Catallaxy Files

Australia's leading libertarian and centre-right blog

Open Forum: January 5, 2013

1,064 comments

Written by Sinclair Davidson

January 5th, 2013 at 12:01 am

Posted in Open Forum

1,064 Responses to 'Open Forum: January 5, 2013'

Subscribe to comments with RSS or TrackBack to 'Open Forum: January 5, 2013'.

  1. Rabz

    5 Jan 13 at 12:01 am

  2. First time in the top 10- woo hoo!

    Huckleberry Chunkwot

    5 Jan 13 at 12:24 am

  3. Two. I didn’t think much of the supposed cool change in Melbourne tonight.

    Cold-Hands

    5 Jan 13 at 12:24 am

  4. Hooray!

    Helen Armstrong

    5 Jan 13 at 12:31 am

  5. C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 12:35 am

  6. She’s doing God’s work, CL.

    Gab

    5 Jan 13 at 12:36 am

  7. Cold H

    I’m down in the peninsula and it’s hit here where the temp is now a nice 23ish degs.

    They turned off the power down here today, so the blackouts are for real.

    The greenslime deserve to be jailed for what they’ve done. We can’t build another coal plant.

    All you fucking morons want to explain to us how renew balls are working out when there was a spike in power demand today?

    You destructive asshats. You destructive moronic asshats.

    JC

    5 Jan 13 at 12:37 am

  8. Still 31 deg. where I am. Send the cold change up my way, JC.

    Gab

    5 Jan 13 at 12:41 am

  9. Scientologists have built “alien space cathedral” in the New Mexico desert.

    I can’t imagine why Katie Holmes got spooked.

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 12:44 am

  10. They turned off the power down here today, so the blackouts are for real.

    Good. This should hopefully shake a big bunch of idiots out of their complacency.

    Blackouts/brownouts in extreme heat or cold situations constitute grounds for mass civilian anger.

    Beware, you fascist parasites.

    Sow the wind, reap the mighty whirlwind…

    Rabz

    5 Jan 13 at 12:45 am

  11. 22 deg currently here in ZP. Went for a swim at 9:30 earlier, the latest time in about a year.

    36 deg tomorrow.

    Joy.

    Rabz

    5 Jan 13 at 12:48 am

  12. I also had a short brownout this afternoon- just long enough to zap all my digital clocks.

    Still 32 degrees with no breeze worth talking about. Sweltering.

    Cold-Hands

    5 Jan 13 at 12:48 am

  13. They turned off the power down here today, so the blackouts are for real.

    JC, that’s progress. Progressive style…

    Skuter

    5 Jan 13 at 12:50 am

  14. Still 32 degrees with no breeze worth talking about. Sweltering.

    Gerbil Worming, I tells ya!

    Rabz

    5 Jan 13 at 12:52 am

  15. Still 31 deg. where I am. Send the cold change up my way, JC.

    My parents are quite old and were without AC for a few hours because of another blackout where they were (about 200K away from me). I was seriously concerned for them.

    I’m figuring there were blackouts all through Victoria.

    This short of stuff kills old people.

    JC

    5 Jan 13 at 12:53 am

  16. The CSIRO put Gillard through a 3D printer but had to abandon the project because they kept running out of ink trying to copy her arse.

    Splatacrobat

    5 Jan 13 at 12:55 am

  17. This sort of stuff kills old people.

    Yep – all part of the greenfilth’s grand plan…

    Rabz

    5 Jan 13 at 12:55 am

  18. JC, that’s progress. Progressive style…

    Skute

    I don’t think I’ll be able to control myself if one of those greenslime offer me their voting card at the next election. It could get seriously ugly.

    JC

    5 Jan 13 at 12:55 am

  19. kept running out of ink trying to copy her arse.

    :)

    Rabz

    5 Jan 13 at 12:56 am

  20. They turned off the power down here today, so the blackouts are for real.

    So much for gold plated poles and wires.

    Splatacrobat

    5 Jan 13 at 12:57 am

  21. The Space Aliens aspect of Scientology is well known- it was even parodied in Fallout 2

    Cold-Hands

    5 Jan 13 at 12:58 am

  22. I was beginning to think Sinclair had not paid his Open Forums account.

    Mick Gold Coast QLD

    5 Jan 13 at 12:59 am

  23. What caused the blackouts? Overload? Why in the hell is there any ‘pressure on the system’ in a country up to its eyeballs in energy?

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 1:06 am

  24. I don’t think I’ll be able to control myself if one of those greenslime offer me their voting card at the next election. It could get seriously ugly.

    JC, on one level, I’d love to witness some skinny little vegan prick getting their arse handed to them, but this election really is a rather more serious affair. The pricks are driving our country into the ground. And I am angry, like many others. But we can’t give these pricks any excuse to whinge at all. They must be massively defeated but not given any excuse to dispute anything…the lesson must be loud and clear. We hate you but we value our country and our government and we are taking it back in an orderly way.

    Skuter

    5 Jan 13 at 1:08 am

  25. Why in the hell is there any ‘pressure on the system’ in a country up to its eyeballs in energy?

    In a word, greenfilth.

    Rabz

    5 Jan 13 at 1:09 am

  26. I no longer feel anger towards the Greens. Not really. This is what they do – what they’ve always done. What angers me is that the Liberal Party is not in the least bit interested in improving the country or revolutionalising our political culture.

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 1:10 am

  27. What caused the blackouts? Overload? Why in the hell is there any ‘pressure on the system’ in a country up to its eyeballs in energy?

    Yea, it’s an overload..

    You could make jokes about these morons we see showing up here peddling renew balls. But this isn’t funny anymore.

    think about it.. we had overloads in a fucking country with incredible amounts of energy supplies.

    Skute.

    This stuff is getting serious. Energy supplies are being choked because these filth, this scum are preventing new plants or rejig old ones.

    JC

    5 Jan 13 at 1:16 am

  28. Don’t we have Liberal governments in QLD, NSW, Victoria, WA and the Northern Territory?

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 1:24 am

  29. C.L. you are wrong, there is no Liberal government in Victoria.

    Skuter

    5 Jan 13 at 1:30 am

  30. DRUDGE: Obama doing a heckuva job:

    UNEMPLOYMENT UP TO 7.8%
    DEBT HITS $16,432,706,000,000.00
    DECEMBER JOBS: +155,000…
    Rate for Blacks Rises Sharply…

    Worst president ever.

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 1:30 am

  31. Also via DRUDGE:

    Obama releases photo of moment he learned of Sandy Hook massacre.

    Which is odd because he appears to be indifferent.

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 1:32 am

  32. Agree woth Scooter.

    There’s no liberal government in vic. It’s a very unpopular leftist government, which appears will be decimated at the next election. Good. I can’t wait.

    JC

    5 Jan 13 at 1:33 am

  33. Shit I wonder why. Couldn’t have anything to do with the aftermath of a crisis could it? What’s the US cash rate again? Oh yeah, essentially zero.

    sdfc

    5 Jan 13 at 1:34 am

  34. The Space Aliens aspect of Scientology is well known- it was even parodied in Fallout 2

    Dude. Respect.

    Abu Chowdah

    5 Jan 13 at 3:09 am

  35. boy on a bike

    5 Jan 13 at 6:26 am

  36. Obama releases photo of moment he learned of Sandy Hook massacre.

    Why? Is he running for re-election?

    Gab

    5 Jan 13 at 6:42 am

  37. Interesting, boab, but as he says, typically unfocussed approach by the Ruddster, with no result. As to strengthening the democracy, I suspect that only a root and branch reform of the way information is promulgated to the populace can do that. The present media culture is as misleading as it can be.

    Blogstrop

    5 Jan 13 at 6:47 am

  38. The all-knowing zombie mind (Jacqueline Maley, of ShakeMyHead.com), which is in the process of instructing you how to vote, presents a fantasy of the issues concerning voters in an election year in rough order of importance:

    1. economy
    2. funding of promises
    3. education
    4. health
    5. border protection
    6. air tax/cost of living
    7. infrastructure
    8. gender
    9. Queensland cuts
    10. industrial relations

    That is, cost of living and border protection are minor irritants and attacking AbbottAbbottAbbott over the cost of of his promises is of primary importance.

    Misogyny and the need to attack Campbell Newman over his restoration of economic responsibility in Queensland are more important than the corruption of the federal workplace tribunal system by union cronies. Industrial relations gets a mention as a 10th-order economic issue, but the trashing of manufacturing industry jobs (caused in part by out-of-control government debt, which has artificially inflated the AUD) is of no concern.

    The fact that 80% of the media is barracking for the most unpopular government in history is also not mentioned as something that is pissing off voters.

    Tom

    5 Jan 13 at 7:10 am

  39. I no longer feel anger towards the Greens. Not really. This is what they do – what they’ve always done. What angers me is that the Liberal Party is not in the least bit interested in improving the country or revolutionalising our political culture.

    Completely agree.

    issues concerning voters in an election year in rough order of importance:

    8. gender

    You cannot be serious.

    dover_beach

    5 Jan 13 at 7:16 am

  40. The Greens reckon throwing another $2 billion a year on the barbie will fix the lifestyle issues of their fans on the dole. Brought to you exclusively by the caring Green Left news service at ShakeMyHead.com.

    Tom

    5 Jan 13 at 7:19 am

  41. Miranda Devine is on target with her assessment of the Grand Mufti, and with her call for Christians, being persecuted across much of the ME and Africa, to be given higher priority in the refugee stakes.

    Blogstrop

    5 Jan 13 at 7:23 am

  42. The “carbon economy editor” is today’s weather girl at ShakeMyHead.com:

    AT FIRST glance, you don’t get more typical years than last year.

    Some 1215 millimetres of rain fell on Sydney’s Observatory Hill, just 2 millimetres shy of the site’s annual averages which go all the way back to 1858.

    And nationwide, temperatures came in just 0.11 degrees above the mean for the 1961-90 period, while rainfall was 2.3 per cent higher.

    He then gets into a zombie lather with the help of BoM’s chief alarmist David Jones about the fact that rainfall distribution patterns are changing. This is called climate variability, which the BoM has never investigated because there’s no money in it.

    Tom

    5 Jan 13 at 7:31 am

  43. My attention started to wander when I got to “mitigate against…”.

    Walter Plinge

    5 Jan 13 at 7:35 am

  44. Obama: under the new deal 98% households will not see an increase in taxes.

    Reality: Workers making $30,000 will take a bigger hit on their pay than those earning $500,000 under new fiscal deal

    Gab

    5 Jan 13 at 7:39 am

  45. If you haven’t read this blog (and especially the provided link within the blog) then do so. It really is very enlightening!

    http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2013/01/wheres-judge-judy-when-we-need-her.html

    A Lurker

    5 Jan 13 at 7:41 am

  46. Tom, it’s like the BOM’s annual report on ACT weather. It was full of statements like “wettest October since XXXX” and “hottest March since XXXX”. So what?

    The national report would have been funny if it wasn’t so larded with our money. It turns out that it was a pretty average year nationwide, but what they wanted to focus on was that it was wetter than average here, and drier than average there, etc. Presumably, it should always be average everywhere.

    It’s getting harder and harder for them to spin CAGW, but the BOM is not giving up.

    johanna

    5 Jan 13 at 7:46 am

  47. Lurker.
    The case reported by Smith seems fine to me.
    It seems that the appeal succeeded on the grounds that stealing is within the normal cultural spectrum for Lebanese Muslims.
    So …… OK then

    Leigh Lowe

    5 Jan 13 at 7:53 am

  48. Obama voter: “What happened?” he asked. “My paycheck just went down by an amount that I don’t feel comfortable with. I guarantee this decrease will hurt me more than the increase in income taxes will hurt those making over $400,000.”

    Jim Treacher replies:

    HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA what happened, he said HA HA HA HA HA

    Gab

    5 Jan 13 at 7:55 am

  49. David Burge ‏@iowahawkblog

    #WhyIsMyPaycheckLessThisWeek because before Nov 6, you were a useful idiot. Now you’re just an idiot.

    David Burge ‏@iowahawkblog

    #WhyIsMyPaycheckLessThisWeek because you voted to keep Mitt Romney from outlawing tampons.

    Gab

    5 Jan 13 at 8:02 am

  50. Spot on Johanna.
    This seems to be the latest spin from the Warmist brigade.

    The Age announced yesterdaythat “Today could be Australia’s hottest day ever”.
    They mention some capital city forecasts, none of which constituted a record. They go on to talk about a sample of 700 weather stations recording temperatures on Wednesdayclose to the top 10 since 1959”, so no record there, “but it could be hotter today” ….. whoopee-doo!
    Very light on empirical data about station-for-station figures or methodology to arrive at this conclusion.
    For example, are they taking a simple average of weather stations and do we now simply have more stations in hotter areas like mine sites?
    Do we have stations in 1959 which were rural and are now urbanised with the “heat sink” effect?
    Who knows, because the Age and BoM ain’t telling us.
    And News are now running with the story.

    Leigh Lowe

    5 Jan 13 at 8:03 am

  51. Country shopper activists are upset with the three-star backpackers accommodation and free services that have been laid on for them in the tropics. They have malarial mozzies up there, but the cuel Coalition government has banned the supply of Aerogard to protect guests. Brought to you by the killer refugee importers at ShakeMyHead.com.

    Tom

    5 Jan 13 at 8:04 am

  52. I don’t think I’ll be able to control myself if one of those greenslime offer me their voting card at the next election. It could get seriously ugly.

    JC …. I understand the “punch a Greenie” sentiment, but Skuter is right. It would be all over the ABC News as “electoral intimidation”.
    Here’s what I do on Election Day (with assistance from the bride) …..
    She walks dutifully a couple of paces behind and as I pass by the Green how-to-vote drone, I turn to her and say “I told you before. We don’t vote for them”. Wife sheepishly declines Green card and trails behind. I then point to the sausage sizzle and say loudly “Get us a coupla snags darls”
    Guaranteed to make their little vegan heads explode.

    Leigh Lowe

    5 Jan 13 at 8:20 am

  53. I just frost those election site Greenies and GetUps out by saying, no, never, thank you, in my most cultivated Lady Muck tones. They also get my special look, the one that makes da Hairy Ape go into a flat panic.

    They back away fast and regroup down the road to discuss.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    5 Jan 13 at 8:45 am

  54. That’s my approach Lizzie. I’ve not thought of the Lady Muck voice though but will start practicing.

    Megan

    5 Jan 13 at 8:57 am

  55. Dress for the occasion Megan, and practice those two great dames Maggie Smith or Judy Dench for the withering looks. You don’t have to be their age to do it.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    5 Jan 13 at 9:23 am

  56. Liz, Megs, I just swear at them in a variety of foreign languages. This reeaallly does their minds because I am an aging (but very fit) white guy, who is a RWDB and here I am multi-culti’ing it. That’s what de caring classes duz, they think, not you aging white racists. Never been called out on it, particularly the Slovenian or Cantonese. Interesting that there are so few Asians in those camps.

    JakartaJaap

    5 Jan 13 at 9:32 am

  57. Dames Maggie and Judy are brilliant at the Stop You With One Look face and they don’t have a huge start on me in the age stakes either1 :-)

    Megan

    5 Jan 13 at 9:34 am

  58. Bork on Conservatism and the Culture:

    “True conservatism,” we are informed, requires that we be at the center of American culture. That would be a liberal panacea. If their opponents are careful to stay in the center while liberals pull from the left, the center will continually move left and “true conservatives” will, by definition, be bound to move with it. This is a liberal ratchet and a recipe for the destruction of any effective conservatism. I wonder how Mr. Sullivan, formerly editor of the New Republic, would react to the suggestion that “true liberalism” means staying at the center of American culture while conservatives are free to tug the center to the right.

    dover_beach

    5 Jan 13 at 9:41 am

  59. Liz, Megs, I just swear at them in a variety of foreign languages.

    i could have a Very Rude conversation about them with LIfe Partner in Italian with Sicilian overtones but I suspect that particular multi-culti ship has sailed. Perhaps my 2013 goal should be to learn an Asian language. After all, the Lying Slapper (™JC) asserts it’s essential to our future.

    Megan

    5 Jan 13 at 9:45 am

  60. I have a question ….can any one tell me why more people are not linking the despicable red headed scrag to Emily’s list and showing she is no better than a Stalinist bitch ?
    LONG LIVE FREE SPEECH !
    Go get em Gregory !!!

    Raven

    5 Jan 13 at 9:47 am

  61. Utah renames street due to sex connotation
    save

    8:31AM LEHI City Council in Utah has voted to change the name of Morning Glory Road after a complaint about the name’s sexual connotation.

    The prudes! How ridiculous.

    Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news#ixzz2H39tW9Ca

    Gab

    5 Jan 13 at 9:52 am

  62. The prudes! How ridiculous.

    Meanwhile, there’s still a town in the heart of Amish country called Intercourse.

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 10:00 am

  63. because before Nov 6, you were a useful idiot. Now you’re just an idiot.

    Gold.

    Rabz

    5 Jan 13 at 10:15 am

  64. Only 3 weeks to Australia Day.I wonder what the Prime Ministers Office has planned for this year.Topping last year’s Race Riot is going to take some doing.

    Lew

    5 Jan 13 at 10:17 am

  65. sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 10:18 am

  66. Abbott should not be in the same state as Juliar for his own well being.

    Mike of Marion

    5 Jan 13 at 10:21 am

  67. “We helped to provide, I think, some stop-gaps, and what I think about is, those two million people who would’ve lost their unemployment insurance — because think about it, all that money that goes out in terms of what’s being spent by that unemployment check, helps to generate two additional dollars back in the community so small businesses, everyone continues to keep their jobs, so, I can’t give you an exact figure but I’ll tell you that just by the movement the president made, we saved millions and millions of jobs.”

    Oy.

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 10:22 am

  68. As with everything of the left, they hate ridicule more than anything else. So when offered a greens how to vote card, I explode into laughter with “you have got to be kidding, right?”. Then walk on with a chortling, ” vote for the greens, that’s a good one!”

    The last time I did that the lady was quite taken aback. Quite why they bother in a booth that regularly polls 70% plus for the LNP I will never know, bless their little head tilting idealistic hearts.

    brc

    5 Jan 13 at 10:25 am

  69. Meanwhile, there’s still a town in the heart of Amish country called Intercourse.

    That is because unless you add the qualifier sexual, intercourse is not in the least racy.

    dover_beach

    5 Jan 13 at 10:26 am

  70. intercourse is not in the least racy.

    ……okay, on second thoughts, I’ll not touch that one…

    Gab

    5 Jan 13 at 10:29 am

  71. ‘The Greens reckon throwing another $2 billion a year on the barbie will fix the lifestyle issues of their fans on the dole.’

    How much do we spend on all those coming in through the back door ?
    These fools can apparently pull money outa their arse , and mine as well.
    Be gone simpletons , there is a job waiting for you at the UN !

    Raven

    5 Jan 13 at 10:32 am

  72. Last election there was 15 min wait to vote & the ShutUp zombies were hassling those on the line, so I entertained myself by stating very loudly to my bride:

    “Aren’t Get Up set up by a cabinet minister & funded by Trade Unions?”

    The inner city trolls were not happy but didn’t argue that truth.

    Token

    5 Jan 13 at 10:51 am

  73. Hey, here is an idea: let’s use the combined brainpower of the Cats in this blog to help Gillard’s office. Seeing that they so miserably bungled up (surprise, surprise – Gillard bungles up something!) their attempt to incite the 2012 Australia Day riots and then blame it on Abbott, let’s try and help them out with ideas how to stage some riot and blame it on Abbott, successfully this time.

    Let me kick it off:

    1. An ABC reporter asks (as dictated by Gillard’s office) Abbott in a doorstopper interview that morning “What do feel about young girls having sex? Do you think they should engage in promiscuous wild sex with anyone or with a safe partner?” Abbott: “I would prefer if young women has safe sex”.
    Abbott later invited to an event with females, where Gillard’s staffers start a whispering campaign, telling everyone present: “An Abbott government will outlaw sex outside marriage”. A riot ensues, with the Fairfax press condemning Abbott, blaming him for the riot.

    2. An ABC reporter asks (as dictated by Gillard’s office) Abbott in a doorstopper interview that morning “What do feel about the Royal Commission for investigatng cases of child abuse? Do you think they should target the Catholic church or any cases of paedophilia?” Abbott: “I would prefer if they target all suspected cases of paedophilia.”
    Abbott later invited to an event with parents of young children, where Gillard’s staffers start a whispering campaign, telling everyone present: “An Abbott government will not investigate any case of paedophilia within the Catholic church”. A riot ensues, with the Fairfax press condemning Abbott, blaming him for the riot.

    Care to add your own ideas?

    roger

    5 Jan 13 at 10:52 am

  74. Labor having a field day at the Australian this weekend. Three opinion articles.

    Garrett trying to defend his government’s intrusions into highschool curricula, complaining that the coalition had 11 years to ‘fix’ it. Sure, they also had 11 years in which they could have set up Fair Work. Garrett really is a lightweight, with a big mouth and a head like a weapon.

    Emmo is explaining why we should be thrilled with Labor’s economic management – ignore what you see, just listen to the government.

    Peter Beattie has suddenly noticed that the courts in QLD are slow – someone has not been doing their job.

    Toiling Mass

    5 Jan 13 at 11:17 am

  75. That is because unless you add the qualifier sexual, intercourse is not in the least racy.

    You have never visited Lancaster County with a class of Junior High School boys.

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 11:23 am

  76. Emmo is explaining why we should be thrilled with Labor’s economic management – ignore what you see, just listen to the government.

    AKA facile optimism.

    Gab

    5 Jan 13 at 11:25 am

  77. Care to add your own ideas?

    Yawn … Nope. Just bury those two.

    Septimus

    5 Jan 13 at 11:29 am

  78. Yes, we should remember that we’re coming up to the first anniversary of Gillard’s Race Riot. She deliberately orchestrated a riot amongst Abos to embarrass and physically harm the Leader of the Opposition. In the same category as Gillard’s attempt to goad Tony Abbott into revealing his arrival time in Afgahnistan – presumably so his plane would be shot down. She is a complete tramp.

    Alan Jones was right.

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 11:34 am

  79. Hey, remember the outrage from Indians about how awful Australians are?

    Passers-by left a gang-raped Indian student lying unclothed and bleeding in the street for almost an hour, a male friend who was attacked with her said in his first public comments.

    The 23-year-old female student died in a Singapore hospital two weeks after she was raped on December 16 on a private bus in New Delhi…

    For an hour, his friend was brutally raped and tortured before the pair were thrown off the bus.

    The man also confirmed the attackers then tried to run them over as they lay on the road.

    “There were a few people who had gathered round but nobody helped,” he said.

    “Before the police came I screamed for help but the auto rickshaws, cars and others passing by did not stop.”

    Lovely country. Lovely people.

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 11:38 am

  80. How the hell do you misplace nearly 20,000 dole-bludgers? Womp.

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 11:40 am

  81. I dread to think what gillard/mcternan have got planned for Tony Abbott this year, but it might be the Catholic/abuse angle to start with, and then a huge chunk of Work Choices thrown in.

    candy

    5 Jan 13 at 11:44 am

  82. Yeah, pot, kettle, black, CL in a country where a female (of any age) is raped every 20 minutes.

    Helen Armstrong

    5 Jan 13 at 11:46 am

  83. Candy

    Ben Shapiro has written a book addressing this very issue – Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences Americans The Kindle is exxy at $17.98 US but I have ordered it – delivery is 8 Jan.


    Ben Shapiro uncovers the simple strategy used by liberals and their friends in the media: bully the living hell out of conservatives. Play the race card, the class card, the sexism card. Use any and every means at your disposal to demonize your opposition—to shut them up. Then pretend that such bullying is justified, because, after all, conservatives are the true bullies, and need to be taught a lesson for their intolerance. Hidden beneath the left’s supposed hatred of bullying lies a passionate love of its vulgar tactics

    mcternan is all over it.

    Helen Armstrong

    5 Jan 13 at 11:57 am

  84. The Kindle is exxy at $17.98 US but I have ordered it – delivery is 8 Jan.

    Once again, Aussies are getting ripped off on book prices – even ebooks.

    Go to “Manage My Kindle – Country Settings”, set your Kindle zone to USA, and you’ll only pay $11.99: http://ScrnSht.com/exydxe

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 12:05 pm

  85. Ben Shapiro uncovers the simple strategy used by liberals and their friends in the media: bully the living hell out of conservatives. Play the race card, the class card, the sexism card. Use any and every means at your disposal to demonize your opposition—to shut them up. Then pretend that such bullying is justified, because, after all, conservatives are the true bullies, and need to be taught a lesson for their intolerance. Hidden beneath the left’s supposed hatred of bullying lies a passionate love of its vulgar tactics.

    This explains contemporary politics and culture perfectly.

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 12:07 pm

  86. She is a complete tramp.

    I missed that detail at the time, CL. Shocking. History will indeed remember her as as a corrupt, ambitious, immoral strumpet who symbolised the lawlessness of a dying political party.

    Tom

    5 Jan 13 at 12:09 pm

  87. Hey, isn’t it odd – as we enter the new year – that Gillard still hasn’t sued one of the many commentators who’ve accused her of criminal conduct with her former boyfriend, the then married Bruce Wilson? I wonder why that is.

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 12:10 pm

  88. Yeah, Tom – Gillard knew Abbott was scheduled to go to Afghanistan, though this was secret for security reasons. When Abbott went to the UK on other business she went around saying he put a Conservative Party conference ahead of Aussie troops. She knew this was a lie but she also knew Abbott couldn’t reveal his imminent flight into Afghanistan – not unless he wanted to risk his own life and the lives of Australian parliamentary and military staff.

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 12:14 pm

  89. Not quite sure of your reference here, Helen. There are not violent rapes every 20 minutes in Australia unless you take some very peculiar definitions on board.

    And certainly in Australia people do not just stand around and stare when someone has been attacked in any way at all, or if they are drowning or in need etc.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    5 Jan 13 at 12:14 pm

  90. Sorry, Helen. Just twigged you may have been referring to the Indians having a go at us. My bad.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    5 Jan 13 at 12:15 pm

  91. Lizzie, Helen was saying Indians shouldn’t call the kettle (us) black.

    The stats are for India.

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 12:16 pm

  92. Why are the Black Tuesday bushfires not remembered now?

    The summer of 1967 will long be remembered as Tasmania’s worst summer…On Tuesday 7 February 1967 bushfires raged throughout the Hobart region…A memorial for the 1967 Bushfires was built in Snug, in the Kingborough municipality, to south of Hobart. A plaque with the names of the 62 people killed…

    Did ALP’s Green and Greens no hazard reduction contribute to recent fires?

    stackja

    5 Jan 13 at 12:23 pm

  93. Labor having a field day at the Australian this weekend. Three opinion articles.

    I’m nearly ready to ditch the Australian.

    Why give that moron Emmerson a regular spot for Labor propaganda?

    And the coverage of the Sandy Hook shootings, with subsequent frothing anti-gun nonsense led me to place a Press Council complaint. Not that I expect it will get anywhere, being a complaint about a “progressive” approved opinion.

    Eddystone

    5 Jan 13 at 12:29 pm

  94. Gillard still hasn’t sued one of the many commentators who’ve accused her of criminal conduct with her former boyfriend, the then married Bruce Wilson?

    That’s just her sharing, caring nature expressing itself again, CL, and of course da terrible misogyny making her incapable, poor thing.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    5 Jan 13 at 12:31 pm

  95. I had forgotten the evil slag’s lies about Abbott’s visit. She is a thing.

    She will never sue. Never. She knows she would be destroyed in a court. It would be a thousand times tougher than parliament. One can always dream though.

    Tiny Dancer

    5 Jan 13 at 12:38 pm

  96. The animals, named Baby and Nepal, are owned by a touring circus and were ordered to be put down by a Lyon court as a precautionary measure.

    Bardot has joined campaigners to keep the elephants alive and says she will quit France if they are killed.

    “If those in power are cowardly and impudent enough to kill the elephants… then I have decided I will ask for Russian nationality to get out of this country which has become nothing more than an animal cemetery,” Bardot said in a statement.

    All kinds of stupid on show here. The poor elephants have TB and could infect t he rest of the zoo…and Russia of all places, I won’t start.

    She has a Sea Shepherd (frigging pirates) boat named after her so I suppose she must be on the side of the angels.

    DaveF

    5 Jan 13 at 12:39 pm

  97. No worries Lizzie, thanks for that re kindle, sdog, I’m onto it.

    Bloody Aussie booksellers

    Helen Armstrong

    5 Jan 13 at 12:41 pm

  98. sdog, I am being a bit obtuse here, but it is asking me for my US address or it wont let me change

    Helen Armstrong

    5 Jan 13 at 12:45 pm

  99. In the old days pirate ships used to have full-breasted females up front as a figurehead, beautifully carved and painted.

    But I don’t think the Sea Sheperd’s PC pirate crowd chose Bardot for that.

    Pity. That was her metier. Only thing she was any good at.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    5 Jan 13 at 12:45 pm

  100. Cool Hands, you should have been in Little River

    johninoxley

    5 Jan 13 at 12:49 pm

  101. Yes Helen you need a US address, but can have books delivered anywhere (gift, hint, hint).

    I understand any address will do.

    DaveF

    5 Jan 13 at 12:52 pm

  102. ok sdog, I fpound out how to do it, I ‘borrowed’ an address from USA. Funnily enough, other items seem to be more expensive – that would be the exchange rate?

    Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians [Kindle Edition] was 9.99 before but address is USA it is 10.36.

    Cheers for the tip!

    Helen Armstrong

    5 Jan 13 at 1:03 pm

  103. typo found

    Helen Armstrong

    5 Jan 13 at 1:03 pm

  104. Helen, try

    1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
    Washington, DC 20500.

    The Obamas are always having people over to stay.

    Cold-Hands

    5 Jan 13 at 1:04 pm

  105. thanks DaveF

    Helen Armstrong

    5 Jan 13 at 1:04 pm

  106. 1.05PM. now 39 degrees under our back pergola, supposed to be the collest place around the house. Thinks!! will head to the recliner.

    Mother G

    5 Jan 13 at 1:05 pm

  107. Cold Hands, Next time, I will! Now I have had a good laugh, off to do something other than indulge myself.

    Helen Armstrong

    5 Jan 13 at 1:06 pm

  108. Helen
    Find a US address (hint: phonebook) and use wireless to download.

    Woolfe

    5 Jan 13 at 1:15 pm

  109. it is asking me for my US address or it wont let me change

    You can temporarily give it any name & US address – it won’t affect your credit card/billing/shipping address. Any McDonald’s address out of the Yellow Pages should work.

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 1:15 pm

  110. Woolfe

    5 Jan 13 at 1:18 pm

  111. Never mind – looks like you got it anyway. Cheers!

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 1:18 pm

  112. My brother has an American missus so he uses her parents address. He saves a fortune ordering books and toys, also DVDs from there.

    I think its a copyright thing, the publishers here demand the level of profit they have become accustomed to.

    DaveF

    5 Jan 13 at 1:20 pm

  113. Another bad law:

    In the Australian Whale Sanctuary (from three nautical miles) it is a requirement to obtain a permit under the Environment Protection and Biodiveristy Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) to; take, keep, move, interfere with (harass, chase, herd, tag, mark or brand) a cetacean and to possess or treat (divide or cut up, or extract any product from, the cetacean) a cetacean. Additionally, for Australian residents, it is also a requirement to obtain a permit to carry out such activities in waters beyond the Sanctuary, that is, in international or foreign waters.

    I love the over reach here. Wait a minute….

    Sea Shepherd is probably causing distress to whales in international waters by approaching too close and boating recklessly in their vicinity.

    I will definitely be lodging a complaint the minute I see the footage on the tele.

    DaveF

    5 Jan 13 at 1:34 pm

  114. You can open a US I tunes account and have access to 3 times the content and cheaper prices as well , just google it

    Raven

    5 Jan 13 at 1:36 pm

  115. You can open a US I tunes account and have access to 3 times the content and cheaper prices as well , just google it

    They used to actually make you use a US credit card with a US billing address to open a US iTunes account. Maybe that’s not still the case?

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 1:38 pm

  116. I ‘borrowed’ an address from USA

    Apropos of your need for an address and Gab’s comment upthread early on, Helen, try:

    69 Morning Glory Street,
    Intercourse,
    Penn. USA.

    90210 will probably do for a Zip Code. :)

    Cue SfB to admonish me again, and sorry Sinc, but at least it is afternoon now.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    5 Jan 13 at 1:44 pm

  117. No you can buy US I tune card online and use the code after purchase , there are several ways it can be done and sites give step by step instructions ….worked for me .

    Raven

    5 Jan 13 at 1:49 pm

  118. Sorry left out sdog…cheers

    Raven

    5 Jan 13 at 1:50 pm

  119. Raven

    5 Jan 13 at 1:53 pm

  120. Elizabeth, please stop summonsing Dogpoo for your own amusement. Coming here without his presence (and his boring mate’s) is actually a pleasure instead of a constant pain.

    Tom

    5 Jan 13 at 1:56 pm

  121. Yes, I just googled and saw instructions here: http://www.ausbt.com.au/how-to-get-a-us-itunes-account-in-australia

    Looks a bit fiddly, if not dodgy. But then again, I guess if you’re desperate enough…

    One hint, if you have a contact in the US: BestBuy sometimes has iTunes vouchers on sale, 15%-20% off. I just bought a bunch before Christmas – like $80 for a $100 card. Something to keep an eye on anyway – you can set up email alerts for when they come on sale.

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 2:04 pm

  122. Hey Dave F

    Not because I care that much, but I thought you said you were hightailing it outta here.

    What happened to change your mind as I’m curious.

    Please, no behavior lectures though okay.

    JC

    5 Jan 13 at 2:06 pm

  123. You know those portable, inflatable little pools that many families have for toddlers?

    From March next year, manufacturers must include warning signage and fencing requirements.

    Could have been handy at Christmas Island.

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 2:13 pm

  124. JC I got sick of [no behaviour lecture] so left for a while. It was never going to be a permanent self banning.

    DaveF

    5 Jan 13 at 2:16 pm

  125. So people are going to build fences around a small portable pool. Riiiight. Just a pity adults aren’t clued enough to bother with supervising children around water.

    Gab

    5 Jan 13 at 2:20 pm

  126. Gilard attempts to migrate after next election !

    http://www.whingevote.com/politics/mars-is-for-martians/

    Raven

    5 Jan 13 at 2:22 pm

  127. Oh okay. Just asking, that’s all because you seemed to have had a little tantrum the other day because I wasn’t acquiescing to you demands.

    Dude, take my advice. Just don’t read the stuff I post. It’s can be very offensive at times. However I’m always the gentleman, possibly the only one here.

    JC

    5 Jan 13 at 2:25 pm

  128. Look it up. The Amish town next to Intercourse is Paradise!

    Glider

    5 Jan 13 at 2:29 pm

  129. Oh, FFS!

    Ben Shapiro uncovers the simple strategy used by liberals and their friends in the media: bully the living hell out of conservatives. Play the race card, the class card, the sexism card. Use any and every means at your disposal to demonize your opposition—to shut them up. Then pretend that such bullying is justified, because, after all, conservatives are the true bullies, and need to be taught a lesson for their intolerance. Hidden beneath the left’s supposed hatred of bullying lies a passionate love of its vulgar tactics

    TURN ABOUT IS FAIR PLAY damn it. Do the same thing back – it’s devastating to them because you are playing by their rules and they hate that. be careful at the start to say ‘OK, I am using your rules now’. And go for it. It’s war, get used to fighting it and do not deny yourself the weapins they use.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    5 Jan 13 at 2:29 pm

  130. JC that’s pretty much what I decided to do.

    Just caught a Quadrant article about the great Fairfax Influential Woman of the Year thingy that Gillard won.

    What a terrible and embarrassing list.

    Germaine Greer? I thought she was off the reservation nowadays.

    Stella “we’re beyond money now’ Young? Agreed she does occasionally write for a little read blog at the ABC, but ‘influential’? Please.

    Some of the others are arguable, but at least half are tokens.

    DaveF

    5 Jan 13 at 2:36 pm

  131. Those inflatable pools have the warning already. I full ours and lie in it after very long and hot rides. And sometimes after I’ve been out on the bike.

    Nyuk nyuk nyuk.

    Boy on a bike

    5 Jan 13 at 2:40 pm

  132. JC that’s pretty much what I decided to do

    That’s good. I’d do the same if I wasn’t me.

    JC

    5 Jan 13 at 2:41 pm

  133. From fascist America:

    2 Westmoreland Co. Teens Charged Under New Law Regulating Sexting.

    GREENSBURG (KDKA) — Two Greensburg Salem Middle School students are among the first to be charged under a new state law that regulates sexting among teens.

    “A 13-year-old girl took a photo; she was naked from the waist up, took a picture of herself and sent it to a 14-year-old boy at his request,” said Detective Sgt. Henry Fontana, of Greensburg Police.

    The boy deleted the photo and did not forward it to friends. It was the girl’s mother who later found the photo on her phone and called police.

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 2:45 pm

  134. WARNING labels will be required on portable pools from March 2014 under a new mandatory safety standard.

    You know what, this shit is now at extremes.

    Just ignore all these rules. Fuck the fascist arseholes.

    The thing these NAZI bastards hate most is to be ignored.

    Fuck’em.

    JC

    5 Jan 13 at 2:46 pm

  135. state law that regulates sexting among teens.

    The Weiner law?

    Gab

    5 Jan 13 at 2:50 pm

  136. And go for it. It’s war, get used to fighting it and do not deny yourself the weapons they use.

    For me, at least, those weapons are part of what I’m fighting against.

    If I end up being rude, dishonest, illogical etc., I lose.

    Ellen of Tasmania

    5 Jan 13 at 2:52 pm

  137. Elizabeth, please stop summonsing Dogpoo for your own amusement.

    Owww! Suitably chastised, Tom. When did you ever meet my mother, btw?

    Just made an egg and chicken (leftovers) omelette. Not recommended. Ontological chicken and egg problem, says HIA.

    I am out of luck everywhere today. :(

    But :) – here’s one to make you go weak at the knees, says HIA. On SBS tomorrow night, a series about the Vikings, presented by Neil Oliver.

    He knows I can’t resist that Scottish voice, in spite of its leftie threading, and I am very interested in the Vikings.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    5 Jan 13 at 2:53 pm

  138. Honestly.

    A randy 13 year-old girl sends a pic of her boobs to a randy 14 year-old boy and the police are called in. Good Lord. The boy’s mother should be tarred and feathered.

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 2:54 pm

  139. And not far from Bird In Hand. Intercourse,Paradise and Bird In Hand are all close to Lancaster PA in reality. I had a good friend there I stayed with a few times. Never locked the door. When he was away set the radiogram with the lever set so the record would repeat. Left it on for a week while he was in England once.

    Glider

    5 Jan 13 at 2:55 pm

  140. You know those portable, inflatable little pools that many families have for toddlers?

    From March next year, manufacturers must include warning signage and fencing requirements.

    I don’t have kids, but I have one of those little pools for my dogs. I even let them use it unsupervised.

    Don’t tell the RSPCA.

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 2:55 pm

  141. The Vikings really do have an awesome reputation.

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 2:57 pm

  142. lol…. but sdog the pooches could drown in the pool.

    How could you be so negligent.

    We have to think of the children and the dogs.

    JC

    5 Jan 13 at 2:57 pm

  143. Spot’s reckless endangerment of his dogs clearly shows that he’s a racist.

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 2:59 pm

  144. The boy’s mother should be tarred and feathered.

    From your quote: “It was the girl’s mother who later found the photo on her phone and called police.”

    FFS. She called the cops on her own 13-year-old daughter. Are there any parents left who haven’t outsourced all basic parenting functions to the State?

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 2:59 pm

  145. The Vikings really do have an awesome reputation.

    Yea but the descendents are a bunch of nansified girlymen. The genes dissolved over the past 1000 years.

    JC

    5 Jan 13 at 2:59 pm

  146. The GIRL’s mother was the dobber!

    Steve of Ferny Hills

    5 Jan 13 at 3:00 pm

  147. Perhaps the girl’s thought it was to a boy over 16 and freaked out and got the police involved.
    I can understand that. And would the boy really delete it and not show it to his friends – really?

    candy

    5 Jan 13 at 3:03 pm

  148. Spot
    You have to have a US address to do the presto change-o thingy with the location.

    kae

    5 Jan 13 at 3:03 pm

  149. And would the boy really delete it and not show it to his friends – really?

    Yea. Depends on the quality of what was on display. Below average boobs and no, he wouldn’t show the pic to anyone as it would be embarrassing.

    JC

    5 Jan 13 at 3:04 pm

  150. Okay, okay.
    I’ll just keep reading until I catch up.

    *sigh*

    kae

    5 Jan 13 at 3:04 pm

  151. lol…. but sdog the pooches could drown in the pool.

    We’ve got one for our dogs, but they’re German Shepherds and would have to be intent on suicide to drown. (The dams are another matter.)

    Ellen of Tasmania

    5 Jan 13 at 3:05 pm

  152. We have to think of the children and the dogs.

    I do! Which is why on 40-degree days they get to laze around in their very own pool under the coolth of the verandah. I am a good dog-dad.

    …he’s a racist.

    That one I might cop to. I won’t have a white dog in a climate like WA (they get skin cancer too easily). Raaaaacist me.

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 3:08 pm

  153. Spot
    You have to have a US address to do the presto change-o thingy with the location.

    Yes. Keep reading. :)

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 3:10 pm

  154. Do you have a cat, Spot? No?

    Racist and SPECIST!

    Gab

    5 Jan 13 at 3:10 pm

  155. Has anyone done the maths on the amount of CO2 released in the bushfires, and how it compares to the CO2 emissions
    made by the top 400 ” polluders”

    Steve of Glasshouse

    5 Jan 13 at 3:12 pm

  156. No Gab, I don’t like cats. I once had a partner who did and that was an Issue.

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 3:16 pm

  157. Vikings were just the johnny-come-latelies of the Nordic/Swedish Scandies. Those people were trading and pillaging everywhere from very early on, founding Russia, whipping down the Danube, pirating away around the coasts centuries before the C9th, hitting on the Mediterranean, annoying Romans. Sea peoples. They lived for the sea and for plunder. Ramped it up a bit after Charlemagne started throwing his weight around.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    5 Jan 13 at 3:16 pm

  158. Hello Stoopid People.

    There’s a distinct lack of mention of these unless I’m here, so for the New Year I bring you: Banter about Dildoes.

    (The author just got an OBE, so it’s not what you think. Exactly. And since it involves talking about shopping for shoes, local sex fiend Lizzie will enjoy it.)

    PS: Hobart yesterday had the hottest day on record by a full 1 degree C. No, nothing to see there, I’m sure.

  159. Of course, you know, this (above) is Lizzie’s fault!

    Gab

    5 Jan 13 at 3:28 pm

  160. I became very disillusioned with Vikings when I found out they didn’t really have horns or wings on their helmets.

    Pedro the Ignorant

    5 Jan 13 at 3:29 pm

  161. Lizzie you’re going to Hell for that.

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 3:31 pm

  162. Woolfe

    5 Jan 13 at 3:32 pm

  163. Aaaaarggggh! It’s back!

    I command thee, in the name and by power of the real presence of the DoomLord, begone evil spirit from the Pinkenba Sewerage Farm.

    Pedro the Ignorant

    5 Jan 13 at 3:32 pm

  164. Aaaaarggggh! It’s back!

    He wishes he knew how to quit us.

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 3:34 pm

  165. IF this is correct, then this agency of the government of the United States has very little if any moral and ethical daylight between it and the activities of a certain SS-Hauptsturmführer at Block 10, Birkenau.

    I find this morally repellent, and certainly hope that it is not true.

    I mean, illegal life and health-threatening scientific experiments on unwitting human subjects?? You have to be bullsh*tting me, right?

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    5 Jan 13 at 3:37 pm

  166. Don’t. Reply. To. The. Troll.

    brc

    5 Jan 13 at 3:39 pm

  167. Oh cripes. Sh*tfer’s back, gibbering about hot weather in an Australian summer proving AGW or some such infantile guff.

    It’s Australia.

    it’s summer.

    It’s hot.

    Get over yourself you window-licking onanist.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    5 Jan 13 at 3:41 pm

  168. My bad.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    5 Jan 13 at 3:41 pm

  169. I am very very sorry, everyone. I will wear K-Mart trackkies for days and days in penance (sackcloth and ashes for me) as soon as the weather cools down. He was obviously hanging around though ….

    Stevie – a whole one degree! Friends in Hobart tell me it is not unusual at all to have a few stinking hot days there at this time of the year.

    No room for measurement error in that one degree though (some say it was less than one degree btw). None at all, not a bit of it. We’re all gonna fryyyy.

    ———

    Pedro – re the lack of horns etc. – so they say. But I was in the Egyptian museum looking at a bas relief from the 2nd century BC at some Viking-looking chappies with horned helmets and that Nordic/Celtic droopy moustache. They were raising axes from their boats even then.

    yours etc.
    your local sex and antiquities addict.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    5 Jan 13 at 3:43 pm

  170. It’s time to make a stance and decide that no longer will we be a nation of people constantly lied to and we are going to wake the sheeple up!

    Sheeple are people who believe everything they hear in the mainstream media and will not believe anything that hasn’t been confirmed by the mainstream media.
    As more people wake up to what is going on it will spread like wildfire.
    Sheeple revolution has started in Australia Google search on sheeple and be educated.

    Some real live Sheeple Media examples

    MAINSTREAM SHEEPLE NEWS:

    Charities are struggling financially because they’re paying to clean up the dumped rubbish people leave in donation bins: http://alturl.com/c2yei.
    “THE REAL NEWS:
    Salvo’s warn carbon tax will add millions to landfill costs, Families will be “forced to dump unwanted goods at there donation bin’s: http://alturl.com/xbpj8

    MAINSTREAM SHEEPLE NEWS:
    PM vows to fight any Qld move to scrap compulsory voting: Read more: http://alturl.com/nnag4.
    THE REAL NEWS:
    Public to have a say on electoral reform http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2013/1/3/public-to-have-a-say-on-electoral-reform

    Aussieute

    5 Jan 13 at 3:55 pm

  171. sheeple
    Sheeple
    Sheeple
    sheeple
    Sheeple
    Sheeple
    Sheeple

    Dude. You used the term sheeple seven times.

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 4:08 pm

  172. The Vikings Were Pink Barbie Dolls compared with Ghenghis

    Quite so.

