Catallaxy Files

Australia's leading libertarian and centre-right blog

Tuesday Forum: February 26, 2013

921 comments

Written by Sinclair Davidson

February 26th, 2013 at 1:00 pm

Posted in Open Forum

921 Responses to 'Tuesday Forum: February 26, 2013'

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  1. Zing!!

    Kruddler

    26 Feb 13 at 1:01 pm

  2. The Academy Award for the worst lefty fruitbat troll on this thread goes to…

    …[scroll down the thread for the answer]…

    Token

    26 Feb 13 at 1:02 pm

  3. 3rd

    Carpe Jugulum

    26 Feb 13 at 1:03 pm

  4. A really excellent article by Gillian Trigg in The Australian yesterday.

    hammygar

    26 Feb 13 at 1:04 pm

  5. Apologies to all those who wanted to be first… nah, who am I kidding! Suck it up princesses!

    Kruddler

    26 Feb 13 at 1:05 pm

  6. Hammy, you are a dead-set buffoon.

    Kruddler

    26 Feb 13 at 1:08 pm

  7. Token, Oh great seer, how the fuck did you know what was to come?

    Huckleberry Chunkwot

    26 Feb 13 at 1:08 pm

  8. Disconcerting these new threads being opened up at odd times, Sinclair.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 1:09 pm

  9. Yeah, what Huck said, Token.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 1:09 pm

  10. Have Token and Hammy ever been seen in the same room?

    Huckleberry Chunkwot

    26 Feb 13 at 1:10 pm

  11. Token, Oh great seer, how the fuck did you know what was to come?

    Yep, i was thinking the same thing.

    Carpe Jugulum

    26 Feb 13 at 1:10 pm

  12. Give him a break. He can’t always sit around until midnight!

    blogstrop

    26 Feb 13 at 1:11 pm

  13. Has Token given the game away? Is Hammy the sock-puppet of Token?

    Huckleberry Chunkwot

    26 Feb 13 at 1:12 pm

  14. well predicted Token

    steve of glasshouse

    26 Feb 13 at 1:12 pm

  15. Or is Token the sock-puppet of Hammy? “Token”, get it?

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 1:14 pm

  16. oh please, let me be sweet sixteen.

    I never was before.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    26 Feb 13 at 1:16 pm

  17. Yea! Made it!

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    26 Feb 13 at 1:16 pm

  18. Here’s the ‘real’ news:
    http://www.psnews.com.au/APS.html
    First item:

    Agency weighs in
    to beat obesity
    ANPHA publishes cookbook …read more…

    What we’re spending $8 Billion a month on isn’t mentioned…

    Forester

    26 Feb 13 at 1:18 pm

  19. What’s a writer more famous for soft (I assume) porn doing straying into military and foreign policy matters. Nikki Gemmell takes up the old “drones will just make them angry” line.
    What’s the feminine form for wanker?

    blogstrop

    26 Feb 13 at 1:22 pm

  20. Twentieth!!

    papachango

    26 Feb 13 at 1:25 pm

  21. Is Hammy the sock-puppet of Token?

    What’s Tony Abbott’s role in all this sock-puppetry?

    Rabz

    26 Feb 13 at 1:25 pm

  22. Winkler?

    Sirocco

    26 Feb 13 at 1:26 pm

  23. What’s the feminine form for wanker?

    Wankeuse? Wankesse?

    papachango

    26 Feb 13 at 1:27 pm

  24. I had an ardently feminist friend many moons ago and she just called it ‘having a wank’ like the rest of us.

    Popular Front

    26 Feb 13 at 1:30 pm

  25. Wankette?

    Rabz

    26 Feb 13 at 1:32 pm

  26. Julia’s McT likes US ideas

    Go West, young man, go West. There is health in the country, and room away from our crowds of idlers and imbeciles.” “That,” I said, “is very frank advice, but it is medicine easier given than taken. It is a wide country, but I do not know just where to go.” “It is all room away from the pavements. [...]“

    So Go West, young woman, go West.

    stackja

    26 Feb 13 at 1:33 pm

  27. Fapper

    duncanm

    26 Feb 13 at 1:36 pm

  28. Hairy Banjo Strummer?

    Huckleberry Chunkwot

    26 Feb 13 at 1:41 pm

  29. Clam Dancing

    Carpe Jugulum

    26 Feb 13 at 1:45 pm

  30. Mussel manipulator?

    h/t Peter Slipper

    Grant B

    26 Feb 13 at 1:48 pm

  31. Notice how Token has not denied sock-puppetry allegations?

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 1:51 pm

  32. Notice how Token has not denied sock-puppetry allegations?

    Quite so. Curiouser and curiouser…

    Rabz

    26 Feb 13 at 1:54 pm

  33. Notice how Token has not denied sock-puppetry allegations?

    Methinks the “black” cat is out of the bag.

    Huckleberry Chunkwot

    26 Feb 13 at 1:55 pm

  34. Wick Wacker!

    Rudiau

    26 Feb 13 at 1:55 pm

  35. Mussel rubbing?

    Help, no, I didn’t say that. Sorry mum.

    Anyway, I thought wanker was a word that got you sin-binned here, one of the forbidden ones.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    26 Feb 13 at 1:56 pm

  36. Clearly what we need is a royal commission into Token’s alleged sock-puppet alleged shenanigans.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 1:58 pm

  37. From blogstrop’s link at 1.22

    And these mosquitoes of our brave new world can not only spy on you – they can kill you. And your family. Imagine. The sheer powerlessness of that.

    Here’s a tip for those bothered by drones: Stop being a terrorist.

    jupes

    26 Feb 13 at 2:01 pm

  38. A female wanker would be a ‘wanka’, but in this context the term we seek is ‘strummer’.

    Empire Strikes Back

    26 Feb 13 at 2:08 pm

  39. Where was the welcome to country?

    Andrew

    26 Feb 13 at 2:09 pm

  40. oh please, let me be sweet sixteen.

    I never was before.

    Yea! Made it!

    Here you go, Lizzie

    Septimus

    26 Feb 13 at 2:09 pm

  41. Where was the welcome to country?

    JC is only on his third short black. Give him time.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 2:12 pm

  42. Besides, Andrew, how can you expect JC to keep up when Sinclair keeps changing the opening times for new threads.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 2:14 pm

  43. Well I guess Sinclair is the traditional owner of the land so he can change the times if he wants!

    Andrew

    26 Feb 13 at 2:16 pm

  44. Yes. He’s evil like that, but.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 2:17 pm

  45. Notice how Token has not denied sock-puppetry allegations?

    Methinks the “black” cat is out of the bag.

    What was the Jim Hacker quote Deadman posted last night?

    Bernard Woolley: Minister, I’ve heard something quite different.
    James Hacker: What?
    Bernard Woolley: That there is £1 million worth of diamonds from South Africa in a Downing Street safe, but of course it’s only a rumour.
    James Hacker: Is that true?
    Bernard Woolley: Oh, yes.
    James Hacker: So, there are all those diamonds in Downing Street!
    Bernard Woolley: Are there?
    James Hacker: You just said there were.
    Bernard Woolley: No, I didn’t.
    James Hacker: Yes, you did! You said you’d heard this rumour, I said is it true, you said yes!
    Bernard Woolley: I said yes, it was true that it was a rumour.
    James Hacker: You said you heard it was true!
    Bernard Woolley: No, I said it was true that I heard it!
    Annie Hacker: I’m sorry to cut into this important discussion, but do you believe it?
    James Hacker: I believe I heard it. Oh, about the diamonds. No.
    Annie Hacker: Is it impossible?
    James Hacker: No, but it’s never been officially denied. First rule in politics: never believe anything until it’s officially denied.

    Let me just say, it has not been officially denied.

    Token

    26 Feb 13 at 2:22 pm

  46. James Hacker: No, but it’s never been officially denied. First rule in politics: never believe anything until it’s officially denied.

    Let me just say, it has not been officially denied.

    So, a paradox. If you officially deny, we then believe. On the other hand you are not officially denying, therefore we must still believe.
    Is it hard to slip in and out of character? Do you not sometimes forget who you are supposed to be?
    Whatever the case, I am running with the theory that you and Hammy are one and the same and as such I say to you, very well done Sir.

    Huckleberry Chunkwot

    26 Feb 13 at 2:28 pm

  47. I say to you, very well done Sir.

    Yes I concur. Hammy is almost at Arlene’s standard.

    jupes

    26 Feb 13 at 2:33 pm

  48. So, a paradox.

    Yes, which is whjy I calss for a royal commission into this alleged subterfuge.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 2:36 pm

  49. oh dear….why…..calls…must stop doing work and reading the Cat at the same time…

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 2:37 pm

  50. I say to you, very well done Sir.

    I’ve got a feeling that if I start claiming credit for Hammy I might wake up wrapped in cling wrap, Red John style.

    Token

    26 Feb 13 at 2:38 pm

  51. Screaming headline in the Australian:

    Labor says there’s still time to recover, despite another disastrous Newspoll

    Yes, yes I agree. Keep doing what you’ve been doing Labor. It’s a formula for success.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 2:39 pm

  52. “Great supine protoplasmic invertebrate jellies.”

    Boris Johnson in full flight.
    Excellent.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 2:50 pm

  53. Oh my….here’s the link.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 2:56 pm

  54. Dormant bank accounts.

    Surely the money isn’t sitting in the branches safe!!

    Doesnt this screw up the banks capital reserve ratio??

    Dan

    26 Feb 13 at 2:57 pm

  55. That went on for a week or two. This is stupid and tiresome

    Dan

    26 Feb 13 at 3:05 pm

  56. In Question Time, Sen. Conroy claimed, in one rant (wherein, as usual, he refused to answer the question*) that jobs are “first, second and third” in importance to the Gillard Government. So much, then, for the PM’s claim that “Nothing is more important than education”. Of course, according to our dear leader, “nothing is more important than girls’ education” and “nothing is more important than investing in national education”.
    Mr Swan, however, claims that “nothing is more important than sound fiscal policy” though he also previously stated that “nothing is more important […] than fast national broadband”.
    Perhaps, if I reckon this rightly, jobs are of primary, secondary and tertiary importance but, conterminously and simultaneously, of exactly equal importance are, inter alia, education in general, girls’ education, investing in education, sound fiscal policy, and fast national broadband.

    * Conroy refused several times to answer a simple question: when will the PM visit WA, and has she been asked to stay away therefrom; apparently, then, she won’t visit WA any time soon because she has been asked to stay away.

    Deadman

    26 Feb 13 at 3:06 pm

  57. ‘Tight dresses and lipstick’.

    Yep. That was about it, Septimus. No school the next day either. A proud member of the Australian workforce. Medical receptionist (junior) by then, age put up to 18, no questions asked, but sadly no 16th birthday either because of that.

    Just turned back the years getting the slot above though. :)

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    26 Feb 13 at 3:07 pm

  58. “Doing the washing by hand”

    Pickles

    26 Feb 13 at 3:31 pm

  59. Gillard government begins the great leap forward:

    HOUSEHOLDS face losing up to $109 million from their family savings as the Federal government moves to seize cash from inactive bank accounts.

    After legislation was rushed through parliament, the government will from May 31 be able to transfer all money from accounts that have not been used for three years into their own revenues.

    This will mean that accounts with anything from $1 upwards that have not had any deposit or withdrawals in the past three years will be transferred to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.

    Here comes the torrent of commie legislation.

    twostix

    26 Feb 13 at 3:33 pm

  60. Screaming headline in the Australian:

    Labor says there’s still time to recover, despite another disastrous Newspoll.

    Not unless they access to a functioning Tardis

    Steve of Glasshouse

    26 Feb 13 at 3:37 pm

  61. “It is very hard to see why this needed to be rushed through but there have been suggestions it was done more for the government’s own financial circumstances rather than customers needs,” he said.

    No sh!t, Sherlock.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 3:38 pm

  62. HOUSEHOLDS face losing up to $109 million from their family savings as the Federal government moves to seize cash from inactive bank accounts.

    After legislation was rushed through parliament, the government will from May 31 be able to transfer all money from accounts that have not been used for three years into their own revenues.

    This will mean that accounts with anything from $1 upwards that have not had any deposit or withdrawals in the past three years will be transferred to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.

    WTF?

    Are you kidding me?

    C.L.

    26 Feb 13 at 3:44 pm

  63. C.L.

    26 Feb 13 at 3:45 pm

  64. Boris doesn’t work, Gab.

    Helen Armstrong

    26 Feb 13 at 3:48 pm

  65. from accounts that have not been used for three years

    Oh hell, I’ve probably got one or two of those left over from pre-HIA days. You probably have also, bits and pieces forgotten.

    Just savings accounts, or other things, like cash management or internet stuff?

    Wot about poor old pensioners with funds stashed away too? OK – let’s work up a big scare about that one – it will get people to see how short of cash our wonderful Treasurer has become.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    26 Feb 13 at 3:48 pm

  66. Not unless they access to a functioning Tardis

    Gillard couldn’t even drive the thing.
    She’d get stuck in the time vortex, only to emerge as a large grub that starts devouring Cardiff.

    Keith

    26 Feb 13 at 3:50 pm

  67. Inactive bank accounts to be seized

    Hugo Chavez called to congratulate juliar on this latest cash grab. Super is next, then off-shore accounts.

    This is one very very desperate government. Desperate to spend spend spend.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 3:51 pm

  68. What makes stagnant cash special?

    What if a car hasn’t been driven in 3 years? A diamond necklace hasn’t been worn for 3 years? FFS, that’s someone’s property!

    If they’re dead you’d reckon there’d be a better way to deal with it. (like find out if they’re dead for starters)

    Harold

    26 Feb 13 at 3:52 pm

  69. WTF?

    Are you kidding me?

    It’s only the beginning.

    Having spent two years systematically purging anything resembling a “moderate” from cabinet, and now locked into leadership with electoral annihilation imminent Gillard is now unleashing her and the political lefts lifelong agenda on the country. Perhaps they’ll call it “payback” in the election literature.

    Free Speech crackdown.
    Media Crackdown.
    Confiscation of private property if you don’t use if for three years.

    And that’s just in the first month where they still believe that they might have a chance. Imagine what they’ll do in August if the polls don’t change.

    The most dangerous time in Australia’s history is upon us.

    twostix

    26 Feb 13 at 3:52 pm

  70. Hmmm. it did at the time, Helen.

    Try here.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 3:53 pm

  71. next one does

    Helen Armstrong

    26 Feb 13 at 3:53 pm

  72. The previous legislation allowed for bank accounts to remain inactive for up to 7 years before the money was transferred to ASIC.

    Anyone know which government introduced the previous legislation?

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 3:57 pm

  73. The opposition needs to get after this, because it is theft plain and simple. You can’t have the government appropriating peoples property without a bloody good reason and this isn’t an example of that. They already have their gimlet eyes on our super, so I’m worried about what kinds of stunts they’ll pull before the election.

    Much more of this and you’d expect the electoral backlash to be so severe it will be like the QLD election last year.

    tbh

    26 Feb 13 at 3:58 pm

  74. Hmmm the RBA never actually uses it’s reserves much.
    Based on impeccable Gillard logic, they should be confiscated. Those SDR’s are just sitting there devaluing after all….

    Keith

    26 Feb 13 at 3:59 pm

  75. Anyone know the title of the legislation?

    Pickles

    26 Feb 13 at 3:59 pm

  76. Stand and deliver?

    Keith

    26 Feb 13 at 3:59 pm

  77. The Bail Up Act?

    Pickles

    26 Feb 13 at 4:02 pm

  78. Agree, tbh.

    This is a good one to go after.

    C.L.

    26 Feb 13 at 4:03 pm

  79. While the Gillard Government voted to protect Australians’ lost money [i.e to grab the cash from inactive bank accounts], the Liberals voted to leave these monies with the big banks and super funds where it would remain unclaimed and continue to be eroded by fees, charges and inflation.

    From the graberment treasury website.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 4:07 pm

  80. So it does include lost super not just bank accounts.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 4:08 pm

  81. This is a good one to go after.

    Imagine the headlines: GOVT GRABS PENSIONERS MONEY!

    They just write themselves don’t they.

    tbh

    26 Feb 13 at 4:08 pm

  82. government appropriating peoples property

    They do it all the time, its called erosion or loss of proprietory rights, and the coalition keep mum about it, even so, agree this is an easy target for Super Tone, rescuing the poor little old ladies abnk accounts from the Dr Evil Swannee and his Rooty Resident.

    Helen Armstrong

    26 Feb 13 at 4:10 pm

  83. There’s children with bits of money in accounts they’ve forgotten about as they’ve gotten older, does the government grab those too?

    candy

    26 Feb 13 at 4:10 pm

  84. I believe this is the Bill.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 4:10 pm

  85. The amazing thing is that Labor continues to manufacture ammunition for the LNP to shoot at them. This is the well-spring of the ‘relentless negativity’, Labor itself.
    Lemming-like

    Keith

    26 Feb 13 at 4:10 pm

  86. Government steals money from Kiddies & Pensioners.

    That’ll play well.

    Infidel Tiger

    26 Feb 13 at 4:10 pm

  87. From the graberment treasury website.

    What Little Wayne and his cronies don’t understand is that he is taking choice away from people by forced appropriation of that money. That is theft. If people want to leave that money in those accounts then let them. I have an account in the US that I use for dividend payments that rarely gets transacted on. I’d be livid if any government tried to steal that money from me.

    tbh

    26 Feb 13 at 4:11 pm

  88. More on the changes to the Bill from Parliament House website.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 4:13 pm

  89. They are just disgusting people, aren’t they.

    Fisky

    26 Feb 13 at 4:14 pm

  90. Super as well. What do I do then?

    No longer contributing, (SA Govt Super from way back when) in fact, prevented from contributing by way of being not a SA Gov employee any more, in fact for 20 years, and not old enough to cash it in? Do I have to start up another fund and roll it over somewhere else that doesn’t perform as well and charges horribly?

    Helen Armstrong

    26 Feb 13 at 4:14 pm

  91. Don’t know the specific legislation – but consolidation of “Depositors Unclaimed Funds” has been practiced for a long time.

    The DUF has to be advertised. For example: here or from a long time back:
    here

    Arnost

    26 Feb 13 at 4:15 pm

  92. I should add that as a farmer, all my super is tied up in the asset (the farm.) I don’t have a contributing super account.

    Helen Armstrong

    26 Feb 13 at 4:16 pm

  93. It’s worse than you think. A friend of mine saw Wayne Swan knocking off a petrol station in his lunch break yesterday.

    Philippa Martyr

    26 Feb 13 at 4:17 pm

  94. This will mean that accounts with anything from $1 upwards that have not had any deposit or withdrawals in the past three years will be transferred to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.

    I will be personally affected by this. We need to introduce a new amendment to the Constitution making any legislation passed in the final year of a Labor government repealable by a simple majority in the House of Representatives, or better still, by a motion at the Executive Council. That will take effect after the natural expiry of the Fisk Doctrine.

    Fisky

    26 Feb 13 at 4:20 pm

  95. This is what is possible when you know that you have absolutely nothing left to lose.

    Ooh Honey Honey

    26 Feb 13 at 4:21 pm

  96. What Little Wayne and his cronies don’t understand is that he is taking choice away from people by forced appropriation of that money. That is theft.

    He and they understand perfectly what they are doing.

    This is how the union party roll.

    twostix

    26 Feb 13 at 4:22 pm

  97. A Matthew “Hands Of Stone” Wade dropped catch to seal victory for India. Quite fitting.

    Infidel Tiger

    26 Feb 13 at 4:25 pm

  98. This is what is possible when you know that you have absolutely nothing left to lose.

    Shudder to think what else they will do before the election. Mind you, the projected $109 million will prop up their election funds nicely. Although, given their abysmal forecasts over the past five years, it could well end up with them owing us money.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 4:27 pm

  99. Government steals money from Kiddies & Pensioners.
    That’ll play well.

    Don’t forget the Orphans and Widows of Kalgoorlie Fund, IT.

