone who has, but I had trouble caring about the characters, or who the mole was.

Jarrah

5 Feb 12 at 4:00 pm
http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2012/02/05/1226262/988761-120205-bligh.jpg

JC

5 Feb 12 at 4:01 pm
Why is Bligh wearing country attire?

Who is she kidding?

She alway pulls out the RMs and the Akubra when she does her disaster tours.

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 4:06 pm
Some good lines in Romney’s Nevada victory speech:

“This President began his presidency by apologising for America. He should now be apologising to America.”

and:

“President Obama orders religious organizations to violate their conscience; I will defend religious liberty and overturn regulations that trample on our first freedom.”

JamesK

5 Feb 12 at 4:09 pm
Another Pallywood hoax exposed.

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 4:12 pm
Can someone please explain to me why we supported the Arab autumn

Because we had no choice.

when all we did was help install nasty governments that hate the west against

We didn’t install them. They were installed despite us; or to spite us. The reason the nasty governments that hate the West hate the West is because there’s a lot of other people who hate the West. Why?

previous nasty governments that were neutral to ambivalent about the West.

Which we did install.

Adrien

5 Feb 12 at 4:15 pm
I thought the film was excellent. Pitch perfect on that niche form of bureaucracy.

Abu Chowdah

5 Feb 12 at 4:20 pm
~~Can someone please explain to me why we supported the Arab autumn.~~

Because Obama and Kevin Rudd are imbeciles.

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 4:22 pm
Adrien

Stop being an idiot. Odumbo gave his blessing for the removal of the Egyptian president. Rahter than holding off and trying to make sure the liberal organization had a shot at organizing themselves he moved quickly and allowed the Brotherhood to take over.

The West bombed Libya for FFS and we helped install an Islamist regime.

Odumbo lost the mid east to Islamists. Great fucking work, Barry.

The next president needs to get this fucker by the scruff of the neck and physically kick his arse out to the front gates of the White House

JC

5 Feb 12 at 4:24 pm
“allowed the Brotherhood to take over…. install an Islamist regime”

If you let majority-Muslim countries elect their own leaders, they tend to elect Muslims. There’s not a whole lot you can do about that, except prevent the democracy in the first place.

Jarrah

5 Feb 12 at 4:27 pm
Gary Oldman is an awesome actor. Arguably the best. Him and Bill Murray – my favourites.

CL: Romney’s going to go close to 50%. The fact that most people voted for other candidates doesn’t mean much at this point. The non-Roms will become Roms when their guy drops out. Barring the discovery of a John Edwards-esque affair, it’s time to start getting used to the idea of Romney as GOP candidate – and likely president.

Oh come on

5 Feb 12 at 4:33 pm
Jazza, you missed the fucking point as usual. It wasn’t about letting or not letting them pick their own leaders. It was about stalling for time and allowing the liberal organizations to group and organize themselves. Instead Barry Odumbo, the fucking moron, was pushing against Mubarak at the very beginning.

Secondly why the fuck is the West Bombing Libya to support the rebels when Western intel knew the fuckers were Islamic crazies antithetical to the West.

FFS, other Westerners should have known we were in trouble when Rudd the Turd got involved.

Lastly, there is no moral imperative in the west to support the rise of Islamic governments that basically will end up resembling a version of Iran’s.

Stop talking crap.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 4:37 pm
By the way, Tory Sheppard should not be writing articles about the low intelligence of others. It’s rather like Al Gore wagging his finger over the size of other people’s carbon footprints.

Oh come on

5 Feb 12 at 4:40 pm
Muslim Brotherhood = Muslims!

We’ll file that one away for the “anti-monolithicists” next time they are running interference.

Fisky

5 Feb 12 at 4:45 pm
JC: I doubt the liberal organisations in those countries could ever take on the Islamists. I don’t know how anyone could be optimistic about pretty much every ME muslim country, unfortunately. Secular-leaning dictatorship is the best we can hope for, and it’s what we should be trying to maintain.

Oh come on

5 Feb 12 at 4:45 pm
Are you saying the Muslim Brotherhoods aren’t Muslims, Fisky?

Jarrah

5 Feb 12 at 4:46 pm
Oh for chuck steak, Jarrah.

Oh come on

5 Feb 12 at 4:50 pm
“It was about stalling for time and allowing the liberal organizations to group and organize themselves.”

You can’t be so dumb as to think they ever had a chance at taking power in Egypt or Libya.

Jarrah

5 Feb 12 at 4:51 pm
Fisk… it’s like modern leftism is seriously mentally ill. Look at the mindset of two typical lefties like Adrien and Jazza over this issue.

No thoughts on how the West, if there was a better president, would have handled this more effectively and chosen a strategy that would at least have a chance of having pro-western liberal democratic governments installed in that shit hole of the Mid East.

Oh no we couldn’t do that… they say… and the people elected these governments or are about to, which is far, far more important, they add. That’s how these lunatics think. They really are mentally ill. Modern western leftism is a sickness.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 4:51 pm
Are you saying the Muslim Brotherhoods aren’t Muslims, Fisky?

Let’s go back to your comment again.

“allowed the Brotherhood to take over…. install an Islamist regime”

If you let majority-Muslim countries elect their own leaders, they tend to elect Muslims.

Islamists = Muslims, according to Jarrah.

Fisky

5 Feb 12 at 4:54 pm
Fisk… it’s like modern leftism is seriously mentally ill. Look at the mindset of two typical lefties like Adrien and Jazza over this issue.

It’s fine to associate “Muslims” with the “Muslim Brotherhood” if you are running interference. But in any other context, such as a critical one, you would be accused of “essentialising” Muslims as a “bloc”.

Fisky

5 Feb 12 at 4:56 pm
That’s how these lunatics think. They really are mentally ill. Modern western leftism is a sickness.

Jeanne Kirkpatrick, one of the best Ambassadors to the UN (every bit as good as John Bolton) had these people well and truly sussed out.

Fisky

5 Feb 12 at 4:58 pm
You can’t be so dumb as to think they ever had a chance at taking power in Egypt or Libya.

You can’t be such a cowardly metrosexual to think they couldn’t have a shot at it, even by receiving a stronger vote in Egypt, instead of lying down and getting raped.

An effective policy could have demanded the removal of Mubarak and an interim president installed like El Baradei giving the liberal forces a chance to coalesce around his leadership while they organized and doing so from a position of authority that El Baradei or someone like him would have offered. It could also have given them a chance to run a plebiscite and introduce a strong constitution that basically neutered the Islamists.

Lastly, I notice you’re avoiding any response as to why the fuck the West were bombing Libya, but we can all guess the reason. Not comfortable perhaps?

Seriously jazza, you exhibit all the psychosis of modern western leftism. Get yourself treated and stop going to uni, as it’s destroying your brain.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 5:00 pm
Gary Oldman is an awesome actor. Arguably the best. Him and Bill Murray – my favourites

Yep, them, Jeff Bridges and Robert Duvall.

Infidel Tiger

5 Feb 12 at 5:00 pm
‘Breaking’ News.

Next president wins Nevada.

Alex Pundit

5 Feb 12 at 5:01 pm
you would be accused of “essentialising” Muslims as a “bloc”.

Oh yea, I forgot about the essentializing expect of it all. My bad.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 5:01 pm
Fisky’s sociology lexicon is impressive!

Oh come on

5 Feb 12 at 5:08 pm
JC: I doubt the liberal organisations in those countries could ever take on the Islamists.

The West never even fucking tried OCO. We never even gave it a shot. There are more ways to skin a fucking cat. We could very well have lost the opportunity to instal western democracy. Look, I fully understand whatever we did, we were never going to get Swiss democracy going with those fuckers. But we should at least given it a shot like I outlined above. Never give up trying.

I don’t know how anyone could be optimistic about pretty much every ME muslim country, unfortunately. Secular-leaning dictatorship is the best we can hope for, and it’s what we should be trying to maintain.

Perhaps you’re right, but as I said you never give up and it was a inexpensive thing to do. All it needed was a little strategizing and a more competent US president or one that is able to distinguish between Islamist fucking arseholes and liberal democrats.

This prick in the White House is like Carter who simply gave up Iran without blinking.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 5:09 pm
Rudd ought to be up on charges for crimes against humanity for what the freaking did over Libya. he ought to freighted over to the Hague in handcuffs and ankle chains.

The truth is that he didn’t give a shit about the consequences and the little turd was grandstanding in order to help his chances for the UN. That’s all.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 5:13 pm
Look, the Muslim Brotherhood is no more extreme than the Republican Party and Liberal Party.

Infidel Tiger

5 Feb 12 at 5:13 pm
Look, the Muslim Brotherhood is no more extreme than the Republican Party and Liberal Party.

Fair point IT. The US, south of the Mason Dixon is basically Saudi Arabia in disguise. LOl

JC

5 Feb 12 at 5:15 pm
“Secular-leaning dictatorship is the best we can hope for, and it’s what we should be trying to maintain.”

Like Saddam Hussein?

“An effective policy could have demanded the removal of Mubarak”

Demanded how? This was a popular uprising – how do you control that?

“It could also have given them a chance to run a plebiscite and introduce a strong constitution that basically neutered the Islamists.”

Joey, you’re dreaming. How could more ‘organisation’ stop 70%+ of the vote going to Islamists? How could a plebiscite that weakened Islamists get a majority of support in that scenario?

Jarrah

5 Feb 12 at 5:19 pm
The AFP ought to raid the Lodge, as the Union clerks seem to be doing a serious amount of reefer this afternoon (at the party wake).

JULIA Gillard has told Labor MPs they have to get out and sell the government’s achievements in an address to about two-thirds of the party’s caucus.

lol.. 2/3′s of the Caucus? Where’s the other 1/3.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 5:19 pm
JC: with those countries I reckon it’s better the devil you know, unfortunately. We shouldn’t have thrown Mubarak under the bus; we should have backed him to the hilt. Nothing good will come from the so-called “Arab Spring”.

Oh come on

5 Feb 12 at 5:20 pm
The Missouri Primary will be interesting. Gingrich did not register in time so Santorum gets a run being the major anti-Romney candidate in an anti-abortion part of the bible belt.

The 2012 Missouri Republican primary will take place on February 7, 2012. This primary will not determine which delegates will be sent to the national convention; this will instead be determined by the caucuses on March 17, 2012. Candidate Newt Gingrich missed the filing deadline and as a result will not appear on the primary ballot.

Token

5 Feb 12 at 5:20 pm
Fisky, do you think Muslims have a right to self-determination?

Jarrah

5 Feb 12 at 5:21 pm
Joey, you’re dreaming. How could more ‘organisation’ stop 70%+ of the vote going to Islamists? How could a plebiscite that weakened Islamists get a majority of support in that scenario?

The liberals were badly organized. The outline of what the West could have done was outlined earlier, which you avoided, along with the issue I raised about you ignoring the question over Libya.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 5:22 pm
We shouldn’t have thrown Mubarak under the bus; we should have backed him to the hilt.

I don’t think so. He was gonsky. However there was a possibility of supporting an interim liberal president that could have given the liberal forces an extra push with the right person at the top. El Baradei would have been perfect.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 5:24 pm
“The Missouri Primary will be interesting. Gingrich did not register in time so Santorum gets a run being the major anti-Romney candidate in an anti-abortion part of the bible belt.”

He could quite possibly win that. I don’t think it will be a total Romney blowout. Remember, Romney and Huckabee carried quite a few states in 2008 before McCain clinched the nomination.

Alex Pundit

5 Feb 12 at 5:24 pm
What is it with the editing at the SMH? yesterday, altar was spelt alter in a byline and today there is a headline that talks about “Sydney Swan opens up about daughter’s loss’ when it’s actually not about his daughter having last something but the footballer having lost his daughter.

nic

5 Feb 12 at 5:25 pm
And OCO, Mubrak was a total prick to his people. He was a callous thieving prick that needed to go and put to death for the things he did to them.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 5:25 pm
Jarrah: if the dictators misbehave, they should be spanked.

I’m not saying that the people of Arabia don’t want liberty. I suspect they do. However, it appears that most of them don’t seem to realise that voting for conservative Islamists is not a path to liberty and prosperity.

Oh come on

5 Feb 12 at 5:25 pm
The liberals were badly organized. The outline of what the West could have done was outlined earlier, which you avoided, along with the issue I raised about you ignoring the question over Libya.

…but didn’t the western luvvies get reassured by Facebook that the ongoing assaults and sexual assault of female journalist in Tahir square was unrepresentative.

After all, a Facebook friend can be trusted, that is an bond in blood.

Token

5 Feb 12 at 5:27 pm
GetUp is promoting this video of Monckton talking to some business people about an Oz type Fox news channel.

Their angle? “Uncovered Grubby Low Secret Plot to Control Media”.
Just more choice I recon, go for it, I got a remote if I don’t like it.

jumpnmcar

5 Feb 12 at 5:28 pm
Abbott was also at the Slapper’s pre-wake party at the Lodge and gave the 2/3′s caucus some good advice.

“Unfortunately I think we’ve got to the point where this Labor government is so tainted that it needs a good period of time in opposition to work out what it actually stands for.”

JC

5 Feb 12 at 5:29 pm
However, it appears that most of them don’t seem to realise that voting for conservative Islamists is not a path to liberty and prosperity.

And why is that? Because the place is a mess.

Nearly half of Egyptians are functionally illiterate. Nine-tenths of adult women have suffered genital mutilation. Almost a third of Egyptians marry first or second cousins, the fail-safe indicator of a clan-based society. Half of Egyptians live on less than $2 a day, and must spend half of that on food.

But yeah, The MB will fix all that.

Gab

5 Feb 12 at 5:30 pm
JC: I don’t disagree with you; Mubarak wasn’t a nice man at all. The problem is that in time the people will likely install someone much worse than him. What Mubarak didn’t do was tear up the peace treaty with Israel, introduce Sharia law or start thinking about Final Solutions to deal with the Copts. These unhappy events are what lies ahead for post-Mubarak Egypt, I think.

Oh come on

5 Feb 12 at 5:31 pm
“The liberals were badly organized.”

What kind of organising lifts your vote from 15% to over 50%? Obviously your skills are wasted here on blogs, you should be consulting for presidential candidates!

“The outline of what the West could have done ”

Your fantasies about what was possible are ludicrous.

Jarrah

5 Feb 12 at 5:32 pm
do you think Muslims have a right to self-determination?

What on earth could this possibly mean?

Peter Patton

5 Feb 12 at 5:37 pm
I’m not saying that the people of Arabia don’t want liberty. I suspect they do.

How can they even know what it is?

Seriously, this is a clan (and honour) based society. Even nationalism is an alien concept in a clan/honour society. It’s place is taken by islam, which is all about submission.

‘Liberty’ is a western, judeo-christian concept, individual liberty is not a concept that even fits inside a clan/honour society, let alone one which is also profoundly islamic. islam aims to completely eradicate the conquered culture entirely (the Arabian peninsula used to be Jewish, Christian and pagan in that order), how can a fundie islamic society import an alien concept like liberty?

That’s why the choice in Egypt was between “bad” (military dictatorship) and “worse” (islamic fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship).

There was no third choice. Preshizzle Odumbugger and the mincing Euroweenies pretended there was (it felt so gooooood as they were circle jerking each other) and wound up with the “worse” choice, apparently being too stupid and narcissistic to understand what they were doing.

Now it’s nearly time to pay the piper.

heir choice will be to let Egypt implode, blockade it so it starves, or to feed it so the mullahs can blame them for all woes and let the terrorists loose on them, or face a tidal wave of refugees.

If there is a choice even worse than these, Preshizzle Odumbugger and the mincing Euroweenies will find it, though.

Mk50 of Brisbane

5 Feb 12 at 5:39 pm
Jazza

It’s nothing to do with my skills, you cowardly defeatist metrosexual. It’s about never giving up.

The cost of what I suggested was negligible, while the downside was virutally zero.

Furthermore, installing say Baradei as president could have given him a decent shot at the top job come election time which at least would have split governance.

Your fantasies about what was possible are ludicrous.

Why? Are you suggesting there was no chance of the West stalling and helping say Baradei become the interim prez instead of mindlessly supporting the Arab spring.

You really are a fucking idiot at times.

And stop it with the assertions not supported by reasons or facts. That typical leftwing trick doesn’t work here, buster. Never has never will.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 5:40 pm
“What on earth could this possibly mean?”

What it says on the box, Peter. Or do I need to school you in English as well as law?

Jarrah

5 Feb 12 at 5:41 pm
MK

Eygpt has regressed. It didn’t have a strong Islamist push for decent parts of the 20th century. I’m not buying that the Islamists were always a foregone conclusion like typical leftie heterosexuals like Jazz.

And nationalism was also very strong during the Nasser era.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 5:43 pm
What it says on the box, Peter. Or do I need to school you in English as well as law?

Please Jazza, how much would it cost us to entice you not to go anywhere near the law as a career? Name the price.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 5:45 pm
“GetUp is promoting this video of Monckton talking to some business people about an Oz type Fox news channel.”

Oh please God, please! Let’s lift the IQ of this country by at least ten points.

Alex Pundit

5 Feb 12 at 5:46 pm
Oh please God, please! Let’s lift the IQ of this country by at least ten points.

12% of the population is functionally retarded proven by the Greens vote. You’re expectations are far too high.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 5:48 pm
“The cost of what I suggested was negligible, while the downside was virutally zero.”

You’re just getting stupider and stupider. You really seem to think the US could have just waved its hand and ‘installed’ an interim president. You completely ignore the facts about Egyptian society (that Gab kindly outlined above) and assume that the liberals only needed a little push and reorganisation to turn their 15% vote into a winning or competitive one.

“And stop it with the assertions not supported by reasons or facts.”

The irony, it BURNS.

Jarrah

5 Feb 12 at 5:49 pm
MK50, I totally agree with you. I guess I’m using the word ‘liberty’ fairly loosely; I believe that the people of Arabia wish to live their lives more or less unmolested by their governments. Of course there is a lot of cognitive dissonance in the mix, which is why the MB could be so popular, despite this. Overall, there isn’t much to be optimistic about from a western perspective. As I said earlier, we shouldn’t have thrown Mubarak under the bus. He was a prick, but he was a known quantity and didn’t pose a threat to his neighbours. Now Egypt’s likely to become a Wahhabi’ist shithole and a threat.

Oh come on

5 Feb 12 at 5:50 pm
“12% of the population is functionally retarded proven by the Greens vote. You’re expectations are far too high.”

We can try. Slowly but surely.

Alex Pundit

5 Feb 12 at 5:51 pm
Jarrah

It’s just that I have tried to answer it, but simply can’t. Let’s walk through it.

do you think Muslims have a right to self-determination?

Do you think? Is this a general knowledge quiz, where YOU already know the answer, but are just testing whether others do also? Presumably the answer would be ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Presumably, you would then cite some statute or t’other to show that, yes they do have, or no, they do not have.

But something tells me what you are trying to ask is an ought question, not an is question. If this is so, then I suspect your credibility on subjects related to either English or Law will drop below zero. But give it your best shot, Rumpole.

Peter Patton

5 Feb 12 at 5:58 pm
Eygpt has regressed. It didn’t have a strong Islamist push for decent parts of the 20th century. I’m not buying that the Islamists were always a foregone conclusion

I am just not sure of that.

Egypt is two countries, Cairo and Alexandria (and the other large cities) and the countryside, where most of the population live.

The cities contain the modern part of the society, nationalists, arab socialists, pan-arabists etc etc.

The countryside contains the guts of the support for the mullahs and sharia.

The cities never, ever let the countryside have a meaningful amount of power. They were there to be exploited and repressed, like all peasants over history.

In the cities, the power-elite could crush the mullahs so long as they had the army on-side. As the power elite includes the army, this was not hard.

Now we have a vote which empowered the countryside, and so the mullahs. The only question I can see is ‘which way does the army jump?’

They can crush the mullahs and maintain their grip on power, or they can give the current power-elite over to be put to the sword, and instal the mullahs as the new power elite.

No idea which way they’ll go, but it’s a binary solution set, barring the country just imploding.

Mk50 of Brisbane

5 Feb 12 at 5:59 pm
JC: that is true. Egypt went backwards primarily because many of the Egyptian guest workers in Saudi Arabia caught the Wahhabi virus there and brought it back to Egypt, where it spread.

The problem is that it appears to be easy to get sick but difficult to recover. What’s more, the illness prospers particularly during hard times. Which seem to stretch inexorably into Egypt’s future.

Stick a fork in that country, ‘cos it’s well and truly done.

Oh come on

5 Feb 12 at 5:59 pm
People, you know how Jarrah posted that “research” about how dumb and racist rightwingers are? What Jazza didn’t tell you, but has admitted in the past. is he placed the Greenslime high up the ballot at the last election.

Get a load of the severe retardation he voted for.

CHRIS UHLMANN: That $11 billion that you’re talking about is money that he would forego in the mining tax, and I noticed you started your budget and reply speech just there. How would you replace the $50 billion a year in export income which comes by way of coal – an industry that you’d shut down?

BOB BROWN: Well, a lot of that money is bouncing straight back out to shareholders overseas. Now what we’re…

CHRIS UHLMANN: A lot of that money is circulating in the economy. It’s creating job, Senator, it’s bouncing through to our cities.

BOB BROWN: Yes, Chris, and what we would do is take the advice of the Treasury of this nation and recoup the $145 billion over the next 10 years through a super profits tax. Tony Abbott says…

CHRIS UHLMANN: But you can’t recoup it if you shut the industry down.

BOB BROWN: Treasury…

CHRIS UHLMANN: If you shut the coal industry down there won’t be that money…

BOB BROWN: I’m sorry…

CHRIS UHLMANN: ..available to you.

BOB BROWN: I’m sorry, Chris, Treasury has no intention to shut the industry down. it tends to- it tends…

CHRIS UHLMANN: No, but you do.

BOB BROWN: No, I’m not.

CHRIS UHLMANN: Didn’t you say back in 2007 that we had to kick the coal habit?

BOB BROWN: No, I did not. You’re looking at the Murdoch press, where I said back in 2007 we should look at coal exports with a view to phasing them out down the line.

CHRIS UHLMANN: It wasn’t the Murdoch press, it was a comment piece that you wrote. So you want to phase out the coal industry?

BOB BROWN: The world is going to do that because it is causing massive economic damage down the line through the impact of climate change.

CHRIS UHLMANN: But the question-

BOB BROWN: No, let me…

CHRIS UHLMANN: The simple question is how do you replace $50 billion worth of export income?

BOB BROWN: You go to renewables over the coming decades and you do that by exporting… Look, Germany did this. It’s closed its coal mine. It’s closing its nuclear power stations. It’s gone into exporting renewables – including using Australian technology…

CHRIS UHLMANN: And those jobs…

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2011/s3219517.htm

JC

5 Feb 12 at 6:01 pm
Lightweight Roxon tries to flush another truth down that memory hole with the riot started and fanned by the PM’s staff and a leader of the union movement in the ACT:

Attorney General Nicola Roxon during an ABC radio interview:

Look, I think it would be great if Kevin ruled out that he ever wants to be the Prime Minister again, but I don’t think that he’s likely to do that.

The official transcript of that interview at the Attorney General’s site:

Look, I think [INAUDIBLE]… Prime Minister again, but I don’t think that he’s likely to do that.

UPDATE. Reader Graeme W. notes: “The transcript at Andrew Robb’s website has the full sentence.” Must have better hearing.

Token

5 Feb 12 at 6:01 pm
Liberty is the last thing on the Islamic mind. They’re after ‘submission’ and jihad. They would prefer the fleas of a thousand camels to infest their armpits than see liberty galloping over the sand dunes in their directiom.

Peter Patton

5 Feb 12 at 6:01 pm
“Is this a general knowledge quiz”

No, obviously not. It’s an enquiry as to his thoughts. I suspect he does not think Muslims have a right to self-determination (like Oh come on, and various others here), but I wanted to confirm.

Jarrah

5 Feb 12 at 6:01 pm
Islamists = Muslims, according to Jarrah.

Wait, what?!

Jarrah is saying that most Muslims aren’t “moderate,” after all, but are really A-OK with terrorists?

But I’m not shocked.

I know this is a case of accidental truth-telling.

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 6:01 pm
[H/T Tim Blair]

Token

5 Feb 12 at 6:01 pm
I support Arab self-determination. Not Muslim.

Alex Pundit

5 Feb 12 at 6:02 pm
LOL, Joe boy abandons the fight. So much for never giving up, hey?

Jarrah

5 Feb 12 at 6:03 pm
Bolta has a question he’d love answered on why the ABS and polling company Roy Morgan disagree on the unemployment # by so much:

The latest Roy Morgan unemployment estimate of 10.3% is now almost double the 5.2% currently quoted by the ABS for December 2011.

I am not an expert at all in how best to measure unemployment. Readers may, in comments below, enlighten us.

Token

5 Feb 12 at 6:04 pm
The cost of what I suggested was negligible, while the downside was virutally zero.”

You’re just getting stupider and stupider.

Yep, jsut abuse. Not even a shred of an argument.

Y

ou really seem to think the US could have just waved its hand and ‘installed’ an interim president.

Nope nimbus. I never suggested anything of the sort.

You completely ignore the facts about Egyptian society (that Gab kindly outlined above) and assume that the liberals only needed a little push and reorganisation to turn their 15% vote into a winning or competitive one.

Nope. It was always worth a shot and the downside was next to zero.

The irony, it BURNS.

Lol. You’re such defeatist metrosexual.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 6:05 pm
Token, apparently you only need to be employed for one hour a week to be considered ‘employed’ in Australia. Hence our actual unemployment rate could be higher.

Alex Pundit

5 Feb 12 at 6:05 pm
Mark: but the western elite will get their panties in a massive wad if the army steps in to stop the ultra-conservative forces from taking over.

It’s seriously scary how stupid the western (particularly European) elite is. Turkey is another example. How they all cheered when the Turkish military top brass resigned en masse, removing the secularist safety valve and ceding control to the “moderate” Muslims, who – and what’s the bet on this? – are going to get progressively more conservative.

Oh come on

5 Feb 12 at 6:06 pm
Sounds like a good post for discussion, Token, by one of the Cat Czars/Czarinas.

Gab

5 Feb 12 at 6:07 pm
Token, apparently you only need to be employed for one hour a week to be considered ‘employed’ in Australia. Hence our actual unemployment rate could be higher.

Gainfully employed?

Token

5 Feb 12 at 6:07 pm
“Gainfully employed?”

Apparently.

Notice the figures on that chart shot up after Labor took over? Methinks that Workchoices wasn’t the totally evil thing it’s made out to be.

Alex Pundit

5 Feb 12 at 6:10 pm
Gab, it would be a good topic as it would be good to have a bit of the “sun” the galoot promised to shine in on a few areas.

Bolt & McCran have been noting for a while that more and more people who are on benefits have been shunted onto the disability pension over the life of this government.

I trust this broadening of the categories have also kept unemployment rates down.

Token

5 Feb 12 at 6:11 pm
I suspect he does not think Muslims have a right to self-determination (like Oh come on

I support individual self-determination. I don’t support majoritarianism. And, if given a choice between bad and worse, I’m not so stupid as to plump for worse based on ideological consistency.

Oh come on

5 Feb 12 at 6:13 pm
MK50

I don’t know much about Egypt, but reading up on how the British got involved in Egypt during the 19th century gave me strong impression that the Egyptian countryside has changed very little over the past 3,000 years. Then again, as Adrien so graciously reminded me, as I have no Arabic, or Egyptian, I probably know as little as I knew before I started reading.

Peter Patton

5 Feb 12 at 6:13 pm
Bolt & McCran have been noting for a while that more and more people who are on benefits have been shunted onto the disability pension over the life of this government.

Fucking amazing. Everything they ouch either turns to shit or is a complete lie. Everything.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 6:13 pm
Alex Pundit

The methodology used by the ABS to construct unemployment stats is exactly the same as used right across the world.

Peter Patton

5 Feb 12 at 6:15 pm
If there is going to be an election this year, I trust the Media Group Thinkers will be repeating endlessly this quiz by ex-Gillard staffer Koukoulas.

I trust he does not talk about absolute tax income and expenditure so he can hide the resources boom. It would be great if the Big Giant Heads of the Cat could pull this apart in anticipation for this becoming the lefty meme.

Question 3:

In relation to Question 2, in how many years did the tax to GDP ratio exceed 23.5 per cent under a Coalition government? In how many years did the tax to GDP ratio exceed 23.5 per cent under a Labor govenrment?

A: Seven under the Coalition; zero under Labor.

Question 7:

In relation to Question 6, in how many years was the tax to GDP ratio below 21.0 per cent when the Coalition was in government? In how many years was the tax to GDP ratio below 21.0 per cent when Labor was in government?

A: Zero under the Coalition, Six under Labor.

Token

5 Feb 12 at 6:16 pm
Here’s the GOP delegate count so far.

http://projects.wsj.com/campaign2012/delegates

JC

5 Feb 12 at 6:17 pm
Gillard’s brainstorming session is over. And so we can look forward to their proposals for how to solve the country’s problems.

Heh. I could tell them that in less than a minute: throw the bums out.

Gab

5 Feb 12 at 6:17 pm
Obama / Pelosi sanctioned Occupy:

Sanitation Workers Forced to Wear Gas Masks to Remove Filth From #Occupy DC Squatters Camp (Video)

Gab

5 Feb 12 at 6:20 pm
God bless ‘em! (I believe that’s what Pelosi said about the unhygienic Occupy crowd)

Oh come on

5 Feb 12 at 6:29 pm
Token.

Koukoulas is a lying amateur douchebag. That’s all.

The ratio of total tax take to GDP is most certainly a function of general economic activity all things being equal.

This line of bullshit is being tried by the Union clerks party and it’s obvious why. The non-mining sector is in a semi-comatose state so of course the tax take is less as a result.

To get a clearer picture of what is going on with the union clerks party is

1. watch the spending growth

2. what the liars are keeping off balance sheet and

3. what they’re finagling around to bring receipts in while pushing out spending to the next year.

It’s amazing how the “Koukster” got that shit posted on the ABC’s Lunatics Unleashed, as I would have thought it was too amateurish even for those morons at the ABC.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 6:30 pm
Jarrah

“Is this a general knowledge quiz”

No, obviously not. It’s an enquiry as to his thoughts. I suspect he does not think Muslims have a right to self-determination (like Oh come on, and various others here), but I wanted to confirm.

Que? Then you are obviously holding a general knowledge quiz. You say the correct answer is ‘Yes, Muslims do have a right to self-determination’.

So where’s your citation?

This is like Groundhog Day.

Peter Patton

5 Feb 12 at 6:33 pm
Fisky, do you think Muslims have a right to self-determination?

Sure, they do. And if they elect regimes that start wars with Israel, I support Israel’s right to smash them into tiny pieces.

Fisky

5 Feb 12 at 6:39 pm
Curious as to what “the 99%” look like? Behold their mugshots:

Gab

5 Feb 12 at 6:42 pm
Didn’t Nazi Germany have a right to self-determination?

I know the answer. No, they don’t because have a crazy ideology of war-making, minority-killing and Jew-liquidating.

Oh, wait…

—————————–

Come to that, don’t the British have a right to self-determination?

According to the the left’s beloved EU, no – they don’t.

—————————–

What about the voters in the electorates of Windsor and Oakeshott?

Do they have a right to political self-determination?

According to Australian lefties, no – they don’t.

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 6:44 pm
“Curious as to what “the 99%” look like? Behold their mugshots:”

The third guy from the bottom looks like a priest.

Alex Pundit

5 Feb 12 at 6:47 pm
The third guy from the bottom looks like a priest.

He does? How so?

Gab

5 Feb 12 at 6:49 pm
It’s amazing how the “Koukster” got that shit posted on the ABC’s Lunatics Unleashed, as I would have thought it was too amateurish even for those morons at the ABC.

Look at what the IPCC does, first they get BS in print, then reference it repeatedly in official papers.

By the time the IPCC creates an official report, it takes a lot of work for people to find the initial report and show up the sham.

The ABC & the rest of the stenographers have been pushing the GFC crap the Liars Party put out 2 years ago (Hawker was at it again this morning).

Fact is the Liars Party will be using crap like that to claim the Coalition can’t be the party of small government.

It is important to prepare for it.

Token

5 Feb 12 at 6:51 pm
Gab

Thanks for that. A worse pack of halfwitted apes one cannot imagine.

What kind of idiot gins at the camera in a mugshot?

Mk50 of Brisbane

5 Feb 12 at 6:57 pm
“Fact is the Liars Party will be using crap like that to claim the Coalition can’t be the party of small government.”

I think a lot of Catallaxians would actually agree with that statement, with plenty of reason to do so. Sadly.

Alex Pundit

5 Feb 12 at 6:57 pm
More Flannerys and Cates than you can poke a stick at…and more money wasted.

Applications are now open for the 2012 Sustainability Champions Scholarship Program…

Under the National VET Sector Skills for Sustainability Professional Development Program, funded by The Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (formerly DEEWR), eighty fully funded places have been made available to successful applicants across Australia. Course tuition and enrolment costs are fully subsidised….

To paraphrase Al Gore in An Inconvenient Truth, we have all the technical skills and knowledge we need to make the transition to a low carbon sustainable future but we know less about facilitating people to make those changes. This course picks up that challenge.

Gab

5 Feb 12 at 6:58 pm
“Thanks for that. A worse pack of halfwitted apes one cannot imagine.”

Have you seen these ones?

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/file/2008-mug-shots-year?page=19

Alex Pundit

5 Feb 12 at 7:00 pm
The reason the nasty governments that hate the West hate the West is because there’s a lot of other people who hate the West. Why?

Because in their morality we’re filthy sluts. This is not aided by western pop-culture, wherein most airtime goes to people even our morally liberal culture considers aberrant.

In their universe, our women are whores and our men are honour-less, preferring a peaceful outcome to righteousness, which includes our reluctance to take revenge. They hate us because most tribal cultures that make contact with the modern world commit suicide in droves or go to war; our “culture” is so horrifying, yet so materially successful, that they can’t stand living with it.

We don’t have the values they cherish, but we have outrageous wealth, and that provokes envy and despair.

wreckage

5 Feb 12 at 7:01 pm
Token

It’s actually easy to counter if the response is well thought out and lined up logically and sort of sequentially, so the electorate knows the truth.

You start off by suggesting that it’s laughable the party which gave us the Carbon, and miners tax, the re-introduction of awards based labor market is actually suggesting it is anything but a big government socialist party.

You then tell the voter that tax receipts have fallen because the union clerks party has run the economy to the edge of the cliff and if theseunion clerks got three more years we’ll experience a fall bigger than the depths of the Mariana trench.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 7:01 pm
On that list that Koukoulas brought up, does it really matter that the official cash rate under the coalition didn’t go lower than anything under the current government, when as, I think Christopher Joye pointed out, that rates on mortgages, credit cards and business loans have been higher under Labor?

Alex Pundit

5 Feb 12 at 7:03 pm
Delighted to have Labor run on their economic record against Howard’s.

March 1996-November 2007
Real Average Weekly Earnings All Employees – up 16%
Real Average Hourly Earnings – up 21%
Unemployment – down from 8.4% to 4.5% (the participation rate went from 63.5% – 65.6%)
Average Inflation – 2.6%
9 budget surpluses

No, the Labor Party has never, ever, ever come remotely close to delivering this. And never will.

Fisky

5 Feb 12 at 7:27 pm
They hate us because most tribal cultures that make contact with the modern world commit suicide in droves or go to war; our “culture” is so horrifying, yet so materially successful, that they can’t stand living with it.

What shocking nonsense. To the extent that ‘they’ hate ‘us’ (in Egypt, at least) one should consider the extensive moral and material support donated by the US to the Mubarak dictatorship, which has murdered, imprisoned and tortured large numbers of Egyptian civilians. This is likely to be the main cause of anti-West sentiment, not some abstract clash of ‘values’.

THR

5 Feb 12 at 7:28 pm
Some of the aid goes to the military, but certainly not all of it, THR.

The military aid was requested by Egypt as a way fro the US to display bi-partisanship and formed part of the Camp David Accords.

For nearly three decades, the United States has worked with Egyptians to support their economy and quality of life through programs focused on economic development and good governance. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s programs have used benchmarks that aim to stimulate the small and microenterprise sectors, improve budget transparency to increase macroeconomic stability, and improve the trade regime and business climate. USAID’s economic support program provides up to $100 million to support job creation, humanitarian assistance, and poverty alleviation for those negatively affected by the recent economic downturn. To support the Middle East peace process through regional economic integration, the United States also permits products to be imported from Egypt without tariffs if they have been produced by factories registered in Qualified Industrial Zones and 10.5% of the inputs of these products originate from Israel.

An important pillar of the bilateral relationship remains U.S. security and economic assistance to Egypt, which expanded significantly in the wake of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty in 1979. U.S. military aid to Egypt totals over $1.3 billion annually. In addition, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided over $28 billion in economic and development assistance to Egypt since 1975. Early assistance focused on infrastructure, health, food supply, and agriculture. The Commodity Import Program, through which USAID provided hundreds of millions of dollars in financing to enable the Egyptian private sector to import U.S. goods between 1986 and 2008, was one of the largest and most popular USAID programs. Current programs focus on trade and investment; utilities; education; healthier, planned families; natural resources; democracy and governance; and other programs supported by the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI).

U.S. military cooperation has helped Egypt modernize its armed forces and strengthen regional security and stability. Under Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programs, the United States has provided F-4 jet aircraft, F-16 jet fighters, M-60A3 and M1A1 tanks, armored personnel carriers, Apache helicopters, antiaircraft missile batteries, aerial surveillance aircraft, and other equipment. The United States and Egypt also participate in combined military exercises, including deployments of U.S. troops to Egypt. Every other year, Egypt hosts Operation Bright Star, a multilateral military exercise with the U.S., and the largest military exercise in the region. Units of the U.S. 6th Fleet are regular visitors to Egyptian ports.

A lot of this stuff, most of it can’t really be used for crowd control.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 7:37 pm
Also under Howard: fertility rates up, net wealth up, Christian population up 2 million.

No one can deny that this was the most just and Christian government in history.

Fisky

5 Feb 12 at 7:42 pm
Note to Benny:

ATLAS SHRUGGED ‘PART 2’ OFFICIALLY GREENLIT

Gab

5 Feb 12 at 7:46 pm
Alex Pundit, good one!

Hmmm… wonder what they all have in common….

The bottom row, bloke in the middle and bloke on the right. Both literally look like apes. Both have faces like buckets of smashed crabs.

Mk50 of Brisbane

5 Feb 12 at 7:47 pm
Poll taken in past week for Missouri PPP 31/1/12:

The candidates on the ballot for the Missouri primary will only be Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum.

If the election was today, who would you vote for?

Ron Paul 13%
Mitt Romney 34%
Rick Santorum 45%
Someone else/Not sure 8%

With Newt out of the race, Santorum looks in line for a good placing. His campaign needs it too.

Token

5 Feb 12 at 7:54 pm
What? Newt’s out of the race? When did this happen? And why?

Gab

5 Feb 12 at 7:57 pm
Wreckage: They hate us because most tribal cultures that make contact with the modern world commit suicide in droves or go to war; our “culture” is so ~~horrifying~~ alien as to be incomprehensible, yet so materially successful, that they both can’t stand living with it and passionately envy its success, want that success, but cannot have it as their culture cannot generate it.

I think that’s a bit more accurate. I am not disagreeing with what you say – not one clan-honour culture has ever succeeded in obtaining western success. The Japanese did, but they were an honour-princely culture, not an honour-clan culture. As an Indian classmate back in ’93 put it to the class, “India is itself an Empire, and the ‘Hindu economic growth rate’ is also an artifact of policy: we want to obtain the economic and social benefits of industrialised westernisation without actually westernising our culture, and we think we have worked out how to do that now’.

They have and they are: one of the great triumphs of that most admirable Imperial state.

Compare and contrast the Indian ‘Federal Empire’ to the dystopian wasteland of honour-clan based Pakistan!

Mk50 of Brisbane

5 Feb 12 at 7:58 pm
JC, you are blowing holes in THR’s ‘argument’ again.

Mk50 of Brisbane

5 Feb 12 at 8:00 pm
No one can deny that this was the most just and Christian government in history.

Righteous.

Infidel Tiger

5 Feb 12 at 8:07 pm
From Sandmonkey:

Eleven died in the clashes since Thursday. Six in Suez and Five in Cairo. 2532 injured over the killing of 79. All were people, and now they are numbers.

Many calls were made to stop the violence, to keep those youths from protesting, but all were ignored and unanswered, naturally, and more people than ever turned against the military rule. This was it, the turning point, and no one can blame them. A year ago the whole country was filled with dreams and hopes for the future, and within the year all of these hopes and dreams were burnt to cinders. They have seen their loved ones military tried, their friends maimed and their children killed. Their sense of security has all but vanished, the fact that no change or any kind of real reform took place has left them disillusioned and bitter. And then their one source of entertainment and distraction, Football, was taken away from them as well. They are plagued with news of bank robberies, tourist kidnappings, refugees getting their organs harvested, children being kidnapped and held for ransom and now they can’t even send their children to stadiums without them getting killed. The People are fed up, and all the excuses and conspiracy talk no longer holds the test of reality. The SCAF have finally earned the wrath of the Egyptian public, which means that their days are numbered and they know it. The Joker’s Country, no more.

But have no delusions here, there is no panacea or an easy way out. This is not the original 18 days,…

Meanwhile, the revolutionaries are walking PTSD cases. We have endured more pain, injustice and deaths in the past year than we have ever expected or bargained for. We have seen our reputation maligned, our dream destroyed and our friends and loved ones kidnapped, tortured, jailed, and killed, sometimes in front of our own eyes. All we wanted was to live in a country that had a future, where we are treated like human beings, and even that was too much for us to ask. Our existential war for dignity and freedom became a real one, and many of us were driven to the edges of insanity with all the mayhem that our lives have turned into, careers lost, ties severed, relationships destroyed, and marriages turning into divorces. An entire generation traumatized, damaged, lost, psychologically scarred and filled with guilt over the horror that got unleashed on them for demanding not to live like animals….

Read it all.

Gab

5 Feb 12 at 8:09 pm
The reason the nasty governments that hate the West hate the West is because there’s a lot of other people who hate the West. Why?

This is nonsense. Let’s face it. The two greatest gifts to humanity – liberalism and democracy – were the Athenians and the English. The entire world wants to emulate both.

Peter Patton

5 Feb 12 at 8:24 pm
Though it is a tragedy that both England and Greece in the 21st century are interested in neither.

Peter Patton

5 Feb 12 at 8:25 pm
What kind of idiot gins at the camera in a mugshot?

A Democrat presidential candidate?

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 8:34 pm
Sorry Gab, Newt didn’t register in time for Missouri.

I find it interesting as it tests the theory of where the anti-Romney candidates would be of there wasn’t multiple candidates splitting the vote.

Token

5 Feb 12 at 8:56 pm
In an opening statement before his concession press conference, Newt Gingrich hit Governor Mitt Romney for being “pro-abortion,” “anti-gun,” and a “Massachusetts moderate.” Newt went on to say that every primary and caucus day the “Romney headquarters in Boston sends out the rumor that they believe I will withdrawal, which is, of course, their greatest fantasy.” Gingrich assured the press that he is not going to withdrawal from the race and intends to go to the convention in Tampa, FL.

JamesK

5 Feb 12 at 9:09 pm
Since Steve from Bris isn’t around at the moment, it’s probably ok to link to this Cato Inst paper, “Tough Targets: When Criminals Face Armed Resistance from Citizens”

This special publication uses an extensive collection of news reports from over an eight-year period to survey the circumstances and outcomes of defensive gun uses in America. Federal and state lawmakers often oppose repealing or amending laws governing the ownership or carrying of guns. That opposition is often based on assumptions that the average citizen is incapable of successfully employing a gun in self-defense or that possession of a gun in public will tempt people to violence in contentious situations.

Those assumptions, illustrated in this report, are false. Such cases are an exceedingly small minority of gun uses by otherwise law-abiding citizens and a great number of tragedies-murders, rapes, assaults, robberies-have been thwarted by self-defense gun uses. The vast majority of gun owners are ethical and competent – and thousands of crimes are prevented each year by ordinary citizens with guns.

In SA, where years of “anti-bikie” activity by the Rann Gov’t has resulted in record numbers of drive by shootings in the CBD, the gov’t is looking to ban importation and carrying of “offensive weapons” (apparently there is no such thing as a “defensive weapon”), and give police greater powers to stop and search people.

Guess who won’t be obeying these laws?

Paul Williams

5 Feb 12 at 9:43 pm
Poor bloody Sandmonkey. You can only empathise with the poor sod.

What he wants is what we have in the west, an advancing, secure, confident civilised nation that egenrates wealth for its people.

This is exactly what the 7th century Islamists do not want and cannot possibly abide. And they have guns, a barbarian conquest ideology, innumerable illiterate followers and a vision of false 7th century ‘god’ who so closely emulates satan as not to be distinguishable.

Sandmonkey and his ilk have one possible chance. Support yet another dreadfully bad dictatorship, or face being murdered by theocratic fundamentalist barbarians.

God help them.

Mk50 of Brisbane

5 Feb 12 at 9:50 pm
Oh for Pete’s sake! Is Newt still running for Prez or not? One minute he’s in, then he changes his mind and he’s out and now I read he’s back in!! At least we know he’ll never commit suicide.

Gab

5 Feb 12 at 9:50 pm
How ’bout a cry for help, Gab?

JamesK

5 Feb 12 at 10:01 pm
Gab, having watched an hour of Newt this afternoon, (waiting at the medical centre for a scipt, sigh) I can assure you he is still well in it. There is a lot of deceptive propaganda coming out from a number of sources, especially Romney who now clearly seems to be a liar.

One line I liked from NG was that George Soros has apparently come out and said he would support either Obama or Romney. So Romney is now the Soros approved candidate..

Lazlo

5 Feb 12 at 10:04 pm
Muslims have been fed up with the wealth excesses of Mubarak, Qaddafis etc for ages, but it’s not about corruption but because their leaders have sinned against their Allah with glorifying in the wealth.
Islam dominates all aspects of life banking, health, family, cleanliness it’s just everything, a total civilisation all incompassing and it has been around for donkey years and it’s not about to change, even if the awful aspects of it revolt us as Christians.
Let’s hope the Muslim Brotherhood (or whoever) are truly moderate.

candy

5 Feb 12 at 10:06 pm
Speaking of needing help, JamesK…

Gillard plays the female card today:

“Ms Gillard said being a woman made the role “different” and perhaps created different expectations.”

She’s the first ever female PM in the whole wide world…ever:

“I’m the first person to not be a bloke in that suit … its a different image of leadership.”

Not sure which suit she means…perhaps a little Town Mode number? And oh yeah, back to playing the female card…

“I’m not surprised that its kind of taking a bit of time for that to settle in the Australian public.”

Gab

5 Feb 12 at 10:07 pm
Oh yes, let’s bring up the internal plumbing. That always works for an Emily’s lister.

JC

5 Feb 12 at 10:11 pm
Welcome back candybot. Please give us a discourse on why you are not a machine.

Lazlo

5 Feb 12 at 10:11 pm
Lazlo

I’m not sure which is worse. An hour of Newt or waiting in a Medical Centre for an hour? I hope you were in one of those illustrious government Super Clinics – I hear we have hundreds of them around the place. and they’re really efficient. Some even have doctors.

*smirk*

Gab

5 Feb 12 at 10:11 pm
Let’s hope the Muslim Brotherhood (or whoever) are truly moderate.

They are not.

They are a terrorist organisation.

They wish to tear up the peace treaty with Israel, have for years supported Hamas and the various violent wings of the PLO, and funnelled young men, money and arms their way.

The MB wants to institute strict sharia (execute all homosexuals, women as chattel property etc) and they have fought (for example) all efforts at reform starting with efforts to stop female genital mutilation in Egypt and going thru to educating females. The MB are not nice people.

Mk50 of Brisbane

5 Feb 12 at 10:14 pm
Yes the doctors are the bottleneck. But that’s constrained by supply chokes like medical places and ancient guilds. My MC is in a colourful suburb, so there is always entertainment.

Lazlo

5 Feb 12 at 10:16 pm
She categorised herself as someone who did not wilt under pressure, enjoyed a joke and was without a “upper-class accent”.

…but we’re not certain from which planet the accent originated.

She said her decision to go ahead with a carbon tax had been met with a “relentlessly negative campaign”.

But of course. Her stupid carbon dioxide tax – which is, like, sooooo 2011 – is all Abbott’s fault.

“I am wearing some damage from that but outcomes matter and the outcome here will be on the first of July I will start our journey to a clean energy future.”

And I’m looking forward to the outcome in 2013 which will see your lot – and your slimy green bed bugs – relegated into obscurity.

Gab

5 Feb 12 at 10:18 pm
MK50 – my perusal of articles tells me the MB are moderate.Like I said Islam is a total absolute all encompassing civilisation in every aspect of every individual’s life (that we find it hard to fathom)

It’s not us versus them, you know, that’s not how God wants it, you know.

candy

5 Feb 12 at 10:22 pm
The MB wants to institute strict sharia (execute all homosexuals, women as chattel property etc) and they have fought (for example) all efforts at reform starting with efforts to stop female genital mutilation in Egypt and going thru to educating females. The MB are not nice people.

But they are now the key to Egyptian stability, like it or not. The Egyptians are very fearful of anarchy and basically have thousands of years of getting along. The MB need to now understand the responsibilities that come with the power they have always sought. It’s called growing up.

Lazlo

5 Feb 12 at 10:22 pm
“Gaza: Blueprint for Muslim Brotherhood Rule?
Gaza offers a real-world example of the brutal Muslim Brotherhood in government.”

Why the Header is framed as a question is beyond me.

Gab

5 Feb 12 at 10:22 pm
candybot is now in some silicon LSD land. Bring back the sensible computers!

Lazlo

5 Feb 12 at 10:26 pm
‘candybot is now in some silicon LSD land. Bring back the sensible computers’

You’re sweet, Lazlo.

candy

5 Feb 12 at 10:38 pm
Candy you really need to stop watching Tony Jones interviewing naive Egyptian babettes.

JamesK

5 Feb 12 at 10:45 pm
Anyway it’s not the ALP message, it’s not the way the message is delivered not a jot of that – it’s the underlying dishonesty.
everyone knows it except them.
they have forgotten that Australians value honesty and being true blue.

candy

5 Feb 12 at 10:46 pm
Gab, I tells Mitt…. I sez: “never attempt to murder a man who is committing suicide.”

JamesK

5 Feb 12 at 10:47 pm
Ar u true blue, Candy?

JamesK

5 Feb 12 at 10:48 pm
Curious as to what “the 99%” look like? Behold their mugshots:

I laughed at the 99% pics – but more so because of the Bitcloud hosting ad at the bottom, offering 99.9%% uptime. I’m wondering what keywords triggered this ad (perhaps only funny to me, as I’m a shareholder of Bitcloud)

Fleeced

5 Feb 12 at 10:51 pm
‘Ar u true blue, Candy?’

Yes, dear James, and sweet as. are you?

candy

5 Feb 12 at 10:56 pm
Anybody see this strange comment on Bolts blog under his Bolt Report post?

Thanks for the very kind feedback in comments, which I anticipate will be moderated later.