    Token

    5 Jan 13 at 4:12 pm

  173. “Has anyone done the maths on the amount of CO2 released in the bushfires, and how it compares to the CO2 emissions made by the top 400 ” polluders””

    Exact numbers are of course impossible, but CO2 released by fires can conveniently be counted as ‘a shitload’. One 2007 study in the US reckoned their fires equalled about 5% of what is released by fossil fuel burning.

    Jarrah

    5 Jan 13 at 4:13 pm

  174. A triumph for the left:

    Egypt’s Morsi: No Peace With Descendants of ‘Apes and Pigs’

    Token

    5 Jan 13 at 4:14 pm

  175. JC I got sick of [no behaviour lecture] so left for a while. It was never going to be a permanent self banning.

    Yawn.

    Cool story, bro.

    Abu Chowdah

    5 Jan 13 at 4:15 pm

  176. When the Left have spent all the money they have squandered they fall back to these tricks:

    The Falklands, windswept rocks a few hundred miles from the Argentinean coast, are home to no more than 3,000 people, most of whom claim descent from the UK as well as a stark loyalty to the land of their ancestors. The islands offer little value, aside from an unknown (possibly negligible) amount of oil under the seabed, and vast quantities of kelp.

    Their true appeal lies in their potential to distract—for both Kirchner and Cameron. Argentine politicians always go for the Falklands when they’re having trouble at home, and Kirchner is having trouble indeed. The Argentine economy has been faltering under her rule, with soaring inflation and GDP growth of only 2 percent in 2012. Drumming up fervor among the fiercely nationalistic Argentinian population is a good way to divert attention from the sorry state of affairs at home. Meanwhile, Cameron gets to wrap himself in Thatcher’s mantle, flexing his iron muscles by stating his unwavering commitment to the sovereignty of British descendants abroad.

    It’s highly unlikely this bickering will morph into a military conflict, but when Argentina begins to bellow once more about the Falklands, and John Bull bellows back, smart observers should take heed and turn their gaze to the domestic situation in each country.

    Token

    5 Jan 13 at 4:22 pm

  177. Has anyone done the maths on the amount of CO2 released in the bushfires, and how it compares to the CO2 emissions
    made by the top 400 ” polluders”

    Dude, I’ve read that anywhere between 7 to 10% of da carbon emissions actually come from fires in coal open cuts that haven’t been put out.

    However the ‘vironmentals rarely talk about putting out these fires because it would clash with their real objective – is to stop advancement and put the breaks on industrialized civilization.

    Mock and abuse these disgusting creatures mercilessly as they want you dead and buried. They try to kill old people by shutting down their A/c.

    JC

    5 Jan 13 at 4:30 pm

  178. Ann Coulter: Why can’t we publish list of women who get abortions?

    DRUDGE.

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 4:31 pm

  179. Lizzie,

    Viking with Winged Helmet

    Hotter than Hades when I was inside Cairo’s Museum of Antiquities (well over 40 – definitely hotter than Tasmania, ever). Didn’t see the bas relief with Viking-looking chappies.

    Septimus

    5 Jan 13 at 4:42 pm

  180. I know you’re all gonna sit on me for this, but that link of Stevie’s is actually worth a read.

    One thing I disagree about though is the re-interpretation of the purpose of the Pompeii taburnae jars, which the scholarly writer of the book under review now says couldn’t have been used to hold food – because they were permanently in situ, and non-glazed. This is nonsense. You can clean out an in situ bowl (I used to clean out the old fire-heated copper which was in situ in a dump I once lived in). Also, a non-glazed pot can become plenty non-porous enough if it has a good coating of hardened cooking fat – as was likely.

    That’s my two cents worth on that little piece of archaeological ‘revision’. Course it was cooking – they had to eat somewhere and fires in their apartments were mostly forbidden due to the serious fire risks.

    And the dildoes? Romans were fascinated with penisry. Puppetry of it probably started back then. The poet’s fancy referred to in the article is a very ‘male gaze’ on the issue, and conflating dildoes with shoes is also fetishistic. Read Juvenal or Apuleus to see what amused Roman men. Same sorts of things that amuse Stevie.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    5 Jan 13 at 4:53 pm

  181. They try to kill old people by shutting down their A/c.

    Or by making A/C so f*cking expensive the ol’ people won’t use it.

    Luvverly people, greenfilth.

    Actually, I take that back – they’re devious, disgusting fascist deadsh*ts.

    Rabz

    5 Jan 13 at 4:54 pm

  182. CO2 released by fires can conveniently be counted as ‘a shitload’.

    Bravo Jarrah. That was amusing.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    5 Jan 13 at 4:56 pm

  183. How’s your weather conditions, people?

    38 degrees here in ZP.

    Nearly time for another swim…

    Rabz

    5 Jan 13 at 4:59 pm

  184. Didn’t see the bas relief with Viking-looking chappies.

    From memory, it was hidden around the back in one of their many dusty looking cabinets that most people just sail on by, not too far from the entrance. I wish I had made a note of the location, as they have so much stuff and not all is catalogued by any means.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    5 Jan 13 at 5:02 pm

  185. Spot: :P

    Floyd has a pool.

    Don’t tell anyone. One day when I have time and inclination I’ll post pix on my blog.

    kae

    5 Jan 13 at 5:22 pm

  186. 27 deg here…

    Combine Dave

    5 Jan 13 at 5:23 pm

  187. Damn, that emoticon was supposed to be tongue poking out.

    kae

    5 Jan 13 at 5:23 pm

  188. Don’t tell anyone.

    I won’t report you if you don’t report me ;-)

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 5:26 pm

  189. Bloody hell – according to the iPad weather app, it’s now hit 40 degrees…

    Rabz

    5 Jan 13 at 5:28 pm

  190. it’s now hit 40 degrees…

    Rabz, it’s time to hit the golf course. Nothing like an enervating 9 or 18 holes in 40 deg weather. Makes one appreciate a beer or two after.

    :)

    Septimus

    5 Jan 13 at 5:34 pm

  191. Just go to the 19th hole first.

    And stay there, cooling off.

    kae

    5 Jan 13 at 5:41 pm

  192. Thanks Septimus – but I’m not a golf person.

    However, figuratively speaking, am now at the nineteenth…

    Rabz

    5 Jan 13 at 5:53 pm

  193. If you were nice, Floyd might let you share his puppy-pool, Rabz.

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 5:54 pm

  194. We got up to 43 before the storm broke about an hour ago. Down to low 30s now. The evaporative air-con struggles when its over 40.
    Our little one wasn’t happy, nor was mother-in-law, flown in from a colder part of the world…

    Tim

    5 Jan 13 at 6:14 pm

  195. Today has been Heaven. Currently a pleasant 22.6deg (according to the BOM) with a cool breeze. Welcome respite after yesterday’s 41deg.

    Gab

    5 Jan 13 at 6:18 pm

  196. No seriously… Did France elect George Costanza as their president?

    http://lepelicastrejouisseur.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/hollande.jpg

    JC

    5 Jan 13 at 6:22 pm

  197. Watching the news you would think it never gets hot in Australia.

    BTW. I regularly take my Wife to Paradise through Intercourse.

    Forester

    5 Jan 13 at 6:25 pm

  198. I just had the crap scared out of me.
    I’ve got the sprinkler on soaking some tree roots that need to be dug up. I went out to check how it was going and a kookaburra flew close by. He gave me a bit of a start.

    I wondered why Meggie wasn’t coming near me as I was near the gate and she usually comes over when I’m there for a pat. I turned toward the gate putting my arm out and looking at her and as I asked “What’s wrong, Meggie?” a bloody snake leapt off the top of the gate. I’m hoping it’s a python (it had a white pattern on its back). It headed up toward the shed (only a couple of metres away if that), and disappeared. I wanted it gone, so got a stick and hit the ground where I was standing. I had a bit of a look but couldn’t see the snake. He was at least two feet long and quite fat. Didn’t see his underside, and he really did scare the bejeebus out of me.

    A few minutes later I saw leaves shaking on the ground a few metres away and there was an olive coloured snake, yellow-green underneath, not the first snake I saw, slithering along beside the shed in the leaves. I wonder if it’s taken up residence under the shed slab.

    *shudder*

    At the moment every where they can hide I have an infestation of baby redbacks. There’s a lot of insecticide being sprayed around at the moment!

    I lurve livin’ in the country.

    kae

    5 Jan 13 at 6:25 pm

  199. Oh, I forgot to say, I think the kookaburra dropped the snake on the fence, or in the tree above the gate, and that’s where it came from.

    kae

    5 Jan 13 at 6:28 pm

  200. Above 30 here today, and humid so it’s awful.

    Wednesday it’s going to be about 40, Thursday 36, Friday 38…. Supposed showers tomorrow and the day after, or rather a possibility. I doubt it will shower or rain – we need it, though.

    Cool change breeze is here now, but still hot.

    kae

    5 Jan 13 at 6:30 pm

  201. Yeah, see, that’s why I don’t like camping, Kae :)

    You’ve done better than me as I’d be running outta there quick smart, screaming all the way.

    Living with Redbacks, snakes, attack kookaburras, digging up tree roots…You’re the female Bear Grylls.

    Gab

    5 Jan 13 at 6:33 pm

  202. The kookaburra was trying to warn you of the snake, kae!

    Meggie is a horse I presume?

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 6:41 pm

  203. Took the young’un and wife (who suffers serious medical complications in hot weather) down to the local Westfield shopping complex yesterday in an effort to avoid the heat.

    Temperature outside on arrival: 36Celcius
    Temperature INSIDE said shopping complex: 31 Celcius

    A breif ‘discussion’ with Centre managemebnt revealed that over half the A/C units of the entire complex had been switched off due to increased costs on their electricity bill as a result of a new Tax that was introduced despite numerous promises to the contrary…

    To rub salt into the wound was approached by GreenPeaceFilth “donations collecotr” (who was also wearing a fetching Sea Shepherd hoodie…) who all but demanded I give her money to help fight against the Coalition’s “evil” (in her words) proposal to abolish the Carbon Tax.

    She should thank her lucky stars that I had the young’un with me and, as such, refrain from using bad language around him.

    Brian of Moorabbin

    5 Jan 13 at 6:42 pm

  204. There aren’t enough tennis balls to supply possum assassin Gab in the bush. :)

    C.L.

    5 Jan 13 at 6:44 pm

  205. Hurrah – the cool change has hit! Down to about 30 and hopefully heading lower…

    Rabz

    5 Jan 13 at 6:48 pm

  206. Kae, only in the 20s over my way.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    5 Jan 13 at 6:53 pm

  207. Prosecution: alleges kookaburra aerial bombing with intent to target hapless biped victim and murder unsuspecting snake.

    Plaintiff: “I went out to check how it was going and a kookaburra flew close by. He gave me a bit of a start. The kookaburra dropped the snake on the fence, or in the tree above the gate, and that’s where it came from.”

    Evil Defence lawyer: “Objection! your Honour. The kookaburra was trying to warn you of the snake, kae!”

    Judge/Jury (me ): Guilty as charged. No punishment in this case. Protected species ‘n all.

    Gab

    5 Jan 13 at 6:56 pm

  208. Nilk

    5 Jan 13 at 7:00 pm

  209. I have a hard time trying to like snakes, or greenies.

    blogstrop

    5 Jan 13 at 7:40 pm

  210. 36 here today; no problemo. Keeping the house closed up had us 6-8 degrees cooler inside until the afternoon breezes start up and the gap narrows, allowing us to open up again to the breezes.
    Our aircon is cactus anyway, so we’re in a wait and see mode at present. A refurb will cost 9-10k for a two-story house and 2 zone ducted makeover.

    blogstrop

    5 Jan 13 at 7:46 pm

  211. CL
    Meggie is red cattle dog cross. Dumb as a box of rocks, but fast as lightning.
    Floyd is border collie/cattle dog cross, looks like a tri-colour border collie. Sharp as a tack, but not good mouth/eye coord. Floyd can’t catch a treat. Meg, on the other hand, can snap a treat when dropped from your hand.

    Or should that be from the other hand?

    kae

    5 Jan 13 at 7:50 pm

  212. Gab
    Snake still alive. Both of them.

    I’m hoping the kookaburra came back and finished/polished him off.

    kae

    5 Jan 13 at 7:52 pm

  213. I have a hard time trying…

    Combine the right type of snake with greenies in some sort of closed space and it’d be hard not to look favourably upon the snakes.

    lotocoti

    5 Jan 13 at 7:53 pm

  214. Storm warning on FB – Higgins Storm Chasing – for Zombie Parrotville, about an hour ago.

    Look out, Rabz!

    kae

    5 Jan 13 at 7:57 pm

  215. Bless that rack mounted hardware which gets all persnickety above 23 deg. ambient for making today dull, but comfortable.

    lotocoti

    5 Jan 13 at 7:59 pm

  216. Taipan
    King brown
    Yellow bellied black
    Red bellied black

    We’ve got plenty of them, lotocoti!

    kae

    5 Jan 13 at 7:59 pm

  217. Stacy Wolf is one mixed up feminist in her love for Les Mis. But that sort of cognitive dissonance is where the media-led “culture” drops people off these days.
    Clue for Stacy – we do not evolve all that quickly. Find your own way home.

    blogstrop

    5 Jan 13 at 8:02 pm

  218. Methinks it would be unwise to place your hopes in that kookaburra, Kae.
    So far, he has proved to be an untrustworthy character engaged in nefarious activities.

    Gab

    5 Jan 13 at 8:05 pm

  219. That kookaburra will never show a surplus.

    blogstrop

    5 Jan 13 at 8:06 pm

  220. Well no wonder Meggie is cross when you depreciate his intelligence like that in public, Kae.

    Gab

    5 Jan 13 at 8:08 pm

  221. 23 degrees now and the worst of the storm has passed.

    Just hoed into the remaining tasty, tasty chipolatas purchased for last night’s barbie – and without feeling as though I was descending even further into Hades…

    Rabz

    5 Jan 13 at 8:11 pm

  222. the worst of the storm has passed.

    Rabz, probably a good thing you are not into golf and were not out on the course when the storm hit. Better to be enjoying the benefits of the figurative nineteenth.

    Cheers :)

    Septimus

    5 Jan 13 at 8:36 pm

  223. Thanks Septimus – hope you’ve got the feet up and enjoying a tasty drop.

    Rabz

    5 Jan 13 at 9:06 pm

  224. Meggie’s a girl. And she’s dumb as a box of hammers.
    Fast as lightning. She used to be totally un-affectionate, but since the girl next door has been walking the dogs Meggie’s become quite fond of petting.

    Floyd loves everyone. Very smart. Can’t fool him twice, takes five minutes to teach him a trick.

    Meggie, not so much.

    kae

    5 Jan 13 at 9:06 pm

  225. Oh, I forgot to say, I think the kookaburra dropped the snake on the fence, or in the tree above the gate, and that’s where it came from.

    It is not unusual for Kookaburras to whack snakes on hard objects or even drop/throw them onto hard objects to kill them. This may have been his motive?

    Could it have been a hoop snake?

    Old Fridgie

    5 Jan 13 at 9:13 pm

  226. How the hell do you misplace nearly 20,000 dole-bludgers? Womp.

    sdog

    5 Jan 13 at 11:40 am

    sdog – all good – they just checked the voter records and located the missing people.

    Hobart temp records date from early 1800′s, so “warmest ever” is warmest ever recorded in last 200 years. According to Aboriginal records it was damn hot 30,000 years ago as well.

    Away for a week – someone please give me a highlights package of internet happenings.

    pete m

    5 Jan 13 at 9:19 pm

  227. A hoop snake? You mean it fell off a passing racehorse?

    Blogstrop

    5 Jan 13 at 9:19 pm

  228. Christopher Booker sticks it to Patten and the BBC, and sundry others.
    Link

    Blogstrop

    5 Jan 13 at 9:28 pm

  229. Microsoft scammers on the phone. At this time of night!! Hung up as per usual but they called back and asked why I’d hung up. Told them that everyone in Australia knew they were scamming and the edjit told me he was with the federal police and was I married. For goodness sake!! Im too hot and tired for this malarkey

    Daisy

    5 Jan 13 at 9:43 pm

  230. Might I suggest a liberty clip?

    Libertarian metal?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpTEH0WXT9Y

    Happymonkey

    5 Jan 13 at 9:58 pm

  231. Usurping cowards
    Dividing the nation
    False use of power
    Total domination

    Unending fight
    They use force to prove they’re right
    I cannot hide. I know that we must defy

    Why can’t we see it? They’re trying to make a slave of you
    Take back your freedom (Take it back, take it back)

    I have such pride in the land I thought was mine
    I can’t deny and I fear my home has died

    Why can’t we see it? They’re trying to make a slave of you
    Take back your freedom (Take it back, take it back)
    Why can’t we see it? No one believes deep down it’s true
    Take back your freedom (Take it back, take it back)

    Enslaving and binding while countrymen sleeping
    Traitorous minions of dominance reaching
    Cast out the fallen and all who would keep them

    Take it back

    Happymonkey

    5 Jan 13 at 9:59 pm

  232. Currently doing the rounds on facebook is a photo of Gillard with the caption being this story with the name changed.

    Needless to say I just had to find the original poster (some fellow over in Texas) and send him a message explaining that Gillard would never say anything like that; it was Costello and it was 7 years ago.

    nilk

    5 Jan 13 at 10:04 pm

  233. under the original Kyoto protocol as agreed by the Howard gummint the release of CO2 from bushfires did not count.

    Nothing to see here…

    NoFixedAddress

    5 Jan 13 at 10:10 pm

  234. As a theatre historian who studies gender and sexuality in the American musical, when women are abused or marginalised on stage, I notice.

    From Blogstrop’s link. A theatre historian who looks at “gender and sexuality in the American musical”?

    I received my copy of Evan Sayet’s little book yesterday and started it this arvo. He absolutely nails it:

    Both because there was mothing much to do and because, with nothing much to do they’d never learned to do very much; the more clever Modern Liberals flocked to industries where neither toil nor intelligence was required. These were the “Rhetoric Industries,” where verbal nimbleness and not actual accomplishment was the coin of the realm. They were lucrative – often extremely lucrative – fields where oratorical and literary canniness and not tangible results proved the “rightness” of one’s claim and the “intelligence” of its claimant.

    These clever Modern Liberals became academics and journalists, entertainers and psychologists, politicians and community organizers, “rights activists” and social workers, and other such things where words were the entirety of both their product and their effort.

    nilk

    5 Jan 13 at 10:11 pm

  235. What’s the book nilk?

    Pickles

    5 Jan 13 at 10:22 pm

  236. It’s called The Kindergarden of Eden: How The Modern Liberal Thinks.

    His website’s here.

    Evan Sayet is the fellow who just sort of appeared back in 2007 giving a talk to the Heritage Foundation called Understanding how modern liberals think. It’s 45min of essential viewing in Chez Bogan.

    nilk

    5 Jan 13 at 10:26 pm

  237. Nice, Happymonkey. We need more libertarian music of all genres.

    John Mc

    5 Jan 13 at 10:49 pm

  238. Floyd loves everyone. Very smart. Can’t fool him twice, takes five minutes to teach him a trick.

    Similarities to the man I love. Frisky, sociable and always has a clue.

    I still miss my little cat. Can get a bit weepy just thinking about her sometimes. Her little velvet brown face and sable body, her delicate mannerisms, those pretty perked ears peeping around a corner, the way she would sit and just ‘be’ next to me, her quiet little half-mouth-open mew whenever I came home.

    Kitty come home, in my dreams.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    5 Jan 13 at 10:52 pm

  239. Reviewing the day, I think he whose name must never be spoken here has delivered his Pre-Planned Party Piece and departed.

    Ya can all throw me into a volcano if not, though I have to tell you (if you haven’t already guessed), I lack the pre-requisite female characteristic for efficacy.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    5 Jan 13 at 11:02 pm

  240. Thanks Lizzie for that Morning Glory Intercourse can’t beat it address and

    I can’t resist that Scottish voice,

    Ohh yeah . Sigh. Unfortunately we don’t have SBS because we haven’t renewed our dish or dish thingy with the new digital network. Enjoy him. Or his voice.

    Anyway early night.

    Helen Armstrong

    5 Jan 13 at 11:07 pm

  241. We need more libertarian music of all genres.

    Open your eyes

    Rabz

    5 Jan 13 at 11:13 pm

  242. her quiet little half-mouth-open mew whenever I came home

    yes kitties are good at that, being with you and then being aloof but still with you. I left mine alone in the house for over a week recently, and she mewed non stop for two days when I got home. Admonishing, I think, I thought it is no good worrying if she and the dog (outside in the storms which he hates) are ok, I’ll just deal with it when I get home, but still a relief to see and hear them. And appreciate their trust and loyalty. Compared to my disloyalty, leaving them home alone.

    The only thing wrong was the power had gone off, but just the day before or so, so nothing lost fridge/freezer wise.

    Pickles I had a pat of Mr Pickles this afternoon, shifting he and his mother to another paddock that doesn’t have an airstrip in it, and I must say, he is growing into a very handsome young man. Very spirited, wanting to play and frisk but inquiring and trusting, too.

    Off now.

    Helen Armstrong

    5 Jan 13 at 11:15 pm

  243. Goooooooaaaaaallllll!!!!!!!

    Rabz

    5 Jan 13 at 11:15 pm

  244. Old Fridgie
    I’ve seen a kookaburra kill a spaghetti sandwich it snatched from a child.
    I love kookas, they kill snakes!

    kae

    5 Jan 13 at 11:40 pm

  245. Hate. Cats.
    They smell worse than a wet dog.
    There are ferals here which roam.

    kae

    5 Jan 13 at 11:45 pm

  246. Spent the afternoon as med support for the trap shooting club. A quick check of all the car thermometers showed an average of 46 degrees C.
    So shut up all you whingers putting up with 35 C.
    Oh, and no one shot anyone else except for a stupid magpie that flew right in front of a clay target.

    Winston Smith

    6 Jan 13 at 12:07 am

  247. Yes, but did they get the pigeon, too?

    kae

    6 Jan 13 at 12:15 am

  248. Old Fridgie
    I’ve seen a kookaburra kill a spaghetti sandwich it snatched from a child.
    I love kookas, they kill snakes!

    There are few greater sounds in Australia than a laughing kookaburra. When we moved back to OZ we had a house up in the hills of Perth and the kids (being born overseas) had never experienced it. We had for a while a family of kookas living in the big gum trees in our back yard. We all got a bit excited to hear them singing to each up there.

    tbh

    6 Jan 13 at 12:18 am

  249. Speaking of libertarian music, I would posit that one of the first bands with that type of view was Rush. It just so happens that they are my favourite band, along with The Who.

    Check out Anthem as a fairly libertarian/objectivist manifesto. They’ve mellow a lot over the years, but their early work had a lot of Rand in there (for better or worse).

    tbh

    6 Jan 13 at 12:21 am

  250. tbh

    I love this site.
    Many of them are local to where I live.

    kae

    6 Jan 13 at 12:35 am

  251. Nice one kae I will check that out.

    A while back I bought this CD, and put it on my ipod -

    http://www.naturesound.com.au/cd_favourites.htm

    Podsnap

    6 Jan 13 at 12:40 am

  252. I love this site.
    Many of them are local to where I live.

    Thanks Kae, will check that out.

    tbh

    6 Jan 13 at 12:47 am

  253. Worst choir ever

    There is something strangely therapuetic watching 80 year old grand mothers singing “Don’t ya wish ya girlfriend was hot like me?”

    Splatacrobat

    6 Jan 13 at 12:49 am

  254. I love the carollers. Butcherbirds, magpies, etc.

    kae

    6 Jan 13 at 12:56 am

  255. Ah ha ha ha ha
    I think I have a comment in moderation.

    I suggested after posting the link that some would be interested in the h00ters… lol

    kae

    6 Jan 13 at 12:57 am

  256. Worst choir ever

    Ya think. Personally I’d give the title to the BDS sisters.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U3WCNwF0Ew

    JC

    6 Jan 13 at 1:40 am

  257. Both because there was mothing much to do and because, with nothing much to do they’d never learned to do very much; the more clever Modern Liberals flocked to industries where neither toil nor intelligence was required. These were the “Rhetoric Industries,” where verbal nimbleness and not actual accomplishment was the coin of the realm. They were lucrative – often extremely lucrative – fields where oratorical and literary canniness and not tangible results proved the “rightness” of one’s claim and the “intelligence” of its claimant.

    These clever Modern Liberals became academics and journalists, entertainers and psychologists, politicians and community organizers, “rights activists” and social workers, and other such things where words were the entirety of both their product and their effort.

    Yes, and that’s why this new class hates Australian everyman so passionately – especially his latest incarnation as cashed up tradesman or miner with no interest in ‘university.’ The new class knows that this demographic regards them with pitiful contempt, insofar as they’re aware of them at all. The Roxons and Pliberseks hate this more than anything and they will make those larrikins pay – if it’s the last thing they do. In fact, that summarises the ALP/left wing view of mainstream Australia. Three words: jealousy, revenge and hatred.

    C.L.

    6 Jan 13 at 1:40 am

  258. Hahahahaha.

    An Oregon teenager’s post on Facebook landed him in jail on New Year’s Day.

    Astoria police said they learned of the post Tuesday. The status update, made from someone posting to the account of 18-year-old Jacob Cox-Brown, said:

    “Drivin drunk…. classsic ;) but to whoever’s vehicle i hit i am sorry. :P

    After the post was made, an Astoria police officer received a private Facebook message from someone who tipped her off to Cox-Brown’s post.

    That same officer had responded to a hit-and-run at 1884 5th Street at 1 a.m. on New Year’s Day. A white Scion had been sideswiped by the hit-and-run driver, and several pieces of taillight and bumper cover were recovered as evidence. A second parked car also sustained damage in the hit-and-run.

    When police went to Cox-Brown’s home, they found a car that matched the damage at the hit-and-run crash scene, authorities said.

    They arrested Cox-Brown and booked him into the Clatsop County Jail on two counts of failure to perform the duties of a driver.

    “Classic.”

    sdog

    6 Jan 13 at 1:42 am

  259. Best of 2012: Dog Videos

    “Happy Dog” is there, Gab!

    sdog

    6 Jan 13 at 1:48 am

  260. But I was in the Egyptian museum looking at a bas relief from the 2nd century BC at some Viking-looking chappies with horned helmets and that Nordic/Celtic droopy moustache. They were raising axes from their boats even then.

    Lizze, they’re not Viking/ Nordic, but Gallic/ Galatian mercenaries hired from Asia Minor (they had earlier migrated from the Balkans under an invitation from the king of Bithynia.

    dover_beach

    6 Jan 13 at 3:14 am

  261. …an invitation from the king of Bythinia

    Later to become Abythinia?

    Blogstrop

    6 Jan 13 at 6:17 am

  262. Excellent post by Richard Fernandez at Belmont Club regarding Venezuela, and how Chavez has overspent its economy into deep doo doo. Comment no.2 is also spot on, AFAIAC.
    Link

    Blogstrop

    6 Jan 13 at 6:35 am

  263. Some reviewers are only now discovering Mark Steyn’s book “After America”. But at least they understand what he’s saying. It is as true for Australia as it is for America, so everyone should read it, particularly as it’s an easy read; even the grimmest outlooks are presented with humour.

    Blogstrop

    6 Jan 13 at 6:49 am

  264. Enough of this frivolity, I have work to do.

    Blogstrop

    6 Jan 13 at 6:50 am

  265. From Blogstrop’s first link:

    Even though the Venezuelan Constitution requires a new election within 30 days if the president is incapacitated, Chavez’s supporters have learned, maybe even from reading this blog, that constitutional provisions are made to be elastic. His supporters say Chavez should be given “time to recover”. They’ve even suggested that Venezuelan justices be flown to Havana to administer the oath to the unconscious man.

    dover_beach

    6 Jan 13 at 6:54 am

  266. The bad behaviour you’re paying for is none of your business:

    PRIME Minister Julia Gillard’s taxpayer-subsidised private car has been pinged eight times in six months for traffic offences – but her office is refusing to reveal who was behind the wheel at those times.

    The offences were listed in official documents detailing MPs’ expenses over a six-month period last year and recently tabled in parliament.

    While other MPs disclosed how the fines were incurred and by whom, Ms Gillard’s office referred inquiries to Special Minister of State Gary Gray, whose office passed the matter to the Finance and Deregulation Department.

    The department has requested an application under Freedom of Information laws before it will reveal the details.

    Seems to me they’d be happy to say so if it was Timmy.

    Tom

    6 Jan 13 at 7:28 am

  267. Temperatures in China have plunged to their lowest in almost three decades, cold enough to freeze coastal waters and trap 1,000 ships in ice, official media said at the weekend.

    Glad we don’t get that kinda weather here.

    jumpnmcar

    6 Jan 13 at 7:28 am

  268. China Meteorological Administration on Friday said the national average was -3.8 degrees Celsius (25 degrees Fahrenheit) since late November, the coldest in nearly three decades.

    Wow.

    dover_beach

    6 Jan 13 at 7:39 am

  269. Abbott talks about Credlin’s battle to conceive using IVF and abortion:

    Ms Credlin says she told Abbott before working for him in 2010: “I will just never agree with you on abortion. I think you are opposed to it, desperately opposed to it and you would ban it if you could.”

    But Mr Abbott replied: “Well that’s just bullshit. I believe it should be safe, legal and rare.”

    Ms Credlin said the Liberal leader told her he had a problem with the number of abortions in Australia but did not want to ban or restrict access.

    Tom

    6 Jan 13 at 7:40 am

  270. The idiot zombie tax continues to cut a swathe through small business: skating rinks are evil, dontcha know:

    THE future of skating rinks is on thin ice, with the carbon tax causing a number of family-run Sydney rinks to creak under the financial strain.

    The policy has also left its mark on commercial ice cube suppliers, making tap water 370 times more expensive by the time it makes its way to the ice cooler in cube form.

    An investigation into the price of ice revealed a number of skating rinks have been forced to undergo costly system revamps – without compensation – after gasses used to cool the skating surface rose by 500 per cent in the wake of the June levy on pollutants.

    One family-run rink in Penrith was forced to spend $100,000 replacing the system they had installed in 2000, with the federal government’s carbon tax leaving running costs “astronomically” high.

    “It’s just not fair,” Penrith Ice Arena general manager Rosslyn Talbot said. “Electricity is now ridiculously priced and the gas we used to cool the ice went up by $100 a kilo. We can’t put our prices up because people can’t afford it.”

    Another popular skating rink in the Macquarie Shopping Centre is being forced to fork out $10,000 more per month on electricity bills.

    Owner Wendy Rigg-Smith said 80 per cent of her nearly $30,000-a-month power bill went on keeping the skating surface frozen.

    Tom

    6 Jan 13 at 7:52 am

  271. Helen is their any news about Milton’s problems with CASA about chopper skiing in the Vic River on TV ? And leaving the little feller in the idling chopper? Watched his show a few times. He’s good TV talent. Does Bluey Pugh still run the Coolibah croc farm?

    Pickles

    6 Jan 13 at 8:15 am

  272. Thath’th funny, Blogsthrop.

    kae

    6 Jan 13 at 8:20 am

  273. Is this thing working, or has everyone gone to Church?

    kae

    6 Jan 13 at 9:42 am

  274. Pickles, I believe CASA are progressing the matter. I understand that they have succeeded in obtaining the rest of the footage that was not shown in the series. Yes, Bluey still runs the croc farm

    - it is so hot here we have to have the fan on cooking breakfast.

    Fires all round this morning – no way I’d be lighting up – it may be a dryer wet than normal.

    Helen Armstrong

    6 Jan 13 at 9:49 am

  275. Helen Armstrong

    6 Jan 13 at 9:52 am

  276. Oh well, he’ll get a holiday but at least we”ll get to see the uncut version. Bluey Pugh would be even better TV talent though.

    Pickles

    6 Jan 13 at 9:55 am

  277. Is this thing working, or has everyone gone to Church?

    CHURCH! [love me some Lyle Lovett :) ]

    sdog

    6 Jan 13 at 10:04 am

  278. What’s that about going to church? I’ve been home for nearly an hour already.

    nilk

    6 Jan 13 at 10:09 am

  279. It cost around $70 million in lobbying, but Big Green has won control of key policy areas in a surrender of the national interest by the Gillard Marxists:

    DON’T look now, mum, but Labor is outsourcing the government. Just as Aussie jobs have been sent offshore, the Gillard Labor-Green-independent minority government has abdicated its decision-making responsibilities and is letting foreign green activists dictate policy.

    Don’t call Canberra to speak to our policy-makers, dial 1-800-GREENMAIL instead and speak to the offshore extremists who really wield the power.

    What started as a racket under the Hawke government when it passed World Heritage legislation in 1983 to enable it to hide behind a UN convention to block the building of Tasmania’s proposed Franklin dam is now a full-on enterprise.

    The drive for Labor’s new nation-encircling marine reserves came from offshore, and so too have guidelines for anti-forestry legislation. The cattle industry is next in line.

    Labor’s relentless drive to capture the green vote has seen it ignore local industry figures and embrace foreign pressure groups. Queensland Nationals Senator Ron Boswell, one of the few who have been blowing the whistle on the situation, has identified what he calls “big environment” (as opposed to “big business”) as the source of much of the Gillard government’s new laws.

    Tom

    6 Jan 13 at 10:20 am

  280. Catholics stoned by Muslims at Mass.

    In France.

    C.L.

    6 Jan 13 at 10:24 am

  281. Snake #2 = Dark olive brown on top and bright yellow/green/lime green underside is a harmless common tree snake.

    Snake #1 = not sure, but some pix look like him and they are of a rough scaled snake (venomous), or a brown tree snake (non-venomous).

    kae

    6 Jan 13 at 10:27 am

  282. sdog

    6 Jan 13 at 10:41 am

  283. Woman in the US attacked by maniac home invader intent on raping and killing her and her little children (?)… She had a .38 revolver and stopped him with five shots.

    Democrats, lefties believe she should have accepted her fate and died along with her children.

    C.L.

    6 Jan 13 at 10:42 am

  284. sdog

    6 Jan 13 at 10:44 am

  285. She had a .38 revolver and stopped him with five shots.

    As Insty points out though…

    See, this is where one of those “assault weapons” might have come in handy.

    A reader emails: “When some politician starts pontificating that no one needs more than a 10 round clip capacity (or 5, or 3) this is the story that should be shoved in their faces. She fired 6 shots, put 5 in the attacker and he was still kicking. What if there had been multiple attackers. Then that 30 round clip suddenly seems appropriate.”

    Click and RTWT.

    sdog

    6 Jan 13 at 10:50 am

  286. Those pentecostal snake handlers are nutz.

    kae

    6 Jan 13 at 10:56 am

  287. Outrage! Newspaper publishes map of registered gun owners!
    Oh… In Texas ;)

    Cold-Hands

    6 Jan 13 at 11:09 am

  288. Yes. Randy Wolford, who was quite renowned in the field, died of it this last year. Just like his daddy did when he was about the same age.

    sdog

    6 Jan 13 at 11:09 am

  289. Obviously Mrs Abbott’s defence of Abbott didn’t work with female voters, so now they’re getting desperate by wheeling out Credlin. When this doesn’t work, no doubt his daughters will do an exclusive interview with Women’s Weekly about how Dad helps them with their homework and drives them to rowing practice.

    m0nty

    6 Jan 13 at 11:12 am

  290. Re CL’s post on Self-defence Mom.

    Now the prolonged ordeal begins for her.

    The perp and any angry relos or similarly-inclined friends know where she lives; and

    the system hates, absolutely hates, law-abiding citizens doing the job the system fails to do.

    As Mark Five-Oh pointed out in earlier discussions – get a lawyer fast; do not speak to the police without the lawyer; expect to get prosecuted for some misdemeanor related to the gun; and don’t be surprised if some enterprising ambulance chaser acting for the perp sues her for the additional belly buttons she added to his anatomy.

    Myrddin Seren

    6 Jan 13 at 11:15 am

  291. CL wrote ” Catholics stoned by Muslims at Mass.

    In France.”

    Maybe freedom of religion should not be extended to religions that don’t offer freedom of religion..

    Steve of Glasshouse

    6 Jan 13 at 11:17 am

  292. Well at least Ms Credlin is trying to become a mum, unlike Ms Gillard who thinks married women are prostitutes …

    candy

    6 Jan 13 at 11:21 am

  293. Spot
    A victim of his faith? Well, they say that you will be safe if you believe. I guess his faith wasn’t strong enough.
    I’m sure there’s something in the bible about dangerous behaviour.
    He’s most definitely purple when his mum’s stroking his feet.

    kae

    6 Jan 13 at 11:21 am

  294. ok sdog, I got a letter from Amazon saying prove you live in USA. What now?

    Helen Armstrong

    6 Jan 13 at 11:22 am

  295. Oh, my last was about the linked to the link “Why I watched snake-handling pastor die for his faith”.

    kae

    6 Jan 13 at 11:23 am

  296. the system hates, absolutely hates, law-abiding citizens doing the job the system fails to do.

    Your link is from Ontario, Canada. I don’t know what their self-defence laws are like – apparently weighted in favor of the criminal.

    Georgia is a Stand Your Ground state. This lady’ll be fine.

    sdog

    6 Jan 13 at 11:23 am

  297. ok sdog, I got a letter from Amazon saying prove you live in USA. What now?

    Seriously? That’s odd. I switch between Australian and US addresses all the time and have never got a letter asking me to prove anything.

    I don’t have any good advice for you :-/

    sdog

    6 Jan 13 at 11:26 am

  298. Kae, he and his family reckon it was God’s will to take him like that. ~shrugs~

    sdog

    6 Jan 13 at 11:28 am

  299. When I switched my Amazon address I was actually in the country I said I was in and then bought stuff.

    Sinclair Davidson

    6 Jan 13 at 11:28 am

  300. OK I’ll ignore it for a while and see what happens.

    Helen Armstrong

    6 Jan 13 at 11:31 am

  301. sorry mOron, are you still salivating, and worse, over the lying Slapper’s beauty photos and humiliation of her house bound “partner”. You hate an alpha male. Stick to doughnuts and kids websites. Drop kick.

    Tiny Dancer

    6 Jan 13 at 12:19 pm

  302. Obviously Mrs Abbott’s defence of Abbott didn’t work with female voters, so now they’re getting desperate by wheeling out Credlin. When this doesn’t work, no doubt his daughters will do an exclusive interview with Women’s Weekly about how Dad helps them with their homework and drives them to rowing practice.

    Don’t worry, Labor. Gillard can counter by getting her classy step-daughter to do another spread in Zoo magazine.

    C.L.

    6 Jan 13 at 12:57 pm

  303. Amazing fact: Australian lefties and Howardians passionately believe the Georgia woman and her children should have died – butchered and raped – because gun self-defence is something they regard as Hitlerian.

    C.L.

    6 Jan 13 at 1:01 pm

  304. Shock Blair poll: Abbott in car theft, speeding scandal.

    C.L.

    6 Jan 13 at 1:13 pm

  305. mOron hates it when an alpha male fights back, let alone when a woman defends her life.

    Tiny Dancer

    6 Jan 13 at 1:15 pm

  306. Sublime mastery:

    A few years ago, at a Las Vegas convention for magicians, Penn Jillette, of the act Penn and Teller, was introduced to a soft-spoken young man named Apollo Robbins, who has a reputation as a pickpocket of almost supernatural ability. Jillette, who ranks pickpockets, he says, “a few notches below hypnotists on the show-biz totem pole,” was holding court at a table of colleagues, and he asked Robbins for a demonstration, ready to be unimpressed. Robbins demurred, claiming that he felt uncomfortable working in front of other magicians. He pointed out that, since Jillette was wearing only shorts and a sports shirt, he wouldn’t have much to work with.

    “Come on,” Jillette said. “Steal something from me.”

    Again, Robbins begged off, but he offered to do a trick instead. He instructed Jillette to place a ring that he was wearing on a piece of paper and trace its outline with a pen. By now, a small crowd had gathered. Jillette removed his ring, put it down on the paper, unclipped a pen from his shirt, and leaned forward, preparing to draw. After a moment, he froze and looked up. His face was pale.

    “Fuck. You,” he said, and slumped into a chair.

    From a New Yorker feature, via Reynolds.

    C.L.

    6 Jan 13 at 2:29 pm

  307. I meant to include the explanatory – crucial! – paragraph that followed…

    Robbins held up a thin, cylindrical object: the cartridge from Jillette’s pen.

    C.L.

    6 Jan 13 at 2:32 pm

  308. Just when you thought Hollywood can’t fuck it up even more.

    Terrifying New Biopic From Hollywood: ‘Rodham’

    A screenplay dramatizing the secretary of state’s early career — when she was a young lawyer with the House Judiciary Committee, while Bill was getting started in Arkansas politics — is in development by Temple Hill Entertainment. Last month, “Rodham” was named the fourth-hottest unproduced script in the annual “Black List” poll of Hollywood execs. (Other Washington stories on the list: a thriller about a journalist investigating an Air Force One crash; a Joe McCarthy biopic; a couple of CIA dramas.) Screenwriter Young Il Kimtold Politico this week that he was inspired by a photo of Clinton “when she was in her 20s with Coke-bottle glasses and long, hippie hair.”

    The slavish author of this item in the Washington Post clearly must have also recently suffered a mysterious head trauma considering the suggestions as to who should play the scheming young Ms. Rodham.

    Jennifer Lawrence, Kristen Stewart: Too young, don’t you think?

    Emma Stone: Sure, why not? She’s in every other movie these days. And she has the gravitas of a young Rodham.

    Ellen Page: The “Juno” star is an edgier pick, but we can totally see her do the stringy hair/big glasses thing.

    Scarlett Johansson: Stay with us here. Too sexy, you say? But look at those cheekbones, the blond hair/dark brows combo.Maybe? Remember, it is a love story.

    Yes, because when I see a young Hillary Clinton the first person I think of is Scarlett Johansson.

    JC

    6 Jan 13 at 3:29 pm

  309. Gallic/ Galatian mercenaries hired from Asia Minor (they had earlier migrated from the Balkans under an invitation from the king of Bithynia.

    That’s interesting DB. How do you know this? Have you seen the bas relief and its context and dating? I’d be interested, and it doesn’t make much difference to my main point re Nordic horned helmets.

    I guess I am drawing a long bow, but my interest is in the widespread presence of certain basic Indo-European and earlier cultural forms across great swathes of Europe. Those ‘Gallic’ moustaches are telling (they were found on Germanic tribes too; so were the ‘Pictish’ style of tatoos) and the horned helmets were pictorial on this bas relief, evidence that these were not just a cultural fantasy – they are a cultural memory. Gallatia was also populated by ‘Celts’ from Gaul in BC period. ‘Celts’ now not too clearly delineated from Nordic/Germanic traditions – Celt a highly contested cultural category these days anyway. Get towards what is now Belgium and it is anciently Germanic in culture. The famed Gundestrap cauldron of Denmark is said to be ‘celtic’ in origin but its figures are classic ones from Nordic mythology – Odin resurrecting his warriors – also reflected in the Irish tales embedded in the Arthurian legends. Norsemen were hitting on France from the early days, not just with Rollo.

    I am amazed at how much population movement (and thus cultural exchange) there was in the BC period from the North of Europe, for example, the extensive movements of the Cimbri, and the well-attested migration period (C5th and C6th AD) from Sweden across to Russia and down the Danube and beyond. The Goths were basically wandering northeners too. And the Sueves.

    As I said, the ‘Vikings’ were really nothing all that new; just a bit more ‘irritated’ by Christianity I suspect.

    I’d welcome your views on this.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    6 Jan 13 at 4:26 pm

  310. UK PM David Cameron recently said he wanted to be in power until 2020. Here is the response from one representative voter:

    “David Cameron is a lying, Social Democrat, Faux-Conservative, slippery, Europhile weasel, bullying, manipulative, vacuous, treasonous, Quisling, elitist, eco-nut, wet/green, pathetic, poor judgement, Brussels lackey, low life pond-scum piece of excrement.

    I will never vote Conservative again. UKIP is the way forward.”

    Sounds like he is even less popular than the redhead.

    Viva

    6 Jan 13 at 4:30 pm

  311. Things you will never read in the MSM nor see on the nightly news:

    Catholics stoned by Muslims at Mass.

    In France.

    Because those pooooooor Muslims.

    Gab

    6 Jan 13 at 4:46 pm

  312. What a gloriuis day on Melbourne. Crystal clear azure sky, around 25 degrees and a lovely breeze, it’s almost balmy. Been out getting some UV and increasing the Vitamin D so it’s been productive day as well. Now for some lazy Sunday afternoon music, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee Born & Livin’ with the Blues. (With Willie Dixon on bass). Enjoy.

    Gab

    6 Jan 13 at 5:04 pm

  313. Obviously, the city in the USA with the toughest anti-gun laws is Chicago. No guns allowed. Nuh-uh.

    If you want to keep abreast of the resulting blood-soaked slaughterfest and mad-max style butchery and carnage that has resulted, here’s the blog for you!

    I gave up trying to count the shootings on the first page when I hit 20….

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    6 Jan 13 at 5:04 pm

  314. Another environmentalist, Clive Hambler, actually a lecturer on ecology and conservation at Oxford explains why he HATES!! wind farms.

    Wind turbines only last for ‘half as long as previously thought’, according to a new study. But even in their short lifespans, those turbines can do a lot of damage. Wind farms are devastating populations of rare birds and bats across the world, driving some to the point of extinction. Most environmentalists just don’t want to know.

    and

    Every year in Spain alone — according to research by the conservation group SEO/Birdlife — between 6 and 18 million birds and bats are killed by wind farms. They kill roughly twice as many bats as birds. This breaks down as approximately 110–330 birds per turbine per year and 200–670 bats per year.

    The Green walls are crumbling.

    jumpnmcar

    6 Jan 13 at 5:15 pm

  315. From the Crime in Chicago blog:

    A 62-year-old man visiting Chicago from Korea and walking a dog on the West Side suffered a graze wound to the head in a shooting today.

    The man was walking near Ashland Avenue and Warren Boulevard about 9:45 a.m. when he heard a gunshot and hit the ground to avoid being hurt. A visitor from South Korea, the man was walking his dog near or in Union Park when he was shot.

    The man suffered a graze wound to the head and went to Rush University Medical Center, said News Affairs Officer Robert Perez. The man told police he did not see his attacker or know where the shot came from, leading Police to suspect that Ninjas were involved in the attack. Police refused to stated if they believed they were white or black Ninjas.

    boy on a bike

    6 Jan 13 at 5:20 pm

  316. Continuing on people movements, I have ordered a book called White Gold, about the Musselmen raids on England and Ireland, where it is estimated a million people were taken for slaves – it is said more than in the entire UK USA slave trade from Africa. One of the slaves from Cornwall, Thomas Pellow, survived to tell his tale.