    Winston SMITH

    26 Feb 13 at 4:29 pm

  100. Around here the Greens are likely guilty of a crime too vile to even talk about. We are in the presence of a criminality so depraved it has no name.

    They didn’t even wait until last drinks.

    Who else could possibly be responsible?

    Bastards!

    geoffff

    26 Feb 13 at 4:31 pm

  101. EDWARDS, MARJORY NORMAN 23 INVERNESS AV, ST GEORGES SA
    5064
    268,015.88

    LIONS MISS PERSONALITY QUEST GPO BOX 1030, BRISBANE QLD 4000 118,530.62

    PARK, JOSEPHINE 17 LEICESTER AV, BELMONT NORTH
    NSW 2280
    91,290.82

    PIZER, NORMA ANZ BANKING GROUP LTD, 293
    COLLINS ST, MELBOURNE VIC 3000
    287,458.38

    RICHEX NOM P/L 7 ARDENA CT, BENTLEIGH EAST VIC
    3165
    68,400.58

    VANDEMEENE, ARIEN HENDRIK &
    PHYLLIS JOY
    7 STODDART CT, CARINDALE QLD
    4152
    72,934.59

    And I only got to page 46 of 350, from your link, Arnost

    This is hard earned hard saved money that belongs to people or charities, and who should have it or their inheritors have it. It is disgusting.

    Helen Armstrong

    26 Feb 13 at 4:32 pm

  102. Wait till these wretches start telling us how big a balance is allowable in our active accounts. Amounts above this level will be subject to seizure. Bankers should be protesting in the streets.

    Keith

    26 Feb 13 at 4:46 pm

  103. Boris Johnson in full flight.

    My favorite currently-elected politician, by a long, long stretch.

    His taunting of Francois Hollande on French TV is just magnificent work…

    Can he please emigrate here, get his citizenship fast tracked, join the LNP, take over the leadership and go on to become Prime Minister?

    papachango

    26 Feb 13 at 4:48 pm

  104. Gillard makes jobs pitch amid dire polls

    and

    INSURANCE company QBE confirmed that it plans to cut 700 jobs across its global operations, as it moves some of its back-office operations in Manila and Bangalore.

    QBE sends 700 jobs to Manila

    Chief executive John Neal played down reports that the company planned to axe 3000 jobs in its Australia, North America and Europe operations over the next few years, but he did say that the company intended to reduce numbers in its back-office operations.

    Helen Armstrong

    26 Feb 13 at 4:49 pm

  105. So I reckon this latest cash seizure will be deposited into a bank account that was set up by gillard, under the name Slush Fund Girl.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 4:52 pm

  106. Not a great fan of Boris Johnson.

    Neither is Petronella Wyatt who – brokenhearted by the father of three’s bastardry and lies – aborted his love child.

    Then there’s his hatred for free speech and robbery of monies for fashionable causes.

    He’s a complete douchebag.

    C.L.

    26 Feb 13 at 4:53 pm

  107. Boris Johnson is a far right British Conservative, which in the real world means he’s a left-wing social democrat.

    Infidel Tiger

    26 Feb 13 at 4:58 pm

  108. This is buycott Israel week

    So buy something Israeli.

    Hard not to I know given that you use something with Israeli components everyday.

    Still, make a point of it. Anything will do. If you can get Eskal pickled cucumbers in Woolworths in Kingscliff ( I just bought four cans) you can get them anywhere.

    Best on the market.

    geoffff

    26 Feb 13 at 5:01 pm

  109. So buy something Israeli.

    I bought an Uzi from some Leb in a car park.

    Infidel Tiger

    26 Feb 13 at 5:02 pm

  110. Ok so he supports some gay stuff. Personally I wouldn’t be giving out taxpayers money for a gay pride event, but in the sceme of things it’s small biccies.

    A conservative/libertrian with a bit of verve who pisses of types like CL. I like him even more ;-) no offence, CL.

    papachango

    26 Feb 13 at 5:03 pm

  111. Still, make a point of it. Anything will do. If you can get Eskal pickled cucumbers in Woolworths in Kingscliff ( I just bought four cans) you can get them anywhere.

    Are they the big ones that come in a tin can? I bought some once – definitely an Israeli product, but can’t remember the exact brand, thinking they’d be small like French cornichons.

    Turned out they were big and sort of greyish – resembling dog turds. Very visually unappealing, but surprisingly yummy when thinly sliced…

    Anyway I’ll make a point of dropping into Max Brenner’s next week and drinking a toast to George Galloway

    papachango

    26 Feb 13 at 5:07 pm

  112. I just thought Boris came out with a good line, is all.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 5:11 pm

  113. Yes, I’m pissed off by politicians who ban free speech and leave broken down, pregnant women in an abortion clinic.

    Johnson is neither conservative nor libertarian. He’s an idiot with a wacky hairdo hiding behind a facade called ‘loveable British eccentric.’

    It’s all a well-rehearsed schtich.

    C.L.

    26 Feb 13 at 5:14 pm

  114. There’s really good Israeli large couscous, which I like.

    Also buy something for yourself or the lucky lady in your life at Seacret! The Dead Sea salt scrub is absolutely divine, as is the hand & nail pack with the lotion, cuticle oil and nail buffer.

    Philippa Martyr

    26 Feb 13 at 5:15 pm

  115. But of course the government can’t pillage people’s property without the support of the Greens and Independents …uh-oh!

    blogstrop

    26 Feb 13 at 5:15 pm

  116. PS I don’t like Boris Johnson either. Funny, isn’t it? The Petronella Wyatt thing really went to my heart.

    Philippa Martyr

    26 Feb 13 at 5:15 pm

  117. I don’t give a hoot for Boris, but what he said was excellent.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 5:17 pm

  118. Buy something Jewish – I just bought Newscorp and Goldman Sachs stock.

    Infidel Tiger

    26 Feb 13 at 5:18 pm

  119. I’m with you IT regarding Wade. He’s far too short to be a WK.

    harrys on the boat

    26 Feb 13 at 5:20 pm

  120. Max Brenner ye olde online shoppe.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 5:20 pm

  121. For all the fun people have made of the jews over many years (it used to be the Scots, then the Greeks and Italians), I have to say that Australia has been enriched by the immigrants in the post-ww2 era, and again with the South African diaspora. They are workers, entrepreneurs, business-oriented people, and have been notable for not causing trouble.

    blogstrop

    26 Feb 13 at 5:26 pm

  122. The previous legislation allowed for bank accounts to remain inactive for up to 7 years before the money was transferred to ASIC.

    Do they intend on targeting trust bank accounts that may not have any regular activity? If a sum is deposited in an account for a child from an inheritence for example?

    Splatacrobat

    26 Feb 13 at 5:30 pm

  123. and again with the South African diaspora.

    Some of them are troublemakers.

    Infidel Tiger

    26 Feb 13 at 5:30 pm

  124. I thought it was a good line too, Gab.

    Helen Armstrong

    26 Feb 13 at 5:32 pm

  125. So, any long term ‘safe deposit’ accounts are permanently under threat in Aust. from now on.
    Good news is there are banking systems available OS who regard this statist rubbish as a sign of a banana republic. Just ensure you pay witholding / tax on interest and the fix is easy peecy.

    Alfonso

    26 Feb 13 at 5:52 pm

  126. Looking for liberty quotes….

    I’ve seen one up there around how the public service is, by definition, always either under or over resourced. Something else about bakers (or similar) can resize as demand shifts.

    I can’t find this quote googling at all. Any pointers?

    RCon

    26 Feb 13 at 6:04 pm

  127. So, any long term ‘safe deposit’ accounts are permanently under threat in Aust. from now on.
    Good news is there are banking systems available OS who regard this statist rubbish as a sign of a banana republic. Just ensure you pay witholding / tax on interest and the fix is easy peecy.

    Fucking outrageous.

    Gillard is a thief.

    .

    26 Feb 13 at 6:04 pm

  128. The PM sleeping at Rooty Hill conjures up je ne sais quoi – with apologies to Fats Domino:

    “I found my thrill on Rooty Hill
    On Rooty Hill, when I found you
    The moon stood still on Rooty Hill
    And lingered until my dreams came true

    The wind in the willow played
    Love’s sweet melody
    But all of those carbon tax vows you made
    Were never to be

    Though we’ll soon be apart, you’ll be part of me still
    For you were my thrill on Rooty Hill

    The wind in the willow played
    Love’s sweet melody
    But all of those carbon tax vows we made
    Were never to be

    Though we’ll soon be apart, you’ll be part of me still
    For you were my thrill on Rooty Hill.”

    Ubique

    26 Feb 13 at 6:05 pm

  129. the hand & nail pack with the lotion, cuticle oil and nail buffer.

    My hands have had a bit of a rough time lately, Phillipa, so that sounds like good advice as well as advancing a good cause.

    But now … all is under control on the home front except the cooking. I feel a Chinese meal coming on. Must be synchronicity with someone, somewhere. But what is he doing having dinner at 3pm (they are 3 hours behind up there)?

    How does synchronicity deal with time zones?

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    26 Feb 13 at 6:05 pm

  130. Some of them are troublemakers.

    True, IT, but I don’t want to be relentlessly negative.

    blogstrop

    26 Feb 13 at 6:11 pm

  131. Rooty Hill?
    Or Mount D’ya Ruitt?
    Or for the more educated ones, a touch of Othello:
    “Put out, and then put out da light.”
    Let’s not forget single mother Plump-ton.

    blogstrop

    26 Feb 13 at 6:15 pm

  132. Lizzie, will you accept this apology from me for an impolite description of you in a recent post? You have referred back to this on several occasions and I am sorry that you were upset. Although I do think you provoked my attack, a ‘parfit gentle knight’ should be more chivalrous to a woman.

    I concede that you have a much deeper knowledge than I on interesting topics. (One of them may not be ballet, for in my past I served as the chairman of the board one of Australia’s few professional ballet companies.)

    Please be assured that none of this is said with tongue in cheek.

    rafiki

    26 Feb 13 at 6:41 pm

  133. These are all the placenames from my childhood, Blogstrop. I think I can still trace in my mind the exact outline of the Blue Mountains against the sky as you stand on the hill at St. Marys looking out across the range. When we moved, our old farmhouse used to look from near Colyton towards a hill over Rooty Hill way that slowly disappeared as it was strip mined for blue metal. Mt. Druitt grew and grew some more. I knew someone from Plumpton who died of Leukaemia, and another from there who died of Hodgkin’s Disease (which is curable now in most cases). I swam in a waterhole somewhere over that way. We all used to race around in old cars, hotted up. Sometimes we slept in them. Seatbelts? Not us.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    26 Feb 13 at 6:43 pm

  134. Reason #388206 why federal government economic stimuli are a bad idea.

    Marmet, West Virginia is a town of 1,500 people living in a thin ribbon along the banks of the Kanawha River just below Charleston. The town’s public library is only open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. It’s housed in a small building the size of a trailer, which the state of West Virginia describes as an “extremely small facility with only one Internet connection.” Which is why it’s such a surprise to learn the Marmet Public Library runs this connection through a $15,000 to $20,000 Cisco 3945 router intended for “mid-size to large deployments,” according to Cisco.

    In an absolutely scathing report (PDF) just released by the state’s legislative auditor, West Virginia officials are accused of overspending at least $5 million of federal money on such routers, installed indiscriminately in both large institutions and one-room libraries across the state. The routers were purchased without ever asking the state’s libraries, cops, and schools what they needed. And when distributed, the expensive routers were passed out without much apparent care. The small town of Clay received seven of them to serve a total population of 491 people… and all seven routers were installed within only .44 miles of each other at a total cost of more than $100,000.

    The routers in question were purchased as part of a much larger grant from the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), which passed out several billion dollars to help upgrade broadband networks across America as part of President Obama’s initial stimulus package in 2009. West Virginia’s cash was meant to wire up the many “community anchor institutions” such as libraries, schools, police, and hospitals across the state with Internet access delivered over fiber-optic lines. As part of the project, the state also had to purchase some sort of router for each institution. Instead of “right-sizing” the routers for their intended destinations, the state group of officials charged with implementing the grant decided they would make things easy by purchasing the exact same router and installing it everywhere, even in the most rural locations they planned to reach.

    http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/02/why-a-one-room-west-virginia-library-runs-a-20000-cisco-router/

    Jarrah

    26 Feb 13 at 6:49 pm

  135. I feel a Chinese meal coming on. Must be synchronicity with someone, somewhere.

    My fault. Just did stir fried chicken in oyster sauce with mushrooms, asparagus, courgette and bok choy; sprinkle of red capsicum on top. Worked pretty well, as Mrs. B agreed.
    Early Sydney memories for me were around Casula, Glenfield, Liverpool, with visits to the city to see movies (like James Bond with Sean Connery), or to the old showground at Easter Show time. Travel mostly on red rattler trains.

    blogstrop

    26 Feb 13 at 6:58 pm

  136. Rafiki, I am so pleased to hear about you and the ballet. Let us just say that misunderstandings happen, especially online.

    Ballet was a life-saver for me when I was young, I just fell in love with it, took out every ballet book in the library, and the whole romance of the history of ballet, and the lovely photographs of the ballerinas, the costumes, the sets, the joy of the dance, Ballet Russe and Ballet Rambert, the Russian Imperial Ballet School and Pavlova, the grace displayed from Tagliolini on, Alice Marks becoming Alicia Markova (as you had to). This was something I retreated to at any time the world seemed unsavoury, which out West of Sydney it could seem to be so often. I pleaded to see Saddlers Wells when I was eleven in England, and did see them do Coppelia in the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford (where I also saw The Tempest acted, which I loved too). And then, of course, the music. From Tchaikovsky to Stravinsky, I danced it all around that old farmhouse and I took it away with me too. I have never stopped dancing in my heart.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    26 Feb 13 at 7:07 pm

  137. Is Johnson an English Turnbull?

    dover_beach

    26 Feb 13 at 7:12 pm

  138. Hmm.

    Lockheed Martin caused quite a stir in the nuclear energy industry as it announced plans to begin work on a nuclear fusion reactor. Speaking at the recent Google “Solve for X” conference on February 7, Charles Chase of Lockheed’s “Skunk Works” said that a prototype 100-megawatt nuclear fusion machine will be tested in 2017, and that a fully operational machine should be grid-ready ten years from now…

    So why are we punishing ourselves with a carbon tax again?

    FM

    26 Feb 13 at 7:17 pm

  139. Is Johnson an English Turnbull?

    No, Turnbull is an Australian Cameron.

    Infidel Tiger

    26 Feb 13 at 7:23 pm

  140. FM – this is a great century to be alive in, and the misery and pessimism of the doomsayers is really … well, really annoying.

    Nuclear fusion rather than fission is pretty clean, isn’t it? Apart from its as yet unproven feasibility, are there any other downsides to it?

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    26 Feb 13 at 7:26 pm

  141. Don’t THINK Malcolm Turnbull has been impregnating stray conservative columnists recently. But watch the headlines closely.

    Ultimately, I don’t think Boris and Turnbull really compare. But if I had to choose who I’d be trapped in a lift with, I think I’d actually choose Mr T. They’re both pompous asses, but I think Malcolm Turnbull may have a better line in small talk while we wait for the emergency services.

    Philippa Martyr

    26 Feb 13 at 7:26 pm

  142. The ABC just ran an incredibly stagey piece about Syrians hiding out in a cave. Firstly, they said it was a bunch of kids. Then we saw adults as well. But as a finale they lined up all the kids facing the door of the cave, with the voice over saying “when will our nother come back?”
    “A question impossible to answer”, was the puppetmaster’s ominous response – to himself.
    As an added bit of gratuitous dramatisation he asked us to note the clenched fist of a young woman when an attack began. Different to the treatment of rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza.
    But when all’s said and one, this is arabs beating up on other arabs, mainly Syrian. Who is the reporter really asking to make it better?
    How about getting the Arab League or suchlike to sort it out.
    Or is it another faked up begging letter to the indulgent West for more free money?

    blogstrop

    26 Feb 13 at 7:30 pm

  143. PS Infidel Tiger has got it in one. Turnbull could be relied upon to stay calm in the stuck lift, turn his back when I had to ‘go’ in the corner, and then assist me in a gentlemanly way out of the jagged hole cut in the side of the building.

    But running the country? Not so sure about that one.

    Boris is just a galloping narcissist, in my book. Turnbull may well be one also, but he’s quieter – note for example his almost complete silence on the NBN – and has better hair.

    Philippa Martyr

    26 Feb 13 at 7:31 pm

  144. …note for example his almost complete silence on the NBN

    No he hasn’t . He’s done good recently.

    Jc

    26 Feb 13 at 7:36 pm

  145. Andrew Wilkie voted with the coalition to try to stop Wayne Swan’s cash grab. The rest of the Independents and Greens sided with this avaricious spendthrift rabble of kakistocrats .

    Cold-Hands

    26 Feb 13 at 7:40 pm

  146. FM – this is a great century to be alive in, and the misery and pessimism of the doomsayers is really … well, really annoying.

    Like I’ve always said: the best time to live is in the here and now and tomorrow will be even better.

    tbh

    26 Feb 13 at 7:42 pm

  147. Clifford Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2011 (Marlborough, NZ). Perfectly complements tonight’s healthy dinner of Crumbed Whiting and Steak House Chips with fresh green salad and baby Roma tomatoes.

    Septimus

    26 Feb 13 at 7:48 pm

  148. No he hasn’t . He’s done good recently.

    But not overall and not consistently. Turnbull should be absolutely smashing Conroy over this turkey.

    jupes

    26 Feb 13 at 7:48 pm

  149. No dessert? No cheese platter for afters, Septimus?

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 7:51 pm

  150. Look, of late Turnbull has presented a very worthwile critique of the NBN. I think Sinc put up the link on a thread.

    It was excellent.

    Jc

    26 Feb 13 at 8:00 pm

  151. with apologies to Fats Domino:

    I just imagined gillzilla in an episode of Happy Days dancing with Fonzi.

    There goes another memory of my youth down the gurgler.

    Carpe Jugulum

    26 Feb 13 at 8:00 pm

  152. Gab, thanks for the reminder. Dessert will soon be enjoyed. Chilled fresh rockmelon slices with vanilla ice cream.

    Septimus

    26 Feb 13 at 8:01 pm

  153. They got a Macquarie bedroom fiddler suspect.

    A Sri Lankan national on a bridging visa who was not staying at the uni dorms.

    Harold

    26 Feb 13 at 8:04 pm

  154. Chilled fresh rockmelon slices with vanilla ice cream.

    Meh – i got cheese cake

    *dances happily around the room*

    Carpe Jugulum

    26 Feb 13 at 8:08 pm

  155. lol Phil Coorey has explained the reason gillard is heading out on a jaunt into the wild west, it’s all 2GB’s fault. They’re mean to the government.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 8:10 pm

  156. Oooh chilled rockmelon and ice-cream sounds delicious!

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 8:11 pm

  157. Gab – please tell me that was a parody and not an actual person claiming that.

    Carpe Jugulum

    26 Feb 13 at 8:12 pm

  158. Nuclear fusion rather than fission is pretty clean, isn’t it? Apart from its as yet unproven feasibility, are there any other downsides to it?

    Assume for now that it doesn’t work, and won’t work. Although the fusor path looks interesting, there’s still nothing viable.

    That said, the new proposals for fission – IFR and Thorium style reactors basically burn up all their waste, and in the process get about 50 times more power out of the fuel. Fission is actually a good way forward, and should be part of the mix of power we produce.