Wha?

twostix

5 Feb 12 at 10:56 pm
You’re sweet, Lazlo.

Would love to solder your backplane candybot..

Lazlo

5 Feb 12 at 11:08 pm
Nielson 53-47 to Coalition. Labor primary up 4 to 33, Coalition primary down 4 to 45, Greens up 2 to 13. Go figure.

Sleetmute

5 Feb 12 at 11:09 pm
Preferred ALP leader Gillard up 5 to 35, Rudd down 4 to 57. Gillard preferred PM up 6 to 48, Abbott steady on 46.

Sleetmute

5 Feb 12 at 11:13 pm
That poll is a bit suss. Either that or there is a substantial drug abuse problem in this nation.

Infidel Tiger

5 Feb 12 at 11:14 pm
Apparently a massive swing to ALP in Vic, Labor 2PP up 7 to 55 in Vic. If the change in the national 2PP is all in Vic, it shouldn’t mean too much in terms of seats. See what Pollbludger thinks.

Sleetmute

5 Feb 12 at 11:19 pm
MK50 – my perusal of articles tells me the MB are moderate.

Candy

You have previously used data from letters to the Guardian as if they held verifiable facts. They did not.

I have no idea what sources you relied on to make the above assertion.

It is false (and demonstrably so, see here for just a basic start on MB and islamist inspired persecutions of Copts).

Like I said Islam is a total absolute all encompassing civilisation in every aspect of every individual’s life (that we find it hard to fathom)

AGreed. To become a true muslim by fundie reckoning is to utterly expunge all traces of your civilisation and culture, down to your name, your language and your family.

This is not a civilisation at all, islam is a conquest ideology forming a parasitic culture on the host civilisation, eventually killing it and leaving a dystopian husk. In fact, this is all that’s happening to Egypt now, a century ago Eqypt was 80% Coptic Christian (the very name Egypt actually means ‘Copt’). Now it’s 12-15% IIRC and this is not enough to keep the parasite alive. Same happened to the great Christian Kingdoms of Syria, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria,, Anatolia, Tashkent etc etc. All killed by this parasitic conquest ideology, that’s why we have not had a black Pope since Pope St. Gelasius I who reigned from 492-496 A.D. as the 49th Pope.

Your final phrase is nonsensical. Fundie Islam’s very easy to understand, because all you have to understand is slavery. A fundie muslim will tell you proudly he is ‘a slave of allah’. His unbreakable view is that he is fully entitled to enslave and loot conquered lands.

What’s not to understand about such fundies, they are simple barbarians. Easy to understand.

Mk50 of Brisbane

5 Feb 12 at 11:19 pm
Katter wants pre-bedwetting Australia back:

Katter calls for changes to gun laws at Australian Party policy launch.

He delivered a rousing speech to a room of about 80 people on the need for changes to gun laws as the sound of gunshots rung through the air a few metres from the door.

“The wowsers are running the country,” he told members of the media and sporting shooting enthusiasts in the audience.

“I want to live again in a country where men can grow up to be men,” he said.

“I am just a simple person. When I was young we would sling a Shanghai Air Rifle (and we would go bush).”

Mr Katter said he did not expect his firearm policy to receive any support from the major parties.

The new firearms policy would relax some laws around gun ownership, paving the way for the:

- Re-establishment of a duck hunting season in Queensland.

- A wild venison industry.

- The export of wild game products.

- Simplification of administration of gun laws, saving an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 policing hours.

- Re-categorisation of Category C firearms to allow access by sporting shooters (semi-auto .22s, low capacity pump shotguns, low capacity semi-auto shotguns).

- Scrapping of registration requirements for low powered air rifles and BB guns.

Toting a double-barrelled shotgun, Mr Katter then took on members of the media in a clay pigeon shooting contest.

I don’t know why he’s wimping out on agreeing to registration for any firearms.

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 11:23 pm
Video: Newt bashes bigot Obama’s fanatical hatred of Christianity.

Unlike Romney, he didn’t call Obama a “nice guy.”

C.L.

5 Feb 12 at 11:27 pm
Katter’s very sound when he’s not discussing economics.

Infidel Tiger

5 Feb 12 at 11:29 pm
I’m a paddy, Candy.

So 40 shades of green

JamesK

5 Feb 12 at 11:30 pm
Lol. I just had a peak over at Birdy’s blog. I think this is where he truly lost the plot.

http://graemebird.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/lets-face-it-ron-paul-cannot-win/

Hey JC, are you aware that he pretends to be you in the comments?

Alex Pundit

6 Feb 12 at 12:28 am
Alex

I don’t think it’s Bird, it’s his fat trannie, Phil. Phil has pretended she’s my spouse there at times and said some pretty deplorable slanderous things. I guess she’s decided to pretend she’s me now. That site is basically a house of horrors.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 12:47 am
A horrible, historically epic hoax:

When I visited the House of Lords’ minister, Lord Marland, at the Climate Change Department a couple of years ago, I asked him and the Department’s chief number-cruncher, Professor David Mackay (neither a climate scientist nor an economist, of course) to show me the Department’s calculations detailing just how much “global warming” that might otherwise occur this century would be prevented by the $30 billion per year that the Department was committed to spend between 2011 and 2050 – $1.2 trillion in all.

There was a horrified silence. The birds stopped singing. The Minister adjusted his tie. The Permanent Secretary looked at his watch. Professor Mackay looked as though he wished the plush sofa into which he was disappearing would swallow him up entirely.

Eventually, in a very small voice, the Professor said, “Er, ah, mphm, that is, oof, arghh, we’ve never done any such calculation.” The biggest tax increase in human history had been based not upon a mature scientific assessment followed by a careful economic appraisal, but solely upon blind faith. I said as much. “Well,” said the Professor, “maybe we’ll get around to doing the calculations next October.”

They still haven’t done the calculations – or, rather, I suspect they have done them but have kept the results very quiet indeed. Here’s why. . . . The UK policy’s mitigation cost-effectiveness – the cost of abating just 1 Kelvin of warming if every nation pursued the UK’s policy with the same cost-ineffectiveness – works out at $108 trillion per Kelvin abated.

RTWT.

C.L.

6 Feb 12 at 12:51 am
Video: Newt bashes bigot Obama’s fanatical hatred of Christianity.

Unlike Romney, he didn’t call Obama a “nice guy.”

This isn’t new to me as I saw him action during the 90′s and he’s lost none of the clarity in the way he speaks.

Newt is not only one of the most articulate politicians I have ever heard. He also has an amazing ability to articulate in a way that convinces the audience.

I keep saying he would destroy Obumbo. He would send him into one of his depressive episodes unable to get up in the morning.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 12:54 am
The Global Mail launched.

There’s an interesting piece by Ellen Fanning on electricity industry.

The main culprit driving up electricity bills is this: In the five years to 2015, $46 billion will be spent on upgrading and extending Australia’s electricity network to cope with our ever-growing power needs. The cost of all this is being charged back to all households, businesses and industries through their power bills, locking in average annual electricity price increases of more than 10 per cent a year till 2014.

In fact, by 2014 in NSW, the bulk of a customer’s electricity bill — 60 per cent in fact — won’t be the actual cost of generating however much electricity they use. It will just be the cost of shifting the electrons through the grid, down the poles and wires to their home.

You would think that would merit a national debate. After all, it’s costing more than the controversial $42 billion National Broadband Network.

m0nty

6 Feb 12 at 1:07 am
Another leftwing rag? Gee monster that’s as rare as hens teeth. I’m really excited. Aren’t you?

JC

6 Feb 12 at 1:15 am
That Fanning piece is apolitical, JC. It’s a good read, quality journalism.

Their political stuff is rather harmless. They won’t frighten anyone’s horses the way they are going early doors.

m0nty

6 Feb 12 at 1:17 am
LOL. ALP stenographer Ellen’s on the case and finding that escalating power costs have nothing to do with Labor governments.

Why, it’s incredible!

Thanks, Ellen.

C.L.

6 Feb 12 at 1:22 am
The main culprit driving up electricity bills is this: In the five years to 2015, $46 billion will be spent on upgrading and extending Australia’s electricity network to cope with our ever-growing power needs. The cost of all this is being charged back to all households, businesses and industries through their power bills, locking in average annual electricity price increases of more than 10 per cent a year till 2014.

In fact, by 2014 in NSW, the bulk of a customer’s electricity bill — 60 per cent in fact — won’t be the actual cost of generating however much electricity they use. It will just be the cost of shifting the electrons through the grid, down the poles and wires to their home.

You would think that would merit a national debate. After all, it’s costing more than the controversial $42 billion National Broadband Network

.

Monster. I find that difficult to believe for a couple of reasons.

1.The charge of bringing electricity to new burbs is absorbed by the developer. Even in an established area, you build a house you’re charged for the wiring to go either underground or to the pole.

2. The distribution firms are required through regulation to provide for depreciation in their accounts so that the cost of upgrading or renovation of exiting lines isn’t held up because those firms didn’t provide for such future costs. That of course may not be a the case in NSW, because the state government owns all the assets and therefore the previous labor government could have raided the cookie jar.

The facts are different. The fact is that we’ve not only not added new coal plants to absorb new demand as no coal plant can be built because aresholes like you would be dead against. We’ve also added expensive renew balls to the grid where producers can sell their unused production at every high rates. The distributors build that into the gross price therefore hitting the consumers.

So the very first piece you cite from that rag is basically bullshit propaganda. Great start.

Do us a favor and don’t cite that rag again. Use it as virtual toilet paper if you need to in an emergency.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 1:32 am
LOL. ALP stenographer Ellen’s on the case and finding that escalating power costs have nothing to do with Labor governments.

Why, it’s incredible!

Thanks, Ellen.

FFS, you a dense little weasel, Monster. Ask yourself one single question. You’ve been handing around at this site like a fart in a small room for about a year now. Have you ever been able to peddle any bullshit here and gotten away with it? Ever?

Of course the answer is no because I keep reminding you this site has the best bullshit meter in the nation if not the world. But you persist.

And dickhead there’s another reason. Firms that own the coal plants have been failing to do any necessary upgrades to the plants etc. because their assets values have collapsed as a result of the union clerks constant attacks on them. So no fucking wonder upgrading the plants will cost a bundle as those firms are not going to throw good money in after bad.

You fat headed child.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 1:38 am
And take a look at Ellen’s bio. It reads like a walk in leftie land. It’s like her preschooling started in leftville.

http://www.theglobalmail.org/reporters/ellen-fanning/4/

Are there any limits?

JC

6 Feb 12 at 1:41 am
Lol

Ellen blames the plummeting price of A/c units for more power demand. Ellen doesn’t mention the fact that the extra demand could be met with more power plants. that thought never occurred to the ALP stenographer.

Our Love Affair with Air Conditioning

It all started with a kind of buying frenzy in Harvey Norman show rooms around the country.

As the cost of air-conditioning units plummeted to about $1,500, the split-cycle dream came within reach for many people. Those systems just sold themselves.

You can’t make this shit up.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 1:46 am
And there’s more.

“ I can’t control how many heaters or air conditioners or bits of electrical equipment people want to buy and connect.”

If only ahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahhahaha

Ellen the ALP stenographer, then quotes a plastic planet shill.

One of George’s most articulate critics is the marvellously named Dr Muriel Watt, an Australian academic with an international reputation who is also the chair of the Australian Photovoltaics Association, which advocates for solar power. “It’s a case of normative determinism. Your name determining what field you work in,” she says of sharing a name with the Sir James Watt, Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, who had a unit of energy named after him. He is ”possibly a distant relative. My grandfather was Scottish.”

She has no time for what she sees as the profligacy of big energy. “They don’t want you to use less [power] because they make less money when you use less. The retailers make money so they don’t want you to use less. The generators make money [by selling more]… and the networks make money from every kilowatt hour that goes through their
network, so they don’t want you to use less either.”

Frankly I’m gob smacked, people in business see increased demand for their product or service and they actually want to meet it. How shocking is that, hey?

This is what the little leftie weasel, Monster, says is an apolitical article. Fme.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 1:54 am
How long before we hear a ‘common sense’ proposal for a tax on air conditioners?

C.L.

6 Feb 12 at 2:09 am
What shocking nonsense.

The real hatred, and the real votes for the MB, come from the countryside. Shocking nonsense? None of what I said about tribal contact with modernity is nonsense.

wreckage

6 Feb 12 at 2:22 am
To the extent that ‘they’ hate ‘us’ (in Egypt, at least) one should consider the extensive moral and material support donated by the US to the Mubarak dictatorship, which has murdered, imprisoned and tortured large numbers of Egyptian civilians.

Indeed one should. But that’s not where terrorists come from, by and large; they tend to be suicides or zealots, not bearers of rational grudges.

wreckage

6 Feb 12 at 2:24 am
As the cost of air-conditioning units plummeted to about $1,500, the split-cycle dream came within reach for many people. Those systems just sold themselves.

Those systems are much more energy efficient than the hulking great refrigerative units they replaced.

Old-style units with their vast power needs sold for about $500 second-hand even before splits got cheap, and I have working units on this property, yet to ve replaced, that date from the 70′s.

So, to recap: aircons were already common place long before splits got cheap; secondhand old-style units were already cheap before splits were, and splits are almost always the newer and more efficient type. In addition they have better controls (instead of “cold as you can make it” and “off” which should also reduce power consumption.

wreckage

6 Feb 12 at 2:46 am
I’ve lived in developing East and SE Asia for several years now and the ubiquity of the split system air conditioner here is enormous – even in the houses of the lower-middle classes who earn a couple of hundred dollars a month. Considering this, it amazes me how relatively rare air conditioning is in residential dwellings in a hot and rich country like Australia.

Oh come on

6 Feb 12 at 2:52 am
As an extreme example, look at this family:

http://www.chinasmack.com/2011/stories/henan-family-endures-living-in-junked-minibus-to-save-money.html

Broke arse poor, living in a wrecked bus. They still have an air conditioner.

Oh come on

6 Feb 12 at 3:01 am
Glenn Reynolds in the Washington Examiner:

It’s takers versus makers and these days the takers are winning.

Yep.

spot

6 Feb 12 at 7:22 am
Our Love Affair with Air Conditioning

It all started with a kind of buying frenzy in Harvey Norman show rooms around the country

Of course blame Harvey.

In QLD it was the Government owned power companies that were flogging the airconditioners, even allowing people to pay them off on their power bills.

All this while the Government was ripping so much out of the company in Dividends that they had no money left for network maintanence let alone upgrades.

And even more stupidly while you had one arm of government encouraging people to use more power you had another arm of government spending millions to get people to use less, to prevent global warming.

BTW QLD is expected to begin running out of supply during times of peak demand as early as next summer.

CraigS

6 Feb 12 at 8:15 am
The bit where she screeches “Stop it, he’s a VICTIM!!!!” pretty much sums up where this whole thing might’ve started going wrong.

spot

6 Feb 12 at 8:21 am
BTW QLD is expected to begin running out of supply during times of peak demand as early as next summer.

Gee, the natives will be thrilled when that happens.

Your clean, green, low energy futcha, people – suck it up…

Rabz

6 Feb 12 at 8:52 am
As an extreme example, look at this family:

http://www.chinasmack.com/2011/stories/henan-family-endures-living-in-junked-minibus-to-save-money.html

Broke arse poor, living in a wrecked bus. They still have an air conditioner.

Check out the comments on that story!

Irresponsible parents. If you don’t have the ability to not let them suffer, then don’t have so many [children].

…

So they are one of those “More than one child guerrillas”, forget about them then.

…

High housing prices are a problem! But [they] have three children! “More than one child guerrillas” [a nickname for people who violate the One Child Policy and have more than one child, also the name of a comedy movie about the same subject]! The poorer [the family is], the more children [the poor family] has, and the more children [the poor family] has, the poorer [the family gets]! The “One Child Policy” is also a basic/fundamental national policy [that should be observed]!

I bet those kids get ahead in life.

Paul Williams

6 Feb 12 at 9:43 am
BTW QLD is expected to begin running out of supply during times of peak demand as early as next summer.

Yes, this is what the article was about, despite the screeching of the bonobos in this thread. They always bang on about baseload, but the problem these days is peak load. I note that among the bleating, no one gainsaid the underlying facts of the $46 billion infrastructure investment in the delivery network leading to 10% price increases per year. The article is worthwhile if only to point out that we should be having a national debate on this, no matter what your affiliation.

m0nty

6 Feb 12 at 9:53 am
Lee Kuan Yew hailed air conditioning as one of mankind’s greatest inventions. I couldn’t agree more

jtfsoon

6 Feb 12 at 10:00 am
Lee Kuan Yew hailed air conditioning as one of mankind’s greatest inventions. I couldn’t agree more

Indeed. It’s not just about comfort – it saves lives.

Fleeced

6 Feb 12 at 10:08 am
Yes, this is what the article was about, despite the screeching of the bonobos in this thread. They always bang on about baseload, but the problem these days is peak load. I note that among the bleating, no one gainsaid the underlying facts of the $46 billion infrastructure investment in the delivery network leading to 10% price increases per year. The article is worthwhile if only to point out that we should be having a national debate on this, no matter what your affiliation.

M0nty what the hell are you talking about? There hasn’t been a coal fired power plant built in any state in Australia for 20 years yet in the same time there’s 2 million more people to provide power for.

That is easily the worst most progandistitic article on electricity I’ve ever read.

Some key quotes:

Given that he spends his days working out how much he is going to have to spend to indulge those of us who do have air conditioning, Maltabarow is not unsympathetic to the idea that perhaps Australians should be forced to manage their demand for electricity.

The networks companies — hogtied to antiquated rules that require them to supply as much power as individual consumers decide to use — are preparing to apply for the next cycle of network capital expenditure, beginning in 2014.

How dare we expect power companies to provide power crazy! Everone knows they’re supposed to simply be pension schemes for union members and vehicles for mass social engineering, providing power?! crazy.

And the Pièce de résistance

And the signs are that the industry is poised for change. But that won’t be
enough. Given the tangle of conflicting interests, any change will require strong Federal political leadership and focus. And they have less than 12 months to pull it off.

Oh, I get it yet another area M0nt and the left want the Federal Government to highjack so it can then “force us” out here in our “poorly insulated McMansions” to “manage our demand for electricity”

I cannot believe you are holding that up as an example of good journalism M0nty, you really have taken a hard turn to the left haven’t you?

twostix

6 Feb 12 at 10:33 am
How long before we hear a ‘common sense’ proposal for a tax on air conditioners?

Take a look at the article if you haven’t CL, it doesn’t argue for a tax, it argues for enforced rationing.

Apparently Australia with billions of tonnes of cheap coal and gold plated state owned power companies can’t provide enough electricity to meet the demand for 7 million homes.

Somehow the US can provide for 125 million homes, but we can’t provide for 7 million, just….because.

twostix

6 Feb 12 at 10:45 am
Cheap coal????????????

In $ terms maybe, but there are huge all consuming costs to the environment, climate and happiness for future generations.

Did you not notice?

BlinkyBill

6 Feb 12 at 10:54 am
The Global Mail:

Business and Economics section:

3 articles for the grand inaugural opening

1:

Still shivering after the New York protest packed it in, Occupy London is encamped in St Paul’s.

2:

In New York, as the birthplace of Occupy is vacated for the winter, it’s a time to reassess and, supporters hope, renew.

3:

Australia’s one per cent has as much wealth as the bottom 50 per cent of the country — and the gap is growing faster than in the US.

In the business and economics section 3 / 3 articles are cheerleading for the defunct cesspit of crime and violence OWS movement.

Business and economics = OWS??

M0nty’s take on this:

Their political stuff is rather harmless. They won’t frighten anyone’s horses the way they are going early doors.

LOL

twostix

6 Feb 12 at 10:54 am
In $ terms maybe, but there are huge all consuming costs to the environment, climate and happiness for future generations.

Did you not notice?

Bwhahahahaaaaaaahaa

I think you took a wrong turn somewhere, this isn’t The Age.

I did notice millions of tonnes of coal piled up at Newcastle awaiting transport to China so that they can turn on their cheap air conditioners.

twostix

6 Feb 12 at 11:03 am
For all justice loving Australians Piers Ackerman had an article yesterday about the long running Heiner affair

http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/piersakerman/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/senators_receive_heiner_allegations/P20/

A bit of cut and paste
Meticulously prepared allegations of the most serious misconduct by some of the nation’s most senior public officers, including the Governor General Quentin Bryce, the Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, and a raft of Queensland jurists have been received by every member of the Senate.
The allegations were contained in the Rofe Audit of the long-running Heiner Affair and e-mailed to every Senator on Australia Day.

Please take the time to read and e mail your Senator asking what he/she intends to do

For more background here’s the heiner affair website http://www.heineraffair.info/

val majkus

6 Feb 12 at 11:07 am
Take a look at the article if you haven’t CL, it doesn’t argue for a tax, it argues for enforced rationing.

The Greensliming Media is consistent on how they always demand forced rationing of resources and use fear of a Malthusian disaster to demand people follow their moral viewpoint.

Token

6 Feb 12 at 11:09 am
In $ terms maybe, but there are huge all consuming costs to the environment, climate and happiness for future generations.

Did you not notice?

Bwhahahahaaaaaaahaa

I think you took a wrong turn somewhere, this isn’t The Age.

There are a lot of lefty fruitbats showing up here of late.

Token

6 Feb 12 at 11:12 am
That is easily the worst most progandistitic article on electricity I’ve ever read.

No kidding. He ought to receive a life time ban, not from just this blog but from every decent one in the country for having the temerity to hold that crap up as good researched journalism. He’s such a little weasel.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 11:18 am
copy of an e mail I’ve just received from Menzies House

I have just discovered something terrifying: a George Soros funded far-left American lobby group has secretly launched a big-money campaign to stifle free speech and silence climate realists in Australia.

I URGENTLY need your help to help save free speech and a fair media in Australia.

By taking 5 minutes you can help stop this vile plan.

You may have read recently that Gina Rinehart, a prominent climate realist and vocal opponent of the unnecessary and destructive tax on carbon dioxide, recently acquired apx. 13% of Fairfax Media (owners of the left wing climate-alarmist Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and other publications).

This would not normally make news – a business person buying shares in a company is hardly noteworthy. And Ms. Rinehart has specifically stated – on the record – that this is simply a business investment, and her climate realism will not affect their operation.

But I have just learned that because of Gina Rinehart’s beliefs, an underhand, international, coordinated campaign by left wing extremists has just been launched to assault freedom of speech, calling on the government to change the law to stop her from getting the seat on the Fairfax Board to which she is entitled, and trying to threaten the Fairfax Chairman into vetoing her.

Some background: Avaaz, an unethical “shadowy foreign organisation” funded by radical leftist mogul George Soros is one of the big-money donors to Climate Alarmism in Australia.

They are ‘partners’ with GetUp!, and together they have just launched a full scale campaign to attack Ms Rinehart and intimidate the Fairfax Chairman to prevent her from joining the Board. But this is just stage one of their plan – if they are successful, they specifically have said that they call on the government to impose an ideological test on the media in Australia. Which is why we need to act fast.

This is a campaign that should strike terror into the hearts of all of us who believe in free speech, a free media, and the Australian way. If they get their way, none of us are safe.

This is their plan to censor free speech – in their own words:
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has just bought a major stake in Fairfax media — in a bid that could turn The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald into mouthpieces for climate denial to protect her mining interests. But together we can foil her plan…

The media inquiry that Avaaz members helped win is just weeks away from reporting, and provides the government with the crucial chance to act. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy is supportive of stronger ownership limits — but he needs a community outcry to get the whole government on board…

We desperately need stronger ownership limits, a ‘fit and proper person’ test for use of public airwaves, and a strong and independent media regulator.
That’s right: they are unashamedly calling on the Government to impose a “fit and proper” – ie leftist ideological – censorship test on the media. Even though Ms. Rinehart has pledged to not let her views influence editorial policy. The fact that she is a climate realist means that she must be stopped and her rights curtailed.

GetUp! followed up with an email to their members saying this is “bad news for the issues we care about” urging them to take action to silence free speech by climate realists.

But that’s not all. Crikey, a powerful Australian left wing online group, has published no less than eight hit-pieces of Ms Rinehart in the last two days, and even the Sydney Morning Herald put up an utterly disgraceful, sexist cartoon attacking Ms Rinehart two days ago.

I can not stress this enough: this attack on free speech is incredibly serious, and goes against everything we believe in as Australians. If they win against Ms Rinehart, then soon we will all be censored.

This is a co-ordinated campaign by radical left alarmists who are running scared that the Australian people have woken up to their game, and are getting so desperate they are now trying to use the government to suppress anyone who disagrees with them.

We need to take action now – before it is too late: We need to let Fairfax Chairman Roger Corbett know that he CAN NOT give in to extremists, and can not veto Ms. Rinehart from the board because of radical left wing pressure.

val majkus, can you immediately email Fairfax Chairman Roger Corbett on mhughessmith@rccorbett.com.au and phone his office on (02) 9282 2833 and tell him to resist left-wing threats and blackmail, and not veto Ms. Rinehart from the position to which she is entitled.

I will be honest. I don’t know Gina Rinehart. I have never met her, I have never spoken to her, I have never emailed her. I honestly don’t know much about her. But one thing I do know: that Australia needs a free and fair media, and if the radical alarmist left want to use the government to suppress free speech, then we need to do something about it. This isn’t about Gina Rinehart. It’s about principle. Because first it’s Gina, and then it’s Andrew Bolt, and then it’s anyone else who doesn’t tow the government line.

Make No Mistake: If we let them get away with censoring Gina Rinehart, then all climate realists are in danger. And we will have no way to get the truth out to the Australian people.

val majkus, please – I beg you – take the five minutes to email Fairfax Chairman Roger Corbett on mhughessmith@rccorbett.com.auand phone him through (02) 9282 2833 and tell him to NOT GIVE IN to million dollar left wing intimidation.

This is a battle we can not afford to lose. If Ms. Rinehart is vetoed from her rightful Board position because of her climate realism, then all Australians will suffer.

You have done a lot to combat the lies of the climate alarmists so far, and I am sorry for asking you to send yet another email, but freedom of speech in Australia depends upon this.

Please contact Roger Corbett and make our message heard, and make sure you forward this email to all your friends, and share it on facebook by clicking here: , and on twitter here: .

I know I can count on you to do the right thing.

Timothy Andrews
Managing Editor
Menzies House

PS: Please take five minutes to email Fairfax Chairman Roger Corbett at mhughessmith@rccorbett.com.au and phone him office on (02) 9282 2833. Our future as a free country depends upon it.

val majkus

6 Feb 12 at 11:25 am
the blinkster’s economics oracle…

Rabz

6 Feb 12 at 11:31 am
There are a lot of lefty fruitbats showing up here of late.

The Cat’s been scoring a fair few links from Bolt lately, and he has a whole troupe of dedicated trolls. Wouldn’t be surprised if some are dipping their toes in here to test the waters.

spot

6 Feb 12 at 11:31 am
Val,

We knew GetUp has an association with the former Nazi collaborator and indicted insider trader, George Soros.

No shock there.

We also knew the betaboys at GetUp would be up to usual tricks of lying and distorting.

But here’s the thing. Big Gina has around 13% of that rathole and there are no other buyers clambering to get get on the share register.

Personally I hope she doesn’t rescue the rathole and let it sink into it own abyss which ought to wipe the smile off these leftwing fools.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 11:36 am
RASMUSSEN POLLS:

In a potential Election 2012 matchup, President Obama attracts 47% of the vote and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney earns 43% (see tracking history). These matchup results are updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update).

Matchups for other Republican contenders are updated weekly on a rotating basis. Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum is at 45% while President Obama earns 44%. This is the first time Santorum has ever led the president in any poll. Several other GOP challengers have led the president a single time in the polls including Rick Perry, Herman Cain, and Newt Gingrich. Each man briefly held the lead while they were surging in the polls, only to fall quickly. It remains to be seen what will happen to Santorum’s support.

Santorum gets 78% of the Republican vote and leads by 10 among those not affiliated with either major party. President Obama gets 83% of the Democratic vote in that matchup. Santorum leads by 16 points among men, but trails by 12 among women. As is typically the case in all matchups, the president leads among those under 40 while the GOP hopeful leads among those who are over 40.

The latest numbers show Congressman Ron Paul trails 45% to 42%. However, if former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is the Republican nominee, the president holds an eight point lead, 49% to 41% (see tracking history).

JamesK

6 Feb 12 at 11:37 am
Superbowl update: coming up to the 2 min mark of the first half.

NYG 9 – NE 3

Giants ahead, BUT I don’t like the way Brady is carving up their defence.

Piett

6 Feb 12 at 11:38 am
Take a look at the article if you haven’t CL, it doesn’t argue for a tax, it argues for enforced rationing.

Monster, if your side thinks they are going to ration energy, i will be strongly advocating the right begin rationing food for leftwingers.

I mean the world is short of food, right, so what better way to feed the hungry. It will be good for you too, as your side often suggests about rotten policies they want to foist of innocent people. IT will be good for them… and the children.

Your starting off point will be a small desert bowl of brown rice (of course) per day. We’ll also be cutting that down if it appears too generous.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 11:41 am
but there are huge all consuming costs to the environment, climate and happiness for future generations.

No there aren’t, because Australian domestic power production does not create a significant proportion of global CO2 emissions.

Matter of fact, relative to bushfires, I’d be surprised if it even accounted for much of this continent’s CO2 emissions.

But of course, we have plenty of Uranium, so we can have our (yellow) cake and eat it as well.

wreckage

6 Feb 12 at 11:43 am
From James Poll.

Americans seem to favor a pretty decent right agenda by several yards. Good to see.

There’s one element that poll doesn’t show and that the “undecideds”. Odumbo is fucked because a large number of in this category live in the battleground states which will break against Odumbo in the election.

77% Know Someone Out of Work and Looking For A Job

69% Oppose Efforts to Increase Those on Food Stamps

39% Say Unions Bad for Business, 31% Say Good

53% Favor Fingerprinting Requirement For Food Stamp Applicants

79% Give Their Boss Positive Marks

69% Say Domestic Animals Are Treated Well In The U.S.

5% Say Congress Doing Good or Excellent Job

74% Favor Right-to-Work Law Eliminating Mandatory Union Dues

52% Say Overhaul of All Health Care Costs Needed to Salvage Medicare

81% Describe Their Workplace As Positive

45% Say Too Many GOP Debates, Mostly Useless

45% Think Free Trade Good for U.S., 28% Disagree

JC

6 Feb 12 at 11:48 am
I’ve lived in developing East and SE Asia for several years now and the ubiquity of the split system air conditioner here is enormous – even in the houses of the lower-middle classes who earn a couple of hundred dollars a month. Considering this, it amazes me how relatively rare air conditioning is in residential dwellings in a hot and rich country like Australia

Damn true. Lee is also correct, air conditioning must be one of if not the greatest inventions of the 20th century.

Nic

6 Feb 12 at 11:51 am
More on the poll. 12% of the polled say they are uncommitted.

This is what gives the White House nightmares.

Of the uncommitted 76% strongly disapprove on how Odumbo is doing his job while 20% approve. A huge bunch of those schelps live in the battleground states.

Net impact, he’s fucked.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 11:54 am
Funny how the left advocate all manner of electric goodies including trams, busses and cars yet decry airconditioning. All that electricity comes from the same place and produces the same externalities.

Nic

6 Feb 12 at 11:55 am
Funny how the left advocate all manner of electric goodies including trams, busses and cars yet decry airconditioning.

Just yawn when you hear crap like that and giggle at the same time.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 11:56 am
Give a man a flush toilet and air-conditioning and he’ll be happy forever.

Infidel Tiger

6 Feb 12 at 12:14 pm
Just yawn when you hear crap like that and giggle at the same time.

I dunno… that sounds like a recipe for hiccups[1]

[1] My preferred spelling… evolution of language, and all that.

Fleeced

6 Feb 12 at 12:24 pm
There’s a certain irony in this,

Big wind farms ‘alter climate’, but could be used to control the weather.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/big-wind-farms-alter-climate-but-could-be-used-to-control-the-weather/story-e6frg8y6-1226263191582

However, the turbulence may also help crops grow faster in the daytime by bringing down air with higher levels of CO2 that plants need for photosynthesis.

Paul Williams

6 Feb 12 at 12:25 pm
Just the usual sort of casual Sunday reading in Iran.

The Iranian government, through a website proxy, has laid out the legal and religious justification for the destruction of Israel and the slaughter of its people.

The doctrine includes wiping out Israeli assets and Jewish people worldwide.

http://www.wnd.com/2012/02/ayatollah-kill-all-jews-annihilate-israel/

I gotta say, they regime really are cruising to a serious bruising.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 12:30 pm
Australia’s own Solyndra?

How long will it be before these Green subsidy whores fall over?

The future of two of the Gillard government’s big-ticket renewable energy projects is under a cloud after they missed their December deadline for finding a financial backer and may now lose more than $750 million in federal funding.

Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson will make a decision within weeks on whether to extend the deadline to obtain finance for the Moree Solar Farm in NSW and Solar Dawn project in Queensland, or reopen the tender process under the $1.5 billion Solar Flagships program…

When the two Solar Flagships projects were announced in July last year after an 18 month tender process, it was claimed by Mr Ferguson and Prime Minister Julia Gillard that the federal funding would help make industrial-scale solar power more viable.

But since then both Solar Flagships projects have been unable to strike power purchase agreements (PPA) with an energy retailer and questions are now being raised about the process of awarding the contracts. A PPA is considered essential to securing financial backing.

Under the Flagships scheme, taxpayers pick up $1 for every $2 that a private consortium invests in the development of large-scale solar power plants.

Token

6 Feb 12 at 12:35 pm
Under the Flagships scheme, taxpayers pick up $1 for every $2 that a private consortium invests in the development of large-scale solar power plants.

Thieving by another name.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 12:37 pm
Un Zuds have their own little race riot against their Prime Minister at Waitangi Day celebration.

During the heated protests, Wi Popata screamed abuse at both the Maori and National Party politicians. With fellow protesters, he called Sharples a “nigger” and told Key to go home.

“We don’t want to listen to you, John Key.”

After Key had left, Taurua Kingi said he could see the fear in Key’s eyes.

“I could see a bit of fear in his eyes because he’s never experienced this type of protest. It’s very vocal.”

Paul Williams

6 Feb 12 at 12:39 pm
Australians pay a ridiculous amount for electricity already. The average price in the US for residential consumers is 11.5c Per KwH. I am paying like 24c.

AJ

6 Feb 12 at 12:40 pm
From Bishop Hill.

Funny thread about some idiot Belgium demanding respect.

(Have those fuckers apologized for the atrocities they committed in the Congo?)

Belgian climatologist Michel Crucifix has published an interesting post about climatologists’ engagement with the wider world. There’s a bit of a language barrier here – Prof Crucifix’s English is in need of a polish – but he seems to be saying that we “deniers” (yes, he uses the d-word) should show a bit more respect because he’s the expert.

I believe, as a climate scientist, that there is not benefit to be gained from engaging discussion with an individual or with a group if my authority is not acknowledged.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 12:40 pm
Un Zuds have their own little race riot against their Prime Minister at Waitangi Day celebration.

I hear the AFP is investigating…

…despite international press coverage & video evidence of the riot from multiple angle, no charges will be pressed.

Token

6 Feb 12 at 12:41 pm
oops Belgian.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 12:42 pm
FT: Greece takes step closer to default

Lucas Papademos, the Greek premier, failed to make party leaders accept harsh terms in return for a second €130bn bail-out, pushing Athens closer to a disorderly default as early as next month.

JamesK

6 Feb 12 at 1:00 pm
Returning envoy to the Vatican Tim Fischer has opined that rich people should be allowed entry to Australia if they plonk down a million bucks.

Bob Brown opined on Sky News this morning that “people with fat wallets should not be allowed to buy their way into this country”.

Say again?

Viva

6 Feb 12 at 1:02 pm
Bob Brown opined on Sky News this morning that “people with fat wallets should not be allowed to buy their way into this country”.

Yea right on Bob. I mean who the fuck wants people paying their own way when we can just graft onto welfare as many people as we can.

Who is publicly going to admit having voted Greens? I dare you to publicly admit it.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 1:10 pm
Bob Brown opined on Sky News this morning that “people with fat wallets should not be allowed to buy their way into this country”.

Yea, like those people who pay the equivalent of $400,000 to fly to Indonesia then get on a boat to Christmas island.

Couldn’t have rich people buying their way past the poor people who are queued up could we?

twostix

6 Feb 12 at 1:14 pm
Bob Brown opined on Sky News this morning that “people with fat wallets should not be allowed to buy their way into this country”.

However people with slim wallets who can afford to pay around $10,000 are very welcome to buy their way into this country illegally and receive taypayer funded welfare to recompense their $10,000 entry ticket. And then some.

Bob’s a moron of the highest emo order.

Keep talking, Bob.

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 1:16 pm
The future of two of the Gillard government’s big-ticket renewable energy projects is under a cloud after they missed their December deadline for finding a financial backer and may now lose more than $750 million in federal funding.

Unfair.

It’s just that they need to selda message better.

C.L.

6 Feb 12 at 1:16 pm
I wonder what Bob thinks about asylum seekers with fat wallets buying their way into the country.

Viva

6 Feb 12 at 1:16 pm
Bob Brown opined on Sky News this morning that “people with fat wallets should not be allowed to buy their way into this country”.

WTF?

Bob Brown has worked to develop an industry where people in the Middle East/South Asia buy their way in by paying organised criminals 5K to 15K, which has lead to at least 400 deaths…

…but he objects to the Federal government making some cash.

Truly another bit of amoral Greenslime logic.

Token

6 Feb 12 at 1:16 pm
Economic basket case, Tasmania should be seriously punished for sending Mad Dog Bob and Tubby Milne to the senate. Cut off their welfare for a week.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 1:17 pm
Snap, snap, snap

Strange how the Canberra stenographers and the muppets on Sky didn’t think of this…

Token

6 Feb 12 at 1:18 pm
Token

We need to demand those people that have voted Greens to come here and publicly admit to doing so. Is there anyone?

JC

6 Feb 12 at 1:20 pm
Oh Come On

Broke arse poor, living in a wrecked bus. They still have an air conditioner.

I’m about to take my first ever trip to China. Boy, have I had a few wild misconceptions cleared. Not only are the airlines non-smoking, but every bus, car, and cheap hotel is air-conditioned.

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 1:20 pm
Gillard bungles barbecue.

C.L.

6 Feb 12 at 1:22 pm
“…Tim Fischer has floated the radical idea of selling visas for $1 million each to rich foreigners…”

Excellent idea, Tim. Rare to hear such common sense from a politician.

“… and using the money to build a high-speed train.”

Doh!

Fleeced

6 Feb 12 at 1:23 pm
Joolsey’s BBQ was a bit of a fizzer. So 20 MP’s had better things to do? I guess now we know why Gillard said 2/3 would go out and sell the Labor message – the other 1/3 wasn’t even there.

(Yes, I know 33 is 1/3 of 100, but I’m utilising Labor maths.)

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 1:29 pm
“… and using the money to build a high-speed train.”

MONORAIL!

spot

6 Feb 12 at 1:37 pm
NYG 15 – NE 17

2 minutes left. NYG have the ball. Can a game be any closer? Can hardly breathe.

Piett

6 Feb 12 at 1:41 pm
Was there a copy of the Heiner email put up so we can now say “We know what you know about the entire deal, Senator?”

Winston Smith

6 Feb 12 at 1:45 pm
OMG.

Patriots *deliberately* let NYG score a touchdown, so that they can get the ball back – with 1 minute left.

If Brady gets a TD now, Pats win. This is unbelievable.

Piett

6 Feb 12 at 1:46 pm
NYG 21 – NE 17 4Q 0:57 to go

Token

6 Feb 12 at 1:47 pm
Government will only deal with an issue when their failures to deal with infrastructure issues annoy and inconvenience the voters.
This summer, I will be doing my best to overload the system by running my aircon during peak load times.
I suggest that those of us who can afford it do so.

Winston Smith

6 Feb 12 at 1:48 pm
I’m in Winston. It’s actually more effective than a political donation when you think about it, as the result is a bunch of seriously angry voters looking to take revenge like in NSW.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 1:52 pm
Is it just me or did Brady just play like Tebow?

.

6 Feb 12 at 1:54 pm
Update on the Australian Living Treasure Pat O’Shane

Justice Garling said Ms O’Shane had treated the prosecutor like ”an errant school student”.

”In that respect, her honour’s conduct of this matter fell short of the required standard of a trial judge acting properly,” he found in ordering the matter be returned to the local court.

”In light of … the failures identified in this case, I can have no confidence that Magistrate O’Shane would, if this matter was returned to her to complete, undertake the further hearing of it in accordance with the law.”

Token

6 Feb 12 at 1:54 pm
Patriots *deliberately* let NYG score a touchdown, so that they can get the ball back – with 1 minute left.

If Brady gets a TD now, Pats win. This is unbelievable.

The Yank commentators were saying what a brilliant play this was. Fuckheads.

.

6 Feb 12 at 1:55 pm
Winston – no
the document is lengthy

In the extensive 2,800-page document, titled the Heiner Affair Papers, it is alleged (among other things) that Ms Bryce did not apply the law equally in the matter of destruction of evidence when she was governor of Queensland in 2005. The extensive secret submission was written by senior Sydney QC David Rofe.

this is what I understand was mailed
I’ve been trying to find a copy on the net but so far no luck

val majkus

6 Feb 12 at 1:56 pm
Good has triumphed. Evil is vanquished. Piett will not be living in a cardboard box.

NYG 21 – NE 17

Drinks on Sinc.

Piett

6 Feb 12 at 1:56 pm
All in all the Mildura solar thing is worth a lot less but relatively a bigger pile of dogshit.

Bob Brown opined on Sky News this morning that “people with fat wallets should not be allowed to buy their way into this country”.

Um

Bob Brown opined on Sky News this morning that “people with fat wallets should not be allowed to ~~buy their way into this country~~ pay my legal fees and keep me in the Senate”.

.

6 Feb 12 at 1:58 pm
Dot, the Patriots *had* to do that, otherwise NYG would just have eaten the clock up, and then automatically won with a field goal from a few yards out.

It was a brilliant play, under the circumstances.

Piett

6 Feb 12 at 1:59 pm
However people with slim wallets who can afford to pay around $10,000 are very welcome to buy their way into this country illegally and receive taypayer funded welfare to recompense their $10,000 entry ticket. And then some.

Don’t forget that the average wage in Afghanistan is $300 a year.

So if you’re coming from Afghanistan and paying $10,000USD to get a ride to Australia you’re “rich”, absolutely filthy stinking rich – part of the evil Afghan 1%.

twostix

6 Feb 12 at 2:02 pm
The Yank commentators were saying what a brilliant play this was. Fuckheads.

Lol. If that was the play, the team deserves to be thrown in Rikers Island if that’s true.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 2:06 pm
Come on Piett if Brady can get sacked in the last minute, why couldn’t Manning?

.

6 Feb 12 at 2:16 pm
Brown on ‘people with fat wallets’ obviously precludes the guy who donated $1.6 million to the Greens and those who end up subsidising their solar/wind/unicorn powered fantasies.

Nic

6 Feb 12 at 2:19 pm
Good has triumphed. Evil is vanquished. Piett will not be living in a cardboard box.

Tonight you eat lobster.

Infidel Tiger

6 Feb 12 at 2:21 pm
Brown on ‘people with fat wallets’ obviously precludes the guy who donated $1.6 million to the Greens and those who end up subsidising their solar/wind/unicorn powered fantasies.

Isn’t he a first rate hypocritical dishonest turd. He also had no problem with that dick, dick Smith bailing him out of potential bankruptcy, which imperiled his senate seat.

What a truly despicable ugly bunch of people that Greens party is.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 2:24 pm
Bob Brown opined on Sky News this morning that “people with fat wallets should not be allowed to buy their way into this country pay my legal fees and keep me in the Senate”.

How about the people with fat wallets who saved the brothel creeper from going bankrupt thereby keeping him in the House of Reps.

Viva

6 Feb 12 at 2:24 pm
Come on Piett if Brady can get sacked in the last minute, why couldn’t Manning?

With the field position the Giants had it didn’t really matter if Manning got sacked provided he didn’t turn the ball over. As Piett said, it just would have chewed the clock until they got a field goal. Realistically they were going behind one way or another but only one way gave the enought time to have a chance of scoring themselves.

badm0f0

6 Feb 12 at 2:28 pm
Dot, NYG wouldn’t have tried to pass the ball any more. They’d just have done running plays down to the 4th down, and then kicked a FG with 0:01 remaining on the clock. Game over. No opportunity to sack Manning.

If you look carefully, you’ll see that the NYG running back tried to stop himself taking the ball over the line, but the momentum carried him forwards.

Piett

6 Feb 12 at 2:28 pm
the/enought=them/enough

badm0f0

6 Feb 12 at 2:29 pm
You guys have got to start believing the tape.

“A tactic so poor it was successful”

.

6 Feb 12 at 2:35 pm
Is a warmy that has profited greatly by fanning the mania around the AGW death cult just found a way to have his pockets lightened?

Bolta:

The university-backed The Conversation has now removed a defamatory claim – a mere figment of Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg’s too-warm imagination – and his utterly baseless suggestion that I corruptly accept cash-for-comment for questioning global warmists, but it has done so without yet offering the most basic remedy of an apology. No apology yet from Hoegh-Guldberg, either, for sliming a sceptic rather than rebutting him. Shame on him.

I’ll keep you posted on further developments.

Token

6 Feb 12 at 2:40 pm
The Bunyip is truly an evil evil man.

And note also the picture, shot from low down to present our PM as a towering, confident presence on the political landscape. Dwarves interested in photographing Labor leaders should contact the Phage to learn of career opportunities.

Goes with this pic of the Lying Slapper.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 2:41 pm
Rogue staffer starts twittering.

https://twitter.com/RogueStaffer

JC

6 Feb 12 at 2:47 pm
Bolt’s generosity with Hoegh-Guldberg is amazing.

He could have owned his house if he’d sued.

C.L.

6 Feb 12 at 2:49 pm
In the extensive 2,800-page document, titled the Heiner Affair Papers, it is alleged (among other things) that Ms Bryce did not apply the law equally in the matter of destruction of evidence when she was governor of Queensland in 2005.

What the hell does this mean?

Since when do Governors apply the law?

C.L.

6 Feb 12 at 2:51 pm
Tim Blair summarises this year’s politics.

The investigation into Labor MP and former unionist Thomson’s alleged credit card follies began three years ago. This is longer than the combined durations of the Nuremberg trials, O.J. Simpson’s murder case and the police pursuit of the Manson family. When people hint at a go-slow in the Thomson matter, it is just possible that they might be on to something.

That got me thinking. The Warren Commission completed its investigation in ten months.

C.L.

6 Feb 12 at 3:01 pm
Brady couldn’t do a Tebow and save the day, eh?

Slack bastard.

C.L.

6 Feb 12 at 3:07 pm
The Professor is on fire today, gee he writes well, I’m laughing my arse off.

Nic

6 Feb 12 at 3:14 pm
Rogue staffer starts twittering.

@RogueStaffer has been twittering since last June.

spot

6 Feb 12 at 3:15 pm
The Professor is on fire today, gee he writes well, I’m laughing my arse off.

…shooting fish in a barrel…

Token

6 Feb 12 at 3:16 pm
Did Madonna lip-sync at the Superbowl? Lady Elton John will have a pink fit.

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 3:18 pm
Ben Eltham at The Drum is very upset that the media are reporting leadership tensions in the government.

Suggests rule of thumb:

What distinguishes these news stories? They are about things that have really happened, rather than something that has not happened yet, and may never happen. It’s a handy rule of thumb to remember for media consumers, whenever you next encounter a story about “leadership speculation”.

… or ‘catastrophic climate change.’

And that Canberra Stenography Gallery’s collective yawn about Gillard’s race riot was pretty bad, right?

No no…

The leadership non-story that has developed over the last few days represents one of the worst collective failures of the Canberra press gallery in recent memory.

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3813404.html

C.L.

6 Feb 12 at 3:20 pm
Oh, Bunyip’s having fun with the Global Mail, isn’t he! Hahaha!

spot

6 Feb 12 at 3:20 pm
“It’s actually more effective than a political donation when you think about it”

Especially if it’s done in the month preceeding an election. And also if it’s done on a bloody hot day.

Winston Smith

6 Feb 12 at 3:24 pm
What a pain in the arse this bloody Kindle thing is!
So far, I’ve spent about four days trying to get it to work.
It is, in fact, a good example of Crippleware.It so limits your options to get it to work as to be unusable. Even USB cable download is a pain. “Just connect the cable, open the Kindle documents in your PC, and click and drag the files!”
Um, no. It doesn’t work that way.

It is the most frustrating, bloody minded piece of consumer bastardry I have ever met.
And the piece de resistance?
“Amazon is the most customer centric company in the world!”
If they are so bloody customer centric, how come they haven’t replied to any of my emails, describing the problems?
OK, I lied – they sent an automated cut and paste from the FAQ list.
Customer centric my arse…

Winston Smith

6 Feb 12 at 3:34 pm
What an outrage…

Rabz

6 Feb 12 at 4:01 pm
Tebow’s a bit flaky. He wins some games and gives others away.

Tiny Dancer

6 Feb 12 at 4:07 pm
I love my Kindle – never had probs with it. My Dad loves his too, and has no problems using it (doesn’t need to connect to USB – it has WiFi).

Fleeced

6 Feb 12 at 4:10 pm
Damned Homer is annoying. Yobbo gives him a well deserved trashing

http://clubtroppo.com.au/2012/02/03/john-howard-and-the-english-language/#comment-463724

JB Cairns said:

I don’t think he even watched the movie.

It wasn’t about Maggie the pollie it was about Maggie the person affected by dementia.

Yobbo said:

If the movie was just about dementia then it could have been about any old grandma. Get a grip Homer.

jtfsoon

6 Feb 12 at 4:18 pm
Wodge adds some intellectual heft over at the Trop.

rog said:
I haven’t seen the film, partly because I think it might just be Meryl Streep doing Meryl Streep. I also wonder to what extent Thatcher played Thatcher, she was convincing (I think it is beyond dispute that Reagans portrayal of Reagan was his best performance).

But it now seems that JWH has jumped at the opportunity to run his own grab bag of cliched arguments up the flagpole, perhaps to elevate his own profile. In doing so he decidedly detracts from any artistic merit that the film might have had.

However st the end of the day it is the best caricature that gets the most applause.

Posted on 04-Feb-12 at 5:32 pm | Permalink
rog said:
For instance JWH tries to repudiate that Howe was snubbed by Thatcher when the reality was that Thatcher instigated moves to humiliate Howe leaving him with no real option but resignation.

And on it goes.

Posted on 05-Feb-12 at 3:04 am | Permalink
rog said:

It’s now piqued my interest into seeing the film.