    Helen Armstrong

    6 Jan 13 at 5:47 pm

  317. Another day, another stinker in the ‘ville.

    36 degrees and the cool change is ambling in right about now. Pool was a balmy 29 degrees and of no relief whatsoever…

    Rabz

    6 Jan 13 at 5:58 pm

  318. BOAB: yep, he takes the piss out of local media crime reporting. Apparently 90%+ of the crims are black. But racial ID is NEVER mentioned.

    So he puts up stuff like this:

    The alert warns victims not to chase a robber but to take careful note of any unique physical characteristics like scars, a limp, bulging eyes, tattoos, birth marks, missing teeth, extra or missing limbs, broken finger nails, crossed eyes, wandering eye, elephantitis, or any other characteristics except race and call police immediately. If there are other witnesses, request contact information.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    6 Jan 13 at 6:00 pm

  319. Rabz

    Another day, another stinker in the ‘ville.

    What, Townsville ?
    If so stay away from the Mansfield Hotel after 11pm, shit starts getting a bit dark around then.
    Better off at the Blarney Bar at the Great Northern.

    jumpnmcar

    6 Jan 13 at 6:26 pm

  320. Ah Gab, great choice. My love affair with the Blues is still in its relatively early stages, but I am smitten. Would love to hear your recommendations. I’ve just finished reading Buddy Guy’s biography which has given me a few new names, but would love to hear some more.

    Tracey

    6 Jan 13 at 6:31 pm

  321. What, Townsville ?

    No, Zombie Parrotville.

    AKA the ACT.

    Rabz

    6 Jan 13 at 6:43 pm

  322. Gab and Tracey, Iv’e loved Keb’ Mo’ for a long time.
    A modern blues man.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9yiEM9qXDU
    He turns out albums as fast as Slim Dusty did, always writing and recording.

    jumpnmcar

    6 Jan 13 at 6:47 pm

  323. No, Zombie Parrotville.

    AKA the ACT.

    Oh, ok.
    Been there once, – 6 it was, I’d rather 46 any day.

    jumpnmcar

    6 Jan 13 at 6:53 pm

  324. A previous boss put me onto Keb a while back jumpnmcar. He is great. You’ve reminded me I have a DVD of him I haven’t watched for a while – there’s tonight’s viewing sorted. Keep those names coming :)

    Tracey

    6 Jan 13 at 7:07 pm

  325. Tracey

    Keep those names coming

    Start with John Lee Hooker and go from there.
    Admired and imitated by everyone.
    Clapton said he was god.

    jumpnmcar

    6 Jan 13 at 7:22 pm

  326. Hi Tracey

    Gosh, there’s so many to choose from and soooo many blues genres.

    My personal long-time top five are:

    1. Blind Willie Johnson (gospel blues), I just love the sound of the slide technique. He led an interesting life, to say the least. What got me hooked was his Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground recording.

    2. John Mayer, (blues-rock, among other things). I guess I like his stuff becuase of the people who influenced his music, people like BB King and Buddy Guy.

    3. Van Morrison

    4. Charley Patton

    5. Sonny Terry/Brownie McGhee

    But there’s just so many to listen to and so little time! However, funny thing about the Blues, I do so love the genre and it’s many variants but cannot listen to it for any great length. It would be like eating the really really expensive caviar, and only caviar, as a main meal.

    Of course, I just know what I like when I hear it becuase of how the music moves me emotionally.

    Gab

    6 Jan 13 at 7:32 pm

  327. Ry Cooder is pretty good too.
    The Crossroads movie would have been a classic if that karate kid sheila hadn’t fucked it up.

    jumpnmcar

    6 Jan 13 at 7:45 pm

  328. Buddy Guy still goes like a champion and he must be seventy

    Tiny Dancer

    6 Jan 13 at 7:59 pm

  329. The whole blues experience is the guts and soul of simple black strummin’ blues with an overlay of musical virtuosity. Can’t think of a better 15-minute introduction to great room-filling blues than this from the best live album ever recorded, IMO.

    Tom

    6 Jan 13 at 8:10 pm

  330. How ’bout some Sonny Boy Williamson…

    Gab

    6 Jan 13 at 8:19 pm

  331. SRV is my favourite blues man, because he was not only a player of rare virtuosity and ability, but because he incorporated many other styles into his playing.

    Gary Moore is another favourite for the same reason.

    tbh

    6 Jan 13 at 8:24 pm

  332. You people are champions. I’ll definitely check out all these links and suggestions. Thanks again.
    I love Eric Clapton’s stuff but have missed Van’s more bluesy stuff obviously.

    Tracey

    6 Jan 13 at 8:33 pm

  333. Gab, SBW is almost as good as this brilliant white boy, who headed for the exit prematurely.

    Tom

    6 Jan 13 at 8:46 pm

  334. Ry Cooder? Yes and check him out with Ali Farka Toure (African blues).

    Gab

    6 Jan 13 at 8:50 pm

  335. Okay, Ry here with Ali. (This time for sure)

    Gab

    6 Jan 13 at 8:52 pm

  336. He’s very jazzy, Tom. I like.

    Gab

    6 Jan 13 at 8:53 pm

  337. I prefer my blues with a bit more upholstery, such as Count Basie’s Kansas City small groups.

    blogstrop

    6 Jan 13 at 8:54 pm

  338. Nice reminder, Blog.

    For all you cool cats out there….link

    Gab

    6 Jan 13 at 8:57 pm

  339. Y’all should head up to the Byron Bay blues festival in March/April it’s a great weekend

    Tal

    6 Jan 13 at 9:04 pm

  340. Tal, I’ve been wanting to get there for years. Is Robert Cray still a regular?
    So many new names…damn this bloody day job!

    Tracey

    6 Jan 13 at 9:15 pm

  341. My blues collection includes John Lee Hooker, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gary Moore, Eric Clapton, Stevie Vai and more, all of these guys have mentioned Robert Johnson as an influence, his work is pretty damn good too, Sweet Home Chicago is one of his best peices of work

    Other artists whose work has been influenced by the likes of Johnson and Hooker include George Thorogood and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. It is amazing how many of Johnson’s early recordings have been covered by big names in the last 20 or 30 years. Robert Johnson is the guy who supposedly sold his soul to the devil at the Crossroads!

    Santana, Bonnie Rait, Van Morrison and Robert Cray amongst others have recorded with John Lee Hooker, I have more of his recordings than any other Bluesman, however I probably listen to SRV the most.

    Hendrix is also a big favourite.

    Old Fridgie

    6 Jan 13 at 9:17 pm

  342. A very young (10 year-old?) Frank “Sugar Chile” Robinson with Count Basie.

    Later on earned himself degrees in history and psychology.

    Gab

    6 Jan 13 at 9:18 pm

  343. Thanks for the tip, Tal. Here’s the line-up for 2013.

    Gab

    6 Jan 13 at 9:19 pm

  344. I just bought a couple of albums by Dave Brubeck.

    *sigh*

    I know I’ll catch up some day.

    kae

    6 Jan 13 at 9:19 pm

  345. He’s very jazzy

    It can get very limiting if you put your music into mental genre slots, I find. I have had my head blown off by a three-piece doing some sort of punk metal version of country in a bar on the Broadway in Nashville (Robert’s Western World – the best on the strip, if you’re ever heading that way), where I was also introduced to Western Swing, which is halfway between Hank Williams Snr and zydeco. And the best room in the Nashville Country Music Hall of Fame is the one with the mixing desk where Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley recorded some of their greatest music. Ray Charles is a country music hero in the same institution.

    Tom

    6 Jan 13 at 9:24 pm

  346. Oh Gawd1! Not only Robert but Rodriguez as well. Need to have a serious (i.e. grovelling) chat to my boss.

    Tracey

    6 Jan 13 at 9:39 pm

  347. Young Bobby Cray…..swoon

    Tal

    6 Jan 13 at 9:43 pm

  348. Thank Gaia for Howard’s gun laws.

    AN investigation is under way after shots were fired in Sydney’s southwest on Sunday.

    Police were called to Clunes Lane, Canterbury, about 2.15pm (AEDT) on Sunday after a resident reported hearing gun shots.

    At the scene, officers were told the shots were fired by two men in a blue sedan. There were no reports of injury or damage to property.

    The vehicle is described as being a dark blue sedan similar to a Holden Commodore or Ford Falcon.

    The car occupants are described as being of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern appearance, aged in their mid 20s, with a stocky build, and unshaven.

    Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/national/shots-fired-in-sydneys-southwest/story-e6frfku9-1226548563661#ixzz2HCQK0dsS

    Gab

    6 Jan 13 at 11:54 pm

  349. Hey, was this reported in the msm? On their ABC?

    Major Change in UK Met Office global warming forecast

    Gab

    7 Jan 13 at 12:07 am

  350. Paul Sheehan sticks it to the lying slapper and the unions and leftards generally

    Tiny Dancer

    7 Jan 13 at 12:37 am

  351. From Tiny’s link:

    Last week’s flare-up over compulsory voting is a case in point. Never has there been an issue of principle in which both sides have self-evidently strong arguments. I have been on both sides for them, supporting one and then the other.

    Only a fool cannot see the merit of both arguments: that it is paradoxical and inimical to democracy for the state to impose the act of voting on its citizens. Conversely, it is beneficial to democracy to have the whole of the polity engaged in the democratic process.

    Only a fool or a self-interested warrior of the political class could not see and acknowledge these conflicting merits. Which is why the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, was so revealing in her narky response to a discussion paper by the Queensland state government on whether to abolish compulsory voting.

    LOL. Excellent.

    Gab

    7 Jan 13 at 12:42 am

  352. Sheehan’s observation is also a damning indictment of the Liberal Party:

    Driving this process is a self-perpetuating political class which seeks relevance through regulation, of which there is always more, while nothing is ever repealed, so that regulations, the tools of legalism and control, simply multiply and grow.

    C.L.

    7 Jan 13 at 1:17 am

  353. Good news: UN places Julia Gillard and Bob Carr (BA Hons, CWB) in charge of keeping a leash on Iran’s nuclear program.

    C.L.

    7 Jan 13 at 1:19 am

  354. Funny the things that make people fly off the handle- possibly its just a little thing that breaks the camel’s back. Michael Smith goes ballistic over littering by erstwhile Australians of Arabic dress and customs.

    I couldn’t drop a chewie packet on the ground for fear my mum might be watching somewhere. I can live with the Centrelink, I can live with the allowances, I can live with the legal aid – but don’t treat this generous country like the tip.

    I feel better for writing this down. I am tempted not to publish it because I know that it’s hard to point the finger at a particular group. But this is a course of conduct by Arab Muslims, or people who were impersonating them with Bedouin garb.

    Here’s my sister and my thoughts recorded at the time on Boxing Day. I didn’t post it then, but here it is in light of what I saw again today. Bugger it, I’m over holding back to avoid offending sensibilities. Stop chucking crap in our park you filthy creatures.

    Cold-Hands

    7 Jan 13 at 1:20 am

  355. Abbott is now compounding his behind-her-skirt act with Miss Credlin by wheeling out Mr and Mrs Christopher Pyne. So the Magisterium of the Church is “misguided,” Tony? Which is to say, you’re no longer a believing Catholic.

    C.L.

    7 Jan 13 at 1:28 am

  356. Japs a crazy bastards.

    ‘vironmentals are now commenting on individual fish being caught. Lol.

    TOKYO (AP) — A bluefin tuna sold for a record $1.76 million at a Tokyo auction Saturday, nearly three times the previous high set last year – even as environmentalists warn that stocks of the majestic, speedy fish are being depleted worldwide amid strong demand for sushi.

    In the year’s first auction at Tokyo’s sprawling Tsukiji fish market, the 222-kilogram (489-pound) tuna caught off northeastern Japan sold for 155.4 million yen, said Ryoji Yagi, a market official.

    JC

    7 Jan 13 at 1:30 am

  357. …are…

    JC

    7 Jan 13 at 1:32 am

  358. This is going to be fun.

    ABC fights to keep top staff pay secret

    THE ABC could be forced to disclose details of the pay packets of its top broadcasters and producers at programs such as Media Watch, Four Corners and Mornings with Jon Faine after it lost two appeals to block access to the information.

    The national broadcaster received $1 billion in government funding in the last financial year and spent $486 million on wages and superannuation.

    JC

    7 Jan 13 at 1:38 am

  359. Silly boy. He should have stolen %500,000 from hospital workers or orphans…

    AN Aboriginal boy found guilty of stealing a packet of hamburger buns was sentenced to 12 months’ jail in the NSW town of Parkes – an action that has sparked calls for a review of haphazard and inconsistent sentencing patterns.

    Sam Davies had a virtually clean criminal record when he appeared before a Parkes magistrate to deny the larceny charge, but it was not enough to prevent a sentence that stands as one of the harshest recorded in NSW in the past five years.

    C.L.

    7 Jan 13 at 1:42 am

  360. Abbott is now compounding his behind-her-skirt act with Miss Credlin by wheeling out Mr and Mrs Christopher Pyne. So the Magisterium of the Church is “misguided,” Tony? Which is to say, you’re no longer a believing Catholic.

    Yeap. I was troubled by the article about Miss Credlin (I had no idea she was attempting to have a child while unmarried, and without a father?) but this story involving Pyne seems to be a thinly veiled attempted to distance himself from the Church, which is frankly gutless and shameful. There is a cock crowing in the distance.

    dover_beach

    7 Jan 13 at 2:43 am

  361. …a thinly veiled attempted to distance himself from the Church, which is frankly gutless and shameful.

    And on the very birthday – and 600th anniversary – of St Joan of Arc.

    C.L.

    7 Jan 13 at 3:48 am

  362. According to the Power Index Peta Credlin is married to Brian Loughnane.

    I agree that Tony Abbott’s stance on abortion is most definitely not in line with the Magisterium, but I’m not surprised.

    We’re talking near 50 years on from Vatican 2 and the fallout from that, and being surrounded by women who’ve grown up in a liberalised world where it’s every woman’s right to have an abortion. It’s her body after all.

    I still prefer his religious views to Gillard’s. They’re a bit closer to mine.

    nilk

    7 Jan 13 at 6:43 am

  363. And speaking of “safe, legal and rare”, this article on ‘The Rise of DIY Abortions’ popped up in my twitter feed last night.

    It opens with the tale of woe of one young lass who first got pregnant at 14, kept the baby. Got married at 18, had another baby at 19, got divorced a couple of years later, got into a few dodgy relationships, had a 3rd baby.

    Then she got herself pregnant again and this time got an abortion. And then another pregnancy, but this time couldn’t afford an abortion so with her sister’s help she got some drugs over the internet to bring the baby on early.

    Money quote:

    Then, in 2010, she realized she was pregnant by him again. “I wasn’t being careless or sleeping around all the time,” McCormack says. “I just didn’t know quite about the options other than condoms.”

    In 2010 how could you not know about IUDs, implants, or even something primitive like, I don’t know, keeping your legs shut??

    With all the appalling and way too graphic sex ed that’s forced on children (and it’s in primary schools these days), how on earth can you not know of other option? Unless of course you’re not given any others.

    No, women would never use abortions a contr

    nilk

    7 Jan 13 at 6:51 am

  364. bugger. Hit enter by mistake.

    No, women would never use abortions as a contraception.

    nilk

    7 Jan 13 at 6:52 am

  365. Oh, FFS. Having trashed Costello, let’s not fall for the ongoing campaign to white ant Abbott by any means. Don’t pretend there’s more mileage in some other leader. Stop aiding the enemy.
    That’s an aside, but I was about to draw together two strands, one being the statement by Paul Sheehan that Labor no longer represents the lowly paid, and the ABC being called to account for the huge salaries it pays high-profile talking heads.
    Exhibit One: a certain newsreader is reputed to be on very high pay, about double what I’d think quite high enough, and is also in bed with Combet.

    Blogstrop

    7 Jan 13 at 7:03 am

  366. Indeed, ‘Strop, it’s so predictable. Gillard’s sycophants will spend today trying to belittle Abbott over his religious/family values (apparently unaware that everytime they do so they make Gillard look even more of an immoral bed-hopping trollop in the public mind), while also trying to invent an argument that the owners should be prevented from finding out the details of the ABC on-air salary bill, especially now that it is such an important part of the leftwing political organisation.

    Tom

    7 Jan 13 at 7:17 am

  367. According to the Power Index Peta Credlin is married to Brian Loughnane.

    Wonderful news, nilk. Thank you.

    I still prefer his religious views to Gillard’s. They’re a bit closer to mine.

    LOL. No contest.

    dover_beach

    7 Jan 13 at 7:18 am

  368. It is very hard not to simply hate the Obama administration:

    When my family and I started our company 40 years ago, we were working out of a garage on a $600 bank loan, assembling miniature picture frames. Our first retail store wasn’t much bigger than most people’s living rooms, but we had faith that we would succeed if we lived and worked according to God‘s word. From there, Hobby Lobby has become one of the nation’s largest arts and crafts retailers, with more than 500 locations in 41 states. Our children grew up into fine business leaders, and today we run Hobby Lobby together, as a family.

    We’re Christians, and we run our business on Christian principles. I’ve always said that the first two goals of our business are (1) to run our business in harmony with God’s laws, and (2) to focus on people more than money. And that’s what we’ve tried to do. We close early so our employees can see their families at night. We keep our stores closed on Sundays, one of the week’s biggest shopping days, so that our workers and their families can enjoy a day of rest. We believe that it is by God’s grace that Hobby Lobby has endured, and he has blessed us and our employees. We’ve not only added jobs in a weak economy, we’ve raised wages for the past four years in a row. Our full-time employees start at 80% above minimum wage.

    But now, our government threatens to change all of that. A new government health care mandate says that our family business MUST provide what I believe are abortion-causing drugs as part of our health insurance. Being Christians, we don’t pay for drugs that might cause abortions, which means that we don’t cover emergency contraception, the morning-after pill or the week-after pill. We believe doing so might end a life after the moment of conception, something that is contrary to our most important beliefs. It goes against the Biblical principles on which we have run this company since day one. If we refuse to comply, we could face $1.3 million PER DAY in government fines.

    dover_beach

    7 Jan 13 at 7:23 am

  369. Their ABC has been stonewalling media attempts to reveal on-air staff salaries for more than two years:

    The national broadcaster received $1 billion in government funding in the last financial year and spent $486 million on wages and superannuation.
    A further $25m went to “consultants and contractors”.

    But the ABC does not want to provide a breakdown of who its biggest earners are.

    The network lost its most recent appeal just before Christmas when the Administrative Appeals Tribunal ruled against it, rejecting the ABC’s arguments and saying some evidence it had put forward was not relevant and “of little assistance”.

    A Freedom of Information request was lodged more than two years ago by the Herald and Weekly Times, seeking access to documents “dealing with salaries, or any payments” paid to program makers working on 13 programs, including those listed above, for the financial year ending 2010.

    The ABC refused to hand over the documents, which include individual employment contracts, Australian Workplace Agreements, Individual Transitional Employment Agreements, pay slips and other “payment records”.

    According to the ABC’s annual report for the 2012 financial year, 401 employees earned more than $150,000 each – an increase from 312 the previous year. The ABC employs the equivalent of 4603 full-time employees.

    Tom

    7 Jan 13 at 7:27 am

  370. Here’s a job going with SBS at the moment.

    Work Area: Technology & Distribution
    Salary: SBS Salary Band 5: $75,756 – $83,770
    Work Type: Specified Period – Full Time
    Location: Sydney, Artarmon

    Are you looking for a dynamic role with an organisation that inspires Australians to explore and appreciate our cultural diversity?

    SBS is building a small team to manage the conversion of our television program, news and sport archive from analogue videotape to the latest digital file formats, and we need a content and sentencing specialist to review and select our archive tapes to guide what content will be migrated. This is part of an innovative program of works SBS is launching to build greater access to our fantastic collection of archival programs.

    This role is a short term 6 – 8 month contract.

    Reporting to the Corporate Archivist, you will query SBS’s internal systems to identify all media to be targeted in the digitisation program. You’ll work closely with the Archivist, the Digitisation Project Coordinator and content areas over a six month period to ensure all decision making is transparent and fully informed. At the completion of this process you will have produced a full map of content across the organisation, prioritising the highest value material, in addition to nominating content that is duplicated or otherwise surplus to requirements.

    The ideal candidate for this position will have a strong media content background and a broad general knowledge of SBS content to inform their decision making. A strong knowledge of News, Current Affairs and Sport is particularly valuable, and familiarity with sentencing policy and practice is desirable.

    You will need strong data manipulation skills and the ability to develop an expert level of competence in SBS content management systems quickly. An information or content management background, preferably in the media industry is essential, as is a solid understanding of videotape collection principles, metadata and information management practices.

    nilk

    7 Jan 13 at 7:38 am

  371. Their ABC has been stonewalling media attempts to reveal on-air staff salaries for more than two years:

    You can bet this is what the Tim Mathieson’s footy buddy & the rest of the Inner City Lefties have been doing at their ABC and why it needs to be hidden:

    The salaries of employees, and the methods by which publicly funded broadcasters hire them, was brought into sharp focus in Britain when it was discovered some of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s staff who were household names were being paid via personal services companies, which allowed them to pay a lower rate of tax.

    FOI requests revealed the extent of the problem and led to concern the BBC was helping people avoid tax. Amid a public outcry the BBC launched a review of its employment policy.

    Token

    7 Jan 13 at 8:17 am

  372. The car occupants are described as being of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern appearance, aged in their mid 20s, with a stocky build, and unshaven.

    As the shooting occured in Canterbury NSW, anyone want to lay a bet on which of the 2 ethnic groups noted above would be involved?

    Token

    7 Jan 13 at 8:27 am

  373. Speaking of wimmin’s bottoms a few days ago, it appears that Usain Bolt is a fan.

    He used pics of his girlfriend’s bottom to inspire him to record breaking runs.

    Helen Armstrong

    7 Jan 13 at 9:57 am

  374. “Speaking of wimmin’s bottoms a few days ago, it appears that Usain Bolt is a fan.”

    Wimminses bottomses is a worthy and honourable matter for comment. It has been for many decades and I am an expert – notwithstanding that I maintain a regimen of continuous research. I see Mr Bolt’s research also concentrates on the highest calibre specimens.

    It is however inimical to, on a Monday morning, feeeelthy capitalist endeavour and focus on profitability. I shall now get more coffee and continue reading topical news, avoiding such distraction.

    Mick Gold Coast QLD

    7 Jan 13 at 10:22 am

  375. Oh, FFS. Having trashed Costello, let’s not fall for the ongoing campaign to white ant Abbott by any means. Don’t pretend there’s more mileage in some other leader. Stop aiding the enemy

    Dead right Blogstrop remember this

    Bullies:- Ben Shapiro uncovers the simple strategy used by liberals and their friends in the media: bully the living hell out of conservatives. Play the race card, the class card, the sexism card. Use any and every means at your disposal to demonize your opposition—to shut them up. Then pretend that such bullying is justified, because, after all, conservatives are the true bullies, and need to be taught a lesson for their intolerance. Hidden beneath the lefts supposed hatred of bullying lies a passionate love of its vulgar tactics.

    We have to get over ourselves and our natural repugnance to use the same methods. We have to get over this idea of ‘Abbott hiding behind Credlin’s skirts’ becasue it is not that. It is clearing the decks for the release of the coalition policies, which we don’t want to be clouded or distracted by the mongrel lying left banging on lies about this and that. The stories are in print now, and can be referred to. The matter has been dealt with. Now it makes the handbag hit squad sound like wingers and whiners.

    I am sorry that these people, Credlin and Pyne, felt it necessary to publicise a very private and anguished part of their lives, but I am also full of admiration for these strong people who are prepared to do this for a leader they admire and respect.

    Whenever we think negative thoughts about Abbott, we become complicit in their plan of attack.

    Think and write and speak positive things, fire fighter, volunteer, teacher, Rhodes scholar, loving family man, etc, don’t let the cancer in.

    Helen Armstrong

    7 Jan 13 at 10:27 am

  376. Maybe

    What the non ALP and non Greens parties have to do is to force any ALP or union criminal who wants to be let off lightly by way of plea bargain, is to elocute the hell out of their predicament, name names and do so on public record before a full media circus and before state supreme court justice.

    Make them sing like a pack of ravenous, zombie canaries, eating their former comrades.

    Make them elocute like it’s judgment day and Yaweh’s extremely pissed off.

    .

    7 Jan 13 at 10:37 am

  377. As I said, the ‘Vikings’ were really nothing all that new

    Watched that SBS program on them last night. At first I thought oh noes, we are starting with ‘the’ Vikings, but that was just his TV intro mode. In spite of that, our curiously attractive Scot did eventually get to the ancient roots of Scandi culture, and it looks as though in further episodes he is going to look at the inter-continental and other trade and migration they engaged in. Looking forward to it.

    Some foundational reading:

    David M Wilson, The Vikings and their Origins: Scandinavia in the First Millenium, London, 1971

    Further re-interpretations:

    Jonathan Clements, A Brief History of The Vikings: The Last Pagans or the First Modern Europeans?, London, 2005

    I find them interesting as the last ‘resistors’ of Rome and thus carriers of the wider culture of an earlier Europe. In Sweden, Gamla Uppsala with its mounds is the key sacred place – I have wandered myself alone but for the winds around this strange terrain, and its sacrifical groves, encouraged by a bottle of Mead. You can’t help notice how Gamla Uppsala is tremendously similar to the Sutton Hoo Boat Burial and mounds site near Colchester in England – where I also spent most a winter’s afternoon with not another soul around (the museum was closed), soaking up the atmosphere of the site. The archaeological similarities, ignored for quite a while, have led to some redefinitions of when ‘Viking’ culture actually arrived in England: ‘Saxon’ turning out to be a cultural ‘sponge’ word it seems. Beowulf was a Danish tale.

    I want to write about this stuff some day… it is the heritage of many of us genetically and culturally and informs our legends and culture (viz Tolkien and C.S. Lewis for example).

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    7 Jan 13 at 10:47 am

  378. Tolkein ripped off the Welsh and Lewis ripped off mainline Christianity.

    Culture? They’re as bad as Eric Bloodaxe.

    .

    7 Jan 13 at 10:50 am

  379. Lizze, on the Galatian mercenaries in Egypt, my guess is based on the date you gave earlier, my interest in ancient history, and gaming. They arrived in Egypt in the third century BC and would have looked Nordic and were called, I believe, Galatikoi Kleruchoi. (N.B. the people that have developed this mod are quite fanatical about historical detail). BTW, I’d love to see the base relief you’re referring to. The other thing is that I’ve never read about the Nordes/ Vikings that far south or employed militarily. Vikings did however manage to migrate by the 9th century AD to parts of the Ukraine where they became known as the Kievan Rus, and Constantinople where they formed an imperial guard unit of Byzantium called the Varangians.

    dover_beach

    7 Jan 13 at 11:16 am

  380. Just rescued a bandicoot from our pool. Poor little thing was swimming around but couldn’t get out. Left it to recover and preen itself for a while in some long grass, then encouraged it to hop away towards the bush.

    Septimus

    7 Jan 13 at 11:17 am

  381. Lizzie, found this as well.

    dover_beach

    7 Jan 13 at 11:19 am

  382. I’ve long thought that expensive advertising announcing dangerous driving as dumb is a complete waste of money.

    The audience is not in the least bit interested because – well – I wouldn’t have a clue why, and anyway the kiddies reckon that sort of thing is something for the anonymous “them” to worry about and to make right for them, on demand.

    I noticed a couple of Brisbane teenage girls wiped themselves off the planet last night, converting their Corolla into about half its original mass. The obvious cause is confirmed by Metro north Inspector Mark Laing:

    “described the crash scene as “horrific” … “Words can’t describe the scene to be honest,” … “It’s just a tragic loss of two lives … even after 30 years you see something like this – it still affects us individually.”

    He said excessive speed was a factor in the crash.”

    Yet instantly the cycle of inevitability kicks back to the start for the rest of their mates (a pattern one can see for every such event):

    “By yesterday afternoon, friends had taken to social networking sites to pay tribute to the girls.

    “RIP Zara Simon, you amazing and beautiful girl, I will always miss you,” one said. “Samantha Neilsen and Zara Simon, I actually can’t believe you guys are gone, it’s just not right,” said another.”

    and I wonder how they can be so unbelievably stupid as to arrive at that conclusion “it’s just not right”.

    Rather “It’s enthusiastically invited into their lives by their normal behaviour” is what we hear from ambulance blokes and cops around here. You ought to see the tired, resigned, grey expression on the faces of the older ones when they say that.

    Mick Gold Coast QLD

    7 Jan 13 at 11:37 am

  383. Wimminses bottomses is a worthy and honourable matter for comment.

    Agreed!

    Rabz

    7 Jan 13 at 11:41 am

  384. Why is it that I just knew you’d weigh in with that Rabz!

    Mick Gold Coast QLD

    7 Jan 13 at 11:47 am

  385. expensive advertising announcing dangerous driving as dumb is a complete waste of money.

    What about mandatory time (doesn’t have to be real time – could be in a sound room) viewing large screen and sound accidents with identities of victims obscured.

    From memory the “Grim Reaper” ads did have an impact on safer sex in regards to aids.

    Helen Armstrong

    7 Jan 13 at 12:04 pm

  386. Re above – in order to obtain drivers license.

    Helen Armstrong

    7 Jan 13 at 12:05 pm

  387. Ahem

    I repeat myself – but why not !?

    Egypt says it seized missiles and anti-tank rockets in Sinai that were to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip, security officials said.

    Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/01/06/Egypt-nabs-missiles-bound-for-Gaza/UPI-10201357479400/#ixzz2HFMN8PS3

    It is a little unclear at this stage as to how many were anti-tank missiles and if any were anti-aircraft missiles.

    Nor how effective they might be, if obsolete kit.

    But, from the ‘Blackhawk Down’ meme, we tend to think of insurgent and terrorist groups as perhaps armed to the teeth with AK-47s and RPGs, and homebrew explosives. A never-ending supply of AK-47s it seems – thanks to certain nation states who sell the weapons and/or factories to make the weapons.

    Up until now, we haven’t seen the impact of more sophisticated weapons, such as the massive armoury of rockets Hezbollah has stacked in southern Lebanon.

    But it would appear that the chaos of the Libyan revolution has emptied Ghaddafi’s weapons stores in an uncontrolled flood, with more potent weaponry now being sold into the hands of non-state actors that presumably were never expected to get their hands on this type of gear.

    The chickens are going to come home to roost if some of the nation-state suppliers find missiles making their way back in to trouble spots like the Caucasus and Xinjiang.

    It ain’t good for the rest of us with regional trouble spots too – southern Thailand, southern Philippines and jihadi elements in Indonesia spring to mind.

    Myrrdin Seren

    7 Jan 13 at 12:07 pm

  388. Obama to abolish democracy to ban guns:

    Obama could sidestep Congress on gun control.

    C.L.

    7 Jan 13 at 12:24 pm

  389. Thanks DB for those two links. The first one recognises the problem: the Galatian story ‘is not often told’ i.e. the presence of blue-eyed fair-skinned Egyptians resulting from extensive settlement from Galatia. The ‘heavy armour’ is not the type I saw on the bas relief but rather ‘Scythian’ in origin? The second pic you link to is more promising – same moustache style but bas relief ones more shaggy and longer and the whole thing looked ‘Germanic’; axe not sword (but might have been a sword in there too – it was a boat battle scene); it definitely had helmets with two horns on either side (noticed because it was so striking and I knew the view that this never happened); the second linked pic has the warrior nearly naked – a very Nordic/Celtic practice. Anyone visiting Egypt keep your eyes peeled for this antiquity in the Egyptian Museum and report back please.

    —————

    On Swedish matters: It was nice to see Gamla Uppsala again on TV last night. Friends of mine at the University told me how they used to ski down the slopes in the days before it became a National monument. Also, during the 30′s, the local Nazi’s used to hold rallies there, in an attempt to commandeer the ancient Odinic warrior ethos for their own purposes. Because of this, the Swedes are all rather coy about this site, and only recently have had the desire to recall it historically. In Stockholm, in that big Town Hall Palace (the one where the Nobel Prize dinners take place) in the formal rooms there are some marvellous glitzy tapestries of ancient King-slaughtering rites (which caused a tremendous stir when they first went up). The seating in the Council room there is deliberately designed so that no one place is pre-eminent. Shades of the old Tynwald traditions I suspect, as well as contemporary Swedish sensibilities about equality. I know speculations are just that, but I do love to winkle out very antique memes: for my own amusement, (sorry if I’m going on a bit, Tom, but at least I am not invoking he whose name must not be spoken). :)

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    7 Jan 13 at 12:34 pm

  390. Thanks for the Count Basie clip Gabrielle, 8.57pm last night. Some of the all-time greats are on that. Zoot Sims, Roy Eldrige.

    blogstrop

    7 Jan 13 at 12:36 pm

  391. “Thanks for the Count Basie clip Gabrielle”

    Gabrielle? What a beautiful name – so it shall be from me now!

    Mick Gold Coast QLD

    7 Jan 13 at 12:46 pm

  392. Mick, I’ve had friends die in their youth in bike and car accidents, some where drink was involved, some not. I guess a lot of people have been through this.

    It’s enthusiasm for living that causes such deaths. Speed, freedom, abandon of cautions and testing of limits, instant gratification rather than not, sometimes sheer thoughtlessness or inattention. And a careless car-as-plaything culture.

    I think a few ads suggesting what can happen might do some good. Don’t say it is dumb though. That will raise hackles of resistance. Point out what gets lost in a moment: your whole future. Point to reason and make it a choice to keep your cool, and cool to make that choice. Why throw your future away, and that of your friends too? Who wants to be reduced to ‘it doesn’t seem right’ on Facebook?

    It isn’t right. Don’t let it happen.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    7 Jan 13 at 12:55 pm

  393. It is clearing the decks for the release of the coalition policies, which we don’t want to be clouded or distracted by the mongrel lying left banging on lies about this and that

    Very well said, Helen. Let’s get on with business. Reveal and squash their monstrous lying tactics of bastardry, and let’s move ahead and above them.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    7 Jan 13 at 1:02 pm

  394. You can thank my dear Mother for that choice of name, Mick, wise woman that she was.

    Gab

    7 Jan 13 at 1:07 pm

  395. What about mandatory time (doesn’t have to be real time – could be in a sound room) viewing large screen and sound accidents

    Maybe like the Ludovico Technique?

    Septimus

    7 Jan 13 at 1:14 pm

  396. Wooohooo, you can now spend the Food Stamp President’s handouts to the sound of Warrant’s Cherry Pie!!!

    An investigation into where welfare recipients are using their Electronic Benefit Transfer cards has revealed that some are withdrawing taxpayer money from EBT-friendly ATMs at strip clubs and liquor stores.

    The New York Post, looking at a database of 200 million EBT records from January 2011 to July 2012 obtained through a Freedom of Information request, discovered that some people receiving government benefits have been using their EBT cards to withdraw cash at several questionable New York establishments: Hank’s Saloon, a porn shop called Blue Door Video, the Patriot Saloon, the Club Eleven strip club, the Club Heat strip joint and Drinks Galore.

    Food stamps and cash assistance from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program are accessible through EBT cards. EBT cash benefits can be withdrawn from participating ATMs

    Token

    7 Jan 13 at 1:19 pm

  397. we don’t want to be clouded or distracted by the mongrel lying left banging on lies about this and that

    That they will lie and continue to bash the living daylights out of Abbott’s character is axiomatic. But now we see the Liberals attempting to play catch-up on refuting them over the Great Misogyny Rants of 2012. Too little too late. Stick to attacking Labor’s woeful and unsuccessful policies, their hollow promises for goodies such as insurance sometime in the unicorn future, sans funding. There’s plenty of material there for them, the ads even write themselves.

    It’s about time the Liberals stopped their advances into becoming the Labor Lite Party.

    Gab

    7 Jan 13 at 1:27 pm

  398. Hi Lizzie

    In regard to the wandering celts of antiquity, you might be interested in some of E.M. Smith’s musings on the subject

    http://chiefio.wordpress.com/?s=celts

    I find him quite an engaging blogger/writer.

    Myrrdin Seren

    7 Jan 13 at 1:31 pm

  399. some people receiving government benefits have been using their EBT cards to withdraw cash at several questionable New York establishments

    Obviously needy for something. More ‘free stuff’.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    7 Jan 13 at 1:33 pm

  400. NRL dumps TAB for Tom Waterhouse.

    Coups don’t come much biger than this:

    Leviathan bookmaker Tom Waterhouse has taken over from TAB Sportsbet as the NRL’s gambling partner in a multi-million-dollar deal.

    Fairfax Media understands Waterhouse has inked a deal with the NRL worth more than $10 million a season for the next five years.

    Waterhouse and the NRL have been in negotiations for the past couple of months but both refused to confirm the deal when contacted by Fairfax Media. But gambling insiders insist it is a done deal.

    The TAB has been a long-time sponsor of the NRL for several seasons and the NRL’s deal with Waterhouse has brought that association to an end.

    Advertisement The deal will also include Waterhouse taking over the controversial spot during Channel Nine’s coverage of rugby league when live odds are presented during games.

    C.L.

    7 Jan 13 at 1:38 pm

  401. Wooohooo, you can now spend the Food Stamp President’s handouts to the sound of Warrant’s Cherry Pie!!!

    In other wonders of the welfare state

    PREGNANT women in one of South Africa’s poorest areas are drinking heavily to deliberately harm their unborn babies in order to claim higher welfare payments.

    http://www.news.com.au/world/south-african-women-drinking-to-harm-their-unborn-babies/story-fndir2ev-1226548840980

    Max

    7 Jan 13 at 1:49 pm

  402. “NRL dumps TAB for Tom Waterhouse”

    Ahhh it’s in the Waterhouse genes to succeed in business C.L.

    His father had more front than Myers, overcame being warned off for a crime that would send most scuttling off into obscurity out of shame, and succeeded again on the track and off; and his grandfather and great uncle had the legal betting scene in Sydney almost to themselves for a couple of decades when I was a younger fella.

    This bloke has impressed me with his marketing and by venturing into unknown territory taking on exotics.

    Good luck to him I say.

    Mick Gold Coast QLD

    7 Jan 13 at 1:49 pm

  403. Gab, you’re named after my cat? How cool!

    nilk

    7 Jan 13 at 1:50 pm

  404. Mick, I’m not sure about one aspect of your summary of the Waterhouse history. I don’t think the younger Bill Waterhouse and Uncle Charlie were particularly big bookies in old Sydney. They were strictly paddock operators.

    C.L.

    7 Jan 13 at 1:55 pm

  405. That’s a very long name for a cat, Nilk.

    Gab

    7 Jan 13 at 1:57 pm

  406. Gab is named for the Archangel – patron of all working in communications.

    C.L.

    7 Jan 13 at 2:01 pm

  407. Yes, some have remarked that I talk a lot, CL but I ignore them anyway.

    Gab

    7 Jan 13 at 2:06 pm

  408. Craig Emerson on Australians who don’t agree with his policies and views:

    Craig Emerson MP ‏@CraigEmersonMP

    @unindate @observedlateron Here come the Liberal trolls.

    Gab

    7 Jan 13 at 2:31 pm

  409. PREGNANT women in one of South Africa’s poorest areas are drinking heavily to deliberately harm their unborn babies in order to claim higher welfare payments.

    Heart-breaking and despicable.

    dover_beach

    7 Jan 13 at 2:33 pm

  410. Gab is named for the Archangel

    Actually, that is who my cat is named after ROFL! Needless to say, I didn’t name her, and she answers to Gabby. I think I prefer the long version, but she is a cat after all.

    nilk

    7 Jan 13 at 2:35 pm

  411. Question of the day is: can Gillard ‘cry’ again when Parliament resumes and she speaks on the bushfires?

    C.L.

    7 Jan 13 at 2:37 pm

  412. “Mick, I’m not sure about one aspect of your summary of the Waterhouse history …strictly paddock operators”

    You are right C.L., the Waterhouses (Bill – Robbie’s father – and Jack) were primarily on track bookies and I was loose in the telling.

    They did run a big illegal SP operation on the side but Bill’s fame came from his rails and ring stoushes with some big gamblers betting big money. he was prominent for years – I recall him at Randwick as a really imposing figure and the centre of the punters’ attention because he would often burn off the other bookies’ odds.

    There was a long running and enormously expensive legal battle over family assets and beneficiaries of estates, but I’d have to read up on them to remember the details and the result.

    The family has been financially very successful through several generations now.

    Mick Gold Coast QLD

    7 Jan 13 at 2:40 pm

  413. Mick, I read a book about the story of the houses of Waterhouse and Smith uniting with Gai and whatshisface. Titled, Waterhouse & Smith.

    I recall that the original Waterhouse who came to Sydney was a ships bursar around the time of Macquarie. He was instrumental in forming the SP bookie racket, the cock fighting racket and the bar knuckle boxing racket in those heady days. One of the waterhouse’s was known for having swam across Sydney harbor twice to escape the law after a raid.

    They made millions on the punt and were huge landholders at one stage.

    Dan

    7 Jan 13 at 2:50 pm

  414. “Yes, some have remarked that I talk a lot, CL but I ignore them anyway.”

    Funny thing that Gabrielle – a few years back baby daughter (in her twenties then) was in the back seat and commented “Dad, you’ve got too much to say.”

    I answered with “Darling, the distance between me and the exit door is getting shorter and I’ve got a hell of a lot of words to squeeze into an ever diminishing period. Why, I could be dead within ten years!”

    Her response? “One of us will break out the .303 before then!”

    Continue ignoring them, young lady. As I say to my mates “You are entitled to hear – nay – you owe it to yourselves to hear my opinion.” :)

    Mick Gold Coast QLD

    7 Jan 13 at 2:50 pm

  415. Myrrdin – thanks for the ‘CIO’ link – it was fun, flippant in style, sounding off on ideas. What an unusual guy he is. Computer freak and information geek on climate, empire, culture, and everything inbetween (though a bit too ‘out there’ for me on Stonehenge etc). A little wearing in large doses? A couple of his extracts on ancient climatic changes are of interest, although they lack depth.

    I like dilettantes and mavericks though. ;)

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    7 Jan 13 at 2:51 pm

  416. “One of us will break out the .303 before then!”

    I’m getting rather fond of your daughter, Mick. A kindred spirit perhaps? :)

    Gab

    7 Jan 13 at 2:53 pm

  417. “Mick, I read a book about the story of the houses of Waterhouse and Smith uniting …”

    Thanks Dan – you remind me that there are many good accounts of the prominent figures I saw in my younger days in Sydney and that I should spend some time reading them.

    You wouldn’t know one trainer from another in recent years, except at Melbourne Cup time when everyone becomes an expert for three days, but from the ’60s to ’80s Tommy Smith dominated Sydney racing like no other since.

    Mick Gold Coast QLD

    7 Jan 13 at 3:00 pm

  418. “I’m getting rather fond of your daughter, Mick. A kindred spirit perhaps?”

    You’re a bit like all three of the uppity little misses Gabrielle, and the daughter in law. Confident, successful, forthright, clever (and crafty when it comes to working the old man) – none of ‘em know their place!

    Mick Gold Coast QLD

    7 Jan 13 at 3:13 pm

  419. “Yes, some have remarked that I talk a lot, CL but I ignore them anyway.”

    Oh dear, Gab and Mick. Me too.

    I said to HIA in the car, I don’t think you listen to half of the interesting things I am saying when I am just chatting away.

    Yes I do, he says defensively.

    I listen to at least half of those. It’s da uninterestin’ t’ings I don’t listen to.

    So, not anything to do with the ballet, his driving, my driving, his failings at setting out anywhere in good time, fashion, make-up, my girlfriends or price checks on purchases I have already made. Just for starters.

    Isn’t it weird how two people manage to get on in spite of it all?

    I too am liking the sound of your daughter, Mick.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    7 Jan 13 at 3:23 pm

  420. Maybe like the Ludovico Technique?

    No, that would be way too expensive, there must be twenty scientists per person there! (Though it might be a place of employment for all those CAGW unemployed scientists over the horizon) I mean some kind of exposure to the consequences of drink driving and hooning, for instance. Some accidents are never our fault, some we contribute to and some are all our fault. But maybe a defensive driving course, coupled with volunteer hours at a rehabilitation house (where you go after hospital so you can learn to function again) and or viewing and discussing film, maybe followed up annually for the first few years.

    But then there is the cold hard cost angle. How much do these people cost taxpayers when they crash their cars? Is the cost of intervention greater than this? In which case, do nothing, or at least less.

    Helen Armstrong

    7 Jan 13 at 3:29 pm

  421. Crafty is a really good word, Mick. I like that.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    7 Jan 13 at 3:31 pm

  422. Whitehaven Coal has placed its shares in a trading halt after it was the victim of a hoax press release claiming that it had lost its major funding

    Whitehaven Coal shares have fallen following a hoax announcement on funding for its Maules Creek project.

    The coal miner was the victim of a hoax press release on Monday, claiming to be from the ANZ Bank stating that it had cancelled its $1.2 billion loan facility to Whitehaven to fund its Maules Creek project.

    The release actually came from anti-coal mining activists.

    The company’s shares plunged six per cent in response to $3.31.

    Whitehaven had its shares placed in a halt which is expected to be lifted on Monday.

    The ANZ Bank on Monday also confirmed the notice was a fake.

    Whitehaven employs around 1000 people.

    Backstory:

    A COALITION of environmental activists has developed an extraordinary secret plan to ruin Australia’s coal export boom by disrupting and delaying key projects and infrastructure.

    The strategy includes mounting legal challenges to up to a dozen key mines and exploiting the Lock The Gate movement against coal-seam gas to put pressure on governments to block mining.

    A funding proposal for the Australian anti-coal movement, obtained by The Australian, declares that 2012 and 2013 are critical years to stop tens of billions of dollars of investment and says the aim of the strategy is to “disrupt and delay” projects “while gradually eroding public and political support for the industry and continually building the power of the movement to win more”.

    The document – which is believed to have been written by Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s John Hepburn and CoalSwarm’s Bob Burton – issues a call to arms for coal activists nationwide before the March 24 Queensland election and the next federal election.

    The document names philanthropic consultant Sam Hardy and a foundation set up by Wotif founder and Greens donor Graeme Wood on the cover. It’s believed Ms Hardy was consulted on some versions.

    Economic terrorism. These people ought to be tattooed.