    Driftforge

    26 Feb 13 at 8:12 pm

  159. Thank you Lizzie. My start with ballet came much later in life. After a sojourn in hospital, I began with modern dance classes to get fit, and eventually I was asked to join the board. My only talent was writing grant applications, but that counted. In the early 80′s I spent 3 months in Washington DC, and with a place to stay in NYC, I managed to see performances by the great US companies. My favourite memory is of a Brooklyn modern company. It was brought to Sydney for the Bi-centennial celebrations, but the name now escapes me.

    rafiki

    26 Feb 13 at 8:14 pm

  160. No parody, Carpe. gillard’s little pet explained she stinks in western Sydney because of 2GB. 2GB rubbishes the government and that’s why.

    There ya have it.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 8:16 pm

  161. lol Phil Coorey has explained the reason gillard is heading out on a jaunt into the wild west, it’s all 2GB’s fault. They’re mean to the government.

    I haven’t mentioned the bald idiot of late. I would have thought that the AFR editor would have stopped that crap from him.

    Jc

    26 Feb 13 at 8:18 pm

  162. Jugs — it’s true. Phabulous Phil apparently went on 2GB today to brag about his access to the PM now that he is the rootin’ tootin’ chief political whatever for the socialist business daily. Price-Bolt are rubbing in McSporran’s incompetence. Seriously.

    Tom

    26 Feb 13 at 8:21 pm

  163. Jc

    26 Feb 13 at 8:21 pm

  164. 2GB rubbishes the government and that’s why.

    There ya have it.

    Sweet cheeses on a bicycle, it’s official, the age of dumb has arrived.

    Carpe Jugulum

    26 Feb 13 at 8:23 pm

  165. To all those delighting in relaying to us what they had or will have for meals tonight (I am 4 hours behind in Pattaya), I must tell you about my meal last night.
    52 chicken satay sticks, 7 chicken shaslicks, one plate of Pad Thai chicken, 8 fried chicken legs, one honey coated piece of fried chicken, 4 bits of prawn sashimi, 3 glasses of chilled pineapple fruit shake, a bowl of peanuts, 8 cinnamon rolls topped with almonds, 1 custard tart, 2 orange cakes in the shape of little wheels, with cream inside, two plates of fruit, and 2 servings of orange sorbet.
    All the for price of 200B, with 30B tip, which comes to just under $8A.
    And I shall be back there tonight, in about 90 minutes, to have another crack at it, see if I can break my record. No, only joking there.
    And for those worrying about a heart attack in the offing, I do walk everywhere I go, and walked back to my room from the hotel where this buffet is on.
    It was delicious, but sadly for me, as at most of the buffets I attend, there is so much that I do not eat because I do not like it, pork for example, and pork is a big thing in Thai food.
    I love it over here.

    Peter55

    26 Feb 13 at 8:24 pm

  166. I really wanted someone to nail Turnbull last night following his sanctimonious little speech about the brutality of politics and the toll his ouster took on him and his family.

    “Yeah, Mr Turnbull: does that mean you’ll now apologise for your serial undermining of – and leaking against – Brendan Nelson?”

    C.L.

    26 Feb 13 at 8:25 pm

  167. I love it over here.

    1. No Takoyaki?

    2. No cheesecake?

    Sorry Peter55, you are a Heathen.

    Carpe Jugulum

    26 Feb 13 at 8:27 pm

  168. one plate of Pad Thai chicken,

    That would have done me, Peter.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 8:27 pm

  169. I should have put this in as well. No, I am not a big, fat bastard, unlike the bloke who was there last night, who would have been about 5’8″ and easily over 250lbs. And wearing very baggy basketball shorts and a singlet that hung down to just above the shorts. I kid you not!!
    I am a quite fit looking 55 year old, about 5lbs overweight, but in the next two months before I return to Australia for a week, I should be a little trimmer, maybe not losing the weight, but more toned.
    I hope. It’s bloody hard at my age to trim it down.

    Peter55

    26 Feb 13 at 8:29 pm

  170. Wrong link, JC.

    Tom

    26 Feb 13 at 8:30 pm

  171. For all the fun people have made of the jews over many years…

    Mark Wahlberg and Ted – and the scriptwriters too, above all – are now in strife over the duo’s gentle Jew-mocking bit at the Oscars.

    Here it is:

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

    C.L.

    26 Feb 13 at 8:32 pm

  172. Sorry CJ, no cheesecake on the menu, or takoyaki, whatever that is. And no, I am definitely not a heathen, as I am circumcised.
    Gab, I eat one meal a day when I buffet on, but when in Bangkok, I usually have a Pad Thai and a noodle dish, or chicken and pineapple fried rice.
    Did I say I love it here?

    Peter55

    26 Feb 13 at 8:34 pm

  173. …52 chicken satay sticks, 7 chicken shaslicks, one plate of Pad Thai chicken, 8 fried chicken legs, one honey coated piece of fried chicken, 4 bits of prawn sashimi, 3 glasses of chilled pineapple fruit shake, a bowl of peanuts, 8 cinnamon rolls topped with almonds, 1 custard tart, 2 orange cakes in the shape of little wheels, with cream inside, two plates of fruit, and 2 servings of orange sorbet.

    Wow. That’s some serious eating.

    C.L.

    26 Feb 13 at 8:35 pm

  174. Who doesn’t love a man with a healthy appetite!

    candy

    26 Feb 13 at 8:39 pm

  175. takoyaki, whatever that is

    Small Octopus dumplings, they are lush.

    Carpe Jugulum

    26 Feb 13 at 8:39 pm

  176. Bobby Bruan on 7:30 defending a lie.
    He used to be wrong now he’s crazy.

    jumpnmcar

    26 Feb 13 at 8:45 pm

  177. Leigh Sales votes green, no doubt.

    jumpnmcar

    26 Feb 13 at 8:48 pm

  178. Caller suggests Kevni will be out at Penrith Panters next week while gillard is over at the Rooty Hill RSL. Wish it was true.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 8:52 pm

  179. Peter55,

    Your meal beats the Samba Grill on Royal Caribbean’s ‘Allure of the Seas’, where you only get entree, then 9 meat courses plus dessert. But you probably didn’t have a scantily clad, well-proportioned young lady doing the samba at the end of your table :)

    Septimus

    26 Feb 13 at 8:52 pm

  180. Peter55, why don’t you dine on swine?

    The pig is natures greatest accomplishment.

    Infidel tiger

    26 Feb 13 at 9:23 pm

  181. No-one could eat 52 chicken satay sticks and add the rest. A typo? Two, or five maybe? I’m with Gab. One meal does me. Just finished a Cashew Chicken and Rice with Chinese vegetables; basic, but OK. That’s quite enough for me.

    Spoke to HIA a bit earlier. His plane has been delayed; planes are delayed all over China. Apparently a smallish hiccup puts things out everywhere because the due to military reasons the air corridors are very constrained.

    So he is drinking beers and reading Niall Ferguson on China. I told him the part about Christianity in China was the most interesting, because at the current rate of growth China (it’s taking off very strongly) is going to be, by sheer force of numbers, a major player in Christendom soon.

    Ferguson sees the Weberian ‘Protestant Ethic’ thesis as very applicable to this take up – connects it with a Confucian ethic of family and hard work.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    26 Feb 13 at 9:28 pm

  182. Any excuse to partake of Max Brenner coconut hot chocolate and strawberries and milk chocolate dipping sauce.

    kae

    26 Feb 13 at 9:28 pm

  183. oops, that one beer with my dins is telling, n’est-ce pas? Please proof read, you can do it.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    26 Feb 13 at 9:30 pm

  184. gillard’s little pet explained she stinks in western Sydney because of 2GB. 2GB rubbishes the government and that’s why [the voters are fleeing from gillard.]

    Phil Coorey on ABC radio today, audio here and starts at 2min 5secs.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 9:30 pm

  185. Alfonso, which jurisdiction do you recommend?

    dan

    26 Feb 13 at 9:31 pm

  186. The satays are only bite sized. So nothing special there.
    IT, I just don’t like pork, but I do eat bacon and ham, so go figure.
    I remember, back in the day, they’d usually put on pork chops for the first meal back at sea, after a bit of a spell on land, to make those with a bit of mal de mer even more queasy. Such idiots were the chefs. Thought they were just hilarious.

    Peter55

    26 Feb 13 at 9:33 pm

  187. Food? Me? Tonight?
    Jumpys’ Nevercomplainedabout Spag Boll.
    Otherwise known as LeadnmPencil MincenPasta Suprise.

    jumpnmcar

    26 Feb 13 at 9:36 pm

  188. About 2″ worth of meat on the skewer.

    Peter55

    26 Feb 13 at 9:38 pm

  189. About 2″ worth of meat on the skewer

    .
    Say what?

    jumpnmcar

    26 Feb 13 at 9:44 pm

  190. Oh yes Kae I agree very yummy

    Tal

    26 Feb 13 at 9:44 pm

  191. they’d usually put on pork chops for the first meal back at sea

    And don’t forget in rough weather there would always be spag bol.

    Carpe Jugulum

    26 Feb 13 at 9:45 pm

  192. Persian fetta marinated in oil, dill and garlic sprinkled generously over steamed broccoli. Yummo, Persian fetta is not just for salads! I think it was IT who got me onto the Persian fetta, which is loads better than Greek fetta as it’s creamier, according to my taste buds.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 9:45 pm

  193. See jump that’s the reason I like frock threads :)

    Tal

    26 Feb 13 at 9:46 pm

  194. Max Brenner coconut hot chocolate and strawberries and milk chocolate dipping sauce.

    Kae – you chocolate junkie/lush

    Carpe Jugulum

    26 Feb 13 at 9:47 pm

  195. pete55 must be joking or tummy will explode …

    candy

    26 Feb 13 at 9:47 pm

  196. Maybe he’s lonely Candy

    Tal

    26 Feb 13 at 9:48 pm

  197. The pig is natures greatest accomplishment.

    To quote Roger Scruton:

    “Surely the pig was created expressly for the table. … The pig also looks like food: a round, plump offering on sticks, ready at any moment to lose its individuality and slide down the metaphysical ladder from thing to stuff. Furthermore, he tastes good, and can be made to taste better, the more you work on him. He is the source of charcuterie, the highest of all culinary art-forms, which surpasses in boldness and finesse anything that the Jews or Muslims, for all their ingenuity, have been able to achieve from their abstinence. … I cannot think, therefore, that God’s purpose was rightly perceived by the author of Leviticus, and am even inclined to the view that, when it comes to the pig, there is something ungrateful, even blasphemous, in refusing to eat him.”

    Andreas

    26 Feb 13 at 9:48 pm

  198. Dinner tonight courtesy of Tom Piper.

    Accompanied by a cheeky little lady.

    Infidel Tiger

    26 Feb 13 at 9:50 pm

  199. I just don’t like pork, but I do eat bacon and ham,

    i don’t really eat prok either, Peter, except for crackling, bacon, ham and 16 hour slow cooked pork belly.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 9:54 pm

  200. Do 55 year old Australians describe peoples weight in pounds, stone or kgs ?
    Just curious.

    jumpnmcar

    26 Feb 13 at 9:55 pm

  201. Do 55 year old Australians describe peoples weight in pounds, stone or kgs ?
    Just curious.

    They should use the old imperial units like god intended us to.

    Infidel Tiger

    26 Feb 13 at 9:58 pm

  202. Gone are the days IT, the youth of today should be made to eat camp pie
    And drink 3 roses sherry,the place went to the dogs when UDLs and wholemeal bread were introduced

    Tal

    26 Feb 13 at 10:01 pm

  203. They should use the old imperial units like god intended us to.

    Maybe, but i think his description or cubits to Noah was far too small.

    jumpnmcar

    26 Feb 13 at 10:03 pm

  204. My dins tonight was steak (blade) with a strew of fried onion, garlic (unpeeled) tomato and onion with lettuce on the side drizzled with caramelized balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

    Simple but good.

    I also got onto Charbray Meat’s (butcher in Alice) home made bacon when in Alice last. It is as good as my own bacon, but cold smoked, which I cannot do as the ambient temperature is too high here, and I don’t want to fuss about refrigerating the smoke.

    So that is breakfast, goood bacon, and eggs.

    Helen Armstrong

    26 Feb 13 at 10:03 pm

  205. of cubits

    jumpnmcar

    26 Feb 13 at 10:03 pm

  206. I think Peter must be American. They always use pounds.

    A complete mystery. I can’t work those out at all.

    However, I can do height in feet and inches, because there is a lot of cultural background in those sorts of numbers. 6 foot under, 6 foot hero, inches away from or inching towards something (and SfB did his usual pimple-faced pick up when I mentioned ‘inches’ on another thread today – I have banished him back to Religion for a while to calm down with Aquinas and Aristotle).

    Kilos are pretty easy. Same place on the scales and keep it there. Weigh-ins every three months only or it can become obsessive. If the jeans zip up, that’s all you need to know.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    26 Feb 13 at 10:08 pm

  207. BBQ’d pork leg steaks, pork cutlets or pork scotch fillets are very tasty.

    Septimus

    26 Feb 13 at 10:09 pm

  208. Any communiques from Rooty Hill yet?

    C.L.

    26 Feb 13 at 10:16 pm

  209. Spose I’m the only cultured person in this place… Homer Simpson in Lisa The Vegetarian

    Homer: Are you saying you’re never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?
    Lisa: No.
    Homer: Ham?
    Lisa: No.
    Homer: Pork chops?
    Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal.
    Homer: Heh heh heh. Ooh, yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.

    Harold

    26 Feb 13 at 10:19 pm

  210. They should use the old imperial units like god intended us to.

    Imperial units still live on in the hearts of men. There’s nothing wrong with swapping between inches, mm, litres and hogsheads as the need arises.

    twostix

    26 Feb 13 at 10:32 pm

  211. My favourite memory is of a Brooklyn modern company. It was brought to Sydney for the Bi-centennial celebrations, but the name now escapes me.

    rafiki – the Twyla Tharp Dance Company was part of the Bicentennial Arts Program.

    Septimus

    26 Feb 13 at 10:46 pm

  212. I don’t understand the dislike of metric. It’s one of the things the French got totally right for mine.

    tbh

    26 Feb 13 at 10:46 pm

  213. I don’t understand the dislike of metric. It’s one of the things the French got totally right for mine.

    When building something metric is the business, all those fractions in imperial units wtf.

    twostix

    26 Feb 13 at 10:56 pm

  214. The problem with metric is that the common measures are a little too large (metre) or too small (cm) to be handy. An inch and a foot are both better. Decimalising the units is fine but we would have been better with an inch and a new foot that was ten inches and a new mile that was a thousand feet or something. Dividing then estimated value of a quarter circumference of the earth by ten million may have seemed a good idea but it would have been better to build outwards from something comfortable to a human rather than build down from an astronomical value of modest interest and no real significance.

    WhaleHunt Fun

    26 Feb 13 at 10:58 pm

  215. “When building something metric is the business, all those fractions in imperial units wtf.”

    The benefit you describe is due to the decimalisation, not the choice of the metre and gramme.

    WhaleHunt Fun

    26 Feb 13 at 11:00 pm

  216. I think Peter must be American. They always use pounds.

    A complete mystery. I can’t work those out at all.

    I grew up with imperial, then had to try and learn metric and then went to imperial again.

    I have no freaking idea what a mill, cent or meter feels like. I inches, yards gallons and pints.

    Metric is pansified measurement.

    You shouldn’t be buying liters of petrol. It ought to be gallons for instance.

    Jc

    26 Feb 13 at 11:03 pm

  217. oops I only really know, inches..

    Jc

    26 Feb 13 at 11:05 pm

  218. Metric makes total sense, everything is in tens! It’s easy to teach kids too. Miles, feet, inches, pounds, ounces — that’s shit’s all over the place.

    tbh

    26 Feb 13 at 11:07 pm

  219. My favourite memory is of a Brooklyn modern company.

    My favorite in modern dance was seeing the National Dance Company of Jamaica in Kingston, as part of my travels in an earlier stage of my life.

    They were/are an extraordinary troupe, doing some interpretations of peasant Jamaican life, very vibrant and intense, and poignant to melt your heart.

    A Martha Graham influenced dance company, and a wonderful legacy for her.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    26 Feb 13 at 11:10 pm

  220. TBH

    So what if it’s everything is in tens? You think you’d forget there are 12 inches in a foot.

    Jc

    26 Feb 13 at 11:10 pm

  221. Inches are good for estimates. I love metric but the names are horrible. It takes much longer to say “five millimetres” than to measure it!

    Not with spanners though. With metric it’s 8, 10, 14. No bloody 15/32. And no multiplying out quarters to 32ths to figure out the smallest possible step up or down; it’s always a millimetre.

    wreckage

    26 Feb 13 at 11:11 pm

  222. It ought to be gallons for instance.

    Jc – which gallons? Imperial, US Liquid or US Dry?

    A litre is a litre ;)

    Septimus

    26 Feb 13 at 11:11 pm

  223. So what if it’s everything is in tens? You think you’d forget there are 12 inches in a foot.

    What I’m saying is that the whole measurement system is in base 10, which is how we learn a lot of other kinds of maths. We have ten fingers after all.

    So we have 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard, 1760 yards in a mile.., 16 ounces in a pound, WTF?

    tbh

    26 Feb 13 at 11:15 pm

  224. Jc – which gallons? Imperial, US Liquid or US Dry?

    Dunno, the measurement used when you’re filling the tank with petrol which presumably is US liquid.

    Metric is a pansy measurement. It bears no fucking relation to reality. A foot is basically the rough measure of a man’s foot. A yard is a step.

    What the fuck is a millimeter or a centimeter supposed to resemble, Sept?

    Jc

    26 Feb 13 at 11:16 pm

  225. A foot is basically the rough measure of a man’s foot.

    Who’s foot though? Some king of England 300 years ago?

    tbh

    26 Feb 13 at 11:17 pm

  226. “They should use the old imperial units like god intended us to.”

    God is an Englishman, after all.

    Jarrah

    26 Feb 13 at 11:18 pm

  227. TBH

    I grew up learning imperial and had absolutely no problem understanding it. I think you’re implying kids are too retarded to learn uneven concepts. They can.

    And then you had an easy concept like what’s the millage a car gets to a gallon of petrol. Shit easy to understand.

    What do we have now… Liters to a 100 k or some shit. WTF?

    Jc

    26 Feb 13 at 11:20 pm

  228. Who’s foot though? Some king of England 300 years ago?

    You can conceive a foot though.

    Jc

    26 Feb 13 at 11:21 pm

  229. Baby Boomers behaving badly all over the world.

    Remember who’s going to be looking after you when you’re really old and don’t vote anymore old people.

    Italians born in 1970, who are about 43 now, will pay 50% more in taxes as a percentage of their lifetime income than those born in 1952, according to research from the Bank of Italy and the University of Verona. The research also found they will receive half the pension benefits that Italy’s 60-somethings are getting or are poised to get.

    One result is that Italy’s 40-year-olds have seen a bigger drop in their relative wealth since 1987 than any other group, while those over 50 have seen significant gains, according to the Bank of Italy. Incomes have followed the same trend.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324338604578324174198081736.html

    twostix

    26 Feb 13 at 11:22 pm

  230. Pint, firkin, hogshead, jeroboam… Now we’re talking.

    Infidel tiger

    26 Feb 13 at 11:24 pm

  231. I grew up learning imperial and had absolutely no problem understanding it. I think you’re implying kids are too retarded to learn uneven concepts. They can.

    And then you had an easy concept like what’s the millage a car gets to a gallon of petrol. Shit easy to understand.

    What do we have now… Liters to a 100 k or some shit. WTF?

    I learned both systems and have had to use both due to living some time in the US. Your example of mileage I agree with, but it’s a rare exception IMHO.

    Because decimal is done in multiples of 10, like our currency it just makes logical sense — well to me anyway. I have to use other numbering systems like base 2 or base 16 in my job and base 10 seems a lot bloody easier.