Posted on 05-Feb-12 at 3:05 am | Permalink

Jeez Louise.

Jc

6 Feb 12 at 4:22 pm
Yobbo should have said that the movie could have also been about him .

At least Maggie never ended up stacking shelves on the night shift in her dementia.

Jc

6 Feb 12 at 4:27 pm
Yobbo should have said that the movie could have also been about him .
….homer.
At least Maggie never ended up stacking shelves on the night shift in her dementia.

Jc

6 Feb 12 at 4:27 pm
Homer the political historian and Cold War expert

If I want to understand a politician then I will read about them. Biographies from different perspectives and of the history of the time, again from different perspectives.

The movie was never going to tell me much about Maggie I didn’t know already
There was one person and one person only which toppled the Soviet Union. His Name was Gorbachev. Nothing happened in North Korea or Cuba

jtfsoon

6 Feb 12 at 4:28 pm
It is sad what happened to the Iron lady.

I wonder if it might be related to her claim that she got by on pheonemenally little sleep. Kevin Rudd should take note (I am trying to make a genuine medical point here, not a political one)

jtfsoon

6 Feb 12 at 4:30 pm
When he has got the time briskly walking trollies around the supermarket to be reading history?

That reminds me, I wonder if he stacked the toothpaste?

Hey Homer, you forget to sack the colgate the other evening. The day duty manager was really pissed.

Jc

6 Feb 12 at 4:32 pm
Anybody who is still under the illusion that paganism died out 1,500 years ago, really needs to check out the Superbowl and the half-time show. What a stupendous orgy of paganism!

http://justjared.buzznet.com/2012/02/05/madonna-super-bowl-halftime-show-watch-now/

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 4:59 pm
It is sad what happened to the Iron lady.

I wonder if it might be related to her claim that she got by on pheonemenally little sleep.

Or the same little help that JFK got from Dr. Feelgood. Amphetamine shots.

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 5:03 pm
Paganism, don’t talk to me about it. Even my parish church at Christmas Mass had a christmas tree and some red pot plants.

Nic

6 Feb 12 at 5:09 pm
on the altar (alter if you are a Fairfax hack).

Nic

6 Feb 12 at 5:09 pm
Homer should enjoy my comment over at Troppo.

C.L.

6 Feb 12 at 5:16 pm
No Patton, I am not talking drug use.

Literally, lack of sleep causes brain damage. John H might be able to acquaint us with some sources on this.

jtfsoon

6 Feb 12 at 5:17 pm
that should be persistent lack of sleep causes brain damage

jtfsoon

6 Feb 12 at 5:18 pm
Paganism, don’t talk to me about it. Even my parish church…

Paganism at Mass?

Brother, you aint seen nothin’ yet.

This is the way it was – and will be again. Bridging scenes not included.

C.L.

6 Feb 12 at 5:28 pm
GREENS leader Bob Brown says criticism of Julia Gillard is sexist and unfair … “Quite a bit of the criticism is sexist and unfair and unrelenting and the Prime Minister needs a bit of a break from that,” he told journalists in Canberra.

Any person who actually buys into the utter trash spilling forth from Bob “The Undertaker” Brown has an IQ of 15.

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 5:30 pm
I love my Kindle as well. I have found plenty of wonderful free books (some of the Edwardian thrillers are incredibly good) and have never had any trouble with connecting to the computer and transferringbooks over the USB.

WInston, I suggest that you make life easier for yourself and a download a free program called Calibre. This acts like a iTunes library for your ebooks. What’s better it will even tranfer books from your computer to your kindle with one click. It even allows you to correct typos in the titles and authors’ names.

Rococo Liberal

6 Feb 12 at 5:30 pm
C.L. I had a chat with a mate of mine who is in the leadership team of a very well known religious order about a member of the order who has gone all ‘gaian’ introducing tree worshipping etc. I reminded my mate of the “P” word.

Nic

6 Feb 12 at 5:46 pm
Total audience for yesterday’s Bolt Report and encore (excluding country viewers): 257,000

Total audience for yesterday’s Insiders (including on ABC24): 192,000.

Where’s that Crickey shill now? Hmmm?

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 5:55 pm
Bird’s oiled up tranny is running hog wild on Troppo

http://clubtroppo.com.au/2012/02/03/john-howard-and-the-english-language/#comment-464026

Margaret Thatcher had all the charm one would expect of a brutal far-right politician or advocate: hence Judith Sloan, Julie Bishop, Bronwyn Bishop, Sophie Mirabella, Janette Howard and so on ad infinitum.

CL’s “blackball” is a term that neatly juxtaposes racism and sexism.

But what else would anyone expect from a 1950s era rightwing throwback who still refers to women as “birds”.

jtfsoon

6 Feb 12 at 5:58 pm
That Global Mail is an epic clusterfuck.

I just read perhaps the worst sports story I’ve ever read.

Infidel Tiger

6 Feb 12 at 6:02 pm
Essential poll is out:

Lib/Nat 47%
Labor 33%

2PP:

Lib/Nat 54%
Labor 46%

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 6:04 pm
That Global Mail is an epic clusterfuck.

The articles are even more pretentious than I was expecting. A complete embarrassment.

Fleeced

6 Feb 12 at 6:10 pm
Just had a look at theGlobal Mail.

It’s cringe-inducingly bad. Aside from the terrible prose, every paragraph drips a precious, pretentious unctuousness that speaks of enormous, arrogant egos with absolutely nothing to be arrogant about.

it’s…. sad.

Mk50 of Brisbane

6 Feb 12 at 6:19 pm
C.L. I had a chat with a mate of mine who is in the leadership team of a very well known religious order about a member of the order who has gone all ‘gaian’ introducing tree worshipping etc.

The Professor:

But just for the clincher, what would happen, do you imagine, if an aspiring contributor sent in an article arguing that the modern Church, and the Jesuits most of all, have surveyed their empty Sunday pews and decided that the business of saving souls is no longer a growth industry — hence the switch to preaching the secular creeds of rights for illegal immigrants, the advantages of command economies, green animism, and the elevation of “inappropriate” speech and thought to highest and darkest ranks of the very worst mortal sins.

http://bunyipitude.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/no-more-of-that-old-time-religion.html

This is the way it was – and will be again.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100021534/dramatic-footage-of-a-trendy-bishop-being-booed-by-mass-goers/

Ivan Denisovich

6 Feb 12 at 6:20 pm
Nic: Some years ago, when Young Master Bunyip was being readied for his Confirmation, good manners demanded that even his agnostic papa attend a preliminary “family celebration” of the sacrament. The Eucharist, we were told in passing by the young priest running the show, is “a symbol” of Christ’s presence amongst those gathered in his name.

Later and over coffee, when I button-holed him to see if he understood that he had just taken the wrong side in a theological dispute which left untold multitudes dead over several centuries in Europe, he shrugged it all off with the advice that no one cared about fine points like that these days. Trans- or consubstantiation, same difference.

The most sacred moment came when he played some appalling Jewel song. Oh, and we were treated to a slide show with lotsa glorious light pouring down through tall trees. The big surprise was that he did not play Lennon’s “Imagine” as well.

No wonder the churches are empty.

Bunyip

6 Feb 12 at 6:24 pm
Just caught up with yesterday’s Bolt Report… Maybe it’s my imagination, but he seemed more relaxed in the role. I’d said before that he needed to sound more “conversational” when he talks, and I think he’s getting better in that regard (or maybe I’m just getting used to how he sounds?)

Fleeced

6 Feb 12 at 6:28 pm
Total audience for yesterday’s Bolt Report and encore (excluding country viewers): 257,000

Total audience for yesterday’s Insiders (including on ABC24): 192,000.

LaDouche, got your miserable ass over here and explain yourself at once!

Fisky

6 Feb 12 at 6:28 pm
Ivan: what a coincidence you posted that right above one of my infrequent comments. Thanks for remembering it.

Bunyip

6 Feb 12 at 6:30 pm
one of my infrequent comments.

Yes well if you spent less time at the golf course…

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 6:31 pm
No support for Cardinal [Geraldine] Doogue from you, eh, Mr. Bunyip?

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 6:36 pm
And yet the evangelicals pews are full to bursting every week.

Of course I’d have to be full as a doctor’s wallet before I could sit through an hour of the music they play.

Infidel Tiger

6 Feb 12 at 6:36 pm
LaDouche, got your miserable ass over here and explain yourself at once!

Hahahahahahaha where is he??

Oh come on

6 Feb 12 at 6:37 pm
She of the Roman Luvvies Church.

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 6:37 pm
Professor, you got off lightly. You were spared a ‘liturgical dance’involving flowing garments and dance moves straight out of the temple of Vesta or worse, something called a ‘sacred space’ which was a table, a table cloth of some sort, some sand, a rock, some dried leaves and an open bible. All it needed was a golden ram’s horn or an offering to Baal.

Nic

6 Feb 12 at 6:44 pm
Bunyip, a coincidence indeed. I’m just one of many admirers.

Yes well if you spent less time at the golf course

LOL. I think we can forgive him that “sin”. I’d be hitting the links far more often if I could.

Ivan Denisovich

6 Feb 12 at 6:45 pm
Geraldine lost her husband, fellow ABC luvvie Ian Carroll, only a few months ago. Whatever beliefs she holds, if they bring her comfort just now, all for the best.

Bunyip

6 Feb 12 at 6:45 pm
Vestals, eh? Would prefer a little more of the Babylonian influence on modern liturgy. With Vestals it was all look and no touch. Or the Aztecs. Tearing the beating hearts out of Fairfax columnists’ chest has a lot to be said for it.

Bunyip

6 Feb 12 at 6:50 pm
And if he was less into chasing a small ball around a green patch he’d have time to fix the time and date stamp at his blog too, Ivan.

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 6:51 pm
The date stamp was fixed some time ago, Gab. As for golf, it teaches several Christian virtues, honesty and humility foremost. Mind you, good putting owes more to Zen and water hazards bring out the jihadi in a fellow. So oit is really quite the spiritual game, ecumenical from tee to green.

Now I must cook dinner before Bolshevik Monday re-commences on their ABC.

Bunyip

6 Feb 12 at 6:57 pm
I’ve only read one Global Mail article.

It was about Obama and his re-election chances etc.

It argued that he could lose; then again, he might win.

Profound analysis.

C.L.

6 Feb 12 at 6:57 pm
All it needed was a golden ram’s horn or an offering to Baal.

Nic, apparently Fr. Peter Kennedy’s efforts at St. Mary’s were quite something (just what exactly I’m not sure, but something).

Ivan Denisovich

6 Feb 12 at 6:58 pm
A golden ram’s horn?

Shofar, so good

Bunyip

6 Feb 12 at 7:00 pm
The date stamp was fixed some time ago, Gab

Fine. Thank you for doing so and letting me know. I’ll nag no more on that score.

As for golf

My eyes glaze over
I read no further
It’s an evil game, I don’t want to start…
On that subject we must stand apart.

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 7:04 pm
UPDATE: Bolt’s show.

Glenn Dyer concedes my total figure is actually even better than I said – 264,000.

Conclusion: if Labor wants to reach the very voters it needs to win over, its ministers should end the boycott on my show. I suspect it’s now hurting them more than it hurts me.

That seals it. We won’t be hearing from laRouchite any time soon.

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 7:08 pm
Oops, fair enough. I withdraw crapping on La Doogue at this moment.

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 7:10 pm
Oh, No, Winston, I won’t have people badmouthing the Kindle. Not on this forum. The Kindle is wonderful. It’s the product I’ve been waiting my entire life for (well, since I was about 7, anyway).

Download Calibre. That’s the first step. Add all your books to Calibre and then just manage your Kindle from there.

Bring Back Tillman

6 Feb 12 at 7:14 pm
Fleeced – I agree. Bolt was most definitely more relaxed and chatty in manner this time. His holiday has done him a power of good.

The most sacred moment came when he played some appalling Jewel song.

Bunyip, you just can’t beat bells and smells and a bit of Latin for making a mystery moment. Or, if you’re going to get all Church of England about it, at least a bit of early modern English prayer and some rousing Victorian hymns.

They’ve really cut their own throats, the lot of them, haven’t they? Especially if, for the Tykes, the bread is bread just bread these days and the wine just a churchy tipple, while the Anglicans have long gone all Gaia Ga Ga and schmaltzy lyrics.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

6 Feb 12 at 7:18 pm
A golden ram’s horn?

Shofar, so good

Lol, I just got it.

Nic

6 Feb 12 at 7:18 pm
I would pay good money to see Creeper Thompson interviewed by Andrew Bolt.

It would not be pretty, but it would be very entertaining.

It’s never going to happen, of course.

Pedro the Ignorant

6 Feb 12 at 7:19 pm
Pedro… He may get better, but I reckon Bolt is a bit of a softcock in his interviewing. He tries really hard to be a gentleman and loses the plot.

You need to be an arsehole to be a good interviewer and he isn’t that face to face. I could do a better job on that score for instance

JC

6 Feb 12 at 7:30 pm
Essential poll is out:

Lib/Nat 47%
Labor 33%

2PP:

Lib/Nat 54%
Labor 46%

The same as it has been for weeks.

Looks like the Nielsen poll was an outlier again. I thought the Fairfax cheer squad were getting a big giddy about nothing today.

Token

6 Feb 12 at 7:33 pm
Mr Bolt is quite handsome so that’s excellent for an interviewer, we don’t want those plain ones on tv do we

candy

6 Feb 12 at 7:37 pm
Oops, fair enough. I withdraw crapping on La Doogue at this moment.

Lol

After those figures Ladouche will be getting centrelink’s temporary dispensation so he can attend group therapy sessions for Bolt induced anxiety. They also help with breathing exercises and how to blow into a brown paper bag.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 7:37 pm
He’s reading, though. I can sense his enraged, hyperventilating presence seeping through the keyboard. It was never supposed to be like this!

Oh come on

6 Feb 12 at 7:40 pm
He is a pretty “nice” interviewer, JC – so much so, that I wonder why ALP are so afraid to go on his show.

That said, he does challenge the Libs when they’re on, I think – he doesn’t let them get a free ride (eg, asking why they have a CO2-reduction target at all, or pushing Abbott on workplace laws, and so on, rather than just letting them sit back and laugh at Labor’s woes)

Fleeced

6 Feb 12 at 7:43 pm
Candy

Well, Tony Jones and Red Kerry weren’t exactly straight off a Paris or Milan catwalk and they make do being effective leftwing partisan hack interviewers. Those two eggnogs wouldn’t be turning any heads in a bar.

It’s the interview and how effective the interviewer is. However, having said that, this rule doesn’t apply for women. If the female interviewers aren’t lookers then they bust. Tough world but that’s how it works.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 7:43 pm
He’s reading, though. I can sense his enraged, hyperventilating presence seeping through the keyboard. It was never supposed to be like this!

I think he was sincerely gobsmacked, stunned, and gutted by Judge Maudy. I think he really thought he had that suit in the bag.

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 7:44 pm
Whenever I read candy’s comments I always conjure up the voice of Pauline Pantsdown…perhaps I’m being unfair.

Oh come on

6 Feb 12 at 7:44 pm
candy

Two words: Laurie Oakes.

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 7:45 pm
And, lo, she doth speak:

JULIA GILLARD: During the course of this year our nation will face up to some important choices. Do we embrace the future or do we try and run and hide from that future?

What future? Her vision of her future for us is bleak indeed so why wouldn’t we want to “run and hide from the future”?

And how does one do that anyway? Run from the future? The only way I know how to accomplish that is to leave this planet. Permanently. So…so was she issuing a death threat?

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 7:48 pm
JC: well that North Korean newsreader – the stern auntie – she ain’t no looker, that’s for sure. She could kill an erection at 50 paces with one glare.

Either NorKs have a very different idea of hotness, or they like their female newsreaders ugly.

Oh come on

6 Feb 12 at 7:49 pm
What is Bolt doing on his blog? Alison Croggon criticizes some poet as being “Boltish”. Bolt then effectively criticizes one of her poems. Of course, all his regulars pile on.

But the poem is actually one of Rainer Maria Rilke’s which Croggon has only translated. It even says that on the link. It’s actually a beautiful poem by a genuinely brilliant poet and I can’t say Croggon has done a bad job translating it.

This sort of thing will just make the luvvies even more convinced of their cultural superiority.

The Hunted Mind

6 Feb 12 at 7:50 pm
Yea fleeced, I noticed that. He seems to give the libs more heat. So his slant is to the right. No problem with that. If the libs are being two faced, merely mouthed have two bob each way statist dicks they deserve serious rebuke of the worst sort.

However he’s always nice to the lefties. It’s like he feels he has to be that way because they won’t appear on his show.

Fuck’em. Give the fuckers hell and make them regurgitate their breakfast after going no holds barred with him.

If they don’t show up for interviews then make fun of them and explain there’s a empty chair and that so and so leftwing coward refused to show up on the show. Keep doing it week after week and make fun of them.

He treats Bruce Hawker with kid gloves when he ought to be hammering the douche to kingdom come.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 7:51 pm
JC: well that North Korean newsreader – the stern auntie – she ain’t no looker, that’s for sure. She could kill an erection at 50 paces with one glare.

ahahahhahahahahahahha
Obviously they haven’t looked at the ratings in the last 30 years…. (or 5, since they introduced TV over there).

JC

6 Feb 12 at 7:54 pm
This is her:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ri_Chun-hee

rowr. not.

Oh come on

6 Feb 12 at 7:54 pm
Bleesed Mary. Where did they find her:… pulling a tractor with her teeth ?

JC

6 Feb 12 at 7:57 pm
She could be Roxon’s long lost twin sister.

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 7:58 pm
Oh yea, Gab, I see the resemblance. They could have been separated at birth, right?

JC

6 Feb 12 at 8:00 pm
http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2011/12/14/where-is-ri-chun-hui/

Comrade Hotness

Oh come on

6 Feb 12 at 8:02 pm
I don’t know if looks are that crucial to the effectiveness of journos. Here’s my fave.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhztovta4k1qdx8nlo1_500.jpg

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 8:03 pm
LOL!! Roxon also has similar ideological zeal. She is developing the Juche concept of Teetotalling Wowsery.

Oh come on

6 Feb 12 at 8:03 pm
Here’s my fav. She’s 1/2 Korean too.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x202/Tripwirealarm/LizCho-1.jpg

JC

6 Feb 12 at 8:06 pm
I don’t know if looks are that crucial to the effectiveness of journos. Here’s my fave.

’twas what Perseus saw when he stared into his shield.

Token

6 Feb 12 at 8:07 pm
She’s very nice indeed. There’s also that hot French bird. Whassername? Excuse me whilst I google “Hot French newsreader” ah here we are…Melissa Theuriau.

https://www.google.com/search?q=hot+french+news+presenter&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=tJgvT8fiNsaXiAfDo4XEDg&sqi=2&ved=0CEQQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=664

Oh come on

6 Feb 12 at 8:09 pm
And don’t piss of those Erinyes!

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 8:11 pm
OH yea Melissa, is an old fav of this site from ages ago.

This Bloomberg anchor out of hong kong makes the entire experience of watch Bloomberg TV worthwhile.

She is absolutely gorgeous.

http://static7.businessinsider.com/image/4c07ead57f8b9adf65170200-400-300/susan-li.jpg

JC

6 Feb 12 at 8:13 pm
There’s also a total fox on Fox. Again, off to google Hot Fox news presenter…damn. All I got was bloody Glenn Beck pics.

Anyway…a hot young journo has good prospects. Some even get to marry the boss.

Oh come on

6 Feb 12 at 8:16 pm
eh? Moderated?

Oh come on

6 Feb 12 at 8:16 pm
All I said was that hot young Asian journos have good prospects. Some even get to marry the boss.

Oh come on

6 Feb 12 at 8:17 pm
Some even get to marry the boss.

and beat the living shit out of anyone that tries to hurt or upset him.

That tiger mother thingi caused a big argument between wifey and I. We were both watching it on the news and I turned to wifey and said… would you put yourself in harms way to protect me, like her?

She said she wasn’t sure and that’s where a big argument developed.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 8:21 pm
Megan Henderson. Fox on Fox.

Oh come on

6 Feb 12 at 8:23 pm
OCO blame m0nty for that moderation

Sinclair Davidson

6 Feb 12 at 8:24 pm
Don’t diss The Deng! Hiiiiiiiiiiiii Yaaaaaaahhhhh!!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8648659/Rupert-Murdoch-hit-by-custard-pie-Wendi-Dengs-volleyball-spike.html

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 8:25 pm
Yep, Wendi Deng’s been a pretty shameless golddigger, it must be said. And holy hell did she hit the motherlode. Hard as nails, though, I’ll bet. I met women like her in China and they know which side their bread’s buttered on. It didn’t surprise me at all to see her reaction to the attack on Rupert.

Oh come on

6 Feb 12 at 8:28 pm
Looks like the Nielsen poll was an outlier again. I thought the Fairfax cheer squad were getting a big giddy about nothing today.

Borderline sus, methinks. Gillard in a world of trouble as Parliament resumes and, voila, Fairfax poll says she’s back – BACK, BABY!

C.L.

6 Feb 12 at 8:30 pm
She was a poor provincial girl who was sponsored by an American couple to study in the US. The wife took her under her wing, but then she started having it off with the husband. The marriage disintegrated, and after a while Wendi progressively moved onto bigger and better things, and the rest is history.

Oh come on

6 Feb 12 at 8:31 pm
It is sus. My Hunch… Unfairfax is doing nothing dishonest. I reckon it’s Nielsen, playing to the leftie crowd at Unfairfax and making happy and excited for a few days. There’s been quite a few Nielsen outliers in the past too.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 8:34 pm
The fur will really fly once Rupert had gone. The elder of the 2 Murdoch-Deng gals is almost a teenager already.

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 8:37 pm
LaDouche, got your miserable ass over here and explain yourself at once!

I suspect LaDouche, Lez, THR and the other lftard window-licking trolls are all under a flat rock somewhere, consoling each other in that special way lefties so enjoy.

Mk50 of Brisbane

6 Feb 12 at 8:37 pm
I mean, it’s not like you’re going to find the equivalent of Stanford class of 09 in the Fairfax Newsroom in the brains department.. They aren’t exactly going to be questioning good news which is as scarce as hens teeth about the union clerks party.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 8:38 pm
The fur will really fly once Rupert had gone. The elder of the 2 Murdoch-Deng gals is almost a teenager already.

There’s enough to got around. What, 6 kids, net worth $6 billion and $1 billion apiece before US death duties which i’m sure he’s covered.. They aren’t going to argument.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 8:40 pm
oops argue.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 8:40 pm
Only around 50 Obama-endorsed #Occupy protesters turned out today to protest the Super Bowl in Indianapolis.
They were heckled by spectators who told them, “Get a job!”

LOL.

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 8:40 pm
I bet those girls have serious smarts – of both the intellectual and street varieties. And the elite Manhattan world they’re growing up in…sharp. In a word.

Oh come on

6 Feb 12 at 8:41 pm
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/02/fail-occupy-protesters-heckled-outside-super-bowl/

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 8:41 pm
Ayatollah Khameini lists the targets in Israel he wants to nuke.

hey Candy, what do the letter writers in the Guardian say about this ‘moderate’ chappie?

BTW the 1,000 ballistic missiles that they have are SRBM and a few MRBM. None can take a nuclear warhead. Yet.

Mk50 of Brisbane

6 Feb 12 at 8:45 pm
Yep, I bet the Deng-Murdoch gals will bitchslap those Aussie honkey bros and sistahs.

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 8:45 pm
Via GWP…

Obama has no Christian support base left:

The Assembly of Orthodox Bishops in North America just issued a formal statement of protest against the HHS mandate in which the Assembly, representing all 53 Orthodox bishops in North America, references their complete agreement with the statements of the [United States Conference of Catholic Bishops].”

C.L.

6 Feb 12 at 8:46 pm
I didn’t realise the new Avengers film was written and directed by Joss Whedon… it might not be so bad after all.

Fleeced

6 Feb 12 at 8:48 pm
I hope they put soft-left granny in her place. I remember an Australian Story on her when she said something like “I like that nice Mr Rudd. He is less divisive than *ahem* previous PMs”

Or has the old dame died? I don’t always get the Australian memos.

Oh come on

6 Feb 12 at 8:49 pm
Nope, still kickin’ it down on the farm, according to Wiki.

Oh come on

6 Feb 12 at 8:52 pm
JC

There’s also a dozen or so kids of Rupert’s 4 honkey kids, some of whom are older than the Deng-Murrdoch gals.

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 8:57 pm
Baby ping-ponger with incredible co-ord:

http://viralfootage.com/?p=21600

C.L.

6 Feb 12 at 8:58 pm
Judith will be on Q and A tonight at 9.38.

Sinclair Davidson

6 Feb 12 at 9:07 pm
Judith will be on Q and A tonight at 9.38.

Judith’s the only reason I’ll be watching tonight.

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 9:10 pm
Great comment at Guido’s by anon

– Of course “progressive” means ever more ingenius ways to part net producers of real wealth from their money. -

Top stuff

Harrys on the Boat

6 Feb 12 at 9:17 pm
I wouldn’t expose myself to such torture, even for Judith.

Fleeced

6 Feb 12 at 9:18 pm
Life on benefits – you just have to watch it. “Doreen’s story”.

hahahahahah

boy on a bike

6 Feb 12 at 9:21 pm
It’s far less excruciating when Judith’s on the panel, Fleeced. Trust me.

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 9:25 pm
Penny Wong – Finance Minister
Joe Hockey – Shadow Treasurer
Judith Sloan – Economist and businesswoman
Miriam Lyons – Director of the Centre for Policy Development
Joe Hildebrand – News Ltd columnist

It’s actually not a bad panel this evening. Tony Jones must be getting a little concerned that it’s getting closer to the election and he’s heard how the libs wan to make the ABC assessable to all Australians.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 9:26 pm
BOAB the progressive quote is from “doreens story” comments

Harrys on the Boat

6 Feb 12 at 9:26 pm
That’s very mean of you, BOAB. That poor woman has an affliction and you laugh. Very disappointed.

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 9:28 pm
Thanks for all the suggestions, esp. RL.
Calibre works perfectly.

Winston Smith

6 Feb 12 at 9:44 pm
Judith’s on fire!

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 9:47 pm
Gab

I think Judith has found her niche. She clearly loves it!

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 9:52 pm
I’d pay to see Judith and Penny, one-on-one, on Q&A. Unfortunate, Tiny Jones keeps giving Penny the last word on tonight’s Q&A.

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 9:59 pm
BOAB ~~Housing commission scum next door( part 6~~) Doreens Story, spot on.

Dare ya to post it on LP , pretending it’s a fair dink ” victim of society “

jumpnmcar

6 Feb 12 at 10:00 pm
Gab

Steady on there. This is a family show!

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 10:02 pm
Peter! Get your mind out of the gutter, please.

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 10:05 pm
You know Judith is slicing through them like a chainsaw when Tony Jones says with a sullen voice to Penny Wong, while looking at the ground “You’d better respond to that”.

John Mc

6 Feb 12 at 10:08 pm
Watched Wilfred now QnA.

Wong to Sloan: of course you’re a learned economist
Sloan: yes I am.

Ha!

Pickles

6 Feb 12 at 10:14 pm
Judith and Penny own this program. Miriam is a bit out of her league. You Go Girls!

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 10:14 pm
Miriam talks fast but says nothing. Hildebrand is just another lefty shill. Yawn.

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 10:17 pm
Yes, Hildebrand is a serf. Could do with a bath.

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 10:20 pm
Penny is so very natty. It’s hard to picture her as a former CFMEU apparatchick!

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 10:23 pm
Hildebrand is no lefty.

Infidel Tiger

6 Feb 12 at 10:23 pm
Nor natty!

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 10:25 pm
Hildebrand is no lefty.

Then he plays one convincingly on Q&A.

Toxic

6 Feb 12 at 10:28 pm
Who is this Miriam? Graduate of the Social Work/Education/Media Studies department?

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 10:29 pm
Hildebrand has flamed one in the green room by the looks.

Pickles

6 Feb 12 at 10:29 pm
What’s he said?

His blog is usually him taking the piss out of lefties.

Infidel Tiger

6 Feb 12 at 10:30 pm
Something along the lines of “economic management was one of the strengths of the Rudd government”

Toxic

6 Feb 12 at 10:33 pm
And what about Joe Hockey. What a singularly unimpressive man, except in girth. I can’t believe Mumble (Peter Brent) thinks that Hockey could be the next Opposition Leader after (he thinks) Abbott gets turfed out when Rudd returns. Why is Hockey not 100% across his brief? A decent Shadow Treasurer would allow Abbott to get away with some imprecision. Meanwhile, Robb may be across detail, but is painful to listen to. Much as I hate to say, we need Turnbull as Shadow Treasurer.

Sleetmute

6 Feb 12 at 10:34 pm
Robert Manne is on next week. At least now I know when to wash my hair, and do the washing.

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 10:34 pm
“economic management was one of the strengths of the Rudd government”

Compared to Gillard it is.

Infidel Tiger

6 Feb 12 at 10:35 pm
Hockey would be much more comfortable in the ALP. Far more comfortable than Turnbull.

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 10:36 pm
Meanwhile, Robb may be across detail, but is painful to listen to. Much as I hate to say, we need Turnbull as Shadow Treasurer.

That’s what I have said, but I’m not sure he’d play the game instead of trying to access the top job.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 10:36 pm
He couldn’t contain himself to a second-in-command role.

John Mc

6 Feb 12 at 10:38 pm
I can’t remember clearly now IT. I believe he said something along the lines of Rudd’s stimulus saved Australia. But don’t hold me to that. I’ll have to read the transcript.

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 10:39 pm
Judith wiped the floor with those idiots. The Miriam woman was really irritating. She uttered all those sentences that sounded good but were totally nonsensical. What an imbecile.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 10:39 pm
Hildebrand did himself no favours with that performance.

I normally enjoy his offbeat take even if I disagree often but he was only a bufoon tonight.

Judith was excellent.

JamesK

6 Feb 12 at 10:45 pm
His blog is usually him taking the piss out of lefties.

Indeed. His piece on a dinner party in Newtown is a comedy classic and is well worth a read

nic

6 Feb 12 at 10:45 pm
Mirian was the obligatory lightweight chickie and Hildebrand was the obligatory Chaser-substitute unfunny yobbo joker. Why the hell are we piss-farting around with dross like Sophie Mirabella and the like in safe seats when John Roskam should have been in parliament for two terms by now?

Sleetmute

6 Feb 12 at 10:46 pm
Hey, what about my baby ping-pong player?

Get stuffed, all of you.

C.L.

6 Feb 12 at 10:47 pm
Awwww…we still love you, CL. Especially Steve.

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 10:48 pm
nic

Indeed. His piece on a dinner party in Newtown is a comedy classic and is well worth a read

Gotta link? Having attended enough in my time, I’d love his take.

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 10:51 pm
Non “misogynistic” Bob Brown has ruled that the PM is a strong “woman”. Why didn’t he just say she throws like a girl?

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 10:54 pm
Anyone hear that ridiculous comment by the Miriam that Howard was poisoning the rivers? The brazenness of these moronic leftwingers is actually wonderful to watch.

Looked for her bio and bet myself my she had an Arts degree. Although her wiki page (can you believe she has one) doesn’t mention her undergrad, it obviously suggests she’s an arts graduate.

Personal

Miriam is currently studying an MA at the University of Technology, Sydney.[

Obvious.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 10:55 pm
Awwww…we still love you, CL. Especially Steve.

What did happen to Steve? Did his wife take away his blogging privileges for not scrubbing the bathroom grouting or something?

Token

6 Feb 12 at 10:57 pm
Token

From what I could tell, Mrs Steve hasn’t been attending to his home-duties and the boos lady is very angry.

He has to catch up before he’s allowed to use the computer again.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 10:59 pm
Damn straight sleetmute.

Pickles

6 Feb 12 at 10:59 pm
John Roskam should have been in parliament for two terms by now?

Yea, he has to get into parliament.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 11:00 pm
Non “misogynistic” Bob Brown has ruled that the PM is a strong “woman”. Why didn’t he just say she throws like a girl?

I can’t believe the reporters didn’t just start packing up their gear when he started with that bollox.

Seriously, it is almost as stupid as blaming flooding rains on coal mines. The man has form.

Token

6 Feb 12 at 11:00 pm
Non “misogynistic” Bob Brown

has been whining ad nauseam today about Gillard being treated unfairly ’cause she’s a female PM.

Good boy, Bob. Now sit. Stay.

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 11:02 pm
Token

Emma Albirici wasn’t buying it.

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 11:03 pm
Q&A

Penny Wong – Finance Minister
Joe Hockey – Shadow Treasurer
Judith Sloan – Economist and businesswoman
Miriam Lyons – Director of the Centre for Policy Development
Joe Hildebrand – News Ltd columnist

Only two lefties (+Jones)…

And 51% coalition voters in the audience.

WTF???

ar

6 Feb 12 at 11:04 pm
Non “misogynistic” Bob Brown has ruled that the PM is a strong “woman”. Why didn’t he just say she throws like a girl?

And what is it with the Bob Hawke wheel-outs?

Whenever she’s copping a serve, Bob appears like a chaperone. It really is girlish.

C.L.

6 Feb 12 at 11:05 pm
has been whining ad nauseam today about Gillard being treated unfairly ’cause she’s a female PM.

Diddums. Is government too hard for her?

I liked Willesee’s comeback – “Would it be easier if you were a man?”

ar

6 Feb 12 at 11:05 pm
Bunyip brought back that great Pryor quote a few days ago, but I do believe it was wasted on Fairfax.

DESPITE his foul mouth, the comedian Richard Pryor could be extremely funny, especially his routine about being caught by his wife in bed with another woman. “Who you going to believe,” he demanded, “me or your lying eyes?*

*Do not try this. It does not work.

In a couple of days we could be saying that Wilkie has fallen for Gillard’s sweet & empty words one more time.

As it looks like Gillard needs Wilkie again…

Token

6 Feb 12 at 11:06 pm
I suspect LaDouche, Lez, THR and the other lftard window-licking trolls are all under a flat rock somewhere, consoling each other in that special way lefties so enjoy.

Why on earth would I need consolation?

Look at me, mate, I’m fuckin golden.

Les Majesty

6 Feb 12 at 11:07 pm
Emma Albirici wasn’t buying it.

Is she back in Australia? She is wasted at the ABC, she actually knows about how the real world works.

Token

6 Feb 12 at 11:08 pm
Next Brown will be sneering at “lady doctors”.

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 11:08 pm
JC, yeah, Miriam Lyons, complete lightweight. Judith was spot on to pick her up on that training/skills mantra BS as a response to our super-high minimum wages. Honestly, these people have no idea. As if you can take a kid or a migrant worth a wage of $25K pa and somehow by waving the magic wand of ‘training’ make them worth $60k pa. It just doesn’t happen. I can barely think of a training course that added more value than the work experience foregone to attend the course.

Sleetmute

6 Feb 12 at 11:09 pm
She got back a couple of weeks ago, and is hosting – very well – Lateline

Peter Patton

6 Feb 12 at 11:10 pm
Next Brown will be sneering at “lady doctors”.

Yeah, next time he’s in Thailand…

ar

6 Feb 12 at 11:10 pm
Q&A was the second TV show in a row Judith has been on where the ALPite has brought up Windsor and what Abbott allegedly said he’d do to win Windsor’s support.

Looks like they’ve focus grouped “sell my arse” and think they’re on a winner.

ar

6 Feb 12 at 11:14 pm
Seeing my favourite of all Australian Living Treasures got in the news again today I thought I’d look up what another of that esteemed company Phil Adams wrote for his article this week…

…OMG, he knows he’s a lefty token who been parked in the nether regions of the insert to the Weekend Australia.

He does refer to Whitlam (another ANT), but really what a yawn.

I’m actually surprised the Globe & Mail (or is that the Global Mail) didn’t pick this up as it so much more interesting than the rubbish they published.

Token

6 Feb 12 at 11:16 pm
Looks like they’ve focus grouped “sell my arse” and think they’re on a winner.

Those that believe Abbott is satan himself will believe it. Those that know him also know that “sell my arse” is not Abbott’s speech pattern.

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 11:22 pm
Q&A was the second TV show in a row Judith has been on where the ALPite has brought up Windsor and what Abbott allegedly said he’d do to win Windsor’s support.

Windsor is a skunk always has been. You could be traveling at 100 KPH and smell that dirty prick on the side of the road.

He made that stuff up. I could imagine the old lezzo speaking like that, but in all honesty I can’t imagine Tony Abbott telling the old Lezzo, Windsor, he’d sell his arse to win government. Windsor has been known to lie before and he’s lying again. he has plenty of form.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 11:28 pm
Those that believe Abbott is satan himself will believe it. Those that know him also know that “sell my arse” is not Abbott’s speech pattern.

Yeah, I’d believe Abbott over Windsor on this one… Windsor looks like a… well, probably best I don’t say it – don’t want to get the blog into trouble, but I always thought he looked a bit like a —– ——-.

Fleeced

6 Feb 12 at 11:36 pm
Hmmm… stupid blog replaced by hyphens: ***** *******

Fleeced

6 Feb 12 at 11:37 pm
The Hildebrand article on a dinner party in Newtown:

http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/joehildebrand/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/trouble_brewing_in_the_inner_west

nic

6 Feb 12 at 11:40 pm
Fleeced, it’s also not an urban Australian expression and sounds to me like coarse rural thing to say…… and to be honest the old lezzo does appear to come from fairly coarse stock.

It wouldn’t sound surprising to me if the old lezzo says things like that, however I’d be really shocked if Abbott does.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 11:42 pm
Struth. Father Slipper is going full retard.

This could be the best session of parlaiment ever.

Infidel Tiger

6 Feb 12 at 11:43 pm
I certainly wouldn’t call Hildebrand a rightie, but he’s not a lefty, and seems to have a low-tolerance for BS. Combine that with a satirical nature, and he can often be worth a read.

And it’s depressing, but quite a few people (who aren’t political junkies) believe the stimulus crap worked…

Fleeced

6 Feb 12 at 11:44 pm
“Slippery is a traditionalist, he wants the respect of the parliament but the risk is he will end up looking like a clown,” said one MP who has spoken with the Speaker about his plans.

Lol

nic

6 Feb 12 at 11:45 pm
It wouldn’t sound surprising to me if the old lezzo says things like that, however I’d be really shocked if Abbott does.

Yes, I thought that at the time too. Windsor really is a creepy old fellow.

Fleeced

6 Feb 12 at 11:45 pm
Heh… I voted yes to the poll “Should the Speaker’s wig make a comeback?” – just because this is gonna make it so much more like a circus

Fleeced

6 Feb 12 at 11:48 pm
Hillibrand is just a middle of the roader dill. I thought he tried to hard to get the laughs in a few spots this evening.

JC

6 Feb 12 at 11:48 pm
lol

HE abandoned his party to sit on the Speaker’s throne – now Liberal turncoat Peter Slipper wants to wear the plush gown and other regalia that goes with it.

There’s a poll at IT’s link. We should vote en masse with a ‘yes’.

What a pompous clown. Glad he slithered to the welcoming arms of Gillard.

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 11:49 pm
Hillibrand is just a middle of the roader dill.

My impression of him tonight was he’s ALP booster.

Gab

6 Feb 12 at 11:51 pm
“Slippery is a traditionalist, he wants the respect of the parliament but the risk is he will end up looking like a clown,” said one MP who has spoken with the Speaker about his plans.

Oooh, how I wish it really was a clown outfit he had to wear… then people might genuinely be reluctant to take the speaker’s chair.

Fleeced

6 Feb 12 at 11:52 pm
My impression of him tonight was he’s ALP booster.

Yea, he’s been on before though when he’s been full monty Coalition.

(No, not you monster you idiot).

JC

6 Feb 12 at 11:54 pm
I think Hildy just goes for laughs rather than serious commentary… that’s OK. On balance I still like him (though didn’t see tonight’s ep).

Fleeced

6 Feb 12 at 11:57 pm
Can anyone confirm the opening time of tomorrow’s Parliament?

Tuesdays are normally 1400 according to the Parliamentary website, but given that it is also the opening day, will it be the more usual 1230 start?

I have never looked forward so much to listening to a pack of pollies droning on. The Rev slippery, the brothel creeper and and the Victorian Vuvuzela all in the same cage match should be entertainment for the ages.

Pedro the Ignorant

6 Feb 12 at 11:59 pm
I like Hilders, but the whole non-bathing look really limits his options. He’s too low/mid-brow for Q&A, which is not as bad as being too thick like the Lyons piece.

Peter Patton

7 Feb 12 at 12:01 am
I missed MW. Sad. Not really. Anywho, which of Blair’s options came true?

Entropy

7 Feb 12 at 12:04 am
There’s a poll at IT’s link. We should vote en masse with a ‘yes’.

Yes.

spot

7 Feb 12 at 12:09 am
Maybe the wig is taking things too far but, then again, why meekly accept the ALP’s abolition of parliamentary customs? A gown is reasonable.

I seem to recall reading that Family Court justices returned to regalia after a few of their number were bombed. The theory was that for such solemn proceedings they needed to be seen as above the ruck, not of it. Having your kids taken off you by a bloke in a clerk-looking suit wasn’t a good idea. I think Ian Sinclair gets it somewhat backwards at IT’s link.

C.L.

7 Feb 12 at 12:12 am
BEIJING—China announced Monday it will prohibit its airlines from paying European Union charges on carbon emissions, ratcheting up a global dispute over the cost of combatting climate change.

The charges are aimed at curbing emissions of climate-changing gases but governments including China, the United States and Russia oppose them.

C’mon Mr Joyce, get on board. (Pun, geddit? Oh never mind.)

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2012/02/06/china_bars_its_airlines_from_paying_eu_carbon_tax/

Gab

7 Feb 12 at 12:14 am
Rather than wearing a wig, I’d be more impressed if he made the rabble answer the fucking questions.

Infidel Tiger

7 Feb 12 at 12:14 am
No, I like the idea of making him wear fancy dress. I’d add clown shoes to the costume, but.

And hand out vuvuzelas to the gallery.

spot

7 Feb 12 at 12:32 am
Video: Mum saves baby son on train tracks.

Note the tosser in the best position to intervene is too busy texting someone. Even after he realises what just happened, he does nothing.

C.L.

7 Feb 12 at 12:32 am
LOL.

Toddler gets stuck in vending machine.

He shared the booty, which shows he has a generous heart.

C.L.

7 Feb 12 at 12:34 am
I dunno CL, it happened pretty quickly… Bunny-in-the-headlights moment maybe?

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 12:42 am
The kid in the vending machine… this has happened more than once, and always makes me laugh (thankfully, they’re generally OK). I wonder how the hell they manage it. Kids are like reverse Houdinis – always getting into trouble. My 2yo niece somehow got her leg caught in an odd position on a dining room chair – the 6 firemen who came to free her were a bunch of softies for her. They must get some strange calls.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 12:47 am
Ron Paul’s policy platform begins it’s march toward irrelevance.

http://hotair.com/archives/2012/02/06/near-majority-approves-of-military-force-against-iran-to-stop-nuclear-weapon-development/

Alex Pundit

7 Feb 12 at 12:48 am
What’s a near-majority? Is that like “mostly dead” or “a little pregnant”?

Or… minority, perhaps?

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 12:51 am
tee-hee didn’t notice that. time for bed.

Alex Pundit

7 Feb 12 at 12:53 am
My 2yo niece somehow got her leg caught in an odd position on a dining room chair – the 6 firemen who came to free her were a bunch of softies for her.

Good Lord. How’d she manage that?

C.L.

7 Feb 12 at 12:54 am
No idea… my sister was astonished that there were so many… maybe it was a slow day, and they like playing hero to a little kid – no idea. Pretty funny though.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 1:02 am
Brent/WTI spread up to 28 buck premium. That means all the mid continent refiners are getting a 28 buck discount to the Brent spot price.

Odumbo caused that.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 1:10 am
Wait, what?!

I thought warmening killed reefs.

Not so, reports the ABC:

Scientists say WA reef growth unsustainable.

New research has found some coral reefs in the Indian Ocean are growing at an unsustainable rate due to warming water temperatures.

The Australian Institute of Marine Science says the most southerly reefs on the West Australian coast, have increased their growth rates by up to 23 per cent.

Principal research scientist, Janice Lough, says that’s not sustainable.

“Corals are already responding rapidly to the environmental changes that we’re imposing upon them.

But she has some science to link it back to da warmening:

“There will be a threshold beyond which the corals are not happy and they’ll just slow their growth down.”

Sad reefs ( ) will eventually say ‘enough’s enough.’

C.L.

7 Feb 12 at 1:11 am
“Corals are already responding rapidly to the environmental changes that we’re imposing upon them.

Oh FFS what ‘vironmental changes are there to cause da changes. This smells of a research grant attack.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 1:17 am
All this shit is about sniveling around for government research grants.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 1:18 am
New research has found some coral reefs in the Indian Ocean are growing at an unsustainable rate

OK… so they’re saying they want it to stop growing? But if the growth rate is “unsustainable,” then by definition it will, at some point.

New science is funny.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 1:24 am
Coral growth rate is unsustainable… lol – think it through. The more I think on it, the sillier it sounds.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 1:27 am
Fleeced;

It’s going to envelope the world. It’s going to keep growing forever because of da warming.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 1:35 am
“It’s going to keep growing forever…”

Well if that’s the case, it’s not unsustainable at all

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 1:38 am
What they mean to say, is that everything else is unsustainable in the destructive path of this apparent super-coral.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 1:39 am
I thought these morons were telling us that the reef was dying because of da warming. That’s one of the reasons the lying slapper told us why we needed a carbonic tax.

There’s on way to stop speculation and the grants sniveling. Nuke the fucking thing and kill it off once and for all.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 1:42 am
I for one welcome our new coral polyp overlords.

spot

7 Feb 12 at 1:44 am
I’ve been on the reef a few times while the kids were growing up. Took them there snorkeling. Those giants clams look like they would make part of a really nice bouillabaisse.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 1:45 am
US closes embassy in Syria, citing “concerns about the safety of personnel and recent car bombs”

The U.N. says Assad’s crackdown has killed more than 5,400 people since March. The revolt began with mostly peaceful protests, but armed rebels are now increasingly fighting the regime.

The Obama administration has long demanded that Assad step down. Officials insist his regime’s demise is inevitable.

Given what happened in other countries, why would they step down? And as bad as current mob are, what would replace them?

*sigh* … Interesting times.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 1:46 am
Haven’t they closed most of the fucking thing off to humans? I mean we’re not an original owners like the fish and shit there so of course we’re not allowed to go in.

Catch a fish on the reef and you’ll end up getting 30 years.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 1:48 am
High-speed ~~rail~~ whale.

spot

7 Feb 12 at 1:50 am
I reckon Iran is fermenting strife in Syria, as they want to combine the Shias in Syria with the Lebanese Shia and go after the Israelis.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 1:50 am
I was just about to post a link to “Doreen’s Story” before remembering it was from here I got the link in the first place (thanks BoaB)… lol.

Anyway, it’s worth a look if you haven’t seen it yet

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 1:55 am
I thought these morons were telling us that the reef was dying because of da warming.

Oh it is dying. And it’s also expanding. Glowbull warmening can do that. Same as we’re told the planet’s heading towards a meltdown but there’s been no warming for fifteen years and Europe is once again in degree Kelvin territory, that’s also becuase the planet’s warming. See? It all makes perfect sense.

Gab

7 Feb 12 at 2:02 am
Oh I get it, so it’s da warming that is causing da cooling. there’s plenty of practical evidence for that though Gab. Like I often keep a beer on top of the barbecue for 15 minutes of so to chill it to the perfect temp.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 2:07 am
It’s growing where we don’t want it, and shrinking where we do. Plus, global warming kills cute pupy dogs and kittens and dolphins, but is good for jellyfish and sharks and stuff.

As I said before Slugs, snails and puppy dog’s tails = likes global warming. Sugar’n'spice and everything nice = destroyed by global warming.

Their arguments really are that lame.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 2:13 am
WaPo ends partisan identification info for its polls. Coincidentally, this occurs just as the WaPo/ABC poll shows Obama 6 points in front of Romney.

http://hotair.com/archives/2012/02/06/wapoabc-ends-sample-transparency-in-national-polling/

C.L.

7 Feb 12 at 2:15 am
Wow.

Camelot: JFK Had 18 Month Affair with 19 Y.O. Intern

John on February 5, 2012 at 11:30 am

Now we know where Bill Clinton got his inspiration:

Former U.S. President John F Kenendy took the virginity of a White House intern in a side room just feet away from where administration staff were drinking at an after-work party, an explosive new book has claimed.

Mimi Alford, now a 69-year-old grandmother, told how JFK led her into ‘Mrs Kennedy’s room’ during a personal tour, where he proceeded to have sex with her…

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2096770/JFK-took-virginity-White-House-intern-Mimi-Alford-19.html

JC

7 Feb 12 at 2:19 am
Coincidentally, this occurs just as the WaPo/ABC poll shows Obama 6 points in front of Romney.

lol… I’ve noticed the yanks do some funny weighting shit with their polls too – is that because they need to account for voluntary voting?

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 2:20 am
What a coincidence, JC.

I just read that whole article.

Apparently, she is regarded as legitimate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimi_Alford

Very decent of Jack to prostitute the gal to others.

C.L.

7 Feb 12 at 2:32 am
Fleeced

US polls are almost impossible to read, unless it’s explained exactly what they are doing. Not even likely voters gives a decent pic.

There’s one poll, but I forget which measures likely voters who will also likely vote and that one is pretty decent. However I have forgotten who does it.

Like boofhead metro was getting all orgasmic like about Odumbo sitting on 50% support which he thought showed he was a shoe in. But if you don’t know the poll and it’s structure it is essentially useless information. Lots Americans say the support the prez out of patriotic duty, but they won;t vote for the fucker come election time.

The other thing is not to pay much attention to the polls at the moment in term of the candidates as American generally make up their mind after August.

But a couple of things don’t augur well for the messiah. Right way/wrong way for the economy is really polling badly and the disapproval rating with the indeps who voted for him in large numbers last time is hugely against him …76% vs 20% for. A large number of these fuckers live in states that Odumbo has to carry. Like it’s no use carrying say california with 80% of the vote (increase from the previous election) and lose Ohio, Michigan and Florida as he’s finished. I think he’s fucked.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 2:36 am
Yeah, I’ve always found US polls hard to read… that makes sense.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 2:47 am
Wake up, people… If I’m an insomniac, then it’s no fair that other people should sleep. Wake up, damn you!

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 3:12 am
American blogs are a godsend for insomniac Aussies – it’s not quite lunchtime on the East coast.

spot

7 Feb 12 at 3:24 am
True, spot – and probably what got me into US politics in the first place.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 3:41 am
Stolen from Gregory No6: How can you be against that?

spot

7 Feb 12 at 3:42 am
…aaaaand, there’s always Twitter! Twitter never sleeps.

spot

7 Feb 12 at 3:43 am
Any interesting people I should follow, spot?

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 3:58 am
I’ve got a few lists I keep front & center in my Tweetdeck. Mainly Americans & Brits here, so they’re active this time of day. Mainly Aussies here, so they’re mostly zzzzz-ing about now.