    Gab

    7 Jan 13 at 3:35 pm

  423. Yeeeow. Burning apple sauce on the stove. Wondered what that drifting about rather caramelly smell was and I suddently thought – OMG, I put some of my special apple sauce on the stove to cook gently for tonight’s pork. Ooooops.

    I think I can just save it. I am good at rescues. See ya.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    7 Jan 13 at 3:37 pm

  424. This self-righteous delinquent looks like he has opened himself up to a number of criminal charges. I hope he is accommodated:

    The man behind a hoax press release which wiped more than $314 million off the value of Nathan Tinkler’s Whitehaven Coal, and caused the company’s shares to be placed in a trading halt, has defended his actions as justified.
    Jonathan Moylan, an anti-coal activist, compared himself to the Chaser breaking into APEC in defending his stunt, which wreaked havoc on the Australian share market on Monday.
    The fake press release claimed to be from ANZ bank and said that a recent $1.2 billion loan to help Whitehaven build a new mine had been overturned because of concerns about the impact the mine would have on agriculture and the environment.
    The announcement caused Whitehaven shares to fall 31 cents, or 8.8 per cent, from $3.52 to $3.21 shortly after midday.
    The Whitehaven share price started rebounding as news of the hoax spread, and the price was $3.32 when trading was halted shortly before 1pm.
    Having now exited the halt, shares are trading at $3.525, up half a cent from yesterday’s close…
    …The fake press release carried a phone number purporting to be that of Toby Kent, an actual ANZ staff member.
    But the phone was actually answered by Mr Moylan, pretending to be Mr Kent. He spoke to several journalists using Mr Kent’s personna, claiming to represent the bank and saying it was reviewing its coal investments…
    …In a later phone call, Mr Moylan admitted the hoax, and claimed it was justified by the environmental destruction he said would be wrought by the mine, near Narrabri in NSW.
    “We considered the decision to run a spoof very carefully before we did it, but we believe it is justified,’’ Mr Moylan said. ‘‘We think it is a bit like the Chaser getting into APEC, or the Yes Men announcing that Union Carbide had shut down.”

    Fairfax have put the story at the top of the websites as free propaganda for the Green Left — surely this activist circus-cum-news satire is near an end.

    Tom

    7 Jan 13 at 3:39 pm

  425. Woops, Gab. Snap!

    Tom

    7 Jan 13 at 3:40 pm

  426. Well only partially so, Tom. You have further information on who actually done it. Wonder if ANZ could sue, along with Whitehaven, for damages?

    It’s not like these coal activist groups have no money being funded by the like of Soros and the government here.

    Gab

    7 Jan 13 at 3:44 pm

  427. I wonder if Bob Brown and hubbys property was affected by the fires.
    Some good sympathy and exposure to be had there.
    He’d be whacking flints together at the bottom of the hill right now, just to make sure.

    Or if he’s on that boat with the criminal fugitive, he could ask Christine Mildew to do it.

    jumpnmcar

    7 Jan 13 at 3:46 pm

  428. Or is her name Pristine Mildew, I can never remember.

    jumpnmcar

    7 Jan 13 at 3:48 pm

  429. The document names philanthropic consultant Sam Hardy and a foundation set up by Wotif founder and Greens donor Graeme Wood on the cover. It’s believed Ms Hardy was consulted on some versions.

    If wood was involved in this he ought to be stripped of all his corporate positions.’

    All these clowns could face jail time. God I fucking hope so.

    JC

    7 Jan 13 at 3:48 pm

  430. Or is her name Pristine Mildew, I can never remember.

    No, it’s Tubbsie Milne.

    JC

    7 Jan 13 at 3:49 pm

  431. … he has opened himself up to a number of criminal charges …

    Fraud only if he can be shown to have benefited from the mischief.

    Tel

    7 Jan 13 at 3:55 pm

  432. Coincidence – pork chops here too this evening Lizzie, for myself and Mrs. B. I’m taking the easy way out and doing a salad. Each chop to be served with a splash of sweet chilli sauce added, after grilling with a bit of finely chopped garlic on each side.
    Can’t decide between a bottle of leftover christmas champagne, or a cabernet to wash it down.

    blogstrop

    7 Jan 13 at 3:59 pm

  433. This is the face of the green mafia. Poster boy for beta-males!

    Gab

    7 Jan 13 at 4:01 pm

  434. Economic terrorism. These people are happy to scrap the rules, then bleat about rules when it suits them.
    Sick ‘em, Fisky.

    blogstrop

    7 Jan 13 at 4:01 pm

  435. Front Line Action on Coal. Moylan used to be with Rising Tide.

    Gab

    7 Jan 13 at 4:05 pm

  436. Surely he can be banged up? Why aren’t the ASX getting involved? What are ANZ doing, and what is Whitehaven doing?

    Doe it matter that he didn’t personally benefit?

    As an aside I actually went to news.com to read it to save myself from going to SBS and Silly links provided.

    Surprise, surprise that Tory (Shepherd?) useless bint had an anti-Abbott rant in her daily Punch pile of shite. How does this woman get a gig – she’s woeful.

    harrys on the boat

    7 Jan 13 at 4:13 pm

  437. Florida!

    A naked burglar was shot by a Miami homeowner Wednesday morning after he allegedly attempted to choke a pet dog and bite the residents.

    Miami police report that the homeowner at a duplex at Northwest 2nd Avenue and 56th street woke up to the sound of dogs barking at 5 a.m.

    He then found a naked man choking his pet, according to the arrest report. The nude intruder reportedly turned on the owner, jumping on him while choking and trying to bite him.

    Florida CCW rates have risen from 1 in 120 to 1 in 17 in the last ten years. As they will, in face-eating dog-choking naked-zombie times.

    sdog

    7 Jan 13 at 4:21 pm

  438. Lifted from bob Ellis” blog.

    Is he okay?

    I said six months ago Assad would kill a quarter of a million Syrians before he was done.

    His total thus far of sixty thousand is barely a quarter of it.

    And it’s a pity.

    JC

    7 Jan 13 at 4:37 pm

  439. gillard’s policies claim another victim:

    A Sri Lankan asylum seeker committed suicide at the weekend while living in the community in Perth, the Immigration Department has confirmed.

    The WA Coroner will examine the death of the Tamil man, who is believed to have a wife and possibly a child in Sri Lanka.

    The department declined to say whether the man had been told his asylum application had been rejected and he was to be deported.

    News of the death comes as another 76 boat people are on their way to Darwin for processing after HMAS Childers intercepted their vessel south-east of Ashmore Reef at the weekend.

    Anyone else notice the media in general being reluctant to report on asylum boat arrivals since December 2012?

    Gab

    7 Jan 13 at 4:40 pm

  440. Lifted from bob Ellis” blog.

    Is he okay?

    Nope – he’s a loon and we all recognise that.

    The worry is that BobE is apparently a close confident of our esteemed Foreign Minister and now UN trouble shooter, BobC.

    What could go wrong ?

    Myrrdin Seren

    7 Jan 13 at 5:15 pm

  441. Journalists rail against ruling party propaganda:

    Chinese journalists fed up with censorship have staged what may be the first walkout of its kind since the Tiananmen crackdown of 1989.
    The strike marks a major escalation of a rebellion that was ignited last week at one of China’s most credible and reader-oriented newspapers, Southern Weekend, by the ham-fisted intervention from propaganda officials.
    It poses an early test of China’s direction under the new leadership of Xi Jinping, who has made strong and seemingly contradictory calls for the country to press forward with reform while also returning to the revolutionary legacy of its Maoist past.

    Journalists volunteer to write ruling party propaganda:

    …the Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, said Mr Abbott was clearly trying to fix his image problem with women. Australians would ultimately judge him on his public comments over his nearly two decades in politics, she said.

    ”Mr Abbott is not a new figure on the public field,” Ms Roxon said on Sunday. ”He has many years of record to stand by and those are the things that people rightly will judge him on.

    ”I think it’s clear from these sorts of stories that the Liberal Party research must be showing that Mr Abbott does have a problem with women and that he is trying to do something about it.”

    Tom

    7 Jan 13 at 5:25 pm

  442. Lifted from bob Ellis” blog.

    Is he okay?

    Nope – he’s a loon and we all recognise that.

    That was disgraceful. Is he still writing speeches for Bob Carr?

    Token

    7 Jan 13 at 5:38 pm

  443. CL:

    Obama to abolish democracy to ban guns:

    Obama could sidestep Congress on gun control.

    I do not think that the moron has the slightest idea what he is doing here. A direct, unconstitutional by-executive-fiat attack on the US second amendment will generate extremely powerful reactions from people you really do not want to raise to open resistance. How can such a move, if tried, not result in open defiance by forces ranging from individual constitutionalists to many state legislatures where the state constitution is a near copy of their Federal one?

    I know quite a few people like that and their view will be similar: this is something the Constitution they believe in most strongly actively empowers them to conduct armed resistance against.

    Therefore, this is an act of overweening hubris which simply beggars belief. it can do nothing but provoke an active nemesis.

    The Preshizzle (Paco ™) and his advisers are insane.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    7 Jan 13 at 6:04 pm

  444. The Preshizzle and his advisers are insane.

    Mark

    They are also extremely heavily armed

    The Department Of Homeland Security Is Hard At Work With One Billion New Bullets

    Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/dhs-fletc-ammunition-purchases-750-million-200-million-40-caliber-rounds-2013-1#ixzz2HGtA4vo7

    Could be quite the showdown if Washington decides to disarm the peasantry.

    Myrrdin Seren

    7 Jan 13 at 6:12 pm

  445. A direct, unconstitutional by-executive-fiat attack on the US second amendment will generate extremely powerful reactions from people you really do not want to raise to open resistance.

    What made “Revere’s ride” special was that he wasn’t just a man. He was many men and women in a deeply interconnected network linked by the a common cause of Liberty.

    Fiercely dependent and interdependent upon one another, the Colonials had been through three wars within the the preceding decades, and had devised a system of church bells, dispatch riders, signal fires and musket volleys to warn the countryside of danger. This was perfected after earlier raids during the Powder Alarm.

    Paul Revere and the other dispatch riders that April morning were cogs in a communications machine that had 14,000 militiamen marching towards the Concord Road before the sun rose on April 19, 1775.

    Six hours. 14,000 men.
    I want you to think about that for a moment.

    We are the militia.

    sdog

    7 Jan 13 at 6:20 pm

  446. Could be quite the showdown if Washington decides to disarm the peasantry.

    ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

    sdog

    7 Jan 13 at 6:27 pm

  447. …the Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, said Mr Abbott was clearly trying to fix his image problem with women. Australians would ultimately judge him on his public comments over his nearly two decades in politics, she said.

    And Fran agrees with this. And so does Phil Coorey and Fat Boy Farr. And Michelle G reckons Nicola has got it about right too, so clearly the tide will turn for the ALPBC. Laurie O says Nicola is right too, and so does La Tingle, so it must be right. And of course Mark Riley is slithering about wondering how he can ‘assist’ so it must be right.

    There is no doubt about it; Julia is obviously already elected once again according to the Press Gallery so there is clearly no need for an election.

    So just move along you Plebs; we’re from the ABC and your’re not. There’s nothing to see here ok. So just shut up.

    Greg James

    7 Jan 13 at 6:56 pm

  448. Roxon:

    ”I think it’s clear from these sorts of stories that the Liberal Party research must be showing that Mr Abbott does have a problem with women and that he is trying to do something about it.”

    No.
    Every poll is showing that people (voters) have a problem with the present government, and are likely to change it with an extra bit of prejudice at the next election. This has nothing to do with the spin about Abbott, but may indicate they have a problem with a particular group of women, the Gal Quaeda.

    blogstrop

    7 Jan 13 at 7:08 pm

  449. “… may indicate they have a problem with a particular group of women, the Gal Quaeda”

    Ooooh I like that! Gal Quaeda – Macquarie Dictionary won’t have criminalised that just yet, as they probably have done with swanky poes (which I much prefer and which has, after all, been legitimised by Labor leader Mark Latham).

    Labor really has brought forth the most unpleasant examples of snarling, angry, smelly, ugly, uber-bottomised, un-female wimminses to offend, eh?

    Mick Gold Coast QLD

    7 Jan 13 at 7:46 pm

  450. Myreddin:

    They are also extremely heavily armed

    The Department Of Homeland Security Is Hard At Work With One Billion New Bullets

    Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/dhs-fletc-ammunition-purchases-750-million-200-million-40-caliber-rounds-2013-1#ixzz2HGtA4vo7

    Could be quite the showdown if Washington decides to disarm the peasantry.

    I truly hope that is not their view, ‘disarming the peasantry’. I think it is the view of the bubble-dwellers, those who we’d call ‘luvvies’, as I don’t think they understand this part of American culture.

    I cannot see anyone deliberately going as far out of their way to stoke tensions with the religious and the constitutionalists as they appear to be doing. I think they are doing it because they do think of religious Americans and constitutionalist Americans as ‘ignorant peasants’.

    if (and it’s a big if) the Preshizzle (Paco™)or his advicers do actually believe both in his ‘bitter clingers’ comment AND in their own ineffable superiority, then this sort of situation becomes explainable. it would be a lethal combination of narcissism, ego, arrogance and ignorance.

    In other words, they have no idea what forces they are provoking. Run a few numbers on what people think they know, but realise that the data is not trustworthy. it is generally accepted that there are about 220,000,000 guns in the USA, minimum 100,000,000 owners and former military and law enforcement vastly over-represented in that number. A central organisation via the NRA. let us say that half say ‘take your illegal law and f*** off’. You now have 50,000,000 automatic criminals. let us say that 5% will resist confiscation efforts with constitutionally legal violence. That’s 2,500,000 men.

    The USA has about 500,000 police all up and most will sympathise not with the Feds but with ones resisting an illegal ‘law’.

    Not to mention that executive fiat is not constitutional by most of the states own constitutions. No chance of National Guard responsing positively, they ARE the locals as much as the police are.

    The Shiz and his advisers are hubristic narcissists in a world of their own, unable to understand that everyone is not like them. What else can explain this? These guys can’t even do arithmetic.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    7 Jan 13 at 8:03 pm

  451. Chinese player went off for a break after two sets against Stoser. The drugs maybe were wearing off.

    blogstrop

    7 Jan 13 at 8:38 pm

  452. Just opened a Brisbane City Council rates notice.

    There at the bottom: ‘The impact of the Federal Government Carbon Tax on the ratepayers of Brisbane is an increase of 1.9% of rates on average’.

    Nicely played Mr Quirk.

    Where’s my compensation for the extra $200 of air tax on the rates? Oh, that’s right, there is none. That’s all gone on the electricity bill, which went up 10% in the first quarter.

    But no, the air tax isn’t going to hurt the Labor party, who will win easily on their sexism and misogyny strategy. LOL

    brc

    7 Jan 13 at 8:40 pm

  453. Mark, one of the things that has always fascinated me about the US is the founders’ clear belief that if the government ever did get out of control again, a new revolution would be justified. They really were hard core for liberty, even to the humble extent of not believing their own (wonderful) vision would necessarily last forever. As for the second amendment, I can see that maybe back in the late 1800s an attack on the right to bear arms might have given rise to a civil war or widespread civil disobedience. I can’t see it happening nowadays, though.

    A nation that voted against the most qualified duo for national office in modern US history in favour of Joe Biden and a man promising free tampons is a nation that won’t hit the bricks for the second amendment.

    C.L.

    7 Jan 13 at 8:54 pm

  454. Third set, still playing like a demon.

    blogstrop

    7 Jan 13 at 9:08 pm

  455. I just do not know, CL. I think that’s exactly what the US left thinks, yet I see very little to support that view. There’s a lot of ruin in any country and really, even a mere few thousand men scattered across the country and shooting at Feds would create real problems.

    And there’s enough seriously smart, well experienced ex-military types with a deep distrust of Washington to do much worse than that.

    There are those calling for groups of platoon size to deliberately provoke a second Waco as a means of mobilising anti-Federal resistance. Now, BATF would probably ‘win’ such an action (you are talking a company sized action with serious losses against a well dug in platoon of self-selected martys who know how to use their weapons)…

    The point is I have never seen this sort of call being made by so many.

    These are uncharted waters, and they are dangerous.

    What is the point in moving into them when you do not have to? This is the point on the Preshizzle (Paco™) and his coffle of asses. They do not have to do this, and by stating that they are going to they are polarising and activating forces best left dormant.

    In my experience with US military types they really are hard core on this issue. They also tend to take oaths seriously, and that bit about ‘enemies foreign and domestic’ they also take seriously.

    Going to that place – defining yourself to people who take oaths seriously as a domestic enemy of the Constitution, why do that?

    because the nation does not have to hit the bricks on that, not really.

    All it takes is a quorum.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    7 Jan 13 at 9:15 pm

  456. Still showing a speed, strength and mental agility beyond normal tennis #1. Very suss.

    blogstrop

    7 Jan 13 at 9:17 pm

  457. What is the point in moving into them when you do not have to?

    Mark 5-0

    What was the point of Fast and Furious ?

    To the best of my knowledge, no Mexican drug gangs were even scratched by the programme; the guns disappeared into LaLa Land as soon as they were sold into gang contacts; and a whole lot of people got killed by them.

    There have been suggestions that the only reason to execute such a SNAFU of a programme was to create a political momentum to tighten US domestic gun laws – not to break the drug cartels.

    Fast and Furious is now off the radar and the Newtown massacre is a real Rahm Emmanual “You never let a serious crisis go to waste” moment.

    And no – I am not making light of that tragedy in the slightest – everyone else in the immediate family are females and it was a shocking topic for them over the Xmas gatherings.

    Myrddin Seren

    7 Jan 13 at 9:40 pm

  458. Good question, well asked, and it was so appallingly managed by these idiots that it blew up in their faces.

    When (not ‘if’, not with these incompetents) this blows up in their faces it can easily be orders of magnitude worse.

    Which just gets back to my original concerns.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    7 Jan 13 at 10:38 pm

  459. Sighted on a twitter feed:

    Daniel Hannan ‏@DanHannanMEP

    There is a difference between disapproving of something and banning it. In that difference lies a free society.

    Gab

    7 Jan 13 at 11:36 pm

  460. Gillard blames hot weather on ‘climate change.’

    Prepare for more scorchers, Gillard warns.

    [Yes, every summer].

    PRIME Minister Julia Gillard underscored the dangers facing Australia this summer from climate change as she saw Tasmanian bushfire ruins, and warned people to expect more…

    ”And while you would not put any one event down to climate change … we do know that over time as a result of climate change we are going to see more extreme weather events,” she said.

    And from the woman yet to apologise for 1000+ drownings…

    ”But the worst thing is if human lives are lost.”

    C.L.

    7 Jan 13 at 11:40 pm

  461. In my experience with US military types they really are hard core on this issue. They also tend to take oaths seriously, and that bit about ‘enemies foreign and domestic’ they also take seriously.

    Quite so. And the oath is not about defending the government of the day; it is about defending the Constitution: “I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…” And it doesn’t come with an expiry date.

    sdog

    7 Jan 13 at 11:42 pm

  462. In an interview with Stephen Moore of the Wall Street Journal, newly re-elected House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) opened up about President Obama’s utter unwillingness to cut a single dollar from federal spending. In a stunning admission, Obama reportedly told Boehner, “We don’t have a spending problem.”

    Look for this same lie regurgitated by Swan et al in 2013.

    Gab

    7 Jan 13 at 11:43 pm

  463. Not nearly as hot at the scorching Gillard and her cronies will be experiencing come election day.

    kae

    7 Jan 13 at 11:43 pm

  464. Fast and Furious is now off the radar and the Newtown massacre is a real Rahm Emmanual “You never let a serious crisis go to waste” moment.

    That’s because the US media has effectively banned any coverage of F&F.

    This was truly frightening, as milestone for the great republic’s death spiral.

    It is a massive scandal.

    C.L.

    7 Jan 13 at 11:44 pm

  465. “I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…”

    That’s very explicit and plain, isn’t it? They are legally obliged to stop the Democrats from suspending the 2nd amendment.

    Kinda yikes.

    C.L.

    7 Jan 13 at 11:47 pm

  466. ”And while you would not put any one event down to climate change … we do know that over time as a result of climate change we are going to see more extreme weather events,” she said.

    Oh really?

    A man has been accused of starting a 10,000-hectare bushfire in southern Tasmania. Police allege a 31-year-old New Norfolk man left a campfire unattended near Lake Repulse last week, sparking the huge blaze which has burned through 10,600 hectares since Friday. Police said they would proceed with a charge of leaving an unextinguished fire unattended.

    Climate change now responsible for firebugs.

    Gab

    7 Jan 13 at 11:48 pm

  467. Protecting the Constitution? No worries, the citizenry has been expecting Obama to trample on the Second Amendment.

    BACKGROUND checks for gun sales and permits to carry guns surged in the US at the end of 2012.

    But an Associated Press analysis found that people in Connecticut and Colorado, scenes of the deadliest US mass shootings in 2012, were less enthusiastic about buying new guns than people in most other states. The biggest surges in occurred in the South and West.

    The latest FBI figures reflect huge increases across the US in the number of background checks following President Barack Obama’s re-election, the school shooting in Connecticut and Obama’s promise to support new laws aimed at curbing gun violence.

    Nationally, there were nearly twice as many background checks for firearms between November and December than during the same time period in 2011.

    Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/world/fewer-gun-buyers-in-mass-shooting-states/story-e6frfkui-1226549134832#ixzz2HIGM974V

    Gab

    7 Jan 13 at 11:52 pm

  468. The current administration’s “in your face” mien is stirring up a group calling themselves Oathkeepers, who make clear a number of orders they will not obey:

    1. We will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people.

    2. We will NOT obey orders to conduct warrantless searches of the American people

    3. We will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to military tribunal.

    4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state.

    5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty.

    6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.

    7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.

    8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control.”

    9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies.

    10.We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.

    There are (IMO) a few pretty paranoid units in that group, but by and large their intentions are noble – and they are fucking serious about this shit. The order to go door to door and disarm citizens during Katrina (under Bush) freaked a lot of people out, and the rhetoric coming from Washington and the progressive blue-staters since 2009 hasn’t helped calm anyone down.

    As you point out, Mark, they are polarising and activating forces best left dormant. Playing with fire.

    sdog

    8 Jan 13 at 12:01 am

  469. As you point out, Mark, they are polarising and activating forces best left dormant. Playing with fire.

    I agree but let me play advocatus diaboli because this point interests me…

    Didn’t the founders’ envisage and encourage the overthrow of a US government that had lost all dedication to liberty?

    C.L.

    8 Jan 13 at 12:08 am

  470. Does the President also swear to protect and defend the Constitution during inauguration?

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 12:24 am

  471. Didn’t the founders’ envisage and encourage the overthrow of a US government that had lost all dedication to liberty?

    Yes. But nobody in their right mind wants a war we didn’t need to have. Especially veterans. A war over the Second Amendment is a war we don’t need to have. There are set provisions for amending the Constitution. If Washington is really deadset on repealing the right to bear arms, let them put it to the people in a legal, Constitutional, civilized manner. To do anything else is just asking for trouble… and for what?

    But, yeah. The Declaration of Independence starts out, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

    The second paragraph goes on,

    [...] –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

    sdog

    8 Jan 13 at 12:27 am

  472. Does the President also swear to protect and defend the Constitution during inauguration?

    Yes. But an oath’s only as solid as the convictions of the person making it.

    sdog

    8 Jan 13 at 12:32 am

  473. Thanks, Spot. (I chided myself for asking rather than looking it up).

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 12:37 am

  474. “Laws that forbid the carrying of arms…disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes…. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.”

    – (Jefferson’s “Commonplace Book,” 1774-1776, quoting from On Crimes and Punishment, by criminologist Cesare Beccaria, 1764)

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 12:40 am

  475. I love that news.com piece, Gab. The story tells us that

    Nationally, there were nearly twice as many background checks for firearms between November and December than during the same time period in 2011

    That seems like a pretty important trend to highlight. The headline?

    Fewer gun-buyers in mass shooting states

    Here are some facts they left out: By those same FBI figures, the numbers of checks in Colorado rose from 35,009 in October to 53,453 in December; checks in Connecticut went from 18,761 to 29,246 during the same period. And that’s in the same AP wire story they used; they just truncated it before getting around to those inconvenient facts.

    News Ltd is at their worst when they pull shit like that.

    sdog

    8 Jan 13 at 12:42 am

  476. And that’s in the same AP wire story they used; they just truncated it before getting around to those inconvenient facts.

    Hmmmm…a lesson learned.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 12:46 am

  477. They were probably just conserving pixels, Gab. Being as they’re so expensive and all. /sarc

    sdog

    8 Jan 13 at 12:50 am

  478. The “/sarc” was most unnecessary, dear Spot. :)

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 12:53 am

  479. LOL. I’ve been conditioned by the influx of humorless Bolt refugees at Blair’s who don’t know the regulars there and are too thick to pick up sarcasm or nuance :-P

    sdog

    8 Jan 13 at 12:58 am

  480. Comedians getting coffee.

    Some of it’s funny. Not all

    http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/michael-richards-its-bubbly-time-jerry/

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 3:06 am

  481. Richards was honest about how his outburst had brought him down, and sincerely thankful for Jerry’s ongoing support. It was a very interesting segment.

    Blogstrop

    8 Jan 13 at 6:18 am

  482. Having strangers approaching me all the time would annoy the shit out of me.
    I’d probably become a recluse or at least avoid public places.
    There is no way I would approach a famous person, I consider it a rudeness.

    jumpnmcar

    8 Jan 13 at 6:43 am

  483. Business and government is now run by spin doctors. Combine that with a gullible media using inexperienced idiots in key positions and you have yesterday’s Whitehaven Coal hoax by anti-civilisationist Greenfilth:

    The company had made no announcements to the stock exchange that would explain the slump but quickly discovered reports on The Australian Financial Review and other Fairfax Media websites and newswire AAP saying ANZ had withdrawn a bank loan that would have funded its new Maules Creek coalmine in the Leard state forest 18km northeast of Boggabri in northern NSW.

    The share dive accelerated when international newswire Bloomberg, citing the AFR, put the story out to its subscribers.

    Tom

    8 Jan 13 at 8:06 am

  484. Gullible media, Tom, or true believers ?

    I’ll bet Ben Cubby at Fairfax was one of the first to get the phoney release and was probably doing cartwheels of joy round the scribblers collective that is the SMH newsfloor.

    Myrddin Seren

    8 Jan 13 at 8:19 am

  485. Does the President also swear to protect and defend the Constitution during inauguration?

    SCOTUS changes the constitution so often these days he is safe to say he will. He just won’t specify the current constitution or the one the lefty judges will create.

    Considering the Sun King has followed FDR’s example on so many other things, how long before Obama threatens to pack SCOTUS?

    I’m sure the lefty media will cheer him when he does.

    Token

    8 Jan 13 at 8:33 am

  486. Dear Tim…

    Dear Dick…

    This is quite funny.

    Dick Smith takes Tim Blair to task over a column.

    Tim Blair 1. Dick Smith 0.

    Why do lefties lie about what they’ve said in the past, in this age of Google?

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 8:37 am

  487. What I found interesting, Token, is while VPOTUS swears to protect the Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic, POTUS doesn’t swear this at all.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 8:39 am

  488. Somehow I think the next lecture from the ABC / Joe Hildebrand from Indians about how bad Australian society is will ignore this ugly reality of their home:

    A row over an unpaid restaurant bill in a western Indian city has escalated into a riot between Hindus and Muslims that’s left four people dead and 175 injured.

    The unrest broke out in Dhule in Maharashtra state on Sunday, special inspector-general Deven Bharti said.

    Four rioters were killed by police firing while 113 policemen were among the injured, he said.

    Token

    8 Jan 13 at 8:44 am

  489. Hmm, do you think that this will be raised with the President of the Maldives next time they try to bilk the west for guilt money with one of their underwater cabinet meetings?

    A 15-year-old in the Maldives whose father is accused of repeatedly raping her and killing the resulting baby risks being flogged for “fornication” with another man under the nation’s strict Islamic law, a police source says.

    In the course of inquiries into the rape case, investigators say they unearthed evidence of the girl having had consensual sex with another man, which is an offence in the Indian Ocean holiday destination, the source said.

    Token

    8 Jan 13 at 8:46 am

  490. What I found interesting, Token, is while VPOTUS swears to protect the Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic, POTUS doesn’t swear this at all.

    So Joe Biden is the guardian of the Constitution?

    God help the United States.

    Token

    8 Jan 13 at 8:51 am

  491. I should have been more specific, Token. My bad – only had one coffee. Both VP & P swear to defend the Constitution, it’s just the last bit “enemies foreign and domestic” is not included in the Prez’s oath.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 8:55 am

  492. I don’t think it’s just me. Gillard was just on the radio warning me in her rasping whine about the “caddastroffick” fire danger in NSW today. McTernan is going to have to spend most of the year hiding her; everytime she opens her mouth, 80% of the electorate turns off. OK, TA’s not popular, but he doesn’t have much ground to make up as preferred PM.

    Tom

    8 Jan 13 at 9:08 am

  493. Hmm, do you think that this will be raised with the President of the Maldives next time they try to bilk the west for guilt money with one of their underwater cabinet meetings?

    No, but it should be.

    Another reason for putting the Maldives right off my holiday list.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    8 Jan 13 at 9:09 am

  494. Quelle horreure.

    The ABC TV Weatherman stated live on air this morning that today’s forecast of 45ºC in Sydney will not in fact be the highest ever recorded. He said that 46.5ºC in 1939 was actually the Sydney record … but that was on a January day …

    Huh??

    Septimus

    8 Jan 13 at 9:38 am

  495. today’s forecast of 45ºC in Sydney will not in fact be the highest ever recorded.

    But, but … it hasn’t been “adjusted” yet.

    Tom

    8 Jan 13 at 9:49 am

  496. TA’s not popular, but he doesn’t have much ground to make up as preferred PM.

    Is that popularity rating anything to do with the man himself, or just how he’s portrayed?
    Is it in any way significant, given the way others like Howard and O’Farrell had landslide wins while not scoring well personally?
    Complicit Media Inc. like it, but those polls are a sideshow, nothing more than a closed-loop feedback of what they spray around every day. I never understood how Rudd’s popularity ratings were so good when he and his government were all but completely dysfunctional. It was like being famous for being famous. The Kardashian syndrome.

    blogstrop

    8 Jan 13 at 9:54 am

  497. Heavens! There’s a very agitated man on their ABC24 getting all shouty announcing “catastrophic” heat today. It’s not so much the words as his tone. Such excitement. I think he just peed his pants.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 10:07 am

  498. I just got back to reading all of Paul Sheehan’s column from yesterday.

    I hope they had defibrillators on standby for the older hands in the SMH scribblers collective when they pressed ‘publish’ on this line:

    Political cynicism begets voter cynicism. In Australia, this was captured over the weekend by my comrade Tim Blair, blogging in The Daily Telegraph,…..

    Myrrdin Seren

    8 Jan 13 at 10:18 am

  499. I know I keep banging on about this, but shit, something has gotta be done or undone.

    The construction industry’s decline slowed in December, but it still shrank for the 31st consecutive month, despite 175 basis points of official interest rate cuts since November last year that have taken the cash rate to financial crisis levels of 3 per cent.

    There is only one PM that I can think of that has never seen growth in the construction industry during their watch.
    She’s choking this country.

    jumpnmcar

    8 Jan 13 at 10:35 am

  500. I know I keep banging on about this

    Good. Please continue to do so. It is justified.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 10:36 am

  501. Never forget

    http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/a_request_for_an_audit_of_our_temperature_figures

    The BOM claim their adjustments are “neutral” yet Ken Stewart showed that the trend in the raw figures for our whole continent has been adjusted up by 40%. The stakes are high. Australians could have to pay something in the order of $870 million dollars thanks to the Kyoto protocol, and the first four years of the Emissions Trading Scheme was expected to cost Australian industry (and hence Australian shareholders and consumers) nearly $50 billion dollars.

    .

    8 Jan 13 at 10:42 am

  502. I know I keep banging on about this, but shit, something has gotta be done or undone.

    Shorten & Gillard and doing something, they are empowering the CFMEU in order to hasten the decline.

    Token

    8 Jan 13 at 10:54 am

  503. Ya know how I’ve been peddling 3D Systems Corp’s stock which I bought in sept at around 33 buckaroos. Well I sold them last night at just over 60 bucks. What a freaking ride that’s been. Every single stock in the universe should trade like that.

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 11:01 am

  504. Heavens! There’s a very agitated man on their ABC24 getting all shouty announcing “catastrophic” heat today. It’s not so much the words as his tone. Such excitement. I think he just peed his pants.

    Is he? China and Russia are expecting extreme “coldening” this winter…. at record levels.

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 11:02 am

  505. Note that with people dead and property destroyed, the Lying Rodent took the opportunity to spruik her carbon dioxide tax (which is what she’s doing by referring to ‘climate change’ and caddastrofic weather). She is low scum.

    C.L.

    8 Jan 13 at 11:04 am

  506. JC

    Why did you sell them today? (If it’s not impertinent to ask)

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 11:05 am

  507. This is truly amazing. I’ve always maintained that this emissions caper is really a technological problem which needs to be solved by tech, not some ‘vironmental nutcase throwing him or herself at a coal plant., (although if they self terminate, it’s not a great loss).

    Well look at this.. US emissions are estimated to be lower in 2012 than in 2007…. Fracking is the culprit according to Reason’s Nick Gillespie.

    http://reason.com/blog/2013/01/07/fracking-amazing-us-carbon-emissions-low

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 11:08 am

  508. Note that with people dead and property destroyed, the Lying Rodent took the opportunity to spruik her carbon dioxide tax (which is what she’s doing by referring to ‘climate change’ and caddastrofic weather). She is low scum.

    Never forget she lied about it, and committed tax fraud on her love nest.

    What a scumbag.

    .

    8 Jan 13 at 11:11 am

  509. Gab

    I feel you’re always watching over me like my trading manager when i was young trader. :-)

    I sold them because I made almost double my freaking money in a few months and I have bills and shit to pay. :-)

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 11:11 am

  510. Remember Gillard pledging to cut red/green tape ?
    I know it’s had to listen to but HERE it is (1m50s long)
    In 6 areas.

    Performance so far; -6 out of 6. ( my rating )

    On the other hand, CanDos been going gangbusters in QLD.

    jumpnmcar

    8 Jan 13 at 11:12 am

  511. hard to listen to

    jumpnmcar

    8 Jan 13 at 11:13 am

  512. JC & Gab

    I was going to say almost 100% profit!

    kae

    8 Jan 13 at 11:13 am

  513. But I thought that was an oversimplification.

    kae

    8 Jan 13 at 11:14 am

  514. I feel you’re always watching over me like my trading manager

    I am. And don’t you forget it.

    Seriously, I was just curious in terms of something you may have gleaned from the market. Some bit of gossip that would see the shares plunge. Sorry, it never occurred to me you’d sell them for such triflings as paying bills :)

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 11:16 am

  515. 100% profit!

    I call that break-even.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 11:17 am

  516. Hi JC, I should have told you about that fracking induced reduction in emissions last week. Watts news probably reported first and Jo Nova is never far behind.

    Rafe

    8 Jan 13 at 11:18 am

  517. He bought at $33, sold at $60, so he got his 33 back and the rest is profit – almost $100%, much better than break even.

    Break even would be sell for $33.

    kae

    8 Jan 13 at 11:20 am

  518. Oops

    Almost $66 would be 100%.

    kae

    8 Jan 13 at 11:21 am

  519. Yes, I know that, Kae.
    I was joking. Just call me Miss Greedy.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 11:22 am

  520. HAHA

    Abbott thanks PM for bushfire response

    and

    said he would be returning to Sydney to be on standby with his own local brigade to monitor the bushfire threat in NSW.

    Well played Sir.

    jumpnmcar

    8 Jan 13 at 11:26 am

  521. Sorry Gab, I’m just not with it!

    I blame… AbbottAbbottAbbott.

    kae

    8 Jan 13 at 11:28 am

  522. lol it’s always da Abbott’s fault, kae, just ask gillard.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 11:29 am

  523. Someone once said you never go broke taking a profit. That’s not quite true actually, but when you want some money it seems to be so.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    8 Jan 13 at 11:30 am

  524. The first lesson that was drummed into me by sales director, Lizzie, was:

    Sales (revenue)
    Profit
    market share.

    These three things must always be going up. Some only focus on profit, which is fine in the short term, however for long term growth all three had to be the focus contemporaneously.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 11:36 am

  525. said he would be returning to Sydney to be on standby with his own local brigade to monitor the bushfire threat in NSW.

    Can’t see Gillard offering to do the sandwiches with the Ladies Auxilliary though.

    Or take up a fire hose to dowse the continuing wreckage of the economy and at least save the furniture.

    I doubt she offered ‘comfort’ to many on her visit to the bushfires. We’re working on da carbin, she tells them in her much-loved tones, while those old guys who remember the intense hot Hobart days of ’68 and the fires that came into the city scratch their heads in puzzlement.

    Working on it on your bills and taxes.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    8 Jan 13 at 11:40 am

  526. Someone once said you never go broke taking a profit. That’s not quite true actually, but when you want some money it seems to be so.

    Well. It’s true by definition, except that people get confused between gross profit and net profit. So it should be : you never go broke taking a profit as long as that profit takes into account time,fees,cost of funds and other factors.

    brc

    8 Jan 13 at 11:48 am

  527. Abbott thanks PM for bushfire response

    and

    said he would be returning to Sydney to be on standby with his own local brigade to monitor the bushfire threat in NSW.

    Well spotted, Jump.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 11:52 am

  528. Someone once said you never go broke taking a profit. That’s not quite true actually, but when you want some money it seems to be so.

    Lizzie

    That’s actually one of the worst trading rules. The better rule is that you don’t go broke taking a smaller loss.
    A trader should always be a pig taking profits and a real pussy absorbing losses.

    Take a raw win lose ratio. You could actually brake even having 30% winners to (70%) losses if your money management skills can reach 3 dollars of profits to 1 dollar of losses.

    This means that profits should always be run and losses should be treated with utmost contempt.

    I had big years with only a 30% win loss ratio.

    Gab.

    The reason I took profits is that I was looking for 60 bucks as my target and the market has run this stock like crazy between just before Xmas and now. I think it could retrace down a little. i also didn’t want to run the stock into earnings. The chart pattern for this stock is also hugely overextended. I also really have bills to pay as the Sth African trip just hit the Amex, the wayward kid’s US uni tuition has come in and they’re looking for the second semester fee (I really hate that).

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 11:53 am

  529. Gametime.

    “You play fast! You play strong! You go out there and dominate the man you’re up against and you make his ass quit!“

    #RMFT!

    sdog

    8 Jan 13 at 11:53 am

  530. Hi JC, I should have told you about that fracking induced reduction in emissions last week. Watts news probably reported first and Jo Nova is never far behind.

    Thanks Rafe. It’s a spectacular result by the US.

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 11:55 am

  531. for long term growth all three had to be the focus contemporaneously.

    Yep. Best of all possible worlds.

    Crash!! What was that noise?

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    8 Jan 13 at 11:56 am

  532. If only we had gun laws in this country, this sorta thing would’t happen:

    POLICE are searching for a man, believed to be armed with a gun, who robbed a licensed venue in Melbourne’s east this morning.

    Special Operations Group, the Critical Incident Response Team, Dog Squad, Air Wing and local police are all scouring the area around Currong Grove in Croydon for the man.

    It follows an armed robbery on a gaming venue in Dorset Rd, Croydon, around 10am.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 11:58 am

  533. Gab

    I’m now accumulating Honda Motors, but only in Japanese yen terms and using borrowed yen to do so.

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 11:59 am

  534. I’m now accumulating Honda Motors, but only in Japanese yen terms and using borrowed yen to do so.

    Gut reaction: I don’t like that *screws nose up*, don’t think much of those shares at all. (But what the hell do I know anyway).

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 12:17 pm

  535. Almost orgasmic coverage of the caddostrofic (and completely unremarkable) summer bushfire conditions at ABC Online.

    LIVE COVERAGE!

    LIVE BLOG!

    LUCAS HEIGHTS FIRE!

    Still fewer deaths and damage than Gillard’s pink batts.

    C.L.

    8 Jan 13 at 12:23 pm

  536. Gametime.

    Woohoo.

    dover_beach

    8 Jan 13 at 12:25 pm

  537. Reithy bashes Keating as a “spineless” fraud and policy coward:

    http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4455594.html

    C.L.

    8 Jan 13 at 12:26 pm

  538. Reithy bashes Keating as a “spineless” fraud and policy coward:

    He’s always really good value. I miss him.

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 12:28 pm

  539. Reithy drove the ballsiest and greatest micro reform in Australian economic history.

    The waterfront.

    Keating was too much of a pansy to go near it.

    C.L.

    8 Jan 13 at 12:30 pm

  540. I hate disaster porn.

    kae

    8 Jan 13 at 12:30 pm

  541. Hey, has anyone seen Crazy Braggs this morning?

    He seems MIA after the beatings he’s received over the past two days.

    DaveF makes himself very scarce too and I’m wondering if the Rakfi, the rule maker, has been wounded.

    Tough site fellas. Hard but fair.

    If you wanna play, grow a large set of knackers and show a little courage, you cowards.

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 12:31 pm

  542. C.L.

    8 Jan 13 at 12:35 pm

  543. Me too Kae

    Tal

    8 Jan 13 at 12:37 pm

  544. Lizzie,

    The bad Hobart fires were in 1967. Cousins of Mrs Septimus lost their home at Cygnet in those fires.

    Septimus

    8 Jan 13 at 12:48 pm

  545. Ya know how the community thinks it gets the sharp end of the stick over the gay marriage thingi.. No pun.

    Well looksee here.

    Cameroon acquits two men sentenced for “looking gay”

    Hey, Adam Bent would be in serious trouble in Cameroon and he wouldn’t have to even utter a word of stupidity.

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 12:51 pm

  546. Dear, oh dear:

    Mister Grey’s Blog of Shadows

    This blog will reflect my beliefs, my journey as an Eclectic Male Witch and my experiences with magic.

    I may also share information in my own personal BoS and tricks, tips and ideas for your own.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 1:04 pm

  547. Grey’s a witch? lol.

    Hey Greys, do you make magic potions and stuff like that?

    (I’m wondering what crazy braggs does in his spare time now. He’s probably editing the Unambomber’s manifesto.)

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 1:10 pm

  548. Alabama on fire.

    dover_beach

    8 Jan 13 at 1:10 pm

  549. Gab, how do you know that’s him for sure?

    candy

    8 Jan 13 at 1:19 pm

  550. I never stated it was him, Candy.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 1:22 pm

  551. Mister Grey’s Blog of Shadows

    You’ve turned off the family filter again, haven’t you Gabrielle?

    Tom

    8 Jan 13 at 1:24 pm

  552. I hate disaster porn.

    Me, too. Saw media salaciously filming victims in their anguish reduced to handouts from Red Cross – did they have releases from those people to use their image, being filmed inside a private place? And how often are we shown just the burnt parts of town, be even handed and happy that some houses escaped being burnt FFS.

    I lived through Ash Wednesday next to Cleland National Park in SA back in 1983 where there were quite a few deaths in my community including some only minutes behind me on the road up there.

    As an aside, the total area burning is less than the average station size in NT where people battle blazes like this pretty much every year at least in the Top End. Of course the population is animal, not human and sometimes the only ones fighting are husband on the grader followed by wife with the fire bug. Fire is the only thing that fights fire, and the population at large must embrace reduction burns and other fire strategies if they wish to live in the environment. The bush is not benign, it can be bloody savage, and the greenie environazis should not be allowed to control the agenda.

    Helen Armstrong

    8 Jan 13 at 1:26 pm

  553. lol Tom…I was searching for something da ‘net and just happened across that blog. Now I can’t remember the initial subject of the search. Short attention span.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 1:27 pm

  554. Mister Grey’s Blog of Shadows

    Isn’t our Grey’s blog called ’50 Shades of Stupid’?

    P.S. 21-0 ROLL TIDE!

    sdog

    8 Jan 13 at 1:51 pm

  555. I demand compensation for making me read the comments on the Drum under that Reith article.

    While a few people of either strip try valiantly to add to the discussion, the rest are leftist male witches and the like trying to live their glory days by saying ‘minister for children overboard!1!’ and ‘he is bald’.

    The ability of some people to overlook the absolute and relative improvement in living standards in favour of leftists memes during the Howard era is impressive to say the least.

    Whereas I can objectively say I am worse off than I was 5 years ago, on just about every measure except the increased scope of online shopping, something the government is actively working on taking away.

    brc

    8 Jan 13 at 1:54 pm

  556. sdog

    8 Jan 13 at 1:59 pm

  557. The glories of socialism revealed.

    How deluded are leftists to believe in this stuff?

    Will

    8 Jan 13 at 2:03 pm

  558. BRC, that’s one of the things I love about Reithy.

    He posts his columns on The Drum – knowing full well that he’ll drive the ABC retards even more bananas. The Reithster loves dishing it out to lefties. Loves it.

    C.L.

    8 Jan 13 at 2:03 pm

  559. He does, he’s a national living treasure

    Jc 

    8 Jan 13 at 2:06 pm

  560. An apt comment at Blair’s:

    Julia Gillard turns up for a photo op after your house has burned down.

    Tony Abbott is a volunteer firefighter.

    Says it all really

    Yep.

    sdog

    8 Jan 13 at 2:18 pm

  561. Peter Reith on Tony Abbott:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLvkZCqRN5A

    C.L.

    8 Jan 13 at 2:26 pm

  562. Julia Gillard turns up for a photo op after your house has burned down.

    Tony Abbott is a volunteer firefighter.

    Says it all really

    Gold.

    C.L.

    8 Jan 13 at 2:28 pm

  563. Lizzie, the possibility of Gillard making sandwiches “with the ladies bushfire auxiliary” is non-existent, at least in Victoria. Health and safety regulations banned CFA members’ wives and families from providing food, which the bureaucratised bushfire-industrial complex now insists must be made only by approved and certified caterers.

    The result? In 2003, 2006 and 2009, many CFA crews went hungry because no one was available to feed them. In Healesville during the Black Saturday fires, crews had to wake up the owner of the local hamburger shop at 2am — that was their reward after 26 straight hours of dangerous, filthy, volunteer work.

    Bushfire management has been taken from locals and handed to six-figure, centralised office workers. The most result: 173 people dead.

    areff

    8 Jan 13 at 2:29 pm

  564. Health and safety regulations banned CFA members’ wives and families from providing food, which the bureaucratised bushfire-industrial complex now insists must be made only by approved and certified caterers.