    Look, if other people want to use imperial measurements then that’s their own lookout. I’ll stick with metric.

    tbh

    26 Feb 13 at 11:24 pm

  232. I grew up learning imperial and had absolutely no problem understanding it

    I also learnt imperial, but I had no trouble ‘learning’ metric and love it. I’m with tbh

    eam

    26 Feb 13 at 11:26 pm

  233. Metric is a leftwing system.

    Jc

    26 Feb 13 at 11:27 pm

  234. I also learnt imperial, but I had no trouble ‘learning’ metric and love it. I’m with tbh

    There’s nothing to learn with metric provided you’re not badly retarded. The measurements have no relationship to reality.

    Jc

    26 Feb 13 at 11:29 pm

  235. I hate mm for rainfall. Nobody uses it in conversation. Who says, “oh yes, he was about 179 cm.” Same with human height. It’s total bullshit. I remember as a kid we always spoke of how many stone we were – based on the bathroom scale (which every household with as many sisters as I had, invariably had). I still think in terms of stone, as a result.

    C.L.

    26 Feb 13 at 11:29 pm

  236. It’s actually a disgusting system when you think about it.

    Jc

    26 Feb 13 at 11:30 pm

  237. I would have thought that any measuring system is purely arbitrary in the modern world.

    tbh

    26 Feb 13 at 11:30 pm

  238. I grew up learning imperial and had absolutely no problem understanding it. I think you’re implying kids are too retarded to learn uneven concepts. They can.

    Oh they could if they had to, but metric is easier. But I pity the engineers of old who had to handle all the imperial conversions without computers. And even now with computers they’ve been known to stuff up and fly things into Mars by accident :-)

    What do we have now… Liters to a 100 k or some shit. WTF?

    I don’t see why you’d find that so hard to understand (or if you want km per litre). The other issue with imperial is that you then had the further confusion of qualifications – eg nautical mile vs mile. Or even more generally US vs British imperial measurements. From a scientific or even commerce point of view it was just a source of confusion and errors.

    Chris

    26 Feb 13 at 11:31 pm

  239. Old timers also say that metric has allowed companies to rip off customers with Mickey Mouse metric. What was once a hundred mg is suddenly 75 – but in the same pack. You couldn’t pull that shit with a pound of butter or a pint of beer.

    Maybe they’re right.

    C.L.

    26 Feb 13 at 11:32 pm

  240. When bragging to the ladies I prefer millimetres.

    Leigh Lowe

    26 Feb 13 at 11:32 pm

  241. I would have thought that any measuring system is purely arbitrary in the modern world.

    I don’t think so. It needs to convey something estimable to the human mind. As CL said, take rainfall for instance. I get what couple of inches of rain looks like. What the fuck does 200 mils even look like? Dunno.

    Jc

    26 Feb 13 at 11:34 pm

  242. What does 3 inches look like? Or 10 yards? I dunno.

    tbh

    26 Feb 13 at 11:36 pm

  243. Anyway, it’s a fairly pointless argument as everyone has their preference. Mine’s metric, others may disagree.

    tbh

    26 Feb 13 at 11:37 pm

  244. When I first arrived back here, I didn’t know how to order say, ham, so I’d ask for a 1/4 of a kilo and they couldn’t do the sum it was a 250 grams. And 250 grams sounds so dickie.

    Jc

    26 Feb 13 at 11:37 pm

  245. Look ….. a cubit is 5/16 of a metre and mpg can be converted to litres per 100 km by multiplying by seven and dividing by 12/5, then deducting three (the three is to allow for the distanced travelled whilst doing the sums.)

    Leigh Lowe

    26 Feb 13 at 11:38 pm

  246. What the fuck does 200 mils even look like? Dunno.

    500 miles was the rough distance from Melbourne to Sydney.

    Jc

    26 Feb 13 at 11:40 pm

  247. cubits

    OMG you lot must be old.

    Gab

    26 Feb 13 at 11:42 pm

  248. I don’t think so. It needs to convey something estimable to the human mind. As CL said, take rainfall for instance. I get what couple of inches of rain looks like. What the fuck does 200 mils even look like? Dunno.

    It’s what you grew up with. Growing up post-metric I have a much better idea of what 200mm looks like compared to a couple of inches.

    And I think its much easier working out in your head how large a cube in metric units containing say 50,000 litres would be compared to working how large a cube in imperial units 50,000 gallons would be. You might know that a gallon is 277 cubic inches, but then try converting that to cubic feet or cubic yards in your head.

    Chris

    26 Feb 13 at 11:43 pm

  249. … I pity the engineers of old who had to handle all the imperial conversions without computers.

    They used slide rules for the Saturn V rocket.

    C.L.

    26 Feb 13 at 11:47 pm

  250. They used slide rules for the Saturn V rocket.

    I once read a story about some of the moon shots and the older geeks were sitting there in the control room doing computations with slide rules.

    I think there were some astronauts that took slide rules with them.

    Jc

    26 Feb 13 at 11:50 pm

  251. The other issue with imperial is that you then had the further confusion of qualifications – eg nautical mile vs mile.

    Nautical miles are still used in all maritime endeavors in every country. 1NM is 1852 meters.

    twostix

    26 Feb 13 at 11:52 pm

  252. Jc,

    A US gallon (liquid) is smaller than other gallons, about 3.8L while an Australian (or imperial gallon) gallon is 4.55 L. A US Dry gallon (hardly ever used, apparently) is 4.40L An imperial gallon = 277 cubic inches while a us gallon = 231 cubic inches.

    Foot, yard, mile; millimetre, centimetre, kilometre – I interchange them all the time. Mileage is how many lites of petrol/gas per 100kms in the car. For carpentry, I still refer to timber that’s 100mm x 50mm as a piece of 4 x 2, but I ditched my old rulers and tape measures long ago and measure everything in millimetres. I find it easier and more accurate to measure in millimetres (small – about 1/24th of an inch), and you just can’t buy stuff in imperial lengths and widths any more.

    Got caught out with it a few years ago – bought floorboards to replace a section of old flooring and cut them to length before realising how much thinner they were.

    Septimus

    26 Feb 13 at 11:52 pm

  253. That the moon shots were possible with the technology of the day is absolutely remarkable. We paid a return visit to the Johnson Space Centre in January and sat in Mission Control. What they had to work with was so utterly primitive by todays standards that it boggles the mind. They were very, very smart and dedicated men.

    Never lost anyone in space either.

    tbh

    26 Feb 13 at 11:53 pm

  254. And for Concorde.
    Bloody French screwed that up in the end.
    900 years of bastardry, and then be our friend, be our friend as soon as they got some illegal immigrants from up North.
    All Hitler wanted was a holiday in Paris. If they weren’t so bloody rude he would have left a tip and gone home.

    WhaleHunt Fun

    26 Feb 13 at 11:55 pm

  255. Got caught out with it a few years ago – bought floorboards to replace a section of old flooring and cut them to length before realising how much thinner they were.

    That’s a pretty mild error. There was a Canadian plane which filled up south of the border in gallons while the crew understood was in liters and they ran out of fuel in mid air.

    Jc

    26 Feb 13 at 11:55 pm

  256. And for Concorde.

    Concorde is one of humanity’s greatest achievements. It’s absolutely stunning.

    tbh

    26 Feb 13 at 11:57 pm

  257. Concorde is one of humanity’s greatest achievements. It’s absolutely stunning.

    Magical. Absolutely amazing. It was basically a Ferrari or Porsche of the sky.

    Jc

    26 Feb 13 at 11:59 pm

  258. Growing up post-metric I have a much better idea of what 200mm looks like compared to a couple of inches.

    I don’t, and going to school in commie canberra where imperial measurements were memory holed and I never learned a thing about it I still know what two inches of rain would look like in a cup and have better than what 50mm would look like.

    They’d do better using “rulers” as a shortcut with metric. Everybody who learned metric learned off 30cm rulers and that’s what most people use as their yard stick I.e when they hear cm’s they picture the 30cm ruler and go from there. Half a ruler, one ruler, one the-big-one-metre-ruler-the-teacher-had. That’d make more sense to people than hearing 251 centimetres.

    twostix

    27 Feb 13 at 12:01 am

  259. Does the Carbon Tax affect you and your business?
    On ABC 612 this morning. Audio link here

    The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has dropped a threat of legal action against a Brisbane businessman for showing companies how they have been affected by the Carbon Tax.

    It is again the ACCC’s acts to bring the carbon tax into disrepute after the Federal government claimed people were making false claims about the tax and its effects.

    ABC Radio has learnt that Brisbane energy analyst Troy Postle though his company Power Select has been advising clients of the effect of the tax on their business.

    What he has revealed is both how companies have been adversely affected by the tax but also how much the average home has also been affected.

    Steve Austin presented the over the top electricity bills to Greg Combet and he lost the plot with churlish comments…..basically SHUT UP.

    It is worth listening to just to hear him defend the indefensible.

    Splatacrobat

    27 Feb 13 at 12:03 am

  260. ABC News did a vox pop of the people of Rooty Hill ahead of the PM’s forthcoming slumming it with ferals tour. It’s fair to say that dipping your genitals in battery acid was more popular than her presence.

    Infidel tiger

    27 Feb 13 at 12:12 am

  261. Jc

    There was a Canadian plane which filled up south of the border in gallons while the crew understood was in liters and they ran out of fuel in mid air.

    Heh, I saw that episode of ‘Air Crash Investigations’.

    Septimus

    27 Feb 13 at 12:12 am

  262. I prefer penis size in metric. 15cm sounds a lot more impressive than 6 inches

    Splatacrobat

    27 Feb 13 at 12:13 am

  263. I prefer penis size in metric.

    I prefer her not to have one.

    Infidel tiger

    27 Feb 13 at 12:19 am

  264. I believe Russell Crowe is on Letterman’s post Oscars show. Tweeted he was well hungover this morning.

    Harold

    27 Feb 13 at 12:21 am

  265. Uh oh. We aren’t about to start comparing each others’ dicks are we?

    Entropy

    27 Feb 13 at 12:22 am

  266. Not to scale

    B======D

    Harold

    27 Feb 13 at 12:26 am

  267. Nuclear Fusion is like your shadow with your back to the afternoon sun. It’s always just in front of you.

    Realistically, there is little wrong with Nuclear Fission as we have it now. With passive reactor designs and sensible siting, there is no reason not to be using them.

    I also wonder why nuclear power is only allowed for military shipping. You could have some seriously fast freight ships zipping backwards and forwards across the oceans with a bit of nuke power. A Nimitz class carrier can do 30 knots and only need refueling once every 20 years. This tech really should be in the civilian sector.

    brc

    27 Feb 13 at 12:26 am

  268. I had to buy a set of British Whitworth spanners to undo bolts and nuts on an old Morris 8 I was doing up years ago. Neither AF or metric spanners would fit.

    I also have a collection of old antique measuring tools like metal tape, micrometer, and rules. They still work and I use them occasionally when doing shed stuff.

    Splatacrobat

    27 Feb 13 at 12:26 am

  269. Was that length or girth?

    Lloyd

    27 Feb 13 at 12:27 am

  270. Concorde is one of humanity’s greatest achievements. It’s absolutely stunning.

    Magical. Absolutely amazing. It was basically a Ferrari or Porsche of the sky.

    Concorde would be fine if it wasn’t a giant stimulus boondoggle government wastage program.

    I do love them but the history of the project is a shocking tale of big government spending on vanity projects. It makes the NBN look like an earnest endeavour. I’m just glad none of my tax dollars went into it.

    The irony of Concorde is that it was nimbys who killed it by disallowing supersonic flights over land despite high altitude sonic booms being nothing more than slight rumble, nothing like the hysteric claims being made at the time.

    I do hope one of the private companies pulls their finger out and builds a supersonic passenger plane for the filthy rich. Imagine owning your own supersonic airliner.

    brc

    27 Feb 13 at 12:32 am

  271. The qld government has reopened logging in western hardwood forests

    Which somehow means

    THE State Government is about to reopen logging in about two million hectares of environmentally sensitive land put aside by the previous government.

    So 2,000,000 hectares is “environmentally sensitive”. Next they will be saying savannah woodland is endangered remnant.

    Entropy

    27 Feb 13 at 12:33 am

  272. Oh, and on the metric thing.

    Metric measurements on base 10 is the right thing.

    It’s the stupid over-syllabled french names that let the whole thing down. People like saying ‘inch’ because it’s one syllable and short. Compared to ‘centimetre’ it’s much easier to say.

    If we could just agree to call them ‘cems’, ‘kegs’, and ‘kems’ everyone would be on board. Trying to describe distance, weight and the like using french words sounds as ridiculous as using french words when ordering a meat pie. I’ve no idea what the french translation for pie would be, but I woldn’t be surprised to hear it is ‘pastry avec viende chavel’ instead of ‘pie’.

    Syllables. The main reason people still use imperial. You know I’m right.

    brc

    27 Feb 13 at 12:37 am

  273. ack that was supposed to be ‘pastry avec viende cheval’

    brc

    27 Feb 13 at 12:38 am

  274. “Does the Carbon Tax affect you and your business?”

    Splatacrobat 12.03

    The boss of Virgin airlines was on 2GB (that station) saying the carbon tax cost the firm 24 million (halving their profit). The Govermint thought that firms could pass on the cost but in a tight and competitive market Virgin had to wear the full cost.

    Poor Old Rafe

    27 Feb 13 at 12:42 am

  275. I also wonder why nuclear power is only allowed for military shipping. You could have some seriously fast freight ships zipping backwards and forwards across the oceans with a bit of nuke power. A Nimitz class carrier can do 30 knots and only need refueling once every 20 years. This tech really should be in the civilian sector.

    Which US city do you think is going to be willing to allow a ship owned by a company from a foreign country with a potentially rather large dirty bomb to park itself in the middle of its busy port?

    Syllables. The main reason people still use imperial. You know I’m right.

    Mostly those who use imperial, like monarchists, are slowly dying off of old age.

    Chris

    27 Feb 13 at 12:47 am

  276. Which US city do you think is going to be willing to allow a ship owned by a company from a foreign country with a potentially rather large dirty bomb to park itself in the middle of its busy port?

    Well I would expect long beach for a start, that’s where a lot of the Asian imports go, and bigger ships work the pacific.

    Really, if I want hysterical anti nuclear ranting there are plenty of green sites to visit.

    brc

    27 Feb 13 at 12:54 am

  277. Infidel tiger

    27 Feb 13 at 12:55 am

  278. People like saying ‘inch’ because it’s one syllable and short. Compared to ‘centimetre’ it’s much easier to say.

    ‘Tis easy – mils & metres – never centimetres (or cents). Much simpler to say 1 mil instead of 1/24 of an inch.

    Btw – in the UK I drink half pints :)

    Septimus

    27 Feb 13 at 12:55 am

  279. Yes I heard that Rafe. It was also mentioned on the ABC.
    I guess Virgin decided to take a hit this time, knowing that Abbott will kill it off later in the year.
    If I was Virgin I would be putting a copy of their carbon tax bill in the Voyuer magazine with a note to say “Virgin will be absorbing this $24 million impost on our business this time but encourage you to vote LP/NP in the upcoming election so we don’t have to pass on the cost to you next time.

    Splatacrobat

    27 Feb 13 at 12:55 am

  280. Alberici was virtually wetting her knickers on Lateline tonight as she lobbed marshmellows at wacko simpleminded conspiracy theorist and bitter failed priest, Patrick J. Wall. Amongst other hilarious claims this dishonest creep made was that ‘the Church’ is worth so many hundreds of billions that payouts to abuse victims won’t hurt it at all. He actually argued that there is one big pot of money belonging to ‘the Church’ – rather than hundreds of dioceses and archdioceses who perforce run their own bank accounts and portfolios. He also claimed that a recent ‘report’ alleged there were “parties” and “excesses” in the Vatican. This is a complete lie. He then argued as fact that Benedict XVI had resigned to avoid being arrested. He was no “in the clear,” he said. Alberici the imbecile didn’t pause to consider – much less ask – why being in retirement prevented him from being arrested (which would theoretically now be possible – as it wasn’t before).

    Wall makes a very lucrative living, by the way, arm-twisting the Church on behalf of abuse victims, real and imagined. The mendacious butterball wants the gravy train to keep on chugging along.

    C.L.

    27 Feb 13 at 1:01 am

  281. Lloyd

    27 Feb 13 at 1:02 am

  282. CHRIS KENNY: Stay is nothing but a stunt
    JANET ALBRECHTSEN: Losers should take a bow
    CASSANDRA WILKINSON: Knifing ALP’s rationalists
    CANDIDACY: Iemma opts out of Barton race
    TOM DUSEVIC: Gillard’s great surge into the ‘burbs
    The Australian

    The really big news is actually this:Ikea meatball producer finds no horsemeat

    Thank fuck for that, I had those meatballs on Sunday.

    Splatacrobat

    27 Feb 13 at 1:04 am

  283. Bill Shorten invokes “spirit” of lay-about communists who sided with Stalin and Hitler in the war and worked to kill Australian Diggers:

    WORKPLACE Relations Minister Bill Shorten has publicly aligned himself with the militant Maritime Union of Australia, declaring he wished he could inject its “spirit” into some Labor MPs to convince them the election was winnable.

    Addressing a second major union conference in a week, Mr Shorten told MUA members in Western Australia yesterday that “there’s no other place I’d rather be today anywhere in Australia, and I mean this with all my heart, than here with you”.

    I wonder if he cleared this with Mumsy.

    C.L.

    27 Feb 13 at 1:10 am

  284. Addressing a second major union conference in a week, Mr Shorten told MUA members in Western Australia yesterday that “there’s no other place I’d rather be today anywhere in Australia, and I mean this with all my heart, than here with you”.

    I always get Shorten and Combet mixed up.

    They should both be renamed “Generic Australian Union Hack Who Thinks It’s 1968″ One and Two in order to clear up any confusion.

    twostix

    27 Feb 13 at 1:32 am

  285. Mostly those who use imperial, like monarchists, are slowly dying off of old age.

    Isn’t the monarchy more popular now than 20 years ago?

    twostix

    27 Feb 13 at 1:34 am

  286. According to the count so far, Grillo’s party has become Italy’s most popular political party, in the Chamber anyway. That will make an impression. Guys on twitter think Italian stock market futures will drop 3.5%

    Keith

    27 Feb 13 at 1:45 am

  287. So Shorten got a skinful with his MUA buddies and now thinks he can win the election.

    Keith

    27 Feb 13 at 1:49 am

  288. The utterly shameful and despicable UNHRC.

    The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) begins its annual session in Geneva today by once again disgracing itself through the appointment of the West African country of Mauritania as its vice-president for the next year.

    The UNHRC is the organization that, in the past, has cozied up to the Gaddafi and Assad regimes in Libya and Syria; that praised Sri Lanka’s human-rights record shortly after that country’s military killed more than 40,000 Tamil civilians; and that still exhibits at the entrance to its meeting hall, two pieces of art, one donated by Egypt’s Mubarak regime, the other with a plaque that reads, “A statue of Nemesis, Goddess of justice, donated by the Syrian government.”

    And now Mauritania has been chosen by the UNHRC to help preside over worldwide human rights for the next 12 months. Mauritania, although all-but ignored by mainstream human-rights groups, is a country that allows 20% of its citizens, about 800,000 people, some as young as 10, to live as slaves.

    An estimated 27 million people worldwide still live in conditions of forced bondage, and every year at least 700,000 people are trafficked across borders and into slavery, according to figures compiled by the U.S. State Department, the International Organization for Migration and other reliable sources.

    But nowhere is slavery still so systematically practiced as in Mauritania, an Islamic republic where imams often use their interpretations of Sharia law to justify forcing the darker-skinned black African Haratine minority to serve as slaves to the Arabic Moor population.

    Gab

    27 Feb 13 at 2:43 am

  289. Why America is a busted-arse country that will never be great again:

    GOVERNMENT: The Keystone XL Pipeline Has Been Under Review For More Than Twice As Long As It Would Have Taken To Build It.

    http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/164079/

    C.L.