A good way to find cool people to follow is to peek in on lists others have taken the time to put together, watch the tweets for a while, then click “follow” on those you find most interesting.

spot

7 Feb 12 at 4:25 am
I’ve got a few lists I keep front & center in my Tweetdeck. Mainly Americans & Brits here, so they’re active this time of day. Mainly Aussies here, so they’re mostly zzzzz-ing about now.

A good way to find cool people to follow is to peek in on lists others have taken the time to put together, watch the tweets for a while, then click “follow” on those you find most interesting.

spot

7 Feb 12 at 4:27 am
Oops. Hiccups.

spot

7 Feb 12 at 4:29 am
More cool people here; more or less a news/media feed here. I don’t actually follow-follow everyone I’m “following”, not all at the same time. Too chaotic. Thus the lists.

spot

7 Feb 12 at 4:40 am
And it’s gold, gold, gold for Australia over at Bunyipitude:

http://bunyipitude.blogspot.com/2012/02/wood-on-global-mail.html

Abu Chowdah

7 Feb 12 at 5:48 am
Surprise! Home-buyers and borrowers get to pay for Obama’s payroll-tax holiday

Remember this, and remember it well — fees placed on businesses get paid by consumers. Taxes on businesses get paid by consumers. Businesses pass costs along to consumers, and when they don’t, they don’t remain in business for very long. As Robert Heinlein once wrote, “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.”

As Charles Blahous argues, it’s time we quit passing gimmicky, short-term economic measures and start revamping our tax structure for long-term investment and growth: [...read on]

TANSTAAFL.

spot

7 Feb 12 at 7:05 am
“Slippery is a traditionalist, he wants the respect of the parliament but the risk is he will end up looking like a clown,” said one MP who has spoken with the Speaker about his plans.

Nothing says “tosser” to the broad expanses of the suburbs than a politician in a wig.

I’m surprised the prize tossers Wayne Swan and Peter Garrett didn’t think of this earlier!

Token

7 Feb 12 at 8:33 am
Mr Oakeshott has also indicated he could be prepared to maintain his support for Labor’s minority government in the event of a leadership shift, although he would be “thoroughly unimpressed” if Labor dumped Julia Gillard…

Not quite as ‘thoroughly unimpressed’ as I am that this goose was ever elected to (and remains in) our federal legislature.

BTW, laybore pardy mole’s tip: Two kevni ruff challenges, one just before the QLD cap’n bligh wipeout (not enough numbers) a second shortly after another disastrous budget from the world’s greatest idiot (which will be successful).

Rabz

7 Feb 12 at 8:42 am
You can bet that in 20 years time people will be hiding their involvement with the AGW voodoo cult like the Green members hide their CPA past:

Prior to the advent of global warming alarmism in the late 20th century, governments and councils drew their advice from statutory authorities involved with harbour and tidal management, and from scientific research groups such as the CSIRO.

With the IPCC’s formation in 1988, which was tasked to ponder on global warming, the focus of governments shifted from sea-level change as a ports, harbours and beaches issue to it being seen as a more general environmental issue related to hypothetical, human-caused global warming.

At about the same time, attention shifted from basing public policy on the use of measured tide gauge records to basing it on the theoretical projections of computer models. By the end of the 1990s, Australian governments and councils were basing their sea-level planning almost entirely on IPCC advice, that is, on unvalidated computer predictions that are in no way tied to accurate local sea-level measurement.</blockquote>

Token

7 Feb 12 at 8:57 am
Rabz, did the mole explain why is it important to hold the first ballot before the QLD election? Am I missing something?

(I really am young and naive when it comes to the dark arts of the NSW Right)

Token

7 Feb 12 at 9:02 am
… why is it important to hold the first ballot before the QLD election?

Because ruff might win it, (depending on how many disasters dullard can rack up over the next few weeks) which would give a filip to cap’n bligh and her laybore clowns up north.

Rabz

7 Feb 12 at 9:08 am
Oh my…

Freudian slip alert:

EMMA ALBERICI: Is Julia Gillard the best person in your view to lead the Labor Party?

BOB BROWN: Well Labor will always determine that. What I – they have made her the leader. She came through the next – the last election and made an agreement with the Greens.

twostix

7 Feb 12 at 9:11 am
Oh god tyhe man is already Senile:

EMMA ALBERICI: Well who in particular has been sexist towards the Prime Minister?

BOB BROWN: Well it’s there in media commentary. I think it’s there in the Opposition’s relentless attacks. And we didn’t see this with John Howard.

Senile or just a bold faced fucking LIAR.

twostix

7 Feb 12 at 9:13 am
what the hell is up with the NSW govt’s priorities? There are a hundred different improvements I can think of which are more important than having a ‘quiet carriage’.

who are these precious little daisies who are so disturbed by the noise anyway?

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/train-commuters-to-try-a-little-less-conversation-20120206-1r1w5.html

jtfsoon

7 Feb 12 at 9:13 am
Thanks Rabz, I see it was the obvious answer.

After seeing the work of these Labor geniuses over the past 4 1/2 years I’ve learned that the most obvious and sensible course is the one the Labor government avoids most. It seemed too easy.

Token

7 Feb 12 at 9:14 am
There are a hundred different improvements I can think of which are more important than having a ‘quiet carriage’.

Like installing air conditioning in the carriages that don’t have it, you plonkers.

FFS, o’barrel’s a bluddy dud.

Rabz

7 Feb 12 at 9:18 am
Senile or just a bold faced f*cking LIAR.

I’m stunned that Albarici has been giving such an important role. I trust the Greens will be working to get her removed very soon.

I can’t wait to hear Albarici interview Slipper. She was in the UK when the MP expenses scandal blew up (where the Speaker resigned), I would love to hear what she makes of his trips to St Kilda, Taylors Square & Fortitude Valley!

Token

7 Feb 12 at 9:32 am
This cycle of dependency is reinforced by government policies that make it harder for people to get off the government teat.

WTF? Someone in the fin review talking sense?!?!

This is an outrage!

Rabz

7 Feb 12 at 9:48 am
Remember, this is the reason why tax payers are paying a Flood Levy as part of their tax:

Did Dennien, Spiller, the flood engineers, SEQWater chief executive Peter Borrows, dam safety regulator Peter Allen, dam operations chief Rob Drury or anyone else in the Bligh government read the manual for the most important, and potentially dangerous, piece of infrastructure in Queensland? It seems unlikely.

If they had read it during the flood event they would have known W1 was the wrong strategy and a clear breach of the manual because the dam’s lake level had risen past 68.5m. The strategy known as W3, with its primary consideration of protecting urban areas from inundation, should have been invoked from 8am on Saturday, January 8, at the latest.

The evidence of incompetence across Queensland’s water bureaucracies is worrying. But the core problem is dishonesty, according to the inquiry’s leading lawyer, Peter Callaghan SC, who so far accuses the flood engineers of orchestrating a deceitful cover-up. They strenuously reject the allegations. If Callaghan is right about the cover-up, they could not have orchestrated it alone. Callaghan must be bristling to ask Dennien and Spiller under oath why they did not query the change in SEQWater’s official position about the timing of its move to W3, after the event.

Where is the rest of the media on this?

The Canberra Stenographers continue to carry water for Labor when they want to raise taxes and go to sleep when it comes time for people to be held accountable for their actions.

Token

7 Feb 12 at 9:52 am
Liar is right.

BOB BROWN: Well it’s there in media commentary. I think it’s there in the Opposition’s relentless attacks. And we didn’t see this with John Howard.

What was “Little Johnny” if not an attack on his manliness?

ar

7 Feb 12 at 10:17 am
I can’t help but think Brown is over-egging this non-story about attacks on Gillard being sexist. It’s stands out as some sort of diversionary tactic. Just a feeling…

Gab

7 Feb 12 at 10:23 am
I can’t help but think Brown is over-egging this non-story about attacks on Gillard being sexist.

I’m damned as racist if I criticize Obama. I’m damned as sexist if I criticize Gillard. I’m damned as homophobic if I criticize her co-PM Brown.

FFS, bring back the straight white males. I’m tired of Victim Cards being chucked around as shut-up bombs. At least when I criticized Clinton or Keating, Howard or Bush, people who disagreed with me disagreed with my arguments.

spot

7 Feb 12 at 10:49 am
Quit your whining, white boy

Gab

7 Feb 12 at 10:51 am
Pffft ;-P

spot

7 Feb 12 at 11:06 am
Brown is over-egging this non-story about attacks on Gillard being sexist

Why do you keep going on about women, Bob?

He knows his balance of power days are numbered.

ar

7 Feb 12 at 11:32 am
Rockefeller Foundation makes a reasons able case for 100% death taxes for the really rich.

Industrial Sabotage: Rockefeller Fund’s $28 Million Campaign Against Keystone Pipeline

http://www.verumserum.com/?p=37688

JC

7 Feb 12 at 1:33 pm
The old man would be rolling in his fucking grave.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 1:33 pm
Odumbo funding the luxury sports car market for $1 billion

battery capacity for the Fisker sports car… 32 miles.

The car is assembled in Finland. LOL

Watch the Vid.

http://www.verumserum.com/?p=37683

JC

7 Feb 12 at 1:38 pm
White House: job-seeker drop-out disaster is an “economic positive.”

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney explained that the number of people dropping out of the work force, which artificially depresses the unemployment rate, can be regarded as an “economic positive.”

“A lot of that is due to younger people getting more of an education, which is an economic positive,” Carney said. He had been asked what would happen when people “inevitably” raise the unemployment rating with their return to the work force.

He also noted that “an aging population” going into retirement has contributed to the number of people dropping out of the work force.

C.L.

7 Feb 12 at 1:42 pm
The old man would be rolling in his fucking grave.

That lot are not a turd of the shoe of JD Rockefeller.

Token

7 Feb 12 at 1:44 pm
Tough but fair.

C.L.

7 Feb 12 at 1:45 pm
“Odumbo funding the luxury sports car market for $1 billion”

What, are the peasants fed up with these already?

Rabz

7 Feb 12 at 1:47 pm
Industrial Sabotage: Rockefeller Fund’s $28 Million Campaign Against Keystone Pipeline

1877:

Rockefeller had envisioned the use of pipelines as an alternative transport system for oil and began a campaign to build and acquire them.

twostix

7 Feb 12 at 1:50 pm
LOL.

Great pick-up, twostix.

That says it all.

C.L.

7 Feb 12 at 2:00 pm
I had Subway for lunch, and the coke bottle said, “Share a Coke with Gina”… it’s a conspiracy! She has billions of dollars – why should she get a share of my Coke? I blame Abbott!

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 2:00 pm
I see Peter has slipped into his special cape. Does it give him super powers though?

Gab

7 Feb 12 at 2:03 pm
A federal judge, for the first time in US history, has heard arguments in a case that could determine whether animals enjoy the same constitutional protection against slavery as human beings.

*facepalm*

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 2:05 pm
whether animals enjoy the same constitutional protection against slavery as human beings.

Wait, what?! Are people actually equating animals in service and as pets with human slavery? How demeaning and disgusting to the memory of all those who suffered under slavery.

The world’s gone mad.

Gab

7 Feb 12 at 2:09 pm
I see Peter has slipped into his special cape. Does it give him super powers though?

It does, but he lost the manual.

Look at what’s happened to me,
I can’t believe it myself;
Suddenly I’m up on top of the world,
It should’ve been somebody else

Believe it or not,
I’m walking on air;
I never thought I could feel so free -
Flying away on a wing and a prayer
Who could it be?
Believe it or not it’s just me

It’s like a light of a new day,
It came from out of the blue;
Breaking me out of the spell I was in,
Making all of my wishes come true

Believe it or not,
I’m walking on air;
I never thought I could feel so free -
Flying away on a wing and a prayer
Who could it be?
Believe it or not it’s just me

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 2:09 pm
Odumbo calls Afghanistan a success. This military man calls it a fucking disaster.

http://armedforcesjournal.com/2012/02/8904030

JC

7 Feb 12 at 2:24 pm
Fireworks of QT delayed by encomiums for Zelman Cowen.

Lots of iritating, maudlin bullshit about Zelman being the healer – even “The Great Healer” (Ruddock) – re 1975.

There was no need for “healing” after 1975. The country was rudely, riotously happy.

But if there was a great healer, it was Sir John Kerr.

C.L.

7 Feb 12 at 2:25 pm
An interesting phenomenom over at the shithouse DT.

On an article about how Abbott was handed a scripture to read in the traditional service before parliament resumes, at Rudds favourite church in Canberra, where many of both sides of politics were in attendance, the comments display that Abbott haters are utterly illiterate shit slinging monkeys.

The article clearly states that Abbott was handed the scripture to read:

God bothering moron. Is this the best you have LNP.

Erm it was held in Kevin Rudds old church, while Kevin Rudd was attending. And LNP?? WTF.

So even in the presence of his god, Abbott wants to play politics. How pathetic.

Read the goddamned article you fucking unit.

How low will you go Tony?. If you didnt choose the reading then the Priest is either out of touch with reality and needs to offer an apology to the public.

Oh god, the stupid, it hurts – very painful.

thats why abbott should never be prime minister,nor anyone who has this view. is this the type of person who aspires to running the country the parliament is the very last place and institution standing where relgion is absolutley not allowed to intervene in.

Yeah..right on maaaan! There’s never been any religion in parliament…

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/betrayal-reading-features-in-parliamentary-mass/comments-e6freuy9-1226264401374

And on and on it goes.

God I hate the DT these days.

twostix

7 Feb 12 at 2:32 pm
Yeah, this run of people waffling on about condolences is a complete bore. Can’t say I pick up any sincerity from any of them, either – just waffling as they always do.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 2:32 pm
Cowen deserves it though. He was a first rate man.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 2:35 pm
Now Gillard is waffling about how much she loves the Queen. So much for a QT with fireworks.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 2:40 pm
Speaking of fireworks, I reckon we should get them back for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 2:42 pm
Heh… Gillard reckons she’ll be the one lighting the beacon on June 4. Could be Rudd.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 2:43 pm
Shit. This could be pretty big. German magazine Bilde title story”

“THE CO2 LIES … pure fear-mongering … should we blindly trust the experts?”

This is the first break out by a member of the Western mainstream media.

Refers to fear mongering….

http://notrickszone.com/2012/02/06/body-blow-to-german-global-warming-movement-major-media-outlets-unload-on-co2-lies/

JC

7 Feb 12 at 3:06 pm
The gown Slipper’s wearing is OK.

The wig stuff was a beat-up, obviously.

The clerks still wear gowns, after all.

C.L.

7 Feb 12 at 3:07 pm
Lol

All coalition is doing is questioning the Slapper on her constant lying and generalized dishonesty.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 3:11 pm
Gillard just blamed Abbott for the failure of the Wilkie pokie promise.

I kid you not.

C.L.

7 Feb 12 at 3:13 pm
OMG. She’s now going Obama bananas on her plans for free money for everyone this year.

C.L.

7 Feb 12 at 3:15 pm
I love how she started with how negative Abbott was, and then spent the rest of time saying how the sky would fall if he had his way.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 3:17 pm
I turned it off. I can’t stand the Vuvuzela voice.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 3:18 pm
Slaps wouldn’t answer the question about real wages going

JC

7 Feb 12 at 3:19 pm
Ahahaha.

Albanese tries to stop question about Thompson inquiry.

Great question from Pyno.

“Longer than the Watergate inquiry… longer than the Rudd government…”

Gillard has spaz attack, says Liberals hate workers.

Unlike, say, someone who steals their money for hookers.

C.L.

7 Feb 12 at 3:19 pm
lol… the Libs ask a question about HSU just because they hate fairness for working families. Amazing.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 3:19 pm
lol… I can’t turn it off. Beta Boy Adam Ant asks a question about subsidized dental care… of course.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 3:21 pm
Good to see that well known Paragon of Virtue, Slippery Pete laying the law down for the troops.

I didn’t hear ‘conscience’ and ‘casting vote’ in the same sentence.

JamesK

7 Feb 12 at 3:22 pm
Slapper’s strategy is to waffle as much as she can in order to reduce the number of questions.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 3:22 pm
Albo rang re Gillard’s plans for dental care – he left a message:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9ZyD7ButcI

C.L.

7 Feb 12 at 3:27 pm
They’re asking Rudd questions about the carbon Tax to irritate her. And Rudd really preformed.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 3:28 pm
Rudd looked fairly energetic compared to the Vuvuzela

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 3:30 pm
Rudd looked fairly energetic compared to the Vuvuzela

Lol. I know, he’s a little turd. He’s just fucking with her head.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 3:31 pm
I can’t believe Shane Wand is Treasurer. He’s now attacking the wealthy. He’s a disgusting member of our species.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 3:33 pm
Video: Obama blames Founding Fathers for his failure.

C.L.

7 Feb 12 at 3:35 pm
Swan is truly the dumbest treasurer in the nation’s history. Bit of a pussy too – remember election night when Joyce and co had a go at him? Thought he was going to cry.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 3:39 pm
lol… He can’t implement change he wants because the constitution gets in the way. Jeez – the Dems had complete control of Congress, but you just know for the next year we’ll be hearing how it’s the Republicans fault for blocking policy (“They’re just so negative!”)

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 3:41 pm
JC

Wand is having a go at Therese Rein is he? Misogynistic so-and-so!

Peter Patton

7 Feb 12 at 3:42 pm
Yea he tries to sound tough but falls flat on his face all the time. he just have the intellect and he knows we know he doesn’t making even more introspective and awkward.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 3:43 pm
Phwoar! What a headline over at Drudge at the moment.

Alex Pundit

7 Feb 12 at 3:43 pm
Wand is having a go at Therese Rein is he?

Yea, he attacked Big Gina and big Clive for being too wealthy for his liking. He’s such a little worm.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 3:45 pm
Oakeshiit whining . How deplorable.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 3:47 pm
Yeah well, Big Gina tried to muscle in on my Coke… said so right on the bottle.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 3:47 pm
lol Abbott calls Shane Wand the Tarzan of Australian politics.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 3:59 pm
Over at Blair’s commenter Mojo suggests a solution to Unsustainable Reefs:

Hire some Mexicans to chop it back some?

C.L.

7 Feb 12 at 4:11 pm
But they’re not unsustainable, CL… in fact, they sound super-sustainable – or they wouldn’t be growing. lol

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 4:13 pm
Nuke the fucking thing and let’s see how “sustainable”it actually is.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 4:15 pm
Will the greenists let us fish on these “unsustainable” ocean tumours?

Thought not.

Infidel Tiger

7 Feb 12 at 4:28 pm
Peter Patton, we never did get your take on Hildebrand’s piece on Newtown circa 2009.

New Gold Dream

7 Feb 12 at 4:29 pm
This unsustainable reef should be good for fish… life simply likes warmer weather.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 4:32 pm
Hmmm… Bolt reports on his blog, “Priceless footage of Peter Slipper and Kevin Rudd being asked outside the church about the reading. They walk rapidly away, mouthing mumbles”, but no link provided… anyone know where I can find it?

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 4:42 pm
This unsustainable reef should be good for fish… life simply likes warmer weather.

Speaking of fish there’s currently a plague of Aussie Salmon up and down the east coast of Australia.

I’ve never seen so many of them, everyone’s whinging about how many there are, everywhere I go surfing there’s schools of them popping up.

Too bad they taste god awful.

twostix

7 Feb 12 at 4:54 pm
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney explained that the number of people dropping out of the work force, which artificially depresses the unemployment rate, can be regarded as an “economic positive.”

That’s one reason when following trends in the official unemployment rate you should also follow the participation rate.

Peter Patton

7 Feb 12 at 5:02 pm
lol… a lower participation rate an economic positive? Good grief.

I don’t think even counting both participation and employment is enough… we should measure private/public sector employment – so we know which of those jobs are, in fact, an economic liability.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 5:58 pm
Fleeced

That airhead [yes Bob Brown, I SAID it] Anne Summers thinks the world has gone tits-up because the greatest growth in SE [sheilah employment] has taken place in the private sector, not in Andrew Leigh’s sheltered workshops.

Peter Patton

7 Feb 12 at 6:01 pm
How nervous is Julia Gillard? Question Time was closed today after barely half an hour.

So I was correct that she would run away from the first QT.

*gloat gloat gloat*

Gab

7 Feb 12 at 6:01 pm
I remember reading you saying that Gab some days ago i think good for you, smarter than that old JC.

candy

7 Feb 12 at 6:08 pm
The reasons for which are neither here nor there, but I just came across this comment on Hall and Oates’ live performance of their “classic” Rich Girl

just think of the crap people listen to today im 13 and listen to this type of music and i think more people should listen to the great and i mean GREAT classics like this and others

Now, where IS that revolver?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCAso76mbdI

Peter Patton

7 Feb 12 at 6:11 pm
That’s depressing, PP – they really are a group that cannot be reasoned with.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 6:12 pm
Yep.

Gab, you nailed it. Gloat away!

Mk50 of Brisbane

7 Feb 12 at 6:34 pm
Speaking of fish there’s currently a plague of Aussie Salmon up and down the east coast of Australia.

I’ve never seen so many of them, everyone’s whinging about how many there are, everywhere I go surfing there’s schools of them popping up.

Too bad they taste god awful.

Sigh.

These are a wonderful clean-fighting light sportfish.

Most people mistreat them on capture and it’s really easy to make them close to inedible. Yes, they are relatively coarse-fleshed. Yet, treated right, they are a perfectly acceptable table fish.

Catch it, immediately cut the throat and break the spine to kill the fish humanely.

Bury the fish head down in cool damp sand and pack the sand in around it. This keeps it cool and bleeds it really well.

Clean etc when you leave the beach, if you have an esky with ice, put it in there.

These fish are truly magnificent eating when salted and then hotsmoked.

Fresh, get them home, split the fish in half (do not bother to fillet). Get a really clean BBQ hotplate smoking hot, with clean fresh oil on it. Put the fish on flesh side down. When cooked halfway thru, turn it.

Give it a go.

Also brilliant as Cajun blackened fish.

With a coarse, strongly flavoured fish, treat it properly and /or use a recipe that favours such a fish.

Try it, Twostix, you won’t regret it.

Mk50 of Brisbane

7 Feb 12 at 6:44 pm
Hmmm. What MK50 is trying to say: BBQ at his place, all Catallaxians invited. Yeeha!

Gab

7 Feb 12 at 6:47 pm
Speaking of fish there’s currently a plague of Aussie Salmon up and down the east coast of Australia.

I cooked for four people last night – salmon, mashed potato, string beans, bottle of cheap red – for less than $30, and it was fucking delicious!

Peter Patton

7 Feb 12 at 6:48 pm
I know the construction industry has been slowing for at least 8 months up in NQ despite the mining boom ( residential still strong), but a dude on ABC radio said that, nationally, it had contracted for 20 consecutive months!!. Is that true?

jumpnmcar

7 Feb 12 at 6:50 pm
That’s depressing, PP – they really are a group that cannot be reasoned with.

Hall and Oates?

Infidel Tiger

7 Feb 12 at 6:54 pm
contracted for 20 consecutive months!!. Is that true?

It’s been contacting since June last year, a few new companies entered the market but the amount of work coming up for tender has reduced.

I don’t see it as 20 months though unless that is based on building approvals, but i don’t have those numbers handy.

Carpe Jugulum

7 Feb 12 at 7:04 pm
What is interesting in commercial building in Victoria is the CFMEU & CEPU trying to establish a demarcation dispute on a site in Melbourne.

Welcome to 1978 troops.

Carpe Jugulum

7 Feb 12 at 7:08 pm
Happy 101st, Mr Reagan.

Gab

7 Feb 12 at 7:14 pm
contacting

contracting…………….bugger

Carpe Jugulum

7 Feb 12 at 7:18 pm
He’s not 101, Gab. He’s dead.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 7:26 pm
What JC said.

Peter Patton

7 Feb 12 at 7:31 pm
Yes I know that. It’s just a reminiscence.
Clowns.

Gab

7 Feb 12 at 7:33 pm
Great fairness quiz for President Odumbo in the WSJ

Is it fair that wind, solar and ethanol producers get billions of dollars of subsidies each year and pay virtually no taxes, while the oil and gas industry—which provides at least 10 times as much energy—pays tens of billions of dollars of taxes while the president complains that it is “subsidized”?

Check out he rest. It’s really good.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 7:40 pm
The Sydney Mining Herald: Fairfax’s Future

m0nty

7 Feb 12 at 7:42 pm
What? Unsustainable coral growth because of warmer waters??

Does anyone remember an ABC documentary called Silent Sentinels from a few years ago? It was about coral bleaching. The theory was that global warming made the seawater warmer, and this would kill the coral microorganisms, thus the corals would become “bleached”, because the coral itself dies and leaves the white calcium deposit behind. We were going to lose the Great Barrier Reef, apparently.

So, what of this coral bleaching?

Oh come on

7 Feb 12 at 7:43 pm
Just for Gab.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvZex3Qf7QQ

Peter Patton

7 Feb 12 at 7:43 pm
Whoops! Here we go: http://www.abc.net.au/science/coral/

Oh come on

7 Feb 12 at 7:44 pm
My god, you’d have to be a credulous fool to believe some of the outrageous numbers these scientists throw around. From the link above:

Most of the Philippines, Indonesia, Maldives, Seychelles, for instance, it seems that more than 90% or up to 90% or more of the corals have died.

That doesn’t even pass the basic sniff test, mate. OK, weasel words which give some wiggle room with the “up to 90%” part, but the message is clear.

Oh come on

7 Feb 12 at 7:49 pm
Monster,

It’s no different now only from a left perspective you moron.

Take a looksee next time those unadulterated lunatics run Earth Hour (Earth Hour) with pics of a make believe darkened city, or try Betty Farrelly’s column, or the idiot ‘vironment reporter Ben Cubby.

Fuck you’re irritating, Monster. Have you shaved off those mental filings off your face yet?

JC

7 Feb 12 at 7:49 pm
contracting…………….bugger

You have a bugger on contract? Is that legal? (NTTAWRT)

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 7:51 pm
Sigh

Sigh?

lol sorry master chef.

twostix

7 Feb 12 at 8:05 pm
The Sydney Mining Herald: Fairfax’s Future

Lots of people say perth is like Canberra on the sea.

I’d like to read that article thanks.

Instead lets take a look at the current SMH front page:

Excess Baggage is … the biggest loser

MICHAEL IDATO The ratings year has not even officially begun and it has claimed its first scalp.

Not your average wombats

They are white, very rare and lucky to be alive. Meet Icy and Polar, two white-hairy nosed wombats.

Gee m0nty, the “spoof” frontpage you linked to looks about equal with the real thing.

twostix

7 Feb 12 at 8:13 pm
The Sydney Mining Herald: Fairfax’s Future

Looks great, that paper has a future

(once they remove all those racist and gay remarks that Lefties really enjoy)

Token

7 Feb 12 at 8:45 pm
The Sydney Mining Herald was a good laugh. However it misses the point in that the SMH represents the same sort of bias the parody represents, except the SMH is just at the opposite side of the spectrum. Funny how the author couldn’t see the irony when the SMH routinely dismisses something as ‘bad’ on ideological grounds in the same way that the parody did.

Nic

7 Feb 12 at 9:12 pm
Victor Davis Hanson hits the illegal immigration ball for six:

But what are we missing? Did not over 11 million people enter the U.S. illegally, and without apparent care about the law? I would not drive into Mexico without legal identification, or sign affidavits that I knew were false, or abandon my car at the scene of an accident in Acapulco, or register for public assistance in Mexico City, but I am to expect others can do the reverse with impunity?

Whether intended or not, the message is hourly becoming “you better let me come into your insensitive, illiberal, and uncaring country—or else!”

Rarely in the history of U.S. immigration have the representatives of want-to-be citizens been so angry at the majority of the country into which their constituents have decided to move. Only Orwell could explain why the Mexican government is suing the state of Arizona to force it to accept its own apparently unwanted Mexican nationals who have entered that state illegally: “You better let us export to you our own whom we cannot house or feed adequately (and often will not care to)—or else!”

http://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/are-you-them/

twostix

7 Feb 12 at 9:14 pm
Let’s face it twostix, if it were not for illegal immigration allowing Mexicans to get work in America so they can send money home, the only source of foreign exchange for the Mexican government would be drugs and fajitas.

Entropy

7 Feb 12 at 9:24 pm
The salaries of a Senator in Nigeria:

Blogger Peter Okali has a post up detailing the salary of a Nigerian Senator. I’m going to quote most of it, so large hat-tip is due him. (1m Naira is about US$6,100)

Basic Salary (BS) – N2,484,245.50

Hardship Allowance @ 50% of Basic Salary – N1,242,122.70 (I love this kind of hardship)

Constituency allowance @ 200% of BS – N4,968,509.00

Furniture Allowance @ 300% of BS – N7,452,736.50

Newspaper allowance @ 50% – N1,242,122.70 (Which kind newspaper be this, abi na online or hard copy?)

Wardrobe allowance @ 25% – N621,061.37

Recess Allowance @ 10% – N248,424.55

Accommodation @ 200% – N4,968,509.00

Utilities @ 30% – N828,081.83

Domestic Staff @ 35% – N863,184.12

Entertainment @ 30% – N828,081.83

Personal Assistance @ 25% – N621,061.37

Vehicle Maintenance Allowance @ 75% – N1,863,184.12

Leave Allowance @ 10% – N248,424.55

One off payments (Severance gratuity) @ 300% – N7,452,736.50 (Once they get fired.)

Motor Vehicle Allowance @ 400% of BS – N9,936,982.00 – Every Four Years

Senator’s Salary per month – N2,456,647.70
Total = N29,479,749.00 Per Year
Allowance of Nigerian Senator: $1,500,000/year

To clarify, Nigerian senators get paid about $180,000 per year as a salary. On top of this, they get about $1.5m in allowances, as detailed above. And that’s what they receive officially. You can multiply that by a factor of 3-5 to account for the graft, backhanders, and additional income streams they enjoy whilst in office (and often thereafter). According to Peter, the senators – of which there are 109 – have been asking for an increase in their allowances to $183,000 per month, or $2.2m per year. By contrast, the US president gets paid $400,000 per year.

As Peter says:

Little wonder why everyone in Nigeria has political ambitions and will do whatever it takes to get there.

Indeed. And little wonder why most Nigerians are hopelessly poor and there is a General Strike kicking off tomorrow.

The rest of his blog is worth a read.

Tell me – why does the west send foreign aid to countries like this?

boy on a bike

7 Feb 12 at 10:15 pm
Let’s face it twostix, if it were not for illegal immigration allowing Mexicans to get work in America so they can send money home, the only source of foreign exchange for the Mexican government would be drugs and fajitas.

Let’s face it, if it wasn’t for Mexicans (or if they are silly enough to give them all amnesty), the minimum wage and other employee entitlements over there (not to mention welfare) would really bite. The US may save poor Mexicans – but poor Mexicans save the US.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 10:20 pm
By contrast, the US president gets paid $400,000 per year.

I don’t disagree with what you’ve said, however the Presdient’s allowance would dwarf any of that if you include the planes, the cars, the choppers, the nice houses with all the amenities. And then when he leaves, he goes on speaking tours at 100K a pop, writes a book for $10 million and his rich friends buy him a nice house where he wants to retire along with all the allowances that come with it. US presidents are not hard done by.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 10:21 pm
Tell me – why does the west send foreign aid to countries like this?

Don’t know. Aud has been sent for many many years and yet nothing changes – except those working in public service get richer. I guess that’s the aid keeps flowing. That and the UN dictates it must be thus.

Gab

7 Feb 12 at 10:23 pm
Tell me – why does the west send foreign aid to countries like this?

It’s only temporary… you see, there’s this Nigerian prince – and he’s totally good to pay back that money ten-fold!

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 10:23 pm
Aid not Aud.

Gab

7 Feb 12 at 10:23 pm
The US may save poor Mexicans – but poor Mexicans save the US.

Works both ways though. Labor supply shock as a result of illegal immigration has impacted on the low income earners in the US. Leftwingers use this as a battering ram to suggest US wages at the bottom have stagnated for 30 years barely keeping up with the inflation rate. It’s actually a horrendously racist claim to make when you reeally think about but leftwingers being denser than densest granite wouldn’t realize.

12 million illegals crossed the border from a dirt poor existence in Mexico and experienced an enormous rise in wages and living conditions compared to home. It’s the testament to the US that it was able to accommodate all these people considering there are perhaps 100 million working Americans and therefore this group is about 60% of the bottom quintile. Aggregate income in lower income groups has obviously increased, but the supply shock certainly had an impact of wage growth.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 10:30 pm
Yeah, but sudden amnesty would send a different sort of shock-wave. A path to amnesty, over time, might work better.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 10:36 pm
I’m not sure about that. I really mean that I’m not sure. Amnesty will invariably lead to citizenship and that does two things.

It does two things, it basically rewards illegality. If there’s one amnesty why not others.

The other problem is that they become a natural constituency for the demolition party who will invariably will be offering them financial inducements as they go around trawling for votes.

Coulter may be right about that. The rest of the US could end up looking like California financially.

My view is the people are far better off with the status, tightening the border and leaving things as is. You don’t want to be giving the Demolition party an additional constituency of 12 million potential voters. Eventually they die off anyway.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 10:44 pm
More evidence coming in that Odumbo is fucked.

the latest polls regarding the US Presidential
election in the so-called “Swing States” of Colorado,
Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New
Mexico, N. Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and
Wisconsin, have Gov. Romney with a lead over President
Obama, albeit a very small
one: 48%-47%.

Take the undecided who will not walk, but march to the polls to vote against Odumbo and he’s done. I think you can stick a fork into him.

Hope and change.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 11:19 pm
David Brooks – the usually ridiculous Greg Barnes ‘conservative’ – was right in saying that Obama’s weird Stalinist jihad against the Catholic Church has managed to fix Romney’s worst problem, free of charge. The policy has united Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and evangelicals as a movement that will back any viable opponent of Obama – even a heathen Mormon.

Only Obama could have pulled it off.

C.L.

7 Feb 12 at 11:31 pm
Good trailer new the Spiderman movie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rokU4KaGU4I&feature=player_embedded

JC

7 Feb 12 at 11:32 pm
JC, here’s a question that I would like answered. Rasmussen has done a national poll and found that in party affiliation, the percentage of people that are registered Republicans is now 35.9%, whilst registered Democrats are now 32.5%, a record low for them

If you look at polls continued to be taken, you will see that they still skewer in favour of the Democrats and the party affiliation belonging to them is still higher.

You would think that muddies the water, no?

Alex Pundit

7 Feb 12 at 11:35 pm
Oh, yes – to clarify: I wasn’t saying that he US should offer amnesty (necessarily)… just that if they did, it should be gradual, to reduce any economic shock.

Fleeced

7 Feb 12 at 11:40 pm
Leftards talking shit

This is funny. From some jet called Mikey: I don’t want to read another article in any Leftist media about the perceived weaknesses of the Left. Have you ever read a negative post on Catallaxy about the Libs? Oh sure, there as crazy as batsh!t over there, and we’re all so civil and sensible and even-handed over here… but who’s narrative dominates the media?

Tiny Dancer

7 Feb 12 at 11:42 pm
Only Obama could have pulled it off.

I read a decent piece about all this. The article suggested the White House operates like a cult following with Valerie Jarret acting as the chief cult leader to the Messiah. It’s an extremely isolated White House and they really do believe their own bullshit.

The piece suggested that the White House were licking their chops at the idea of Odumbo matching up against a Romney and the thinking is the voters will all fall into line and vote for the Messiah again.

Mark my words, towards the northern summer, Odumbo is going to have a nervous breakdown of sorts when it begins to dawn on him that he’s a one term failure. This will be helped along by the fact that the Dems begin to criticize him publicly, as they realize he’s not going to make it hoping voterland will at least give them some breathing room in the Congress, as they distance themselves. I’m not joking about this as he’s had them before when confronting failure.

This is an idiot that actually thinks the country is lucky to have him.

FFS, even Al Hunt is heaping abuse on the moron.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 11:43 pm
“batsh!t”

That term seems to be very popular on the left.

Like they took the term ‘moonbat’ and turned it on it’s head.

Alex Pundit

7 Feb 12 at 11:44 pm
#

David Brooks – the usually ridiculous Greg Barnes ‘conservative’ – was right in saying that Obama’s weird Stalinist jihad against the Catholic Church has managed to fix Romney’s worst problem, free of charge. The policy has united Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and evangelicals as a movement that will back any viable opponent of Obama – even a heathen Mormon.

Can you provide a link of where he said that C.L.?

Alex Pundit

7 Feb 12 at 11:48 pm
Alex,

Good point you raise. Understand this, I lived there for 15 years and couldn’t understand some things that would be easily explained here. Nothing is ever that easy about the place. It’s complex and they make shit even more complex by trying harder to be so.

If you look at polls continued to be taken, you will see that they still skewer in favor of the Democrats and the party affiliation belonging to them is still higher.

I always got the impression that some polls over there are the equivalent of push polls created and published so as to muddy views etc. You just never freaking know. You need to always look at the the polling firm and if you’ve never heard of it, it could very be an astroturf operation.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 11:49 pm
Tiny

Most lefties read this site, gnash their teeth and walk away. They hate us. Good.

Just keep hammering the economic illiterates and don;t make them forget that Tubby Milne, Repugnant Rhiannon and Mad Dog bob are on their side and have to defend them… along with Creeper Thompson.

JC

7 Feb 12 at 11:53 pm
Can you provide a link of where he said that C.L.?

Certainly:

http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2012/02/05/david-brooks-obamas-anti-catholic-mandate-will-help-romney-overcome-evangelical-problem/

C.L.

8 Feb 12 at 12:02 am
Have you ever read a negative post on Catallaxy about the Libs?

Ummm…all the time?

Turnbull cops a hiding, as does Hockey as does Abbott on his big government BS schemes.

When they’re in power they’ll get flogged like it’s nobodies business.

But so many on the left seem to forget: The Liberals aren’t in power right now.

Instead, we have the worst government since Federation, I think I personally will talk about that instead of the opposition.

twostix

8 Feb 12 at 12:24 am
Have you ever read a negative post on Catallaxy about the Libs?

We never spare them. In fact we’re harder on the pricks because they should know better while we don’t expect much at all from the union clerks party.

JC

8 Feb 12 at 12:27 am
Most lefties read this site, gnash their teeth and walk away. They hate us. Good.

It’s good to have lefties here.

twostix

8 Feb 12 at 12:42 am
“there as crazy as batsh!t”

“but who’s narrative dominates the media”

He’s just cranky over having missed out on the Education Revolution.

spot

8 Feb 12 at 12:46 am
I always got the impression that some polls over there are the equivalent of push polls created and published so as to muddy views etc.

In some cases, ABC/WaPo polls which have strongly favored Obama have later been shown to have included as few as 22% republicans in its sample. Kerfuffles over that practice are probably why they’re simply not going to reveal the mix of Dems/GOP/Inds sampled anymore.

They also play games with the questions. For instance in the latest WaPo/ABC poll, “the poll asked about a few of Romney potential liabilities just prior to the vote question. This goes against polling best practices, and it’s possible the survey shows elevated Obama numbers as a result. [...] Respondents were primed to think of some of Romney’s potential liabilities, without similar questions about Obama’s personal liabilities.”

It’s not a stretch to suggest that much of the modern mainstream media in America is more interested in “framing the narrative” and influencing opinions rather than just objectively reporting what’s going on.

spot

8 Feb 12 at 1:05 am
Ron Paul blames US for 19 American hostages being held in Egypt.

He even managed a slight giggle.

C.L.

8 Feb 12 at 2:57 am
…and Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.

spot

8 Feb 12 at 4:51 am
You gotta hand it to Santorum. He’s played a long game, and he’s played it damn well. Looks like he’s going to see off Gingrich.

Oh come on

8 Feb 12 at 6:31 am
How to win the sympathy vote:

South Yarra mum of two and businesswoman Nicole Michaels last night led a chorus of consumer and industry groups, unions and politicians demanding the banks resist. “If they raise rates we may be forced to sell our house,” she said.

And downgrade to Malvern; the horror, the horror.

http://www.news.com.au/business/big-banks-face-revolt-if-they-raise-rates/story-e6frfm1i-1226265205207#ixzz1lj85JO3m

Oh come on

8 Feb 12 at 6:45 am
It’s about time the RBA started sending signals that it’a all over for the government. They’ve underlined the role of labour market flexibility by keeping rates on hold as well as demonstrating how over valued most peoples opinions of their own worth are. The introduction of any new taxes is going to be disparagingly punitive to the markets and to consumer confidence. Businesses will actually have to shut down as they wont be able to refinance nor structurally adjust to adverse conditions.

Simon

8 Feb 12 at 7:06 am
Have you ever read a negative post on Catallaxy about the Libs?

We never spare them. In fact we’re harder on the pricks because they should know better while we don’t expect much at all from the union clerks party.

Typical of a Lefty Muppet at a site “famous” for allowing a plurality of opinions.

Can someone point me to a comment that is says Red Ted is doing a good job?

Token

8 Feb 12 at 8:42 am
http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/out_of_here

Gillard is stuffed, just like Rudd.
The Clown of Doom has appeared, in the disguise of the Speaker.

Winston Smith

8 Feb 12 at 10:08 am
My solution to the problem of media, would be that the media operating in this country needed to be operating as sole traders

Uh yeah, great idea, Bird.

jtfsoon

8 Feb 12 at 10:13 am
The Daily Bird?

JamesK

8 Feb 12 at 10:50 am
The Avian Oracle.

Peter Patton

8 Feb 12 at 11:20 am
Re that Global Mail piece by Ellen Fanning on the electricity industry goldplating its network leading to higher prices, I note that Turnbull has used the exact same argument in his piece on Delimiter today about the NBN.

This issue of the level of invested capital is a vexed one with regulated utilities. Many people, including Rod Sims (formerly head of IPART in NSW and now chairman of the ACCC) have argued that electricity distributors were encouraged to overinvest in their transmission and distribution networks because they were entitled to charge whatever prices were needed to deliver the return on their investment allowed by regulators – given that regulated return was higher than their cost of borrowings, it gave them an incentive to invest as heavily as they could. Regulators’ ability to declare particular investments as “unreasonable” were usually very limited – and according to Sims, this overinvestment has been the major factor behind the rapid growth in electricity prices. [2]

The Australian Energy Regulator Chairman, Andrew Reeves, recently warned against overinvestment or ‘gold plating’, saying it has led to sharp price increases:

“NSW and Queensland are getting more infrastructure than we think they need and we are required to approve price increases to pay for it. [3]

m0nty

8 Feb 12 at 11:26 am
Tom Sowell: ‘A Defining Moment’

“Mitt Romney has come out in support of indexing the minimum wage law, to have it rise automatically to keep pace with inflation. To many people, that would seem like a small thing that can be left for economists or statisticians to deal with.

But to people who call themselves conservatives, and aspire to public office, there is no excuse for not being aware of what a major social disaster the minimum wage law has been for the young, the poor and especially for young and poor blacks.

It is not written in the stars that young black males must have astronomical rates of unemployment. It is written implicitly in the minimum wage laws.”

JamesK

8 Feb 12 at 11:55 am
Facts that ALP stenographer Ellen “Sparky” Fanning forgot to look at in her ‘analysis’ of electricity prices.

C.L.

8 Feb 12 at 12:02 pm
Britain’s Special Immigration Appeals Commission defies government, public – will release, not deport, Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in the UK.

The UK’s plan to deport him to face trial in Jordan was originally blocked by the European Court of Human Rights, which was concerned about the use of torture to get evidence…

The always pro-terror EU has overruled Britain.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-08/anger-over-abu-qatada-release/3817190

C.L.

8 Feb 12 at 12:08 pm
The UK’s plan to deport him to face trial in Jordan was originally blocked by the European Court of Human Rights, which was concerned about the use of torture to get evidence…

Europe is a giant festering latrine.

Infidel Tiger

8 Feb 12 at 12:13 pm
Europe is a giant festering latrine.

That’s why its inhabitants are called Eurinals.

Les Majesty

8 Feb 12 at 12:19 pm
Britain has surrendered her sovereignty to the EU.

Fools.

Pedro the Ignorant

8 Feb 12 at 12:22 pm
I’d say the need to leave the EU, but the UK is already fucked after years of Labor. It’s a lost cause.

Fleeced

8 Feb 12 at 12:24 pm
?

Les Majesty

8 Feb 12 at 12:32 pm
Europe is a giant festering latrine.

So that’s why its inhabitants are called Eurinals.

Les Majesty

8 Feb 12 at 12:34 pm
Pat O’Shane – the great triumph of affirmative action:

SENIOR judges have been criticising the magistrate Pat O’Shane for more than a decade, upholding 88 per cent of Supreme Court appeals against her judgments in criminal matters and ordering half of them to be reheard by other magistrates.

Fleeced

8 Feb 12 at 12:36 pm
SENIOR judges have been criticising the magistrate Pat O’Shane for more than a decade, upholding 88 per cent of Supreme Court appeals against her judgments in criminal matters and ordering half of them to be reheard by other magistrates.

They ought to get the boot too, for not acting in a responsible manner and reporting the National Treasure’s incompetence and getting the moron fired.

The previous Union clerks Party AG’s should be up on criminal negligence charges.

Has most of the white race in this country been completely neutered and de-balled?

JC

8 Feb 12 at 12:42 pm
Seriously, those Labor AG’s should all be made to do the perp walk in fucking chains to answer the court as to why they let this fester imperiling our legal system.

JC

8 Feb 12 at 12:44 pm
Unfuckbelieveable.

”The Supreme Court has found that O’Shane had got the law wrong in 14 out of the 16 criminal cases … In one case she dismissed a charge even though the accused had entered a plea of guilty,” they say.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/majority-of-oshane-decisions-overturned-in-supreme-court-appeals-20120207-1r5l7.html#ixzz1lkbR0dtm

There’s not enough numbers to count the damage the union clerks party causes this country whenever the public suffer a mass psychosis and vote them in.

JC

8 Feb 12 at 12:47 pm
The Premier, Barry O’Farrell, said in a statement: “These findings would be useful for the Judicial Commission to review as part of its investigation into this particular magistrate.” On Sunday Mr O’Farrell questioned why the commission had ”not acted against this particular magistrate before‘.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/majority-of-oshane-decisions-overturned-in-supreme-court-appeals-20120207-1r5l7.html#ixzz1lkcKR6zi

Don’t softcock Barry and leave the question unanswered. Create and inquiry and bring the entire gaggle in to provide answers. Sue the fuckers personally for gross dereliction of duty.

JC

8 Feb 12 at 12:51 pm
Has the Labor Party finally found a man of substance?

Former speaker Harry Jenkins has endorsed backbench rebels in Canberra who defy their party’s leadership and speak out on issues.

In his first words in the House of Representatives since stepping down as speaker last year, the MP said it was ridiculous that backbenchers should have to publicly agree with their leadership. It was not the “end of the earth” if party members had different views, particularly in the present minority government, he said

I like the sound of that Mr Jenkins.

As a backbencher, what do you think about the actions of Workcover in the Shagger Thomson case?

As the person who was responsible for MP expenses until late last year, what do you think about the expenses of the new speaker Slippery Pete? Had you asked for further information when you were speaker?

I’d really respect your “different view” on these matters Mr Jenkins!

Token

8 Feb 12 at 12:59 pm
Oh my, the luvvies favourite AFL player who was given status beyond his talent somehow came to believe he didn’t have to follow team rules.

Prediction: ABC & the Age to rage on this racist scandal

Token

8 Feb 12 at 1:03 pm
SENIOR judges have been criticising the magistrate Pat O’Shane for more than a decade, upholding 88 per cent of Supreme Court appeals against her judgments in criminal matters and ordering half of them to be reheard by other magistrates.

What the hell?

How has she got a job?

C.L.

8 Feb 12 at 1:11 pm
How has she got a job?

Now you’re just being racist!

Naturally, she’s a living treasure. LOL.

Fleeced

8 Feb 12 at 1:15 pm
More on drug addict and pimp, Jack Kennedy:

Alford, now 69, recounts how the President maintained a sexual relationship with her and his exploits were fuelled by narcotics.

Her memoir also describes the sexual sadomasochism that JFK was infamous for, especially in a telling episode when he had asked her to perform oral sex on his close aide David Powers.

‘I don’t think the President thought I’d do it, but I’m ashamed to say that I did,’ she says in her book that is already available in a Manhattan store.

I’m sure her grandchildren appreciate the memories.

C.L.

8 Feb 12 at 1:15 pm
CL

This is no different to the negligent doctor case in QLD, only this time the supervisory board and the senior judges knew full well the incompetent should not have been within a 100 miles of sitting in a court except as a defendant.

The union clerks were even politicizing judicial incompetence in NSW! Those responsible should be made to answer charges. But I won’t hold my breath as the Liberal Party are a bunch of softcocks.

JC

8 Feb 12 at 1:16 pm
….JFK was infamous for, especially in a telling episode when he had asked her to perform oral sex on his close aide David Powers.

Camelot. LOl.

demolition party presidents picking on Interns. Demolition party officials dealing in human body parts. Demolition party congressmen (Barney Fwank) trafficking gay prostitutes.

This isn’t a political party, it’s a fucking crime syndicate.

JC

8 Feb 12 at 1:22 pm
I wonder if all the lefties who feel the US constitution grants too many individual rights feel the same way about this one:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/us/marriage-ban-violates-constitution-court-rules.html

John Mc

8 Feb 12 at 1:35 pm
This isn’t a political party, it’s a fucking crime syndicate.

JC, how did Charley Rangel?

Dean of New York’s congressional delegation. Chair of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, the first African-American to do so from 2007 to 2009 & founding member & leader of the Congressional Black Caucus.

The Democrats voted this man to chair the chief committee in congress to ensure financial integrity (i.e. Ways & Means).

Beginning in 2008, Rangel faced a series of allegations of ethics violations and failures to comply with tax laws. The House Ethics Committee focused on whether Rangel improperly (1) rented multiple rent-stabilized New York apartments, (2) improperly used his office in raising money for the Rangel Center at the City College of New York, and (3) failed to disclose rental income from his villa in the Dominican Republic. In March 2010, Rangel stepped aside as Ways and Means Chair. In November 2010, the Ethics Committee found Rangel guilty of 11 counts of violating House ethics rules, and on December 2, the full House approved a sanction of censure against Rangel.

The guys is a piece of work, but he was re-elected by his (majority African American) district in NY in 2010.

Token

8 Feb 12 at 1:36 pm
..how about Charley Rangel…

Token

8 Feb 12 at 1:37 pm
The guys is a piece of work,

Suggest a small edit..

but he was re-elected by his (majority African American) district in NY in 2010 with a resounding majority.

Charlie at the beach, looking deeply concerned about his legal troubles and re-election chances after those ethics violation charges.