    You’re kidding, right?

    C.L.

    8 Jan 13 at 2:31 pm

  565. C.L.

    8 Jan 13 at 2:32 pm

  566. Almost $1 million is identified in a list of known creditors lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission as being owed to Ms Harris ($900,000) and a ”Mr Harris” ($61,000). The company’s largest single creditor other than Ms Harris is the Tax Office, which is owed $692,387.

    Suss, very suss.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 2:37 pm

  567. Lizzie, the possibility of Gillard making sandwiches “with the ladies bushfire auxiliary” is non-existent, at least in Victoria. Health and safety regulations banned CFA members’ wives and families from providing food, which the bureaucratised bushfire-industrial complex now insists must be made only by approved and certified caterers.

    Sacrelige.

    I’ve seen young women cook stuff out of the CWA cookbook and it’s gold!

    .

    8 Jan 13 at 2:55 pm

  568. PRIME Minister Julia Gillard should never have allowed Peter Slipper to become the Speaker of Parliament, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says.

    Mr Slipper, who resigned from the Speaker’s role last year, will face three charges in court after being summonsed by police over allegedly breaching MP car travel rules.

    Mr Abbott says the latest development involving Mr Slipper again exposes the Prime Minister’s lack of judgment.

    “Why did the Prime Minister ever think that the gentleman in question was fit and proper to be the Speaker of our country?” Mr Abbott told reporters in Brisbane today.

    No, Tony, soundness of character didn’t come into it. It was political, purely for votes in the House.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 3:02 pm

  569. This lying sack recon he had this shirt specially made for him.
    More likely he stole it off Wayne Swans cloths line.
    What is it with Indians and gold?

    jumpnmcar

    8 Jan 13 at 3:03 pm

  570. oops Here

    jumpnmcar

    8 Jan 13 at 3:04 pm

  571. Frankly, I would just make/bring the sandwiches and drinks and let the bastards prosecute me if they dared.

    Is there a single recorded case of a firefighter getting sick or dying from volunteer sandwiches?

    Bit of a public relations nightmare, I would have thought.

    johanna

    8 Jan 13 at 3:04 pm

  572. …exposes the Prime Minister’s lack of judgment

    Hmm, that’s sounds familiar.
    Of course, Tommogate.

    Mr Abbott said until Ms Gillard completely repudiated the type of union activity alleged at the HSU, the public would conclude the government was “seriously ethically challenged” and that ”…this is a prime minister who lacks judgement as well as lacking competence.”

    What a total galling embarrassment this govt is.

    Keith

    8 Jan 13 at 3:13 pm

  573. Jump,

    Gold man of Pimpri”‘ Mr Phuge

    It has to be ‘c’ grade pron, surely. Mr Phuge Gold Pimp

    Helen Armstrong

    8 Jan 13 at 3:20 pm

  574. porn, not pron

    Helen Armstrong

    8 Jan 13 at 3:21 pm

  575. Re sdog 28 0 at 1.59, did you get a glimpse of the girlfriend of the Alabama quarterback – ex Miss Alabama!

    Rafe

    8 Jan 13 at 3:38 pm

  576. The bush is not benign, it can be bloody savage

    This place is a well-set fire waiting for something to light it, I said to Da Hairy Ape as we were having a little uphill walk to a lookout during our lost weekend on the Freycinet Peninsula in Tassie recently.

    Brush, sticks, old wood everywhere, in a helpfully fallen criss-cross arrangement, set under the higher growth oil bombs waiting to explode.

    Au naturel Eco, and ready to burn, as it has for aeons. It needs to burn, regularly.

    Tasmania has too many trees. Dey need to plant somet’ing better lookin’ and less flammable, opines Da Hairy One.

    Greenies nearly faint dead away at his late-night musings on the Eco-Isle. A tipsy Irishman, they nod to console themselves. What would he know?

    The recent fires have only served to embolden him.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    8 Jan 13 at 3:40 pm

  577. If that “no CWA or womens’ Auxiliary sandwiches allowed” story gets around it will be a superb illustration of how the nanny state stitches up the community completely.
    With the free stuff you get the highly paid mates and nomenklatura, the control freaks.
    Brought to you by PC Is A Disease.

    blogstrop

    8 Jan 13 at 3:42 pm

  578. The recent fires have only served to embolden him.

    Go Hairy Ape. We need more Hairy Apes!

    Helen Armstrong

    8 Jan 13 at 3:43 pm

  579. Rafe

    8 Jan 13 at 3:43 pm

  580. Hungry polar bear wants to dine on a BBC idiot. I’m torn on this one.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIql1ZpHovs&NR=1&feature=endscreen

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 3:56 pm

  581. John H.

    8 Jan 13 at 4:01 pm

  582. More pics, Rafe: http://myfox8.com/2013/01/07/meet-aj-mccarrons-girlfriend-katherine-webb/

    Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

    sdog

    8 Jan 13 at 4:07 pm

  583. She works at Chik-Fil-A :)

    sdog

    8 Jan 13 at 4:08 pm

  584. DaveF makes himself very scarce too and I’m wondering if the Rakfi, the rule maker, has been wounded.

    Hardly JC, it’s after 10pm when I give up – your rages begin then. And after midnight Oh My.

    DaveF

    8 Jan 13 at 4:11 pm

  585. Hardly JC, it’s after 10pm when I give up – your rages begin then. And after midnight Oh My.

    Oh okay. But I thought you said you were outta here and didn’t see you for a few days.

    Rages? I’d hardly call them that.

    You’re still groveling to Crazy Braggs and or Greys the conspiracy theorist then?

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 4:15 pm

  586. Another stinker here in the ‘ville, with the added bonus of hot cyclonic winds.

    Semi incoherent after the four hours paving this morning.

    t’was ever thus…

    Rabz

    8 Jan 13 at 4:17 pm

  587. Actually Helen, “Porn” and “Pron” are the same on the ‘net. ;)

    Cold-Hands

    8 Jan 13 at 4:18 pm

  588. Just to re open the Obama attempt to confiscate citizens weaponry, doesn’t it all fit a pattern? He’s trying to stir up conflict whilst he’s got the most time as President to do so.
    “After the election, I will have more freedom…”

    Winston SMITH

    8 Jan 13 at 4:42 pm

  589. Bloody ridiculous. I heard years ago that 1 in 10 NSW neurosurgeons had been subject to such claims and thought that was bad but this is really bad …

    The average physician can expect to spend nearly 11 per cent of his or her career with a malpractice claim waiting to be resolved. Some specialists will spend nearly a third of their careers with open claims.

    John H.

    8 Jan 13 at 4:42 pm

  590. Labor really has brought forth the most unpleasant examples of snarling, angry, smelly, ugly, uber-bottomised, un-female wimminses to offend, eh?

    Gal-Quoda led by Olive Roxon in all her snotty wet-voiced dullness.

    Tintarella di Luna

    8 Jan 13 at 4:59 pm

  591. Olive Roxon

    Yes! Yes that’s her!

    lol.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 5:06 pm

  592. John

    Weather makes fish do crazy things. On a good day I could pull out 20 cod out of the river in 3-4 hours, even as a land based angler. Days like that you wish for a permanent heat wave.

    .

    8 Jan 13 at 5:08 pm

  593. Olive Roxon

    Yes! Yes that’s her!

    Must confess I pinched it from Mike Smith’s blog this arvo, I couldn’t resist isn’t it just perfect, same lank hair, same humourless trap, same gob, and unlike the charming Anna Karen, Roxon needs no make up she’s au naturelle Olive

    Tintarella di Luna

    8 Jan 13 at 5:12 pm

  594. I do remember watching a few episodes of On the Buses when a child. My mum just loved the show.

    But not until now has anyone thought to see the Roxon in the Olive, or vice-versa, and yet when it’s been revealed it’s like it has always been.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 5:17 pm

  595. It’s no longer a gag – Krugman backs $1 trillion coin:

    PAUL Krugman, the liberal economist who pens a widely read column for the New York Times, has joined the calls for the US to mint a $US1 trillion platinum coin as a way around the debt ceiling.

    The idea is that the Treasury Secretary can take advantage of a loophole that allows him to mint a commemorative platinum coin of any denomination. Mint a $US1 trillion coin, deposit it at the Federal Reserve and — presto — there’s a $US1 trillion in spare capacity under the nation’s $16.4 trillion debt ceiling. Plus, since the coin isn’t going to make it into circulation, it should not be inflationary. And further, it still leaves Congress in control of the purse.

    Paul Krugman supports minting of $US1 trillion coin.

    C.L.

    8 Jan 13 at 5:26 pm

  596. Another one of the Left’s useful idiots, Mia Freeman, continues the hatchet job Hamish McSporran started with the mummy bloggers at The Lodge.

    H B Bear

    8 Jan 13 at 5:41 pm

  597. Imagine how many hits Mia Freeman’s blog would generate if the ditzy little fluff ball could write? Perhaps she typed that tripe with her vagina? If so all is forgiven and she’s welcome at the next buck’s day I attend.

    Infidel Tiger

    8 Jan 13 at 5:46 pm

  598. Having read a few lines of that Mia Freedman offering, it struck me that something was missing…the piece (the article, not the female) was missing “Dear Diary” at the beginning.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 5:47 pm

  599. Lizzie, CL: If you doubt just how bureaucratised the business of putting out fires has become, download this — nothing atypical,just page after page of protocols and flow-chart mentality. There’s even a bit in there about the obligation to provide halal food to survivors.

    http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&ved=0CHIQFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.colacotway.vic.gov.au%2FFiles%2FPart_4_SPD_Reports_17_18_and_19.pdf&ei=1bnrUK35OoiwigLs-4CIBg&usg=AFQjCNHXOKkLF3X3UA449ox0BfbmZC6GbA&bvm=bv.1357316858,d.cGE&cad=rja

    Out of curiosity, I had a look for any web items reporting opposition to prescriptive burning in Tassie. Got sidetracked and didn’t find any, but have no doubt their greenies are the same as ours in Vic: pig ignorant of the way the bush works and blinded by a supreme sense of self righteousness.

    In WA, after disastrous fires in the 1920s-30s, they started an aggressive burning campaign and for decades after that the fires were small and controlled. Then the green filth kicked up a fuss, the burning slowed and — presto! — the last few years they have seen massive burns and vast property damage.

    The most pernicious theory, now in vogue but under challenge, is that there is no need to burn at all. The idea is that, if you allow ground fuel to accumulate, it rots from the bottom at the same time it accumulates on top, increasing moisture content and reaching a state of dynamic equilibrium.

    Fantastic theory, and probably worth millions in ARC grants to the Fenner school & Univ of the ‘Gong, where the anti-burners rule the roost, but it has never been shown to work. Every time fuel builds up, sooner or later, it burns.

    Specialists who have looked at the WA grass trees reckon Aborigines burned areas in the south west roughly every three years (the fires mark the trunks with brown rings; that’s how they tell). That rate isn’t being sustained these days.

    For those interested — and it is fascinating reading — I recommend Alfred Howitt’s “The Eucalypts of Gippsland” (starting on page 81). Howitt was the bloke who fetched what was left of Burke and Wills back to Melbourne, a botanist, philosopher and bona fide bushman. His account of changing tree cover in Gippsland ius an eye-witness account, written as the Aborigines vanished, the nature of fire use changed and the red gums died out, eaten alive by caterpillars formerly controlled by firestick farming (Flannery is an idiot on most things, but he’s right about fire).

    Howitt’s essay is here, and I recommend it heartily.

    If you ever drive to Sale on the Princes, notice the dead red gums by the road as you get near. They are what’s left of the trees Howitt was talking about.

    http://archive.org/download/transactionsofro291roya/transactionsofro291roya.pdf

    areff

    8 Jan 13 at 5:51 pm

  600. Rabz, after a high approaching 39 degrees and wild, hot, north-westerlies (just like before the big fire in 2003) the barometer is dropping like a stone. The wind has stopped. This usually means we are between two big weather systems

    Hailstones are very possible.

    johanna

    8 Jan 13 at 5:54 pm

  601. WA grass trees Black Boys.

    Tremendous kindling.

    Infidel Tiger

    8 Jan 13 at 5:59 pm

  602. You’re not allowed to call them that anymore.

    areff

    8 Jan 13 at 6:00 pm

  603. Miss Alabama and friend.

    8^0

    That is open-mouthed in disbelief.

    Nobody does a 2000-watt smile like them young ‘murican girls. No wonder they all make fun of British bad teeth.

    brc

    8 Jan 13 at 6:06 pm

  604. Problems on the NW coast of Tasmania, at Montumana, not really a settement, just a spot on the map, up towards my ancestral home at Irishtown, inland from Smithton at the far left of the map.

    Rafe

    8 Jan 13 at 6:09 pm

  605. Johanna, winds still blowing fiercely here…

    Rabz

    8 Jan 13 at 6:13 pm

  606. Jeez, nudging 30 degrees up here today and nuthin to keep cool with cept a 10kt SEer, a beer and my pool :)

    Don’t know why you mexicans put up with that crap climate.

    jumpnmcar

    8 Jan 13 at 6:21 pm

  607. Rafe, until people have been close to a serious bushfire, they’ve got no idea.

    On the peak day of the Canberra bushfires in 2003, at 3pm the sun was blotted out. It was so dark, I could not see across the street. The firefront was a good 15km from my place, and was never going to reach it. It was still one of the most frightening experiences of my life.

    One of the few occasions when the ABC (radio) justified their existence. The rest of the media were hopeless.

    johanna

    8 Jan 13 at 6:22 pm

  608. Black Boys.

    Are you lot still allowed to call them that over there, IT? I’m surprised if you are.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 6:26 pm

  609. Rabz, we in the Inner South get preferential treatment for improvements, including in the weather. :)

    johanna

    8 Jan 13 at 6:27 pm

  610. Are you lot still allowed to call them that over there, IT? I’m surprised if you are.

    Of course we’re not, but I do what I like.

    Infidel Tiger

    8 Jan 13 at 6:30 pm

  611. Shame. I thought WA was the last bastion before the PC apocalypse.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 6:31 pm

  612. I’ll guarantee that no black aborigine ever complained about the name black boy. Only the newly discovered white aborigine gives a shit.

    Infidel Tiger

    8 Jan 13 at 6:35 pm

  613. What is it with the mainstream media?? I hate the way the media love to amp up stories and get a bit of panic happening, check out the Heraldsun Website where the heading reads “Houses under Fire Threat in Ballarat”

    After reading the article you see that in fact the grass fire is some 30k to the west of Ballarat with prevailing winds blowing south westerly meaning the small townships of Snake Valley, Linton, Skipton would be under threat before Ballarat. How can this sort of shit reporting get posted without someone checking the story for accuracy? Unbelievable.

    Old Fridgie

    8 Jan 13 at 6:38 pm

  614. Sorry my bad instead of Snake Valley, Linton and Skipton insert Carngham, Burrumbeet and Cardigan

    Old Fridgie

    8 Jan 13 at 6:42 pm

  615. Murdering people is a legitimate tenet of Islam, says Obama’s next head of the CIA.

    Always apologising for the extreme Islamists.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 6:51 pm

  616. CL

    “I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…”

    That’s very explicit and plain, isn’t it? They are legally obliged to stop the Democrats from suspending the 2nd amendment.

    Kinda yikes.

    Now, CL, consider this: “We are living in a time where there has been a significant increase in the last 20 years of privately owned firearms by civilians in this country. Statistics generally show there are over

    100+ MILLION gun owners in the US

    (and those estimates are on the low side)

    310+ MILLION privately owned firearms in the US

    (I would estimate 320-340+ million as the 310 number is from 2009).

    The American civilian populace is the largest armed force in the entire world.

    Think about that for a minute.

    There is also more access to higher quality firearms training now than at any other point in the history of this country. Look at the drastic increase in concealed carry permits on a national level over the past few years. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people are waking up every year, buying guns, and taking personal responsibility for their own safety. Look at all the modern defensive firearms training that has been popularized and is being offered by more and more returning, experienced, US soldiers over the past decade.”

    I find what is happening very concerning because of the overreach, based on false assumptions, hubris and ego. Let’s face it, we have a pack of wannabe new progressive aristocrats, utterly convinced of their own moral superiority, utterly convinced of their own infallibility and utterly convinced of their superior intellects. Yes, they are rich – but only because they gamed the system from the inside – they cheated. And they think this makes them superior?

    Please.

    As for obsolete political tracts like the US Constitution, oaths and honour, why, no-one they know even believes in such things, let alone is willing to die for them. How quaintly the peasants prate about such twaddle – but there is nobody who actually will act. No-one will risk their life for such things.

    They truly are the people they have been waiting for. Yet every single one of their oh-so superior precepts fails in reality.

    I have worked for decades in the past with people who take all these things very, very seriously. Others call these people ‘the armed forces of the United States’ (yes, they really are much better overall than the ADF, too, BTW) and guess what? When they retire, they tend to become MORE focussed on and adherent to these concepts.

    I give some credence to the argument that the US bubble-dwelling left really do believe that guns and religion are merely ‘comfort blankets’ to a small child. Does the term ‘opiate of the masses’ ring any bells? And they really do believe that when they take them away, why, the peasants will whine but so what? They’ll get used to it, won’t they?

    I also assess that they are as dead wrong in that belief as they are in most of the garbage they believe. They are, at the core, wordsmiths, liars, cheats and fabulists.

    And this is why I really do assess that they are provoking something they cannot possibly understand.

    A professional contact in North America (sniper with a lot of kills to his credit) has informed me that he’s seen something that disturbs him. A lot of the Iraq and Afstan vets who were wounded but recovered from IED and other atatcks (where others died) have developed survivors guilt. That’s known, I said. His reply was chilling, for he said ‘now they see a cause whereby in keeping their oaths and in protecting their own Constitution they can become martyrs’.

    This is a new development as far as I know, perhaps even just kicking off.

    The Alynskyites are tapdancing in a minefield, and they deny the existence of the mines.

    This may not end well.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 6:58 pm

  617. What a wanker.

    steve from brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 7:11 pm

  618. The Great state of Texas.

    Texas revenues up 12.4 percent to $101 billion, including $8.8 billion surplus.

    Republican leaders and other conservatives said they will insist on spending restraint in the upcoming state budget.

    Combs’ official revenue estimate showed that Texas lawmakers, who convene at noon Tuesday, will have $101.4 billion in general revenue to spend in the 2014-15 budget, a 12.4 percent increase over the current two-year budget.

    That amount would provide sufficient surplus revenue in the current budget to close some sizable holes and also cover the $96 billion that state agencies have said would be necessary to maintain the current level of services for a growing population. Combs also projected the rainy day fund would have $11.8 billion available.

    Who’d thought spending restraint and not increasing taxes would result in increased tax revenues, eh?

    http://www.statesman.com/news/news/texas-revenues-up-124-percent-to-101-billion/nTpRS/

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 7:11 pm

  619. Cripes Mk50, do you have anything of value at all to say, or is your only meaningful contribution to call for leftists to be shot as sub-human vermin? What next, you’ll tell us of the plan your buddies are concocting to assassinate the President? You’re sounding like a genuine extremist gun nut. If you were American, you’d be getting a visit from some nice men in suits very soon. Loony stuff.

    m0nty

    8 Jan 13 at 7:12 pm

  620. Miss Alabamah and Friend

    As a graduate I am sure he is only interested in her intelligent conversation and penetrating insights.

    Helen Armstrong

    8 Jan 13 at 7:14 pm

  621. As she is a graduate ..

    Helen Armstrong

    8 Jan 13 at 7:15 pm

  622. Heh. Both SFB and monty turn up on the same day after a long absence. Eerie, yes? Perhaps they’re back from the ALP summer training camp, all armed and ready to fire those ALP one-liners.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 7:17 pm

  623. Da Hairy Irish Ape going absolutely bananas around here about the ABC Weather Report and Met Bureau’s ‘new’ colour categories for temperatures.

    Hype, hype, hype, hype.

    Da stupid lying feckers, he snorts.

    Language, I say mildly. Language.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    8 Jan 13 at 7:21 pm

  624. I think that graphic of heaps of fires burning ‘across NSW’ can be largely explained by two things: a hot windy hardly-unusual summer’s day and a fire-culture after the last Victorian disasters that get every fire declared dangerous and everyone put early onto high alert fire plan mode.

    A classic combination for thumping the AWG tub.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    8 Jan 13 at 7:26 pm

  625. So Barry Hussein’s CIA pick is an Islamist sympathiser like his prospective boss:

    The president’s top counterterrorism adviser on Wednesday called jihad a “legitimate tenet of Islam,” arguing that the term “jihadists” should not be used to describe America’s enemies.

    During a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, John Brennan described violent extremists as victims of “political, economic and social forces,” but said that those plotting attacks on the United States should not be described in “religious terms.”

    He repeated the administration argument that the enemy is not “terrorism,” because terrorism is a “tactic,” and not terror, because terror is a “state of mind” — though Brennan’s title, deputy national security adviser for counterterrorism and homeland security, includes the word “terrorism” in it. But then Brennan said that the word “jihad” should not be applied either.

    “Nor do we describe our enemy as ‘jihadists’ or ‘Islamists’ because jihad is a holy struggle, a legitimate tenet of Islam, meaning to purify oneself or one’s community, and there is nothing holy or legitimate or Islamic about murdering innocent men, women and children,” Brennan said.

    And the Def Sec nominee hates Israel.

    C.L.

    8 Jan 13 at 7:33 pm

  626. What is going on?
    My wife and I had our 7yo niece over for the day and it was time for Mrs Jumpy to take her home.
    As ya do, I opened the passenger side door to let her in and she says ” No, I have to sit in the back, I’m not 8 yet ”
    WTF is that all about?
    Mrs Jumpy said ” those are the rules now ”
    This is ridiculous.

    jumpnmcar

    8 Jan 13 at 7:33 pm

  627. Monster, Stepford…

    MA isn’t advocating violence at all, you lying swine. He’s basically retelling what he’s heard from Americans.

    I don’t own a gun, I have no interest in guns but I can tell you one thing that if the Kenyan and his sniveling supporters think people in the Red states will willingly accept severe gun control, then his prediction is quite possibly right. There will be blood on the streets and the Kenyan along with his supporters will lose. This won’t end well if that’s where things are heading.

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 7:34 pm

  628. The ABC is salivating for some fire deaths.

    So far, not exactly closing in on Gillard’s 1000+ death toll.

    C.L.

    8 Jan 13 at 7:35 pm

  629. Is your only meaningful contribution to call for leftists to be shot as sub-human vermin?

    It’s a fabulous concept, but we’re democrats prepared to keep them alive for now, provided they aren’t allowed access to government policy to destroy the capitalist economy which supplies them with their undeserved wealth. As that rule has been broken, our compassion is being tested.

    Tom

    8 Jan 13 at 7:36 pm

  630. What is going on?

    This country has been turned into a filthy unflushed toilet of PC bullshit.

    We need Drano, stat.

    Infidel Tiger

    8 Jan 13 at 7:36 pm

  631. As ya do, I opened the passenger side door to let her in and she says ” No, I have to sit in the back, I’m not 8 yet ”
    WTF is that all about?
    Mrs Jumpy said ” those are the rules now ”
    This is ridiculous.

    Jumpy ‘strue, it is it is. In fact in NSW it used to be your child had to be 11 to sit up front. Nanny has been at it for a looooong time? Don’t tell me you bin breakn t’law long time?

    Tintarella di Luna

    8 Jan 13 at 7:39 pm

  632. Heh. Both SFB and monty turn up on the same day after a long absence.

    Nuffink to do with me. Nuffink more to say. I plead the 5th Amendment just as HIA does on the botommses issue.

    ….

    catastrophic conditions in NSW where firefighters are battling to avert disaster … the warnings couldn’t have been more serious … the most serious fire danger in …’ umm – ‘decades’ he concludes.

    The ABC’s rising hysterical emphases are in italics – note the ‘decades’ has to recognise it’s happened before and the hystical emphasis falls away a bit.

    But here we go again – CATASTROPHIC!!! ‘brace for catastrophic conditions’

    They are mad. Whining earnest Gillard voice drills into my brain – ‘catastrophic being used for good reason’.

    Tony Abbott comes on and uses ‘dangerous’ – i.e. that’s what it is, dangerous but not ‘catastrophic’. Nothing unusual. Just take care.

    Who’s the leader here?

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    8 Jan 13 at 7:39 pm

  633. We rarely have prophylactic, controlled burns in Tasmania these days, unfortunately, but, when we do, Bob Brown or Sen. Milne or one of their accomplices will loudly whine to the media how noisome the smell, and how unæsthetic the smoke and orange sun appear, and how the effects of fires offend the refined sensibilities of tourists, though they prevent future catastrophes; this week, however, the smoke and smell from bushfires, mirabile dictu, have not led to Green complaints.

    Deadman

    8 Jan 13 at 7:41 pm

  634. Tony Abbott comes on and uses ‘dangerous’ – i.e. that’s what it is, dangerous but not ‘catastrophic’. Nothing unusual. Just take care.

    Well he is a firefighter, so he would know. Sense and sensibility.

    Wonder, has the ABC’s hyperventilators made mention of the man who started one of the fires in Tassie?

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 7:43 pm

  635. Tinta

    Don’t tell me you bin breakn t’law long time?

    I drive a ute FFS. what then?
    ————————-
    IT,I like it, Drano Abbott from now on.

    jumpnmcar

    8 Jan 13 at 7:44 pm

  636. Cripes Mk50, do you have anything of value at all to say, or is your only meaningful contribution to call for leftists to be shot as sub-human vermin?

    It’s not such a bad idea and there is some truth to the vermin part.

    John Mc

    8 Jan 13 at 7:44 pm

  637. “What a wanker.”

    Who, O’Bummy? Too right – smartest comment you’ve offered all year Stevie.

    Mick Gold Coast QLD

    8 Jan 13 at 7:45 pm

  638. I drive a ute FFS. what then?

    You’re exempt. True.

    John Mc

    8 Jan 13 at 7:47 pm

  639. Reasoned left-wing argument:

    Sh*fer(brains):

    What a wanker

    What logic and reasoning, And thanks for the proof that you really DO have sh*t for brains.

    Monty:

    Mk50, do you have anything of value at all to say,

    Well, obviously not to semi-literate cretins like you who cannot understand more than a five word sentence if there’s a word there with more than two syllables in it.

    or is your only meaningful contribution to call for leftists to be shot as sub-human vermin?

    Oddly, the only one who has mentioned that is you. Classic left-wing projection.

    What next, you’ll tell us of the plan your buddies are concocting to assassinate the President?

    The only ones with such sick fantasies are leftists. Remember this? More projection from a leftard. yawn.

    You’re sounding like a genuine extremist gun nut

    So reporting on what sort of things are brewing half a world away is ‘extreme’.
    Monty, you need to lay off the waccy baccy.

    If you were American, you’d be getting a visit from some nice men in suits very soon.

    More projection, eh? Anyone who raises points others make, and to which the left finds makes them cry, should be arrested.

    You are a fascist. Fortunately, you are an unutterably stupid, blitheringly incompetent, abysmally educated keyboard fascist.

    Which makes you something pathetic and amusing; an object to point at, and to laugh at.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 7:48 pm

  640. Wonder, has the ABC’s hyperventilators made mention of the man who started one of the fires in Tassie?

    Honestly I just can’t stomach it, Channel 9 – little lass with some kinda temperature thing (looked a bit like an old old mobile phone” “40.2 degrees” she gasps, “I wonder how hot it is in this car?” — Mr Midnight, my other half was wondering how hot it would be in her nether parts? I don’t want to know — the hysteria is unbearable. I need a pair of headphones to shut out the breathless bullshit shoveled by pretty, but clueless, young things.

    Tintarella di Luna

    8 Jan 13 at 7:55 pm

  641. I drive a ute FFS. what then?

    Enquiry at RTA: ‘Does it have roof-racks, sir?’

    Tintarella di Luna

    8 Jan 13 at 7:58 pm

  642. Thruth i’t been a topsy turvy day.
    Just when I think Australia has lost the plot someone makes me smile and names out first cyclone of the season” NARELLE

    jumpnmcar

    8 Jan 13 at 7:59 pm

  643. Struth even.

    jumpnmcar

    8 Jan 13 at 8:00 pm

  644. My girl’s been sitting in the front seat since she was large enough to see over, since that was the law when she was that age.

    Adult seatbelts
    The road rules require a child aged 7 years to under 16 years of age to travel in either an approved booster seat or an adult seatbelt. The type of restraint will depend on the child’s size. Drivers and passengers 16 years and over are required to travel in an adult seatbelt.

    A child should continue using a booster seat until they have outgrown it. An adult lap-sash seatbelt is designed for people with a minimum height of about 145 cm. The average child will reach this height between 10 to 12 years of age.

    Children who are not yet tall enough to use an adult seatbelt tend to slump into the vehicle seat so that their legs bend at the seat edge. This means the lap part of the seatbelt is positioned too high on their stomach and they are at risk of more serious injury in a crash.

    Lap-sash seatbelts offer greater protection to passengers than lap-only seatbelts, but they must fit correctly. This means the lap part of the seatbelt is positioned low over the hip and the sash part of the seatbelt sits in the middle of the shoulder and does not touch the neck.

    If your vehicle has a lap-only seatbelt replace this, if possible, with a lap-sash seatbelt.

    A seatbelt fits properly if:

    the sash sits flat on the shoulder without touching the face or neck
    the sash crosses low over the hips, not the abdomen
    it is not twisted
    all slack is removed.

    nilk

    8 Jan 13 at 8:01 pm

  645. “Health and safety regulations banned CFA members’ wives and families from providing food, which the bureaucratised bushfire-industrial complex now insists must be made only by approved and certified caterers.

    The result? In 2003, 2006 and 2009, many CFA crews went hungry because no one was available to feed them … their reward after 26 straight hours of dangerous, filthy, volunteer work.

    Bushfire management has been taken from locals and handed to six-figure, centralised office workers.”

    Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable.

    I see the Channel 7 News is extended by a half hour for concentrated bushfire hyperbole – a quick scan tells me this reaction to typical summer weather patterns has been discussed above already. Today’s young is now being educated in fear of what is normal and fire commissioners all about the country are today adding millions to their budget bid for next financial year.

    Which Premier will burst into tears first?

    When will they trot out the poofteenth highest record since Ivan Lendl played record flood disaster catastrophe event sign-language-for-the-deaf interpreters attending the shoulder of the grave and sombre departmental spokesbeing calamity junkies?

    Mick Gold Coast QLD

    8 Jan 13 at 8:02 pm

  646. Frantic interviewer on 7.30 desperate to get recognition of a ‘new paradigm’ in the heat. ‘Almost unprecedented’ is the best he can get.

    Feckin’ edjit, says Da Hairy Ape.

    “A new reality in the models”, he quotes at me from the Met Office guy, in exasperation as he heads to get another beer.

    Feckin’ edjits, still flying around in the kitchen at our place.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    8 Jan 13 at 8:02 pm

  647. NARELLE

    What a lovely name haven’t heard it since 1972, a girl in my class was Narelle, sweet l’il thing she was too, nothing tempestuous about her.

    All those old names just aren’t around anymore, nowadays people are calling their dogs those old-fashoned names: Eric, Colin, Jimmy, Barry, Harry.

    Tintarella di Luna

    8 Jan 13 at 8:05 pm

  648. LOL lizzie

    I love that “a new reality in the models”
    The hairy ape is smart.

    Alice

    8 Jan 13 at 8:06 pm

  649. Oh Lord the Lying Slapper is so embarrassingly a bogan.

    Cad-er-stwof-ek

    FFS you grunting sow, it’s Cat-a-strof-ic

    it’s not hard, dammit. Only a bogan to the bone could so badly mispronouce such a simple word.

    oh, wait…

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 8:07 pm

  650. Some of them even named their cat “Gabrielle”. Can you believe it? :)

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 8:08 pm

  651. “Just when I think Australia has lost the plot someone makes me smile and names out first cyclone of the season” NARELLE “ “

    jumpnmcar – Terminal plot lostedness will cut in when they name the cyclone Schapelle.

    Mick Gold Coast QLD

    8 Jan 13 at 8:09 pm

  652. And Jum[pincar is right about electricity prices here.
    Someone – some firms, with government help are gouging us pure and simple.
    I suppose that a new reality in their models too? (like two and half times what Canada pays and third higher than 27 euro nations and a slightly less than a third what Japan pays for electricity.

    Fuck that. I suggest we start a bloody facebook page where yes – we do take our electrivity bills to the next vote.

    Alice

    8 Jan 13 at 8:09 pm

  653. Should read avive slightly less than a third MORE than Japan pays for electricity.

    O\h and btw – I just noticed my favourite loaf of break has gone up by a whole dollar (not twenty cents or thirty – but a whole bloody dollar)

    Stuff woolworths. Your days are numbered.

    Alice

    8 Jan 13 at 8:11 pm

  654. Cat er stwof ic?
    Or Cab er stwof ic?

    Alice

    8 Jan 13 at 8:13 pm

  655. Some of them even named their cat “Gabrielle”. Can you believe it? :)

    Well I can understand that for a cat ‘Gabrielle’ is entirely appropriate, for cats elegance is mandatory. Some even call their cat ‘Gracie”

    Tintarella di Luna

    8 Jan 13 at 8:14 pm

  656. I’d like to apologise to all female even toed ungulates of species Sus scrofa domesticus.

    Comparing them to Juliar Gillard is just plain wrong.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 8:15 pm

  657. Jumpncar

    Things habe git so stupid and nanny watching nanny statist its damn instrusive now.

    Years ago my neighbours had three kids and a ute and for holidays they all three got tied in the back and got driven all the way to ulldaulla ina ute with the wind blosing in their hair. All three kids survived their annual holidays and loved it.

    This nosey parker governmentalism is giving me the shits. What is it? Are they scared they will be sued if they dont make stupid legislation here there and everywhere (and weasel out of doing anything about us being gouged elsewhere?)
    Useless as …Unhelpful as

    Alice

    8 Jan 13 at 8:18 pm

  658. Gabrielle is Gab’s ” you are in trouble now young lady” name

    Tal

    8 Jan 13 at 8:19 pm

  659. Tintarella, I do like the sound of Mr. Midnight.

    The way these guys speculate is just extraordinary, isn’t it? Nothing stops them, and they never cease.

    QI – Ursus is the Latin for bear, and Arktos is the Greek for bear. I knew that. Having a little Latin and less Greek, as I do. HIA entranced and having a laugh at QI. As he does.

    I am, as usual, lapdancing on the laptop.

    We should eat.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    8 Jan 13 at 8:20 pm

  660. True, Tal. Even though some have used the long form here in amicable comment, I always feel like I’m in trouble for something.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 8:21 pm

  661. It’s the nuns Gab, God bless them

    Tal

    8 Jan 13 at 8:23 pm

  662. Gab, you’re always in trouble for something.

    blogstrop

    8 Jan 13 at 8:24 pm

  663. lapdancing on the laptop.

    Good name for a blog.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 8:24 pm

  664. Perhaps we should one day tear our friend away from his essential reading and send him on an adventure to that Oxley Ave shop at Margate, where he can fondle their selection of M14s, AR15s and competitively priced Glocks.

    lotocoti

    8 Jan 13 at 8:24 pm

  665. I do like the sound of Mr. Midnight.

    Lizzie the sound of him is OK but it’s the look of him that makes him Mr Midnight.

    We should eat.

    Too hot to eat, I’ve been whipping up fruit-flavoured slushies all afternoon for Mr M and the big boy.

    Tintarella di Luna

    8 Jan 13 at 8:26 pm

  666. It’s the nuns

    Most of high school I think the nuns thought my name was “payattentionstopchattering!”.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 8:27 pm

  667. Gabrielle is Gab’s ” you are in trouble now young lady” name

    Tintarella di Luna

    8 Jan 13 at 8:27 pm

  668. Oops too quick my bad.

    Tintarella di Luna

    8 Jan 13 at 8:28 pm

  669. Yes Tal, ‘Elizabeth’ is also a particularly stern word. Especially when used about me trying to have fun.

    You knew that, didn’t you Tom?

    Chicken, someone in this house is saying almost under his breath. Chicken. Then ruminating, in a low repetition, chick-ken.

    Yes, it is oven-fried chicken tonight.

    He hates chick-ken. Another gourmet dinner at home. With some home-made cauliflower soup.

    You could have thrown it out, you know, he complains. Dat old cauliflower and da shrivelled up leek. We are not on da breadline here, he mutters.

    I am economical, I say. It is an in-grained habit. Because my sainted mother, I explain, it is in her memory. OK, he says resignedly, OK.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    8 Jan 13 at 8:38 pm

  670. Lizzie,my first and second names are used when I’m in trouble

    Tal

    8 Jan 13 at 8:45 pm

  671. At the risk of sounding like a heartless bitch, I wonder how much the average taxpayer will fork out for disaster appeals after we all gave generously to the 2010 flood appeals only to be clobbered a week later with a f*cking levy.

    Tracey

    8 Jan 13 at 8:48 pm

  672. You are doing very well for yourself, Elizabeth. And someone told me you’re mightily entertaining, though that couldn’t be admitted directly.

    Tom

    8 Jan 13 at 8:49 pm

  673. I see temperature was discussed up the thread, enough to wake me from my slumber.

    National record smashed

    And the country has set a new national average maximum of 40.33 degrees on Monday, beating the previous record – set on December 21, 1972 – by a “sizeable margin” of 0.16 degrees, Dr Jones said, adding that the figures are preliminary.

    “Today is actually shaping up to be hotter – and it could be a record by a similar margin,” he said.

    Another record to be smashed on Monday was Australia’s mean temperature. The country averaged 32.23, easily eclipsing the previous record – set on December 21, 1972 – of 31.86 degrees. Just 0.13 degrees separated the previous four highest mean temperatures, underscoring how far above average the day was.

    The scorching temperatures could last into the weekend and beyond, Dr Jones said, potentially breaking the country’s all-time high of 50.7 degrees.

    “The heat over central Australia is not going to go anywhere,” he said, noting that the northern monsoon and southern cold fronts have all been weak recently.

    “We know the air mass is hot enough to challenge the Oodnadatta record.”

    While the national data goes all the way back to 1910, the bureau views the figures are most reliable from about 1950.

    Prior to today, six of the 20 hottest days in Australian records have been in 2013 – with that tally likely to rise to seven out of 20 by the day’s end. Here are the rankings:

    Hottest national averages on record (prior to today).

    1 January 7 2013 40.33 degrees
    2 December 21, 1972 40.17
    3 December 20, 1972 40.01
    4 December 22, 1972 39.82
    5 January 1, 1973 39.79
    6 January 6, 2013 39.71
    7 December 17, 2002 39.7
    8 January 2, 1973 39.65
    9 January 3, 2013 39.55
    10 December 16, 2002 39.54
    11 December 30, 1972 39.48
    12 December 31, 1972 39.43
    13 January 27, 1936 39.4
    14 January 1, 1990 39.39
    15 January 4, 2013 39.32
    16 January 5, 2013 39.26
    17 January 2, 1990 39.22
    18 January 2, 2013 39.21
    19 December 18, 2002 39.2
    20 January 13, 1985 38.98

    Source: Bureau of Meteorology

    Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/temperatures-off-the-charts-as-australia-turns-deep-purple-20130108-2ce33.html#ixzz2HNOCp35u

    SteveC

    8 Jan 13 at 8:57 pm

  674. Dat old cauliflower and da shrivelled up leek. We are not on da breadline here, he mutters.

    Lizzie tell ‘im it’s sheeha lugzery, ‘he’s lucky he doesn’t have to get up before he goes to bed.

    Enjoy! Sounds good to me always tastes better when some-one else’s made it.

    Tintarella di Luna

    8 Jan 13 at 8:58 pm

  675. or is that ‘loogzhery

    Tintarella di Luna

    8 Jan 13 at 8:59 pm

  676. Really hard time for Gillard.

    When should her ‘cry’ be scheduled?

    McTernan focus grouping this as we speak.

    C.L.

    8 Jan 13 at 9:00 pm

  677. Really hard time for Gillard.

    When should her ‘cry’ be scheduled?

    McTernan focus grouping this as we speak.

    Mighty funny if it weren’t true.

    Megan

    8 Jan 13 at 9:02 pm

  678. Should read avive slightly less than a third MORE than Japan pays for electricity.

    Nuclear power… cheap, plentiful, low carbon, we have plenty of fuel already. The only one single thing you absolutely need is to find someone you can trust to manage the operation and get it right. That’s it, once you find that person you can have plentiful power forever.

    The result? In 2003, 2006 and 2009, many CFA crews went hungry because no one was available to feed them … their reward after 26 straight hours of dangerous, filthy, volunteer work.

    … and with management of that calibre we will never have cheap power, because one way or another useless political faction bench-sitters would insist on sticking their noses in, and then try to run the place. That’s why we can’t have nice things.

    Tel

    8 Jan 13 at 9:03 pm

  679. And now for the final line-up, stevec makes an appearance today. Weird how all three spluttered in to the Cat on the same day. ALP summer camp at an end.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 9:04 pm

  680. “National record smashed”

    It’s not a sporting contest, Steve, stop being so ghoulish about people’s injured pets and burnt houses.

    candy

    8 Jan 13 at 9:04 pm

  681. LOL, Mk50 says his mates are planning armed insurrection, labels Palestinians and leftists as barbarian subhuman vermin, and calls someone who points out his extremism a fascist. He is just this side of an ASIO investigation.

    Is your surname McVeigh, by any chance, Mk50?

    m0nty

    8 Jan 13 at 9:05 pm

  682. Australia gets hot in summer. Yawn. SteveC, so what?

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 9:05 pm

  683. At the risk of sounding like a heartless bitch, I wonder how much the average taxpayer will fork out for disaster appeals after we all gave generously to the 2010 flood appeals only to be clobbered a week later with a f*cking levy.

    Tracey, we were clobbered as you stated, we decided to donate a fair whack to the flood appeal only to have the slapper sting us with the levy, we vowed and declared we would never donate to such appeals ever again. We also decided to stop donating to Guide dogs, Yooralla, Cancer council and so on at the same time.

    So I am of no doubt there are many more like us.

    Old Fridgie

    8 Jan 13 at 9:13 pm

  684. Weekend at Bernies being played out in real life?

    Is Hugo Chávez dead or alive? And if he is dead, won’t that make it difficult for him to take the oath of office on Thursday—when he is supposed to be sworn in as the Venezuela’s president for another six-year term?

    Inquiring Venezuelans want to know. It has been four weeks since Mr. Chávez left the country for cancer surgery in Havana, and he has yet to make a postoperative public appearance. The details of his illness and his prognosis have remained a state secret since June 2011, when he announced that he had cancer.

    The government only will say now that he is suffering a severe respiratory infection that makes it difficult for him to breath. But as time goes by the speculation that he is not going to recover is increasing.

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 9:14 pm

  685. The non-existent climate problem as measured by the only instrument that hasn’t been doctored by the liars and cheats of the alarmist grant harvesting industry, backed by a shrieking chorus from the anti-civilisationist movement, who we have to put up with here.

    Tom

    8 Jan 13 at 9:16 pm

  686. SteveC go look somewhere else for some ignorant morons to scare. As Mk50 said we’ve figured out its gets got in summer.

    Token

    8 Jan 13 at 9:22 pm

  687. Wait wait.

    Lefties said Gillard’s carbon dioxide tax would cool the earth.

    Now they’re saying it hasn’t worked.

    ?

    C.L.

    8 Jan 13 at 9:24 pm

  688. Bob Ellis proves that even the brain dead can have an opinio

    He has not even criticised Newman for sacking firefighters and causing, probably, avoidable deaths in the next few days and weeks, and both of them are doomed.

    Tiny Dancer

    8 Jan 13 at 9:24 pm

  689. Monty – the titanic intellect of the left that just keeps on giving the laughs. In his fevered little mind:

    A professional contact in North America…has informed me that he’s seen something that disturbs him

    becomes

    his mates are planning armed insurrection,

    the armed forces of the United states
    becomes

    labels Palestinians and leftists as barbarian subhuman vermin

    when the only person saying that is actually Monty himself (nice typical left-wing racist edge to your fascism there, Monty),

    This is a new development as far as I know, perhaps even just kicking off
    becomes

    …extremism…

    And the reason you are a fascist is your words as follows:

    …leftists to be shot as sub-human vermin… l plan … to assassinate the President… a genuine extremist gun nut … getting a visit from some nice men in suits …. Loony ….

    The only one mentioning such fascist things is you. SO you are a fascist by your own words.

    I rather doubt this, as I am commenting on developments in the USA I find rather disturbing. becomes:

    He is just this side of an ASIO investigation.

    So the one calling for my investigation by the state for saying something that upsets you is you, and what a fascist response that is.

    And I am afraid that your apparent hero was justly executed for his dreadful act of murderous terrorism:

    Is your surname McVeigh

    (I think I have scored a direct hit on Monty with a HESH round, and that the target is burning brightly)

    Monty, have you drunk the bong-water again? it sounds like you have put on your NKVD Colonel’s uniform and are prancing around the house pretending you are shooting kulaks.

    Again.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 9:26 pm

  690. Oh who knows what’s going on Lad

    Tal

    8 Jan 13 at 9:26 pm

  691. Token
    And cold in winter, just ask the Chinese and Russians.
    It’s a new phenomenon they say. LOL

    jumpnmcar

    8 Jan 13 at 9:26 pm

  692. Monty, have you drunk the bong-water again? it sounds like you have put on your NKVD Colonel’s uniform and are prancing jubbling and jiggling around the house pretending you are shooting kulaks.

    Again.

    Fixed it.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 9:28 pm

  693. mOron, how’s your buddy slipper Peter going? Ding well? Back in the speakers chair soon? How are the doughnuts, having them with or without cream?

    Tiny Dancer

    8 Jan 13 at 9:29 pm

  694. mOron, how’s your buddy slipper Peter going? Ding well? Back in the speakers chair soon? How are the doughnuts, having them with or without cream?

    Oooh, that’s cold.

    I like it!

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 9:31 pm

  695. Think of how many water bombers the BRE and pink batts boondoggle could have bought every state’s fire brigade.

    Infidel tiger

    8 Jan 13 at 9:32 pm

  696. IT how was Honkers?

    Tal

    8 Jan 13 at 9:35 pm

  697. Abbott thanks PM for bushfire response

    and

    said he would be returning to Sydney to be on standby with his own local brigade to monitor the bushfire threat in NSW.