    27 Feb 13 at 2:56 am

  290. What would be the downside of Australia leaving the UN.
    Sharran Burrow loses her job at the ILO?
    I think I could live with that.

    The more they are accommodated, the more Muslim nations will despise the UN. They now have such a foothold they vote themselves more funding and influence. The UN will become a larger more toxic version of the Arab League.

    Keith

    27 Feb 13 at 3:03 am

  291. IT,
    I am a staunch anti-smoker, especially when ignorant arseholes think they have the right to smoke around me in a confined area, but I am totally opposed to governments outlawing smoking in restaurants and bars and other such places.
    Why? Because if people wish to eat or have a drink and not have to breathe in those toxic fumes, they can go to other establishments that are smoke free.
    Same with those who wish to work at establishments that allow smoking. No use bitching and moaning later on in life if you get lung cancer. You chose to work there, and took the risks.
    It’s called freedom of choice, but no, the idiotic governments and councils just had to ban it outright.
    It really is that simple. I won’t go into bars or clubs or restaurants that allow smoking, but many others still wish to do so, and now, howpefully, sanity will prevail, and smoking will once again be allowed in establishments that want to be smoker friendly.
    Of course, this limits the places I might wish to go, but I can live with that. That is my choice, and it’s something I value highly, and having decisions made for me by those who think the plebs, that would be me, are too stupid to make these decisions for themselves, rankles me greatly.
    Pete

    Peter55

    27 Feb 13 at 3:45 am

  292. No, I am Australian, learnt the imperial system, then the metric system, can do both no problems.
    Both are very easy, but as some have written, metric, because it is all in 10s, is very simple, but like anything, the imperial system, once you learn it it’s pretty easy as well.
    I remember very well, joining the Navy at age 15, I weighed 7-1/2st.

    Peter55

    27 Feb 13 at 3:54 am

  293. Never lost anyone in space either.

    Lost some on the ground but.. RIP Gus Grissom – screwed the pooch

    Lazlo

    27 Feb 13 at 4:01 am

  294. No Candy, not joking. Tonight was a bit of a letdown, only 49, yes 49, not 4, not 9, 49, chicken satay sticks.
    And no, my tummy did not explode. Tomorrow it is cheap movie day, so a couple of movies, with a Sizzlers buffet to break it up, all salad, to offset all the meats of the past two nights.

    Peter55

    27 Feb 13 at 4:05 am

  295. Hey, remember when Joe Biden told women to get a 12 gauge shotgun for defence? How it was easier to shoot than an AR15?

    Here’s a few ladies who tried it out. Turns out Joe may have been wrong.

    Eddystone

    27 Feb 13 at 4:56 am

  296. “They should both be renamed “Generic Australian Union Hack Who Thinks It’s 1968″ One and Two in order to clear up any confusion.”

    They already are …. B1 is Billy and B2 is…

    WhaleHunt Fun

    27 Feb 13 at 6:58 am

  297. McTurdman’s ALP attack plan:

    1/ polls are invalid – just a tool for the evil Murdoch Empire to sway your vote. Ban them during election period.
    2/ In parallel – help Greens with their new restrictions to media laws (Murdoch / Ten)
    3/ Revive attack on private media controls
    4/ assume brace position – you’re going to get reamed.

    duncanm

    27 Feb 13 at 7:38 am

  298. Beautiful in its ugliness update: The 2013 election season is likely to turn what’s left of Labor into an even more unelectable rabble dominated by the left:

    THERE is growing speculation that a knife-edge by-election looms in former attorney-general Robert McClelland’s seat of Barton following rumours that he is in contention for a position on the NSW Industrial Relations Commission. His exit would give the opposition a chance to deliver a bloody nose to the government.

    The seat is held with a margin of 14.9 per cent but party movers and shakers are convincing themselves it will take a miracle to save the seat. The unlikely shape of this miracle was to have been Morris Iemma. The former NSW premier was understood to be backed by heavyweights keen to ensure NSW was not blamed for the expected election defeat in September, although he has reportedly withdrawn his candidacy.

    The expected losses in NSW are interesting not only for their likely severity but for the ideological distribution. If polls don’t improve many of NSW Labor’s best younger MPs will lose their seats, including Michelle Rowland, Jason Clare, Chris Bowen, David Bradbury and possibly Tony Burke, all in the Right. The safer seats will be held by Tanya Plibersek, Anthony Albanese and Stephen Jones. The Liberals will win the country but the socialists will win control of Labor in NSW.

    This opens up scenarios that keep moderate Labor members awake at night. With the Left faction dominant, federal intervention may be called. The right-wing party secretary could be replaced with an administrator chosen by a left-dominated national executive. At that point the only people able to save the Right would be trade union secretaries who wield power through the conference. These people are mostly even more socialist than the Left MPs, opposing market-based reforms in favour of growing the public sector where their membership is strongest.

    Tom

    27 Feb 13 at 7:54 am

  299. Make the unions subject ti the same oversight as business and begin the gailings. Hilarious. These ignorant scum could no more understand the required begaviours of a directorship than they could figure out which side of the toilet paper to use.

    WhaleHunt Fun

    27 Feb 13 at 8:23 am

  300. Bolta picks up an article which underlines the fact the children of the north desperately need a change of government…

    After caring for Robert for more about seven months, Audrey – who has been a foster carer for more than three years, taking children in on a short-term basis – was asked if she would be willing to take Robert on as part of a fulltime arrangement… She said five days after agreeing to take Robert on permanently, everything changed.

    “I was notified that an indigenous elder had stepped in and that Robert was to be removed from my care, and two weeks later he was gone.”

    Audrey said she was told that she was no longer considered an acceptable full time carer for Robert as she was not indigenous.

    “For me, the concern was Robert was very attached to me, he had bonded, he was healthy, he was thriving, and there was actually no need to remove him from my care… Robert is now in a family where there are seven other foster children under the age of eight… The last time I saw Robert, his health had deteriorated… After only a week in his new placement, he had severe nappy rash to the point where his bottom was bleeding. He had pale coloured stools, he had an ear infection, he was very untidily dressed.”

    The apparent explanation:

    According to the DCP’s website, the department tries wherever possible to place Aboriginal children within their families and local communities to “safeguard their identities.”

    Token

    27 Feb 13 at 8:30 am

  301. The other day I was asked how tall I am. Automatically I said five foot. I was genuinely surprised they didn’t know what that meant in terms of a person’s height. Then I was surprised that I was surprised!

    But I’ve never come to grips with centimetres: metres yes – (equals roughly 3 feet); centimetres – wouldn’t have a clue.

    Viva

    27 Feb 13 at 8:34 am

  302. Here’s a few ladies who tried it out.

    Owwww! Alan! lol

    Splatacrobat

    27 Feb 13 at 8:34 am

  303. Julia on MMM Melbourne now

    eam

    27 Feb 13 at 8:36 am

  304. THERE is growing speculation that a knife-edge by-election looms in former attorney-general Robert McClelland’s seat of Barton following rumours that he is in contention for a position on the NSW Industrial Relations Commission.

    I find these stories hard to believe as Labor & da Left are ruthless when it comes to abusing & bullying those they believe have betrayed the Great Lefty Religious movement.

    Look at Mal Colston. When reporting his death years later Pravda-on-the-Yarra made sure the article was pure smear.

    With all the political activists who are now judges, people like those at the MUA can confidently say this without fear of sanction:

    A day after the union’s West Australian secretary Chris Cain told delegates “laws need to be broken, you’re going to get locked up”,

    Token

    27 Feb 13 at 8:37 am

  305. Mark Wahlberg and Ted – and the scriptwriters too, above all – are now in strife over the duo’s gentle Jew-mocking bit at the Oscars.

    Really?

    Seth McFarlane has been making similar jokes with dogs/babies/aliens in the Family Guy,American Dad, etc for years. The whole point of getting a puppet to play the bigot is to parody the moronic viewpoint in a way the removes colour/race/religion from statement.

    Token

    27 Feb 13 at 8:47 am

  306. “”No Candy, not joking. Tonight was a bit of a letdown, only 49, yes 49, not 4, not 9, 49, chicken satay sticks.”

    Good thing about the salad tomorrow Pete, so much meat we’re not meant to eat.

    candy

    27 Feb 13 at 8:54 am

  307. so much meat we’re not meant to eat.

    Not meant to eat by what or by whom?
    From Chapter II of Headlong Hall. by Thomas Love Peacock:

    “In the controversy concerning animal and vegetable food,” said Mr Jenkison, “there is much to be said on both sides; and, the question being in equipoise, I content myself with a mixed diet, and make a point of eating whatever is placed before me, provided it be good in its kind.”
    In this opinion his two brother philosophers practically coincided, though they both ran down the theory as highly detrimental to the best interests of man.
    “I am really astonished,” said the Reverend Doctor Gaster, gracefully picking off the supernal fragments of an egg he had just cracked, and clearing away a space at the top for the reception of a small piece of butter—“I am really astonished, gentlemen, at the very heterodox opinions I have heard you deliver: since nothing can be more obvious than that all animals were created solely and exclusively for the use of man.”
    “Even the tiger that devours him?” said Mr Escot.
    “Certainly,” said Doctor Gaster.
    “How do you prove it?” said Mr Escot.
    “It requires no proof,” said Doctor Gaster: “it is a point of doctrine. It is written, therefore it is so.”
    “Nothing can be more logical,” said Mr Jenkison. “It has been said,” continued he, “that the ox was expressly made to be eaten by man: it may be said, by a parity of reasoning, that man was expressly made to be eaten by the tiger: but as wild oxen exist where there are no men, and men where there are no tigers, it would seem that in these instances they do not properly answer the ends of their creation.”
    “It is a mystery,” said Doctor Gaster.
    “Not to launch into the question of final causes,” said Mr Escot [the deteriorationist], helping himself at the same time to a slice of beef, “concerning which I will candidly acknowledge I am as profoundly ignorant as the most dogmatical theologian possibly can be, I just wish to observe, that the pure and peaceful manners which Homer ascribes to the Lotophagi, and which at this day characterise many nations (the Hindoos, for example, who subsist exclusively on the fruits of the earth), depose very strongly in favour of a vegetable regimen.”
    “It may be said, on the contrary,” said Mr Foster [the perfectibilian], “that animal food acts on the mind as manure does on flowers, forcing them into a degree of expansion they would not otherwise have attained. If we can imagine a philosophical auricula falling into a train of theoretical meditation on its original and natural nutriment, till it should work itself up into a profound abomination of bullock’s blood, sugar-baker’s scum, and other unnatural ingredients of that rich composition of soil which had brought it to perfection, and insist on being planted in common earth, it would have all the advantage of natural theory on its side that the most strenuous advocate of the vegetable system could desire; but it would soon discover the practical error of its retrograde experiment by its lamentable inferiority in strength and beauty to all the auriculas around it. I am afraid, in some instances at least, this analogy holds true with respect to mind. No one will make a comparison, in point of mental power, between the Hindoos and the ancient Greeks.”
    “The anatomy of the human stomach,” said Mr Escot, “and the formation of the teeth, clearly place man in the class of frugivorous animals.”
    “Many anatomists,” said Mr Foster, “are of a different opinion, and agree in discerning the characteristics of the carnivorous classes.”
    “I am no anatomist,” said Mr Jenkison, “and cannot decide where doctors disagree; in the meantime, I conclude that man is omnivorous, and on that conclusion I act.”
    “Your conclusion is truly orthodox,” said the Reverend Doctor Gaster: “indeed, the loaves and fishes are typical of a mixed diet; and the practice of the Church in all ages shows——”
    “That it never loses sight of the loaves and fishes,” said Mr Escot.
    “It never loses sight of any point of sound doctrine,” said the reverend doctor.

    Deadman

    27 Feb 13 at 9:10 am

  308. Splat – I missed the program but caught some guy ringing up saying his electricity bill stayed the same because he used wind power on his bill. He whinged why no-one else did this and claimed business passed on the “cost” of cheaper power on to the environment. He business of course stores organic f + v.

    1. no proof organic is healthier
    2. everyone can’t use wind power because it makes up 2/5ths of f/all of base load
    3. wind power is heavily subsidized by govt, meaning other electricity users, so f off with your smarmy I’m not costing the environment BS
    4. wind power is nowhere near him in qld so love to know where his electricity company sources this magical power from – sounds like he’s actually getting coal fired power and the company buys credits off some wind based power company in another part of the state

    typically ABC let all this go on air with nary a word against it, and Steve insisted on getting the guys details because of course he is someone the ABC will adore

    pete m

    27 Feb 13 at 9:20 am

  309. I cannot believe that Shorten’s plan to steal money straight from bank accounts by escheat isn’t basically causing widespread rioting. (There’s your excuse for rioting, Squire James, not “abolishing the marriage act”, but something more akin to the machinations of a kleptocracty).

    Escheat? Who does this %$#^ing %$#@ think he is? Edward ^%*(ing Plantagenet?

    MY MONEY ISN’T A DUKEDOM YOU CAN GIFT TO YOUR ALP INFANTES, THIS ISN’T SPAIN, THIS ISN’T ENGLAND, THIS IS 21ST CENTURY AUSTRALIA PEOPLE LIKE YOU WANTED TO BECOME NOMINALLY A REPUBLIC

    JUST BECAUSE MUMSY LIVES IN YARRALUMLA DOESN’T MEAN YOU ARE THE ANALOG TO THE PRINCE OF ASTURIAS OR THE DUKE OF ROTHESAY.

    By rights, Shorten ought to be our analog to John Comyn or John de Balliol. Maybe even Edward II of England.

    .

    27 Feb 13 at 9:20 am

  310. From T.L. Peacock’s Memoirs of Shelley:

    On our way up [on a boating expedition], at Oxford, [Percy Shelley] was so much out of order that he feared being obliged to return. He had been living chiefly on tea and bread and butter, drinking occasionally a sort of spurious lemonade, made of some powder in a box, which, as he was reading at the time the Tale of a Tub, he called the powder of pimperlimpimp. He consulted a doctor, who may have done him some good, but it was not apparent. I told him, “If he would allow me to prescribe for him, I would set him to rights.” He asked, “What would be your prescription?”
    I said, “Three mutton chops, well peppered.”
    He said, “Do you really think so?”
    I said, “I am sure of it.”
    He took the prescription; the success was obvious and immediate. He lived in my way for the rest of our expedition, rowed vigorously, was cheerful, merry, overflowing with animal spirits, and had certainly one week of thorough enjoyment of life.

    Deadman

    27 Feb 13 at 9:28 am

  311. Michael Ramirez’s latest cartoon is good, as always.

    Steve D

    27 Feb 13 at 9:30 am

  312. Shorten ought to be our analog to John Comyn

    My ancestor Robert I knew how to deal with that traitorous Red Comyn.

    Deadman

    27 Feb 13 at 9:37 am

  313. The more they are accommodated, the more Muslim nations will despise the UN. They now have such a foothold they vote themselves more funding and influence. The UN will become a larger more toxic version of the Arab League.

    The League of Nations showed the result of accomodating.

    stackja

    27 Feb 13 at 9:46 am

  314. In the Rooty Hill story today, I noticed:

    Industry Minister Greg Combet said Labor faced a tough fight but would continue to argue its case.

    When his portfolio is officially:

    Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Minister for Industry and Innovation

    Haven’t we been told for the past six months that the air tax is a non-issue?:

    Parramatta Labor councillor Pierre Esber yesterday said it was time western Sydney MPs considered a leadership change.”Western Sydney MPs have got to look at themselves in the mirror and ask, ‘How can we save seats, who is the best person to lead us to save seats?’,” the former deputy mayor said.

    He said Ms Gillard’s “heart is in the right place” and western Sydney would welcome her with respect – but he said the carbon tax and the influx of asylum-seeker boats arrivals had damaged Labor’s vote and credibility.

    “She is the PM, she is responsible for it,” he said.

    In the most vital electoral battleground in the country, the globall warmening minister says it’s nothing to do with him – he’s the “Industry Minister”.

    The carbon tax — helping wreck people’s lives in western Sydney, brought to you by the delinquent activists who fell for the junk being peddled by science’s most discredited sinecure.

    Tom

    27 Feb 13 at 10:06 am

  315. Bolt’s work on the “stolen generations” hoax – and its lingering, fatal consequences – has been sterling. Alone, it makes him a journalistic giant amongst pygmies.

    C.L.

    27 Feb 13 at 10:34 am

  316. High Court bans Christian street preachers.

    C.L.

    27 Feb 13 at 10:36 am

  317. Greens support sex-selection abortions that exterminate girls:

    THE Australian Greens say a move to ban Medicare funding of sex-selection abortion is a ruse to revive the issue of pregnancy terminations.
    DLP senator John Madigan is planning to introduce a private members’ bill to the Senate than bans what he says is an abhorrent practice.

    The pro-life advocate says abortions based on gender selection are occurring overseas.

    “Which I have no doubt is happening here,” he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.

    “It shouldn’t be tolerated.”

    Greens senator Richard Di Natale says the move was a “thinly-veiled attempt” to revive the abortion issue in Australia.

    “It is not the same hot button issue as it has been in the United States,” he told reporters.

    “We have for a long time now accepted a women’s right to choose.”

    C.L.

    27 Feb 13 at 10:42 am

  318. Viva la hipocresía:

    IN a display of breathtaking hypocrisy and spinelessness Greens leader Christine Milne has demonstrated the hollow farce played out during last week’s childish break with Labor.

    Challenged in the Senate by Liberal Eric Abetz to support a no confidence motion in the handling of the mining tax – not the tax itself nor the government – Milne went into primal shock.

    Government leader in the Senate, Stephen Conroy understood what the Coalition was doing and scuttled across the chamber to give Milne her script but even with prompting from the government Leader in the Senate, she looked ridiculous and her performance was laughable.

    Just a week ago the Milne had used her platform at the National Press Club to cite Labor’s mishandling of the mining tax as grounds for breaking their agreement with Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

    Yesterday she showed that the divorce is a sham.

    She couldn’t bring herself to vote for the softest possible condemnation of the government though she didn’t waste her words before the cameras last week.

    Gab

    27 Feb 13 at 10:56 am

  319. Low petrol taxes hampering fuel efficiency: economist

    Australian Universities are the Great Satan Statists.

    dismissive

    27 Feb 13 at 11:21 am

  320. That economist should look at the general equilibrium model if possible.

    What is being optimised? Fuel consumption or economic welfare?

    If we wanted to be efficient under the first parameter, we’d ban driving.

    The main driver behind fuel inefficiency is the aversion to rationalise the Australian auto industry and privatise our main roads.

    People do not drive around for the sake of it.

    In the US, a CLA Mercedes with a good power to weight ratio and a 1.8 ltr engine will retail for under 30k USD – and less than 30k AUD.

    In Australia, it will retail for 55k AUD.

    In Australia, for 45k, you can get a 4 ltr XR6 turbo.

    Excise taxes have inelastic demand. They are basically regressive. Tariffs and the flow on effects also are highly inequitable, and have a cascading effect of inefficiency.

    He wants to see the petrol excise duty once again rise with the rate of inflation, which he calculates would generate more than $5 billion of extra revenue every year.

    It would also hit the poor the hardest, it wouldn’t reduce congestion and it wouldn’t reprice fuel efficient cars without being overly burdensome.

    The Government just gave away a few billion extra to the auto industry and they are given billions every year anyway.

    He is also not looking at the margin. Most of the price increase is from the oil price, not the tax.

    However, the tax makes up 41.91 cents per litre of the price right now.

    .

    27 Feb 13 at 11:30 am

  321. High Court bans Christian street preachers.

    These judges are prostituting their predecessors’ legacies just to give support to a failing, shambolic Government which will see several criminal charges laid against high ranking members when they fall.