JC

8 Feb 12 at 1:41 pm
As was mentioned, the SMH had this as the headline for article, surely done without a straight face:

“Resignation now could help O’Shane preserve a proud legacy”

The authors: “Michael Eburn and Ruth Townsend are lawyers and academics at the Australian National University. Both have joint appointments to the ANU College of Law and the College Medicine, Biology and Environment and both have served as paramedics with the Ambulance Service of NSW.”

Both ‘Aboriginal’ I wonder?

Nic

8 Feb 12 at 1:43 pm
There is going to have to be a truth & reconciliation commission to get the country back on track once the lying slapper is gone…

Alcoa today announced it would examine the viability of its Point Henry aluminium smelter at Geelong because a high dollar, higher metal prices and input costs had made it unprofitable.

The Prime Minister said her carbon tax had nothing to do with the decision - an assertion backed by Alcoa.

What is the # 1 input cost in the manufacture of aluminium?

I’m sure the government will not get the 20 member ACCC unit to punatively punish Alcoa if it did say the Carbon Tax was to blame.

Token

8 Feb 12 at 2:00 pm
With U S refineries up mega since the start of the year as a result of Uncle Obama banning the Keystone…

With names like company names Valero and Tesoro.. I’m going salsa dancing. And these fuckers are going higher too seeing you’ll never be allowed to build another refinery in the US again.

JC

8 Feb 12 at 2:08 pm
Man whose name you can’t let your kids type in to Google wins Missouri.

Alex Pundit

8 Feb 12 at 2:18 pm
Word of the Day: xenochrematophobia

It’s what Dick Smith has – fear of foreign money.

Fleeced

8 Feb 12 at 2:25 pm
Man whose name you can’t let your kids type in to Google wins Missouri.

Learn something new everyday. Unfortunately.

Infidel Tiger

8 Feb 12 at 2:25 pm
Man whose name you can’t let your kids type in to Google wins Missouri.

You mean Santorum is surging from behind?

Fleeced

8 Feb 12 at 2:26 pm
The site was set up by someone who didn’t like Santorum… but has been number one Google resyult for ages. I’m sure Google would have removed it were he a Democrat.

Fleeced

8 Feb 12 at 2:35 pm
To a large extent, Obama’s Occupy has replaced the KKK as the Democrat Party’s terrorist wing:

The “Occupy DC” protest group is planning to disrupt the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference using a range of potentially illegal tactics that could even include violence against participants, Scribe has learned…

The protesters suggested pulling fire alarms in the hotel where the conference will take place, screaming “fire” during conference activities, “glitter-bombing” participants, cutting electrical power, and barricading entrances to the hotel, according to the source, who requested anonymity.

“Speakers will be physically assaulted, not just verbally confronted,” the source told Scribe in an email. Two Occupiers, who the source also identified as members of the New Black Panther Party, “said they would be disappointed if they didn’t get arrested and planned to ‘make it count.’”

The source quoted another protester as saying, “Mitt [Romney] has Secret Service now, but [Newt] Gingrich and [Andrew] Breitbart don’t,” seemingly suggesting that the latter two would not be as heavily guarded.

C.L.

8 Feb 12 at 2:45 pm
Dan Savage invented the term after Santorum implied homosexuality and pedophilia were the same thing.

AJ

8 Feb 12 at 2:46 pm
I’m sure Google would have removed it were he a Democrat.

Don’t be silly.

Les Majesty

8 Feb 12 at 2:47 pm
Savage is a gay lobby extremist with a ‘husband’ and a ‘son.’

Naturally, he doesn’t like Santorum.

Santorum argued (correctly) that there is no constitutional right to privacy regarding any and every sexual act and preference. He cited adultery, polygamy, child molestation, incest, sodomy, and bestiality. So too for sodomy, conceivably.

Re Google:

Google Removes Offensive Obama Image.

“… Google views the integrity of our search results as an extremely important priority. Accordingly, we do not remove a page from our search results, or images from our Google Images results, simply because the content is in very poor taste or because we receive complaints concerning it. We will, however, remove pages from our results if we believe the image, page (or its site) violates our Webmaster Guidelines, if we believe we are required to do so by law, or at the request of the webmaster who is responsible for the image.”

C.L.

8 Feb 12 at 2:59 pm
Gillard lying her backside off about the race riot her office organised on Australia Day.

It really is an illness.

C.L.

8 Feb 12 at 3:04 pm
Don’t be silly.

They have form on this one, Les. That page has been number one for years – if it were a Democrat, it would have gone long ago.

Fleeced

8 Feb 12 at 3:07 pm
Libs are really driving home how the union clerks party just stinks to high heaven

JC

8 Feb 12 at 3:26 pm
Pyne and Scott were outstanding.

Pyne’s list of questions for Gillard was a doozy.

Including, interestingly enough, whether Hodges was asked to sign a confidentiality agreement on leaving office.

What fascinates me is that apparently Gillard staffers were briefing the Stenography Gallery that afternoon about how Abbott had caused the riot. Pyne wants the names of those staffers. But ask yourself this: given what happened, how on earth have they remained anonymous given that they were buttonholing Oakes eta alia with the lie?

Naturally, that wasn’t a serious question.

We know the answer.

C.L.

8 Feb 12 at 3:31 pm
Gillard sounds annoying even at the best of time, but I think she’s trying to sound a bit more animated today – slightly less monotone. I suspect that is in reaction to Rudd’s performance yesterday.

Fleeced

8 Feb 12 at 3:32 pm
lol… Gillard really thinks economics is their strength?

Fleeced

8 Feb 12 at 3:34 pm
Oh my, the luvvies favourite AFL player who was given status beyond his talent somehow came to believe he didn’t have to follow team rules.

Prediction: ABC & the Age to rage on this racist scandal

He became a minor cult figure for supporters of the Shinboners but I don’t recall seeing anyone vaguely “luvvy-like” climbing on the bandwagon, or actually mentioning him at all.

You, on the other hand, seem to be particularly keen to introduce race in your comments.

badm0f0

8 Feb 12 at 3:36 pm
He became a minor cult figure for supporters of the Shinboners but I don’t recall seeing anyone vaguely “luvvy-like” climbing on the bandwagon, or actually mentioning him at all.

Strange how I remember Daw being the only rookie being mentioned on Offsiders and you don’t. There was an award nomination for just profiling him too.

Best Profiling of an Athlete, Team or Coach – Broadcast Media
Name Title Organisation
WINNER: John Taylor Boxing hopeful The 7.30 Report, ABC Television
Michael Tomalaris and Mark Falahey Stuart O’Grady SBS Corporation
Mary Gearin Majak Daw The 7.30 Report, ABC Television
Melinda Farrell NRL Sunday: Luke Covell feature Premier Media Group

Token

8 Feb 12 at 4:17 pm
Best Depiction of the Value of Sport to Australians in a Community Setting
Name Title Organisation
WINNER: Mary Gearin Majak Daw The 7.30 Report, ABC Television
Dan Goldberg Football United: passport to hope North One Television Australia
David Sygall Sport and Indigenous Australia: a crucial relationship The Sun-Herald
Brad Walter Giirr maarumaylaygu nhalay The Sydney Morning Herald

So BadMofo feel like a retraction?

You, on the other hand, seem to be particularly keen to introduce race in your comments.

Token

8 Feb 12 at 4:19 pm
Stocks least loved since 80′s, despite improving economy.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-06/stocks-least-loved-since-1980s-as-americans-scale-steepest-wall-of-worries.html

Alex Pundit

8 Feb 12 at 4:22 pm
Gillard lying her backside off

They must be porkers then.

JC

8 Feb 12 at 4:30 pm
Alex

That’s right. Stocks climbing the wall of worry as they say.

JC

8 Feb 12 at 4:32 pm
They have form on this one, Les. That page has been number one for years

That’s because google’s non-partisan algorithm ranks it #1.

– if it were a Democrat, it would have gone long ago.

Can you give an example of google amending its algorithm or censoring its results to protect a dem?

I’m not a fan of google, and I’d be outraged if it happened, but I just don’t think it’s true.

Les Majesty

8 Feb 12 at 4:50 pm
So BadMofo feel like a retraction?

A sport program mentioning a sportsman and a 7:30 profile hardly make him a luvvies favorite. Conduct a straw poll of ABC & SBS viewers and 99% would never had heard of him, 50% of those who had would incorrectly identify him as a brand of throat lozenge & those who know who he is are North Melbourne supporters – not exactly luvvy central.

So no withdrawal; you seem obsessed with inserting a race angle into your comments.

badm0f0

8 Feb 12 at 4:59 pm
One of the few rays of light in the dark abyss that is Fairfax is The Backpacker column. Yes, he’s a lefty tosser gone bald from vigorous self abuse, but his rallying against the nanny-state warms the cockles of my cold withered heart.

See, in Australia we have regulations. We have loads of regulations. So much so that when something dangerous is found to be happening, the immediate reaction is to put up some signs, throw a fence around it, run an ad campaign, bring in the cops, or just ban the thing altogether.

In South-East Asia, that’s not how it works. There’s much more reliance on personal responsibility – much more freedom to take matters into your own hands, to make your own decisions about what’s smart and what’s not.

Crazy enough to ride a motorbike without a helmet? Go for it. And bring your whole family along for the ride? Fine. Want to eat from an unlicensed street-food stall? Go ahead.

Infidel Tiger

8 Feb 12 at 5:23 pm
A sport program mentioning a sportsman and a 7:30 profile hardly make him a luvvies favorite. Conduct a straw poll of ABC & SBS viewers and 99% would never had heard of him, 50% of those who had would incorrectly identify him as a brand of throat lozenge & those who know who he is are North Melbourne supporters – not exactly luvvy central.

I bring facts to the table, you bring your opinions. I’ll leave it there.

You can choose to not to man up and do the right thing. Your choice.

Token

8 Feb 12 at 5:23 pm
Prediction: ABC & the Age to rage on this racist scandal

Ok, I’ll assume that you will let us know when that happens and that you will apologise if it doesn’t.

Les Majesty

8 Feb 12 at 5:29 pm
Prediction: ABC & the Age to rage on this racist scandal

Of course they will because it’s all Abbott’s fault.

Gab

8 Feb 12 at 5:31 pm
There was a fuss a few years ago, back when the story was breaking, about Google removing all references to the climate-gate scandal from auto-complete.

Bring Back Tillman

8 Feb 12 at 5:46 pm
JC, being a bit of a market fiend, I feel like 2012 is going to be one of the better years. All the economic date coming out of the US at the moment looks pretty solid and I’d lay odds on it accelerating through the year. Well that’s what my money is on anyway (both figuratively and literally).

tbh

8 Feb 12 at 5:54 pm
TBH

I agree with you. I bought a ton of the German DAX etf .. symbol EWG.. a short while ago. The market was far too negative and there are really interesting spots such as the refiners which I’ve droned on about for a while.

However, this can always turn ugly as the macro setting is still very fragile.

I’m optimistic and quite long, but I’m not going to be dogmatic about it this year, as it’s far too dangerous due to the market backdrop.

There’s a ton of money floating around the system with

1. Massive Fed assistance to Europe with the Swap line.

2. Fed lengthening the ZIRP policy until late 2014 instead of mid 2013

3. ECB essentially QEing with 3 year repo and about to do more.

Have fun, pig out while it lasts, but get ready to climb under a rock.

JC

8 Feb 12 at 6:13 pm
TBH.. dunno if you saw it earlier..It’s salsa time, but stop dancing when the music stops.

JC

8 Feb 12 at 6:22 pm
The Puerto Rican gal in the yellow bikini (in the vid) is really freaking hot.

JC

8 Feb 12 at 6:26 pm
Oh don’t worry, I’m careful and I only buy quality. I didn’t panic during 2008/9 and didn’t last year. The fact that I buy good dividend stocks with good long term prospects helps ease the heart burn. There is a lot that’s cheap out there right now.

tbh

8 Feb 12 at 6:34 pm
The Hill:

Google removes #1 Michelle Obama image result.

C.L.

8 Feb 12 at 6:35 pm
Santorum wins three in a row.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/07/politics/gop-tuesday-contests/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

This is one hell of a race!

Fisky

8 Feb 12 at 6:35 pm
It’s such a shame the so-called Democrats didn’t have a competitive race in 2008.

Had they done so, we could have avoided the Obama catastrophe.

C.L.

8 Feb 12 at 6:48 pm
Socialist and a Marxist was a competitve choice.

Infidel Tiger

8 Feb 12 at 6:52 pm
I bring facts to the table, you bring your opinions. I’ll leave it there.

You can choose to not to man up and do the right thing. Your choice.

No you bring a different interpretation of the “facts”. You can choose not to explain why you felt it necessary to assert a racial angle in consecutive comments about separate issues or you can continue to cower in the corner. Your choice.

badm0f0

8 Feb 12 at 6:54 pm
It’s such a shame the so-called Democrats didn’t have a competitive race in 2008

racial quotas all the way.

JC

8 Feb 12 at 6:54 pm
A Santorum trifecta of wins: Minnesota, Colorado as well as Missouri.

Will Newt see the light?

Or will he continue to be Mitt’s best friend?

JamesK

8 Feb 12 at 7:26 pm
FMD, just got council rates notice, up 11% from last year!!!!!
Every freakin year at least 10% rise.
Wish I could raise my charge rate by 10% annually, while lowering my level of service. &^%$#

jumpnmcar

8 Feb 12 at 7:56 pm
I’ll assume that you will let us know when that happens and that you will apologise if it doesn’t.

Les you belong over at Lavatory Pronto

Tiny Dancer

8 Feb 12 at 8:09 pm
Gab.

Gab!

Gaaaaaab!!

What the 99% look like… one of them looks like a cross between a swampy and a ferret.

kae

8 Feb 12 at 8:15 pm
Mr Santorum has a nice demeanour, open honest sort of face –
no scandals, no far-out religion, no far-out right wing stuff –
that seems to be what makes an acceptable candidate

candy

8 Feb 12 at 8:21 pm
Kae, yeah they look like rejects from The Usual Suspects auditions. However, their looks don’t impress me at all, rather their association with a “movement” (both on police cars and the pavement) that destroys property, expects money for nothing, has rapists, ped0philes and murderers among their numbers, now that’s pretty darn impressive.

And with Obama/Pelosi approval to boot!

Gab

8 Feb 12 at 8:31 pm
Obama Success Pick Number 539:

Fisker Automotive lays off workers while renegotiating government loan

“Fisker Automotive, an electric car maker that received a half-billion-dollar loan from the federal government, said Monday that it has laid off workers in Delaware and California……..

Fisker has received $193 million of the $529 million DOE loan, mostly for work on the Karma, which sells for about $100,000. The introduction of the Karma was delayed because of regulatory issues and battery pack problems that prompted a voluntary safety recall by Fisker.”

JamesK

8 Feb 12 at 8:57 pm
Nice to see “pokey ban Willy” vote with the opposition today.
Hope it’s continues.

jumpnmcar

8 Feb 12 at 9:15 pm
You couldn’t make this shit up. This is the fruits of Joe Biden’s “fun stuff”:

“Now the fun stuff starts!” The “fun stuff,” about one-sixth of the total cost, is an all-out effort to exploit the crisis to make green energy, green building and green transportation real; launch green manufacturing industries; computerize a pen-and-paper health system; promote data-driven school reforms; and ramp up the research of the future. “This is a chance to do something big, man!” Biden said during a 90-minute interview with TIME.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2013826,00.html#ixzz1lmgJRk5L

Oh come on

8 Feb 12 at 9:18 pm
That Time article really is staggering. These people are insane!

Biden recalls brainstorming with Obama about an all-in push for a smarter electrical grid that would reduce blackouts, promote renewables and give families more control over their energy diet: “We said, ‘God, wouldn’t it be wonderful? Why don’t we invest $100 billion? Let’s just go build it!’ ”

It’s so easy to drop $100 billion when it isn’t your money, right, Joe?

Oh come on

8 Feb 12 at 9:22 pm
Has anyone got a tally or projection of GOP convention seats/wrt the primaries candidates?

.

8 Feb 12 at 9:22 pm
…to exploit the crisis to make green energy, green building and green transportation real; launch green manufacturing industries; computerize a pen-and-paper health system; promote data-driven school reforms; and ramp up the research of the future.

Biden? You mean Gillard? Damn, they all talk the same gimcrackery.

Gab

8 Feb 12 at 9:25 pm
Read that 2010 Time article. So many useful Biden quotes that can be thrown back at the Obama administration in the cold light of 2012.

Here’s a doozy:

Biden himself always saw the Recovery Act as a test — not only of the new Administration but of federal spending itself. He knew high-profile screwups could be fatal, stoking antigovernment anger about bureaucrats and two-car funerals…”Imagine they could have proved we wasted a billion dollars,” Biden says. “Gone, man. Gone!”

You said it, Joe. Gone, man, gone.

Oh come on

8 Feb 12 at 9:27 pm
I think it can be proven that a fair bit more than a billion dollars has been wasted, Joe. Look at Soylandra alone…

Gone, man. Gone!

Incidentally, why does he insist on speaking like a doped-out geriatric hippy?

Oh come on

8 Feb 12 at 9:31 pm
Rather sad pic at Menzies House of the plaque marking George Orwell’s house, with a CCTV camera in the foreground.

Paul Williams

8 Feb 12 at 9:40 pm
Biden and Obama – along with Eric Holder (who is an out and out, uncomplicated criminal) – ought to be impeached and, preferably, jailed.

———————————-

Staying in America…

Playground of the rich, Redford and liberal – Aspen, Colorado – has a negro population of 0.44%.

Black comedian sets up ‘Meet A Black Person’ booth. (Video).

C.L.

8 Feb 12 at 9:45 pm
Welcome back candybot. Please give us a discourse on why you are not a machine.

Lazlo.

*ping*

muslim brotherhood moderate?

candybot.

kae

8 Feb 12 at 9:47 pm
God, that’s so disturbingly, tragically apt, Paul.

Major credit to the photographer.

C.L.

8 Feb 12 at 9:48 pm
Mr Santorum has a nice demeanour, open honest sort of face –

An honest sort of face…

no scandals,

Just.. google Santorum.

no far-out religion,

Next up – Supreme Ayatollah Santorum vs Supreme Ayatollah Khomeini…

no far-out right wing stuff –

Too much competition there : P

that seems to be what makes an acceptable candidate.

Too true.

Driftforge

8 Feb 12 at 10:11 pm
Hi Driftforge
I don’t believe a word of that.

candy

8 Feb 12 at 10:21 pm
God, that’s so disturbingly, tragically apt, Paul.

Major credit to the photographer. -CL

Fully concur. What great photo composition.

Pedro the Ignorant

8 Feb 12 at 10:23 pm
Computer says “photoshopped”.

Steve from brisbane

8 Feb 12 at 10:39 pm
Who farted? Oh, Steve’s back.

nic

8 Feb 12 at 10:58 pm
What a grade ‘A’ t0sser, you are Driftforge

JamesK

8 Feb 12 at 10:59 pm
I saw a larger-field version of that “Orwell” photo floating around Twitter and something about it just didn’t look right to me. I can’t put my finger on it, though – I’ve never used Photoshop so I don’t know any of the technical details. The shadow? The perspective? Dunno. But, something just looked a bit off:
http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/4996/48830577.jpg

spot

8 Feb 12 at 11:06 pm
“Hi, Alice!” How’s our ~~ALICE~~Candybot today?

spot

8 Feb 12 at 11:13 pm
As the New York Times would say, it’s fake but accurate.

C.L.

8 Feb 12 at 11:49 pm
There’ve been two faked “OMG LOOK AT TEH EVIL JOOOS!!!” Pallywood photos floating around Twitter few days as well. (clicky, clicky)

Bad thing about Twitter/the Internet: a lot of BS out there
Good thing about Twitter/the Internet: BS gets debunked pretty quickly

spot

8 Feb 12 at 11:57 pm
Re that story about Japs youth disliking sex…

Suckers.

Via Ace.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 12:00 am
The Wall Street Journal reports that a whopping 59% of female respondents aged 16 to 19 said they were uninterested in or averse to sex

Why are 16/17 yo girls being made to feel bad about not having sex?

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 12:03 am
Controversial filmmakers Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer announced a crowdfunding campaign today for their new documentary, FrackNation.
The feature-length film looks at the process of fracking for natural gas, demolishing much of the scaremongering surrounding the process and featuring the millions whose lives have been positively transformed by this emerging industry. FrackNation investigates the health claims surrounding the process, and reveals the startling lack of scientific evidence to substantiate them.

Controversially, McAleer and McElhinney are fundraising for FrackNation on Kickstarter.com.

Wow. Fundraising. But aren’t they being paid by Big Coal?

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/how_to_expose_the_anti_fracking_hysteria/

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 12:09 am
I mean Big Gas?

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 12:10 am
Hugo Chavez issues communique supporting President Assad, who is machine-gunning opponents at the rate of dozens a day.

The heads of state and government of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) reiterate their condemnation of the systematic policy of interference in and destabilization of the brother Syrian Arab Republic, the aim of which is to impose, by force, regime change on the Syrian people.

The ALBA member states condemn the acts of armed violence that irregular groups supported by foreign powers have unleashed against the Syrian people. The member states hope that the Syrian society will return to calm and develop in peace.

The ALBA countries reiterate their support for the policy of reforms and national dialogue promoted by the government of President Bashar al Assad, seeking to find a political solution to the current crisis, respecting the sovereignty of the Syrian people and the territorial integrity of that brother Arab country.

http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2012/alba060212.html

Fisky

9 Feb 12 at 12:24 am
Why are 16/17 yo girls being made to feel bad about not having sex?

For the last 30 years 16/17 year old boys have been made to feel bad about it…

twostix

9 Feb 12 at 1:04 am
These fuckers never ever stop making money. It’s a license to print mullah.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/mcdonalds-january-sales-beat-expectations-130839509.html

JC

9 Feb 12 at 1:25 am
Too stupid for words.

The need is especially acute at the “elite” law schools where things have gotten entirely out of control. The Federalist Society always offers free lunch to debate attendees. At Duke, apparently, giving away free Chick-Fil-A offends some Leftist law students.

“If you eat Chick-Fil-A you are anti-Gay,” says one blog. Duke University’s Federalist Society has offended the local chapter of “OUTlaw” because they serve free Chick-Fil-A to lecture attendees. Seriously, I’m not making this up.
…
If the Left gets agitated because someone is giving away free chicken sandwiches at American law schools, just imagine what they are doing to the students who support limited government and Constitutional liberty.

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/02/08/chick-fil-a-offends-campus-leftists-at-duke-law/

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 1:32 am
The Obama left’s busy day:

Occupy terrorist drives SUV up steps and into entrance of Pittsburgh Convention Center.

———

Secret Service Arrests Leftist Who Lunges at Mitt Romney in Denver (Video).

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 1:33 am
A stolen SUV no less. Well, at least the stereotype is maintained.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 1:38 am
When a bunch of Paultards go to war with the Aussie socialists on Youtube. Lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q5mtMucYPg&feature=channel_video_title

Alex Pundit

9 Feb 12 at 1:50 am
Why does Left hate the poor so?

Sin-taxes and surcharges on alcohol, tobacco, and now energy always hurt the lower-income demographics more than they do anyone else.

spot

9 Feb 12 at 2:33 am
Oh dear.

“It’s hard to know which aspect of the story is the most embarassing for Rep. John Fleming (R-LA). Is it that he really believed that Planned Parenthood was planning to build an $8-billion “Abortionplex”? That he never heard of The Onion, the publication in which the story was published? Or that the article was eight months old? Whichever way you slice it, the congressman is wearing a big gooey gob of egg on his face today.”

spot

9 Feb 12 at 2:36 am
This is a relatively new movement in the left, Spot. It’s a mix of Malthusian ideology and misanthropy. It’s nothing to do with the poor. It’s to do with the fact that this ideology hates humanity, hates industrialization and believes there are far too many of us around for the planets good and would be better off with less of us. a lot less.
They hate the rich and poor equally and if their policies hurt the poor more than the rich they don’t give a shit.

It’s a cultist totalitarian movement, which has to be fought every single inch of the way and pulverized into defeat. Never eave give them an even break.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 2:42 am
I’m not sure he should be overly embarrassed.

The aspect of the story that is most telling is that it sounds perfectly believable given what we know about Planned Parenthood and its supporters.

Only the price tag sounds incredible.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 2:45 am
It’s a mix of Malthusian ideology and misanthropy.

Brendan O’Neil calls them misanthropic miserablists.

spot

9 Feb 12 at 2:50 am
But CL, if you lay with a dogs you’ll end up getting fleas.

Exit question from Ace’s co-blogger Laura W: Why did Catholic organizations support ObamaCare in the first place when they knew there was a risk that it would force conflicts of conscience like this one? Did they think it didn’t matter how other groups were burdened so long as they themselves got a pass?

Damned good question.

http://hotair.com/archives/2012/02/07/oh-my-white-house-having-second-thoughts-on-new-contraception-rule/

Axlrod now backpeddles at 100 MPH. “Everything can be worked out”.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 2:50 am
Brendan O’Neil calls them misanthropic miserablists.

hahahahha Does he.

Never give them an even break. Never listen to them and if they are down, keep kicking.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 2:52 am
I just wish some conservatives would have more finely-honed bullshit detectors, CL. Would prefer it if we’d leave the plastic turkeys to the Left.

spot

9 Feb 12 at 2:54 am
Serious question, why the fuck is the catholic church getting involved in health care debates?

Priests and Bishops need to focus on ministering to their flock, not health care insurance.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 2:54 am
Atheist Taliban again:

A group of Republican lawmakers is protesting the removal a reference to God in the patch logo for the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO)…

The patch logo was changed after a military atheist group, the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, protested the reference to God on the patch. The patch has a saying on it in Latin, which is common for military patches, that translates to: “Doing God’s Work with Other People’s Money.”

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 2:55 am
Exit question from Ace’s co-blogger Laura W: Why did Catholic organizations support ObamaCare in the first place when they knew there was a risk that it would force conflicts of conscience like this one? Did they think it didn’t matter how other groups were burdened so long as they themselves got a pass?

Exactly.

Well, I dn’t think the institutional Church supported it per se. A few influential and high-profile agencies of the Church did, however, and these are indeed proxies for the bishops themselves.

The truth about the US Bishops’ Conference is that it is left-wing on almost everything: the ‘viroment, taxing the wealthy, welfare, ‘amnesty,’ affirmative action, military interventions, etc etc. They affect to loathe weighing into secular political controversy and like people to think they’re reluctant to do so – but that’s only true when it’s Democrats in the potential firing line. Lining up against Democrats makes them prey to caricaturing as ‘right-wing,’ ‘ultra-conservative,’ ‘judgmental,’ etc and they don’t want that. They are, as a result, very often cowards when it comes to big moral questions – ones they should be uncompromising about. As far as I know, they still haven’t issued a statement on Obama’s new attack as a Conference. The Eastern Orthodox have.

Having said that, when really roused the bishops can slap down a Dem ruthlessly if he or she goes too far.

As they did to Nancy Pelosi.

TCL (August 2008): Bishops Berate Blinky.

———————-

Relatedly – vis-a-vis Church ‘n State, and people’s failure to judge Obama correctly – I just re-read this essay of mine on Obama/Kennedy. Comparisons had been made after the former’s Jeremiah Wright speech – the one where he said he could never abandon the Rev; a few weeks later he did.

Note the love media’s OTT bouquets for that ridiculous oration.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 3:16 am
Exit question from Ace’s co-blogger Laura W: Why did Catholic organizations support ObamaCare in the first place when they knew there was a risk that it would force conflicts of conscience like this one? Did they think it didn’t matter how other groups were burdened so long as they themselves got a pass?

Exactly.

Well, I dn’t think the institutional Church supported it per se. A few influential and high-profile agencies of the Church did, however, and these are indeed proxies for the bishops themselves.

The truth about the US Bishops’ Conference is that it is left-wing on almost everything: the ‘viroment, taxing the wealthy, welfare, ‘amnesty,’ affirmative action, military interventions, etc etc. They affect to loathe weighing into secular political controversy and like people to think they’re reluctant to do so – but that’s only true when it’s Democrats in the potential firing line. Lining up against Democrats makes them prey to caricaturing as ‘right-wing,’ ‘ultra-conservative,’ ‘judgmental,’ etc and they don’t want that. They are, as a result, very often cowards when it comes to big moral questions – ones they should be uncompromising about. As far as I know, they still haven’t issued a statement on Obama’s new attack as a Conference. The Eastern Orthodox have.

Having said that, when really roused the bishops can slap down a Dem ruthlessly if he or she goes too far.

As they did to Nancy Pelosi.

TCL (August 2008): Bishops Berate Blinky.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 3:18 am
JC, I posted a reply re the bishops but Catallaxy has blocked it for some reason.

God, the OT has become incredibly irritating in terms of functionality.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 3:22 am
The original owners again.

CONCERNS about the rare orange-bellied parrot threaten a $50 million marina expansion on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.

The parrots of course are immobile and don’t fly around different locations.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 3:24 am
… the rare orange-bellied parrot …

Ahahahahaha.

Amazing how these ‘threatened’ critters show up when someone’s trying to build something.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 3:32 am
… the rare orange-bellied parrot …

They’re Banana-Birds. Conspicuously convenient for the Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything brigade.

spot

9 Feb 12 at 3:36 am
Serious question, why the fuck is the catholic church getting involved in health care debates?

They make up 10% of the market – however – this is done by various orders so the Bishops have no ^%$#ing place to say anything. Shut up and let the LCM run their own businesses!

.

9 Feb 12 at 7:35 am
Something to make you feel better about goint to work to pay your taxes today…

academic-toilet-paper-opens-doors-on-dunny-business

Or perhaps not?

CraigS

9 Feb 12 at 8:06 am
Tillman gets knocked out

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/boxing/sbw-proves-hes-the-real-deal-with-firstround-ko-20120208-1rfb8.html

jtfsoon

9 Feb 12 at 8:08 am
… the rare orange-bellied parrot …

Ahahahahaha.

Amazing how these ‘threatened’ critters show up when someone’s trying to build something.

They are so rare, no-one has seen one since 1986.

Token

9 Feb 12 at 8:26 am
Wilkie proves he really is Gillard’s bitch:

Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie last night revealed he was “leaning towards confirming my earlier support for the government’s bill” after equivocating earlier in the week.

“I’m still waiting on some additional government modelling and am unable to confirm my position until that material has been provided and assessed.”

Mr Wilkie had appeared to be backing away from his original support for the means test after the Prime Minister reneged on her pledge to introduce the MP’s gambling reforms.

Token

9 Feb 12 at 8:42 am
On closer inspection, that Orwell photo does look as though it was done by M. C. Escher!

The photo is of 22 Portobello Rd, Notting Hill, and there is obviously no camera in that location.

Paul Williams

9 Feb 12 at 8:56 am
For the health nutters:

http://www.brianpeskin.com/

His e Books blew me away. He has researched the shyte out of those topics.

.

9 Feb 12 at 10:13 am
A day after BHP-Billiton boss Marius Kloppers declared the Labor leadership was on his “radar”, Ms Ridout said the prospect of a challenge against Julia Gillard by Kevin Rudd was unhelpful.

“I think it is really causing uncertainty,” the Australian Industry Group chief told ABC Radio.

Amazing innit? Rideout really has her finger on the pulse. It’s not the government’s policies or dishonesty, nor Gillard’s promises that come with an expiration date, none of that is causing uncertainty in business. Noo, it’s leadership “tensions”. Why are people so stupid?

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/leadership-tension-no-distraction-despite-tv-expose-20120209-1rmee.html

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 11:49 am
Serious question, why the fuck is the catholic church getting involved in health care debates?

Because Obama the communist turd wants to force them to do something that violates their religious principles.

Full explanation of the massive role of Catholic hospitals and ancillary health-care agencies here:

Catholic hospitals serve one in six patients in the United States.

History is the major reason the Church is involved in health care. The orders allowed hospitals to exist for the service of the poor.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 11:52 am
Center for Data Analysis. Heritage Foundation:
The 2012 Index of Dependence on Government

“Today, more people than ever before—67.3 million Americans, from college students to retirees to welfare beneficiaries—depend on the federal government for housing, food, income, student aid, or other assistance once considered to be the responsibility of individuals, families, neighborhoods, churches, and other civil society institutions. The United States reached another milestone in 2010: For the first time in history, half the population pays no federal income taxes. Related to these disturbing trends, publicly held debt continued its amazing ascent without any plan by the government to pay it back. As if those circumstances were not dire enough, the country is about to witness the largest generational retirement in world history by a population that will depend on currently bankrupted pension and health programs”

President Barack Obama has proved his adeptness at exploiting the vote pump: Dependence on government has increased by 23 percent under his administration.

A veritable tsunami of arresting data.

RTWT

JamesK

9 Feb 12 at 12:09 pm
CL

From reading the stuff I posted earlier, the Catholic Church was agreeing with Odumbo on odumbocare, got some dispensations it wanted and then the scorpion bit them while carrying them over the water because as the stroy goes, the scorpion simply couldn’t help but bite them as it’s a scorpion after all.

The lesson here is don’t do side deals with scorpions as you’ll invariably end up getting bitten.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 12:28 pm
Heather Wipeout is the perfect example of a chimp being over-promoted because of personal plumbing.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 12:30 pm
So fevered are emotions inside Labor at the moment that one senior government figure condemned the ABC, even though he had not seen the still-to-be-completed show.

Wait, what?! The government’s ABC causing consternation! ‘Tis a kerfuffle over the upcoming Four Corners episode on Kevin Rudd and Labor. Gillard’s mob are freaking out the episode will make her look bad (as if that’s what it takes) while Rudd’s ever growing band of factional supporters fear he will be made to look like a menacing sword of Damocles over Gillard’s scone. Meanwhile, Senator Arbib says

“Move along nothing to see here. But hey, look over there at Turnbull raising his profile. Abbott’s leadership is on trouble and yeah, they’re really really bad at economics. Economically incompetent in fact”.

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/leadership-tension-no-distraction-despite-tv-expose-20120209-1rmee.html

Bet your bottom dollar the Four Corners ep will see both Jooles and Kevvy looking good and Abbott will be blamed for Labor’s leadership “tensions”.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 12:30 pm
Bet your bottom dollar the Four Corners ep will see both Jooles and Kevvy looking good and Abbott will be blamed for Labor’s leadership “tensions”.

We all know that it is Abbott’s fault.

Abboott refused to be a limp lefty like Turnbull & Red Ted, and as a result has been a hit with the majority of Australians.

The ABC will never forgive him for being competent as it directly lead to Rudd by knifed by Gillard, Gillard being exposed as being a waste of space and ultimately will lead to her knifing by Rudd.

All Abbott’s fault!

Token

9 Feb 12 at 12:43 pm
Wow! Even Der Spiegel goes after climate alarmism.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,813814,00.html

This is important because Germany was an instigator in all this.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 12:47 pm
Wow! Even Der Spiegel goes after climate alarmism.

That Australia’s media and political class bit on AGW hook-line-sinker-reel-rod-fisherman-boat-and-trailer will be a fascinating case study of mass hysteria in years to come.

The embarrassment is going to be similarly mass.

I am looking forward to it.

James in Melbourne

9 Feb 12 at 1:10 pm
Yep, I agree, JC – here’s my comment from last night (if Sinclair could de-moderate it):

——————————

Exit question from Ace’s co-blogger Laura W: Why did Catholic organizations support ObamaCare in the first place when they knew there was a risk that it would force conflicts of conscience like this one? Did they think it didn’t matter how other groups were burdened so long as they themselves got a pass?

Exactly.

Well, I dn’t think the institutional Church supported it per se. A few influential and high-profile agencies of the Church did, however, and these are indeed proxies for the bishops themselves.

The truth about the US Bishops’ Conference is that it is left-wing on almost everything: the ‘viroment, taxing the wealthy, welfare, ‘amnesty,’ affirmative action, military interventions, etc etc. They affect to loathe weighing into secular political controversy and like people to think they’re reluctant to do so – but that’s only true when it’s Democrats in the potential firing line. Lining up against Democrats makes them prey to caricaturing as ‘right-wing,’ ‘ultra-conservative,’ ‘judgmental,’ etc and they don’t want that. They are, as a result, very often cowards when it comes to big moral questions – ones they should be uncompromising about. As far as I know, they still haven’t issued a statement on Obama’s new attack as a Conference. The Eastern Orthodox have.

Having said that, when really roused the bishops can slap down a Dem ruthlessly if he or she goes too far.

As they did to Nancy Pelosi.

TCL (August 2008): Bishops Berate Blinky.

———————-

Relatedly – vis-a-vis Church ‘n State, and people’s failure to judge Obama correctly – I just re-read this essay of mine on Obama/Kennedy. Comparisons had been made after the former’s Jeremiah Wright speech – the one where he said he could never abandon the Rev; a few weeks later he did.

Note the love media’s OTT bouquets for that ridiculous oration.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 1:15 pm
Comment de-moderation required.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 1:18 pm
A bit of Irish truth telling via James Dellingpole’s blog:

Russia’s main gas-company, Gazprom, was unable to meet demand last weekend as blizzards swept across Europe, and over three hundred people died. Did anyone even think of deploying our wind turbines to make good the energy shortfall from Russia?

Of course not. We all know that windmills are a self-indulgent and sanctimonious luxury whose purpose is to make us feel good. Had Europe genuinely depended on green energy on Friday, by Sunday thousands would be dead from frostbite and exposure, and the EU would have suffered an economic body blow to match that of Japan’s tsunami a year ago. No electricity means no water, no trams, no trains, no airports, no traffic lights, no phone systems, no sewerage, no factories, no service stations, no office lifts, no central heating and even no hospitals, once their generators run out of fuel.

Whoof

Token

9 Feb 12 at 1:22 pm
Not to worry, Token. Our $23/tonne carbin tax will save the planet from further glowball warming.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 1:28 pm
Gillard misplaces $720 million.

Government defends billion-dollar detention contract.

The Federal Government has defended a four-fold blowout in the cost of running Australia’s immigration detention centres.

The Immigration Department has confirmed the contract with Serco, which runs the centres, has been renegotiated and is now worth more than $1 billion over four years. The contract was originally worth nearly $280 million.

The Federal Opposition has seized on the blowout, saying it has been caused by the Government’s failure to stop increasing numbers of asylum seekers arriving on Australian shores.

“The blowout is caused by the fact that the Government has had to build thousands upon thousands of extra beds in our detention network because hundreds and hundreds of boats have come with thousands of people on them,” Opposition immigration spokesman Scot Morrison said.

“This Government’s building of detention centres to deal with their border protection failures all around the country has acted like its own economic stimulus program, a ‘building the detention centre’ revolution.

Yep, no need to worry about the NBN and a couple of satellites.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 1:32 pm
Shit. 300 people died from the cold spell. And they want us to rely in renew balls?

This almost guillotine time.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 1:33 pm
Oh how soon we (well, actually, just you dummies) forget:

Health authorities believe Victoria’s record-breaking heatwave might have contributed to the deaths of about 374 people.

As temperatures soared between January 26 and February 1, so did the state’s death toll with a 62% jump from the same time last year.

Victoria’s chief health officer Dr John Carnie today revealed 980 people had died during the week compared to a mean of 606 deaths for the previous five years.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/death-toll-soared-during-victorias-heatwave-20090406-9ubd.html#ixzz1lqfa98Wy

steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 1:41 pm
Terrible isn’t it Steve? I mean people never died from heat in the past. If only we had more windfarms and solar farms then people simply wouldn’t expire due to the hot climate or the cold climate for that matter. I notice your quote stipulates

Health authorities believe Victoria’s record-breaking heatwave might have contributed to the deaths of about 374 people.

Believe? What, not based in science just a belief? And “might” have “contributed”! Well, the science is certainly settled then! Irrefutable proof they say!

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 1:48 pm
Always read Steve’s articles, look what you find…

Dr Carnie said it was not possible to say how many of the deaths had been brought forward by days or weeks because of the extreme heat.

“Nor is it possible to say how many cases the death was totally unexpected and due principally to the effects of the heatwave,” he said.

I trust you can provide a link to a follow up article by the Pravda-On-The-Yarra where they checked the claims based upon this qualifications.

What time do I come back to see that link Steve? 2020?

Token

9 Feb 12 at 1:51 pm
Mrs. Steve

Here’s the problem with your “analysation”. People don’t die in hot spells if they’re in a nice air-conditioned space and if they are able to access an affordable a/c system operating with cheap and abundant energy.

Policies you’re supporting are in fact doing the opposite. The union clerks’ party and their Stalinist alliance members are attempting to raise the price of energy, which means that in the next hot spell more people will end up dying as a result of the heat, seeing power is becoming less affordable and the marginal user unlikely to afford heavy duty power bills made artificially expensive as a result of Alliance policies.

In the case of the European cold spell.. not only is renew ball power unaffordably expensive, but the useless crap doesn’t work when there’s no sun or wind.’
‘

here’s my humble suggestion.

If we’re going to subsidize stuff, if must subsidize, then subsidize the purchase of effective ac units for the poor and old, particularly the old so they don’t have to die needlessly.

Get back to the ironing.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 1:53 pm
If only we mortals could control the climate then no one would die. I know, lets tax CO2. There. Catastrophe averted.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 1:53 pm
Too boring, Token. This has been discussed before, there was a paper or two written about it.

Go google them up yourself.

steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 1:54 pm
Actually, I don’t mind criticism of the problems with lack of effectiveness of wind power (or even solar) when you need it.

Solar in Melbourne heatwaves should work pretty well though.

steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 1:59 pm
Look all it not lost. As the The Yarra Council reports, the “Accord agreed to at the United Nations climate talks in Durban, South Africa, which stipulate emissions controls backed by legal force to take effect in the next decade and which
scientists warn are likely to lead to 3.5 degrees of warming above pre-industrial levels”. So based on this and Professor Peter Christoff’s brief to the councillors, they will develop policies to fend off the imminent climate warming…or cooling…whatevs.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 2:03 pm
Too boring, Token. This has been discussed before, there was a paper or two written about it.

Go google them up yourself.

Mrs. Steve.

You are directly supporting a policy that would actually lead to more deaths in hot or dry spells you misanthropic nutball. Raising the cost of energy will cause hardship and deaths in both hot and dry spells, you ignorant househusband.

The number that died in the hot spell you mentioned doesn’t shock me for a second seeing government policies have led directly to the severe prices increases in the energy supply over the past 5 years.

“virnmental policies also directly contributed to the deaths of 200 people in the Victorian bushfires. The greenslime has killed a lot of innocent people they are yet to answer for.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 2:04 pm
Solar in Melbourne heatwaves should work pretty well though.

Considering there is no way to store solar energy such that there is enough energy to equal demand, what would they have done at night?

I know in the Malthusian future that warmies dream of we all live in the dark at night embracing the heat and cold of season like it is 1895.

Token

9 Feb 12 at 2:07 pm
Solar in Melbourne heatwaves should work pretty well though.

Not necessarily, you ignorant oaf. A lot of very hot weather in Melbourne also occurs on cloudy days too, making plastic panels about as reliable as the Lying Slapper’s word. They can slso be very windy which would mean propellers on sticks would have to be locked down in case the wind breaks them apart.

There is also peak demand during those days too and with the cost of energy about to skyrocket again due to the union clerk party policies we should be anticipating a lot more heat related death. A lot, lot more.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 2:10 pm
Gillard misplaces $720 million.

What was it costing the government when they came into power in 2007?

The revelations have prompted renewed calls for the Government to abolish the off-shore processing of asylum seekers who are intercepted before their boats reach the mainland.

Immigration Minister Chris Evans said the $32 million included $18 million a year for depreciation of the centre. He said the estimated cost of managing the centre while empty was $25.1 million a year. This would increase to $32.4 million if the centre became operational and accommodated up to 30 people.

Token

9 Feb 12 at 2:12 pm
A house cooled all day by your solar powered airconditioner retains some coolness into the night, Token. A night time temperature of near 30 degrees – which your cooled house will slowly rise to over a few hours, may be very uncomfortable, but probably not going to kill you like 43 degrees in the day…

steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 2:13 pm
Did we miss this story?

“HOUSING estate developers are rolling out their own high-speed broadband because they cannot wait for the Federal Government’s National Broadband Network.

Rod Binedell, development manager of the Mandalay estate at Beveridge, in Melbourne’s north, said buyers wanted the latest technology in their new homes.

“People expect high-speed internet as part of their lifestyle package,” he said.

“As developers responding to consumer demand, we can’t afford to wait for Government to deliver it. So we did it ourselves.”

So what was the point of the government’s broadband?

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 2:14 pm
Steve

Melbourne’s had a heatwave, but Sydney has had the opposite, the coolest January for many a long year. So how do our ‘climate scientists’ deal with this? DO they say that Melbourne has warmed and Sydney has got cooler? Or do they say that Australia has got warmer because the temperature rise in Melbourne is greater than the temperature fall in Sydney?

That is why AGW is such effing nonsense. The average world temp[erature is no measure of climate in any sense, yet it that very meaningless measure on which the warmists focus.

Rococo Liberal

9 Feb 12 at 2:16 pm
A house cooled all day by your solar powered airconditioner retains some coolness into the night, Token.

Really? Our top level is copper cladded on the outside. It’s freezing in the winter without heating and boiling in the summer without ac. It would freeze or boil in a hour without assistance, you dummy.

Most homes now, which have a second level, are essentially foam cladded in the top level. Try and tell me that the coolness would hold for most of the night in hot weather, you freaking fool.

Get back to the ironi9g please.

A night time temperature of near 30 degrees – which your cooled house will slowly rise to over a few hours, may be very uncomfortable, but probably not going to kill you like 43 degrees in the day

Mr’s Steve is an A/c engineer now. We should all listen.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 2:19 pm
Steve

Do you own a solar-powered air conditioner?

If not, why not?

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 2:23 pm
JC, you don’t have good insulation under a copper cladded exterior? What a goose you are.

steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 2:25 pm
I’ve been thinking about it, Gab.

Have solar hot water – it has made a big difference to the electricity bill. I think $350 was the bill for the last quarter, if I recall correctly, and my wife uses the electric oven a lot. But that was a “spring” bill, next one will be bigger.

steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 2:28 pm
JC, you don’t have good insulation under a copper cladded exterior? What a goose you are.

Umm we do, Mr’s Steve, but it’s hardly enough.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 2:31 pm
You seem to think we don’t need a power baseload and certainly no need for coal to generate electricity. Why isn’t your house covered in solar panels, Steve? Why don’t you practise what you preach?

Good on you for at least having solar hot water and you can thank your taxpaying peers for subsidising your electricity.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 2:32 pm
A night time temperature of near 30 degrees – which your cooled house will slowly rise to over a few hours, may be very uncomfortable, but probably not going to kill you like 43 degrees in the day.

Steve you are a goose. You assume so much in order to make a very stupid point.

So you think this will prevent heat related deaths at summer do you?

How many of the people that died did not have an airco? How many people on fixed incomes did have airco, but did not have it turned on due to spiralling power costs due to this Green insanity?

Token

9 Feb 12 at 2:34 pm
How many of the people that died did not have an airco? How many people on fixed incomes did have airco, but did not have it turned on due to spiralling power costs due to this Green insanity?

Eggsactly. The misanthropes have a lot to answer for and they will at some stage, in a big way.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 2:37 pm
Hoax crumbling daily:

Two more scientists change sides in the AGW debate.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 2:38 pm
Mumble: “What is it with the Coalition and race?”

On the most racist political party outside of South Africa and the American South:

I’m not saying the ALP wouldn’t use these tactics if they thought they could get away with it. But it’s not their strong suit.

One of his commenters:

What is it with the ALP and starting race riots?

What is it with the media continuing to pretend that it was Abbots comments that started the riot on Australia Day..not the actions of the PM’s Office?
Why does the government continue to refuse any investigation into this obsceme smear…one you continue.

Mate..you’ve hiit rock bottom with your journalistic standards.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 2:44 pm
JC

Serious question, why the fuck is the catholic church getting involved in health care debates?

Priests and Bishops need to focus on ministering to their flock, not health care insurance.

Well given the Roman Catholic Church was basically born as a health and unemployment insurance provider, maybe we shouldn’t be too surprised. And they were damn good at it too, learning from all the mistakes of the world’s first great welfare state – the Romans – which had gone so tits up, Julian the Apostate was ashamed, at the Church’s replacing the Roman state as chief welfare distributer.

Even Julian the Apostate himself started to fear that his own jihad against Xianity was like being flogged by warm lettuce. It was all about the healthcare:

The religion of the Greeks does not yet prosper as I would wish, on account of those who profess it…Why then do we think that this is sufficient and do not observe how the kindness of Christians to strangers, their care for the burial of their dead, and the sobriety of their lifestyle has done the most to advance their cause?

Julian the Apostate, Letter to Arsacius

This really scared the willies out of the pagan Romans. Why? The contemporary historian Sozomenus puts it down to healthcare:

He [Julian] moreover resolved to found monasteries for the accommodation of men and women who desired to live in philosophical retirement, as likewise hospitals [xenodochium] for the relief of strangers and of the poor and for other philanthropical purposes. He wished to introduce among the pagans the Christian system of penance for voluntary and involuntary transgressions.

But there was a bit more to it:

1. The upper classes stopped providing cultural amenities, and the masses shrugged, and went elsewhere. While the evidence is still standing from Scotland to Africa, across Eurasia, and beyond that pre-Xian Roman civilization had institutions of alms-giving, and philanthropy. However, the traditional Roman patron/client relationship started breaking down when those patrons started diddling ordinary Roman peeps out of their farms. And once the evicted former soldier-citizen-farmer made their way to the big smoke, Augustus and subsequent emperors took over the role of patron that the increasingly rural rich once held. The world’s hugest concentration of dole bludgers existed in Rome from the late 1st century BC, until the 2nd century AD. An entire country was roped off – Egypt – which no Roman could visit without permission from the emperor. Egypt’s role was to provide the dole to humanity’s greatest ever welfare state.

The decuriones were part of thatclass of rich and ‘honorable’ citizens, who were expected to build their city/town’s monuments, buildings, baths, etc, in return for non-democratic appointment to political power. However, once the combination of serfdom in the countryside, and an out of control welfare bill in the city, the whole provincial military Keynesianism was doomed. Trouble for the poor decuriones – and other taxfarmers – was that the cost of that social and political status was the requirement to forward the the Roman state its next year’s running costs. It was then up to the decuriones to squeeze it out of their city, or in the countryside.

Pretty soon, Rome’s middle-class collapsed. Not only did that incarnation of the decuriones/aediles/curiales collapse in only a few decades over the 3rd century, but the remaining post holders fled, not wanting to ruin themselves with having to find the money to run the Roman welfare octopus.

2. Ignoring the Roman gods. Guess what many of these Roman decuriones/aediles/curiales did? They joined the Church, whose administration had mirrored imperial Rome both in function, and geographically. By Julian’s time for a pagan notable to accept a position in the church, often even bishop, was little more than ‘moving offices down the hall’. And also by Julian’s time, church officials paid no tax to the emperor. By Julian’s time, the Roman West was just about back in the trees. But even the prosperous elite in the ancient east did everything to wrest themselves from the rabies of the Roman West, and its institutions.