    Just in case anyone missed this…

    (H/T Jumpnmcar)

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 9:36 pm

  698. Hot? Ha It was over 120 d F for weeks at home south of Alice – must have been in the 50′s.

    Not an official recording station, mind, just the shaded station thermometer checked every day by my Dad and in his absence, my Mum and written in his diaries for the 50 odd years he lived there.

    Helen Armstrong

    8 Jan 13 at 9:36 pm

  699. Australia gets hot hotter this in summer than ever before.

    FIFY Mk50

    SteveC

    8 Jan 13 at 9:37 pm

  700. I predict the Slipper cabcharge matter will go the same way as the sexual harassment case. i.e. nowhere.

    SteveC

    8 Jan 13 at 9:38 pm

  701. Steve so do I that doesn’t mean it’s right

    Tal

    8 Jan 13 at 9:40 pm

  702. SteveC, how’s those yanks and Chinese going with their climate change action you were sooooooo convinced they were going to take?. You must be pissed off. You had them following us and they just shat on you. Fancy that.

    Tiny Dancer

    8 Jan 13 at 9:40 pm

  703. From ChinaDaily

    The average temperature in China since the beginning of winter has been -4.1 C, 1.2 degrees lower than normal, according to the China Meteorological Administration. The winter in northern and northeastern China is the coldest in the past 27 years, the administration said.

    jumpnmcar

    8 Jan 13 at 9:42 pm

  704. TD, I think we will see some action out of the USA in this Obama term. As a second term president he has less restrictions.

    SteveC

    8 Jan 13 at 9:42 pm

  705. Health and safety regulations banned CFA members’ wives and families from providing food, which the bureaucratised bushfire-industrial complex now insists must be made only by approved and certified caterers.

    The result? In 2003, 2006 and 2009, many CFA crews went hungry because no one was available to feed them … their reward after 26 straight hours of dangerous, filthy, volunteer work.

    Mick …. charred koala is perfectly safe to eat.

    Leigh Lowe

    8 Jan 13 at 9:43 pm

  706. Potemkin’s Village

    Those who lack courage… here

  707. CL. Check this out and you’ll see who I’m a bit worried by the observable trends in the US. This is the sort of cold, rational warning ‘spelling it out in short sentences’ stuff that I cannot recall seeing anywhere even ten years ago.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 9:45 pm

  708. Steve C:

    Australia gets hotter this summer than ever before.

    Horsesh*t. Do some basic research on the summer of 1938-39!

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 9:47 pm

  709. Check this out and you’ll see WHY

    PIMF

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 9:47 pm

  710. SteveC.
    Give me the station-by-station data for the “hottest day ever – on average”.

    How many of the stations recording now are at mine sites and the like which didn’t have official BoM stations in the past – and mostly on hot country?
    How many stations are now in built up areas with an urban heat-sink effect but were in rural areas some 40-50 years ago?
    The BoM and SMH are a bit light on for detail here, so I am dismissing this as the bullshit it most likely is, until it is proven otherwise by a reputable source.

    Leigh Lowe

    8 Jan 13 at 9:48 pm

  711. Newman has not sacked 1 single front line fire officer. What drug is Bob taking this time?

    pete m

    8 Jan 13 at 9:49 pm

  712. I think we will see some action out of the USA in this Obama term. As a second term president he has less restrictions.

    Hahahahahahahaha!!! Ignorant clown. No fucking idea.

    Tom

    8 Jan 13 at 9:50 pm

  713. Careful, Grigory, or you’ll get finkelsteined.

    And Happy New Year to you.

    Gab

    8 Jan 13 at 9:54 pm

  714. Australia gets hot hotter this in summer than ever before.

    So you believe that if a tree falls in the forest and there is no one around to hear it, there is no sound.

    lotocoti

    8 Jan 13 at 9:54 pm

  715. Speaking of Tony Abbott the firefighter, he was on Triple M this arvo. Podcast here.

    He’s the first interview here. I think this should get more airplay as it’s a nice little talk where he talks about the RFS. It’s noted a couple of times that he’s been a firey for 12 years.

    nilk

    8 Jan 13 at 9:55 pm

  716. Tal, Honkers was bloody awesome. Although I was disappointed to find you can’t durry up in most bars these days.

    Infidel tiger

    8 Jan 13 at 9:55 pm

  717. Helen,
    as that is close to Australia’s record temperature, their thermometer may have needed calibratio. You can see dialy temperatures for any station you like here (click on download data)
    http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=122&p_display_type=dailyDataFile&p_startYear=2013&p_c=-48603133&p_stn_num=015590

    SteveC

    8 Jan 13 at 9:58 pm

  718. Why steveC? Why?

    ALP talking points are a shit basis and there is no other. But there you go. Barry Obongo clearly has man made climate change at the forefront of his mind. You can just see it. Go and bong on with grey.

    Tiny Dancer

    8 Jan 13 at 9:59 pm

  719. Thanks Gab, and a happy and prosperous New Year to you and yours

  720. He is just this side of an ASIO investigation.

    Anything the Cat side of political correctness attracts the attention of ASIO nowadays, and it doesn’t take much more to get an interview if it isn’t too inconvenient for them.

    John Mc

    8 Jan 13 at 10:04 pm

  721. I am getting used to going outside to skin one. You meet some very interesting people in darkened lanes. And out the front of fashionable and respectable places.

    Pickles

    8 Jan 13 at 10:04 pm

  722. SteveC.
    Provide the station-by-station data which supports the “hottest day evah” (on average, seasonally adjusted) claim.

    I have it on reliable authority from a data analyst within BoM that this is rolled-gold five-star bullshit aimed at getting a whole new raft of funding for “research” (read overseas jollies).

    Leigh Lowe

    8 Jan 13 at 10:07 pm

  723. Extraordinary interview with dog and political corpse Tony Windsor and fellow political corpse Rob Oakeshott following PM tonight.

    TONY WINDSOR: A lot of people look at Tony as a very fit human being and he is. I congratulate him for that. He is very disciplined in his fitness but we saw the weak side of him, you know, and to see a man who wants to be prime minister actually begging for the job.

    DAVID MARK: What do you mean?

    TONY WINDSOR: Well, you know, he’d do anything for the job.

    DAVID MARK: Did he beg you?

    TONY WINDSOR: Yeah, on a number of occasions and he hasn’t denied that. You know, it was quite pitiful and it was actually about him rather than about what his political grouping could actually do for the nation.

    Roll on the election.

    TONY WINDSOR: Out of the two of them, she was the only one there that had capacity to potentially negotiate through the mine field.

    ROB OAKESHOTT: Julia Gillard is a negotiator and this Parliament needed a negotiator.

    TONY WINDSOR: She’s done that. There is no doubt about that. Love her or hate her, she’s done that and I don’t think Tony could have.

    History’s footnotes enjoying their final days in the sun. Both will be remembered for selling out their electorates, installing the worst government since Federation and being wiped out by their constituents at the first chance they got.

    H B Bear

    8 Jan 13 at 10:07 pm

  724. have it on reliable authority from a data analyst within BoM

    hahahaha

    SteveC

    8 Jan 13 at 10:14 pm

  725. Bear -
    Indeed. Will there be a bigger swing against two sitting ‘independents’ than at any other time in living memory?
    If in fact they stand & are not currently looking for real estate in Tasmania

    Rousie

    8 Jan 13 at 10:15 pm

  726. I’d love to see Barnaby Joyce if Windsor tried to scurry away before the next election. Just another glorious moment to look forward to on election night.

    H B Bear

    8 Jan 13 at 10:22 pm

  727. SteveC.

    Darwin zero.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 10:22 pm

  728. Maybe you’re right Leigh.
    http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/statements/scs43a.pdf
    They list the guy’s phone number in the above doc. Why don’t you ring up and ask him how they calculate the average. Better still, why not get your “reliable authority” to discuss the report with the authors and get back to us?

    SteveC

    8 Jan 13 at 10:23 pm

  729. Peter Hannam was the chap that frightened SteveC so, he’s a “Carbon economy editor”

    Australia’s most vulnerable people are at increased risk of injury and death because community organisations are struggling to cope with day-to-day operations let alone plan for extreme weather events, the country’s peak social services group has warned.

    I think SHY writes his rubbish.

    The Australian Council of Social Service says many community organisations are likely to permanently collapse and be unable to provide services after extreme weather, leaving society’s most disadvantaged, including the elderly, mentally ill and the homeless, ”at real and increased risk of death”.

    jumpnmcar

    8 Jan 13 at 10:24 pm

  730. I predict the Slipper cabcharge matter will go the same way as the sexual harassment case

    A cabbie somewhere is going to get a 50 grand payout?

    boy on a bike

    8 Jan 13 at 10:25 pm

  731. A cabbie somewhere is going to get a 50 grand payout?

    Could be, if Slips tried to access his freckle.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 10:31 pm

  732. Kroger, Joyce, Reith & Tony Windsor’s cousin (for balance).
    That would be a panel worth watching

    Rousie

    8 Jan 13 at 10:31 pm

  733. There is a bunch of NASA people who have spoken out against NASA’s official position on AGW. I wonder if they were reigned in or worse.

    John Mc

    8 Jan 13 at 10:34 pm

  734. “Peter Hannam was the chap that frightened SteveC so, he’s a “Carbon economy editor””

    I detest the way these people frighten the elderly, the frail, and children. It’s just really hideous.

    candy

    8 Jan 13 at 10:36 pm

  735. Uh-oh. Monty’s gorn.

    I hope that does not mean he’s really upset.

    He dresses up in the Einsatzgruppen der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD Standartenführer uniform when he’s really upset…

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 10:37 pm

  736. StevesC report record cold temps in Australia.

    Russia reported record cold.

    A bitter cold snap in Russia has claimed 123 lives in the past 10 days, an official said on Tuesday.

    The early freeze has tested authorities in a country used to notoriously difficult winters.

    Temperatures have plunged as low as -30 C in the Moscow region and -60 C in eastern Siberia.

    “Since the start of the cold, 123 people have died of exposure and frostbite,” a medical source was quoted by the Interfax News Agency as saying.

    Another 833 people had to be hospitalized for hypothermia and frostbite, the source added.

    Since the start of the cold snap, 1,745 people have been affected, and more than 800 have been hospitalized, the source said.

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 10:41 pm

  737. should be in quotes.

    A bitter cold snap in Russia has claimed 123 lives in the past 10 days, an official said on Tuesday.

    The early freeze has tested authorities in a country used to notoriously difficult winters.

    Temperatures have plunged as low as -30 C in the Moscow region and -60 C in eastern Siberia.

    “Since the start of the cold, 123 people have died of exposure and frostbite,” a medical source was quoted by the Interfax News Agency as saying.

    Another 833 people had to be hospitalized for hypothermia and frostbite, the source added.

    Since the start of the cold snap, 1,745 people have been affected, and more than 800 have been hospitalized, the source said.

    It’s over StevesC. It’s doesn’t scare anyone anymore.

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 10:42 pm

  738. JC, you’ve SteveC cry.

    Again.

    Love your work.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 10:46 pm

  739. The attempts of the warmies at the ABC and Fauxfacts to talk up a warm summer are ridiculous and puerile. Very small brains.

    Did any of you lot conceive them?

    Lazlo

    8 Jan 13 at 10:46 pm

  740. JC
    He has about 90 mins left before the cold change comes through.

    Rousie

    8 Jan 13 at 10:49 pm

  741. Record low temps playing havoc with Chinese crops.

    Record cold, smaller crop may make Chinese ginger scarce, pricey

    January 07, 2013

    Record low temps in Northern China.

    http://ntdtv.org/en/news/china/2012-02-06/record-low-temperatures-in-north-china.html

    Record low temps in southern China.

    http://www.china.org.cn/china/Off_the_Wire/2013-01/08/content_27625588.htm

    Hot in Australia while people freezing their nuts off in China and record lows in India too. But then you wouldn’t know about freezing your balls off, StevesC, as you don;t have any.

    http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/comment.html?entrynum=114

    I’m guessing that we won’t be talking about globalar warmening now with the Australian heat wave and the record lows in China, India and Russia. It will be glimate change.

    As I said StevesC. It over. the bullshit doesn’t work any more.

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 10:49 pm

  742. The attempts of the warmies at the ABC and Fauxfacts to talk up a warm summer are ridiculous and puerile. Very small brains.

    Did any of you lot conceive them?

    That’s why not all abortions are a bad thing. You just have to pick your spots.

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 10:51 pm

  743. JC
    He has about 90 mins left before the cold change comes through.

    I’m not even giving him that. No more time with these fucks. It’s over. It’s settled science now :-)

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 10:53 pm

  744. Russia reported record cold.

    wrong. nowhere near a record.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Moscow
    The article doesn’t even mention a record. try harder.

    SteveC

    8 Jan 13 at 10:55 pm

  745. “Extraordinary interview with dog and political corpse Tony Windsor and fellow political corpse Rob Oakeshott …”

    There is no doubt that thing in the Lodge is a dissolute, unscrupulous bitch; but Windsor, with what he says here, is a dead set mongrel dog. The man he was in 1990 would not like what he has become (I dealt with him then over our evil coal mine expansion further south in the valley and he was direct and effective and saw the good sense of not unnecessarily standing in our path).

    The now insignificant and friendless little fellow lies through his teeth and he knows it, but his surly bitterness consumes him so that he can no longer help himself. He negates any good he has done in his life with his craven lies.

    The other bloke is merely card carrying stupid, stupid, stupid. He’ll be 44 when he is booted out and unemployable – a 20 year younger version of that shuffling, mumbling dribbler Senator Albert Field from 1975.

    He’ll be next sighted at the now bypassed Caltex roadhouse at Moorland, all frayed blue overalls and holed boots without laces, sitting on an upturned drum with his window washing squeegee waiting for a car to turn up. Like an incidental museum piece from Cannery Row.

    Mick Gold Coast QLD

    8 Jan 13 at 10:55 pm

  746. He dresses up in the Einsatzgruppen der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD Standartenführer uniform when he’s really upset…

    Like Otto Abetz?

    Grey

    8 Jan 13 at 10:57 pm

  747. oooh!

    JC, SteveC can wiki!

    How impressive’s that?

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 10:59 pm

  748. Better still, why not get your “reliable authority” to discuss the report with the authors and get back to us?

    Newsflash SteveC ….. Your link is not a “report”.
    It is a press release.
    There are hundreds of weather stations across Australia and the press release highlights 20.
    A quick scan shows that one of these is equal to the previous “record” and six are within the 0.25 deg margin of error in recording equipment ( which was more like 0.4 deg back in the 1970′s).
    So what does this press release prove?
    It proves that public servants very rarely show any initiative or enterprise except when grants season is open.

    Leigh Lowe

    8 Jan 13 at 10:59 pm

  749. Wow steveC. Frighteningly below average response there.

    Tiny Dancer

    8 Jan 13 at 11:01 pm

  750. “Could be, if Slips tried to access his freckle.”

    You, Mk50 of Brisbane, are a shocker! :)

    (the roar of laughter here disturbed the tranquility of the breezing palms and the muted background of the surf breaking over there at the Seaway)

    Mick Gold Coast QLD

    8 Jan 13 at 11:01 pm

  751. Nope Mick. He will have to move States. They’ll create a card board cut out of him to roll out at local fetes which the kids will throw eggs at

    Rousie

    8 Jan 13 at 11:01 pm

  752. wrong. nowhere near a record.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Moscow
    The article doesn’t even mention a record. try harder

    Okay StevesC, I’ll try harder. Lets try India

    India Cold

    The northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, where New Delhi is located, continued to suffer from record cold temperatures that have so far claimed the lives of 175 people. Temperatures in New Delhi fell to a low of 1.9°C (35.4°F) on January 6th and the high temperature on January 2nd was just 9.8°C (49.6°F), the coldest daily maximum in 44 years. The coldest temperature at a low elevation site in the state so far has been -0.7°C (30.7°F) at Muzaffarnagar. Narnaul in Haryana State reported -3.0°C (26.7°F) an all-time record cold temperature for the site. In the Himalayan region of Ladakh temperatures fell to -16.4°C (2.5°F) at Kargil.

    India okay or it doesn’t count?

    How about China then?

    China has been experiencing its coldest winter in 28 years so far according to media reports. Since late November the national average has been -3.8°C (25.2°F). The average temperature in normally frigid northeast China (Manchuria) has been even more anomalous at -15.3°C (4.5°F), the coldest for the period in 42 years. Temperatures below -40°C (-40°F) have been reported in Manchuria and far western Xinjiang province (these temperatures are far from record values for the region where the Chinese national absolute minimum temperature of -52.3°C/-62.1°F was measured at Mohe in Heilongjiang Province on February 13, 1962). The Chinese Meteorological Administration reports that 27,000 square kilometers (10,500 square miles) of sea surface has frozen in Bo Hai Bay, the greatest ice extent since records of such began in 2008.

    We can work our way around the globe StevesC if you want to do that, as I’m sure you’ve been too busy with Kimberly, your plastic sex doll over the festive season.

    Look Fuckknuckle, don’t try and fact check me because, like you always do, you end up with a bloody lip.

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 11:02 pm

  753. He’ll be next sighted at the now bypassed Caltex roadhouse at Moorland, all frayed blue overalls and holed boots without laces, sitting on an upturned drum with his window washing squeegee waiting for a car to turn up

    Jeez …. even if the fuel light was on and the engine was coughin’ you’d gun the Commodore straight past the pumps and back onto the the Pacific Highway if you saw Dopeshott sitting in the driveway.

    Leigh Lowe

    8 Jan 13 at 11:04 pm

  754. Hey, I like this game, Ghey!

    According to your ‘reasoning’ current politicians and their parties carry with them the crimes of their ancestors past.

    Cool. That means that the ALP of today remains the same racist pack of sleazy dirtballs who invented and implemented the White Australia Policy. It means the Green-Communists bear responsibility for the Holodomor and all the death camps of the communists over the last century. it means that socialists like you bear direct responsibility for the Shoa and the sheer butchery of the Bloodlands – National Socialism being just one more form of socialism.

    Oh yes, I like this game you started.

    So tell me, my dear socialist Ghey, who is your fave socialist mass-murderer? (I know, I know, SO hard for you to choose between Mao, Stalin and Hitler!) What’s your very own ‘personal best’ pick of the death camps, slave labour camps and gulags?

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 11:08 pm

  755. Plastic sex doll owner, StevesC says wrong, try hard…

    Okay we’ve done India and China, so lets swing back to Russia.

    Europe hit by record-low temperatures

    The European countries have been hit by a spell of unusually cold weather.

    The situation is the worst in the Balkans, where a 30-hour snowfall blocked the roads, snapped the wirers of transmission power line and blacked out entire neighbourhoods.

    Here’s RT talking about the record cold in Russia.

    The coldest ever December has rolled through Russia causing the evacuation of hundreds of people in Siberia, where temperature hit below -50C, and plunging Moscow into its coldest night in the season. Will Christmas lift the frosty spell?

    ­The cold weather that has Russia in its icy embrace has been causing all kinds of havoc. Flights and buses delayed and cancelled, many schools have been closed, and there have been power outages just when power is most needed.

    In the town of Kyshtym, the Urals, 14,000 people are still waiting for the central heating to be restored. On Sunday a break in the central pipe left residents anxiously watching the red line on their home thermometers plunging as temperatures outside slid to -24C (-11F).

    Just over the Urals, a state of emergency has been declared and over 2,800 people were evacuated from the village of Khovu-Aksy, the Republic of Tyva, temperatures there a lethal -38C (-36F). A helicopter was sent to pick up kids and women. Two days into the emergency, authorities are frantically repairing central heating pipes while most of the evacuees are staying with their relatives.

    I don’t expect an apology, StevesC, because I wouldn’t accept. I much prefer giving you a fat lip every time you try to out fact check me, you fucking goose.

    Get the fuck outta here and go post your propaganda somewhere else, you betaized douchebag.

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 11:10 pm

  756. We had snow near Sydney all but 8 or so weeks ago.

    Oh noes, da warmening…

    .

    8 Jan 13 at 11:12 pm

  757. Glad to be of service, Mick!

    How’s the fishing in the seaway right now? (Got the boat going)

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 11:13 pm

  758. No more Mr Nice Guy with these pathologically insane morons dot. I was far far too nice to them in 2012 and my 13 resolution is I’m not playing nice anymore with the Steves twins or the other miscreants that peddle their bullshit here. 2013 is the year of taking scalps and hanging them up in the office as trophies.

    JC

    8 Jan 13 at 11:15 pm

  759. So tell me, my dear socialist Ghey, who is your fave socialist mass-murderer? (I know, I know, SO hard for you to choose between Mao, Stalin and Hitler!

    Having visited the place he was born I would have to say Stalin, although Hitler was the snappier dresser.

    No need to get on the high-horse there MK-50, but you have to agree if there was any politician you could imagine leading a squad through the marshes of Belarus, it would have to be our friend Erich.

    Fair is fair – I could imagine Penny Wong being an NKVD commissar.

    Grey

    8 Jan 13 at 11:16 pm

  760. Jump

    It’s to do with airbags (and seat belts). Little kids can be killed by the passenger airbag.

    In NSW it’s been the law for a long time that kids under a certain age cannot travel in the front seat of a vehicle.

    kae

    8 Jan 13 at 11:25 pm

  761. Another Stalinist with the hots fot Hitler as well.

    Aah, the Australian lefty. They are far too viciously small minded and enfeebled of intelelct to ever change….

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    8 Jan 13 at 11:25 pm

  762. Jump, I think the other reason children are not allowed to sit in the front seat is that modern cars now have air bags and they are designed to deploy against an adult size body. Children sustain a greater chance of injury from the air bag.
    Aside from this children have a better chance of survival if they are in the rear seats especially in a head on.
    It’s not nanny state rules just minimising risk. Our kids have always only sat in the back for these two reasons not because of a law but common sense.
    The same goes for our ability to not run over our kids in the driveway, drown in the pool, get burnt by unattended stove cooking, drink poison, hang themselves on blind cords, suffocate on toys, and leave them to die in a heated car while ducking into the supermarket.

    Splatacrobat

    8 Jan 13 at 11:26 pm

  763. Nikita Roxon makes a perfect Rosa Kleb. Albo’s teeth give his identity away as being a Stazi agent 3rd class.

    Splatacrobat

    8 Jan 13 at 11:39 pm

  764. Julia Gillard is a negotiator …

    Ahahahahahahahahaha.

    C.L.

    8 Jan 13 at 11:54 pm

  765. Well, the British flag is no longer flown in north Ireland. So it looks like we won.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 12:03 am

  766. If you missed it, Nick Cater had a brilliant and amusing piece in The Australian last week on the hilarious mythology invented re the ‘costs’ of smoking.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 12:05 am

  767. “How’s the fishing in the seaway right now?”

    I am disconsolate – je suis désolé.

    Too much work makes Mick a customer at the fabulous Sunnybank Asian fish markets 60 kilometres away and too infrequent a visitor with the beloved beach rod a couple of kilometres around the other side of the Broadwater!

    You can have that boat fishing stuff Mk50 – I went once off Moolooloolooloo-abah and got a headache from concentrating on a level plane of sight to the horizon. Look down to bait up and I’m as a seven year old throwing up in the back seat of the car.

    Mick Gold Coast QLD

    9 Jan 13 at 12:18 am

  768. CL. Check this out and you’ll see who I’m a bit worried by the observable trends in the US. This is the sort of cold, rational warning ‘spelling it out in short sentences’ stuff that I cannot recall seeing anywhere even ten years ago.

    Complete bullshit, Mk50. This sort of rubbish is always on the Internet but it means nothing. You don’t see a dozen Wacos happen every time a Democrat gets elected.

    What’s the end point of your line of thinking, anyway? What should Obama do in the face of armed resistance by good ole ex-SEALs in the boonies? Pull back on the assault weapons issue lest he waken a sleeping militia of wannabe Wolverines and Sarah Connors? Change his policy for fear of being assassinated? Cower at the prospect of a Million Minutemen March of tea partiers wielding AR15s, taking the White House by force?

    In a sane, rational society, that’s the sort of thing that would lead people not to agree with the crazy gun lobby. Yet you’re on their side. What does that say about you, Mk50? Why are you associating with these loons?

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 12:44 am

  769. No more Mr Nice Guy with these pathologically insane morons dot. I was far far too nice to them in 2012 and my 13 resolution is I’m not playing nice anymore with the Steves twins or the other miscreants that peddle their bullshit here. 2013 is the year of taking scalps and hanging them up in the office as trophies.

    You’ve been saying that for years, JC, but you continue to be Catallaxy’s resident kindly old uncle.

    squawkbox

    9 Jan 13 at 12:53 am

  770. monty

    Why have the DHS and ICE ordered over a billion live .40 S&W cal rounds?

    Even the USDA has ordered 326 000 rounds of ammunition? Are they going to put down sick cows?

    http://www.infowars.com/dhs-to-purchase-another-750-million-rounds-of-ammo/

    If you think Obama isn’t confrontational he is at least stupid. Is he going to ramp up the counterproductive drug war, or boost GDP by allowing arms profiteering, funded by magical platnium coins the US Government pays itself with.

    Maybe they’re just engaging in bureacratic empire building, getting what they can before the fiscal cliff (which nears again in a few months).

    At best it is unchecked departmental spending and bureacracy gone wild.

    Likely it is part of a some stupid drug war initiative of Obama.

    Unlikely, but plausible, is Obama expects confrontation.

    The ICE and DHS have 260 000 employees. Why do they need 4230 rounds per employee, even desk jockeys? Is Obama forward planning for two decades?

    On those numbers, they would beat most police and soldiers on the range.

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 1:01 am

  771. Monty, you’re a happily-disarmed sheepletard chucklehead who doesn’t understand the issue in the slightest.

    That’s okay, but it makes you look pretty ridiculous when you still insist on spewing forth on it.

    Excellent, thoughtful, well-reasoned comment up there at 6:58, MK50. I just chucked a link to it to a friend.

    sdog

    9 Jan 13 at 1:04 am

  772. Under Obama even the IRS has a SWAT team. This drone-addicted loony makes Chavez look like a progressive. He dispatched literal brown-shirts to arrest a film-maker. Now, having personally caused assault rifles to be used in the killing of hundreds south of the Rio Grande, he’s making noises about disarming Americans.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 1:18 am

  773. Whatever happened to Obama’s internet kill switch?

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 1:20 am

  774. C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 1:21 am

  775. The Human Riff – often armed, always dangerous:

    “When I hit my ball it hooked into the trees, ricocheted – and landed smack dab in the middle of his breakfast. So he shot it (with a gun). He’s standing there on his patio with a pistol in his hand and smoke coming out of the muzzle.”

    Keith Richards Took Aim At Bandmate Over Golf Drama.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 1:26 am

  776. The life and times of an airhead.

    THE Sydney Morning Herald environment editor Ben Cubby recounts his heroic role uncovering a hoax yesterday:

    THE plan to issue a hoax letter about ANZ funding Whitehaven Coal was cooked up last week … Mr Moylan played a key part … including impersonating an ANZ spokesman when contacted by Fairfax. Mr Moylan, an Esperanto speaker and French translator, had rehearsed some polished lines about ANZ’s corporate responsibility to impersonate Mr Kent. In the event, only Fairfax called the mobile phone number on the fake press release to check the story.

    But who tweeted the hoax announcement without checking? Cubby’s Twitter splash on Monday:

    ANZ withdraws its $1.2bill loan facility from Whitehaven Coal, who propose to dig coal at Maules Creek NSW #coal reports @bencubby

    Cubby tweets later on Monday:

    WOW. Ok, im now being told the Maules Creek-ANZ “announcement” is a *very* elaborate hoax. Apologies if anyone has been misled. Will update.

    Still taken in? Cubby again on Monday:

    SPOKE to fake ANZ “head of corporate sustainability”, who was pretty convincing. If anyone knows who is responsible, email bcubby@ smh.com.au

    And who really uncovered the hoax? Stephen Murray tweets to Cubby, Monday:

    THE mobile number given on the fake ANZ release is connected to a “Jonathan Moylan” Front Line Action on Coal.

    Maybe it’s justified? Cubby again on Monday:

    FRONTLINE Action on Coal says the ANZ hoax ie lying to the public is justified by environmental concerns over coal. What do you reckon?

    Guess who thinks so. Lee Rhiannon tweets yesterday:

    CONGRATS to Jonathan Moylan, Frontline Action on Coal, for exposing ANZ investment in coalmines. http://bit.ly/UEgZrX @MaulesCreek

    More spin. Cubby in the SMH yesterday:

    AN inaccurate story about ANZ’s supposed pullout from the coal project was written for the AAP news wire, and versions of the story quickly appeared on major news websites.

    Which websites? Fairfax websites on Monday:

    WHITEHAVEN loses Maules Creek funding.

    Andrew Crook of Crikey asks Cubby yesterday on Twitter:

    WHY do you publish AAP stories without checking the facts?

    More unsubstantiated reporting. Cubby, Fairfax papers, July 31, 2012:

    A PROMINENT Australian sceptics’ group, the Galileo Movement … features broadcaster Alan Jones as its patron and lists prominent sceptics Ian Plimer and Bob Carter and blogger Andrew Bolt as advisers … Mr Roberts said climate change science had been captured by “some of the major banking families in the world” who form a “tight-knit cabal”.

    Mike Carlton, SMH, August 4, 2012:

    AUSTRALIA’S very own Galileo Movement of crackpot deniers (patron Alan Jones, booster-in-chief Andrew Bolt) fears that evil forces are at work. The Galileo manager, Malcolm Roberts, assured the Herald’s environment editor, Ben Cubby, this week that climate science had been captured by “some of the major banking families in the world” who form “a tight-knit cabal”. In Rightspeak, I understand, that’s code for the Great Jewish Conspiracy …

    Andrew Bolt blogs, August 6, 2012:

    I NOTE The Age has loved associating me with this movement and these comments, without going to the bother of asking me what my association really was. Only too delighted for the chance to smear … I’ve never advised (the Galileo Movement) and would never want to. I am offended to be linked to (to them).

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 1:32 am

  777. Under Obama even the IRS has a SWAT team.

    And the Department of Education.

    Welcome to Obama’s America.

    sdog

    9 Jan 13 at 1:33 am

  778. how’s those yanks and Chinese going with their climate change action you were sooooooo convinced they were going to take?. You must be pissed off. You had them following us and they just shat on you. Fancy that.

    I believe the programmatic specific term is ‘rat fuckers’ and they ‘rat fuck’ you.

    brc

    9 Jan 13 at 1:33 am

  779. So Obama insisted the Department of Education have a SWAT team but it’s the NRA that’s wacko for advocating armed guards at schools?

    Riiii-iiiight.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 1:46 am

  780. So Obama insisted the Department of Education have a SWAT team but it’s the NRA that’s wacko for advocating armed guards at schools?

    Obama’s all about the saving the kiddies from vicious, dangerous criminals, CL:

    According to Wright, officers also woke his three young children ages 3, 7, and 11 and put them in a Stockton police patrol car with him. Officers then searched his house.

    As it turned out, the person law enforcement was looking for was not there – Wright’s estranged wife.

    “They put me in handcuffs in that hot patrol car for six hours, traumatizing my kids,” Wright said.

    Wright said he later went to the mayor and Stockton Police Department, but the City of Stockton had nothing to do with Wright’s search warrant.

    The U.S. Department of Education issued the search and called in the S.W.A.T for his wife’s defaulted student loans.

    sdog

    9 Jan 13 at 1:51 am

  781. Let’s hope that the Keystone Cops aka the AFP manage to get the Musselman a little drop-the-soap time. A fitting end to half a “working” lifetime on the public teat.

    H B Bear

    9 Jan 13 at 1:51 am

  782. Missed the blues thread.

    Gab, check out the Fabulous Thunderbird’s first three albums: Girls Go Wild, What’s the Word? and Butt Rockin’.

    Lots of texas shuffles, swampy Louisiana, greasey Chicago and R&B stuff. Jimmie Lee Vaughan on guitar and the greatest harmonica player alive, Kim Wilson.

    Abu Chowdah

    9 Jan 13 at 3:57 am

  783. In fact, see if you can find Kim Wilson’s solo album “My Blues”. Fabulous stuff.

    Oh, and another you should check out is John Nemeth’s “Name The Day”. Check it out – you will thank me. Dude is a young white guy from Idaho, now in LA, and he is AMAZING.

    Abu Chowdah

    9 Jan 13 at 4:04 am

  784. John H.

    9 Jan 13 at 4:24 am

  785. JC’s New Year Resolution:

    “No more Mr Nice Guy with these pathologically insane morons dot. I was far far too nice to them in 2012 and my 13 resolution is I’m not playing nice anymore with the Steves twins or the other miscreants that peddle their bullshit here. 2013 is the year of taking scalps and hanging them up in the office as trophies.”

    Shouldn’t they go straight to the poolroom, JC?

    johanna

    9 Jan 13 at 6:10 am

  786. Andrew Bolt blogs, August 6, 2012:

    I NOTE The Age has loved associating me with this movement and these comments, without going to the bother of asking me what my association really was. Only too delighted for the chance to smear … I’ve never advised (the Galileo Movement) and would never want to. I am offended to be linked to (to them).

    At least he’s got some sense.

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 6:28 am

  787. Wolfram in that piece seems to be overly concerned with the formal systems and languages for describing mathematics, rather than the underlying concepts, something Gauss called a mistake.

    He mentioned Godel’s theorem, and as is too common with those who mention it, overstates its impact.

    The language of mathematics may be an artefect, but the concepts are not.

    Regarding sets of axioms, whether a particular axiom applies is a question for science, with mathematics only dealing with the consequences if it does. For example, the axiom of choice only applies in some circumstances. Mathematics alone can not be used to determine what those circumstances are; but science can answer that question.

    2dogs

    9 Jan 13 at 6:31 am

  788. If you think Obama isn’t confrontational he is at least stupid.

    Your line of reasoning, Dot, assumes that all these backwoods hicks with extensive personal arsenals are a given part of the landscape, and it would be Obama’s own damn fault if he just happened to be walking into space where these good ole boys were shooting.

    No, actually, if someone does form an armed militia to bring down the US government out of the remnants of the tea party failure, that would not be upholding the constitution. That would be treason. No patriot should do anything but denounce that, or treat it as a valid part of political discourse.

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 6:36 am

  789. The Greens’ recent announcement that they were adopting policies designed to make them appear to be a responsible member of the Australian government alliance was, of course, bullshit:

    The Greens leader, Senator Christine Milne, has endorsed a controversial hoax by an anti-coal activist, saying his actions were ‘’part of a long and proud history of civil disobedience, potentially breaking the law, to highlight something wrong’’.

    The leader of Australia’s mad dog leftwing government hasn’t said a word about the hoax, while blaming the bushfire arson in Tasmania on climate change. Australia is now a pariah nation for international business.

    Tom

    9 Jan 13 at 7:07 am

  790. The U.S. Department of Education issued the search and called in the S.W.A.T for his wife’s defaulted student loans.

    Only the beginning I suspect… but slapping people around a bit has always been OK for governments. At least no one got shot, that’s what makes the news.

    Tel

    9 Jan 13 at 7:29 am

  791. Miranda Devine on the stupid greens in Tassie, now reaping what they’ve sewn:

    Forestry Tasmania and timber company Gunns used to carefully manage their bits of forest and ensure fuel loads were kept at reasonable levels in order to protect their investment. When fires inevitably broke out their logging contractors had the equipment, know-how, and manpower to lay firebreaks and control the flames.

    But the two organisations have been virtually destroyed by Greens determined to lock up forest as wilderness, ironically, all the better for total destruction by bushfire.

    Forestry Tasmania has been under fierce attack from Tasmania’s Labor-Greens Coalition government, which plans to split it in two and bring it under the control of the Environment Department.

    This victory for the Greens led to the resignation of Forestry Tasmania senior executive Ken Jeffreys last year after he sent a fiery email to staff saying the government planned “a public execution for Forestry Tasmania”.

    Gunns, once one of the best performing companies in Australia, has suffered an even worse fate, entering into voluntary administration in September after a relentless campaign of eco-terrorism and greenmail that led institutional investors to dump the shares – and Japanese customers to flee Tasmania.

    It’s been a complete victory for the Greens.

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 8:00 am

  792. Tired of Lakemba? How about moving to Riverstone?

    It’s 100% halal and infidels are welcome.

    nilk

    9 Jan 13 at 8:01 am

  793. Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 8:03 am

  794. SteveC.

    Darwin zero.

    Mk50.

    The Escalator.

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 8:21 am

  795. RE: 50% off New Year Sales offer
    .

    Dear ABC

    Are you sick of having to use one word to describe bushfires? Tired of the same old “catastrophic” adjective? Well then, have I got a deal for you!

    As our New Year’s gift to you, the following words are on sale:

    annihilative, baleful, baneful, calamitous, cataclysmic, consumptive, damaging, deadly, deleterious, detrimental, dire, disastrous, eradicative, extirpative, fatal, harmful, lethal, lethiferous, mortal, pernicious, ruinous.

    But hurry. This offer won’t last!!

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 8:23 am

  796. m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 8:25 am

  797. …if someone does form an armed militia to bring down the US government out of the remnants of the tea party failure

    Now that’s highly likely. And if Shane Warne became the POTUS……

    Is there something in the doughnuts that you’re not telling us?

    Tiny Dancer

    9 Jan 13 at 8:25 am

  798. I am always amused that your avatar is filled with swastikas, TD.

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 8:28 am

  799. Well I’m off to the movies, so when I get back I expect the answer to;
    WHERE ARE THE LIBERTARIAN WOMEN?

    M’kay. :)

    jumpnmcar

    9 Jan 13 at 8:39 am

  800. I am always amused that your avatar is filled with swastikas, TD.

    Doctor Freud, I think we a case of someone seeing something they want to see…

    Token

    9 Jan 13 at 9:03 am

  801. Tired of Lakemba? How about moving to Riverstone?

    It’s 100% halal and infidels are welcome.

    Listening to state member on 2GB this morning, he can’t figure how a developer could be advertising for blocks selling at $75K, regardless of the faith the person follows.

    Token

    9 Jan 13 at 9:08 am

  802. Well I’m off to the movies, so when I get back I expect the answer to;
    WHERE ARE THE LIBERTARIAN WOMEN?

    I was somewhat distracted by that woman’s blue tongue.

    The answer is that libertarians associate too much with conservatives, who have an agenda to restrict female freedoms and can’t engage with feminism with anything more constructive than insults, as Skwire says. Borowitz has internalised conservative put-downs of women, as many women at the Cat have, and regurgitated them in that video complete with blaming the women for their free choices. That kind of aggro would tend to turn off most women.

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 9:09 am

  803. Your line of reasoning, Dot, assumes that all these backwoods hicks with extensive personal arsenals are a given part of the landscape, and it would be Obama’s own damn fault if he just happened to be walking into space where these good ole boys were shooting.

    No, actually, if someone does form an armed militia to bring down the US government out of the remnants of the tea party failure, that would not be upholding the constitution. That would be treason. No patriot should do anything but denounce that, or treat it as a valid part of political discourse.

    My line of reasoning?

    monty

    Explain the acquisition of a billion plus bullets by depts for LEOs who basically never let a shot off.

    I’ve given three explanations that have nothing to do with anyone trying to overthrow the Government.

    The first one is Obama has no control over departmental spending. The second one is he is continuing policies that have failed for decades. The third is he actually seeks to govern unconstitutionally and is preparing for a confrontation.

    No, actually, if someone does form an armed militia to bring down the US government out of the remnants of the tea party failure, that would not be upholding the constitution.

    Wow, this is libellous.

    The liberty loving civilians are only ever going to throw it all away if the Government starts outright oppressing them.

    Wouldn’t you? If Gillard started acting like Pinochet or Huggy Chavez, would you still back her like? Of course not!

    They’re not going to start anything, you smearing, self righteous prick.

    Explain the 1.2 billion extra bullets. GO!!!

    Again, why do these half arsed coppers need an average over 4600 extra bullets each, paticularly when most of DHS are desk jockeys?

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 9:16 am

  804. Gillard has been put on notice by a union that has a track record getting ALP leaders they don’t like sacked:

    A RIGHT-WING union has warned that the push by politicians to relax standards on when electricity infrastructure needed to be built would put undue pressure on the network during future heatwaves.
    Effectively attacking Julia Gillard’s crackdown on “gold plating” of the state power systems that has driven up prices, Electrical Trades Union NSW Steve Butler said plans to reduce network reliability and investment would be bad for residents and business owners on the hottest days of the year.

    Token

    9 Jan 13 at 9:18 am

  805. “gold plating”. gillard is an idiot. And that has nothing to do with her gender.

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 9:20 am

  806. If Gillard started acting like Pinochet or Huggy Chavez

    Started? That horse has already bolted.

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 9:22 am

  807. The third is he actually seeks to govern unconstitutionally and is preparing for a confrontation.

    [...]

    The liberty loving civilians are only ever going to throw it all away if the Government starts outright oppressing them.

    Wouldn’t you? If Gillard started acting like Pinochet or Huggy Chavez, would you still back her like? Of course not!

    You do realise, Dot, that preppers are actually batshit crazy? The populace is not in an arms race with the government, honour bound to match ordnance with the ATF for the final showdown. That’s not how sane countries work.

    You’re prone to latching onto whatever half-arsed conspiracy theory you read from loony sites, Dot, but even this one should be a bridge too far. Then again, this is you we’re talking about. You believe in some wacky stuff.

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 9:23 am

  808. The answer is that libertarians associate too much with conservatives, who have an agenda to restrict female freedoms

    Like what? Making people pay for abortions themselves?

    How, is a free abortion under any circumstances a right of adults who take responsibility for themselves?

    and can’t engage with feminism with anything more constructive than insults, as Skwire says

    Yeah right. People like Illana Mercer and Virginia Postrel are not real and Cass Wilkinson has never advocated a moderately libertarian position in the Australian media and isn’t a guest pseaker at the LDP conference…Sabine Herold never led rallies in Paris…

    http://reason.com/archives/2003/10/01/liberty-belle

    Borowitz has internalised conservative put-downs of women, as many women at the Cat have, and regurgitated them in that video complete with blaming the women for their free choices. That kind of aggro would tend to turn off most women.

    That would be why Gillard hired that comedian to put down Credlin?

    Fuckhead.

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 9:35 am

  809. Jump, read and watched that link. Oh my, you are asking for trouble here.

    It’s true that most women are hookwinked to some extent by leftie media aimed at normalising for women a left view on relationships, marriage, ‘entitlement’, a ‘gender gap’, biological ‘equality’ and political affiliation (conservative is a dirty word, etc). I have pointed this out often enough on the Cat – be serious about it guys, it is a political problem.

    But that is hardly the whole story. Women also have a lived experience and some of that is hard lived and hard to bear. From that experience (which starts young btw), a very different perspective can emerge, questionning the above received wisdoms and rebelling against them, against their easy seduction and ubiquity. It hasn’t actually been like that, women think to themselves. They talk around and find out others also feel cheated by mass media spin and manipulations about values and lifestyles. All while we still like that $50 mascara and a well-cut jacket – that’s our choice, btw, little lady in the clip; stop with the anti-consumer rave please, that’s not very libertarian either.

    Values – motherhood, a male partner, life-long relationships, commitment, a moral compass – yes, bring these back to women’s lives via the female mass media please. And a lot more besides. Just don’t denigrate us. That is what lefties do.

    From what I can see, women have always been good rebels, quick with the bullsh*t detectors, especially in guerilla-type actions within the domestic sphere and beyond it.

    We have centuries of fighting for real liberty behind us, and won’t let those achievements be taken from us by the thoughtless and directive culture of leftism. Scratch our backs (mmmm… nice) and you will find plenty of us are libertarians.

    There are some excellent freedom-fighting gurrrls of all ages and styles on this blog, for instance.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    9 Jan 13 at 9:41 am

  810. You do realise, Dot, that preppers are actually batshit crazy? The populace is not in an arms race with the government, honour bound to match ordnance with the ATF for the final showdown. That’s not how sane countries work.

    You’re prone to latching onto whatever half-arsed conspiracy theory you read from loony sites, Dot, but even this one should be a bridge too far. Then again, this is you we’re talking about. You believe in some wacky stuff.

    monty

    I don’t believe in any crazy stuff.

    Basically, Obama is incompetent and he is scaring old people.

    The populace is not in an arms race with the government, honour bound to match ordnance with the ATF for the final showdown. That’s not how sane countries work.

    So why do they need so many bullets? Most of DHS are like ASIO and MI-5 and will never even be in a situation where they will need to be armed let alone draw or discharge their weapon.

    Maybe you’re just better off if you admit Obama is incompetent. He has no control over departmental budgets.

    You just can’t eat a shit sandwich, even when it’s topped with BBQ sauce.

    You are implying that the Government should go out and buy more ammunition than it will ever need, and this ratio against civilian arms is a good thing, but nonetheless, no conclusions should be drawn from it.

    “Shut up, that’s why”

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 9:43 am

  811. You believe in some wacky stuff.

    Obama believes the CIA invented AIDS.

    Interesting to see that Monty supports Obama’s new SWAT teams, by the way.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 9:44 am

  812. Tough Australian gun laws going well:

    Teenage boy robbed at gunpoint.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 9:46 am

  813. mOron, do you snort sugar as well as plough through the doughnuts? Your eyesight is rubbish or your brain is telling you shit. See a doctor. Then a psych and don’t forget to do your centrelink diary.

    Tiny Dancer

    9 Jan 13 at 9:49 am

  814. You believe in some wacky stuff.

    Obama believes the CIA invented AIDS.

    Lawl. Yes, little old dot believes in crazy stuff. Perhaps I could go to Rev. Wright’s church for a while for some “attitude readjustment”.

    Hahaha. You fucking fat clown monty.

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 9:53 am

  815. Unfortunately, as predicted the ALP/Greens crusade to increase energy prices is causing the deaths of elderly Australians. Ian Yates in the Aus today explains:

    In the 2009 Victorian heatwave there was a 64 per cent increase in deaths, with the largest increase among people over 75.

    There has been a giant leap in electricity prices since then and the scary reality is that many will be forced into making a choice between food and air-conditioning. Then we could see even more otherwise preventable deaths.

    With a bit of analysis it is clear this regressive reactionary AGW cult has found a way to make the life on a fixed income impossible:

    By mid-year electricity prices will have climbed a whopping 40 per cent since the same time in 2010, and household bills are skyrocketing despite electricity consumption plunging downwards.

    All electricity users are going to be doing it a bit tougher staying cool and making ends meet. But for older Australians, the implications are worse.