    Abbot ought to call for parallel House and Senate sessions to “pray for their removal” as per the GG in Council.

    Even the Work Choices decision was bad. Corporations power means Federalism is invalidated? WTF?

    .

    27 Feb 13 at 11:35 am

  322. Who the fuck nominated, let alone voted for Bill Clinton as 2013 US Father of the Year? The feminist victimologists are beside themselves:

    While Bill’s been riding high, Lewinsky’s fall from grace was so hard that she’s never recovered. She has barely worked since the Clinton administration. Other than a brief foray into the handbag business and earning a masters of science in social psychology at the London School of Economics, she has remained virtually unemployable for anything other than a punch line.

    She was even dumped as a Jenny Craig spokesperson after only three months, following criticism that she wasn’t a good role model.

    The life-long punishment for her affair is staggeringly unjust, especially when you consider that she was only 22 years old at the time. Who hasn’t done something dumb at 22?

    Lewinsky was out-classed and out-manipulated from beginning to end. Conservatives treated her as nothing more than a weapon to derail the Clinton presidency.

    Tom

    27 Feb 13 at 11:46 am

  323. High Court bans Christian street preachers.

    But would allow Taj El-Din Hilaly it is assumed.

    stackja

    27 Feb 13 at 11:53 am

  324. I reckon the feminist victimologists have a good point!

    Harold

    27 Feb 13 at 11:55 am

  325. High Court bans Christian street preachers.

    To speak loudly in public we now require permission from the government?

    We’re definitely in the middle of a statist revolution.

    twostix

    27 Feb 13 at 11:56 am

  326. Agree Dot – there has been next to no prominence given to the swiped bank accounts story, and it’s about to start in May. If an account disappears, there’ll be some way of claiming it back, but it’s another set of unnecessary red tape people will have to go through.
    It could affect deceased estates undergoing processing for probait where accounts have been inactive, and the claimants will be the executors, probably increasing the difficulty of recovery.
    I know of one case where the deceased had a habit of stashing cash in various accounts and leaving it there long term, and the executors are still trying to track them all down. Every piece of paper in his huge “archive” has to be checked, and he (i)never threw away papers, and (ii) was a bit paranoid, so even hid things – in books, anywhere.
    There are probably numerous variations on the “why it’s inactive” story, but this “amendment” was only done because of the Greens and Independents siding with a minority government who had no mandate for anything, really. And there was already a seven year provision. Now three. Cash grab.
    Where were the “journalists” on this one?

    blogstrop

    27 Feb 13 at 11:59 am

  327. High Court bans Christian street preachers.

    Any moment now the local council will stop Islamic street celebration. Any moment, you watch, just wait for it, wait for it……

    Keith

    27 Feb 13 at 12:01 pm

  328. In Melbourne recently on a major CBD streetcorner I noticed a Muslim guy was handing out leaflets about Islam to all comers, and engaging people in conversations about the contents.

    Only Melbourne though, so I don’t suppost that matters. Different in Adelaide no doubt.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare

    27 Feb 13 at 12:07 pm

  329. In Melbourne recently on a major CBD streetcorner I noticed a Muslim guy was handing out leaflets about Islam to all comers, and engaging people in conversations about the contents.

    Only Melbourne though, so I don’t suppost that matters. Different in Adelaide no doubt.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    27 Feb 13 at 12:09 pm

  330. Where were the “journalists” on this one?

    Are Bolt and Tim Blair onto this? Or Gerard Henderson? Quadrant? Anyone?

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    27 Feb 13 at 12:11 pm

  331. Finally, Loughnane presses the button on a new TV ad using the rabble’s own words:

    The ad offers an insight into what could be a devastatingly effective negative campaign to be waged by Liberal party HQ.

    Tom

    27 Feb 13 at 12:18 pm

  332. No gesture is too expensive for the Green fruitcakes running Sydney City Council to pleasure the shirt-lifters in Oxford Street:

    OXFORD St’s rainbow crossing has cost ratepayers $1018 per sq m – even though the controversial stripes will have to be cleaned off the road in a month.

    Sydney City Council has allocated $110,000 for the crossing, including $40,000 for paint and traffic management, $7400 for road safety audits, $7100 for video surveillance, $5000 for variable message boards and $6000 for RMS traffic crossing markings and $30,000 to remove it.

    The council hired 20 contractors to paint the crossing, measuring 6m x 18m, in one night.

    A spokeswoman said the paint was more expensive because it was a special non-slip road paint used for bus lanes and bike paths and compliant with RMS specifications.

    Tom

    27 Feb 13 at 12:31 pm

  333. Free speech is alive and well in Australia for non- Australians…

    A self-styled Muslim cleric accused of sending offensive letters to the families of dead diggers has had his appeal against the charge dismissed has been given the go ahead to keep on offending by the High Court

    Barrister David Bennett, who appeared for Mr Droudis, told the court in October the letters were ”purely political” and should therefore be protected as free speech

    read more

    Arnost

    27 Feb 13 at 12:32 pm

  334. Oh, so Andrew Bolt thinks the “boobs song” at the Oscars was a “puncturing” of the idea that breasts in films are part of art, and not just porn.

    What an idiot. It was simply MacFarlane doing his “I will make jokes that are politically incorrect/juvenile but people will understand that I know they are politically incorrect/juvenile and that’s what will make it funny” shtick. (MacFarlane’s wrong by the way. He wasn’t funny, with few exceptions.)

    Bolt shows spectacular immaturity if he thinks (as his comment indicates he does) that any sighting of a breast in a movie is pornographic.

    What do the “Boltards on steroids” who now inhabit this place think?

  335. A spokeswoman said the paint was more expensive because it was a special non-slip road paint used for bus lanes and bike paths and compliant with RMS specifications.

    But was it gay paint, that likes to stick to other paint? Apparently not, if it can be cleaned off in a month’s time. And the bill for cleaning off the gay paint, what would that be, another $100k?

    Keith

    27 Feb 13 at 12:37 pm

  336. As a reader of Bolt’s blog, I think the article was a light powder puff piece.

    I also think you’re an idiot SoB.

    Lloyd

    27 Feb 13 at 12:39 pm

  337. To clarify, no I don’t accept the clean up estimate. This is government work after all.

    Keith

    27 Feb 13 at 12:39 pm

  338. Greens support sex-selection abortions that exterminate girls

    It seems that the Greens are up for a full-blooded eugenics program since they hold to this notion that abortion is a woman’s choice in all circumstances.

    If we decide to go down this path, I see no solution other than to put sex-selection on Medicare otherwise sex-selection will only be available to the wealthy.

    Now what happens if a gene or genes is found that predispose a person to homosexuality, will De Natale hold to his position that it is a woman’s right to choose?

    ella

    27 Feb 13 at 12:44 pm

  339. I always felt sympathy for Monica Lewinsky. The older man took advantage of her being star struck. The fact that she stacked on the weight indicates some poor self image and depression.
    Don’t think she got married either or has children, it’s a sad thing really.

    candy

    27 Feb 13 at 12:45 pm

  340. Harold 26 Feb 13 at 8:04 pm

    Sri Lankan asylum seeker Daxchan Selvarajah in custody over Macquarie University sex assault

    Outside the court today, his lawyer Ken Robinson said his client was “doing well”, although he was “feeling the strains a little bit” in custody.

    Precious little petal! The usual custody clients will have fun with him.

    stackja

    27 Feb 13 at 12:47 pm

  341. Who the fuck nominated, let alone voted for Bill Clinton as 2013 US Father of the Year?

    It seems like a deal was done to ensure Bill got on board and helped the Sun King get re-elected.

    This meaningless award looks like a reward from the DNC luvvie class for his lying in swingstates like Ohio that Obama is a moderate Dem like Bubba was.

    Have you noticed how the Democrat machine (including the media) have refused to hold Hillary accountable for Benghazi?

    Token

    27 Feb 13 at 12:49 pm

  342. Oh, so Andrew Bolt thinks the “boobs song” at the Oscars was a “puncturing” of the idea that breasts in films are part of art, and not just porn.

    LOL. Well done you lightweight, you prove in this statement you don’t understand the point Bolt was making.

    Token

    27 Feb 13 at 12:51 pm

  343. Obviously, you have a deeper understanding of the Boltian attitude to “boobs” than me, Token.

    I sit down at your feet and await enlightenment.

  344. Token 27 Feb 13 at 12:49 pm

    You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.
    Remark attributed to Lincoln.

    stackja

    27 Feb 13 at 12:53 pm

  345. Sri Lankan asylum seeker Daxchan Selvarajah in custody over Macquarie University sex assault

    Who would’ve thought this would be trouble?

    1. Take a university college full of young women living away from their families for the first time, emersed in lefty values which tells the women they can act any way they like and if society challenges them they can scream about discrimination

    2. Add, a group of young men (with virtially no women) from a culture that does not respect women, especially women behaving with their western ways

    Who is suprised that trouble would arise?

    That said, considering how invested they are in the immigrant victim myth, we all know which side the lefty/feminist bloc are on in this. The security on the campus of the uni reinforced this fact.

    Token

    27 Feb 13 at 12:56 pm

  346. I sit down at your feet and await enlightenment.

    LOL, I’m not going to waste time on that.

    I remember when IT took on the quixotic quest to teach you the basic of economics, and how hard you fought to maintain the Marxist values you treasure.

    Token

    27 Feb 13 at 12:58 pm

  347. The Australian High Court is the most cowardly, intellectually mediocre, beholden high court in the western world. All of them should be sacked.

    C.L.

    27 Feb 13 at 1:03 pm

  348. I feel sorry for Lewinsky, too, Candy. She was seduced by the aura of a powerful man and unleashed forces she couldn’t control. However, her reaction to the episode and that of others is telling: no-one in the sisterhood evidently has taken her under their wing and she has been happy to be cast as the victim, it seems to me. I hope she eventually harnesses her story as a tool of her own self-interest.

    Tom

    27 Feb 13 at 1:06 pm

  349. Hahahaha. The Alliance of Civilisations[sic] to be liveblogged from Austria later.

    Top level representatives of both Islamic and democratic countries will be present, discussing how to lead the world in the desired direction.

    nilk

    27 Feb 13 at 1:07 pm

  350. That said, considering how invested they are in the immigrant victim myth, we all know which side the lefty/feminist bloc are on in this. The security on the campus of the uni reinforced this fact.

    I noted that this morning that AM chose – randomly I’m sure – to play a piece on the sufferings of Tamils in Sri Lanka, including references to rape and torture.

    Nothing like laying a bit of groundwork to prevent an inconvenient assault like this blowing up years of deception..

    DriftForge

    27 Feb 13 at 1:07 pm

  351. So, CL is happy for any religious preacher to have the right to stand in Queen Street Mall and spruik salvation at the people who just want to get to eat lunch or have a beer. Muslim, Hari Krishna, Satanist, Christian. And for the Council to be unable to move them on for being a nuisance.

    Yeah, sure.

  352. That said, considering how invested they are in the immigrant victim myth, we all know which side the lefty/feminist bloc are on in this.

    Yep – race trumps gender – this was confirmed by the OJ debacle.

    So expect our poor, traumatised (I tells ya!) asylum seeking li’l mate to get off.

    Rabz

    27 Feb 13 at 1:17 pm

  353. HC decision – it is very tough to overturn a State or council law on consitutional grounds as the only limit on them is they be for good order and government. The real scandel here is the extent to which councils have passed laws on everything that moves.

    The so called constitutional protection for political speech is so watered down by other laws I’m not surprised the Court found this piffly by law doesn’t really impact on the exercise of political free speech, because it almost doesn’t exist anyway.

    We do not need a charter of rights – all that does it create a limit and legal battle on them.

    We do need parliament to stop passing laws on everyone and everything imaginable.

    Monica was 22 and dumb, but still ana dult. I don’t feel sorry for her at all. Yeah people make mistakes but she made a doozy and then let others carry her along for their own ends. But Bill should have been impeached and treated by all women with contempt for the rest of his life.

    pete m

    27 Feb 13 at 1:20 pm

  354. focused on making small cylinders able to withstand the powerful magnetic force that is the result of nuclear fusion.

    I understood the powerful magnetic force was a consequence of the need to keep the plasma away from the material walls of the containment vessel, and thus cooling the fusion reaction to below its sustainable temperature. It’s the horse, not the cart.
    Secondly, the containment vessel becomes radioactive over time due to ?proton bombardment. (I’m working from memory here.)
    Doesn’t matter, we can burn the old vessels in Thorium reactors.

    Winston SMITH

    27 Feb 13 at 1:20 pm

  355. Bolt shows spectacular immaturity …

    Right.

    He should make penis size jokes and militantly blog about extra-vaginal ejaculation.

    That’s what grown-ups do.

    C.L.

    27 Feb 13 at 1:21 pm

  356. Bolt: Not that there’s anything wrong with bared breasts in the movies…
    SoB: Bolt shows spectacular immaturity if he thinks (as his comment indicates he does) that any sighting of a breast in a movie is pornographic.

    Another self-beclownment & epic fail in basic comprehension from waste of space Steve.

    blogstrop

    27 Feb 13 at 1:22 pm

  357. The Lib attack ad is the right idea but the design is crappy.

    Even somebody in the know struggles for a few seconds to realise what it’s about. Then it’s over.

    A better approach would be to produce a series of ads featuring lengthier soundbites of Rudd hatred.

    C.L.

    27 Feb 13 at 1:22 pm

  358. I think it was JC who remarked on my reply about autonomous vehicles and my comment that they could be loaded up with bombs and detonated at intervals at a particular site. A footy grand final comes to mind.
    I think the issue was that a small gang of say ten can organise this now. Yes, it can, but these Jihadists can be infiltrated and foiled. With autonomous self drive vehicles, it only takes one lunatic working by himself.

    Winston SMITH

    27 Feb 13 at 1:26 pm

  359. Sure. Bolt doesn’t mind bare breasts appearing in movies, just he wants to make the point that whenever it happens, it’s really titillating and nothing to do with “art”.

  360. So, CL is happy for any religious preacher to have the right to stand in Queen Street Mall and spruik salvation at the people who just want to get to eat lunch or have a beer. Muslim, Hari Krishna, Satanist, Christian. And for the Council to be unable to move them on for being a nuisance.

    The case wasn’t about nuisance laws you dumbarse. It was about requiring a permit to stand on the corner speaking.

    Anti-social steve of course is terribly frightened of somebody speaking to him in public.

    twostix

    27 Feb 13 at 1:32 pm

  361. After a couple of seconds talking to SoB, even the hari krishnas would rescind their offer of a vegetarian meal and copy of the Gita

    Dan

    27 Feb 13 at 1:38 pm

  362. Sure. Bolt doesn’t mind bare breasts appearing in movies, just he wants to make the point that whenever it happens, it’s really titillating and nothing to do with “art”.

    It hasn’t escaped our notice that this is the second time you’ve broken the rules at rehab and are posting in the Open Forum again.

    And what did you post about thus engaging in more self abuse and self-degradation that you will feel guilty about for the rest of the day? The multitudes of important issues to do with the government the last few weeks?

    No.

    The coming electoral annihalation of Labor.

    No.

    What then, what was so important to you Steve that you had to give in to your addiction?

    Andrew Bolt and Boobies.

    twostix

    27 Feb 13 at 1:38 pm

  363. Yet another golf clap for our beloved treasurer

    http://www.news.com.au/money/superannuation/m-in-super-may-not-be-enough/story-e6frfmdi-1226586755036

    Chan & Naylor director Ken Raiss says those holding $1 million in retirement savings are under the spotlight.

    “During recent weeks of political tax-grab barracking, the government has successfully managed to stigmatise Australian retirees who have managed to set aside their own monies for independent retirement,” he said today.

    It is a dangerous man who is simultaneously stupid and motivated by spite.

    tbh

    27 Feb 13 at 1:43 pm

  364. Ref the High Court decision on the offensive Muslim. My understanding of the article is that the Muslim’s appeal against the charge was dismissed i.e. he lost and has to face court.

    Not having a legal mind I may be wrong on that so feel free to enlighten me. Speaking of legal minds check out the opinion of the Muslim’s barrister regarding telling dead soldier’s parents that their son was pig:

    ”It is putting an extreme view,” Mr Bennett said. ”It is putting what is no doubt very much a minority view, but it is purely political and it requires considerable imagination to see how that can be regarded as offensive in any way.

    Seriously. That is what passes for informed opinion in the highest court of the land.

    jupes

    27 Feb 13 at 1:57 pm

  365. A paradox or a paradox

    Paradoxically speaking does this obviate a Royal Commission?

    Tintarella di Luna

    27 Feb 13 at 2:01 pm

  366. Assistant Treasurer dumps Gillard, ALP:

    4 According to the bookies David Bradbury will lose the seat of Lindsay to Liberal challenger Fiona Scott. But the assistant treasurer might have found a way to swing things back his way. His mobile billboard being parked across the western Sydney electorate has no mention that he is a member of the federal Labor government.

    C.L.

    27 Feb 13 at 2:15 pm

  367. Unbelievable.

    The Prime Henchman attends a conference of the MUA, channels his inner Arthur Scargill, nods approvingly as a MUA office-bearer both promises and incites violence and law-breaking, and it’s a case of nothing-to-see-here, move-along-folks.

    This was a union that affronted every hard-working Australian with its perks, sinecures, sit-down money and straight-out blackmail of the people who paid it – and their customers, which meant all of us by extension. When this mafiosi hold on their workplace was broken, every hard-working Australian rejoiced. (Not tax-eaters, however. The ABC even tried to go all Ken Loach on the subject.)

    Not to mention the union that openly committed treason – remembered in that wonderful simile, ‘my computer loads slower than an Australian wharfie in World War II.’ May we never forget this.

    The political-death-wish optics of this are simply unfathomable.

    Still, a quick change out of the overalls and into the tux and it’s off to dinner with Mumsie at Yarralumla. If that butler goofs again and passes the port to the left, I’ll have him sacked.

    James in Melbourne

    27 Feb 13 at 2:19 pm

  368. Actually jupes, it’s always made me laugh, in the not funny way, that muslims don’t eat pig, because the pathetic men in that culture are just pigs, and I am being nasty to pigs.
    The way they treat the women, subjugating them like sheep, and all the other little nasties that befall the female sheep of that culture, and yet, I watched the likes of that vile Eva Cox the other night on qanda, and she was rabbiting on about how the government has been so nasty to all the welfare bludging parasites on Newstart, how they’ve cut it back, when she is a so-called feminist, yet where are the likes of her and other fellow(ette)* feminists when it comes to that vile culture and religion, and also in regards to the blacks?
    They are nowhere to be seen, yet the likes of Abbott are pilloried from all angles.
    It amazes me just how cowed and pathetic most of the media are when it comes to muslims and blacks.
    * Decided I’d better make that of the female gender, though it is probably not a word, Macquarie can make it one, and I am probably demeaning them anyway for my way of thinking, when I should always be gender neutral. Oh woe is me, I can never get it right.

    Peter55

    27 Feb 13 at 2:20 pm

  369. Labor MP: ‘I’d rather campaign with Abbo in western Sydney.’

    Meanwhile, an unnamed western Sydney MP said Ms Gillard’s attack on Mr Abbott over claims of misogyny had fallen flat there.

    “While Abbott is unpopular with the inner city intelligentsia, if I had to go out and campaign in western Sydney and I had a choice of him by my side or the PM, I know who I would pick,” the MP said.

    C.L.

    27 Feb 13 at 2:22 pm

  370. If that butler goofs again and passes the port to the left, I’ll have him sacked.

    Er, self-beclownment acknowledged.

    James in Melbourne

    27 Feb 13 at 2:24 pm

  371. Actress Helen Hunt goes green warrior at the Oscars:

    AND the Oscar for being dull and worthy goes to … Helen Hunt, who decided to wear an eco-friendly gown that cost less than $100.