Celebrating his release from being a curiale, the Greek Synesius of Cyrene celebrated to his bro.

Now leisure is the greatest good, a good of which one might say that, like a country bearing in abundance, it brings all noble things to the soul of the philosopher. This leisure I shall enjoy when I succeed in freeing myself from entanglement in the political life of the Romans; and that will be when I am released from these accursed curial functions.

So far as the Emperor is concerned, I am free of them, but I should justly blame myself and feel ashamed, if I were to take any profit from my personal activity. I shall accordingly make my defense to myself. For I shall appear to be fulfilling the duty of ambassador again, since my tongue is again an ambassador; nor will any one who praises Pythagoras contradict me, since he defined a friend as a second self.

Even though Synesius married a Xian, he still openly quibbled with aspects of Xian theology – indeed, he was a leading member of the ‘Alexandrian Push’ back when Hypatia was the Germaine Greer of Hellenism. But he saved best bile for Latin curiales, who tried to retool from tax-collectors and latifundia lords to Greek philosophers and Roman religious leaders:

are sophists, much more unfortunate than these. They would like to be famous in the same way, but unfortunately for them they are incapable even of this. You know some who, despoiled by the office of the tax-collector, or urged thereto by some one calamity, have become philosophers in the middle of their lives. Their philosophy consists in a very simple formula, that of calling God to witness, as Plato did, whenever they deny anything or whenever they assert anything. A shadow would surpass these men in uttering anything to the point; but their pretensions are extraordinary. Oh, what proudly arched brows!

All religions have been based at least to some extent on a great fear of displeasing their wrathful god/s, which will mean military catastrophe, plague, locusts, blah. Given that under Roman religion, the emperor IS god, any bad times arrive with a huge arrow pointing at him. The more the upper classes joined women generally, and the plebs in embracing Xian charity, the more the Romans were saying to Julian, that he wasn’t a god at all, and crap at pleasing them, even if they did listen.

3. Pay tax or be assassinated. Some of the central planks of ‘Rule of Law’ include that it applies equally to all, and treat equal cases equally. If you are ever thinking of reading up on the Rule of Law, imperial Rome is a must visit for how NOT to do it. Julian passed more legislation than Anthony Albanese on meth, but no other Roman had any influence on it. You know, no senators, tribunes, what have you. Coz as the Roman jurist said about pagan Roman law.

Princeps legibus solutus est
“The emperor is not bound by the laws.”

and

Quod principi placuit legis habet vigorem
“What pleases the emperor has the strength of law.”

For Julian, the law was a tedious concern of those to whom it applied. Not him.

While proper behavior in accordance with the laws of the city will obviously be the concern of the governors of the cities, you for your part [as a priest] must take care to encourage people not to violate the laws of the gods since they are holy…. Above all you must exercise philanthropy. From it result many other goods, and indeed that which is the greatest blessing of all, the goodwill of the gods.

It is true that Julian did not invent Rome’s fascist/dictation government, where what we call ‘law’ was in fact rarely deliberated, and increasingly passed to apply to tiny sections of the ruled, often only one of them, and many examples I’ve seen to deal with situations which had never existed. It had been that way for nearly 400 years, with the previous 2 centuries close to lawless. Indeed, the 3rd century Roman emperors passed more and more draconian laws preventing freedom of movement or association – such as it was a crime to leave your field. You were to stay and pay taxes/corvee to those further up the land chain, and then to the State tax collectors. The subsequent tightening of the screws on an already largely enserfed countryside in the Roman West was futile, and so the emperors and army turned to VERY direct taxation of anybody who sniffed of money, including – catastrophically – Roman senators.was given another kick in the guts when emperors started in the late 3rd century making it illegal.

The Roman welfare state had never been big on public hospitals or health care/insurance of any kind, so when the RC Church started laying it on, it got up Julian’s nose big time.

The Xians offered food, shelter, medical treatment, whether you were Jew, Mithrate, Dionysus-worshipper, or barbarian. Thus, the Xians provoked the Romans to ask ‘why bother’ with all that sucking up to a rich corrupt patron, who was miserly compared to the Church, and demanded being repaid come election time. So, it wasn’t too hard for the empire’s exploding ranks of the poor to transfer that old Roman respect for the wealthy patron, who in turn provided the city with monuments, and amusements, to transfer their awe and deference to these new bishops, who were not only providing for the poor, but also building grand monuments in the form of churches, and even renouncing the material world altogether, with the second flight from the cities – since the rich started in the 2nd c BC – not much later, when the monastic fad took off. As the pagan rich left the cities, not only did trade, but also construction of baths, and other public houses.

This shift of the poor to look for ‘patrons’ in the church, in those who could provide food, shelter, and protection, was made all the more permanent by the Xians actually searching out and embracing, not only the poor, but the rich as well, and even, gasp, women!

The chicks had a lot to do with the early link between the RC and healthcare. The main reason was that Xianity took off when its main competitor – Mithraism – collapsed. A bit like natural selection. Mithraism was male-only, and army-only. What was there for the gals to do? From the late 2nd century, they flocked to Xianity, and its hospitals. As the Romans were repeatedly trounced on the battle-field during the 3rd century, very few Xians were, because few Xians joined the army in the first place. So every time, one Roman Mithraism-worshipping solider died on the battle field, another 2 or 3 Roman Xians were born.

Julian well saw precisely what this meant. Julian saw himself as a god – no, really, don’t forget, the Roman state religion was nearly 400 years old now, which meant that not only was Julian considered a god, he was considered THE god. Fortunately, Julian was just about the end of the line of pagan Rome’s disastrous abandonment of separation of Church and State. How ironic, that the old pagan separation had to wait for a Xian emperor and Bishops to return Roman religion to mos maiorum.

In the West, the masses no longer look to Julian as either a god; even the middle to upper classes now hated the old Latin Roman state and its state religion. But most crushingly for any patriarchal Roman dude, let alone the emperor, Julia wasn’t even the paterfamilias.

Julian’s thinking on Rome and religion was incredibly silly and deluded. Did he really think that by copycatting the Xians, that the glory days of the Republic were nigh? Otherwise, why would he order

Erect many hostels, one in each city, in order that strangers may enjoy my kindness, not only those of our own faith but also of others whosoever is in want of money.

Really? The decuriones have come back to you, have they? And even if they have, where are they going to get the money? The destitute, now bankrupted/murdered former senators, publicani? Or perhaps the serfs in Gaul?

So, he mans up by sending off a stroppy epistle to one of his [still pagan] priests

While proper behavior in accordance with the laws of the city will obviously be the concern of the governors of the cities, you for your part [as a priest] must take care to encourage people not to violate the laws of the gods since they are holy…. Above all you must exercise philanthropy. From it result many other goods, and indeed that which is the greatest blessing of all, the goodwill of the gods.

I have just been devising a plan by which you will be able to get supplies. For I have ordered that every year throughout all Galatia 30,000 modii of grain and 60,000 pints of wine shall be provided. The fifth part of these I order to be expended on the poor who serve the priests, and the rest must be distributed from me to strangers and beggars.

Hmmm…let’s see. Xians see real rich people distribute their charity in Church, to be redistributed not by the Emperor, but by GOD, a real one, not an ogre who thinks HE is the god! Oh yeah, and how does Julian pay for this? He passes some ‘laws’, making it illegal for people who have public roles – like the decuriones – from converting to Xianity. They all have to go back an be tax collectors, and cough up for Julian’s piss-up among the plebs to amuse Zeus.

One very telling insight from Julian’s Epistles is the revelation of how very uncosmopolitan he was. He was clueless about Jews and Greek religion.

For it is disgraceful when no Jew is a beggar and the impious Galileans support our poor in addition to their own; to welcome into their agape everyone is able to see that our coreligionists are in want of aid from us. Teach also those who profess the Greek religion to contribute to such services, and the villages of the Greek religion to offer the first-fruits to the gods.

By Julian’s day, the whole basis of Judaism for over 1,000 years had been a ‘Never Again’ – ‘no Jew will ever be a beggar in Egypt again’. Julian’s invocation of “the Greek religion” is truly bizarre. Despite being born in Constantinople, raised by Greeks and Syrians, he sounds like a vulgar Latin serf. Where could he have picked this up? The Ikea-type Hellenism, which had traveled West was undoubtedly rustic to be most complimentary. But the reason the Latin West went tits-up was that it was not up to the job of leveraging its military heft to consolidate the Hellenic Revolution. Thank god, Romanization never took off in the eastern empire!

Accustom those of the Greek religion to such benevolence, teaching them that this has been our work from ancient times. Homer, at any rate, made Eumaeus say: “O Stranger, it is not lawful for me, even if one poorer than you should come, to dishonor a stranger. For all strangers and beggars are from Zeus. The gift is small, but it is precious.”

It’s too late Julian. Can’t you see? All these Xians have rediscovered theological, spiritual, and mythological parts of their Hellenistic culture, which the Romans had tried to destroy? The irony of a pagan lecturing Hellenistic Jews and Xians about duties owed to ‘the stranger’!

Do not therefore let others outdo us in good deeds while we ourselves are disgraced by laziness; rather, let us not quite abandon our piety toward the gods….

Indeed, the western Latin Romans WERE ‘lazy’ in matters of religion, culture, technology, manufacturing, land law, democracy, and on and on. But I think any Greek-educated dude making a claim to please the Greek gods better start saying hullo to the Furies if he does not realize that THE most ‘impious’ act a Greek could commit was to presume he himself was a god; hybris

So, back to the Roman Catholic Church and healthcare. While the Church was tending the ill, hungry, and poor, Julian orders

Each of these things, I think, ought really to be practiced by us. It is not sufficient for you alone to practice them, but so must all the priests in Galatia without exception. Either make these men good by shaming them, persuade them to become so-or fire them….

Yes, the vocation and charity of the pagan Roman priests! But this would have to be one of the most ironic and prescient orders in human history. Julian ordering Arsacius

Secondly, exhort the priests neither to approach a theater nor to drink in a tavern, nor to profess any base or infamous trade. Honor those who obey, and expel those who disobey.

when needed caused another revolution in Roman civilization. The Xian tradition of placing donations right on the church altar, where every single congregationist could see it, not only ensured the great and good the admiration of hoi polloi who constantly bore witness to this charity, but that hoi polloi also knew that the bishop’s redistribution among the masses did not come at the cost of all the shit lower class Romans had to put up from their patrons – including not only all the shocking legal disqualifications, the client had to endure, but all the other political and legal ‘tithe’ he had to pay.

And THAT is what the Roman Catholic Church has to do with health care.

Peter Patton

9 Feb 12 at 2:47 pm
Phew……
In the yank context, the catholic church also provides insurance because in America the employer provides health insurance.

If there was one thing America needs to do to fix the cost of health, the breaking of that little nexus would be right up there.

Entropy

9 Feb 12 at 2:54 pm
I’m betting there will be a compromise of the Hawaiian & New York type – where the Church doesn’t have to cover contraception in its cover, but it has to tell its employees how to get such cover at the same cost the church could have included it for.

Of course, this is rather like the pinprick in the condom – people get what they want via a technicality.

steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 3:01 pm
While I fully expected pro-abortion Peter Kennedy ‘Catholic’ Steve to devotedly support communist Catholic hater, Barack Obama, his prediction that the Catholic Church will post how-to notices in its hospitals about how to buy a packet of frangers reaches new extremes of imbecility.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 3:07 pm
You’re a bit of a nut, really, CL.

According to the NYT:

Administration officials say one avenue for resolution might be to look at how Catholic institutions in the 28 states with similar laws have dealt with the issue. One possible compromise might be to emulate Hawaii, where the rule is in effect, but where employees at religious institutions that do not offer free contraception can get birth control through side benefits, which the employees nominally pay for but which often end up being free.

The Church has lived with these other solutions; I’m not sure why you can’t.

steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 3:17 pm
Why does The Oz employ Mumbles? He must have pics of the editor and Rupert at a Tijuana donkey show.

Infidel Tiger

9 Feb 12 at 3:22 pm
Meanwhile, elsewhere…

First it was the magic cape, now it’s the transformative white bow tie. Next week it’s the clowns nose. Oh wait…

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 3:24 pm
Of course, this is rather like the pinprick in the condom – people get what they want via a technicality.

You continue to deploy this smear, Steve, even though you got it from an article that has nothing to do with contraception but rather – the opposite – the morality of facilitating IVF by any means.

You lie casually – always hoping people don’t click your links.

The distinction is important for the reasons spelled out by your source: because sex is not rendered good solely because it is rendered fertile. It must also be unitive according to Catholic theology. That is, it must be total self-giving, without hindrances or self-deluding gimmickry.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 3:25 pm
Excellent work Patton.

I will re read that in detail and read up on the details as well.

.

9 Feb 12 at 3:34 pm
I don’t lie at all – I just point to the arcane and silly level of technicality that too much theologising over the unitive aspect for every single sex act leads to.

steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 3:35 pm
Steve – who recently wrote here extensively about his devout Catholic desire to ejaculate everywhere but a vagina – calls me a nut before quoting the Obama administration and the New York Times as sources.

Which sources do NOT say (as he did) that the Catholic Church will start “tell[ing] its employees how to get” condoms.

Apart from evidencing his longstanding hatred of Christianity (perhaps imbibed in his Muslim boyhood), Obama’s belief that pregnancy is an illness marks him again as the most worst science-denying wacko ever elected to the presidency.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 3:36 pm
To folks who have a clue about what it’s like to be at ADFA, and do stuff like fight wars, thoughts appreciated.

A FOCUS on individual rights in the military may have led commanders to become “gun-shy” in enforcing discipline, the final report into the HMAS Success sex scandal has found.

Retired judge Roger Gyles QC’s final report on the scandal suggests the “civilianisation” of Australia’s military may have gone too far too quickly, with concepts such as “equity and diversity” sitting uneasily within the military context.

Part three of Mr Gyles’ report, released today, suggests a failure in the command structure on the navy supply ship might reflect a more general breakdown in respect for rank and command, accompanied by a reluctance among commanders to exercise their command.

“Have the many reforms connected with military decision-making in the last 10 to 15 years overreached their mark?” he asked.

“Has the pendulum swung too far towards individual rights?

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/defence/civilianisation-of-military-may-be-weakening-defence-discipline-new-navy-report-suggests/story-e6frg8yo-1226266767601

Peter Patton

9 Feb 12 at 3:37 pm
I don’t lie at all

Which in itself is a lie.

No wonder you’re such a massive fan of Gillard. You both speak with forked tongue.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 3:38 pm
CL, for a man who recently linked to a Japanese guy masturbating casually around the house all day, you seem very sensitive on the issue of non unitive ejaculations today.

You also don’t understand how not to lie in argument.

steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 3:40 pm
I don’t lie at all – I just point to the arcane and silly level of technicality that too much theologising over the unitive aspect for every single sex act leads to.

Yes, you did lie. You have repeatedly used the example in relation to contraception even though your own source is NOT TALKING ABOUT CONTRACEPTION. She also explicitly dismisses the “pinprick in a condom” dodge. Explicitly dismisses it.

And for a ‘global warming’ fruitloop to criticise “arcane” hypotheticals – and what they might tell us about praxis – is too laughable to warrant detailed rebuttal.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 3:42 pm
Good work , Patton .

Jc

9 Feb 12 at 3:50 pm
More important is same-sex marriage. That really is of utmost importance to the Alliance, in running this country.

TWO pieces of legislation aiming to legalise same-sex marriage will be presented to federal parliament next week.

Labor backbencher Stephen Jones will table his private member’s bill on Monday, while a second will be jointly sponsored by Greens MP Adam Bandt and Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie.

However, what is of concern, if we really must forge ahead with this, is:

Both are likely to include protections for churches that refuse on religious grounds to marry same-sex couples.

No certainty, just a “likely”. Now if there is no danger at all to churches being forced by the state – after pressure from a few homo activists and GetUp – to perform same-sex marriages, then why bring it up at all? Unless of course, down the track, that is exactly what will be forced upon the various religions. Heh. Lotsa luck with Islam.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 3:56 pm
Peter is right to cite antiquity in relation to the provision of Catholic health care. Very good point.

This was played out anew in places like the US and Australia when the Church stepped in to provide care to the poor.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 3:57 pm
CL I explained from the start the context of the pinprick in the condom was about – fertility treatment.

That the idea arises from the same theologising that governs contraception is indisputable.

There is no lying, just you avoiding the fact that American Catholic hospitals have lived with arrangements for how their employees can access cover to contraception for quite a while.

Steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 4:00 pm
Both are likely to include protections for churches that refuse on religious grounds to marry same-sex couples.

And as I’ve said before, why shouldn’t a celbrant be equally allowed to follow their conscience on the matter?

Fleeced

9 Feb 12 at 4:07 pm
Because, Fleeced, that is deemed bigotry.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 4:09 pm
Steve, we all hoped you’d return from your sooky-wooky holiday enlivened with a, for you, new spirit of verisimilitude and a disinclination to mislead and doctor.

But here we are. You fibbing and source-doctoring.

The Catholic Church has no control over what state legislation provides for or forces third parties to do via-a-vis employees.

This has nothing to do with Obama’s hatemongering plan to force Catholic employers themselves to violate their own doctrines. Moreover, that a panicking White House is now trying to gin up a third party fix to save Obama’s skin doesn’t alter the fact that the idea of pregnancy as an illness is deranged.

But it’s not unexpected. We have to remember that Obama voted three times to prevent legislation designed to stop newborns from dying in hospital sinks and being thrown in rubbish bins.

He is a morally sick man.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 4:11 pm
For those interested: article with more detail about how Catholic institutions have already had to accommodate similar laws in 28 States.

There will be a compromise of the types already in place in those States, and the hue and cry has all been a massive over-reaction.

Steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 4:13 pm
Forgot to link.

Steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 4:14 pm
Gab

You might have worked out that I am not the type of bloke who gives a rat’s if someone calls me ‘sexist’. However, I am a gentleman, which requires me, on this occasion to refrain from commenting on the linked article, until you – the lady – has had an opportunity – in between nose-powederings – to read and comment.

What do we mean by ‘s-xist’ when we refer to criticisms of Gillard?
by Robin Cameron, on This Blog Harms

The lack of agreement on the question of whether undue criticism of Julia Gillard is s-xist boils down to how we think about s-xism. Is s-xism something we view at an individual level or a wider social structural level? Is it still s-xism, when gender discrimination occurs at a structural level?

Before addressing this, I’d just like to mark a special moment that arose because of this issue; Monday saw Christopher Pyne and Bob Katter coming out in support of women’s rights. Who would have thought that in 2012 Katter and Pyne would be the standard-bearers in the fight against s-xism?

Oh, except they really aren’t.

After reassuring the Australian people on Monday that he would be the first to call out any s-xism against Gillard, two days later Pyne was labelling her “worse than Lady MacBeth”. Way to single her out specifically on the basis of her gender characteristics, Christopher Pyne.

And then there’s Katter. He correctly identified that Australia has a female Governor-General, a female Premier and female Prime Minister. You’re right, Bob Katter, Australia couldn’t possibly be denying opportunity to women. But it took only one sentence for him to say that it’s “you know, if anything probably the other way around”. Oh well, back to square one.

But “hey!” you might say, “is it really s-xist to compare Gillard to Lady MacBeth? After all they are both women and that seems pretty good grounds on which base a comparison”. This is a good point, one that was addressed by Cheryl Kernot and Kerry Chikarovski in a thoughtful and articulate interview that is really worth having a listen to.

Pre-empting Pyne’s Lady MacBeth comparison, Kernot suggest “that there are elements of our cultural conditioning … the palace coup, the Lady Macbeth image is deeply ingrained in us”. She goes on to say more directly:

“She’s the leader of a political party. Do we allow women to be politicians first or women first? Or do we always expect them to be women first and load them down with expectations that they should talk in a particular way and be domestic in a particular way. We don’t ask that of our male politicians.”

What Kernot is highlighting is that the gender roles society expects from women do not entirely line up with what we expect from our Prime Minister.

Gillard herself touched on the at times discordant expectations we have of women and politicians in an interview on Sunday night. In what was actually kind of a touching moment of personal candor, she said she had always thought of the Prime Minister as “a bloke in a suit”. And then in what is also a pretty reasonable comment, she offered that she “is a different image of leadership” and understood that it might take “a bit of time to settle with the Australia public”. Then the next day, after having tried to be less cold and present more personality, Abbott goes and accuses her of playing the “s-xism card”.

The expected repertoire of the female politician, it seems, is a complicated balance. It is important to be demure but not weak, authoritative but then not cold and tough but certainly not hysterical. So far Gillard has not been judged favourably. While the calculating political logic of the Machiavellian Prince is deemed to be “part of the game” for most politicians, when Gillard exercises the same pragmatic ruthlessness it it is widely read a deadly betrayal.

Chikarovski addresses the perception that women are not political operators, referring equally also to her own experience:

“People don’t expect women to do those things, which is kind of bizarre when you think about it. Paul Keating knifed Bob Hawke, Bob Hawke knifed Bill Hayden. It’s kind of the way of Australian politics. Yet women when they do it cop an enormous level of abuse.”

This again is the Macbeth image of betrayal and manipulation, an image that has stuck more firmly to Gillard than other politicians. There is a sense that the betrayal is personal. She stabbed Rudd in the back, betrayed Andrew Wilkie. But come on, really? Its politics, not dating

http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/02/09/what-do-we-mean-by-s-xist-when-we-refer-to-criticisms-of-gillard

Peter Patton

9 Feb 12 at 4:15 pm
On a Commonwealth level, a “religious protection” clause seems redundant, since they have that protection already under the Constitution… unless such a clause would prevent churches being sued under state-based anti-discrimination and anti-vilification laws, which aren’t subject to such protection (and which I suspect would be the first line of attack)

(Not a lawyer, of course, and what I just said may be completely wrong)

Fleeced

9 Feb 12 at 4:16 pm
LABOR is poised to reap a $2.4 billion budget boost, after securing the necessary support to put a means test on the 30 per cent private health insurance rebate.

The change will push up the price of health insurance for families earning over $166,000 and singles on more than $83,000 a year.

However, the government is still in talks with the Greens to secure its support for an $80 million a year increase in the tax penalty on wealthy Australians who refuse to take out private cover.

Hazaar! More money for the much-touted surplus. It just doesn’t pay to try to get ahead in this country. You’re punished by the Greenslimers and Labor at every turn.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 4:16 pm
Greedy fuckers. Might not be so painful if I didn’t know they were just going to piss it up a wall.

Fleeced

9 Feb 12 at 4:20 pm
Aw diddums. Gab going to have pay a bit more for her health insurance? Probably 3 less margaritas a week and you’ll be OK.

Steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 4:23 pm
Excuse me? Earning more than $80 grand a year is supposed to put you ‘ahead’? It’s bugger all in Sydney.

jtfsoon

9 Feb 12 at 4:24 pm
You are class envy-ridden socialist scum, steve.

jtfsoon

9 Feb 12 at 4:25 pm
Peter, sorry but am really not interested in reading through that article.

Yes, we’re sexist. Gillard was installed after Rudd because she was a woman. It was a tactical move. She was (almost) elected as PM because she would become “Australia’s FIRST FEMALE PRIME MINISTER” as the headlines screamed. Much was made of the fact she is female leading up to and post election. So yeah, the ones purporting the stupid notion that criticism of Gillard now is just sexist, were the very same ones expounding Gillard’s suitability to be PM based on her gender back in 2010.

If Gillard can’t take the heat, then she should get out the kitchen cabinet.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 4:25 pm
Those who desperately want a surplus have to do their bit…

Steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 4:26 pm
Robert Carling of the CIS has a good take on the changes here

http://www.incise.org.au/2012-02-09/rebate-should-not-be-means-tested/

jtfsoon

9 Feb 12 at 4:29 pm
Well, Steve, considering I am deemed “wealthy” by the Greenslimers and Labor which means the private health insurance I pay will increase significantly, I guess that means that the four children and one teacher I support financially in Tanzania will just have to go without. I’m sure they’ll be just fine. Or I could just drop out of private cover, get penalised by the Government somewhat but still rely on public health system, invest the balance I save from not being in private cover and sponsor another four kids in Tanzania,

How about you Steve?

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 4:32 pm
Do you have health insurance, Steve?

Infidel Tiger

9 Feb 12 at 4:34 pm
You are class envy-ridden socialist scum, steve.

No he’s not, he’s a conservative Liberal voting catholic.

He told us so many times.

twostix

9 Feb 12 at 4:35 pm
Carling writes:

The goal is to tilt the incentives slightly in favour of using the private health system and relieve pressure on the public system.

Higher income people require less incentive tilting to use private health insurance than lower income people.

Gab, you may be a wonderful person, but just how valid your complaint is would depend on my seeking your full financial statements and last 5 tax returns.

Speaking of which…

Steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 4:36 pm
Jeez, you ask some downright stupid questions, Steve.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 4:39 pm
Aw diddums. Gab going to have pay a bit more for her health insurance? Probably 3 less margaritas a week and you’ll be OK.

What a scumbag you are.

She’s not just paying for her own health insurance, she’ll be paying for yours too you big free loading baby.

twostix

9 Feb 12 at 4:40 pm
I really pity you Steve, you ought to stop relying on the comments over at LP as the source for your witless retorts.

Try looking at the big picture for once.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 4:43 pm
Haven’t been to LP for quite a while, Gab. Do they know about your margarita habit too?

steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 4:46 pm
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/report-assads-office-hacked-password-was-12345

Report: Assad’s Office Hacked, Password Was ’12345′

jtfsoon

9 Feb 12 at 4:48 pm
A TV crew who were filming for the ABC in a riverbed at Alice Springs have been attacked by two women who set upon staff at the hotel the group retreated to.

The crew were getting footage about 6.30pm (CST) Wednesday evening for a documentary to be titled Dumb, Drunk and Racist, which had been commissioned by ABC 2.

Sydney-based journalist Joe Hildebrand, who was involved in the documentary, told ABC radio the group had been filming near the Todd River when they were confronted by two Aboriginal women.

One tore a leg from a camera tripod and the crew retreated to their hotel, Hildebrand said.

The women followed the crew and were reported to have attacked two hotel staff, one of whom was taken to Alice Springs Hospital with head injuries.

“We didn’t realise they had followed us into the hotel at all,” Mr Hildebrand said today.

I wonder why they were allegedly attacked?

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 4:48 pm
It all a bit Tea Party-ish: stop reckless government spending; but don’t do anything that affects me.

steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 4:48 pm
Those who desperately want a surplus have to do their bit…

Indeed! People who want surpluses should be taxed more. People who want the rule of law should be policed more. People who want reasonable safety standards should have airbags forcibly installed in their faces.

wreckage

9 Feb 12 at 4:49 pm
It all a bit Tea Party-ish: stop reckless government spending; but don’t do anything that affects me.

As illogical as “stop car thieves but don’t arrest me because I’m not a fucking car thief”.

wreckage

9 Feb 12 at 4:52 pm
It all a bit Tea Party-ish: stop reckless government spending; but don’t do anything that affects me.

Raising taxes stops reckless government spending.

Holy shit.

Did you really just write that?

I thought you were leaving.

twostix

9 Feb 12 at 4:56 pm
do you know what a rebate is you envious communist scum or are you just ignoring that?

jtfsoon

9 Feb 12 at 4:58 pm
Do they know about your margarita habit too?

I don’t have one. You’re confusing me with Tal, you muddleheaded mongoose.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 4:58 pm
I note you have chosen to ignore IT’s question, Steve.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 5:01 pm
Single people, I see, can get pretty good cover for $25 – $30 a week. So it’ll cost you $8 a week more? We’re in milkshake and sandwich territory here. (And only for those earning more than $80,000.)

It’s just one margarita a week less, Gab.

steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 5:01 pm
You’re going senile, Steve. Makes a change from you being an imbecile.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 5:02 pm
Tanya tells me:

Claims that means-testing the rebate would result in people flooding back to the public health system and clogging waiting rooms, ignore the usual habits of policy holders who stay in private health despite annual premium rises. In fact, Treasury modelling estimates that 99.7 per cent of policy holders will keep their private health insurance.

It’s worth remembering the vast majority of policy holders (about 8 million) won’t be affected at all.

In the next financial year, individuals earning $83,000 or less, or families earning $166,000 or less won’t lose a single cent of their rebate. As wages go up, the subsidy will gradually reduce, but an individual would have to be on $129,000 or more and a couple earning $258,000 or more before they’d lose the rebate altogether.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/blogs/the-party-line/should-there-be-a-means-test-on-the-private-health-insurance-rebate-20120209-1rm0f.html#ixzz1lrXZnDEp

Gee. Single Sydney people earning $129,000 or more, the group who are really taking it tough at the moment given the way the price of cocaine keeps wobbling around, are going to lose the rebate.

Jason might have to lower his hospital cover a notch to a private room with a shared toilet. The horror!

steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 5:19 pm
Steve does your family have private health insurance or is that something your long suffering wife takes care of?

p.s Why are you such a massive cock?

Infidel Tiger

9 Feb 12 at 5:26 pm
Thanks for that link to leftist Newsweek hack, Michelle Goldberg, Steve.

She admits that state systems have forced Catholic institutions to take advantage of loopholes (where this is do-able) to get around the requirement. She further admits that Obama has closed those loopholes.

Hilariously, she arges contraception is a necessity for women’s health (that is, pregnancy is an illness) – rather than something they can buy themselves.

Eben the Washington Post and Chris “Tingles” Matthews have come out against the proposal.

But not our Steve – never known to have ever criticised Obama in any substantive way.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 5:31 pm
Why is my health insurance cover an issue?

Thanks for compliment, too. (I choose to read it that way.)

steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 5:33 pm
Robert Carling of the CIS has a good take on the changes here

He has a take but it’s largely bullshit. The rebate was & is abominable policy; the only thing I’d agree with Carling on is that it should be abolished in its current fixed % form for everyone.

badm0f0

9 Feb 12 at 5:34 pm
The Himalayas and nearby peaks have lost no ice in past 10 years, study shows
Meltwater from Asia’s peaks is much less then previously estimated, but lead scientist says the loss of ice caps and glaciers around the world remains a serious concern

Whereas doc pach was telling otherwise.

Scientists stunned.

Jc

9 Feb 12 at 5:36 pm
Prince Harry is Apache Top Gun:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-09/prince-harry-is-top-gun-in-apache-course/3820370

He’s not stupid.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 5:40 pm
Why is my health insurance cover an issue?

I’ll assume you are a moocher who relies on the public system. If you stopped blogging and got a paper round, you could afford it.

Infidel Tiger

9 Feb 12 at 5:45 pm
For forty years, people have tried to get Solar to work. Now, the worst possible thing for the industry has occurred: The Left are serious about trying to help it.

The Large-Scale Solar Subsidies are bountifully generous on an unprecedented scale that involves taxing everything else that moves, but even that generosity is not enough to compete with…wait for it… the even more insanely lavish Small-Scale Solar Subsidies. Who would have thought? Remember these are the same people who tell us that the “free market solution is best”. They offered three times the going rate for rooftop solar electricity, and through utterly predictable market mechanics, created a glut in rooftop solar panels as every man and his dog rushed in to get free electrons from their roofs, and on good sunny days, even cheques in the mail. Now, the large-scale projects are struggling to get major electricity retailers to sign long-term contracts.

And whom do the Greenslimers blame? Not Abbott, not this time.

Solar, it’ll replace coal one day just not if subsidies dry up (a little glowball warming pun there, geddit?)

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 5:50 pm
Who or what is a “mumbles”?

Sounds like a too cute pretentious affectation to me. What’s the cunt’s real name?

Abu Chowdah

9 Feb 12 at 6:05 pm
And Jack the Insider. Give a break. What’s the wanker’s real name?

Abu Chowdah

9 Feb 12 at 6:08 pm
…they don’t represent decency and democracy…

- Bob Brown on the ~~Alliance~~ Syrian embassy.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 6:24 pm
“What’s the wanker’s real name?”

Jack Hoysted.

Alex Pundit

9 Feb 12 at 6:24 pm
do you know what a rebate is you envious communist scum or are you just ignoring that

Mrs Steve’s wife pays for it. What does he care.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 6:44 pm
Come to think of it, why is contraception an issue for debate regarding Insurance coverage?

Ignoring the rock chopper ‘issues’, why is contraception covered by insurance? Do the razor blades I shave with get covered? If I bought condoms would I get covered?

Damn secret women’s business crap.

Entropy

9 Feb 12 at 6:58 pm
The more I read about young Harry Windsor, the better I like him.

A long way from the stereotypical “Hooray Henry” chinless wonder portrayed by the English tabloids.

Pity about his dad, though.

Pedro the Ignorant

9 Feb 12 at 7:10 pm
Why is my health insurance cover an issue?

Hahahaha. As if the man who told that grampa Simpson style story of shouting the family to $2 steaks had enough money for health insurance.

Token

9 Feb 12 at 7:20 pm
I know the man is amoral, but I still can’t believe David Marr would spin a story the way he did today.

Bunyip explains.

Marr turns out to be a creep as a result.

Token

9 Feb 12 at 7:22 pm
If you want private health cover – pay for it yourself.

I resent having to own some garbage policy to avoid a further 1% hit to my income. But I equally dislike subsidizing a bullshit insurance industry that pays for crap like massages and chiropractic quackery.

Don

9 Feb 12 at 7:28 pm
If you want private health cover – pay for it yourself.

We do and even after I receive the rebate I put more in the tax system than I ever get back. So STFU.
It’s a tax break, not a subsidy.

I resent having to own some garbage policy to avoid a further 1% hit to my income.

Then stop whining.

But I equally dislike subsidizing a bullshit insurance industry that pays for crap like massages and chiropractic quackery.

Shop around then and get one that doesn’t offer those sorts of frills. Stop being so dopey.

It’s all about you Don. Sorry to say but it isn’t as I don;t give a rats what you like and don;t like.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 7:32 pm
Who or what is a “mumbles”?

Sounds like a too cute pretentious affectation to me. What’s the c***’s real name?

Peter Brent does have the courage to put his name to his pieces and will publish comments that are not complimentary if they are not too rude.

That said, it seems he is playing the old tricks of baiting Coalition supporters by saying the most stupid ill informed things.

I’d bet he is close to being axed for running the most boring blog next to Malcolm Farr’s turgid rubbish.

Peter seems to be studying the constitution as part of a post grad and as a result thinks he was an expert on that topic. He made a dick of himself back around Australia Day as he had to publish many amendments to his stupid comments on how the constitution is discriminatory to aboriginals.

Token

9 Feb 12 at 7:36 pm
Entropy: From the NYT

In a report commissioned by the Obama administration, the academy’s Institute of Medicine said free contraceptive coverage was justified because nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States were unintended, and about 40 percent of unintended pregnancies ended in abortion. Thus, it said, greater use of contraception will reduce the rates of unintended pregnancy, teenage pregnancy and abortion.

Now, the issue of whether contraception does lead to fewer abortions is complicated, but I think the better evidence may be that in America, greater availability will reduce abortions.

steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 7:40 pm
Jack Hoysted

Clearly also made up.

Abu Chowdah

9 Feb 12 at 7:43 pm
Now, the issue of whether contraception does lead to fewer abortions is complicated, but I think the better evidence may be that in America, greater availability will reduce abortions

Dickhead, you think there’s limited availability of contraception in the US? Moron, you can purchase the fucking things in a fucking toilet at a bar or restaurant. 7 eleven’s have them, gas stations even sell the things.

The Catholic church simply doesn’t to be involved in this stuff and the have a right to complain bitterly about their money being spent this way as a result of a directive by the Afirmative Action president.

Fuck you’re an annoying dickhead, Mrs, Steve. Go do the washing up.

moron.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 7:46 pm
Seriously Mr’s Steve, the site simply ran better when you weren’t here. Go away.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 7:48 pm
The lying slapper on 7.30.

She just drones on and never actually addresses the question asked.

Patently implicit in every single response however is that she thinks she is addressing people with IQ’s of 80 and less

I can barely stand more than a minute of her but I lasted 5 and then tuned out.

I honestly don’t know how Uhlmann controls himself.

I fucn hate her and this government.

JamesK

9 Feb 12 at 7:53 pm
I tell ya, construction industry rooted.
Another ” Big Builder goes Bust in Boom time .

I predict unemployment it this (large) sector to skyrocket, and all the shit that comes with it.

jumpnmcar

9 Feb 12 at 7:53 pm
The whining I hear is from people wanting subsidized health insurance. I don’t understand your logic JC.

It isn’t a tax break because it has no relation to your income – it is a discount on a private insurance policy. It even gets paid via a directly discounted premium.

I have a policy with essentially no cover just to dodge the tax.

But the government rebate is paid to many who claim all they can on dubious services – subsidized by me, the taxpayer.

I can’t believe this government subsidy to private enterprise is so popular on a libertarian forum.

Don

9 Feb 12 at 7:57 pm
Contraception reducing abortion in America illustrated by this story from Slate:

On average, contraception lowers your odds of pregnancy by a factor of seven. If you’re capable of having seven times as much sex, congratulations. The rest of us will get pregnant less often, not more.

And that’s what the data show. Ryan’s bill targets women with family incomes below 200 percent of the poverty rate, since they have higher rates of unintended pregnancy and more difficulty finding or affording contraception. Among these women, the percentage using contraception declined from 1995 to 2002. As predicted by contraception opponents, the rate of sexual activity also declined, though only slightly. Even better, from a pro-life standpoint, when these women got pregnant unintentionally, the percentage who chose abortion fell.

Less contraception, less sex, more women choosing life. So, the abortion rate among these women went down, right?

Wrong. It went up. The decline in contraception overwhelmed the decline in sexual activity, resulting in a higher rate of unintended pregnancy. And the increase in unintended pregnancy overwhelmed the increase in women choosing life, resulting in more abortions. From a pro-life standpoint, trading contraception for abstinence and a “culture of life” was a net loss.

steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 8:01 pm
She just drones on and never actually addresses the question asked.

She addressed the questions – well, to display impatience that she should be asked them. And then she went back to drone mode.

ar

9 Feb 12 at 8:03 pm
It isn’t a tax break because it has no relation to your income – it is a discount on a private insurance policy.

It’s there because it is compulsory to take out insurance. Remove the compulsion and remove the rebate.

ar

9 Feb 12 at 8:05 pm
Steve with the willys and gynies again?
Really ?
Is that ankle bracelet annoying ? ya sick fuk

jumpnmcar

9 Feb 12 at 8:09 pm
The whining I hear is from people wanting subsidized health insurance. I don’t understand your logic JC.

You mean people shouldn’t complain when a government tries to take away a tax break? That’s not whining you fool, that’s a legitimate grievance.

You’re the one doing all the whining about the shitty stuff you get and don’t need. As I said either do away with the insurance if you don’t like or go choose another carrier, you dipshit.

It isn’t a tax break because it has no relation to your income – it is a discount on a private insurance policy. It even gets paid via a directly discounted premium.

Of course it’s a tax break, you moron. Only people that pay taxes can receive the break. If you don’t pay taxes you don’t get, so it’s a tax break.

Seriously, you have to have a higher IQ to be posting here or you’ll end up getting eaten alive.

I have a policy with essentially no cover just to dodge the tax.

I really don’t give a rats what kind of cover you have. That’s your problem.

But the government rebate is paid to many who claim all they can on dubious services – subsidized by me, the taxpayer.

Dickhead, You’re not subsidizing me or anyone else as we all have to pay taxes to get the fucking rebate.

You really don’t fucking get it do you.

And another thing, its not as though the money is being returned to us. It’s going to be pissed against the wall like the union clerks have pissed all other money against the wall.

I can’t believe this government subsidy to private enterprise is so popular on a libertarian forum.

Stop calling it a subsidy you fucking clown, it’s a tax break and a tax break isn’t better than lower tax rates, but that isn’t what is being offered.

Using you logic that this is subsidy, then let the rich stop subsidizing da poor. In this country no one should nbot be able to earn their keep unless they are severely, severely handicapped. And no, depression is not a handicap.

You are too fucking stupid to be posting here, Don, you clown.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 8:10 pm
I would have thought the mere cost of having children would be sufficient incentive to get contraception, Steve.

Medical insurance should be for medical reasons. And that not only excludes contraception (I wouldn’t count abortion for medical reasons as contraception) but also homeopathy and other sorts of alternative claptrap.

Entropy

9 Feb 12 at 8:12 pm
From a pro-life standpoint, trading contraception for abstinence and a “culture of life” was a net loss.

Mr’s Steve. you can purchase condoms in a gas station in the US. You’re a bigger clown that your mate Don.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 8:12 pm
I can’t believe this government subsidy to private enterprise is so popular on a libertarian forum.

How much of your ‘private’ medical care is actually paid by your
insurance company from your PHI premiums, Don?

There is notrue private healthcare in this country.

The issue is the proportion of private hospital beds utiliised vrersus public.

The last time Labor were in charge only ~33% of people had PHI.
Thanks to Howard that is now well above 40%.

I wonder what it will be after Labor’s latest cynical take?

Do you believe the government can afford to purchase the extra number of public hospital beds or do you think they cynically don’t care and want to do anything to push their tricky accounting into the ‘black’ next year and they don’t care after that ‘cos they won’t be in government to deal with the mess that will ensue from this measure?

Do you think the leftist cliueless drone Tanya Plibersek enjoys demagoguery?

Who are the elitists here?

Do you get tired with the blinkers permanently on Don?

JamesK

9 Feb 12 at 8:16 pm
Clearly also made up.

It aint. He’s a refugee lawyer. He resides in HK apparently.

Alex Pundit

9 Feb 12 at 8:29 pm
Oh great, Steve’s back opining on his favourite creepy topics again.

Steve, I said it just after you flounced out of here in a huff and I’ll say it again – you see yourself as Catallaxy’s gadfly, but you’re actually more of a pubic louse.

Oh come on

9 Feb 12 at 8:29 pm
Sickening,

POLICE in Tasmania have charged a 14-year-old Hobart boy with the rape of a 23-year-old woman at knifepoint on a Cornelian Bay walking track last week.
…
The boy will be dealt with under the Youth Justice Act.

It’s an adult crime and he should be charged and dealt with as an adult.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 8:41 pm
Of course it’s a tax break, you moron. Only people that pay taxes can receive the break. If you don’t pay taxes you don’t get, so it’s a tax break.

That’s not correct the rebate can also be claimed directly from the insurer as a reduced premium or as a cash or cheque payment from Medicare as well as a tax offset.

badm0f0

9 Feb 12 at 8:48 pm
Gee. Single Sydney people earning $129,000 or more, the group who are really taking it tough at the moment given the way the price of cocaine keeps wobbling around, are going to lose the rebate.

You immature communist snot.

They work their arses off for that cash. The Government takes about 1/3 of GDP. Now they want more for previous expenses not properly budgeted for.

What people do in their spare time, either snorting coke at the Ivy or pumping iron at Bondi beach, is none of your fucking business nor is it pertinent to the conversation.

If you want the public system to survive, deregulate health cover, THUS MAKING IT MORE COMPETITIVE AND AFFORDABLE, stop taxing the working classes into suffering to pay for ever growing and ever more inefficient Government payrolls and charge full prices for fuckheads who get treated for headcolds at triage.

.

9 Feb 12 at 8:53 pm
That’s not correct the rebate can also be claimed directly from the insurer as a reduced premium or as a cash or cheque payment from Medicare as well as a tax offset.

Did you take a larger dose of idiot pills than normal, this morning Bado?

What you’re describing is the various methods one can use to claw back the rebate, you dope. Big deal.

The point is correct. One has to be paying taxes to be able to claim the rebate and if you’re paying taxes at the rate the union clerks party wants to zero out you’re fucking subsidizing (to use an abused expression by leftarded idiots), you’re subsidizing everyone and the their pet canary.

Please stop being an imbecile too as there’s enough of around today.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 8:55 pm
My return has caused much consternation and name calling in lieu of rationally argued response.

Typical.

Steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 8:55 pm
Don’t flatter yourself, Steve.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 8:59 pm
No Steve. It has met justified criticism and well metered out “tough love” style a pedagogy. You think you can fucking well dictate a health system based on your prejudices against young professionals with more brains or a better work ethic than you.

You’re basically a stepford wife with a dick.

.

9 Feb 12 at 9:01 pm
My return has caused much consternation and name calling in lieu of rationally argued response.

Typical.

Not at all. Everyone single one of you pathetic 3rd rate claims has been soundly refuted with reason and logic. The abuse of course is icing on the cake, because you richly deserve it.

Finished the home chores for evening Mrs. Steve? How about going around the cupboards and finalizing the shopping list for tomorrow?

JC

9 Feb 12 at 9:02 pm
Apropos Joe Hilderbrand and co being attacked by some Aborigines in the NT, the Age/AAP luvvie finishes their story blissfully unaware of the irony.

The documentary being made involves four Indian people taken around Australia to investigate the stereotype in the Subcontinent that Australians are drunk, dumb and racist.
Police are investigating the incident.

Which incident? 4 citizens of the most racist society in human history? Hell they invented racism. But somehow me thinks Age luvvie will not be sicking Judge Maudy and Michael Lavarch onto to the 4 subcontinentals. Hopefully Larissa Behrendt will tweet they need to stay hidden in the outback, lest they are lynched in Balmain.

http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/dumb-drunk-and-racist-abc-crew-attacked-20120209-1rtdl.html#ixzz1lsQquUtQ

Peter Patton

9 Feb 12 at 9:03 pm
Fucking Indians. What is wrong with being drunk?

.

9 Feb 12 at 9:10 pm
And some might think it appropriate to pull up stats on the “dumb” claim, but I couldn’t possibly comment.

Peter Patton

9 Feb 12 at 9:12 pm
The point is correct. One has to be paying taxes to be able to claim the rebate and if you’re paying taxes at the rate the union clerks party wants to zero out you’re fucking subsidizing (to use an abused expression by leftarded idiots), you’re subsidizing everyone and the their pet canary.

No stupid, you don’t need to be paying taxes, you only need to be paying premiums & be otherwise eligible for Medicare.

badm0f0

9 Feb 12 at 9:18 pm
Let’s see Gab: in less than 24 hours, I’ve been called a fart, a massive cock, a annoying dickhead, a pubic louse, an immature communist snot, a sick fuk, a scumbag, envious communist scum, senile, an imbecile, envy-ridden communist scum, a moocher, a liar.

I think all I managed was “nut”, “goose” and some sarcasm about well off single people whining about means testing of the insurance rebate.

There’s not a lot of reasoning going on there.

Steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 9:20 pm
Yes, plenty of reasoning along with the deru kagi utareru school of pedagogy. You need to HTFU and focus.

.

9 Feb 12 at 9:21 pm
young healthy people who don’t smoke or do drugs with no genetic medical complications can save around ?$7000 by not taking out the private health insurance. Probably more, i’m not sure. How often does a young healthy adult need hospitalisation? Rarely up until 50 probably (ie, if no smoke, moderate alcohol, no obesity, no illicits, careful watch of moles etc, no heredity diseases)

Even families with healthy kids with no known medical/heredity problems can do without private health insurance.

Insurance can rob you blind.

candy

9 Feb 12 at 9:22 pm
Lol what’s the bet the Aborigines weren’t quite the drunks the ABC had in mind showing on TV?

Nic

9 Feb 12 at 9:22 pm
I’ve been called a fart, a massive cock, a annoying dickhead, a pubic louse, an immature communist snot, a sick fuk, a scumbag, envious communist scum, senile, an imbecile, envy-ridden communist scum, a moocher, a liar.

Ya know, you ought to put that up on your blog. It’s a cool introduction, instead of your current one, which is untrue:

conservative leaning commentary on politics, media, life, the multiverse and whatever else crosses my mind.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 9:23 pm
Even families with healthy kids with no known medical/heredity problems can do without private health insurance.

After seeing relatives at the best and worst of their lives in private and public hospitals, I’ll stick with being ripped off, Ben Pojibe.

.

9 Feb 12 at 9:25 pm
…. says “After seeing relatives at the best and worst of their lives in private and public hospitals, I’ll stick with being ripped off, Ben Pojibe”

I have to …. and I have tremendous respect for public hospital emergency staff and ward specialists and nurses and the wardspersons. (well in Brisbane that is). They are just as efficient and effective as any private hospital. They just don’t get their little glass of wine with dinner – but if you’re dying it doesn’t really matter does it?

candy

9 Feb 12 at 9:29 pm
Add “tax-dodging Nazi swine” to that list, Steve.

Les Majesty

9 Feb 12 at 9:30 pm
Lol what’s the bet the Aborigines weren’t quite the drunks the ABC had in mind showing on TV?

Indeed. Surely, between this latest footage of ‘sorry business’ from a NT billabong, spliced with the authoritative Australia Day 2012 footage of the spear-threatening ‘tent-ambassador,’ our little Brahmin Aryan princesses’ work should be done.

Peter Patton

9 Feb 12 at 9:30 pm
They just don’t get their little glass of wine with dinner – but if you’re dying it doesn’t really matter does it?

Yes it does you cross dressing halfwit. Hugs and kisses!

.

9 Feb 12 at 9:33 pm
Mrs. Steve, I’ve called you a moron quote a few times. However as I said, whenever you’re rightly abused everyone as far as I can tell has done the right thing and correctly explained why.

You annoying prick.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 9:35 pm
… says: “Yes it does you cross dressing halfwit. Hugs and kisses!

It’s all the private or public.You get a bit of time with your deceased relative, and when you leave, whoosh, body is gone and the bed is sterilised and someone new is in it within hours.
Private is prettier looking but the stuff is the same.

candy

9 Feb 12 at 9:38 pm
And I acknowledge the British Empire for without them we wouldn’t be here.

Ralph Buttigieg
4 Feb 12 at 12:09 am

Um I dunno about this. Technically I would have to acknowledge Adolf Hitler.

.

9 Feb 12 at 9:38 pm
Candy

Would rather croak it in a rat infested, dirty uncaring public ward, or a place that at least has decent ambiance and painted walls that aren’t peeling. I know what I would prefer.

It’s delusional to consider public hospitals in oz as decent. They aren’t. They’re filthy unkempt dung holes and I’m amazed how deluded people are to accept them.

They’re also populated by fat nasty, surly dyke nurses for the most part.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 9:39 pm
Private is prettier looking but the stuff is the same.

Why don’t we just kick them down a back alley with a jar of oxy contin? Hell, they could just score some heroin instead.

Here is a better piece of financial advice: earn more money and stop bitching about the price.

.

9 Feb 12 at 9:41 pm
…..and I have tremendous respect for public hospital emergency staff and ward specialists and nurses and the wardspersons.

For the most part they are miserable bastards barely able to talk you, as you’re not paying their wage.. da government is.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 9:42 pm
They’re also populated by fat nasty, surly dyke nurses for the most part.

Some of them are slim.

The best ones, from my experiences, are the older ones trained in the UK.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 9:42 pm
JC perhaps i’ve had more experience with dying relatives in hospitals and taking very ill child to emergency than you perhaps ( in Brisbane).