    The reasons why are pretty straightforward. Older Australians usually spend more time at home and rely more on their residential energy supply than younger people, who spend part of their day at work or school.

    Older Australians are also more likely than others to make sacrifices and forgo other activities to make sure their bills are paid in full and on time, and to cut back on consumption to reduce the bill itself.

    Most retirees are dependent on fixed incomes that haven’t increased enough to make the rising costs affordable.

    While electricity bills have risen 40 per cent the aged pension will have increased just 11 per cent for single people and 4 per cent for couples. For self-funded retirees, low interest rates mean income from their savings has actually decreased.

    This means older Australians are also less able to afford measures to improve the energy efficiency of their home, such as replacing old fridges or electric hot water systems, or to take advantage of solar generation opportunities, measures of great benefit to consumers who are in a financial position to act.

    Token

    9 Jan 13 at 9:54 am

  816. …and monty, you clueless, stupid, incompetent oxygen waster…whilst you are too stupid to operate chopsticks without inflicting self harm…

    The internet isn’t the real world. There are a lot of older women who are members of the LDP and go to the conferences. They think the internet is venal and appeals to 0.1% of the population who don’t count.

    They’re sort of right, of course, facebook couldn’t even get Alan Jones to shut up.

    So with some facts provided, libertarianism doesn’t have an image problem at all.

    But but…Mia Friedman!

    ???

    People only listen to her because she’s a MILF. She’s an airhead.

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 9:57 am

  817. I don’t believe in any crazy stuff.

    LOL, you’re the most active conspiracy nut on this site. If one escapee from the loony bin living out back of Okefenokee Swamp with a Web site designed in the 1990s believes it, you’re on board.

    So why do they need so many bullets?

    Why do you care, Dot? Do you think they’re going to shoot civilians for voting Republican? Why are you arguing the same line as crazy preppers?

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 9:57 am

  818. You’re replying to yourself, Dot. Not a healthy sign, that.

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 9:58 am

  819. LOL, you’re the most active conspiracy nut on this site. If one escapee from the loony bin living out back of Okefenokee Swamp with a Web site designed in the 1990s believes it, you’re on board.

    Please list one conspiracy theory I believe in you bloated, putrefying, libellous sack of rotting pigshit.

    So why do they need so many bullets?

    Answer the fucking question. Mine is Obama has no impulse control since he never had a real job.

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 10:00 am

  820. You’re replying to yourself, Dot. Not a healthy sign, that.

    Not only are you a libellous, dishonest moron, you’re also a coward, monty.

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 10:01 am

  821. The answer is that libertarians associate too much with conservatives, who have an agenda to restrict female freedoms

    Like what? Making people pay for abortions themselves?

    How, is a free abortion under any circumstances a right of adults who take responsibility for themselves?

    That is not the entirety of the conservative agenda, Dot, and you know it. “Safe, legal and rare” includes the word “rare”. If it was just about getting government out of abortion and nowt else, that would be one thing. Conservatives want to ban most abortions as they are currently performed. How can women engage with libertarians when they hang out with the likes of Akin and Mourdock? They can’t hold their nose and speak at the same time for very long.

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 10:03 am

  822. People only listen to her because she’s a MILF. She’s an airhead.

    I don’t know Dot. There seems to be a plague of early 40 women who write the shyte with the same theme at FauxFacts and NewsCorp.

    Following on from our discussion on IVF, women without children in the 35-45 band (which Obama targeted successfully) are really are some of the most selfish, whiny and annoying statist you can find.

    Friedman, the GalQuada teams at SMH/Age & The Punch, Le Marquand at the Tele & O’Brien at the Hun seem to be paid a lot of money to write the same ME, ME, ME, ME themed articles each week.

    Token

    9 Jan 13 at 10:07 am

  823. That is not the entirety of the conservative agenda, Dot, and you know it. “Safe, legal and rare” includes the word “rare”.

    BILL. FUCKING. CLINTON.

    Democrats hate women! What’s the monty agenda? Widespread? Numerous? Regular abortions, paid for by everyone else?

    . Conservatives want to ban most abortions as they are currently performed.

    Conservatives is the operative word. Libertarians would change incentives, just like ole Bubba said to.

    How can women engage with libertarians when they hang out with the likes of Akin and Mourdock?

    They were thoroughly reviled here.

    How you are conflating “safe, rare an legal” with “rape miscarriages”?

    You have to be mentally retarded to be this dumb.

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 10:15 am

  824. women without children in the 35-45 band (which Obama targeted successfully) are really are some of the most selfish, whiny and annoying statist you can find.

    Hilariously, this blog continues to blame “damaged women” for the Romney loss.

    Catallaxy does seem to attract more women lately – I suppose a club in which to be bitchy (to put it mildly) about other women (lefty ones) has its appeal to some.

    steve from brisbane

    9 Jan 13 at 10:17 am

  825. Please list one conspiracy theory I believe in

    Hmm, abiotic oil, does that ring a bell? “Warmening”, “Gillard is going to gaol” etc.

    From an open thread back in August:

    Shorten, Trio, Roxon, Gillard, Ludwig, Wilson, Williamson, Thomson, Jackson and Blewitt are all crooks.

    They are all guilty of serious indictable offences.

    [...]

    I’ve shown you documented examples of fraud, tax evasion, intimidation, unwarranted demands, perverting the course of justice, embezzlement and receive and handle stolen monies.

    LOL Dot, you’re a clown. It’s great fun googling “Dennis Dotto site:catallaxyfiles.com”, so much fail of yours to enjoy once again.

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 10:19 am

  826. LOL,

    Am I being lectured about women by the same Steve from Brisbane that threatened to hit Gab?

    Token

    9 Jan 13 at 10:22 am

  827. How can women engage with libertarians when they hang out with the likes of Akin and Mourdock?

    Evidence?

    Sinclair Davidson

    9 Jan 13 at 10:22 am

  828. Oh bullshit Token – a joke “threat” that people here have dined out on for years.

    steve from brisbane

    9 Jan 13 at 10:23 am

  829. Abiotic oil is not a conspiracy theory, fuckwit. I found refereed journal articles on it. Did you do many geology subjects in your communications degree?

    “Gillard is going to gaol”

    Possibly. Slipper being charged with fraud by the AFP shocked even me.

    Shorten, Trio, Roxon, Gillard, Ludwig, Wilson, Williamson, Thomson, Jackson and Blewitt are all crooks.

    They are all guilty of serious indictable offences.

    Entirely true, on public record and they are incapable of defending themselves.

    Thomson, Gillard and Williamson are obviously criminals.

    None of these statements are actually a conspiracy theory monty.

    Now you’ve basically proven you’re also illiterate.

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 10:23 am

  830. Actually I didn’t find the threat of hitting me in the face humourous. I was appalled that sfb’s immediate response to my disagreeing with his views was to resort to threats of violence. Like it was a natural thing for him to do.

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 10:27 am

  831. . – no angry pills. Take a deep breath and count to 100 or maybe 1000 before putting fingertip to keyboard.

    Sinclair Davidson

    9 Jan 13 at 10:29 am

  832. Oh bullshit Token – a joke “threat” that people here have dined out on for years.

    How appalling. You show no remorse.

    Token

    9 Jan 13 at 10:29 am

  833. What’s the monty agenda? Widespread? Numerous? Regular abortions, paid for by everyone else?

    Freedom and liberty for women to make independent decisions. Argue against that, Dot, if you will.

    Conservatives is the operative word. Libertarians would change incentives, just like ole Bubba said to.

    Yes, but in America the Libertarian Party is irrelevant, so if you want to vote for a libertarian you have to vote Republican… but the problem is all those conservatives in the GOP who control the party’s social agenda. That’s my point, that’s why women don’t associate with libertarians. The movement (as they see it) is too enmeshed in the GOP superstructure, reliant on conservatives in a coalition that women dislike.

    Pro-choice women liked Bubba and voted for him in huge numbers. Clinton vetoed a big bill banning partial birth abortion and required Medicaid to fund abortions for poor women, so I’m not sure your argument stands up in terms of actual policy outcomes either.

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 10:29 am

  834. Evidence?

    Many noted libertarians are members of the GOP caucus. Akin and Mourdock were selected to run for the GOP to join them. What more evidence do you need of the nexus between libertarianism and conservatism in the Republican Party?

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 10:32 am

  835. includes the word “rare”.

    I would read this as ‘rare’ in a policy sense, because of adequate contraception, a father sticking around, and because of a bit of thought by parents about what ‘getting rid of’ a baby actually means. Not a bad policy aim, even if we are at this stage a long way off achieving it.

    As has been pointed out here often, it is second and third trimester abortions that really disgust voters (all with a human conscience anyway) rather than a ‘morning after’ pill or similar technologies. The politics of change should focus on these obviously distressing later-term abortions whenever the word ‘rare’ comes up.

    I know this will sound immoral to many committed Catholics (and others) who argue the sacredness of all human life from conception on, and I apologise for that; nor do I wish to engage in further discussion about it although others may. I am merely pointing to the politics of circumstance.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    9 Jan 13 at 10:35 am

  836. Freedom and liberty for women to make independent decisions. Argue against that, Dot, if you will.

    So you have the libertarian position on abortion?

    Bullshit.

    You have conflated Akin with Clinton. You’re just full of shit.

    “nexus”

    More bullshit and interference being run.

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 10:38 am

  837. . – no angry pills. Take a deep breath and count to 100 or maybe 1000 before putting fingertip to keyboard.

    I consider what monty said today to be the work of either a libellous turd or a poor fucking retard.

    You allow him to post here. So be it.

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 10:39 am

  838. So M0nty has not evidence and does not have the character to retract a stupid statement.

    Take 5 M0nty and if it brings you enjoyment, take the time to look for swastikas in random patterns.

    Token

    9 Jan 13 at 10:39 am

  839. Abiotic oil is not a conspiracy theory, fuckwit. I found refereed journal articles on it.

    There are also such articles on 9/11 conspiracy and AGW conspiracy. Doesn’t make them right.

    Entirely true, on public record and they are incapable of defending themselves.

    Thomson, Gillard and Williamson are obviously criminals.

    None of these statements are actually a conspiracy theory monty.

    So why haven’t they been charged and gaoled if the cases are so open-and-shut, Dennis Dotto? How can you explain that without recourse to conspiracy theory?

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 10:40 am

  840. Freedom and liberty for women to make independent decisions. Argue against that, Dot

    Only a sick person would associate “Freedmon & Liberty” with the taking of human life.

    Token

    9 Jan 13 at 10:41 am

  841. So you have the libertarian position on abortion?

    Bullshit.

    The “libertarian position on abortion” means different things to different people, I don’t think you can say non-controversially that it’s this or that. After all, the archetypal libertarian Ron Paul is pro-life.

    But yes, I am pro-choice, and if you conflate that with libertarianism, then so be it.

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 10:44 am

  842. Oh good. Another bang-up argument over abortion. Don’t see too many of those around here.

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 10:46 am

  843. How can women engage with libertarians when they hang out with the likes of Akin and Mourdock?

    Obama hangs out with Planned Parenthood – which deliberately targets minorities for death and was founded by a crypto-nazi. Obama also believes in murdering newborns who’ve had the temerity to survive abortion.

    How can women engage with a closet nazi like Obama?

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 10:49 am

  844. How can women engage with a closet nazi like Obama?

    Because most are not dishonest and ideologically twisters of fact like you?

    steve from brisbane

    9 Jan 13 at 10:52 am

  845. ideologically driven …

    steve from brisbane

    9 Jan 13 at 10:52 am

  846. Ah good, the calm, soothing vice of the Currency Lad. Now we’ll all get along.

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 10:52 am

  847. Oops, I did mean voice…

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 10:53 am

  848. Abiotic oil is not a conspiracy theory, fuckwit. I found refereed journal articles on it.

    There are also such articles on 9/11 conspiracy and AGW conspiracy. Doesn’t make them right.

    You are so dishonest it is sickening. Everyone can see through these cheap rhetorical tricks.

    So why haven’t they been charged and gaoled if the cases are so open-and-shut, Dennis Dotto? How can you explain that without recourse to conspiracy theory?

    Plenty of criminals get away with crimes for years after the fact. The police only have so much time on their hands. The WA police are still investigating the Wilson affair.

    Slipper will be found guilty and gaoled soon.

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 10:53 am

  849. Akin and Mourdock were selected to run for the GOP to join them.

    Right up till 2010, the Democrats chose an Exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan to be third-in-line to the presidency.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 10:54 am

  850. Many noted libertarians are members of the GOP caucus.

    Name them.

    Sinclair Davidson

    9 Jan 13 at 10:56 am

  851. The “libertarian position on abortion” means different things to different people, I don’t think you can say non-controversially that it’s this or that. After all, the archetypal libertarian Ron Paul is pro-life.

    No. The libertarian position is safe, rare, legal and you don’t get other people to pay.

    I am a libertarian and am telling what I believe, fucker, not the other way around.

    But yes, I am pro-choice, and if you conflate that with libertarianism, then so be it.

    You’re not pro choice at all. You’d back whatever the ALP or Democrats would do. You’re so fucking dishonest you’d actually go so far to associate Clinton with Akin and Murdoch and then call Akin and Murdoch “libertarians”.

    You really have a waste of a life monty. Your goal in life is to run interference.

    What a fucking loser.

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 10:56 am

  852. Hey, you know who else the woman-friendly Democrats preselected?

    Ted Kennedy – who deliberately let a woman suffocate to death in his Oldsmobile.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 10:56 am

  853. I arrive.

    Steve and Monty surrender.

    News at 11.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 10:58 am

  854. Hornet’s nest stirrer.

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 11:00 am

  855. ideologically twisters of fact like you

    Hahahahahahaha!!! From the government sycophant who comes here to repeat far-left talking points. Fuck off, you brain-damaged clown.

    Tom

    9 Jan 13 at 11:01 am

  856. Plenty of criminals get away with crimes for years after the fact. The police only have so much time on their hands. The WA police are still investigating the Wilson affair.

    That’s the best you’ve got, police are too busy to charge the Prime Minister and members of the Federal Cabinet with serious crimes? The police have had as much as 17 years of time on their hands in these cases. You can’t run this line with a straight face, Dot. Give up.

    Slipper will be found guilty and gaoled soon.

    LOL, Dennis Dotto predicts gaol for an MP once again. It didn’t work the last half dozen times he tried it, maybe it will stick this time. Probably not though.

    $350 million in bribes sent secretly by the Howard government to Saddam Hussein to torture and kill his citizens in exchange for a cushy deal for Nationals voters: Dot is fine with that, no case to answer, shut up.

    $1,145 of Cabcharge dockets used by ex-Liberal (though still Lib at the time) MP to tour Canberra wineries: Dot says string the bastard up, no prisoners!

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 11:02 am

  857. Slipper will be found guilty and gaoled soon.

    Oh. Gee, I bet Tony Abbott didn’t see that coming when he was at his wedding.

    steve from brisbane

    9 Jan 13 at 11:06 am

  858. Many noted libertarians are members of the GOP caucus.

    Name them.

    Jim De Mint was, the two Pauls. That would be a start. Ron Paul was scoring okish primaries

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 11:07 am

  859. Saddam Hussein

    The ALP argued passionately that Saddam Hussein should have been left in power.

    In fact, the ALP asked Uncle Saddam for a loan to pay for their 1977 election campaign.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 11:07 am

  860. That’s the best you’ve got, police are too busy to charge the Prime Minister and members of the Federal Cabinet with serious crimes?

    You reckoned the PM was too busy to sue anyone for slander and libel.

    I also said the police are still investigating the case. This is documented.

    Slipper will at least be found guilty and kicked out of Parliament. He may not get a custodial sentence as he has a clean record. But as a officer of the court he has a higher standard to be held to.

    $1,145 of Cabcharge dockets used by ex-Liberal (though still Lib at the time) MP to tour Canberra wineries: Dot says string the bastard up, no prisoners!

    Yet the PM has full faith in him and this was the hall mark of her leadership.

    $350 million in bribes sent secretly by the Howard government to Saddam Hussein to torture and kill his citizens in exchange for a cushy deal for Nationals voters: Dot is fine with that, no case to answer, shut up.

    So why did Mc Clelland and why has Roxon failed to prosecute Vaile, the AWB chair, Howard etc?

    Give up monty. Also remember that plucky little Denis Denuto won.

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 11:08 am

  861. JC – 3 is ‘many’?

    Sinclair Davidson

    9 Jan 13 at 11:09 am

  862. Oh. Gee, I bet Tony Abbott didn’t see that coming when he was at his wedding.

    What year did he get married?

    What year did Gillard appoint Slipper as speaker, showing the hallmark of her leadership?

    Please remind me Steve.

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 11:09 am

  863. Guys – don’t want to be judgemental here. But. Heh. But Slipper is a problem for both the government and the opposition. He may be worst case (I don’t know) but I’m sure he isn’t alone in maxing out his so-called entitlements to our money.

    Sinclair Davidson

    9 Jan 13 at 11:13 am

  864. JC – 3 is ‘many’?

    Lol

    I said it’s a start…

    the unfortunately named Floyd Flake

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 11:13 am

  865. No. The libertarian position is safe, rare, legal and you don’t get other people to pay.

    I am a libertarian and am telling what I believe, fucker, not the other way around.

    I recall discussions on this site by libertarians who would disagree with you, especially Paulians. You are not the ultimate arbiter of the libertarian position.

    You’re not pro choice at all. You’d back whatever the ALP or Democrats would do. You’re so fucking dishonest you’d actually go so far to associate Clinton with Akin and Murdoch and then call Akin and Murdoch “libertarians”.

    I did not associate Clinton with those two, and I did not call them libertarians. My point was the exact opposite, in fact: that women dislike libertarians associating with conservatives like Akin and Mourdock.

    Yet again, you accuse me of dishonesty when you lie about my position in the very same breath. It’s a constant tactic from you, Dot. Very easy to see through.

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 11:16 am

  866. Libertarian Republicans, according to wiki:

    U.S. Representatives
    U.S. Representative Justin Amash of Michigan[5]
    U.S. Representative Kerry Bentivolio of Michigan[6]
    U.S. Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah[7]
    U.S. Representative Jimmy Duncan of Tennessee[8]
    U.S. Representative Michael Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania[9]
    U.S. Representative Scott Garrett of New Jersey[8]
    U.S. Representative Tim Johnson of Illinois[citation needed]
    U.S. Representative Walter B. Jones of North Carolina[10]
    U.S. Representative Raúl Labrador of Idaho[7]
    U.S. Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky[11]
    U.S. Representative Tom McClintock of California[8]
    U.S. Representative Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina[7]
    U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas[12]
    U.S. Representative David Schweikert of Arizona
    U.S. Representative Steve Stockman of Texas[6]

    U.S. Senators
    U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas
    U.S. Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona
    U.S. Senator Mike Lee of Utah
    U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 11:19 am

  867. Ms Gillard can re-instate Slippery after he’s paid back the $1145 and all can be forgiven.

    candy

    9 Jan 13 at 11:22 am

  868. I recall discussions on this site by libertarians who would disagree with you, especially Paulians. You are not the ultimate arbiter of the libertarian position.

    They are a minority. What party do they belong to? None.

    I did not associate Clinton with those two, and I did not call them libertarians.

    Yes you did. Now you are outright lying.

    that women dislike libertarians associating with conservatives like Akin and Mourdock

    I do no such thing.

    Wow 20 republicans…in a two party system that crushes third parties. Wow monty, you’ve proved the US system supports two parties.

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 11:25 am

  869. that women dislike libertarians associating with conservatives like Akin and Mourdock.

    Huh? Monster, are you aware that party affiliation is not determined by head office in the GOP and that the grass roots actually have a say, a vote on who goes into the general election as the GOP candidate.

    I’m guessing you’re one of those bumpkin Australians who thinks US healthcare is worse than Cuba’s.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 11:28 am

  870. Wikipedia on libertarians is about as convincing as Wikipedia on climate issues.

    Wiki is useful for uncontested stuff, like Paul McCartney’s birthdate. But as soon as you get into anything even vaguely contested, it’s a joke.

    johanna

    9 Jan 13 at 11:30 am

  871. Many noted libertarians are members of the GOP caucus. Akin and Mourdock were selected to run for the GOP

    America is not Australia. America does not have faceless unelected backroom boys “selecting” candidates. Anyone can run as anything – it’s the voters, in the primaries, who decide who the final candidate will be.

    sdog

    9 Jan 13 at 11:31 am

  872. U.S. Representative Scott Garrett of New Jersey

    I know this dude’s brother from having worked with him. Funny old world.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 11:33 am

  873. Many noted libertarians are members of the GOP caucus.

    .
    .
    .

    Libertarian Republicans, according to wiki:

    Wiki (and you, by extension) are identifying many Tea Party Republicans as Libertarians. That’s okay – there is a lot of overlap, but I thought I’d point that out.

    sdog

    9 Jan 13 at 11:40 am

  874. Gendericide. Nothing wrong with that ’cause it’s their body, their choice. /sarc

    Alarming rise in abortion of female fetuses in Europe

    ecent statistics indicate that gendercide, meaning the abortion of female foetuses because the family wishes to have a male offspring, is no longer confined only in China and India, but has become a European problem as well, especially in the Balkans.

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 12:05 pm

  875. Of m0nty’s list of ‘noted’ libertarians I recognised two names – one of whom is retiring. So we’ve got one so far; a tad less than ‘many’.

    Sinclair Davidson

    9 Jan 13 at 12:14 pm

  876. Libertarian Republicans – U.S. Representative Walter B. Jones of North Carolina

    Just for the record, since that’s my neck of the woods, I thought I’d point out that Wally was gung-ho for the Federal prohibition of online gambling (co-sponsored the act) and has the distinction of being the one leading the charge to have french fries re-named “Freedom Fries” back when we were mad at the French for opposing the Iraq War. Also… white supremacist?

    He was also a Democrat when he was in the State legislature and only switched to the GOP when he ran for Federal office. Converted from Southern Baptist to Roman Catholic, too. Back when he was still a Democrat. NTTAWWT. Lately he’s been veering more to the Left again. ~shrugs~ A lot of mainstream Dems dislike him and more than a few mainstream Repubs dislike him… so I guess by default he’s a “libertarian”? Hmm…

    So anyway. What I’m sayin’. It’s pretty hard to pigeonhole American politicians. They represent their electorate, not their party.

    sdog

    9 Jan 13 at 12:24 pm

  877. Of m0nty’s list of ‘noted’ libertarians I recognised two names

    A lot of them, like Justin Amash, Ted Cruz, Jeff Flake, Mike Lee, Jason Chaffetz, Tim Johnson, Steve Stockman, Mick Mulvaney, etc were Tea Party candidates.

    After seeing so many Australians (wrongly and continually) slam the Tea Party as “racist radical right-wing extremists,” it’d be interesting to hear what they think of Monty and his liberal Wiki-friends categorizing Tea Party candidates as Libertarians.

    sdog

    9 Jan 13 at 12:36 pm

  878. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-09/asic-raids-whitehaven-hoaxers-campsite/4457698

    Good.

    I would also like to know how he and his crusty pals get to camp in a State forest for months. If you or I did that, we would be moved on and possibly prosecuted.

    johanna

    9 Jan 13 at 12:41 pm

  879. If you or I did that, we would be moved on and possibly prosecuted.

    Yes, we would. But that’s different. Because shutup.

    Tom

    9 Jan 13 at 12:52 pm

  880. Oh. Gee, I bet Tony Abbott didn’t see that coming when he was at his wedding.

    Rudd went to the wedding also.

    http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/rudd-and-slippers-tearful-night-together/story-fndo317g-1226494962441

    The long-standing and deep friendship between the former Speaker and Mr Rudd, who like Opposition leader Tony Abbott attended Mr Slipper and wife Inge’s wedding, was again on display on the night he quit his post.”

    Neil

    9 Jan 13 at 1:00 pm

  881. Catallaxy does seem to attract more women lately – I suppose a club in which to be bitchy (to put it mildly) about other women (lefty ones) has its appeal to some.

    SfB at the risk of brain-damage maybe you should try engaging on the mummy blogs, then again you’d probably fit right in. it’s like “Mean Girls” on a loop. Arrrgh!

    Tintarella di Luna

    9 Jan 13 at 1:09 pm

  882. my God, I take a break from the Cat for a month and when I come back and everyone’s still just arguing with Steve, Steve and monty.

    dd

    9 Jan 13 at 1:10 pm

  883. Not me, dd. I gave up – life is just too bloody short.

    Winston SMITH

    9 Jan 13 at 1:15 pm

  884. Not everyone, dd. The names you mention are the ones whose ‘contributions’ I scroll over without reading them, 95% of the time.

    DNFTT is my general rule, but there are people here who so much enjoy the combat that they give the idiots oxygen that they do not deserve.

    C’est la guerre.

    johanna

    9 Jan 13 at 1:18 pm

  885. DD, you and they had the same thought on the same day. Apart from a couple of lightweight juniors, the Cat has been virtually troll-free since before Christmas. Now the thread clogging overgrown children of the fruitcake left have returned to disrupt as many conversations as possible.

    Tom

    9 Jan 13 at 1:20 pm

  886. so mOron, what’s your prediction now: Slipper retakes the speaker’s chair; Slipper is convicted;Slipper is acquitted or something else?. You’ve clearly got no idea but you know you want to tell us.

    Tiny Dancer

    9 Jan 13 at 1:24 pm

  887. Because most are not dishonest and ideologically twisters of fact like you?

    So Barry doesn’t hang out with noted patriots Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers and Rahm Emanuel?

    So Barry doesn’t downplay American exceptionalism or suck up to tyrants?

    nilk

    9 Jan 13 at 1:26 pm

  888. Last of the Christmas fruitcakes.

    H B Bear

    9 Jan 13 at 1:28 pm

  889. DD

    It hasn’t been that bad. There have been several troll free days, although I must admit there was an infestation for a while. The Steves Twins and monster were on annual troll leave for a short time.

    Hey that’s an idea, there are toll free days on freeways sometimes. Lets have troll free days.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 1:31 pm

  890. BEST BARTENDER JOKE EVER

    An Ex-Lawyer, a Pathological Liar, a Fraudster, an Atheist and a Communist walk into a BAR.

    Bartender asks….

    “What’ll it be, Ms. Gillard?”

    Mike of Marion

    9 Jan 13 at 1:32 pm

  891. Mike I like

    Tintarella di Luna

    9 Jan 13 at 1:34 pm

  892. DD

    Look up the thread. The Steves Twins were peddling bullshit that the regular summer heatwave we’ve had in some parts of the country was a sure fire thing it was da global warming.

    They then got the living shit kicked out of them when it was shown that a large swag of the Asian landmass suffered record cold.

    StevesC went into denial, but at least had the good sense to check himself into a mental asylum. I respect that.

    The other Steves twin hasn’t been sighted.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 1:36 pm

  893. New study from Texas shows that “stand your ground” (Castle Doctrine) laws don’t deter crime but increase homicide rate. Salon writes (it has a link to the study itself):

    Castle doctrine laws, which have support from the NRA and other gun groups, are designed to serve as a crime deterrent. They also increase the circumstances under which it is acceptable practice to shoot someone you don’t like the look of. However, according to the study they have no discernible safety benefit:

    Our view is that it is a priori reasonable to expect that strengthening self-defense law would deter crime, we find this is not the case. More significantly, results indicate that castle doctrine laws increase total homicides by around 8 percent. Put differently, the laws induce an additional 600 homicides per year across the 21 states in our sample that enacted castle doctrine.

    A study like this might prompt gun rights advocates to consider evidence about a policy they support and perhaps reevaluate that policy. A more cynical view is that the gun lobby doesn’t care about empirical evidence and wants to increase the presence of weapons in the public sphere regardless of the human cost.

    In other gun control news: Giffords and husband start campaign to try to counter NRA influence (shame that it seems, as with Brady, to take getting shot in the head to get politicians interested in doing that). And a retired General shows some ex military (unlike the ones who give MK50 an erection by threatening an armed insurrection) are sensible and recognise that military style weapons are not needed by the public.

    steve from brisbane

    9 Jan 13 at 1:36 pm

  894. As for heat waves and Australia: I too am curious as to the apparently new way the BOM is doing a “country wide” average temperature for the nation.

    There seem to be enough BOM people turning up on TV and in the media noting the unusual extent of the inland heat (caused partly by the monsoon being unusually late in coming down towards Australia) to indicate to me that by whatever metric, this summer is unusual, at least.

    The reports on cold weather in China all seem to be talking about “coldest days in 30 years” and such like, which means it is not all time record cold.

    India has, it seems, had some record cold days.

    That parts of the Northern Hemisphere could have a cold and snowy winter caused by circulation changes increasingly linked to reduced polar summer ice has been noted by me before. Most people here ignore that, of course.

    steve from brisbane

    9 Jan 13 at 1:44 pm

  895. sfb QC would of course prefer that people couldn’t defend themselves. Did your carer look after you on the train?

    Tiny Dancer

    9 Jan 13 at 1:45 pm

  896. Today in Feminist utopia.

    http://livinginmycar.com/blog/about/

    Read to the bottom and imagine being the father of that poor child.

    Max

    9 Jan 13 at 1:49 pm

  897. Posted by a friend of mine on facebook

    Last week 2 homes were robbed on the same street where my 83 year old mother lives in Zimbabwe. She called to tell me that one family had been tied up by 6 intruders as they ransacked the house. I warned her to be vigilant, have a plan and keep her gun nearby at night time. Yesterday at about 8PM she saw a man outside her window, shouted and went after him ( . . not my instructions!) sending a round downrange as she went into the garden. Police responded . . the next day . . and found a pile of stolen goods from another household that the gang had dropped before fleeing. Thank you Taurus Mdl 85 in .38 Special for protecting my family.

    Yes morons, Guns are bad.

    Woolfe

    9 Jan 13 at 1:51 pm

  898. Alarming rise in abortion of female fetuses in Europe

    Recent statistics indicate that gendercide, meaning the abortion of female foetuses because the family wishes to have a male offspring, is no longer confined only in China and India, but has become a European problem as well, especially in the Balkans.

    Of course. The left fully supports the gendercide of girls. Only last year, Barack Hussein Obama refused to support a bill outlawing the practice.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 1:54 pm

  899. Giffords and husband start campaign to try to counter NRA influence

    Why would they do that?

    Gabby Gifford & the other poor souls wouldn’t have been shot if:

    1. Put in place a framework to allow authorities to lock up people they deem are a risk to themselves and others. Jared Loughner would’ve been institutionalised if that was possible in Arizona at the time.

    2. Remove the celebrity factor: If the media implemented a similar blanket ban on publising the names of mass murderers as they do with arsonists, it would remove the peverse incentive for these mentally ill people to act to get fame / validation.

    Token

    9 Jan 13 at 1:56 pm

  900. Compare:

    “According to reports, at least ten people were shot Saturday in Obama’s Chicago, the gun control capital of the United States.

    “Just think–this is all happening in the city Obama is using as a blueprint for gun control measures he wants to impose on the United States as a whole.”

    Contrast:

    “In the so-called Gunshine State, home to the most gun permits in the country, firearm violence has fallen to the lowest point on record.

    “As state and national legislators consider gun control laws in the wake of last month’s Connecticut school shooting, Florida finds itself in a gun violence depression. The Firearm-involved violent crime rate has dropped 33 percent between 2007 and 2011, while the number of issued concealed weapons permits rose nearly 90 percent during that time, state records show.”

    Freaky, innit?!

    sdog

    9 Jan 13 at 1:56 pm

  901. Flat Earth Society extends the hand of friendship to climate skeptics of Middle Earth.

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 1:58 pm

  902. Why would they do that?

    Because one of them got shot in the head?

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 2:00 pm

  903. The NRA shot one of them in the head?

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 2:01 pm

  904. Someone with a gun shot one of them in the head.

    m0nty

    9 Jan 13 at 2:04 pm

  905. Monty, several of us responded to & countered your retarded posts about Libertarians & the GOP above. In case you missed it, and wanted to address that before skating on to a completely different topic.

    sdog

    9 Jan 13 at 2:06 pm

  906. Steve’s link – at far left-wing Salon – features an hilarious photo of Trayvon Martin captioned “This undated photo provided by the Martin family shows Trayvon Martin snowboarding.”

    What, the family didn’t have a more recent picture of him selling drugs, beating up bus drivers or robbing houses?

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 2:06 pm

  907. From The Oz:

    Mr Vaile, a former leader of the Nationals, added that it was “very sad” that senior political leaders would endorse illegal acts.

    He also revealed that a media outlet that ran the hoax press release was told by Whitehaven prior to publication that the announcement was incorrect.

    “One media outlet checked with Whitehaven and was told the release was incorrect but ran it anyway,” he told the ABC.

    This could get interesting…

    Lazlo

    9 Jan 13 at 2:08 pm

  908. Spot, I live in a tiny Bush town and in my clinic are what we’d call high value items to certain persons with addictions.
    I am not allowed a pistol to defend myself or my family.
    Nearest police presence when our copper is covering for the neighbouring towns is 100k – an hour away. The plan is that I just hand over the goodies.
    This sucks.

    Winston SMITH

    9 Jan 13 at 2:09 pm

  909. Salon writes (it has a link to the study itself):

    Lol… That certainly gives the study the veracity it needs. Salon….hahahahahahhahaha

    Stepford…

    What do you propose doing about the second amendment in the US which even Lawrence Tribe possibly one of most significant constitutional law scholars in the US and one of the best legal minds in the world has suggested that ordinary people have the right to own guns?

    This is an open question for any leftwhiner tool who wants to offer an answer., However I’m guessing it will be ignored when this pesky little issue about the US constitution comes up.

    Here: I’ll post it up for you.

    A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

    I’m no legal scholar, although I would have made a great great one if chose, but the article is quite clear. The states have a right to form militias, which they do. The right to keep and bear arms is not only as clear as dogs balls. It appears not only to be a right, but also informing the state to fuck right off and not infringe a citizen’s desire to possess guns. In fact it would appear the conceal and carry could be see as a clear right.

    Now I going to do this. Every time a leftie douchebag wants to argue about US gun rights, I will be eagerly asking them what they think should happen with the 2nd amendment.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 2:11 pm

  910. Mmm:

    President Obama has gained the support of a valuable ally in his plans to strengthen gun laws in the wake of the shooting at a primary school in Connecticut.

    Former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head two years ago, has criticised Congress for doing nothing to end the terror of mass shootings in the US.

    Giffords, herself a gun owner, is starting a campaign with her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, after a string of recent shootings.

    The left hates Gabby Giffords. Indeed, they regard her as a wingnut.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 2:12 pm

  911. Someone with a gun shot one of them in the head.

    Someone like herself, you mean?

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 2:14 pm

  912. Minister for Small Business, Brendan O’Connor, has just had to apologise for calling Tony Abbott’s volunteer firefighting a “stunt”.
    The ALP are desperate scum.

    Andrew

    9 Jan 13 at 2:17 pm

  913. Token

    Look, people keep looking for ways to stop mass killings by crazies. Nothing is going to work if people are intent on shooting up a school or theater. They will obtain the guns one way or another.

    The Norway mass murder is a case in point.

    Reacting to this stuff in an emotive way will simply trample people’s rights and cause school kids to feel even more imprisoned.

    You really can’t stop the press from reporting this stuff and shouldn’t.

    My bet is that some little bastard right now is dreaming about all the publicity the CT killer received and planning his own shoot up to fame somewhere in the world.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 2:17 pm

  914. Behold the human face of ‘climate change.’

    Bushfire arson suspects arrested.

    ARSONISTS are aggravating already dangerous bushfire conditions, with several suspects charged and residents distressed by deliberately-lit fires.

    Three teenage boys have been charged with deliberately lighting a fire in bushland in Sydney’s west yesterday during a total fire ban across the state and “catastrophic” fire conditions.

    In Victoria, Melbourne homeowners panicked when a deliberately-lit blaze threatened several homes early today, including an aged care facility.

    Victoria’s police chief says up to a dozen fires have been deliberately lit across the state in the past fortnight.

    The fires in Tasmania were also deliberately lit.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 2:18 pm

  915. This sucks.

    Yes. It does.

    sdog

    9 Jan 13 at 2:19 pm

  916. Man, no one gets tired of feeble arguments here, do they?

    Look, the best self defence against a whole gang of looters may well be a submachine gun, or a roof top grenade launcher. In fact, Neighbour Nuclear Superiority is surely the gold standard in self defence.

    Yet even libertarians might, with reluctance, have to acknowledge that having anyone armed with whatever they want is not a good idea for society overall. The simple minded argument “guns are good because person X recently defended themselves with one” doesn’t address the line drawing exercise at all.

    For all I know, some law abiding granny in Zimbabwe once used a hand grenade to get out of a sticky situation. Does that mean that everyone should have hand grenades? No.

    steve from brisbane

    9 Jan 13 at 2:21 pm

  917. Fire credentials:

    Pic/story: Abbott on the frontline.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 2:21 pm

  918. Someone with a gun shot one of them in the head.

    What has that got to do with the NRA that represents licensed and responsible gun owners.

    I would’ve though the Giffords would want to do something that would actually prevent a re-occurance of the tragedy, not play petty partisan politics.

    Pity it is not true.

    Token

    9 Jan 13 at 2:22 pm

  919. Abbott puts his life on the line:

    TONY Abbott has joined a NSW bushfire strike team helping to try to contain a fire that has threatened homes on the NSW south coast.

    The Opposition Leader has delayed his annual holiday and will for the next three days join the Sydney-based Davidson Rural Fire Brigade on bushfire watch near Nowra.

    His crew will help dozens of other teams back-burning and hazard reduction burning during today’s milder conditions, and will stay until Friday.

    “Look, I’m just one of 65 in this crew and part of thousands across the country,” Mr Abbott said.

    Mr Abbott has been a volunteer with his local brigade since 2000, served as its deputy captain before becoming opposition leader in 2009 and has previously been directly involved with fighting fires.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 2:23 pm

  920. Victoria’s police chief says up to a dozen fires have been deliberately lit across the state in the past fortnight.

    The fires in Tasmania were also deliberately lit.

    Notice how authorities choose – in the case of arson – not to name the name of the arsonist as those with a tendency to commit arson are encouraged by gaining celebrity.

    The Media complies with this willingly, though they could break the embargo if they wanted to. Similarly they don’t report suicides.

    These are sick people and they address the mental illness and criminality, not dick around threatening to ban classes of matches & cigarette lighters.

    Why don’t the media implement the exact same strategy for mass murderers (by gun, knife, etc)?

    Token

    9 Jan 13 at 2:25 pm

  921. Man, no one gets tired of feeble arguments here, do they?

    DD made the same observation earlier when he said:

    my God, I take a break from the Cat for a month and when I come back and everyone’s still just arguing with Steve, Steve and monty.

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 2:28 pm

  922. Reacting to this stuff in an emotive way will simply trample people’s rights and cause school kids to feel even more imprisoned.

    Mine is not an emotive response.

    Stopping the creation of the cult of celebrity around mass killers is critical. It has been implemented with arsonists.

    Evidence from the investigations into Jared Loughner revealed he was so mentally ill

    After his arrest, two medical evaluations diagnosed him as paranoid schizophrenic and incompetent to stand trial. He was medicated while in jail as part of his treatment. He was judged still incompetent in May 2012. In August 2012, he was judged competent to stand trial, and at the hearing, pled guilty to 19 counts. In November 2012, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

    If he was forced to front a medical professional as his school demanded this could’ve been diagnosed and the illness addressed saving lives and preventing Ms Gifford being shot.

    The college decided to suspend Loughner and sent a letter to his parents, to consult with them and him together.[23] The college told Loughner that if he wanted to return, he needed to resolve his code of conduct violations and obtain a mental health clearance (indicating, in the opinion of a mental health professional, that his presence did not constitute a danger to himself or others). On October 4, Loughner and his parents met with campus administrators and Loughner indicated he would withdraw from the college.[22] During Loughner’s time at Pima, a classmate said she worried that he might commit a school shooting. One of his teachers has claimed a similar suspicion after the Tucson shooting.[24] He never submitted to a mental health evaluation and did not return to the college.

    Token

    9 Jan 13 at 2:33 pm

  923. Good point, Token.

    Why doesn’t the left insist on a matches buyback and the banning of assault Zippos?

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 2:35 pm

  924. Man, no one gets tired of feeble arguments here, do they?

    I do.

    Which is why I’ve realised it was a mistake to engage both mOnty and you when it’s now obvious that all you were doing was trolling.

    See ya.

    sdog

    9 Jan 13 at 2:37 pm

  925. Expect Milne and Rhiannon to tweet how they endorse the arsonists, who deserve “congrats” for exposing the evil of climate change.

    harrys on the boat

    9 Jan 13 at 2:39 pm

  926. Token

    There have been several studies on the predictive ability of psych assessments over these issues. You’re just as better off throwing darts at a board.

    There’s an obvious desire that we have to do something ( I wasn’t pinning the point about emotive reaction on you alone, so sorry if you took it that way), but there’s very little we can do, I think without civil rights being trample again.

    As for limited media reporting… I’m not sure that cold be done in the US.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 2:41 pm

  927. There have been several studies on the predictive ability of psych assessments over these issues. You’re just as better off throwing darts at a board.

    Theodore Dalrymple on that point, in relation to Newtown:

    “In fact, psychiatrists are no better than others at predicting violence by disturbed people, except possibly among the psychotic.

    “They tend to overestimate the dangers, and in making predictions, they face the problem of the false positive and the false negative. In the case of a false positive, you think that someone is dangerous when he isn’t; in the case of a false negative, that he is not dangerous when he is. False predictions of rare events (such as mass killings) generally outweigh true ones by a large factor—an important point to remember, especially if you wish to grant or withdraw civil liberties on the basis of such predictions.

    “Not long ago, I was asked to participate in an inquiry into a spate of murders committed by psychiatric patients.”

    [Read on]

    sdog

    9 Jan 13 at 2:47 pm

  928. For the sake of being able to buy a military style weapon with (I dunno) a 50 round magazine in order to be able to pose on Facebook like Rambo, Gunatarians would like to see school teachers, bosses, and the next door neighbour be able to ring up and get a compulsory mental examination on someone they think is acting oddly, and if found to have a problem, to be locked safely away for years in old style (and very expensive) asylums.

    Your proposed solutions are wide open for abuse.

    The way you want to balance competing rights and interests is crap.

    steve from brisbane

    9 Jan 13 at 2:48 pm

  929. stepford,

    If you don’t like the site, don’t fucking keep coming back. Seriously fuck right off.

    As for your babbling… the US dealt with stuff like machine guns etc in 1931. You can’t own those sorts of weapons and it’s pretty well settled law now.

    Question… Again.

    What do you propose doing about the 2nd amendment?

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 2:49 pm

  930. One day Tony Abbott will be PM and doing some firefighting in another Australian bushfire. It will be an inspiration to Australians. What a top bloke he is.

    candy

    9 Jan 13 at 2:49 pm

  931. And as JC points out, the US Constitution is very protective of individuals’ civil liberties, and also of the right to free speech and freedom of the press.

    sdog

    9 Jan 13 at 2:50 pm

  932. As for limited media reporting… I’m not sure that cold be done in the US.

    How foolish of me.

    There I was thinking the media in the US wanted to find a real solution that saved people’s lives…

    Token

    9 Jan 13 at 2:52 pm

  933. Stepford:

    The way you want to balance competing rights and interests is crap.

    Forgetting the fact that prohibition has never worked, as it obviously leads to contraband… Despite “the science being settled” on this one every stupid leftwinger in the world thinks it does work thereby denying the obvious.

    Tell us what should happen about the 2nd amendment.

    Go!

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 2:53 pm

  934. How foolish of me.

    There I was thinking the media in the US wanted to find a real solution that saved people’s lives…

    lol.. True.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 2:54 pm

  935. Heh. When faced with a proper, detailed study showing a result he doesn’t like, sdog says “you’re just trolling”. Oh, and brings up one of the spurious “well what about city X” comparisons.

    Feeble.

    steve from brisbane

    9 Jan 13 at 2:55 pm

  936. …be able to ring up and get a compulsory mental examination on someone they think is acting oddly, and if found to have a problem, to be locked safely away for years…

    It’s not entirely a bad idea:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1pEt7bgY2U

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 2:56 pm

  937. For the sake of being able to buy a military style weapon with (I dunno) a 50 round magazine in order to be able to pose on Facebook like Rambo,

    You cannot legally purchase a magazine of that size in the US. You obviously can on the illegal markets though.

    Stepford, you seem to be confused as to what is legal and what isn’t in the US, like most Australian leftist bumpkins.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 2:56 pm

  938. sdog

    9 Jan 13 at 2:57 pm

  939. The way you want to balance competing rights and interests is crap.

    The 2nd amendment, Stepford. Discuss

    Go!

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 2:58 pm

  940. Minister for Small Business, Brendan O’Connor, has just had to apologise for calling Tony Abbott’s volunteer firefighting a “stunt”.

    A perfect storm for Gillard. She has to praise the firefighters, but in doing so praises Abbott. They can’t call it a stunt because he’s been doing it for 10 years, long before he was opposition leader.

    Abbott gets to do something useful, Gillard goes around trying to link death and destruction to her much-loved carbon tax. Until someone asks the obvious question : now that we have the carbon tax, can we look forwards to a time when the bushfires stop?

    When in fact the best defense against bushfires is not counterproductive air taxes, but a well funded fire service and a clear fire management scheme in place. Which you can get for much less than $50 billion a year, the amount the air tax collects.

    brc

    9 Jan 13 at 2:59 pm

  941. From Steve’s study:

    “We find the laws increase murder and manslaughter by a statistically significant 7 to 9 percent, which translates into an additional 500 to 700 homicides per year nationally in states which have adopted Castle Doctrine.”

    “One theory is that these are in some sense legitimate self-defense killings that just don’t meet the strict definition of justifiable homicide.”

    So victims avoid being raped or thrashed to within an inch of their lives and instead shoot their assailants.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 3:02 pm

  942. Interesting brief video:

    An American look at Howard’s failed communist gun laws:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGaDAThOHhA&feature=related

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 3:06 pm

  943. So victims avoid being raped or thrashed to within an inch of their lives and instead shoot their assailants.

    The Fisk Doctrine. We need it. Modern day leftism is a mental illness. They would rather the assailant succeed than the victim because it doesn’t conform to the left’s idea of being able to defend oneself.