    Of course, this altruistic choice, which showed that you don’t have to spend a fortune to look fabulous, was cheered by women’s groups from one end of the country to the other.

    Never mind that Hunt, 49, accessorised her low-key dress with nearly three-quarters of a million dollars worth of diamonds by Martin Katz.

    C.L.

    27 Feb 13 at 2:25 pm

  372. Labor MP Mark Butler compares Gillard’s Rooty Hill escapades to Carry On movies and Benny Hill.

    Roll the music:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK6TXMsvgQg

    C.L.

    27 Feb 13 at 2:31 pm

  373. Gillard’s Rooty Hill escapades to Carry On movies and Benny Hill.

    ahahahha! And so it is. Can’t wait for next week’s gillard antics. Should be hilarious.

    Gab

    27 Feb 13 at 2:33 pm

  374. “While Abbott is unpopular with the inner city intelligentsia, if I had to go out and campaign in western Sydney and I had a choice of him by my side or the PM, I know who I would pick,”

    Never mind anonymous Labor MP, the hipster glasses on the 50 year old childless, commie, godless home-wrecker will definitely make Sharlene down at the Rooty Hill RSL club warm up to her.

    twostix

    27 Feb 13 at 2:33 pm

  375. Sure. Bolt doesn’t mind bare breasts appearing in movies, just he wants to make the point that whenever it happens, it’s really titillating and nothing to do with “art”.

    Stepford.

    I’m confused . You make it sound as though its a bad way of thinking about hootets when you see them raw.

    JC

    27 Feb 13 at 2:36 pm

  376. Helen Hunt looked nice, I thought. If she wants to be a walking advertisement for a jewellery designer, I don’t really care. (I assume they were borrowed.)

  377. Damn iPad

    Hooters not hootets. Although it sounds about right

    JC

    27 Feb 13 at 2:38 pm

  378. How are diamonds extracted from the earth, Steve?

    C.L.

    27 Feb 13 at 2:39 pm

  379. So buy something Israeli.

    I bought an Uzi from some Leb in a car park

    Yes. But did you pay wholesale?

    geoffff

    27 Feb 13 at 2:39 pm

  380. If you see breasts during a rape scene in a movie (and I understand from Salon that this is context of some of MacFarlane’s examples) you’re not meant to be thinking “I saw her boobs.” But you and Bolt, I suppose, are allowed to be permanent teenagers and always on boob alert. I don’t know why you would tell us, though.

  381. I’m not sure that diamond mining counts for all that much CO2 in the scheme of things, CL. Or land clearing. If mining happens in no place with much environmental value, I don’t care about it much.

  382. Buy something Jewish – I just bought … Goldman Sachs stock.

    Infidel Tiger
    26 Feb 13 at 5:18 pm

    So what was the settlement? Six cents in the dollar?

    geoffff

    27 Feb 13 at 2:46 pm

  383. Oh God, the Liberals totally stuffed up with that ad. No one has a clue WTF it’s about.

    Fellas. You start with Kevin Rudd swearing his head off. Then you start interspersing with 5-second grabs of Labor ministers dissing him (so we know they are talking about Rudd), each time followed with another curse from Rudd. Finish off with that classic line from Swan saying Rudd is a non-Labor stooge.

    Do it properly, FFS, and don’t waste all that good material.

    Fisky

    27 Feb 13 at 2:47 pm

  384. If you see breasts during a rape scene in a movie (and I understand from Salon that this is context of some of MacFarlane’s examples)

    Good work SoB.

    Great to see you are following the instructions of Jezebel and are fighting like your lady parts depends upon it.

    Token

    27 Feb 13 at 2:47 pm

  385. If mining happens in no place with much environmental value, I don’t care about it much.

    I agree. 99.9% of Australia is up for grabs then.

    Infidel Tiger

    27 Feb 13 at 2:50 pm

  386. Geez that’s funny.

    The Mardi Gras is becoming more of a boondoggle because of regulation.

    When will gays junk the left and realise they should become full on Rothbard quoting libertarians?

    .

    27 Feb 13 at 2:53 pm

  387. Fisk

    I would run scare campaigns about Shorten stealing your money and thinking of himself as a latter day upper lcass born to rule toff…and a toom tabard to boot.

    .

    27 Feb 13 at 2:55 pm

  388. The Mardi Gras is becoming more of a boondoggle because of regulation.

    Arseless chaps are never going to pass OH&S regs on a building site.

    Infidel Tiger

    27 Feb 13 at 2:56 pm

  389. Still, make a point of it. Anything will do. If you can get Eskal pickled cucumbers in Woolworths in Kingscliff ( I just bought four cans) you can get them anywhere.

    Are they the big ones that come in a tin can? I bought some once – definitely an Israeli product, but can’t remember the exact brand, thinking they’d be small like French cornichons.

    Turned out they were big and sort of greyish – resembling dog turds. Very visually unappealing, but surprisingly yummy when thinly sliced…

    papachango
    26 Feb 13 at 5:07 pm

    Actually they are meant to be green. Or greenish. Kind of.

    And now that you mention it.

    Thanks.

    geoffff

    27 Feb 13 at 2:56 pm

  390. Arseless chaps are never going to pass OH&S regs on a building site.

    Never forget there are such things as clear PVC hotpants.

    .

    27 Feb 13 at 3:01 pm

  391. Ref the High Court decision on the offensive Muslim. My understanding of the article is that the Muslim’s appeal against the charge was dismissed i.e. he lost and has to face court

    OOOOPS! In any case… given the Bolt situation – what is it even doing there? And who is paying for this? Legal Aid?

    Arnost

    27 Feb 13 at 3:13 pm

  392. You never mentioned a rape scene, stepford, you dishonest douchebag.

    Fme you’re an arsehole. On some ways you’re worse than fatboy

    JC

    27 Feb 13 at 3:14 pm

  393. In

    JC

    27 Feb 13 at 3:15 pm

  394. A group of leftwing fascists like those from UNSW last year who went after Alan Jones and 2GB has hacked the ABC website as an attempted intimidation following the airing of Geert Wilders’ opinions about islam:

    THE personal details of almost 50,000 internet users have been exposed online after the ABC’s main website was hacked.

    A subdomain of abc.net.au was infiltrated early on Wednesday morning and the passwords, usernames, email addresses, location and postcodes of people who’d made comments on the site were posted on the internet.

    “Overnight the ABC was made aware that an ABC television program website was hacked,” the corporation said in an emailed statement.

    “The website relates to the ABC television program Making Australia Happy, which aired in late 2010.

    “At this stage, we are still investigating the details of the breach.

    “However, we do know that it has exposed the name, username and a hashed version of the password that audience members used to register on the program website.

    “As soon as the ABC was made aware of this activity the site was shut down.”

    The ABC said the attack originated overseas.

    The hacker claiming responsibility said it was in response to the ABC interviewing controversial Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders.

    A Twitter user called Phr0zenMyst said: “ABC hacked for giving a platform to Geert Wilders to spread hatred OpWilders – database leaked!”

    Mr Wilders was interviewed by Lateline during his recent visit to Australia.

    I would suggest use of a non-Australian IP is SOP for hackers to avoid detection. Sounds awfully like one or two bored GetUp types with an IT degree. I’m sure our very own leftwing IT zombie Chris would be most interested and impressed with how the harrassment was executed.

    Tom

    27 Feb 13 at 3:20 pm

  395. My understanding of the article is that the Muslim’s appeal against the charge was dismissed i.e. he lost and has to face court.

    The decision was actually a tie.

    Yes, that’s right. Our High Court ruled 3-3 on the appeal.

    The original decision of the lower court therefore stood.

    C.L.

    27 Feb 13 at 3:22 pm

  396. like those from UNSW

    Woops. I meant to say UTS – the journalism school in particular.

    Tom

    27 Feb 13 at 3:30 pm

  397. Sounds awfully like one or two bored GetUp types with an IT degree.

    IT is absolutely is infested with classic fascists who bizarrely think they’re “social democrats” because they love state power and cynically drape themselves in the leftwing cause du-jour.

    This is no surprise of course as the backbone of all fascist parties is the uni-educated, mid-level, technocrat sons of the middle class.

    twostix

    27 Feb 13 at 3:35 pm

  398. IT is absolutely is infested with classic fascists….

    IT is also infested with people who have no sense of presence and yell in to their mobile phones anywhere anytime a client or colleague rings with a technical problem.( public transport is the biggie )

    It is not improbable that hacker Phr0zenMyst learned all they needed to know hanging around St Leonards Station while ABC techo types commuted.

    Myrrdin Seren

    27 Feb 13 at 3:53 pm

  399. Ray Hadley has broken open the Macquarie Uni story.

    Reports were lodged by women last year about the behaviour of these men and that the man who committed the assault stayed over at the college on a regular basis.

    Token

    27 Feb 13 at 4:04 pm

  400. On the recording you hear Sarah “Tragedies Happen” Heartless-Hypocrit at a presser where ignores the fact this is a sexual assult case as “Tragedies Happen” desperately defends the trade that has killed over 1,100 people.

    Token

    27 Feb 13 at 4:13 pm

  401. Tim Blair has now picked up the accelerated bank account hoovering story.

    blogstrop

    27 Feb 13 at 4:25 pm

  402. Blair’s wrong. I believe they’ll go for piggy banks next, before they hit the couches for money.

    Gab

    27 Feb 13 at 4:28 pm

  403. The other story about asylum seekers being placed inappropriately, is in this place adjacent to a nursing home.
    Some say that the Red Cross is up to its neck in the placement of asylum seekers in the community. Are they becoming a bit too political (and the head honchos too well remunerated) to deserve widespread community support?

    blogstrop

    27 Feb 13 at 4:32 pm

  404. Gab, it could put a whole new spin on “hitting the mattresses”, which back in the days of The Godfather movies meant war between mafia families.

    blogstrop

    27 Feb 13 at 4:34 pm

  405. I noted that this morning that AM chose – randomly I’m sure – to play a piece on the sufferings of Tamils in Sri Lanka, including references to rape and torture.
    Nothing like laying a bit of groundwork to prevent an inconvenient assault like this blowing up years of deception..

    Reports were lodged by women last year about the behaviour of these men and that the man who committed the assault stayed over at the college on a regular basis.

    The rape and torture made them do it.

    stackja

    27 Feb 13 at 4:39 pm

  406. Re Maq Uni, I thought he must have been a visitor because the police caught him pretty easily. Friends couldn’t take the heat and lagged him in.

    Harold

    27 Feb 13 at 4:41 pm

  407. Tim Blair has now picked up the accelerated bank account hoovering story.

    I can’t believe something like that isn’t the final hammer blow of mercy over the heart for this Catherine wheel Government.

    .

    27 Feb 13 at 4:48 pm

  408. Where’s Mick from Gold Coast? Hope he’s fine. Miss the old boy.

    Gab

    27 Feb 13 at 4:51 pm

  409. Some say that the Red Cross is up to its neck in the placement of asylum seekers in the community. Are they becoming a bit too political….

    Red Cross CEO is Robert Tickner, life long Labor luvvie.

    Another institution turned into a post-politics job and embed to culturally politicise for failed lefties. Expect more institutions of civil society to have those cuckoos dropped in on them between now and the election, as Labor places numerous Maaaates in the escape pods.

    ( I had Tickner for Commercial Law at the old NSWIT in 1976. He has never recovered from Gough’s undoing in 1975. Never ).

    Myrrdin Seren

    27 Feb 13 at 4:53 pm

  410. Blogstrop, the Red Cross were white anted about fifteen years ago, along with the one that the Costello brother runs at $600k a year.
    Lots of social workers and lobbying etc. I support nothing these days except for the RFDS who spend 3% on admin.

    Winston Smith

    27 Feb 13 at 4:53 pm

  411. Some say that the Red Cross is up to its neck in the placement of asylum seekers in the community. Are they becoming a bit too political (and the head honchos too well remunerated) to deserve widespread community support

    What with Robert Tickner (the left wing former ALP minister for Aboriginal Affairs who beclowned himself over the Hindmarsh Island secret women’s business nonsense) being the CEO of the Red Cross, this is not surprising. My wife and I changed our will to remove the Red Cross as a beneficiary when Tickner took over.

    Ronaldo

    27 Feb 13 at 4:58 pm

  412. Stephanie Peatling, in The Age, “Echoes of Harradine in Madigan’s meddling on abortion”:

    Every once in a while they pop up, these old white men who feel they have a God-given right to meddle with women’s bodies.

    Oh, those tiresome, wicked, old white men who are just so prejudiced and bigoted; can’t someone just eradicate them somehow?

    Deadman

    27 Feb 13 at 4:59 pm

  413. So Peatling agrees that girl babies can and should be killed on a whim.

    Thanks for sharing, Dr Mengele.

    C.L.

    27 Feb 13 at 5:01 pm

  414. meddle with women’s bodies

    Except, the fetus is not ‘women’s bodies’.

    This is not about abortion on the basis of gender selection.
    This is about trying to force the issue of access to abortion into the political equation.

    It can be about both; here we simply have the targeting of a category of human being to illuminate the moral enormity of the act of abortion itself. And the Peatlings of this world could not care less.

    dover_beach

    27 Feb 13 at 5:13 pm

  415. You never mentioned a rape scene, stepford, you dishonest douchebag.

    Fme you’re an arsehole. On some ways you’re worse than fatboy

    Whaddya mean “in some ways”?!!!!!!!!

    The leftist doughnut lover is a million times the man liar is.

    JamesK

    27 Feb 13 at 5:23 pm

  416. So Peatling agrees that girl babies can and should be killed on a whim.

    She’s smart enuff to realise that leftism has to be consistent on the important matters

    JamesK

    27 Feb 13 at 5:25 pm

  417. My wife and I changed our will to remove the Red Cross as a beneficiary when Tickner took over.

    My mother was one of the hundreds of retired volunteers, who spent days of their own time working with and raising money for the Red Cross, who were chased out of the organisation by the horrible full-time staff Tickner colonised the organisation with.

    It is similar to what Phil Koperburg did to the volunteer NSW Fireys.

    Token

    27 Feb 13 at 5:25 pm

  418. So Peatling agrees that girl babies can and should be killed on a whim.

    Nothing whimsical about it.

    Aborting female babies is about demanding (or forcing) our society’s acceptance of third world cultural norms, which is why leftist shitheads are so hot for it.

    If you want to see where this wonderful cultural phenomenon leads, just have a look at the ridiculous and inexcusable gender imbalances in hellholes like india and china.

    Rabz

    27 Feb 13 at 5:26 pm

  419. Gender imbalances, I might add, which are becoming increasingly pronounced in immigrant communites from patriarchal cultures that are colonising the West.

    Rabz

    27 Feb 13 at 5:31 pm

  420. Facing uncomfortable truths

    In a recent Al-Jazeerah interview, Richard Dawkins was asked his views on God. He argued that the god of “the Old Testament” is “hideous” and “a monster”, and reiterated his claim from The God Delusion that the God of the Torah is the most unpleasant character “in fiction”. Asked if he thought the same of the God of the Koran, Dawkins ducked the question, saying: “Well, um, the God of the Koran I don’t know so much about.”

    JamesK

    27 Feb 13 at 5:35 pm

  421. Gillard blames the horrors of commuting in choosing to stay in Rooty Hill. I wondered when that excuse would come out of the tricks bag. Well Jools perhaps you can explain why you’ve offered and withdrawn money to resolve congestion from NSW at various times. Expect a cash spalsh to impress the locals, even though there’s none left in the kitty.

    Keith

    27 Feb 13 at 5:36 pm

  422. Look at this schlock

    ABC The Drum ‏@ABCthedrum
    Do you think Australia needs stronger freedom of speech laws? Best tweets on #TheDrum with @bairdjulia from 6pm AEDT #auspol

    People are free to speak in the absence of laws which restrict their speech.

    We don’t need more laws to be free to speak, we need fewer!

    Harold

    27 Feb 13 at 5:37 pm


  423. NYT: Iran Enters Nuclear Talks in a Freshly Defiant Mood

    TEHRAN — When Iran’s nuclear negotiating team sits down with its Western counterparts in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday, it will offer no new plans or suggestions, people familiar with the views of the Iranian leadership say. More likely, they say, the Iranian negotiators will sit with arms crossed, demanding a Western change of heart.

    Maybe Bazza should sent TLS to be chief negosheeator?

    JamesK

    27 Feb 13 at 5:43 pm

  424. Gillard blames the horrors of commuting in choosing to stay in Rooty Hill.

    The Gaffe-Machine delivers again.

    What does she think the people she is trying to win over are all morons?

    They can see how easy travel from the city out west is as they what the traffic fly by as they sit in gridlock.

    Token

    27 Feb 13 at 5:57 pm

  425. The decision was actually a tie.

    Yes, that’s right. Our High Court ruled 3-3 on the appeal.

    Hmmm. Yes. Yes it was. This is not good.

    The defendants were indicted under s 471.12 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code with sending (very) offensive letters to the families of deceased soldiers. One of the judges described the letters as:

    sadistic, wantonly cruel and deeply wounding

    They applied to have their indictments quashed on the basis that the offensive letters were protected political communication under the implied right to free speech found in Lange v Australian Broadcasting Corporation (decision here).

    Three judges said yes, the letters might be offensive but they were protected free speech. Three judges said no, there’s nothing wrong with the Commonwealth making a law that prohibits “offensive” use of the post.

    This is one of those cases where the principle of free speech should trump the right to not be offended (sound familiar?)
    Decision here.

    Of course, it also makes the case for restoration of the Code Duello. These scum don’t need to be prosecuted; but they should be fair game to a challenge by the rightly outraged families of the deceased.

    Cato the Elder

    27 Feb 13 at 6:01 pm

  426. Some say that the Red Cross is up to its neck in the placement of asylum seekers in the community. Are they becoming a bit too political (and the head honchos too well remunerated) to deserve widespread community support?

    The Red Cross lost all legitimacy when it supported Hezbollah in the Red Cross Ambulance incident in 2006.

    They have never admitted culpability or apologised.

    jupes

    27 Feb 13 at 6:25 pm

  427. If space is made in the law to allow communities to deal with this sort of shite in their own way then a lot of law could be eliminated.

    That sort of thing gets the rough music to play.

    Driftforge

    27 Feb 13 at 6:35 pm

  428. Three judges said yes, the letters might be offensive but they were protected free speech. Three judges said no, there’s nothing wrong with the Commonwealth making a law that prohibits “offensive” use of the post.

    This is similar to those Christian nutters who protest at soldier’s funerals in the US. In that case, IIRC the Supreme Court ruled that they were entitled to do that because of free speech.

    I’m in two minds here. On one hand I think free speech principles should triumph, on the other I am glad that there is a loophole in the Australian law to do with the post, that allows them to prosecute the Muslim’s arse. Hopefully the judge doesn’t hold back but I’m not confident of that.

    I also believe that the offended family should be able to freely express their opinion physically to the offensive pricks and not cop any penalty for that.

    jupes

    27 Feb 13 at 6:36 pm

  429. The Moronic Lodge is back! Queen Gertrude and Ruddlet. Good for a smile.

    Harold:

    Do you think Australia needs stronger freedom of speech laws?

    ROFL, how about some more oxymorons for The Conversation:

    The Australian Government is determined to build a freer, more prosperous nation.

    The Federal Government is committed to ensuring the State Government gives you an unaffordable education

    laterite

    27 Feb 13 at 6:41 pm

  430. Spoke with john Roskam from IPA they have been doing heaps of media on the Pensioner cash grab today, he said the Coaltition said they have no plans to repeal it.

    But they had no plans to repeal Section of Offence that did Bolta in either, and pressure changed their mind.

    Speak out, speak loud, the uproar over this is loud, according to John.