Your comment about ‘fat nasty dyke nurses’ does you no good JC, something odd. I remember you said your daughter was ill when young – do you truly think that about nurses? they provide the mainstay of care to kids in hospital.

candy

9 Feb 12 at 9:44 pm
Seriously , I cannot believe that people sing the praises of the public hospital system in oz.

It’s almost those idiot North Koreans crying over the death of Kim. Their mind has been captured.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 9:45 pm
Thanks for that link to William Saletan, Steve.

Who is William Saletan?

Saletan has written several articles about bioethics and sexual ethics, criticizing what he sees as homophobia and misogyny within the Roman Catholic Church.

Saletan’s fatuous and dishonest attempt to pretend we’re now debating the efficacy of contraception is a herring more red than Obama’s ideology. Let us grant that the Pill is efficacious in preventing pregnancy. (RIP, straw man).

This has nothing to do with:

1) the Stalinism of forcing the Catholic Church to pay for it;
2) the wacko notion that pregnancy is an illness (now Democrat policy);
3) the fact that adults are free to buy their own condoms at a servo or their own CPs at a pharmacist.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 9:46 pm
JC says: Seriously , I cannot believe that people sing the praises of the public hospital system in oz”

Foolish. Public hospitals is all low income earners have and I say it again low income people do work full-time in unskilled jobs, and the public hospital is all that is available because of that low income and thank God the system is okay (despite the wait in ER)

candy

9 Feb 12 at 9:49 pm
JC perhaps i’ve had more experience with dying relatives in hospitals and taking very ill child to emergency than you perhaps ( in Brisbane).

I’ve had several experiences and they’re revolting places.

Your comment about ‘fat nasty dyke nurses’ does you no good JC, something odd. I remember you said your daughter was ill when young – do you truly think that about nurses? they provide the mainstay of care to kids in hospital.

You mean the Children’s hospital? Doesn’t count as they’re like trophies the state government show off to suggest the rest of the system is is similarly run.

But even in that system, the some of the nursing staff are abominable and their attitudes sucked.

However I must say that it I found it a lot better than the regular adult hospitals where no one really gives a shit.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 9:50 pm
Public hospitals is all low income earners have and I say it again low income people do work full-time in unskilled jobs

Oh bullshit they can get the old system top cover for around $100 per month.

and I say it again low income people do work full-time in unskilled jobs

Which pays as well or better than graduate jobs given the industry or how hard they work. or they are offered on the job training.

Buzz off Ben Pojibe.

.

9 Feb 12 at 9:52 pm
Even families with healthy kids with no known medical/heredity problems can do without private health insurance.

Only a young woman who doesn’t respect her vagina would go without private health insurance.

Imagine giving birth amongst the riff raff of a public hospital? Could scar a kddie for life.

Infidel Tiger

9 Feb 12 at 9:54 pm
Candy

The relative poverty of people or otherwise should have no bearing on service and service delivery. What I’m actually saying is that poor people are hard by with our current hospital system, as there’s no real competition. Do what Milton Friedman once said and offer people a voucher system which they can use, but also privatize the hospital system and we will be better for it.

We’ve had a lot of discussions here in the past and Dot worked out that a reasonable insurance policy in a private system would cost around 3,000 bucks. voucherize it and have hospitals actually competing for patients instead of the sovietized crap the not so well off have to endure.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 9:56 pm
IT says” Only a young woman who doesn’t respect her vagina would go without private health insurance.

Imagine giving birth amongst the riff raff of a public hospital? Could scar a kddie for life”

I’ve done it like millions and millions of Aust women.
You sound like a condescending twit who seems to know nothing about ordinary people. Don’t join the Liberals. You are too right wing.

candy

9 Feb 12 at 9:58 pm
…..the fact that adults are free to buy their own condoms at a servo or their own CPs at a pharmacist.

I can’t believe it. I’m shaking my head, Mrs Steve fell for the NYTimes bullshit that you can’t access contraceptives in the US.

Moderator..Please ban Mrs. Steve.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 9:59 pm
It’s also like the Star Wars bar scene in these public hospitals.

No wonder they fuck up so often because many of them don’t speak English proficently enough to drive a taxi.

“Appendectomy? I belief you sayed vasectomy. LOL.”

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 10:02 pm
anyone even notice the strange thing about the US medical insurance system and why it’s so expensive.

The government is even trying to push contraceptives onto health insurance. That’s just one small indicator why health insurance is so fucking expensive there. They even want to cover contraceptives.

And you wonder why the place is going broke.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 10:02 pm
CL, I was answering a question as to why US governments State and Federal want contraception in insurance cover (it’s based on medical advice as a preventive measure, given the huge number of unwanted pregnancies in the country, which result in a huge number of abortions), and then answering JC’s rich man facile argument that poor people should make do with condoms by noting that American evidence suggests poor women who can’t afford the pill leads to more abortions.

This is all very rational thinking and argument, with the “pro life” aspect of reducing abortion.

And polling just out suggests most Catholics agree with it too.

Obama could have saved himself much trouble by going straight to the compromise he is heading to now, but it remains pretty much a storm in a teacup in the big picture.

Steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 10:03 pm
You sound like a condescending twit who seems to know nothing about ordinary people. Don’t join the Liberals. You are too right wing.

I knew you had it in you, candy! Finally a bit of spirit!

Not quite the same thrill as landing a Dhuie, but I’m pleassed.

Infidel Tiger

9 Feb 12 at 10:05 pm
Foolish. Public hospitals is all low income earners have

Actually candy many low income earners and pensioners fork out for phi.

Are you suggesting that ~60% of the population choose to use a second rate syatem and they are all “low income earners”?

What does universal health care – which is what we have – do to a people Candy?

Why would that over time be good for leftists?

JamesK

9 Feb 12 at 10:06 pm
All i see is ALP ” ripping $2 billion out of health care” TONY.

jumpnmcar

9 Feb 12 at 10:07 pm
CL, I was answering a question as to why US governments State and Federal want contraception in insurance cover (it’s based on medical advice as a preventive measure, given the huge number of unwanted pregnancies in the country, which result in a huge number of abortions), and then answering JC’s rich man facile argument that poor people should make do with condoms

Really? You mean I should have relied on a gals word she was std free and on the pill when I wasn’t married? You gullible twit.

There’s nothing wrong with condoms. Nothing at all as a contraceptive.

Furthermore, I’m not at all sure you can get the pill as a subsided prescription drug in oz. I don’t believe it is.

by noting that American evidence suggests poor women who can’t afford the pill leads to more abortions.

Only poor women get pregnant according to Steve.

And polling just out suggests most Catholics agree with it too.

Really. Which poll is saying Catholics agree with Odumbo? Evidence.

Obama could have saved himself much trouble by going straight to the compromise he is heading to now, but it remains pretty much a storm in a teacup in the big picture.

Really? Like people are aware that when he’s in his second and last term he will always bend to people’s wishes instead of his socialist ideology? You fuckwit.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 10:11 pm
“Prof Roger Pielke Jr of University of Colorado blogs, February 6:

SCORE One for Old School Journalism and The Australian.

With the admission by public officials today that the Wivenhoe dam was indeed mismanaged, The Australian newspaper is right to trumpet the importance of old-school investigative journalism. Without their work, it is likely that the mismanagement would not have been uncovered.”

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 10:13 pm
but it remains pretty much a storm in a teacup in the big picture.

steve is as usual inane – and wrong.

Obummer ‘thinks’ – like steve – and triumphed that it was a wedge issue.

It has actually damaged him politically.

Paret of Santorum’s success yesteday was because of Obummer’s anti-catholicism.

Even leftist Obummer sycophants like EJ Dionne have criticised it and not least because of the poltical ineptitude.

Obummer is a committed anti-catholic and those useless god-forsaken liberal left US bishops have been given an earful from Benedict 2 weeks ago and they have now realised they error of their ways.

Catholics – even those who use contraception – are aghast at Obummer’s latest thuggery.

They know they’ve been had.

it won’t happen again.

JamesK

9 Feb 12 at 10:15 pm
by noting that American evidence suggests poor women who can’t afford the pill leads to more abortions.

They can afford plasma TVs but not free condoms, says Steve.

http://www.condomusa.com/

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 10:16 pm
JC, you earn too much money and are too much of a copper roofed elitist to have any say in public health policy.

Your attacks on the Australia public health system are ridiculous.

You also have this habit of ignoring links that have already been provided.

Steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 10:17 pm
I understand America has charity hospitals.

candy

9 Feb 12 at 10:17 pm
They know they’ve been had.

it won’t happen again.

Friend on mine in Atlanta, one of those crazy God-fearing types, told me four years ago that Obama was evil. I argued with her over her comment. I can see she was right from the start.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 10:19 pm
Steve you are a merchant of envy. You have nothing to offer this forum.

.

9 Feb 12 at 10:19 pm
Gab

Roger P raises a good point as they have been on this forever and their investigative aspect has been first rate.

However where they’re letting the side down is in failing to explain that the ‘vironmental brain tumor afflicting a broad number is the prime cause why this happened.

Those pricks that mismanaged the dam should be charged and at risk personally.

There may also be a decent argument to sue the CSIRO for pushing that green agenda. Even Flattery ought to be a risk if he was advocating that bullshit in an official capacity.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 10:19 pm
CL, I was answering a question as to why US governments State and Federal want contraception in insurance cover (it’s based on medical advice as a preventive measure, given the huge number of unwanted pregnancies in the country, which result in a huge number of abortions)…

No, it’s not, Steve. It’s pushed for ideological reasons because its proponents want to normalise their anti-natal extremism by institutionalising it.

They are not in the least bit interested in reducing abortions. For one thing, a disproportionate number of abortions are inflicted on blacks, hispanics and native Americans – a low percentage of whom have fancy employer-funded insurance schemes.

Those in employment can easily afford a packet of condoms if that’s what they want.

The “pro-life” trick is one we’ve seen before. In 2008, the Democrats tried (successfully, as it happens) to sell the idea that even though turd Obama believed that inadvertently un-aborted babies should die on kitchen sinks and be thrown in hospital bins, he was really “pro-life” because he opposed the Iraq War and cared about da poor.

Nobody’s boying it this time around – not even the Washington Post.

And polling just out suggests most Catholics agree with it too.

Catholics also fornicate, get divorced, take recreational drugs, steal, murder, kidnap and litter. Nevertheless, all these things are also adjudged sinful by the magisterium. And, of course, the Catholic Church’s stance on contraception – far from becoming antiquated – is now increasingly seen as having been prophetic. The ageing, wrecked, entitled-out economies of the West prove it, irrefutably.

Your problem is that you work yourself into an Obama-protecting frenzy and then Google up talking points from the New York Times and Slate.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 10:23 pm
Even Flattery ought to be a risk if he was advocating that bullshit in an official capacity.

A class action suit against Flannery for inciting climate hysteria which led to millions (probably billions) wasted on desal plants is long overdue.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 10:23 pm
Most private hospitals do some charity work in the USA.

Catholic hospitals are non profit making but many specifically serve the poor and most particularly the indigenous peoples.

Catholic hospitals have been doing that for close to a thousand years that I’m aware of in Europe and Ireland and early after the inception the American colonies soon after the Irish arrived.

JamesK

9 Feb 12 at 10:24 pm
Seriously , I cannot believe that people sing the praises of the public hospital system in oz.

Most people have never been in a private hospital.

I hadn’t till I was about 28, despite numerous stays in the public health system all around the country (ACT, QLD and NSW).

Eventually my old man had a heart operation done in the Prince Albert in Sydney, I swear to god I walked into that place and walked around in a dazed stupor for the first half an hour “what do you mean a hospital doesn’t need to have wiring hanging from the roof, grotty corridors and a layout designed by monkeys on crack?”.

When I was 22 I was carted into the Canberra Hospital shin bone in 14 pieces where due to a lack of beds they promptly stuck me in the geriatric ward with 4 dying men who were dying in a very awful fucking manner. There I stayed near forgotten for FIVE DAYS, fasting 14 hours a day because today just might be the day you get operated on.

“Oooh I hope so!” I would squeal like a kid waiting for Christmas, today you might re-attach my leg to my knee and make my jelly like lower leg solid again hooray!

Five days to get a shattered leg operated on.

And to top it off they made me pay to use the goddamned 12inch TV hanging off the roof with free to air TV on it.

Lucky me.

twostix

9 Feb 12 at 10:27 pm
Just back from the wilds of western QLD. Heard the best description of Flannery ever, from a bloke whose property is mostly underwater.

They were talking about Flannery’s prediction of endless drought. Money quote:

“Yeah, well that bloody useless professor’s skull is filled with smashed arseholes!”

Bloody lovely piece of Australian vernacular, that one.

Mk50 of Brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 10:27 pm
My return has caused much consternation and name calling in lieu of rationally argued response.

The abuse is justified, but he is correct that I for one have not engaged him with a “rationally argued response”. Fact is that I don’t read his posts because they’re either eye-bleedingly dull or they drip with old-man-in-stained-raincoat sleaze. Reading the latter provokes a uneasy feeling of grottiness akin to how you’d feel if you were flashed in a public park. Best avoided.

Oh come on

9 Feb 12 at 10:28 pm
Without their work, it is likely that the mismanagement would not have been uncovered

And Holmes on Media Watch said there needed to be an enquiry into the Hate Media over these hateful allegations against nice Ms Bligh and her wonderful government. Of course…

Lazlo

9 Feb 12 at 10:29 pm
JC, you earn too much money and are too much of a copper roofed elitist to have any say in public health policy.

Oh yea? Fuck off. I’ll say what I like whenever I like and people like you or the union clerks party and their stalinist brethren don’t intimidate me for a second.

Your attacks on the Australia public health system are ridiculous.

Nonsense. It’s an atrocious system based on soviet principles and we know that it simply doesn’t work.

There is no reason in the world why the price signal and market system stops at the door of a doctor office or the ER.

In a real market based system hospitals would be competing for patients like firms compete for customers in other facets of our lives. Markets would be segmented and we’d see a great deal of specialization.

Ask yourself this dick features. Laser surgery was once an extremely expensive procedure. The service is essentially free market as it’s an elective procedure. The price has collapsed over time, whereas the price for any form of aligned surgery that is covered by medicare has gone up as no one gives a shit about cutting costs and acting more efficiently.

You also have this habit of ignoring links that have already been provided.

You mean like your NYTimes link? Lol

JC

9 Feb 12 at 10:30 pm
Um I dunno about this. Technically I would have to acknowledge Adolf Hitler.

Erm. Nope.

You’d be a scrofulous, cheese eating, beret wearing, soap-dodging froggie!

Mk50 of Brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 10:37 pm
CL, you are the type of pro-life dill that Saletan criticises.

You would rather be ideologically pure, even with respect to women who are not Catholic (as are many women employees of US Catholic hospitals) and live in a fantasy land where women will suddenly stop having sex and unwanted pregnancies, rather than encourage responsible use of contraception and get less abortions.

Funny that you’ll decry things such as prohibition or the ‘war on drugs’ because they are ineffectual, yet you think standing on the blogosphere street corner telling random women that Pope Paul VI was right all along is helpful to reduce abortion.

Steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 10:40 pm
Steve’s envy is bullshit. Gillard and other senior ALP members are well to do. They are simply job snobs, as well as toffs. They despise the people who fund their own self indulgent largesse. They are literally biting the hand that feeds them.

.

9 Feb 12 at 10:41 pm
Funny that you’ll decry things such as prohibition or the ‘war on drugs’ because they are ineffectual, yet you think standing on the blogosphere street corner telling random women that Pope Paul VI was right all along is helpful to reduce abortion.

Um you nimrod it’s a voluntary personal ethical decision to live by those rules or not.

Getting high is a bigger deal than having an abortion? Please explain that one steve.

.

9 Feb 12 at 10:43 pm
So Steve, are you saying that the reason that people are arguing for a subsidised pill is to reduce abortions? So these are different people to the ones saying women should be able to get abortions whenever they want?

Somehow I suspect they are the same people.

See, if insurance wasn’t tied to their employers, Americans could choose an insurance company that covered the pill if they wanted. But in the american system, they can’t. So someone employed by Catholics won’t have that choice. The american health system really has some problems, which obamacare does not help.

entropy

9 Feb 12 at 10:46 pm
You would rather be ideologically pure, even with respect to women who are not Catholic (as are many women employees of US Catholic hospitals)

If they don’t like their employers stance, they are free to hop on their brooms and get a job elsewhere.

Infidel Tiger

9 Feb 12 at 10:47 pm
Funny that you’ll decry things such as prohibition or the ‘war on drugs’ because they are ineffectual,

Dickhead, it’s actually standing up for the rights of a religious group to be able to live by its own standards and not have the state imposed theirs.

You have this fucking backwards and standing up for the Catholic Church over this issue is 100% adhering to a libetarian philosphy.

It’s akin to the site some time ago supporting the right of the of the gay pub owner wanting to keep hetros out and being told by the state that he was committing an illegal act.

JC

9 Feb 12 at 10:49 pm
CL, you are the type of pro-life dill that Saletan criticises.

I’m glad, because it turns out that Saletan is an anti-Catholic wacko who writes books about da homophobia and da sexism in da Catholic Church.

Great source, Steve.

They are not in the least bit interested in reducing abortions. For one thing, a disproportionate number of abortions are inflicted on blacks, hispanics and native Americans – a low percentage of whom have fancy employer-funded insurance schemes.

Those in employment can easily afford a packet of condoms if that’s what they want.

The “pro-life” trick is one we’ve seen before. In 2008, the Democrats tried (successfully, as it happens) to sell the idea that even though turd Obama believed that inadvertently un-aborted babies should die on kitchen sinks and be thrown in hospital bins, he was really “pro-life” because he opposed the Iraq War and cared about da poor.

Nobody’s boying it this time around – not even the Washington Post.

Incidentally, Steve – you’re on record as a supporter of abortion. So you can’t turn around now and pretend you’re backing Obama’s Stalinist policy because you care about abortions. You don’t.

Your problem is that you work yourself into an Obama-protecting frenzy and then Google up talking points from the New York Times and Slate.

Funny that you’ll decry things such as prohibition or the ‘war on drugs’ because they are ineffectual, yet you think standing on the blogosphere street corner telling random women that Pope Paul VI was right all along is helpful to reduce abortion.

Ahahahahahaha.

Now Steve is saying that opponents of Obama the former Muslim’s jihad against Catholicism want to BAN DA CONTRACEPTIVES.

No, Steve – Barack Obama (like Adolf Hitler) wants to BAN the Catholic Church from adhering to its own religious principles.

You despicable fraud.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 10:51 pm
The hospitals would in strife if that happened, IT.

Entropy: I agree, the whole problem is tied to the American system of health benefits being commonly part of your employment package.

It is good that we don’t emulate that.

It is good that we don’t have their much more expensive health system that gives worse or no better outcome on average.

But if for whatever reason the US can’t or won’t untie health insurance from work benefits, then including contraception in it is potentially helpful to reduce the huge number or unwanted pregnancies that end in abortion.

And finally – there is no great contradiction in pro-choicers also being pro-contraception. Pro-choicers don’t as a rule cheer when abortion rates go higher. They would prefer there be no unwanted pregnancy in the first place.

Pro-lifers, the sensible ones, that is, would also prefer no unwanted pregnancy in the first place, and encourage contraception.

Steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 10:53 pm
Incidentally, Steve – you’re on record as a supporter of abortion.

In your imagination only, CL.

You have a bit of a problem with reality, don’t you?

Steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 10:55 pm
The hospitals would in strife if that happened, IT.

They would? I wasn’t aware that the US had full employment and was battling for staff.

Incidentally my mother is in the employ of one of Perth’s finest Catholic hospitals. She abides by their rules – even has fish on Friday. She pretends to gamble and smoke just to fit in.

Infidel Tiger

9 Feb 12 at 10:57 pm
IT, the Obama mandate does not require Catholic employees take the Pill. They can still “follow the rules” even though only about 2% do.

Steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 11:02 pm
Pro-choicers don’t as a rule cheer when abortion rates go higher.

They know enough not to admit it but oh yes they do

JamesK

9 Feb 12 at 11:03 pm
yeah I laffed at that one

entropy

9 Feb 12 at 11:07 pm
IT, the Obama mandate does not require Catholic employees take the Pill

I see steve is engaing the only opponet he ‘wins’ against: the strawman he constructs.

The Obama mandate forces Catholic institutions to pay for those in their employ to have an abortifacient drug as well as the contraceptive.

It has absolutely nothing to so with ‘rights’ and everything to do with statism

JamesK

9 Feb 12 at 11:08 pm
So Steve, are you saying that the reason that people are arguing for a subsidised pill is to reduce abortions?

No, Steve isn’t.

This is a newly minted straw man coming out of the White House and dutifully repeated by the New York Times and Slate.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 11:10 pm
Just like the real thing

Gay couple who were the leads plaintiffs in the lawsuit that led the state Supreme Court to overturn Prop. 8 are now getting divorced after only three years

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 11:12 pm
Moreover there is little or no doubt that, if enacted, it will go to the SCOTUS and will lose 9-zip.

Even as his own appointees voted agaqinst him 9-zip on the recent Hosanna-Tabor religious liberty encroachment by the Federal government.

JamesK

9 Feb 12 at 11:17 pm
The trouble with Steve is, he gets caught up in the details and refuses to see the big picture:

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) signed on as co-sponsor of Rubio’s bill. “Requiring our nation’s religious institutions to defy the basic tenets of their faiths shows a disturbing disregard for the Constitution’s protections of religious freedom,” Alexander said in a statement today.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 11:19 pm
In your imagination only, CL.

You have a bit of a problem with reality, don’t you?

No, Steve. No I don’t.

You supported abortion in a discussion here last year.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 11:19 pm
Just like the real thing

One of the first acts of the next President will be to disband the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in leftist infested California

JamesK

9 Feb 12 at 11:19 pm
Here ya go, Steve. I dare you to click the link.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 11:22 pm
Steve’s quite comfortable with the government interfering in his life from arsehole to breakfast. It’s a sickness.

Infidel Tiger

9 Feb 12 at 11:23 pm
The Obama mandate forces Catholic institutions to pay for those in their employ to have an abortifacient drug as well as the contraceptive.

Not just contraception and sterilisations but also abortifacients. Note that all of these ‘rights’ exactly mirror the public policy of the Third Reich.

—————————————

Wow:

Business Insider (!): Time To Admit It: The Church Has Always Been Right On Birth Control.

Painting the Catholic Church as “out of touch” is like shooting fish in a barrel, what with the funny hats and gilded churches. And nothing makes it easier than the Church’s stance against contraception.

Many people, (including our editor) are wondering why the Catholic Church doesn’t just ditch this requirement. They note that most Catholics ignore it, and that most everyone else finds it divisive, or “out-dated.” C’mon! It’s the 21st century, they say! Don’t they SEE that it’s STUPID, they scream.

Here’s the thing, though: the Catholic Church is the world’s biggest and oldest organization. It has buried all of the greatest empires known to man, from the Romans to the Soviets. It has establishments literally all over the world, touching every area of human endeavor. It’s given us some of the world’s greatest thinkers, from Saint Augustine on down to René Girard. When it does things, it usually has a good reason. Everyone has a right to disagree, but it’s not that they’re a bunch of crazy old white dudes who are stuck in the Middle Ages.

So, what’s going on?

The Church teaches that love, marriage, sex, and procreation are all things that belong together. That’s it. But it’s pretty important. And though the Church has been teaching this for 2,000 years, it’s probably never been as salient as today.

Today’s injunctions against birth control were re-affirmed in a 1965 document by Pope Paul VI called Humane Vitae. He warned of four results if the widespread use of contraceptives was accepted:

– General lowering of moral standards
– A rise in infidelity, and illegitimacy
– The reduction of women to objects used to satisfy men.
– Government coercion in reproductive matters.

Does that sound familiar?

Because it sure sounds like what’s been happening for the past 40 years.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 11:27 pm
A very good-looking chick and a good blog from Dellers.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

9 Feb 12 at 11:27 pm
They know enough not to admit it but oh yes they do

Lovely reading on this subject over at democraticunderground, the “grass roots” democract party website. Someone posts a comment “dreaming” about the day there’s no more need for abortion.

The avalanche of vitriol that follows is jaw dropping.

Abortion is compared to “getting your teeth cleaned”.

dead unborn babies are joked about ”
I’m sorry for being so coarse, but I love the imagery I immediately imagined a fetus getting stuck on the slide–baby powder would help with that friction coefficient. ”

The Pièce de résistance comes when someone who had an abortion says that they’re not all jolly and fun, and is piled on and abused till she squeaks.

Even poor old Obama cops a serve.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002276757
There are plenty of pro abortion fanatics on the left.

twostix

9 Feb 12 at 11:29 pm
I’m pro choice but pro abortion is fucked up.

.

9 Feb 12 at 11:32 pm
You supported abortion in a discussion here last year.

Get the quote and prove it.

steve from brisbane

9 Feb 12 at 11:34 pm
American left: Bush was right.

Majorities of liberal Democrats now support drone strikes, keeping Gitmo open.

Bush won.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 11:36 pm
Wow, Gab.

Rubio: “You want that in Spanish?”

God, he’s good.

LINK.

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 11:45 pm
He makes it sound even better in Spanish. President Rubio 2016.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 11:47 pm
He makes it sound even better in Spanish.

I’ll say. He rolls his r’s superbly.

Infidel Tiger

9 Feb 12 at 11:49 pm
Steve and Obama versus:

Province of Anchorage:

■1. Archbishop Roger Schweitz, of Anchorage, AK
■2. Bishop Edward Burns, of Juneau, AK
■3. Bishop Donald Kettler of Fairbanks, AK (better link needed)
Province of Atlanta:

■4. Archbishop Wilton Gregory , of Atlanta, GA
■5. Bishop Robert Guglielmone, of Charleston, SC
■6. Bishop Peter Jugis, of Charlotte, NC
■7. Bishop Michael Burbidge, of Raleigh, NC
■8. Bishop Gregory Hartmayer, of Savannah, GA
Province of Baltimore:

■9. Cardinal-designate Edwin O’Brien, of Baltimore, MD
■10. Bishop Paul Loverde, of Arlington, VA
■11. Bishop Francis DiLorenzo, of Richmond VA
■12. Bishop Michael Bransfield, of Wheeling-Charleston, WV
■13. Bishop Francis Malooly, of Wilmington, DE
Province of Boston:

■14. Sean Cardinal O’Malley, of Boston, MA
■15. Bishop Salvatore Matano,of Burlington, VT
■16. Bishop George Coleman, of Fall River, MA
■17. Bishop Peter Libasci, of Manchester, NH
■18. Bishop Richard Malone, of Portland, ME
■19. Bishop Timothy McDonnell, of Springfield, MA
■20. Bishop Robert McManus, of Worcester, MA
Province of Chicago:

■21. Francis Cardinal George of Chicago, IL
■22. Bishop Edward Braxton, of Belleville, IL (better link needed)
■23. Bishop Daniel Conlon, of Joliet, IL
■24. Bishop Daniel Jenky, of Peoria, IL
■25. Bishop Thomas Doran, of Rockford, IL
■26. Bishop Thomas Paprocki, of Springfield, IL
Province of Cincinnati:

■27. Archbishop Dennis Schnurr, of Cincinnati, OH
■28. Bishop Richard Lennon, of Cleveland, OH
■29. Bishop Frederick Campbell, of Columbus, OH
■Monsignor Kurt Kemo (apostolic administrator), of Steubenville, OH
■30. Bishop Leonard Blair, of Toledo, OH
■31. Bishop George Murry, of Youngstown, OH
Province of Denver:

■32. Bishop James Conley, Apostolic Administrator of Denver, CO
■33. Bishop Paul Etienne, of Cheyenne, WY
■34. Bishop Michael Sheridan, of Colorado Springs, CO
■35. Bishop Fernando Isern, of Pueblo, CO
Province of Detroit:

■36. Archbishop Allen Vigneron, of Detroit, MI
■37. Bishop Bernard Hebda, of Gaylord, MI
■38. Bishop Walter Hurley, of Grand Rapids, MI
■39. Bishop Paul Bradley, of Kalamazoo, MI
■40. Bishop Earl Boyea, of Lansing, MI
■41. Bishop Alexander Sample, of Marquette, MI
■42. Bishop Joseph Cistone, of Saginaw, MI (better link needed)
Province of Dubuque:

■43. Archbishop Jerome Hanus, of Dubuque, IA
■44. Bishop Martin Amos, of Davenport, IA
■45. Bishop Richard Pates, of Des Moines, IA
■46. Bishop Walter Nickless, of Sioux City, IA
Province of Galveston-Houston:

■47. Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, of Galveston-Houston, TX
■48. Bishop Joe Vasquez, of Austin, TX
■49. Bishop Curtis Guillory, of Beaumont, TX (better link needed)
■50. Bishop Daniel Flores, of Brownsville, TX
■51. Bishop Michael Mulvey, of Corpus Christi, TX
■52. Bishop Alvaro Corrada (apostolic administrator) of Tyler TX
■53. Bishop David Fellhauer of Victoria, TX (better link needed)
Province of Hartford:

■54. Archbishop Henry Mansell, of Hartford, CT
■55. Bishop William Lori, of Bridgeport, CT
■56. Bishop Michael Cote, of Norwich, CT
■57. Bishop Thomas Tobin, of Providence, RI
Province of Indianapolis:

■58. Bishop Christopher Coyne, Apostolic Administrator of Indianapolis, IN
■59. Bishop Charles Thompson, of Evansville, IN
■60. Bishop Kevin Rhoades, of Fort Wayne-South Bend, IN
■61. Bishop Dale Melczek, of Gary, IN
■62. Bishop Timothy Doherty, of Lafayette, IN
Province of Kansas City:

■63. Archbishop Joseph Naumann, of Kansas City, KS
■Father Barry Brinkman (apostolic administrator) of Salina, KS
■64. Bishop Michael Jackels, of Wichita, KS
Province of Los Angeles:

■65. Archbishop Jose Gomez, of Los Angeles, CA
■Roger Cardinal Mahoney (emeritus), of Los Angeles, CA
■66. Bishop Armando Ochoa, of Fresno, CA (also apostolic administrator of El Paso)
■67. Bishop Tod Brown, of Orange, CA
■68. Bishop Gerald Barnes, of San Bernadino, CA
■69. Bishop Robert Brom, of San Diego, CA
■70. Bishop Richard Garcia of Monterey, CA
Province of Louisville:

■71. Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, of Louisville, KY
■72. Bishop Roger Foys, of Covington, KY
■73. Bishop Richard Stika, of Knoxville, TN
■74. Bishop Ronald Gainer, of Lexington, KY (better link needed)
■75. Bishop Terry Steib, of Memphis, TN
■76. Bishop David Choby, of Nashville, TN
■77. Bishop WIlliam Medley, of Owensboro, KY
Province of Miami:

■78. Archbishop Thomas Wenski, of Miami, FL (also apostolic administrator of Pensacola-Tallahassee)
■79. Bishop John Noonan, of Orlando, FL
■80. Bishop Gerald Barbarito, of Palm Beach, FL
■81. Bishop Felipe Estevez, of St Augustine, FL
■82. Bishop Robert Lynch, of St Petersburg, FL
■83. Bishop Frank Dewane, of Venice, FL
Province of Milwaukee:

■84. Archbishop Jerome Listecki, of Milwaukee, WI
■85. Bishop David Ricken, of Green Bay, WI
■86. Bishop William Callahan, of La Crosse, WI
■87. Bishop Robert Morlino, of Madison, WI
■88. Bishop Peter Christensen, of Superior, WI
Province of Mobile:

■89. Archbishop Thomas Rodi of Mobile, AL
■90. Bishop Robert Baker of Birmingham, AL
■91. Bishop Joseph Latino of Jackson, MS (forthcoming)
Province of New Orleans:

■92. Archbishop Gregory Aymond, of New Orleans, LA
■93. Bishop Ronald Herzog, of Alexandria, LA
■94. Bishop Robert Muench, of Baton Rouge, LA
■95. Bishop Sam Jacobs, of Houma-Thibodaux, LA
■96. Bishop Michael Jarrell, of Lafayette, LA
■97. Bishop Glen Provost, of Lake Charles, LA
■98. Bishop Michael Duca, of Shreveport, LA
Province of New York:

■99. Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, of New York, NY
■Edward Cardinal Egan, of New York, NY (emeritus)
■100. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, of Brooklyn, NY
■101. Bishop Edward Kmiec, of Buffalo, NY
■102. Bishop Terry LaValley, of Ogdensburg, NY
■103. Bishop Matthew Clark, of Rochester, NY
■104. Bishop William Murphy, of Rockville Centre, NY
■105. Bishop Robert Cunningham, of Syracuse, NY
■106. Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany, NY
Province of Newark:

■107. Archbishop John Meyers, of Newark, NJ
■108. Bishop Joseph Galante, of Camden, NJ
■109. Bishop Arthur Serratelli, of Paterson, NJ
■110. Bishop David O’Connell, of Trenton, NJ
■111. Bishop Paul Bootkoski of Metuchen, NJ
Province of Oklahoma City:

■112. Archbishop Paul Coakley, of Oklahoma City, OK
■113. Bishop Anthony Taylor, of Little Rock, AR
■114. Bishop Edward Slattery, of Tulsa, OK
Province of Omaha:

■115. Archbishop George Lucas, of Omaha, NE
■116. Bishop William Dendinger, of Grand Island, NE (better link needed)
■117. Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, of Lincoln, NE
Province of Philadelphia:

■118. Archbishop Charles Chaput, of Philadelphia, PA
■119. Bishop John Barres, of Allentown, PA
■120. Bishop Mark Bartchak, of Altoona-Johnstown, PA
■121. Bishop Lawrence Brandt, of Greensburg, PA
■122. Bishop Joseph McFadden, of Harrisburg, PA
■123. Bishop David Zubik, of Pittsburgh, PA (Twice!)
■124. Bishop Joseph Bambera, of Scranton, PA
■125. Bishop Donald Trautman of Eire, PA (better link needed)
Province of Portland:

■126. Archbishop John Vlazny, of Portland, OR (link fixed)
■127. Bishop William Skystad (apostolic administrator) of Baker, OR
■128. Bishop Michael Driscoll, of Boise, ID
■129. Bishop Michael Warfel, of Great Falls-Billings, MT
■130. Bishop George Thomas, of Helena, MT
Province of Saint Louis:

■131. Archbishop Robert Carlson, of Saint Louis, MO
■132. Bishop John Gaydos, of Jefferson City, MO
■133. Bishop Robert Finn, of Kansas City-Saint Joseph, MO
■134. Bishop James Johnston, of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, MO
Province of Saint Paul and Minneapolis:

■135. Archbishop John Nienstedt, of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, MN
■136. Bishop David Kagan, of Bismarck, ND
■137. Bishop Samuel Aquila, of Fargo, ND
■138. Bishop John LeVoir, of New Ulm, MN
■139. Bishop Robert Gruss, of Rapid City, SD
■140. Bishop Paul Swain, of Sioux Falls, SD
■141. Bishop John Quinn, of Winona, MN
■142. Bishop Paul Sirba of Duluth, MN
■143. Bishop Michael Hoeppner, of Crookston, MN
Province of San Antonio:

■144. Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, of San Antonio, TX
■145. Bishop Patrick Zurek, of Amarillo, TX
■146. Bishop Kevin Farrell, of Dallas, TX
■147. Bishop Kevin Vann, of Fort Worth, TX
■Bishop Armando Ochoa (apostolic administrator) of El Paso, TX
■148. Bishop James Tamayo, of Laredo, TX
■149. Bishop Placido Rodriguez, of Lubbock, TX
■150. Bishop Michael Pfeifer, of San Angelo, TX
Province of San Francisco:

■151. Archbishop George Niederauer of San Francisco, CA
■152. Bishop Joseph Pepe, of Las Vegas, NV
■153. Bishop Randolph Calvo, of Reno, NV
■154. Bishop Jaime Soto, of Sacramento, CA
■155. Bishop John Wester, of Salt Lake City, UT
■156. Bishop Patrick McGrath, of San Jose, CA
■157. Bishop Stephen Blaire, of Stockton, CA
■158. Bishop Larry Silva of Honolulu, HI
Province of Santa Fe:

■159. Archbishop Michael Sheehan, of Santa Fe, NM
■160. Bishop James Wall, of Gallup, NM (better link needed)
■161. Bishop Thomas Olmsted, of Phoenix, AZ
■162. Bishop Gerald Kicanas, Tuscon, AZ
Province of Seattle:

■Archbishop Peter Sartain, of Seattle, WA (disputed)
■163. Bishop Joseph Tyson, of Yakima, WA
Province of Washington:

■164. Donald Cardinal Wuerl, of Washington, DC
Archeparchy of Philadelphia (Eastern Rite)

■165. Bishop Richard Seminack, Eparchy of Chicago, IL
Metropolita of Pittsburgh (Eastern Rite) + Sui Iuris:

■166. Archbishop-elect William Skurla, ArchEparchy of Pittsburgh (currently bishop of Passaic) (better link needed)
■167. Bishop Gerald Dino, Eparchy of Phoenix, AZ
■168. Bishop John Kudrick, Eparchy of Parma, OH
MILITARY SERVICES

■169. Archbishop Timothy Broglio, of Military Services, USA
SPECIAL MENTION: “The Assembly of Orthodox Bishops in North America just issued a formal statement of protest against the HHS mandate in which the Assembly, representing all 53 Orthodox bishops in North America, references their complete agreement with the statements of the USCCB.”

■ And Pope Benedict XVI

C.L.

9 Feb 12 at 11:55 pm
Chris Uhlmann asked all the right questions of Prime Minister Julia Gillard on the ABC’s 7.30 tonight.

The problem is, Gillard answered virtually none of them – whether on the race riot started by her staff, the huge NBN costs, Fair Work Australia, her poor image, her broken promises or Kevin Rudd. It was painfully obvious that she had no clue why her Government was buying two satellites for the NBN, rather than hiring satellite space for a fraction of the cost.

For her there was another problem: her deflections were too obvious, her manner too patronising and her alternative spiel too glib and thin.

For instance, why is Gillard now relentlessly talking about the “new economy”? What is so new about it? Economies always change and become “new”, but what special newness is Gillard trying to cope with?

But it’s now nails on a blackboard to me, I admit. I’ve seen through the tricks now, and feel insulted by every fresh attempt to use them.

Others will be more lenient. So tell me what I missed that was good. Yes, she was tough, I’ll grant you, and her gaze at Uhlmann was so fierce that most other reporters would have bowled softballs instead….

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/gillard_on_730_your_take/

At least she didn’t use her school marmish voice like she does when talking to the nation in that slow way. Like she’s talking to eight year olds.

Gab

9 Feb 12 at 11:55 pm
Steve seems to be arguing that the only reason American girls and women have “unwanted” pregnancies and then kill their babies is that they can’t get contraceptives for free.

Steve is pretty retarded*, isn’t he.

I’m not going to bother to take the time to explain the many ways that facile argument is not just wrong, but slap-me-stupid wrong. It would be a waste of time on someone so ideologically invested in Stupid.

*apologies Joel Hellabanana

spot

9 Feb 12 at 11:57 pm
At least she didn’t use her school marmish voice like she does when talking to the nation in that slow way. Like she’s talking to eight year olds.

I like it when Miss speaks in crayon.

It leaves us in no doubt as to how Labor, the new “born to rules,” see the average Aussie these days.

spot

10 Feb 12 at 12:01 am
and it’s not just the Catholic Church…

The National Association of Evangelicals commented that “The HHS rules trample on our most cherished freedoms and set a dangerous precedent” and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America stated, “In declining to expand the religious exemption within the healthcare reform law, the Obama Administration has disappointingly failed to respect the needs of religious organizations such as hospitals, social welfare organizations and more.” The Agudath Israel of America stated its opposition, as did the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America.

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/02/07/other-religions-join-catholics-in-beating-back-obamacare-overreach/

Gab

10 Feb 12 at 12:04 am
People like Steve “misunderestimate” how nervous it makes Americans of all stripes when the POTUS starts pissing on the Constitution.

spot

10 Feb 12 at 12:08 am
He’s not just stupid, Spot. He’s a stupid leftist shill who shouldn’t be wasting time commenting as he has house duties to do.

JC

10 Feb 12 at 12:12 am
I don’t believe Steve even thought about the Constitution, Spot.

Gab

10 Feb 12 at 12:13 am
Kirsten Powers:

“In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences,” Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops told The Washington Post.

If religious institutions choose to ignore the mandate by dropping their insurance plans, they will face exorbitant fines under the Affordable Care Act that could force them to close their doors. Smith tells me that for one of the Becket Fund’s clients, the fine for the first year would be more than $300,000, and for the second year, more than $500,000.

One thing we can be sure of: the Catholic Church will shut down before it violates its faith. We saw that recently when Catholic adoption and foster-care services closed in Massachusetts and Illinois rather than comply with state mandates that they place children with gay parents. Who lost? Parentless children.

The administration has to know this, so why would it force the hand of Catholic institutions that have traditionally filled in the gaps in social services that the government failed to provide? The people who will suffer if they close their doors are the poor, refugees, the homeless, orphans, and the elderly.

Gab

10 Feb 12 at 12:18 am
We sould insist steve takes his apron off before he sits down at the computer.

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 12:20 am
dot

Um I dunno about this. Technically I would have to acknowledge Adolf Hitler.

Please explain. How is Hitler relevant to Britain’s colonisation of Australia?

Peter Patton

10 Feb 12 at 12:21 am
I’m watching Gillard now.

She IS using that voice.

I just laughed out loud when she said she decided to buy two satellites after “due diligence.”

In fact, of course, they’re buying two satellites to make the NBN more impossible to stop and for no other reason.

How much does she wreak of insincerity?

Christopher Moltisanti’s cologne reference in the lift comes to mind.

C.L.

10 Feb 12 at 12:22 am
You know those two satellites are being bought to service only 200,000 people, dontcha?

Gab

10 Feb 12 at 12:24 am
Wow, Arthur Sinodinos gets seriously stuck into Repugnant Rhiannon and shows her to be a stalinist

Questions for Rhiannon

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/are_the_greens_just_another_communist_front_for_you/

This disgusting woman is going to be hounded out of the senate, I hope. She must be absolutely miserable knowing that she has to face all these questions about her past and that they won’t stop coming up.

Good.

JC

10 Feb 12 at 12:29 am
Gab, if every faith-based charitable organization in the US were to go “on strike” for even just a week, it would be a real eye-opener to all the aggressive “secular humanists” who reckon America would be much better off without any “taliban Catholics and nutty Christianists.”

I don’t think it’d be a stretch to say that every single American has at least one friend or reative who at some point in their life has been helped directly or indirectly by a Christian-based organization.

spot

10 Feb 12 at 12:30 am
Oops. Wrong Sopranos clip.

Christopher’s cologne reference.

C.L.

10 Feb 12 at 12:34 am
Gab, if every faith-based charitable organization in the US were to go “on strike” for even just a week, it would be a real eye-opener to all the aggressive “secular humanists” who reckon America would be much better off without any “taliban Catholics and nutty Christianists.”

While I maintain that all choppers are bastards, my take on Rome’s demise has two limbs: 1. The Latin/Western Romans substituted the emperor for law; the emperor for god; and the state for religion. 2. The greatness of Rome was largely a creation of 18/19th century nutty Protestants and rabid anti-Catholic bigots.

It still stuns me that even in the 21st century, so many people, who otherwise would pride themselves on being rool educated, informed, and savvy, are completely clueless that they are falling for the propaganda of hateful ideologues, fighting battles from wars fought before any soldier had never seen – let alone used – a tank, beef jerky, or a steam ship.

Peter Patton

10 Feb 12 at 12:51 am
Lee Rhiannon really is a scab on the pox on our polity. She spent her entire adult life actively committing what can only be sugar-coated as treason. And there she is in our Senate.

Peter Patton

10 Feb 12 at 12:55 am
Wow, go Sinodinos!! Yep, Flea Rhiannon – oh god, you can smell George vomit the words “my colleague Senator Rhiannon” – lied to the NSW Parliament, and now the Commonwealth Parliament.

Peter Patton

10 Feb 12 at 1:00 am
It’s not too late for a Jeb Bush candidacy.

The US Studies Centre’s chief executive Geoffrey Garrett brings this clanger of untruth:

From the Right, the only play left in Newt Gingrich’s apparent death spiral is his demonisation of Romney as a standard-bearer for the reckless and heartless Wall Street elite that caused the global financial crisis and walked away from the carnage scot-free.

This economic populism plays well with the Republican’s Tea Party wing…

Say what?

C.L.

10 Feb 12 at 1:02 am
Jeb Bush? Can’t see it myself. A bunch of people wrote off Perry at the start of his campaign because “America wouldn’t vote for another Texan like before”. Now I am not sure about that, but I’m pretty bloody certain they wouldn’t be hot for another Bush, considering the first two weren’t so great.

Still, third time’s a charm, as they say.

Rubio is fucking tops, by the way. I’m amazed Steve from Brisbane hasn’t developed a weird, creepy complex about him and isn’t speculating whether he wears Y-fronts or boxers.

Oh come on

10 Feb 12 at 1:25 am
To rewind to the private hospital debate: if you live in certain inland cities and don’t have private cover, you’re committing suicide. My wife was very nearly killed in a protracted and mind-numbingly horrible way by the public health system over the course of three weeks during her first pregnancy, so we took out private cover.

The Evil Freakin’ Catholic Evil Freakin’ private hospital was amazing. Actual staff! Clean walls! Rooms, instead of 8-person dormitories where every bed had to be pushed to the side to get the end beds in or out!

Having been raised hard-core Protestant, the experience pretty much reversed my views on everything Catholic. I couldn’t even object to the colourful statues of Mary decorating the clean, well-furnished, carpeted hallways.

wreckage

10 Feb 12 at 1:40 am
They are just as efficient and effective as any private hospital.

Maybe that one is, but I personally have never been inside a public hospital that was as good at anything as private. In my experience, you are talking crap.

wreckage

10 Feb 12 at 1:56 am
And the rent seeking has only just begun. This is going to turn into an unholy mess.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/alocoa-seeks-extra-funds-to-offset-carbon-price-hit/story-fn59niix-1226267242996

JC

10 Feb 12 at 2:37 am
Arthur Sinodinus’ speech was excellent. She shouldn’t be allowed to sit in parliament.

Abu Chowdah

10 Feb 12 at 3:08 am
She should be expelled.

Sinodinus’ insistence that ASIO’s work was imperfect but important is true. We know that the ALP was riddled with communist traitors, up to and including the Opposition Leader’s office.

As mentioned here before, Les Ball believes Evatt himself was almost certainly a Soviet spy.

Funny how all these years later, the ALP is again in alliance with this scum – out in the open now, of course.

Oh how they tried to belittle and dismiss Santamaria and Mannix. But they were 100 percent right.

C.L.

10 Feb 12 at 3:22 am
CL

What was important about Sino’s ASIO comments/quotes was I am pretty sure that was the first time I had ever heard anybody refer to an ASIO file that was not their own. Sino quoted Flea’s own scornful words at her, then the full ASIO content, showing – once again – that yes, she was a Commie and traitor, and yes, she was and remains a fucking liar.

Peter Patton

10 Feb 12 at 3:34 am
A very interesting history project would be to access the ASIO files whose subjects – like Flea – have megaphoned over the years in the media that ASIO was wrong, and see how pretty said Commies look then.

Peter Patton

10 Feb 12 at 3:36 am
If the Australian political system were like the US system, where the citizens support and choose individual candidates, I would donate to the Sinodinos campaign based on that speech alone.

Alas, even the Liberals in Australia do not deem the hoi polloi sufficiently credentialed to choose their own candidates, so I won’t bother.

I regularly chuck small-to-medium-sized donations towards American congresscritters I deemed to have done a good job (I am a dual citizen; this is legal). When their seats are in serious contention and I really see a benefit to one candidate over another, it’ll likely be an even larger contribution.

But really. Australia? After the games they played, for instance, with Dennis Jensen in WA? Fat chance.

spot

10 Feb 12 at 3:45 am
I don’t think any of y’all are still awake, but I’ll post this anyway in the hopes that it’ll get read once people surface again:

The Real Trouble With the Birth-Control Mandate

“Critics are missing the main point. There are good reasons that your car-insurance company doesn’t add $100 to your premium and then cover oil changes.”

(If you’re not a WSJ subscriber, Google holds the key)

spot

10 Feb 12 at 4:15 am
“Choice!”

Tan? No. Abortion? Yes.

spot

10 Feb 12 at 4:28 am
http://healthycuriousity.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/starving-cancers.html
….
Short fasting cycles work as well as chemotherapy in mice
Even fasting on its own effectively treated a majority of cancers tested in animals, including cancers from human cells.

John H.

10 Feb 12 at 4:31 am
http://healthycuriousity.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/starving-cancers.html

John H.

10 Feb 12 at 4:58 am
So what is the government going to use the money raised by slugging middle income earners by removing their Private Health Insurance rebate?

The policy change will raise $746.3m in 2012-13, and is crucial to the government’s bid to achieve its $1.5 billion surplus.

Will it be funding a new hospital equipment? More nurses? To revenovate run down facilities?

The Immigration Department has confirmed the contract with Serco, which runs the centres, has been renegotiated and is now worth more than $1 billion over four years.

The contract was originally worth nearly $280 million

I hope all the teachers and police officers and middle income earners are basking in the glow of the moral superiority enjoy paying around $1000 a year more.

ABOUT 2.4 million wealthy Australians will pay up to $1000 a year more for health cover from July after Labor rescued its private health rebate reform, which delivers half of its projected budget surplus next year.

Token

10 Feb 12 at 8:09 am
And the rent seeking has only just begun. This is going to turn into an unholy mess.

The means test for the Private Health Insurance rebate will raise $750m per year. Bad middle class welfare from rent seeking private industry.

How much has the goverment handed out as compensation for the Carbon Tax?

* Alcoa – Alcoa seeks extra funds to offset carbon price hit
* Blue Scope Steel
* Ford, Holden, Toyota

Is this based upon any economic sense? Hell no, as Dennis Richardson notes today:

THE battle for the blue-collar vote has been joined in the arena of the economy with the car industry as the first engagement.

This is not an economic debate. This is a political dispute pure and simple with Labor’s aim of winning back the votes of workers, not just manufacturing workers, but also millions of other Australians who are uncertain and insecure about their job…

Labor has jumped at the chance to use the Coalition’s differences over $500 million in assistance to the car industry to portray Abbott as not only against supporting the car industry, including the 46,000 directly employed workers and the total 200,000 affected, but also against all workers.