    Fisk Doctrine.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 3:06 pm

  944. …be able to ring up and get a compulsory mental examination on someone they think is acting oddly, and if found to have a problem, to be locked safely away for years…

    There is a framework for limited detention in certain cases:

    Criteria for civil commitment are established by law, which varies between nations, in the U.S., from state to state, and in Canada, from province to province. Commitment proceedings often follow a period of emergency hospitalization during which an individual with acute psychiatric symptoms is confined for a relatively short duration (e.g. 72 hours) in a treatment facility for evaluation and stabilization by mental health professionals — who may then determine whether further civil commitment is appropriate or necessary. If civil commitment proceedings follow, the evaluation is presented in a formal court hearing where testimony and other evidence may also be submitted.[citation needed] The subject of the hearing is typically entitled to legal counsel and may challenge a commitment order through habeas corpus rules.[1]

    I have a friend who was working in Pennsylvania who was detained for 72 hours after having an alcohol fueled meltdown due this legislation.

    Token

    9 Jan 13 at 3:07 pm

  945. Watch that video.

    6 minutes.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 3:08 pm

  946. “Laws that forbid the carrying of arms…disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes…. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.”

    – Thomas Jefferson, “Commonplace Book,” 1774-1776

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 3:10 pm

  947. An American look at Howard’s failed communist gun laws:

    Communist? Talk about loonies, maybe you should take a look in the mirror. How on Earth is forbidding the use of a semi-automatic guns, communist? Secondly, why does someone need a semi automatic gun in their household? There is no need and it’s only use for the large majority of people is to kill. The statistics speak for themselves that the gun laws in ’96 worked.

    Andrew

    9 Jan 13 at 3:18 pm

  948. The atheist/Labor seal of the confessional is sacred:

    The South Australian Government is again under fire for not informing a school community about the presence of a sexual offender in its midst.

    An 11-year-old boy was raped in the toilet block of a school in country South Australia by an older student in December 2010.

    The older boy was convicted but given a suspended sentence in 2011 and has since been moved to another school.

    The victim’s mother says students at that school are being put at risk because the Education Department will not notify parents of the case

    Premier Jay Weatherill was education minister at the time of both incidents but says the Young Offenders Act prevents him from commenting on the case.

    “[The Act] limits what we can say in matters of this sort, so I won’t be making any public remarks about that,” he said.

    Labor keeps parents in the dark on child rape.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 3:22 pm

  949. Secondly, why does someone need a semi automatic gun in their household? There is no need

    Really? How about when armed government troops went after David Koresch and his followers for no established reason they were a cult. It’s one of the worst examples of state over -reach in US modern history against what were essentially law abiding citizens.

    Are you that thick you think there is no possible reason for citizens to be able to protect themselves with even semi-automatics?

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 3:23 pm

  950. How on Earth is forbidding the use of a semi-automatic guns, communist?

    semi-automatic? It is extremely difficult to get any kind of gun in Australia.

    Secondly, why does someone need a semi automatic gun in their household?

    There are two reasons typically given for the right to bear arms.
    i) self-defence
    ii) defence against hostile occupying force.

    The statistics speak for themselves that the gun laws in ’96 worked.

    what statistics? genuinely curious.

    dd

    9 Jan 13 at 3:25 pm

  951. Secondly, why does someone need a semi automatic gun in their household?

    Are you reallly arguing about the loading mechanism?

    I’m not a gun nut, but I do see a lot of poorly worded statements which should be challenged.

    What do you think semi automatic means?

    A semi-automatic pistol is a type of handgun which uses a single chamber and barrel, with a mechanism powered by the previous shot to load a fresh cartridge into the chamber. One round is fired each time the trigger of a semi-automatic pistol is pulled.

    A revolver, which uses multiple chambers and a single barrel, and a derringer, which uses multiple chambers and multiple barrels, also fire one round for trigger pull, but achieve this in different ways and as such are not classified as being semi-automatic.

    Additional terms sometimes used as synonyms for a semi-automatic pistol are automatic pistol, self-loading pistol, autopistol, and autoloading pistol.

    Do you think every gun should be bolt action?

    Token

    9 Jan 13 at 3:30 pm

  952. Watch that video.

    6 minutes.

    Watched the video. Full of old people making emotional appeals about how guns stop violence…yeah right. The ‘statistics’ used on the video is far less than reliable. If you look at a statistic, not considering the increase in population over time, then of course you are going to see an increase in raw terms. It is not just a coincidence that countries such as the US have far higher gun crime rates than anywhere else in the world. It is a) the culture in the US and b) the poor regulation on guns. Firearm homicides dropped by 60% since the gun laws in Australia with no offset in other areas of related crime. Secondly, there have been no gun massacres since the ’96 gun laws were introduced.
    Even if we accept the premise of the people in the video that guns allow them to defend themselves, the only way a gun can actually do that is shooting another person, resulting in another homicide most likely. Is killing someone in the name of ‘defending yourself’ because someone has invaded your home really an appropriate consequence of that action. Please come back to the 21st century.

    Andrew

    9 Jan 13 at 3:30 pm

  953. Minister for Small Business, Brendan O’Connor, has just had to apologise for calling Tony Abbott’s volunteer firefighting a “stunt”.
    The ALP are desperate scum.

    Labor shows it’s contempt for volunteer firies.

    Given that Abbott is PART OF A TEAM as an ACTIVE volunteer firefighter, it would be cowardly for him not to front up as the rest of his team have done.

    Mind you, had Abbott not deployed to his brigade, McTernan would have made much of it – including calling Abbott a “coward”. (yes, i know, they’ve already slurred him as such in the past so it would be nothing new).

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 3:33 pm

  954. Tim Lambert always ridiculed Howard’s buyback.

    It was THAT bad.

    I felt that the laws here before 1996 were about right and I do not think that the 1996 laws were a good idea. The 1996 gun buyback involved replacing semi-automatic long guns with ones that weren’t semi-autos. For almost all misuses of guns this makes no difference—you only need one shot to kill or wound someone. It does make a difference in the sort of incident that prompted the buyback—a mass public shooting, but these are really rare. You could save more lives if you spent the $500 million on something else.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 3:34 pm

  955. Full of old people making emotional appeals about how guns stop violence…yeah right.

    If by old you mean over 35, sure.

    Watch the video.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGaDAThOHhA&feature=related

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 3:36 pm

  956. Is killing someone in the name of ‘defending yourself’ because someone has invaded your home really an appropriate consequence of that action.

    If you break into my home with the intent to rob me or cause harm to any of my family members then i can guarantee that i will put a bullet into you. If as a result of my actions you die then too fucking bad, your actions had a fatal consequence.

    Carpe Jugulum

    9 Jan 13 at 3:37 pm

  957. Really? How about when armed government troops went after David Koresch and his followers for no established reason they were a cult. It’s one of the worst examples of state over -reach in US modern history against what were essentially law abiding citizens.

    Are you that thick you think there is no possible reason for citizens to be able to protect themselves with even semi-automatics?

    I have addressed the protection point in my earlier post. Is using a gun against people who are enforcing the law an appropriate way to defend yourself? The way to defend yourself is in a court of law. Just because a very small minority of people are unjustly treated by the Government and other official bodies does not mean it is right for everyone to use a gun so that very minor possibility does not happen to them.

    Andrew

    9 Jan 13 at 3:38 pm

  958. Andrew

    I think part of the problem is that people have lost a fundamental understanding of what liberty is.
    Liberty is a priori., natural, and God granted by grace.

    Liberty is not enhanced, created, or granted by any group or government.

    RodClarke

    9 Jan 13 at 3:38 pm

  959. Secondly, there have been no gun massacres since the ’96 gun laws were introduced.

    I’m guessing you’re not counting the Monash attack because luckily no one was killed, right?

    How would you categorize that along with the Norwegian massacre in a place with very strict gun control.

    Furthermore you mixing up the types of violence.

    large scale massacres like the CT cannot be stopped even with Howard’s level of regs.

    Gun violence on the streets of Chicago are not being committed by registered owners, you ding bat.

    Your stat that gun violence has stopped ignores the historical slope of the curve and the direction it was heading.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 3:38 pm

  960. Full of old people making emotional appeals

    Ah, the irony.

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 3:38 pm

  961. Full of old people making emotional appeals about how guns stop violence…yeah right.

    “Full of old people.”
    Got it.

    Is killing someone in the name of ‘defending yourself’ because someone has invaded your home really an appropriate consequence of that action.

    Let’s throw it back to you: do you think it’s inappropriate to shoot an armed intruder who is threatening to kill you?

    dd

    9 Jan 13 at 3:40 pm

  962. Is killing someone in the name of ‘defending yourself’ because someone has invaded your home really an appropriate consequence of that action.

    I guess for a leftie it would be far more civilised and peaceful to let the invader rape one of your daughters or bash your husband with a hammer.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 3:40 pm

  963. I have addressed the protection point in my earlier post. Is using a gun against people who are enforcing the law an appropriate way to defend yourself? The way to defend yourself is in a court of law.

    Are you doing crack? Koresch was hounded by the government and federal agencies. The courts did nothing to stop it. It was later found that the case the government had against him/them were basically a fabricated pack of lies.

    80 people died needlessly.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 3:41 pm

  964. If by old you mean over 35, sure.

    Watch the video.

    I did watch the video, like I said earlier. Full of emotional appeals with very little substance at all. The use of the words ‘old people’ was silly on my behalf but it is largely a generational issue of proponents of guns, for example in Australia. The people in the video were either middle-aged or older people.

    Andrew

    9 Jan 13 at 3:41 pm

  965. “We find the laws increase murder and manslaughter by a statistically significant 7 to 9 percent, which translates into an additional 500 to 700 homicides per year nationally in states which have adopted Castle Doctrine.”

    Without a doubt the best thing about a highly armed populace is that shitloads of bad people will be shot. Naturally this will increase gun homicide rates and make Steve from B’s sheets soaking wet.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Jan 13 at 3:42 pm

  966. Is using a gun against people who are enforcing the law an appropriate way to defend yourself? The way to defend yourself is in a court of law.

    I don’t think you understand what self-defense is. Self defense means surviving a threat and being alive tomorrow.
    The problem – the fundamental problem – is that government cannot perfectly enforce civilization and civilised behaviour. Once you get that, you’ll see what others see.

    dd

    9 Jan 13 at 3:42 pm

  967. If guns are useless for self-defence, why do police carry them?

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 3:46 pm

  968. There is no need and it’s only use for the large majority of people is to kill.

    Well duh. I’d only ever buy a gun for killing people. They are bloody useful for that sort of thing.

    If I want sport I play cricket and Mahjong.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Jan 13 at 3:46 pm

  969. Even if we accept the premise of the people in the video that guns allow them to defend themselves, the only way a gun can actually do that is shooting another person, resulting in another homicide most likely. Is killing someone in the name of ‘defending yourself’ because someone has invaded your home really an appropriate consequence of that action.

    So, if someone armed with a gun breaks into a home and in the impending struggle between homeowner and intruder, the intruder dies, this is unjustifiable homicide? You would prefer that the unarmed homeowner leave him/herself and their family to the mercy of the intruder? We live in incredible times.

    dover_beach

    9 Jan 13 at 3:47 pm

  970. Lets be very clear what the state is able to do to protect you.

    Pretty much nothing. Zippo , in terms of prevention.

    What the state does undertake is that case say you’re murdered it will attempt to find the culprit and jail them.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 3:49 pm

  971. Are you doing crack? Koresch was hounded by the government and federal agencies. The courts did nothing to stop it. It was later found that the case the government had against him/them were basically a fabricated pack of lies.

    80 people died needlessly.

    I addressed this issue already. One incident of injustice does not mean that a whole society needs to own guns and use them to defend themselves. Just imagine if every time someone did something criminal to a person that another person would retaliate and shoot another person? I think we would have a lot more gun crime that we have now with gun laws.

    I guess for a leftie it would be far more civilised and peaceful to let the invader rape one of your daughters or bash your husband with a hammer.

    An absurd hypothetical. If someone tried to invade your house and rape someone’s daughter, then the likelihood is that the person breaking and entering into a house would already have a gun on the daughter, holding your daughter hostage, with no opportunity to use her gun.

    Andrew

    9 Jan 13 at 3:49 pm

  972. Steve’s Salon link is actually hilarious when you think about it.

    The number of people being shot is up following passage of the Castle law.

    Well, yes.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 3:50 pm

  973. Andrew …. it’s not as implausible as you think.

    BRYAN COUNTY, Oklahoma -

    A 12-year-old girl took matters into her own hands during a home invasion in southeast Oklahoma.

    It happened on Wednesday when the girl was home alone. She told police a stranger rang the doorbell, then went around to the back door and kicked it in. She called her mom, Debra St. Clair, who told her to get the family gun, hide in a closet and call 911.

    That was when St. Clair dropped what she was doing and raced home.

    “I drove home at a really fast pace to try to get to her, and when I got here the police were already here. And they had the suspect,” she said.

    During that time, the intruder made his way through the house. St. Clair’s daughter told deputies the man came into the room where she was hiding and began to open up the closet door. That was when the 12 year old had to make a life-saving decision.

    dd

    9 Jan 13 at 3:53 pm

  974. Lets be very clear what the state is able to do to protect you.

    In Australia, the state provides the chalk outline, the gurney and the coronial inquiry.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Jan 13 at 3:53 pm

  975. If I want sport I play cricket and Mahjong.

    Clay pigeon shooting is really fun. Never use a side by side though. Over and under is best.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 3:55 pm

  976. If guns are useless for self-defence, why do police carry them?

    They are enforcing the law, you are not. If we had everyone carrying guns around with them, any little indiscretion could and likely would result in the use of a gun to kill someone. Simply not necessary.

    So, if someone armed with a gun breaks into a home and in the impending struggle between homeowner and intruder, the intruder dies, this is unjustifiable homicide? You would prefer that the unarmed homeowner leave him/herself and their family to the mercy of the intruder? We live in incredible times.

    Of course not. The likelihood is that someone breaking into a home would be after money and use the gun as a threatening mechanism. At the same time, even if they came into your house to kill you, in most cases you are not going to have enough time to grab your gun, load it and shoot the person.

    Andrew

    9 Jan 13 at 3:57 pm

  977. and let’s not forget the Alabama mum with a gun and her ax-wielding daugher.

    it was about 3 a.m. Tuesday morning when she heard a loud noise, which turned out to be someone kicking in her door. Lewis said she called the police and grabbed her gun, then went to her daughters’ room and told them each to get something to defend themselves with. She said one grabbed an ax and one got a butcher knife.

    They were at the top of the stairs when they saw a man standing there at the bottom.

    “I knew when he stepped on the landing that I would have to shoot him,” Lewis told the station. “He starts like coming up the stairs and he said, ‘would you shoot me?’ And I said ‘I don’t want to have to but I will.’”

    Ignoring her warnings, the man kept coming — and that’s when Lewis said she fired.

    dd

    9 Jan 13 at 3:57 pm

  978. Who’s manor would you rather break into in Australia? A farmers or an inner city mocha latte sippers?

    Perchance is it because the farmer might stick a 12 gauge up your jacksie and unload both barrels? Actually that might appeal to a few around here.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Jan 13 at 3:57 pm

  979. “The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gangbanger, and a single gay guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.

    “People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that’s the exact opposite of a civilized society.”

    Click over and read the whole thing.

    sdog

    9 Jan 13 at 3:58 pm

  980. from DD’s link….

    The bullet hit the intruder, who deputies identified as 32-year-old Stacey Jones. He took off but did not get far before officers took him down.

    “He was sitting down, the policemen had him apprehended at the end of the block. All I saw was some blood coming down his back. I’m not exactly sure where his injury was, but I saw some blood there,” explained St. Clair.

    Jones was taken to a Texas hospital by helicopter after the incident. An investigator on the case said Jones was released from the hospital Thursday and extradited to the Bryan County Jail.

    The 12-year-old girl was not injured during the ordeal.

    I thought I’d post that for any leftwhining bumpkin idiots that come on here saying US healthcare is only for the rich in the US.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 3:58 pm

  981. Meanwhile, Barry O’Farrell has lost his mind:

    The New South Wales Premier has thrown his support behind an idea that would see convicted arsonists help farmers destroy animals injured in bushfires…

    “I met the mayor of Yass – she’s not been able to be here because her property is one of those that’s in the line of the fire – she had a great suggestion,” he said.

    “We ought to bring this people down here to districts like this and have them assist is putting to death those sheep that have been injured in these fires.

    “Because if you did that once you would never ever want to see it again.”

    The Premier says he will talk to the state’s Attorney-General about the plan.

    Because if there’s one thing teenage arsonist boys would really hate it’s shooting animals.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 3:58 pm

  982. If someone tried to invade your house and rape someone’s daughter, then the likelihood is that the person breaking and entering into a house would already have a gun on the daughter, holding your daughter hostage, with no opportunity to use her gun.

    Speaking of absurd hypotheticals. BTW, did you miss this in the news? Absurd? No. Hypothetical? No.

    dover_beach

    9 Jan 13 at 3:59 pm

  983. “We ought to bring this people down here to districts like this and have them assist is putting to death those sheep that have been injured in these fires.

    “And we’ll also teach them about the dangers of alcohol and smoking by filling them full of piss and giving them a pack of Winnie Reds.”

    Christ on a pogo stick, these people are retarded. There will be a queue of miscreants from Perth to Dubbo lining up with matches.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Jan 13 at 4:01 pm

  984. If guns are useless for self-defence, why do police carry them?

    Still no answer.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 4:02 pm

  985. Of course not.

    And then you go on to precisely argue that the homeowner and their family should be left to the motives or mercy of the intruder.

    dover_beach

    9 Jan 13 at 4:03 pm

  986. The point of these stories is that such things happen in Australia too, but the news reports are written rather differently.

    Instead of “12 year old, hiding in closet, shoots home intruder who entered her bedroom”…
    if it happened in Australia, the headline would be more like this:

    GIRL DISAPPEARS FROM HOME, POLICE APPEAL FOR WITNESSES

    end of story.

    dd

    9 Jan 13 at 4:06 pm

  987. in most cases you are not going to have enough time to grab your gun, load it and shoot the person.

    Andrew you keep using this hypothetical as justification. Now while it may be true, we cannot conclude that this will be the case in every instance. In most instances? In a few insteances? Who knows, apart from TV police procedurals. There is at least the opportunity for the home owner to defend themselves if they had a gun in your scenario.

    Do you really believe that banning guns will prevent those who intend to rape and murder from doing so? Have you not read about the increasing number of drive-by shootings in Sydney? The increasing number of people being shot? These are not committed by people who own guns legally.

    Ban guns all you like but those who are inclined to perpetrate a crime will still obtain them illegally.

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 4:07 pm

  988. Exactly right, dd.

    dover_beach

    9 Jan 13 at 4:08 pm

  989. Hey, I could be wrong, but don’t think. Homer is now blogging.

    I hope he sets up a Skanky Ho thread as I never thought we quite finished the “debate”.

    and I also don’t think we quite finished the Nazi debate either.

    It’s here.

    http://nottrampis.blogspot.com.au/

    I notice that it’s hard to comment there too.

    Moderator… any chance of giving him a sport on the blog roll…? :-) Go on.

    The doofus seems to have his own blog, which would be exhibit A in market failure if we really get down to it.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 4:08 pm

  990. I feel in my bones that we are going to have another lefty mental meltdown soon.

    Token

    9 Jan 13 at 4:08 pm

  991. in most cases you are not going to have enough time to grab your gun, load it and shoot the person.

    That’s an argument against gun safes and storage legislation rather than gun ownership.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Jan 13 at 4:09 pm

  992. and I also don’t think we quite finished the Nazi debate either.

    Bring it on, JC. As the representative of the puritanical green overlords here all I can say is make my day.

    Grey

    9 Jan 13 at 4:12 pm

  993. As the representative of the puritanical green overlords here all I can say is make my day.

    mate, if you are serious about arguing it through and not just trolling, I will go toe-to-toe with you any day on the wrongness of the Greens.

    dd

    9 Jan 13 at 4:14 pm

  994. Greys

    You’re a newbie twit. You have no idea who or even what Homer means to us here.

    STFU and stop babbling for the sake of it, you asshat.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 4:15 pm

  995. I thought Mr Howard did the right thing with his policy and it’s worked well to date, is my impression.
    But America is so different. Can’t compare the culture to Aus.
    I’m not so black and white about things now, like ‘ban all guns’ which is nonsense. I can even understand why some parents would want teachers to arm themselves, as weird as that seems to us, as they are terrified their child’s school will be next. But it’s culturally difficult for me to grasp, sort of.

    candy

    9 Jan 13 at 4:18 pm

  996. mate, if you are serious about arguing it through and not just trolling, I will go toe-to-toe with you any day on the wrongness of the Greens.

    why bother. Just throw the moron into a mental asylum.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 4:18 pm

  997. I thought Mr Howard did the right thing with his policy and it’s worked well to date, is my impression.
    But America is so different. Can’t compare the culture to Aus.

    Candy, the real way to compare is racial background. you could even break it down further by background/ European nation. You”ll find the offense rate not that much different.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 4:20 pm

  998. Do you really believe that banning guns will prevent those who intend to rape and murder from doing so? Have you not read about the increasing number of drive-by shootings in Sydney? The increasing number of people being shot? These are not committed by people who own guns legally.

    Ban guns all you like but those who are inclined to perpetrate a crime will still obtain them illegally.

    All you have introduced to the debate is wild hypothetical situations. Many of you seem to like to ridicule alarmism from green groups on global warming and I do as well but then use those same sort of scare tactics in justifying the possession of a gun.

    Based on your logic, we shouldn’t have any laws then in society, because people will still commit those immoral offences that can kill people That is the logic that you are using here. Again, you have failed to address the fact that since gun laws have been introduced in Australia, gun homicides have been reduced by 60% and no gun massacres have occurred since then either. You can use all of these scary rape hypotheticals all you like but the fact of the matter is that gun homicides in the US are far higher than anywhere else in the world. The drive by shootings hypothetical is also ridiculous because having a gun on you is not going to stop someone driving by at say 60km/h and killing you.

    Andrew

    9 Jan 13 at 4:21 pm

  999. Still no answer.

    I answered it earlier. Look above your stupid post, you idiot.

    Andrew

    9 Jan 13 at 4:22 pm

  1000. gun homicides have been reduced by 60% and no gun massacres have occurred since then either.

    Was Monash a serious attempt at mass homicide or not? How did gun control prevent it?

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 4:28 pm

  1001. How did gun control prevent Norway.

    Look Andrew, if you’re going to get all deceptive and dishonest on us there’s no point trying to discuss anything with you, as you’re really better than the Greenslime.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 4:30 pm

  1002. Woolfe

    9 Jan 13 at 4:30 pm

  1003. All you have introduced to the debate is wild hypothetical situations.

    Who?

    Strange, I could’ve sworn I posted at 3:30pm a number of questions for you one why you believe semi-automatic weapons should be banned.

    Based on your logic, we shouldn’t have any laws then in society, because people will still commit those immoral offences that can kill people

    You misunderstand the logic Andrew.

    The only people who will be effected by the ban are law abiding citizens. Why do such people need draconian laws?

    Criminals can not by definition are not law abiding, and from extensive history evidence have access to firearms from illegal sources (i.e. ignore gun limitations) – see Obama’s home town Chicago as noted by sdog @ 1:56pm.

    I have addressed the mentally ill who are outside those groups in previous threads on the topic. In summary, like criminals they will obtain weapons illegally if their sociopathic, psycopathic, etc condition drives them to.

    Token

    9 Jan 13 at 4:30 pm

  1004. Have you not read about the increasing number of drive-by shootings in Sydney? The increasing number of people being shot?

    All you have introduced to the debate is wild hypothetical situations.

    These are not hypothetical, but real events that are on the increase – despite Howard’s gun laws. Perhaps the shooters are simply not aware of the law? Yes, that must be it.

    Based on your logic, we shouldn’t have any laws then in society,

    No. I never said that, it is something you have inferred (inferred is right yeah, Fleeced?) and I’m certain you have little use for logic.

    Banning guns disarms law-abiding citizens and denies them the opportunity to legally arm themselves and defend against those who do not follow the law.

    In the US, as has been pointed out here many times, gun crime rates have halved while gun ownership has doubled in the last twenty years.

    I’ll leave it there as I can see you are getting a tad hysterical.

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 4:31 pm

  1005. Andrew, stop talking about “hypotheticals” when we have real examples – such as the ones I posted – to talk about.

    Also, although you ‘answered’ CL’s question in a sense, you dodged the underlying point he was trying to make, which was that the fact that police carry guns is evidence that guns are useful for self-defense.

    dd

    9 Jan 13 at 4:31 pm

  1006. Andrew was responding to my comment, Token.

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 4:33 pm

  1007. All you have introduced to the debate is wild hypothetical situations.

    Andrew, we have linked to actual situations where homeowners have successfully defended themselves with firearms against intruders. sfb was kind enough to link to a study that suggests that firearms and the castle doctrine have taken a heavy toll on intruders. Taken together these rebut your claim that gun-owners are simply incapable of defending themselves and their family in their home. Are you simply going to ignore these facts.

    Your last paragraph is simply embarrassing. You begin by saying:

    Based on your logic, we shouldn’t have any laws guns then in society, because people will still commit those immoral offences that can kill people [even where law-abiding citizens own guns to defend themselves.] That is the logic that you are using here.

    The drive by shootings hypothetical

    You also seem to misunderstand the word ‘hypothetical’; drive-by shooting are actually occurring, they are not hypothetical.

    dover_beach

    9 Jan 13 at 4:33 pm

  1008. In the US, as has been pointed out here many times, gun crime rates have halved while gun ownership has doubled in the last twenty years.

    And there are more of the CT type massacres than the 80′s when gun control laws were laxer.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 4:33 pm

  1009. Andrew is right that the total number of gun deaths did drop dramatically after the gun buyback and stayed down.

    dd

    9 Jan 13 at 4:35 pm

  1010. Andrew:

    Honest question.. are you a Bolt head?

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 4:35 pm

  1011. Andrew calls CL an idiot. LOL.

    dover_beach

    9 Jan 13 at 4:36 pm

  1012. Again, you have failed to address the fact that since gun laws have been introduced in Australia, gun homicides have been reduced by 60% and no gun massacres have occurred since then either.

    How do you explain homicide and crime rates in the US falling like a stone despite the greatest gun buying binge in the history of humanity?

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Jan 13 at 4:37 pm

  1013. Yes, dd, but how did it effect the trend of the overall murder rate?

    dover_beach

    9 Jan 13 at 4:38 pm

  1014. Andrew is right that the total number of gun deaths did drop dramatically after the gun buyback and stayed down.

    Yea and you could ban cars too and I’m sure the road toll would go to zip too.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 4:38 pm

  1015. How do you explain homicide and crime rates in the US falling like a stone despite the greatest gun buying binge in the history of humanity?

    I’ll tell you because I made a nice little earner on buying Smith& wessie just after the Kenyan was elected for obvious reasons.

    People, law abiding people who fear his presidency went out and bought guns by the crate.

    That was my thesis for buying the stock at the time and it worked.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 4:41 pm

  1016. DD

    You really think the slope of the curve was influenced by gun control? I don’t see it frankly as the slope didn’t change much. So he’s not right.

    http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/compareyears/10/total_number_of_gun_deaths

    Fact: Australia is not a violent nation. that’s true even there’s gun strict control or not.

    Fact the US is a violent place. That’s true even if there’s strict gun control or not.

    My proposition. These facts wouldn’t change with or without gun control.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 4:46 pm

  1017. At the same time, even if they came into your house to kill you, in most cases you are not going to have enough time to grab your gun, load it and shoot the person.

    From Andrew.

    Hohohohohoho.

    Of course not. Every gun owner, legal or otherwise, scrupulously obeys the Stasi’s storage rules for guns. Without fail. Every day.

    Pedro the Ignorant

    9 Jan 13 at 4:57 pm

  1018. I answered it earlier.

    I asked why police carry guns for self-defence if they’re useless for self-defence. You ‘answered’ that their job is to enforce the law.

    ?

    Now try answering the question.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 5:00 pm

  1019. Good to see Homer again.

    I was always fond of old Homer.

    C.L.

    9 Jan 13 at 5:03 pm

  1020. Again, you have failed to address the fact that since gun laws have been introduced in Australia, gun homicides have been reduced by 60% and no gun massacres have occurred since then either.

    Violent crimes (assault, and sexual assault) are trending upward, but property crime (theft, etc) is trending down. Also although homicide is trending down, the worst of the recent years was 1999 (which was after John Howard’s gun laws were introduced). Let’s not forget some guy managed to pinch two rocket launchers from the Army and they didn’t even notice them missing. Criminals can still get guns.

    The conclusion in the USA is that homicide and gun laws shows no correlation, and homicide and gun ownership shows no correlation. However, between a good state and a bad state there’s a huge difference.

    Tel

    9 Jan 13 at 5:06 pm

  1021. I was always fond of old Homer.

    yea, everyone has that feeling with him. It lasts about 47 seconds after he posts his first comment and then you want to ring his neck.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 5:06 pm

  1022. I think this one is Homer.

    Sinclair Davidson

    9 Jan 13 at 5:11 pm

  1023. From Homer’s blog:

    A question.

    In this exchange between Sinclair Davidson and Peter Whiteford. Is Davidson merely Goebbelsising , doesn’t understand the topic or suffer from Aspergers?

    Just to make it clear unless I link an article all other articles are on the blog site nearby the linked article.

    Not much changes.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Jan 13 at 5:15 pm

  1024. You really think the slope of the curve was influenced by gun control? I don’t see it frankly as the slope didn’t change much. So he’s not right.

    You’re right!
    If you chart it by year, there’s a clear downward trend, and 1996 is right in the middle of the steepest part of the curve.
    The gun buyback occurred at a time when gun deaths were already declining rapidly.

    dd

    9 Jan 13 at 5:15 pm

  1025. Yes it links into the blog, Sinc. I’m pretty sure it’s him.

    I notice Rog (wodger) is spraying his venom too. What a little snake. I think he’s still venom filled because of the way he was mocked here by everyone. Never went past 9th grade and he’s now a climate scientist and economist.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 5:18 pm

  1026. I think this one must be from someone in the Systematic Musicology Faculty ?

    Myrrdin Seren

    9 Jan 13 at 5:20 pm

  1027. IT

    WTF does this even mean?

    Just to make it clear unless I link an article all other articles are on the blog site nearby the linked article.

    Nothing’s changed with him. He’s still an incoherent gibbering idiot.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 5:21 pm

  1028. MS

    I love this exchange.

    So this evil moron wants to jail people.

    iain
    January 9th, 2013 at 16:12 | #13
    Reply | Quote

    @ rog, a related point. Posters, on sites like catallaxy, should be held accountable for aiding and abetting dangerous safety outcomes, that arise from their publication of safety misinformation.

    I think it is only a matter of time before lawsuits are brought, at an individual level, against people who knowingly and deliberately post information that leads to dangerous safety outcomes, particularly in relation to climate change.

    Wodge is scratching his head trying to figure out how hot weather dries up the ground.

    rog
    January 9th, 2013 at 16:19 | #14
    Reply | Quote

    Back to the weather, I have been surprised at how the bush has dried up in such a relatively short time and wonder if the increase in heat and wind with subsequent loss of humidity has an effect on plant moisture levels that is exponential. This would also apply to soil moisture. It certainly has got very dry very quick.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 5:25 pm

  1029. It is not just a coincidence that countries such as the US have far higher gun crime rates than anywhere else in the world.

    It’s not a coincidence, it’s a load of crap. Mexico is far worse for homicide and pick almost any nation in Africa is also worse. Do some basic research on homicide and the USA is about middle of the pack (but even then, most of the badness of the USA is in only a few states, like District of Colombia for example).

    If you only want to look at gun crime (which is itself dishonest because it doesn’t matter how you die you are still dead) then Mexico is still worse, so is South Africa, Colombia, Thailand. By the way, Thai gun laws are very strict, but questionably enforced (a bit like Indian rape laws).

    Tel

    9 Jan 13 at 5:29 pm

  1030. Catallaxy – the most talked about site in the blogiverse.

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 5:29 pm

  1031. So victims avoid being raped or thrashed to within an inch of their lives and instead shoot their assailants.

    Not just that but the bastard assailants don’t/can’t rape or thrash again!

    Old Fridgie

    9 Jan 13 at 5:31 pm

  1032. rog
    January 9th, 2013 at 16:19 | #14
    Reply | Quote

    Back to the weather, I have been surprised at how the bush has dried up in such a relatively short time and wonder if the increase in heat and wind with subsequent loss of humidity has an effect on plant moisture levels that is exponential. This would also apply to soil moisture. It certainly has got very dry very quick.

    LOL. He really is a mouth-breather.

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 5:31 pm

  1033. Monty:

    This sort of rubbish is always on the Internet but it means nothing.

    That’s some deep thinking right there. He’s right at the bottom of the carpark puddle.

    Monty:

    What’s the end point of your line of thinking, anyway?

    hahahahahahahhahaaa… Shorter monty “Durr, I don’t unnastan?
    That you actually have to ask that publicly demonstrates your gap-toothed, vacantly grinning idiocy.

    Monty: What should Obama do in the face of armed resistance by good ole ex-SEALs in the boonies? Pull back on the assault weapons issue lest he waken a sleeping militia of wannabe Wolverines and Sarah Connors? Change his policy for fear of being assassinated? Cower at the prospect of a Million Minutemen March of tea partiers wielding AR15s, taking the White House by force?

    Hmm. Who mentioned ex-SEALs in the boonies? You watch too much TV (hint, it’s fiction). I am talking about the 40% of the entire US population who own those 30- million plus guns.
    Anyhoo, re the Preshizzle (Paco™). How about follow the Constitution he is sworn to uphold, y’know, keep his oath of office. That’s what he is supposed to be doing, and it is his not doing it which is causing these issues.

    Monty:

    In a sane, rational society, that’s the sort of thing that would lead people not to agree with the crazy gun lobby.

    So that begs the question, doesn’t it, Monty? And you do not even understand what the question is.

    Monty:

    Yet you’re on their side.

    Really? You really think that? Again, you are publcily proving that you are an idiot.
    I am observing an event and trying to understand it better. To you, this is the same as picking sides. You truly are a genetic reject from the shallow end of the gene pool.

    Monty:

    What does that say about you, Mk50? Why are you associating with these loons?

    That’s obvious, you poor deluded fool, to everyone but you. I am observing the situation as it develops, as are others. What it says about me is obvious: I am conducting intelligent analysis of the situation as best I can. What does it say about you that you are soiling your gigantic trousers and carrying on like a hysterical child because someone is analysing a developing issue? You are demented.

    I will put money on the theory that you entirely missed the quotation marks I used, and think I wrote the material quoted from US sites. Because Monty, you really are that stupid.

    Monty:

    No, actually, if someone does form an armed militia to bring down the US government…

    You pitiful little man – have you actually read their constitution? Do you even understand that the USA is a Constitutional Republic and very specifically not a democracy in the sense accepted in the eighteenth century: that of demos? Have you any idea that under US Federal Regulations coherent with and to their Constitution, all males over majority are automatically part of the Federal Militia? They don’t have to ‘form a militia’ you ignorant buffoon, they were born in to it and it’s been that way for a quarter of a millennia. You missed this how?

    Monty:

    out of the remnants of the tea party failure,

    Hahahahahahahahahahahaaa… Lord you are stupid. Check out what’s happening in US state legislatures – that’s what a real grass roots Constitutionalist citizen’s movement does. The US left is hysterical about it because all of their ‘grassroots’ movements are 100% astroturf and they have to use union thugs and pay welfare drones to get any numbers.

    Monty:

    that would not be upholding the constitution. That would be treason. No patriot should do anything but denounce that, or treat it as a valid part of political discourse.

    Patently false, patently wrong. Go and read the US Constitution and the Federalist papers. Your ignorance is both amazing and utterly unsurprising. The US Constitution specifically legalises armed revolt against the US Government should it become tyrannical and attempt to remove the rights of the US citizen. The US Founders were revolutionaries, Monty. They liked the idea of revolution and thought it healthy. And they understood aristocrats like the US left very, very well, and they prepared for them.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    9 Jan 13 at 5:32 pm

  1034. If memory serves correctly, Andrew is an 18 yo conservative fresh out of high school. I am sure that he linked to his blog here or over at Bolts.

    Huckleberry Chunkwot

    9 Jan 13 at 5:34 pm

  1035. LOL. He really is a mouth-breather.

    I don’t mean this lightly as I call a lot of people morons and idiots ( because of course they are) but Wodge is really a very stupid person. The lights are really out in that tiny cranium.

    I’d love to know the circumference of his head, as seems really small brained.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 5:38 pm

  1036. Which would make you want to move house more:

    a) Your neighbour shoots dead an intruder in his kids bedroom.
    b) Your neighbours daughter is raped in her bedroom.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Jan 13 at 5:40 pm

  1037. If memory serves correctly, Andrew is an 18 yo conservative fresh out of high school. I am sure that he linked to his blog here or over at Bolts.

    lol, so he’s a Bolthead. Figures. I hope Bolt gets back from loathing around soon, so a few of those refs migrate back.

    It’s interesting how Bolt is anti illegal immigration but has no qualms about the caliber of the commenter he sends here. It’s a tad hypocritical.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 5:41 pm

  1038. oops spellcheck… loafing not loathing.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 5:42 pm

  1039. Andrew is right that the total number of gun deaths did drop dramatically after the gun buyback and stayed down.

    dd, one of my first posts on Catallaxy was about the gun buy back. In fact the percentage of gun related murders out of all murders in Australia is almost exactly the same as it was before the gun buy back, the numbers are in a post in a thread somewhere back around June. I got the stats from the ABS website and looked at 1993 and 2011 murders across Australia.

    Old Fridgie

    9 Jan 13 at 5:45 pm

  1040. If memory serves correctly, Andrew is an 18 yo conservative fresh out of high school.

    Yes he is and he has made some good contributions here. Gun law is an emotional issue for many people, understandably, and Andrew got a little hot under the collar today. No biggie. On other threads he has put forward good, clear arguments.

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 5:46 pm

  1041. Go on Gab: make another “non emotional” argument about guns – like how a bikie drive by shooting in Sydney shows that Howard gun laws haven’t worked?

    You, CL and others just so frequently make pathetically nonsensical claims about gun laws in both Australia and the US that you are the ones being far more “emotional” about the topic than any of the pro tighter gun control people who comment here.

    steve from brisbane

    9 Jan 13 at 5:53 pm

  1042. In fact the percentage of gun related murders out of all murders in Australia is almost exactly the same as it was before the gun buy back,

    Good point, Young Fridgie.

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 5:55 pm

  1043. Yes he is and he has made some good contributions here.

    Poor kid has done 18 years under the Marxist indoctrination system. With time he’ll be right as rain.

    Takes a while to deprogram them, so he is very lucky he has us for guidance. I do offer an express course in “Wake the fuck up you commie shit”, but it is not for everyone.

    Is Andrew also an anti-smoking Nazi?

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Jan 13 at 5:56 pm

  1044. It’s not a coincidence, it’s a load of crap. Mexico is far worse for homicide

    Not only that, but Mexico has very restrictive gun laws. The whole country has only one legal gun store.

    Dangph

    9 Jan 13 at 5:57 pm

  1045. Facts and figures are on our side, SfB.

    I know that makes your vagina itchy, but that’s the truth.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Jan 13 at 5:58 pm

  1046. Who let in all the numptys?

    Tal

    9 Jan 13 at 5:58 pm

  1047. I don’t believe Andrew has communist leanings at all. He’s young and idealistic, nothing wrong with that. Hope he sticks around.

    Gab

    9 Jan 13 at 5:59 pm

  1048. Also, the default setting in Australian society is to be anti-gun and pro gun control.

    dd

    9 Jan 13 at 6:02 pm

  1049. What the spavined inbred cretins of the left (Andrew, Sh*tferbrains, Monty, Ghey etc) can never, ever explain is this.

    1. Criminals and the insane commit gun massacres.

    2. Law abiding registered gun owners, most of who follow the sport of range shooting here in Australia, do not commit gun massacres.

    3. Yet every time the former commit a massacre, the left wants to punish the second group, the people who did not do it and who, were they able to, would most often be the first responders able to stop the crime.

    Therefore, the left care zero, zip, zilch for the actual criminal issue – they are pursuing an ideological aim of theirs.

    As always, it’s really just about power for these mentally diseased left-wing motherf****rs.

    My view is coloured. I once lived next door to a couple who once lived in a country where only the police and government had guns. And that was why they met each other: but this is not a romantic tale, for they met in Auschwitz.

    Both came from rural families. Both said that ‘had we been armed, most of us would have been able to escape into the forests instead of being rounded up like cattle, and butchered’.

    I also saw a movie about a place where only the police and government had guns. It was called Schindlers List.

    (Ghey and Monty will now have trouser accidents in their enthusiasm over the uniforms)

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    9 Jan 13 at 6:02 pm

  1050. If someone tried to invade your house and rape someone’s daughter, then the likelihood is that the person breaking and entering into a house would already have a gun on the daughter, holding your daughter hostage, with no opportunity to use her gun.

    Plenty of rapists have been killed lawfully in the act.

    There is a deterrence effect.

    They are enforcing the law, you are not. If we had everyone carrying guns around with them, any little indiscretion could and likely would result in the use of a gun to kill someone. Simply not necessary.

    Except that doesn’t happen in reality. US states that have this kind of culture have no mass shootings and low violent crime rates.

    They are enforcing the law, you are not

    They are not allowed to enforce the law with a gun. They may only use a gun, for self defence or other lawful killing. Enforcing the law virtually never sees lawful killing, only in rare and sad cases.

    At the same time, even if they came into your house to kill you, in most cases you are not going to have enough time to grab your gun, load it and shoot the person.

    Sounds like if you were a crim, you’d like those odds.

    We know from the data that it puts doubt in people’s minds to the extent there is a significant social benefit in deterrence.

    Also, outside of NSW, you are allowed to sensibly store your gun and ammunition. In NSW, ammunition and handguns are treated as the two components of VX gas.

    Yes he is and he has made some good contributions here. Gun law is an emotional issue for many people, understandably, and Andrew got a little hot under the collar today. No biggie. On other threads he has put forward good, clear arguments.

    All he needs to do is see some unrepentant thuggery, then marry a beautiful woman and have some kids…and he will understand that civil, reasonable and innocent people should have the right to be armed against criminals who couldn’t give two craps about gun laws and registration etc.

    For example Andrew: do you believe in castle doctrine, or self defence?

    How can one be armed in a modern society to enforce these rights?

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 6:05 pm

  1051. Also, the default setting in Australian society is to be anti-gun and pro gun control.

    The Australian default setting is to do whatever Jonny from the Government Bureau tells us to.

    We are a pathetic grouping of dim wits.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Jan 13 at 6:06 pm

  1052. Not only that, but Mexico has very restrictive gun laws. The whole country has only one legal gun store.

    Is it staffed by Barack Obama and William Holder?

    If Americans wanted to cut Mexican immigration, they’d end the war on drugs being fought on Mexican soil. As well as stop selling arms to cartels in a too clever by half sting operation…

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 6:08 pm

  1053. Steford

    Please explain to the readership here how you would get around the 2nd amendment in the US.

    I’m still waiting and have posted the same question several times already, yet you seem to ignore it.

    JC

    9 Jan 13 at 6:12 pm

  1054. Losing brain cells watching The Dumb.

    First up, Frydenburg’s op Ed today and how that is a problem for abbott.

    Second up, abbott’s stunt being a CFA member. Verity firth “I don’t know abbott, BUT…. It surely is a stunt.” Fellow Panelist with a beard agrees.

    Dan

    9 Jan 13 at 6:16 pm

  1055. Verity Firth?

    The fact she was ever a Parliamentarian is a stunt.

    “Minister for Women”. What a talented individual!

    Ah yes, a 12 year stunt. Just like his work in remote indigenous communities and being a lifesaver.

    Perhaps he’s not even Catholic.

    .

    9 Jan 13 at 6:21 pm

  1056. Andrew is right that the total number of gun deaths did drop dramatically after the gun buyback and stayed down.

    Gun deaths dropped but the overall intentional homicide or suicide rates didn’t change in any significant way. Intentional homicide rates remained on the same downward trend that is present in most western nations including the USA.

    John Mc

    9 Jan 13 at 6:21 pm

  1057. Is it staffed by Barack Obama and William Holder?

    Heh. Probably.

    The Mormons living in the desert in Mexico, including the Romney family, have had to resort to running illegal guns in order to protect themselves from the drug cartels.

    The drug cartels have easy access to guns, but the Mormons, who are some of the most law abiding people on the planet, have great difficulty getting them and are forced to break the law in order to protect their own lives.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpIyaIHsJbc

    Dangph

    9 Jan 13 at 6:24 pm

  1058. Also, the default setting in Australian society is to be anti-gun and pro gun control.

    The default setting for Australia is to look toward government to fix everything. We are a nation of ‘the government should do something’ type of people in the European model, maybe due to our history as a former European colony that smoothly transitioned to becoming our own nation.

    Doesn’t mean that model is any good. Doesn’t mean we should stop telling people that it’s going to hurt you in the long term.

    John Mc

    9 Jan 13 at 6:28 pm

  1059. Host and bearded panelist think this Moylan guy should be let off for what is nothing more than a hoax. Firth agrees. I wish I didn’t give up drinking

    Dan

    9 Jan 13 at 6:30 pm

  1060. Hmm

    Does Pickering know something we do not?

    That’s just a few… and all ALP luminaries. Even the PM and her boyfriend are likely to face $2 million fraud charges later this year.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    9 Jan 13 at 6:42 pm

  1061. Also Hmmm…

    Y’know that old saying ‘it’s like putting ;ipstick ona pig’?

    Found the very definition!

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    9 Jan 13 at 6:43 pm

  1062. Minister for Small Business, Brendan O’Connor, has just had to apologise for calling Tony Abbott’s volunteer firefighting a “stunt”.

    I wonder his opinion of Kevin Rudd wading through flood waters and never been a SES volunteer ?

    Glowing I’d wager.

    jumpnmcar

    9 Jan 13 at 6:47 pm

  1063. Oh, uproariously funny Mk50!

    You’re quite the wit.

    Been to St Stephen’s today?

    steve from brisbane

    9 Jan 13 at 6:49 pm

  1064. The Australian default setting is to do whatever Jonny from the Government Bureau tells us to.

    Only if one actually obeys their worthless diktats, hoplophobia, bedwetting anxieties and mummy issues, IT.

    And most do not. You’d be amazed at the sheer number of insomniacs or people who could not sleep that night and who just so happen to choose 0200 do some ammunition feed maintenance on their guns…

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    9 Jan 13 at 6:53 pm

Leave a Reply