Token

10 Feb 12 at 8:17 am
Page 2 of the SMH this morning:

FAIRFAX DOMINATES

So, if we’re going to have a media inquiry, which company are they going to be looking at exactly?

boy on a bike

10 Feb 12 at 8:19 am
From spot’s WSJ, which is basically a complaint that mandated contraception costs everyone who has to pay for insurance, I noted this comment which argues the economics are not so clear:

As a long time pharmacy benefit consultant to health care insurers, I always recommended that they “cover” oral contraceptives. Generally a minimal member copay will pay for the entire insurer’s cost of the prescription – that is provided the plan receives the manufacturer’s rebate or up front discounted price. (A lot of benefit managers will keep most or all of this rebate unless the plan is diligent.) However, even without a member copay, OC coverage is economically wise. Yes, such coverage can add cost to the pharmacy benefit; however, complications of pregnancy or birth and/or an uneventful pregnancy and live birth can cost the medical plan even more – the most obvious potential cost being that of the plan’s having to insure another “member” for no additional premium. With that new member’s being an infant and evolving into childhood, the plan can experience the equivalent of “death by a thousand cuts” due to immunizations and a multitude of physician charges for infections, allergies, etc.

Sounds plausible to me.

OK, fire away with today’s list of gratuitous insults, because that’s what you do best here.

Being reasonable people – not so much.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 8:35 am
“As a long time pharmacy benefit consultant to health care insurers…”

“…I totes have no vested interest here.”

o.0

spot

10 Feb 12 at 8:42 am
From a follower on Twitter:

Um, college guy on my tv… birth control pills are $20 a month without any insurance, NOT hundreds a month. Trust me, I know this. *wink*

The idea that Obama must rip up the Constitution in order to “save” working women who “can’t afford birth control” from falling pregnant is a furphy.

spot

10 Feb 12 at 8:53 am
The relatively low cost of the pill (I’ve seen figures from $15 to $60 per month, by the way) cuts both ways.

Being cheap, it doesn’t cost much to the insurers either, and making it completely free would likely make it used more often, meaning less pregnancies and children for the insurer to provide for in future.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 9:02 am
Stevie. Abuse of you is never gratuitous

Tiny Dancer

10 Feb 12 at 9:05 am
My prediction also remains – this will not be significant issue for Catholics come election time. The Bishops have decided to flex a bit of muscle, but very conservative Catholics would not have voted Obama anyway. The Catholic vote is not monolithic – a hell of a lot of Latinos voted Obama, and I would think a lot of them like the idea of free contraception (if they have a job).

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 9:10 am
Please explain. How is Hitler relevant to Britain’s colonisation of Australia?

It is relevant to my existence.

.

10 Feb 12 at 9:21 am
Being cheap, it doesn’t cost much to the insurers either

It’s not about the money, dude.

It’s the principle.

And it’s not just Catholics who are uncomfortable about seeing the POTUS piss on the US Constitution, then roll over it with a steamroller, then set it on fire, then shove the resultant wet smoky smelly mess in citizens’ faces.

I take back my “retard” jibe. I do actually know Down Syndrome sufferers who are more insightful than you.

spot

10 Feb 12 at 9:26 am
My prediction also remains – this will not be significant issue for Catholics come election time. The Bishops have decided to flex a bit of muscle

I predict you’re wrong.

100% wrong.

Moreover, it will be many more than catholics that this will be a ‘significant issue’ now and at election time.

Apart from Obummer’s typical assault on the constitution, he thought was a ‘wedge issue’ that would help him.

It was in fact politically disastrous- and that is not mere hyperbole.

By the way steve, isn’t it amazing how many polls turn up in the NYT and the WaPo sayin’: ‘hey no big deal, catholics just don’t care’.

Meanwhile the issue hasn’t stopped being talked about on talk radio and the the primary caucuses Tuesday.

Meanwhile his normal apologists are attacking the decision on the op-ed pages of WaPo.

Obummer ‘thinks’ like you steve……

Control urself mrs steve.

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 9:26 am
Using retard says more about you than it does me, Spot. (And IT).

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 9:27 am
Yeah, like the evangelicals were going to vote for Obama, James K.

It has probably helped Santorum. His winning the candidacy would no doubt help Obama. Maybe it’s all an e-vil Catholic-hating secret Muslim plot.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 9:29 am
Your lack of any meaningful content and relentless jokes about the junior member for Warringah say a lot as well.

If the pill is cheap then let people buy it. It would be inefficient to insure it. What you are really saying is that you want it subsidised. Why should people be forced to subsidise private decisions they view as unethical? Just where exactly is the constitutional power for the US Federal or State legislatures to do this? Well food is more important than the pill. Subsidisation of agriculture has never had any perverse impact in America has it?

.

10 Feb 12 at 9:32 am
It has probably helped Santorum. His winning the candidacy would no doubt help Obama. Maybe it’s all an e-vil Catholic-hating secret Muslim plot.

Well you are actually implying that yourself. Be honest. Do you believe it or not?

It doesn’t matter what you think because Obummer is going to lose anyway.

.

10 Feb 12 at 9:34 am
Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr., the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary:

“Every president faces decisions that test his character and principles. President Obama has failed this test, and the results will be tragic. He has trampled religious liberty underfoot and has announced his intention to force religious institutions to violate their consciences or go out of business.

This decision will lead to nothing less than the secularization of the good work undertaken by these religious institutions. Faith-based adoption agencies, hospitals, and educational institutions are being forced to secularize or cease operations already. This decision will add tragic momentum to that process.

Religious organizations are being told to comply with the government’s order, or face the consequences. A Roman Catholic college in North Carolina has challenged the Obama Administration in court, an action now also taken by Colorado Christian University, an evangelical college. Concerted calls for a legislative rescue from Congress are being made.

And yet, the decision of the Obama Administration is clear. The edict from President Obama to religious institutions is this — violate conscience and bend the knee to the government, or face the consequences.

We will soon learn just how much faith is left in faith-based institutions.”

Ur a tulip steve.

Add that to your self pitying list of insults that apparently, to your way of thinking, validates ur inane comments

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 9:39 am
I am no expert on American constitutional law, but I note that the State equivalent laws survived legal challenge.

I know the article states there are differences that may make a difference.

I still expect that a compromise position will be reached.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 9:39 am
“Choice!”

Tan? No. Abortion? Yes.

I find this so absurd that it must be stood up to with non violent resistance.

FFS. I’m pro choice. How can I justify something I find repellent and then put up with the freedom of consenting adults?

It’s a logical and ethical exercise in onanism.

“You can abort a living fetus which is arguably human and conscious but YOU MUST NOT get a tan which MIGHT lead to you getting cancer if you’re a fucking idiot and get it done every day for three years in a row”

It is times like this when stupid policies are enacted I feel like “divorcing” myself from the legal and tax system.

How long until some rent seeking scumbag offers to build a covered outdoor area for Bondi Beach for a few hundred million?

.

10 Feb 12 at 9:41 am
I still expect that a compromise position will be reached

What a surprise!

Perennially inane leftist steve is a fan of the alinskyite dance, two steps forward one step back.

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 9:48 am
Excitable dot: tanning beds are being banned in Australia for adults.

There is good reason for it.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 9:53 am
Rick Santorum’s victory speech, Tuesday evening:

“But look what happens when the government gives you rights. When the government gives you rights, unlike when God gives you rights, the government can take them away. When government gives you rights, the government can tell you how to exercise those rights.

And we saw that just in the last week, with a group of people, a small group of people, just Catholics in the United States of America who were told you have a right to health care, but you will have the health care that we tell you, you have to give your people, whether it is against the teachings of your church or not.

I never thought as a first-generation American, whose parents and grandparents loved freedom and came here because they didn’t want the government telling them what to believe and how to believe it, that we had a First Amendment that actually stood for freedom of conscience, that we’d have a president of the United States who would roll over that and impose his secular values on the people of this country.

And it’s worse than that. When one of the Catholic bishops tried to communicate that through Army chaplains, the Obama administration said, no, you can’t do that, no, because your language is seditious, and they made them change the language of a letter from a bishop to his people.

Ladies and gentlemen, freedom is at stake in this election. We need to be the voice for freedom.”

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 9:56 am
Yes, yes, it’s all very appealing to his conservative base, no doubt about it. And the decision has attracted criticism from relative liberals too.

The problem is, if Obama seeks compromises of the kind which Catholic institutions have already lived with at the State level, but now reject at a Federal level, I think the Church will start to look unreasonable to those liberals who sympathise with them now.

And besides which, nearly all Catholics use contraception.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 10:04 am
Excitable dot: tanning beds are being banned in Australia for adults.

There is good reason for it.

There is no good reason for it. The reason is that the Government treats us like children. As a control freak, you find this concept pleasurable.

Here’s a dose of reality: everyone dies and the Government cannot stop this.

.

10 Feb 12 at 10:11 am
I think the Church will start to look unreasonable to those liberals who sympathise with them now.

Honestly you sicken me. People know what the deal is with religion. They can choose to follow it or not, and follow it selectively (as you say).

.

10 Feb 12 at 10:12 am
Steve, you’re a chucklehead. You still don’t get it, do you?

Take me, for instance. I’m not Catholic. I happen to think cheap reliable contraception has been one of the 20th century’s biggest boons. For those who have no moral issues using it, it’s genuinely awesome. It lets couple control their family size, which has led to the increased liberation of women, and their increased participation in the workforce, which I also think is pretty awesome.

BUT. I don’t think the State should force Catholics to supply contraceptives and abortion pills “for free” any more than they should force Quakers to go to war or Anabaptists to buy insurance or Jehovah’s Witnesses to accept blood transfusions.

Religious freedom means a hell of a lot to most Americans – it was part of what the country was founded on.

This is a bigger deal than small-minded nanny-state Colonials like you can even fathom.

spot

10 Feb 12 at 10:14 am
Right spot.

Religious freedom is tolerance, freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom of conscience and the non initiation of force.

If you have religious freedom there is a good chance you will be a mostly free country. Steve finds this repulsive and sees “good reasons” why it shouldn’t exist.

.

10 Feb 12 at 10:17 am
And besides which, nearly all Catholics use contraception.

Good Lord, Steve, you took too many stupid pills this morning. If you bothered to read any information linked for you you would by now realise this is not about contraception. You’re the only one making it about contraception. And not for the first time – it’s a real bugbear for you for some reason.

Gab

10 Feb 12 at 10:18 am
Boehner: Birth control mandate won’t stand

“House Speaker John Boehner delivered a scathing attack from the House floor today on the Obama administration’s mandate that health insurers offer birth control coverage……..

It is unusual for a House speaker to address the House from the floor, as Boehner did today.

“This attack by the federal government on religious freedom in our country must not stand and will not stand,” he vowed.”

Notice how perrennial pain-in-the-arse leftist steve now inverts reality:

Yes, yes, it’s all very appealing to his conservative base

Geddit?

It’s just all part of the great right wing conspiracy

Just another day at the office for the alinskyite apron-wearer.

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 10:21 am
spot: the funny thing is, the Church has found a way around this at a State level in 28 States and legal challenges in those States have failed.

They have found ways of not directly supplying it, but giving their employees indirect access to it.

The States – not just Obama – have had their reasons for wanting it included in mandated health insurance.

The fact that this has gone on in the States for quite a while indicates that it is not the great crisis of religious freedom that people are making it out to be; nor that it is a Catholic hating Obama plot such as the more nutty here insist.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 10:31 am
They have found ways of not directly supplying it, but giving their employees indirect access to it.

Um yes but the point is Obama wants them to do it.

The States – not just Obama – have had their reasons for wanting it included in mandated health insurance.

If the Government “has a reason” it is justified to do as it pleases? You sick fascist puppy.

.

10 Feb 12 at 10:50 am
it is not the great crisis of religious freedom that people are making it out to be

Yes, dear. That’s why no-one’s even talking about it.

LOL.

Keep f**kin’ that chicken, Steve. Keep f**kin’ that chicken.

spot

10 Feb 12 at 10:50 am
Just to emphasise what an utter clown steve is:

WSJ Op-Ed: ObamaCare’s Great Awakening

Opening paragraph:

“The political furor over President Obama’s birth-control mandate continues to grow, even among those for whom contraception poses no moral qualms, and one needn’t be a theologian to understand why. The country is being exposed to the raw political control that is the core of the Obama health-care plan, and Americans are seeing clearly for the first time how this will violate pluralism and liberty.”

RTWT

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 10:51 am
Greatest Glen Beck video. Ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6bMBmrDCuc&feature=related

.

10 Feb 12 at 10:53 am
You’re all arguing all over the shop.

You can stick with your predictions that this will be a great crisis for Obama, and I’ll stick with mine that this will not be the galvanising issue that will ultimately sway voters one way or another.

And dot can go top up his tan at a dangerous cancer causing salon. On the way out, he can have lunch at the unlicenced cafe that made 10 people sick with salmonella last week, and has asbestos in the crumbling ceiling fibro. Its run by libertarians who think government interference in safety regulation is nonsense.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 11:00 am
The stupid, it burns

I never really understood what that meant…until now. Thanks, Steve.

Gab

10 Feb 12 at 11:04 am
You’re all arguing all over the shop.

Translation: “My silly assertions have been blown out of the water”

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 11:04 am
The self declaration of triumph is the key feature of this blog.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 11:05 am
On the way out, he can have lunch at the unlicenced cafe that made 10 people sick with salmonella last week

I bought an (unlicensed!) organic ice cream off some rich hippies at a market stall on the South Coast last year. I didn’t die, stop being a pussy. The stall didn’t even have a roof! It was flavoured with native fruit (finger limes). The bastards probably didn’t even pay tax to plug Swan’s budget hole or fix up the woeful Sydney trains or fund the overblown APS or NSW PS!

Real bastards aren’t they steve?

And dot can go top up his tan at a dangerous cancer causing salon

Or I could go to a beach, you chuckle head. Broulee or Malua Bay? Which causes the most cancer and should be shut down?

I repeat: No one died!

.

10 Feb 12 at 11:06 am
You’re all arguing all over the shop.

That pronouncement would have more gravitas if your pants weren’t down around your ankles.

spot

10 Feb 12 at 11:08 am
A New Race

“When Mitt Romney won the Florida primary last Tuesday by 14 percentage points, how many people in America imagined that when Colorado, Missouri, and Minnesota were contested just seven days later, he would fail to win in any of them? But it wasn’t just that Romney lost. In Minnesota and Missouri, Romney failed to get even half as many votes as the winner, Rick Santorum. In Minnesota, Romney also finished 10 points behind the second-place finisher, Ron Paul (with 5 percent of precincts still outstanding). Santorum beat Romney by lopsided tallies of 55 to 25 percent in Missouri and 45 to 17 percent in Minnesota. Moreover, he beat Romney by 5 points (40 to 35 percent) in Colorado, where Romney won by 42 points (60 to 18 percent) over John McCain the last time around.

In all, the “inevitable” nominee has now lost in 5 of 8 states.”

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 11:08 am
Steve makes the childish assumption that licensing stops dodgy practices.

Wrong. It creates a barrier to entry. Disincentives stop dodgy practices.

.

10 Feb 12 at 11:11 am
From Blair:

Circulation of The Age’s Monday to Friday editions fell 5.99 per cent in the three months to December 31 to 184,156, compared with the previous corresponding period, while the Saturday Age fell 6.56 per cent to 263,047 and The Sunday Age dropped 3.77 per cent.

At the Herald, circulation fell 11.94 per cent to 184,613, the Saturday paper fell 7.73 per cent to 314,683 while The Sun-Herald dropped 8.17 per cent.

The Age‘s headline: “Fairfax homes in on its audience.”

LOL

Gab

10 Feb 12 at 11:13 am
James,

Is there a running total of GOP delegates or a projection somewhere?

.

10 Feb 12 at 11:13 am
The Age‘s headline: “Fairfax homes in on its audience.”

FAIRFAX DOMINATES

.

10 Feb 12 at 11:13 am
Disincentives stop dodgy practices.

Safety is often dealt with by a combination of licencing and disincentives.

Where is the evidence that, say, licencing of food premises and a system of compliance checks that it helps ensure take place, does not help raise food safety standards?

Anyway, as I have said before, you’re nutty ideas of your imaginary liberty expanded world have no hope in hell of ever being enacted. We just have to listen to them here, unfortunately.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 11:18 am
The self declaration of triumph is the key feature of this blog.

That the infinite monkey theoren proven true in less than 24 hours on a single thread.

“I just point to the arcane and silly level of technicality that too much theologising over the unitive aspect for every single sex act leads to.”

steve from brisbane 9 Feb 12 at 3:35 pm

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 11:21 am
Steve, how long would a restaurant survive that sold dodgy food?

I’d wager it would be out of business in a week.

Infidel Tiger

10 Feb 12 at 11:23 am
Where is the evidence that, say, licencing of food premises and a system of compliance checks that it helps ensure take place, does not help raise food safety standards?

No, where is the evidence that it does? Don’t push this non falsifiable crap onto me.

nutty ideas of your imaginary liberty

Steve, I just told you that I was a customer of an “unlicensed” cafe. Sensible people ignore regulations conceived by brain damaged fools like Roxon and Pilbersek.

You’re a fucking space cadet.

.

10 Feb 12 at 11:23 am
Bunyip apologises to Graeme Wood for Wood’s hypocritical defence of torturing animals.

It’s perfectly fine when they do it.

http://bunyipitude.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/apology-to-mr-graeme-wood.html

Gab

10 Feb 12 at 11:24 am
Bunyip apologises to Graeme Wood for Wood’s hypocritical defence of torturing animals.

It’s perfectly fine when they do it.

http://bunyipitude.blogspot.com.au/

Gab

10 Feb 12 at 11:26 am
Bunyip apologises to Graeme Wood for Wood’s hypocritical defence of t0rturing animals.

It’s perfectly fine when they do it.

http://bunyipitude.blogspot.com.au/

Gab

10 Feb 12 at 11:27 am
In Malaysia if you’re unemployed you can peddle around on a bike and sell food. People survive. If you shit water for 3 days after going to a particular stall you learn to avoid that place.

jtfsoon

10 Feb 12 at 11:27 am
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_presidential_primaries,_2012

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 11:28 am
Yes, you can pretend that everything is better if you let badly run businesses that can make you sick or dead get sorted out by the market, IT.

Sensible people think it better that governments are a bit more proactive in setting and enforcing standards.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 11:28 am
Sensible people think it better that governments are a bit more proactive in setting and enforcing standards

Quite right. Let’s speak to Dr Jayant Patel’s former patients… oh wait they’re all dead.

Infidel Tiger

10 Feb 12 at 11:29 am
Incidentally credit where credit is due to Clover for another good idea though as the CIS notes it doesn’t go far enough. There’s no reason there should be a taste test by authorities

http://www.incise.org.au/2012-01-24/late-night-food-trucks-why-stop-at-ten/

jtfsoon

10 Feb 12 at 11:29 am
Sensible people think it better that governments are a bit more proactive in setting and enforcing standards.

No they don’t. Nor do they honestly frame questions as unfalsifiable prepositions. They also realise the corruption that exists.

.

10 Feb 12 at 11:30 am
More good stuff from Jess

http://www.cis.org.au/publications/ideasthecentre/article/1619-a-vibrant-street-food-culture-is-as-simple-as-abc

The NSW Food Authority sets rules for mobile food vendors about the type of walls, floors, ceilings, and doors they should have. Wash basins must have a 300mm splashback. The list goes on.
Perhaps this is why the contrast between our cities and other cities with great street food is so stark.

Naples might be filthy and corrupt, but if you want a slice of good pizza that’s where you go. All through the night, Mumbai’s brightly lit Chowpatty Beach throngs with crowds lining up to buy fried snacks such as the ubiquitous pani puri. And across Southeast Asia, little old ladies set up roadside carts night after night pumping out satays, noodles, soups and pretty much anything else you can think of.

Less regulation means it is cheaper for people to set up and operate a food stall. Individuals, not regulators, make decisions about what is safe to eat by relying on reputation and common sense: buying from vendors where the food looks fresh and where regulars eat.

Food safety is a serious business and most of the rules are there for good reasons. But by making food stalls easier to set up, and leaving more of the decision-making power in the hands of individual consumers, perhaps we could move a step closer to developing a vibrant street food culture like those in so many great cities overseas.

jtfsoon

10 Feb 12 at 11:32 am
That was a failure of government licencing, IT.

Not an argument against licencing per se.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 11:32 am
That was a failure of government licencing, IT.

Not an argument against licencing per se.

“Government failure is not an argument against Government action”

You couldn’t be any more stupid.

.

10 Feb 12 at 11:33 am
You couldn’t be any more stupid.

No you are lying

jtfsoon

10 Feb 12 at 11:34 am
In Malaysia if you’re unemployed you can peddle around on a bike and sell food. People survive. If you shit water for 3 days after going to a particular stall you learn to avoid that place.

In Australia, you need OH&S quals to be a labourer.

.

10 Feb 12 at 11:35 am
Steve, surely even a man such as yourself, who probably reads the Dividing Fences Act each night to get his jollies, must think that this country is burdened by an onerous amount of red tape???

Infidel Tiger

10 Feb 12 at 11:35 am
For goodness sake: Jason thinks Sydney should aspire to the food health standards of India.

Food safety is a serious business and most of the rules are there for good reasons. But by making food stalls easier to set up, and leaving more of the decision-making power in the hands of individual consumers, perhaps we could move a step closer to developing a vibrant street food culture like those in so many great cities overseas.

What a contradictory paragraph – food safety is really serious, and they don’t make up the rules for nothing, but let’s make them less strict for street vendors and let the market decide.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 11:36 am
steve
if you’re too much of a pussy to eat street food, then DON’T EAT IT. I don’t see how loosening the regulations for street food affects milquetoasts like you at all

jtfsoon

10 Feb 12 at 11:38 am
Steve you fucking illiterate clown.

Here is the important bit:

But by making food stalls easier to set up

I lied. You did get more stupid.

.

10 Feb 12 at 11:38 am
Mrs steve

The ironing please. Now.

Jc

10 Feb 12 at 11:40 am
I’ve bought food from many many food stalls in various countries across Asia. Never been sick once and enjoyed very tasty and cheap local fare. Steve of course would be too chicken to even entertain the thought.

Gab

10 Feb 12 at 11:41 am
It’s worth re-posting this column by The Backpacker. He sums up exactly why I love going to Asia:

See, in Australia we have regulations. We have loads of regulations. So much so that when something dangerous is found to be happening, the immediate reaction is to put up some signs, throw a fence around it, run an ad campaign, bring in the cops, or just ban the thing altogether.

In South-East Asia, that’s not how it works. There’s much more reliance on personal responsibility – much more freedom to take matters into your own hands, to make your own decisions about what’s smart and what’s not.

Crazy enough to ride a motorbike without a helmet? Go for it. And bring your whole family along for the ride? Fine. Want to eat from an unlicensed street-food stall? Go ahead.

It means you have to exercise your personal judgment a bit more – something Australians probably aren’t used to. That much is evident in the way they usually go a bit off the rails when presented with all of these choices that are usually denied back home.

Great article.

Infidel Tiger

10 Feb 12 at 11:42 am
Damn tags. They should be regulated.

Infidel Tiger

10 Feb 12 at 11:43 am
steve
did you read the earlier article?

while Clover’s reforms are a good start (at least better than nothing) they still require a *taste test* for food trucks.

jtfsoon

10 Feb 12 at 11:45 am
I lied. You did get more stupid.

Let no-one say he’s not ambitious, Our Steve.

spot

10 Feb 12 at 11:46 am
Jason, I think the key part is how quickly the food is cooked and sold. A good example is Lau Pa Sat in Singapore. Great satay and a myriad of other goodies, with few problems. Malaysia isn’t too bad either.

Nic

10 Feb 12 at 11:48 am
What would be more useful you ideologically driven pillocks would be to have someone look at what specifically is alleged to be too strict with street food licencing in some Australian jurisdictions and how it could be changed without likely detriment.

No licencing at all is unlikely to be accepted in Australia, as it wouldn’t be in most Western countries that value not getting dysentery.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 11:49 am
Steve, do you think Church fete’s should be subject to health inspectors and licensing? Lamington drives?

How do we know Mrs MCgillicutty has practised safe food handling in her kitchen?

Infidel Tiger

10 Feb 12 at 11:52 am
Yes, I accept criticism of the “taste test”

I am not an unreasonable man.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 11:52 am
Steve

Licensing does not prevent dysentery. Once you accept that fact…but you won’t becuase the concept of personal responsibility is anathema to you. You need the “safety” of government controlling everything in your life. Why are you even here on this unregulated by government blog?

Gab

10 Feb 12 at 11:53 am
I would even allow for no helmets for council rental bikes, because no one should have to lug one around all day if you want to hire the bike, and sharing them with strangers is not a good idea.

I am not an unreasonable man.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 11:55 am
Look, I know you like to imagine that Councils and governments like to regulate things just for the sake of making life difficult, but that is just your silly belief. Governments frequently regulate as a response to a problem, and such regulation is frequently welcome by the public.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 11:57 am
Devout ‘conservative’ ‘Catholic’ Steve and Obama versus:

Province of Anchorage:

■1. Archbishop Roger Schweitz, of Anchorage, AK
■2. Bishop Edward Burns, of Juneau, AK
■3. Bishop Donald Kettler of Fairbanks, AK (better link needed)

Province of Atlanta:

■4. Archbishop Wilton Gregory , of Atlanta, GA
■5. Bishop Robert Guglielmone, of Charleston, SC
■6. Bishop Peter Jugis, of Charlotte, NC
■7. Bishop Michael Burbidge, of Raleigh, NC
■8. Bishop Gregory Hartmayer, of Savannah, GA

Province of Baltimore:

■9. Cardinal-designate Edwin O’Brien, of Baltimore, MD
■10. Bishop Paul Loverde, of Arlington, VA
■11. Bishop Francis DiLorenzo, of Richmond VA
■12. Bishop Michael Bransfield, of Wheeling-Charleston, WV
■13. Bishop Francis Malooly, of Wilmington, DE
Province of Boston:
■14. Sean Cardinal O’Malley, of Boston, MA
■15. Bishop Salvatore Matano,of Burlington, VT
■16. Bishop George Coleman, of Fall River, MA
■17. Bishop Peter Libasci, of Manchester, NH
■18. Bishop Richard Malone, of Portland, ME
■19. Bishop Timothy McDonnell, of Springfield, MA
■20. Bishop Robert McManus, of Worcester, MA

Province of Chicago:

■21. Francis Cardinal George of Chicago, IL
■22. Bishop Edward Braxton, of Belleville, IL (better link needed)
■23. Bishop Daniel Conlon, of Joliet, IL
■24. Bishop Daniel Jenky, of Peoria, IL
■25. Bishop Thomas Doran, of Rockford, IL
■26. Bishop Thomas Paprocki, of Springfield, IL
Province of Cincinnati:
■27. Archbishop Dennis Schnurr, of Cincinnati, OH
■28. Bishop Richard Lennon, of Cleveland, OH
■29. Bishop Frederick Campbell, of Columbus, OH
■Monsignor Kurt Kemo (apostolic administrator), of Steubenville, OH
■30. Bishop Leonard Blair, of Toledo, OH
■31. Bishop George Murry, of Youngstown, OH

Province of Denver:

■32. Bishop James Conley, Apostolic Administrator of Denver, CO
■33. Bishop Paul Etienne, of Cheyenne, WY
■34. Bishop Michael Sheridan, of Colorado Springs, CO
■35. Bishop Fernando Isern, of Pueblo, CO
Province of Detroit:
■36. Archbishop Allen Vigneron, of Detroit, MI
■37. Bishop Bernard Hebda, of Gaylord, MI
■38. Bishop Walter Hurley, of Grand Rapids, MI
■39. Bishop Paul Bradley, of Kalamazoo, MI
■40. Bishop Earl Boyea, of Lansing, MI
■41. Bishop Alexander Sample, of Marquette, MI
■42. Bishop Joseph Cistone, of Saginaw, MI (better link needed)

Province of Dubuque:

■43. Archbishop Jerome Hanus, of Dubuque, IA
■44. Bishop Martin Amos, of Davenport, IA
■45. Bishop Richard Pates, of Des Moines, IA
■46. Bishop Walter Nickless, of Sioux City, IA

Province of Galveston-Houston:

■47. Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, of Galveston-Houston, TX
■48. Bishop Joe Vasquez, of Austin, TX
■49. Bishop Curtis Guillory, of Beaumont, TX (better link needed)
■50. Bishop Daniel Flores, of Brownsville, TX
■51. Bishop Michael Mulvey, of Corpus Christi, TX
■52. Bishop Alvaro Corrada (apostolic administrator) of Tyler TX
■53. Bishop David Fellhauer of Victoria, TX (better link needed)

Province of Hartford:

■54. Archbishop Henry Mansell, of Hartford, CT
■55. Bishop William Lori, of Bridgeport, CT
■56. Bishop Michael Cote, of Norwich, CT
■57. Bishop Thomas Tobin, of Providence, RI

Province of Indianapolis:

■58. Bishop Christopher Coyne, Apostolic Administrator of Indianapolis, IN
■59. Bishop Charles Thompson, of Evansville, IN
■60. Bishop Kevin Rhoades, of Fort Wayne-South Bend, IN
■61. Bishop Dale Melczek, of Gary, IN
■62. Bishop Timothy Doherty, of Lafayette, IN
Province of Kansas City:

■63. Archbishop Joseph Naumann, of Kansas City, KS
■Father Barry Brinkman (apostolic administrator) of Salina, KS
■64. Bishop Michael Jackels, of Wichita, KS

Province of Los Angeles:

■65. Archbishop Jose Gomez, of Los Angeles, CA
■Roger Cardinal Mahoney (emeritus), of Los Angeles, CA
■66. Bishop Armando Ochoa, of Fresno, CA (also apostolic administrator of El Paso)
■67. Bishop Tod Brown, of Orange, CA
■68. Bishop Gerald Barnes, of San Bernadino, CA
■69. Bishop Robert Brom, of San Diego, CA
■70. Bishop Richard Garcia of Monterey, CA

Province of Louisville:

■71. Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, of Louisville, KY
■72. Bishop Roger Foys, of Covington, KY
■73. Bishop Richard Stika, of Knoxville, TN
■74. Bishop Ronald Gainer, of Lexington, KY (better link needed)
■75. Bishop Terry Steib, of Memphis, TN
■76. Bishop David Choby, of Nashville, TN
■77. Bishop WIlliam Medley, of Owensboro, KY

Province of Miami:

■78. Archbishop Thomas Wenski, of Miami, FL (also apostolic administrator of Pensacola-Tallahassee)
■79. Bishop John Noonan, of Orlando, FL
■80. Bishop Gerald Barbarito, of Palm Beach, FL
■81. Bishop Felipe Estevez, of St Augustine, FL
■82. Bishop Robert Lynch, of St Petersburg, FL
■83. Bishop Frank Dewane, of Venice, FL

Province of Milwaukee:

■84. Archbishop Jerome Listecki, of Milwaukee, WI
■85. Bishop David Ricken, of Green Bay, WI
■86. Bishop William Callahan, of La Crosse, WI
■87. Bishop Robert Morlino, of Madison, WI
■88. Bishop Peter Christensen, of Superior, WI

Province of Mobile:

■89. Archbishop Thomas Rodi of Mobile, AL
■90. Bishop Robert Baker of Birmingham, AL
■91. Bishop Joseph Latino of Jackson, MS (forthcoming)

Province of New Orleans:

■92. Archbishop Gregory Aymond, of New Orleans, LA
■93. Bishop Ronald Herzog, of Alexandria, LA
■94. Bishop Robert Muench, of Baton Rouge, LA
■95. Bishop Sam Jacobs, of Houma-Thibodaux, LA
■96. Bishop Michael Jarrell, of Lafayette, LA
■97. Bishop Glen Provost, of Lake Charles, LA
■98. Bishop Michael Duca, of Shreveport, LA

Province of New York:

■99. Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, of New York, NY
■Edward Cardinal Egan, of New York, NY (emeritus)
■100. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, of Brooklyn, NY
■101. Bishop Edward Kmiec, of Buffalo, NY
■102. Bishop Terry LaValley, of Ogdensburg, NY
■103. Bishop Matthew Clark, of Rochester, NY
■104. Bishop William Murphy, of Rockville Centre, NY
■105. Bishop Robert Cunningham, of Syracuse, NY
■106. Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany, NY

Province of Newark:

■107. Archbishop John Meyers, of Newark, NJ
■108. Bishop Joseph Galante, of Camden, NJ
■109. Bishop Arthur Serratelli, of Paterson, NJ
■110. Bishop David O’Connell, of Trenton, NJ
■111. Bishop Paul Bootkoski of Metuchen, NJ

Province of Oklahoma City:

■112. Archbishop Paul Coakley, of Oklahoma City, OK
■113. Bishop Anthony Taylor, of Little Rock, AR
■114. Bishop Edward Slattery, of Tulsa, OK

Province of Omaha:

■115. Archbishop George Lucas, of Omaha, NE
■116. Bishop William Dendinger, of Grand Island, NE (better link needed)
■117. Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, of Lincoln, NE

Province of Philadelphia:

■118. Archbishop Charles Chaput, of Philadelphia, PA
■119. Bishop John Barres, of Allentown, PA
■120. Bishop Mark Bartchak, of Altoona-Johnstown, PA
■121. Bishop Lawrence Brandt, of Greensburg, PA
■122. Bishop Joseph McFadden, of Harrisburg, PA
■123. Bishop David Zubik, of Pittsburgh, PA (Twice!)
■124. Bishop Joseph Bambera, of Scranton, PA
■125. Bishop Donald Trautman of Eire, PA (better link needed)

Province of Portland:

■126. Archbishop John Vlazny, of Portland, OR (link fixed)
■127. Bishop William Skystad (apostolic administrator) of Baker, OR
■128. Bishop Michael Driscoll, of Boise, ID
■129. Bishop Michael Warfel, of Great Falls-Billings, MT
■130. Bishop George Thomas, of Helena, MT

Province of Saint Louis:

■131. Archbishop Robert Carlson, of Saint Louis, MO
■132. Bishop John Gaydos, of Jefferson City, MO
■133. Bishop Robert Finn, of Kansas City-Saint Joseph, MO
■134. Bishop James Johnston, of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, MO

Province of Saint Paul and Minneapolis:

■135. Archbishop John Nienstedt, of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, MN
■136. Bishop David Kagan, of Bismarck, ND
■137. Bishop Samuel Aquila, of Fargo, ND
■138. Bishop John LeVoir, of New Ulm, MN
■139. Bishop Robert Gruss, of Rapid City, SD
■140. Bishop Paul Swain, of Sioux Falls, SD
■141. Bishop John Quinn, of Winona, MN
■142. Bishop Paul Sirba of Duluth, MN
■143. Bishop Michael Hoeppner, of Crookston, MN

Province of San Antonio:

■144. Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, of San Antonio, TX
■145. Bishop Patrick Zurek, of Amarillo, TX
■146. Bishop Kevin Farrell, of Dallas, TX
■147. Bishop Kevin Vann, of Fort Worth, TX
■Bishop Armando Ochoa (apostolic administrator) of El Paso, TX
■148. Bishop James Tamayo, of Laredo, TX
■149. Bishop Placido Rodriguez, of Lubbock, TX
■150. Bishop Michael Pfeifer, of San Angelo, TX

Province of San Francisco:

■151. Archbishop George Niederauer of San Francisco, CA
■152. Bishop Joseph Pepe, of Las Vegas, NV
■153. Bishop Randolph Calvo, of Reno, NV
■154. Bishop Jaime Soto, of Sacramento, CA
■155. Bishop John Wester, of Salt Lake City, UT
■156. Bishop Patrick McGrath, of San Jose, CA
■157. Bishop Stephen Blaire, of Stockton, CA
■158. Bishop Larry Silva of Honolulu, HI

Province of Santa Fe:

■159. Archbishop Michael Sheehan, of Santa Fe, NM
■160. Bishop James Wall, of Gallup, NM (better link needed)
■161. Bishop Thomas Olmsted, of Phoenix, AZ
■162. Bishop Gerald Kicanas, Tuscon, AZ

Province of Seattle:

■Archbishop Peter Sartain, of Seattle, WA (disputed)
■163. Bishop Joseph Tyson, of Yakima, WA

Province of Washington:

■164. Donald Cardinal Wuerl, of Washington, DC

Archeparchy of Philadelphia (Eastern Rite)

■165. Bishop Richard Seminack, Eparchy of Chicago, IL
Metropolita of Pittsburgh (Eastern Rite) + Sui Iuris:

■166. Archbishop-elect William Skurla, ArchEparchy of Pittsburgh (currently bishop of Passaic) (better link needed)
■167. Bishop Gerald Dino, Eparchy of Phoenix, AZ
■168. Bishop John Kudrick, Eparchy of Parma, OH

MILITARY SERVICES

■169. Archbishop Timothy Broglio, of Military Services, USA

SPECIAL MENTION: “The Assembly of Orthodox Bishops in North America just issued a formal statement of protest against the HHS mandate in which the Assembly, representing all 53 Orthodox bishops in North America, references their complete agreement with the statements of the USCCB.”

■ And Pope Benedict XVI

C.L.

10 Feb 12 at 11:58 am
Mrs.Steve

Unpack the dishwasher please. Now please!

Jc

10 Feb 12 at 12:00 pm
The problem is, CL, that Steve just doesn’t understand the big picture. He’s focussed on contraception not the Constitution. He just doesn’t get it. Never will.

Gab

10 Feb 12 at 12:00 pm
Why am I the only person to call you out as a boring tosser, CL?

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 12:01 pm
Good news:

THE United States’ first new nuclear power plant in a generation has won approval after federal regulators voted overnight to grant a licence for two new reactors at a site in eastern Georgia.

Gab

10 Feb 12 at 12:04 pm
More stunning and deeply repulsive anti-Catholic bigotry from the leftist New Yorker magazine:

Editor David Remnick finds Santorum’s views “anathema” and his views “abhorrent,” but that is mild compared to staff writer John Cassidy’s poisonous venom/essay:

“Aaghh! Santorum! Not Santorum!! Surely not Santorum!!!

From Cambridge to Brooklyn, from Georgetown to Hyde Park, from West L.A. to pretty much the entire Bay Area, you could almost hear the howls of anguish this morning. They even reached across the Pacific. “SANTORUM? Oh, America, how you disappoint me,” Jeremy Tian, a writer and actor from Singapore, tweeted in response to my earlier post.

Ladies and gentlemen, I feel your pain. Ever since Santorum was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994, I have regarded him as a particularly off-putting character. But the strength of the feelings that Santorum evokes pretty much explains why the former Pennsylvania senator, even at this late stage, could put a serious fright into Mitt Romney, and, just conceivably, could take him down.

To educated liberals of almost any description, Santorum is an abomination. It’s not just that he’s a pro-life, anti-gay, anti-contraception Roman Catholic of the most retrogressive and diehard Opus Dei variety. It’s his entire persona. With his seven kids, his Jaycee fashion code, his nineteen-seventies colonial MacMansion in northern Virginia, his irony bypass, he seems to delight in outraging self-styled urban sophisticates: the sort of folks who buy organic milk, watch The Daily Show, and read the New York Times (and The New Yorker, of course).”

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 12:12 pm
A near 80 year-old woman has been jailed in Adelaide for defrauding Centerlink of $50,000.

Yesterday:

Gillard misplaces $720 million.

Yet to be arrested.

C.L.

10 Feb 12 at 12:18 pm
What would be more useful you ideologically driven pillocks would be to have someone look at what specifically is alleged to be too strict with street food licencing in some Australian jurisdictions and how it could be changed without likely detriment.

Shut up Stepford Steve, you have some cross stitch to do.

You oppose the removal of a Government taste tester. You really are a moronic clown.

.

10 Feb 12 at 12:20 pm
To educated liberals of almost any description, Santorum is an abomination. It’s not just that he’s a pro-life, anti-gay, anti-contraception Roman Catholic of the most retrogressive and diehard Opus Dei variety.

These uneducated dilettantes cannot help it. They probably think Dan Brown is a “historian”.

.

10 Feb 12 at 12:22 pm
You oppose the removal of a Government taste tester.

By saying I criticised it, I clearly implied the opposite.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 12:22 pm
Hitler forbade any publication of this picture…

C.L.

10 Feb 12 at 12:23 pm
Expect to see many more clips of the albino monk……

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 12:24 pm
Steve, stop trying to pull a fast one. Do you support the abolition of bureaucratic taste testers or not?

.

10 Feb 12 at 12:26 pm
Your pants, Steve. Your pants.

#pantsontheground

spot

10 Feb 12 at 12:28 pm
To educated liberals of almost any description, Santorum is …

Educated liberals?

LOL.

C.L.

10 Feb 12 at 12:29 pm
Leftists always telegraph who they are afraid of.

They want to have Romney as the opponent.

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 12:34 pm
The problem is, CL, that Steve just doesn’t understand the big picture. He’s focussed on contraception not the Constitution. He just doesn’t get it.

That’s not quite accurate, Gab.

Steve knows he’s lying. But the switcheroo from Obama’s Hitlerism to support/opposition to contraception (LOL) is the propaganda line coming out of the New York Times and Slate – from which blockquote king Steve picked it up.

We’ve seen this before. Notice that Steve was AWOL on this for a couple of days. He usually waits for some left-wing articles to appear that he can cut ‘n paste.

So it’s not an understanding problem. It’s just Steve lying via borrowed far left-wing talking points.

C.L.

10 Feb 12 at 12:39 pm
Notice that Steve was AWOL on this for a couple of days. He usually waits for some left-wing articles to appear that he can cut ‘n paste.

CL, I’m forced to defend mrs. Steve here. Mrs Steve had numerous chores around the house and wasn’t able to comment.

Jc

10 Feb 12 at 12:43 pm
JamesK thinks liberals would prefer Romney to Santorum as Obama’s opponent because they are scared of Santorum?

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 12:49 pm
Santorum isn’t wealthy so Obummer can’t run the uncaring Wall St capitalist smear on him.

Santorum was against the individual mandate, Obamacare and the stimulus so Obummer has no facile retort on the main issues of criticism of his term.

Santorum is working class north east – Pennsylvania and Ohio heartland and substantially catholic, staes in which Obummer absolutely must win to have a hope.

Santorum is a battlehardened politician who wont make the multiple Romneyesque faux pas.

He has won as an out and out conservative multiple times in a dem state and in dem congressional seat

Santorum doesnt need schooling in conservatism.

He champions it, defends it and understands it implicitly.

MSM interviewers never get one over on him.

The primary in Ohio is the key one to look for.

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 12:51 pm
I blogged about the issue on 31 January, CL.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 12:52 pm
Santorum is too conservative even for most American Catholics, I expect.

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 12:56 pm
Santorum Only GOP Candidate Beating Obama, Rasmussen Daily Poll Finds

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 12:57 pm
John Cassidy’s poisonous venom/essay

Does that tosspot John Cassidy write anything else but poisonous venom/essays? Since the Repulbicans won the house in 2010 the New Yorker writers have been overcome by luvvie spite and rage.

Philip Adams loves the New Yorker. What more do I need to say?

Token

10 Feb 12 at 12:59 pm
I see the Democrats’ beloved Southern Baptists (of MLK fame) have also dumped Obama:

Southern Baptist leader: If Obama mandate isn’t changed, Christians will go to jail.

That’s every branch of Christianity in the United States, excepting the Church of The Blockquote of St Steve.

C.L.

10 Feb 12 at 1:00 pm
Santorum is too conservative even for most American Catholics, I expect.

Good man, economic idiot.

Infidel Tiger

10 Feb 12 at 1:03 pm
Obummer is just like you steve.

He’s anti-catholic too.

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 1:04 pm
Santorum is too conservative even for most American Catholics, I expect

And Romney’s too liberal for most blue-collar “Reagan Democrats,” I expect.

We’ll see what happens on Super Tuesday.

spot

10 Feb 12 at 1:06 pm
Yesterday:

Gillard misplaces $720 million.

Yet to be arrested.

That’s ok, no crisis CL.

Gillard found $750 million she can take out of the pockets of tax payers to replace that $720 million squandered on that vanity project.

Token

10 Feb 12 at 1:07 pm
They’ve got their rosaries on my testicles, JamesK.

Doesn’t have quite the same ring, does it…

steve from brisbane

10 Feb 12 at 1:08 pm
Fourth Reich watch:

The EU is Considering Using Drones to Police Farm Subsidies, Enforce Environmental Rules.

C.L.

10 Feb 12 at 1:08 pm
Good man, economic idiot.

He will sign Paul Ryan’s plan as President.

He has a two tier low and ultra-low corporate tax rate planned.

He will win the industrial heartland of America with that irrespective of some of the justificable concerns.

Like TA he’s a conservative who does what it takes to win.

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 1:09 pm
So it’s not an understanding problem. It’s just Steve lying via borrowed far left-wing talking points.

Look, fair enough. You’ve had the pleasure of Steve’s acquaintance far longer so I defer to your experience. I just thought he arrived at his arguments from reading comments at that hen site LP.

So he’s a liar, not stupid then.

Gab

10 Feb 12 at 1:11 pm
While oddball Obama wages war on Christianity from the White House Situation Room, Stephen Harper is taking advantage of the Keystone decision to make his nation billions:

Just as he promised he would do if the United States rejected the Keystone XL pipeline, Prime Minister Stephen Harper headed to Beijing earlier this week on a four-day trade mission in which he is expected to seek a deal to sell millions of barrels of Canadian oil to China. Since China is aggressively pursuing energy deals around the world to support its economic expansion, expect Harper to come home with an official signature on the dotted line.

C.L.

10 Feb 12 at 1:15 pm
He will win the industrial heartland of America with that irrespective of some of the justificable concerns.

By picking winners and government handouts. Brilliant strategy for a country $15 trillion in the hole and counting.

Infidel Tiger

10 Feb 12 at 1:15 pm
Token what’s the new figure of finding $750 mil? Yesterday Gillard was celebrating a “find” of $2.4 billion from fiddling heath rebates, and today it’s been whittled down to $750 million. Jeez, gotta give it to these Labor people, they sure can “lose” money faster than a drunken gambler.

Gab

10 Feb 12 at 1:15 pm
That’s every branch of Christianity in the United States, excepting the Church of The Blockquote of St Steve.

…and the Unitarian Universalists. I think there are about 12 of them left. Although it’s arguable as to whether they’re actually Christians.

spot

10 Feb 12 at 1:20 pm
It’s not “picking winners”.

Businesses that manufacture will have the lowest of two low tax rates is all.

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 1:21 pm
Token what’s the new figure of finding $750 mil? Yesterday Gillard was celebrating a “find” of $2.4 billion from fiddling heath rebates, and today it’s been whittled down to $750 million. Jeez, gotta give it to these Labor people, they sure can “lose” money faster than a drunken gambler.

Typical spin from the Liars Party lead to the confustion, when you drill down on the details the $2.4B was over 3 years.

“The policy change will raise $746.3m in 2012-13, and is crucial to the government’s bid to achieve its $1.5 billion surplus”

Token

10 Feb 12 at 1:23 pm
The main aim as I understand it is to attract Apple into manufacturing back on mainland USA.

Wages will be higher but taxes and transport costs will be lower

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 1:23 pm
They’ve got their rosaries on my [moth-eaten] testicles, JamesK.

FTFY, Steve from B.

dover_beach

10 Feb 12 at 1:25 pm
when you drill down on the details the $2.4B was over 3 years.

Mea culpa.

However, how “lucky” are they given the numbers were already in forward estimates. Imagine what new tax they’d come up with to get the money for their 12/13 “surplus” if the bill wasn’t passed.

Gab

10 Feb 12 at 1:28 pm
They’ve got their rosaries on my testicles, JamesK.

If you go to the US, Steve, and if you bonk a girl who gets her health insurance from a Catholic organisation, you might have to shell out for your own frangers.

Is that seriously what has you so deranged today?

spot

10 Feb 12 at 1:33 pm
It’s not “picking winners”.

Businesses that manufacture will have the lowest of two low tax rates is all.

It’s the very definition of picking winners.

The main aim as I understand it is to attract Apple into manufacturing back on mainland USA.

No chance. For Apple and Amazon to return to the US, US labour laws would have to be completely junked.

Infidel Tiger

10 Feb 12 at 1:35 pm
t’s the very definition of picking winners.

Don’t be silly IT.

Picking a particular firm for over $500 millio of tax payer funded subsidy is “the very definition of picking winners”

Giving a favourable tax rate for all manufacturing companies who fit an abstract definition is not “the very definition of picking winners”

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 1:46 pm
If they keep lying, the funding will continue to flow.

Plunge by Michael Pinsky, presented by Artsadmin and LIFT, consists of a series of public light installations marking the predicted 3012 sea level on London’s iconic monuments.

Now that an artist depicts the results of AGW in 1000 years’ time, dumb clucks will believe it is a fact.

According to the artist, these illuminated doom-loops mark the UK’s imperialism. Presumably that’s why they’re so small and will be gone in 26 days. By the way, water around London is rising at nearly three centimetres per year? That’s a 2700 per cent exaggeration – I think – over recent rise calculations.

http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/new_atlantis/

Gab

10 Feb 12 at 3:04 pm
Excerpts from Marco Rubio’s speech at CPAC whyere he crushes Obama’s HHS mandate

Paul Ryan’s will be the main speech which should be up in a few hours.

He won’t be advocating a namby-pamby small target philosophy or ‘moderate’ policy prescription for the november elections

JamesK

10 Feb 12 at 3:46 pm
from the quote listing

“As a method of economic analysis econometrics is a childish play with figures that does not contribute anything to the elucidation of the problems of economic reality.” — Ludwig von Mises

wish I had read that 20 years ago!

RodClarke

10 Feb 12 at 4:03 pm
It’s bullshit now. When did Mises write that?

.

10 Feb 12 at 4:33 pm
Nomination: Best live album ever.

And the winner is…

The Rolling Stones – Some Girls- Live in Texas ’78

jupes

10 Feb 12 at 8:31 pm
Without a doubt.

jupes

10 Feb 12 at 8:58 pm
From one of my regular wargame reads, one of their commentators:

Armchair General magazine Advisory Board member, former U. S. Army officer and enlisted man, acclaimed strategist and award-winning author of over two dozen fiction and non-fiction books — testified before the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the U. S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs on February 8, 2012.

For a taste of Mr Peters’ strategic assessment:

“Afghanistan will never become a modern, integrated state; Pakistan will never be a prosperous and peaceful one; and Iran will never be a contented one.”

It’s an interesting discussion on lines on maps.

Myrddin Seren

10 Feb 12 at 9:11 pm
Irish racism victim about to obtain his first win as manager of a very so so football team…

Obtained.

Rabz

10 Feb 12 at 10:04 pm
Hey dot, did you get a chance to read my rhiff on Roman Catholic church leaders and healthcare from yesterday?

Peter Patton

10 Feb 12 at 11:02 pm
I read it in more detail but haven’t followed it up.

I have a lot more respect for Diocletian and Julian the Apostate due to your pedagogy.

.

10 Feb 12 at 11:04 pm
Without a doubt.

The Red Devils, King King.

Abu Chowdah

10 Feb 12 at 11:34 pm
Earlier in the week we had a EU Commisioner saying it would be no big deal if Greece left the Euro.

Now this:
Europe is now deliberately trying to push Greece out

So it begins…

Lazlo

10 Feb 12 at 11:34 pm

Catallaxy Files

Open Forum: February 4, 2012

1,392 Responses to 'Open Forum: February 4, 2012'

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