    Helen Armstrong

    27 Feb 13 at 6:47 pm

  431. “Dr Paul Burke from the Australian National University says ”
    “Government revenue would be more than $5 billion more, which could fund a lot of things of course. It could fund Gonski reforms, for example”

    And butchering the children of fatous scum that infest the universities, to sell the organs on the open market would raise funds. it could probably fund Gonski.

    So why is his suggestion to effing steal from everyone, superior to my suggestion to inconvenience a very few non-contributory members of society, whose genes we are all better off without anyway?

    WhaleHunt Fun

    27 Feb 13 at 6:58 pm

  432. “These scum don’t need to be prosecuted;”

    No, feeding while still alive to pigs was I think once used by some Crusaders who wished to be offensive. Not saying we should do this. Just pointing out how much more balanced justice was in the past.

    WhaleHunt Fun

    27 Feb 13 at 7:06 pm

  433. Potemkin’s Village

    FLASHBACK: No name-calling truly bites… here

    Grigory Potemkin

    27 Feb 13 at 7:13 pm

  434. No no, IT. Real women protect their beautiful creamy complexions at the beach – boobs included.

    C.L.

    27 Feb 13 at 7:16 pm

  435. Wrong thread (even though it’s not Rooty Hill related).

    C.L.

    27 Feb 13 at 7:16 pm

  436. I think the Rooty Hill thread has made a successful takeover bid for the Open and Religion threads.

    Oh well, I never thought Rooty Hill was a real place anyway.

    squawkbox

    27 Feb 13 at 7:44 pm

  437. Wonder if Gillard will take Hawke along as a human shield as she wanders the shopping malls of the West.

    Viva

    27 Feb 13 at 7:50 pm

  438. Here it is… proof women are to blame for big government….

    No, really they are…

    From the link…

    This paper examines the growth of government during this century
    as a result of giving women the right to vote. Using cross-sectional
    time-series data for 1870–1940, we examine state government expenditures
    and revenue as well as voting by U.S. House and Senate
    state delegations and the passage of a wide range of different state
    laws. Suffrage coincided with immediate increases in state government
    expenditures and revenue and more liberal voting patterns
    for federal representatives, and these effects continued growing
    over time as more women took advantage of the franchise. Contrary
    to many recent suggestions, the gender gap is not something
    that has arisen since the 1970s, and it helps explain why American
    government started growing when it did.

    More married women did not vote for Dole because
    of a widespread sense of societal insecurity: ‘‘It is notthat they distrust their husband, but they have seen divorce all around them and know they could be
    next.’’ The Polling Company’s Kellyanne Fitzpatrick is
    categorical: ‘‘Women see government as their insurance.’’
    [Richmond Times Dispatch, December 5, 1996]

    thrfrollickingmole

    27 Feb 13 at 7:51 pm

  439. Leigh (The Skull) Sales just used the phrase “Japanese lethal whale kill”.
    This is nuanced ABC speak to distinguish it from the usual non-lethal whale kill, or … could it be to add emphasis, to somehow make the Japanese seem even more villainous than any other group who kill animals for food?

    blogstrop

    27 Feb 13 at 7:51 pm

  440. Hmmm. Yes. Yes it was. This is not good.

    And that was not the only decision today reminding us that we don’t really have freedom of speech in Australia:

    http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/high-court-could-return-preachers-to-mall/story-e6frea83-1226586588243

    As annoying and offensive as these people can be I think they should be allowed to speak. Though I don’t have a problem with a restriction against using megaphones if thats what the council wants.

    Chris

    27 Feb 13 at 7:59 pm

  441. There should be an absolute right to be offensive. Freedom of speech. But those who are exceptionally offensive are waiving the right not to be punched in the face.

    Tim

    27 Feb 13 at 8:04 pm

  442. There should be an absolute right to be offensive. Freedom of speech. But those who are exceptionally offensive are waiving the right not to be punched in the face.

    No they’re not.

    Chris

    27 Feb 13 at 8:18 pm

  443. No they’re not.

    Yes and no. Rights ever remain privileges we extend each other. At some point, the community will act to retract the right not to be punched in the face.

    And the headmaster may well just look the other way. Or may not; that is the accepted consequence of meting out the rough music.

    Driftforge

    27 Feb 13 at 8:24 pm

  444. No they’re not.

    Yes they are. Provocation. No conviction recorded.

    Tom

    27 Feb 13 at 8:25 pm

  445. Leigh (The Skull) Sales

    Lol… Why the skull?

    Jc

    27 Feb 13 at 8:29 pm

  446. It’s just the way she looks, JC.

    blogstrop

    27 Feb 13 at 8:33 pm

  447. Who decides what is exceptionally offensive or not. What bothers one person, another person won’t give a hoot.

    candy

    27 Feb 13 at 8:37 pm

  448. Honest to goodness, I even surprise myself at my arseholery at times. Only for a fleeting second though mind you.

    Wifey’s birthday is coming up and I bought her something online. It arrived by UPS earlier this afternoon and I left the package in clear eye-shot which would be visible to her dozens of times a day.

    She asked me what it was and I told her it’s her birthday present.

    I know it’s absolutely driving her crazy wanting to open the package. Gnawing at her.

    Jc

    27 Feb 13 at 8:47 pm

  449. It’s just the way she looks, JC.

    I thought so. She does seem to have a very unusual shaped skull. It’s also crossed my mind too, Strop.

    Jc

    27 Feb 13 at 8:49 pm

  450. Yes and no. Rights ever remain privileges we extend each other. At some point, the community will act to retract the right not to be punched in the face.

    Or they could instead make it a criminal offence (like the much quoted scenario of yelling fire in a crowded theatre) and avoid the vigilantism.

    If you are in fear of being assaulted by a random citizen when you speak your views you really have no more freedom of speech than someone afraid of being assaulted for their views by a government representative.

    Chris

    27 Feb 13 at 8:50 pm

  451. I know it’s absolutely driving her crazy wanting to open the package. Gnawing at her.

    Just you be sure your new mobile is not left alone, JC.

    Gab

    27 Feb 13 at 8:52 pm

  452. JC we have known for a long time that you are a very bad person but now we know that you are downright evil:)

    How long does wifey have to suffer?

    Poor Old Rafe

    27 Feb 13 at 8:53 pm

  453. Here it is… proof women are to blame for big government….

    No, really they are…

    No surprises, in most countries within 20 years after women get the franchise to vote, governments starts to bloat. As more years pass and generations pass with it, the natural resistance to bloated government disappears.

    Men also have allowed women to turn them into beta-male SoB’s, such that women’s need for validation means advertising must treat men like idiots and legislation must treat men like perpetrators.

    Token

    27 Feb 13 at 9:01 pm

  454. If you are in fear of being assaulted by a random citizen when you speak your views you really have no more freedom of speech than someone afraid of being assaulted for their views by a government representative.

    While I agree that being assaulted for speaking your mind isn’t on, the comparison between upsetting one person and upsetting the government isn’t valid. It is very easy to avoid one person, it is impossible to avoid the government.

    brc

    27 Feb 13 at 9:23 pm

  455. Gold comment on the bank account stealing via Tim Blair:

    Swan channeling Obama:

    That money in your bank account – you didn’t save that.

    Rex of Melbourne (Reply)
    Wed 27 Feb 13 (03:08pm)

    This is just outrageous. “Give us yer money!”

    I urge everyone who can to defer paying tax/owed tax on a tax teturn as long as possible without a penalty until the election is over.

    This is a bad Government and it must be hamstrung in every which way we can.

    They do not deserve to spend anymore.

    A simple Act repealing every Federal law and regulation passed since 17 October 2007 would be possibly the greatest deed an Australian politician has ever done.

    Then, Abbot can look at some serious reform like microeconomic reform, strongly cutting or abolishing some taxes, repealing the RDA, sacking the very bad Federal judges and rebuilding the military to be effective (even with a lower budget).

    .

    27 Feb 13 at 9:46 pm

  456. Since I’d rather piss on a live toaster ( disengage the safety cut out switch on the power board..I’m serious ) than watch the ABC these days, I had to google image up Leigh Sales. FFS, stick a pair of the slappers goggles on that gal, and you’ve got a doppleganger.

    Steve of Glasshouse

    27 Feb 13 at 9:47 pm

  457. A simple Act repealing every Federal law and regulation passed since 17 October 2007 would be possibly the greatest deed an Australian politician has ever done.

    I’m way ahead of you, dear Dot.

    Last year I proposed such a bill – to be called the Omnibus Rudd/Gillard Legislative Repeal Bill 2013.

    C.L.

    27 Feb 13 at 9:50 pm

  458. 2GB caller said Julia better not need a pit stop in Rooty Hill shopping centres they will all be off-limits.
    Bolta stuck his foot in his mouth over the ‘rapist’ and his fellows being allowed anonymity in the community. I changed to listen to music at 9pm but the few callers allowed to comment did not like Bolta comment. Bolta at times lets his left wing take command it seems.

    stackja

    27 Feb 13 at 9:52 pm

  459. That money in your bank account – you didn’t save that.

    Excellent. I’m going to steal it.

    Gab

    27 Feb 13 at 9:55 pm

  460. Oops, the phrase, I mean, not the money. I’m no Swanstanza.

    Gab

    27 Feb 13 at 9:56 pm

  461. Assumption 1 – election post 3/8/2013 (includes 1/2 senate)
    Assumption 2 – Coalition victory including senate control.
    Senate changes 1/7/2014.

    What are the chances that the senate blocks everything until 1/7/2014? No reason to go to a double dissolution if you are going to get control “soon”. But the average punter sees a govt doing nothing for 9 months or so.

    Do you go the double anyway and risk screwing the pooch or does it all depend on polls?

    dismissive

    27 Feb 13 at 9:56 pm

  462. Men also have allowed women to turn them into beta-male SoB’s, such that women’s need for validation means advertising must treat men like idiots and legislation must treat men like perpetrators.

    Couldn’t agree more, Toke. It seems to be human nature that we always go too far in correcting injustice. In the past 40 years, governments have given women so much legal power that they have turned men as a race into into weak, needy versions of themselves — the last thing they actually want. The spectacle has been grotesque, depressing and self-defeating, succeeding only in making men warier of female predators — especially in the Family Court — and women lonelier and more often divorced. As a leftwing cause, feminism has been a disaster because its leaders were idiots who did not share the aspirations of 95% of their cohort. Many were just dykes or man-haters determined to turn the world upside down.

    Tom

    27 Feb 13 at 9:58 pm

  463. Peak Wind?

    The realistic limits on wind power are probably much lower than scientists have suggested, according to new research, so much so that the ability of wind turbines to have any serious impact on energy policy may well be in doubt. Even if money were no object, the human race would hit Peak Wind output at a much lower level than has previously been thought.

    I’m shocked!!

    jumpnmcar

    27 Feb 13 at 9:58 pm

  464. I found the castle a snorefest, except for the bit about moving the cars around. That was humourous.

    The humour in The Castle plays on the self image of Australians, most notably the concepts of working class Australians and their place in the modern Australia.[3] The film title is named for the English saying, repeatedly used in the film, “a man’s home is his castle”. The film also refers to the land rights movement of the Australian Aborigines, with Darryl Kerrigan drawing an explicit parallel between his struggle and theirs. It also draws on one of the few rights protected in the Australian Constitution for subject matter, the right to just terms compensation for acquisition of property under s51(xxxi). Also interspersed in the film are many references to famous Australian Constitutional Law Cases, such as Mabo and the Tasmanian Dams Case. The film also deals with section 109 of the Constitution which provides that in the case of an inconsistency between Federal and State law, the Federal law shall prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.

    Gab

    27 Feb 13 at 10:01 pm

  465. Received this from HIA when I awoke this morning. The trials of China, in his own sweet words, only placenames de-identified to protect his privacy (he said he did not mind me sharing his experiences which I thought might be of interest on OT):

    My darling. Eventually about to sleep tight..

    The day turned into a Chinese airport disaster. I don’t know if you recall recent reports of chaos at Chinese airports turning into near riots? Well, experienced one today.

    The whole national system was in stum from early on today due to what was being reported merely as ‘bad weather’. By the time we got to ‘x’ we were told by some official we managed to track down that the flight was delayed by 3 hours. There were airport monitors in operation, but it was clear most of the up-to-date information was being carried by hand. OK, off to the chinese restaurant to slowly consume two beers,and call you.

    Getting closer to the revised departure time: can’t check in at any desk, no information being given out, voices starting to be raised at the ‘Supervisors’ counter. Find chairs and start to read, along with groups from western China starting to act ‘culturally’. Repeated visits to check-in desks, despite monitors for the flight showing ‘Check In’, fail because computer says no.

    A mob of agitated western Chinese from our flight start to get very aggro, and are moved off to have their argument with a hapless functionary nearby. Whereby a western woman at the Supervisors desk starts to completely lose it, screaming at the Chinese that they need to queue up, one at a time. Hah! We tried to change chinese culture before.. Aggressive voices also being raised at the ticketing desk. No sign of police. Everyone for themselves.

    Now we are four hours after our flight’s original departure time. All other flights are beginning to get back to normal and depart, while ours is still displaying ‘Check In’. Start to smell a rat. Suspect that they will not explicitly cancel a flight because they will have to refund. This culture does not give out too much information (you would hate it). Also, if we don’t leave soon we will be arriving at the hotel in ‘Y’ at about 1-2am, with a 8am start. Time for boss man to make a decision.

    Make one more approach to a check-in desk. If that fails then it’s back to Shanghai, cancel ‘Y’, and off to ‘Z’ by train tomorrow. Computer says no again, so I challenge and say: “the flight is cancelled isn’t it?”. Answer is “maybe”. Right, that’s good enough for me, in Chinese that means “yes”.

    Back to hotel stayed at last night, to exactly the same sort of room, after a long journey. Something TS Elliot about that..

    Now fed and watered, safe and happy..

    Love you heaps, xxx

    He just rang again, and the Very Fast Train did get him there without a hitch. All good. He will be home on the weekend. Rah!

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    27 Feb 13 at 10:02 pm

  466. Ah yes, the vagaries (is that the right word here?) of travel in China. I don’t miss it. Vietnam not much better. Nothing you can do about it, getting angry settles nothing. HIA clearly took the right course of action. Hope the rest of his trip proceeds smoothly.

    Gab

    27 Feb 13 at 10:13 pm

  467. Unbelievable.

    The Prime Henchman attends a conference of the MUA, channels his inner Arthur Scargill, nods approvingly as a MUA office-bearer both promises and incites violence and law-breaking, and it’s a case of nothing-to-see-here, move-along-folks.

    This was a union that affronted every hard-working Australian with its perks, sinecures, sit-down money and straight-out blackmail of the people who paid it – and their customers, which meant all of us by extension. When this mafiosi hold on their workplace was broken, every hard-working Australian rejoiced. (Not tax-eaters, however. The ABC even tried to go all Ken Loach on the subject.)

    Not to mention the union that openly committed treason – remembered in that wonderful simile, ‘my computer loads slower than an Australian wharfie in World War II.’ May we never forget this.

    The political-death-wish optics of this are simply unfathomable.

    Still, a quick change out of the overalls and into the tux and it’s off to dinner with Mumsie at Yarralumla. If that butler goofs again and passes the port to the left, I’ll have him sacked.

    Mind blowing. Absolutely mind blowing.

    .

    27 Feb 13 at 10:19 pm

  468. Last year I proposed such a bill – to be called the Omnibus Rudd/Gillard Legislative Repeal Bill 2013.

    It must also repeal the regulation and executive orders made under their tenure as PM.

    .

    27 Feb 13 at 10:23 pm

  469. Well, well, well.

    So I pick up the laptop and the Mrs has been reading the womans weekly.

    The usual drek: “Why do Australians hate women leaders?”, a puff piece for Gillard nothing unsual.

    But then looky here, who wrote the piece? Zoe Arnold

    Zoe Arnold? That wouldn’t be Craig Thompsons wife now would it? Surely not. Surely she of all people would stay a million miles away from anything political or ALPish at this point.

    Seriously? So Craigies wife, between dodging the cops and wondering if her husband is going to spend time in prison has been tasked with writing ALP puff pieces for unsuspecting readers of the Womans Weekly under her maiden name.

    http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/news/newsstories/8616694/why-do-australians-hate-women-leaders

    I beseech you dear Catallaxy commenters, the comments section there is open and desperately needs an injection of reality.

    twostix

    27 Feb 13 at 10:23 pm

  470. Yes, travel in Asia. Reminds me that we are off to Vietnam soon, together this time. Always a decision in Asia as to what point you decide to pack it in and await another day or find another way or both. I’ve only been to Beijing in China, and to the zone just beyond Hong Kong, so it’s mostly unexplored territory for me. I’m beginning to think it should stay that way, although HIA is keen on it and has been quite a bit to those large cities that no-one has ever heard of that are springing up everywhere in that country.

    Japan now. I could go there as often as opportunity arises. I love it.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    27 Feb 13 at 10:32 pm

  471. I beseech you dear Catallaxy commenters, the comments section there is open and desperately needs an injection of reality

    it could be a coincidence, there could be several Zoe Arnolds, but if it is true that Craig Thomson’s wife wrote this article, and the readers were not told that, it is unbelievably poor form from that rag. And simply quite staggering chutzpah if it is her – she would know all about why people aren’t voting Labor this year.

    They really think that they can get away with anything – if it is her. I am equivocating solely because I cannot easily imagine such a breach of journalistic ethics – I am giving the magazine the benefit of the doubt.

    But don’t worry, friends, Media Watch will be all over this. That is, if the Grafton Advocate hasn’t let a typo slip into an alderman’s wife’s name.

    James in Melbourne

    27 Feb 13 at 10:50 pm

  472. Two-Stix, saw your very useful comment on that Women’s Weekly luvvie piece for Gillard written by Shagger’s wife. What an outrage that article is. Well done.

    I just hate trying to comment on those sites however. Unlike other blogs, you have to go through their ‘gotcha details’ organisations like Facebook, Twitter, Linked In etc. and for strong privacy reasons I avoid those (on advice from HIA too). I do not want to join any online social networks, nor have them know anything about me. Many of my friends think I am mad not to at least be on Facebook, but I have a real aversion to it, and things like it.

    Am I just being silly?

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    27 Feb 13 at 10:55 pm

  473. it could be a coincidence, there could be several Zoe Arnolds, but if it is true that Craig Thomson’s wife wrote this article, and the readers were not told that, it is unbelievably poor form from that rag. And simply quite staggering chutzpah if it is her – she would know all about why people aren’t voting Labor this year.

    It’s not coincidence. The Womans Weekly has given plenty of love to Arnold before and it appears that Arnold aka Mrs Craig Thompson has been attempting to re-invent herself as a “mummy” blogger / writer writing for Mummamia, etc.

    E.g: http://www.mamamia.com.au/author/zoearnold/

    It’s quite the little rort her keeping her maiden name. The Mrs felt very disturbed by it when I told her who she really is – she feels like she’s been willfully deceived.

    twostix

    27 Feb 13 at 11:00 pm

  474. So, it seems that young Zoe and her puff piece may be one of the answers as to why TLS didn’t give Shagger the arse. “I won’t sack you Craig, but you had better make sure that your Mrs blows wind up my arse at every opportunity” appears to have been one of the payoff items that has kept Shagger in his seat.
    The lack of disclosure is indicative of the corruption that has rooted the ALP and the union movement.
    If Media Watch isn’t all over this, Holmes must be fired.

    Huckleberry Chunkwot

    27 Feb 13 at 11:05 pm

  475. Seriously? So Craigies wife, between dodging the cops and wondering if her husband is going to spend time in prison has been tasked with writing ALP puff pieces for unsuspecting readers of the Womans Weekly under her maiden name.

    http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/news/newsstories/8616694/why-do-australians-hate-women-leaders

    I beseech you dear Catallaxy commenters, the comments section there is open and desperately needs an injection of reality.

    This is pure gold. The dumb broads are responding of Gillard and her governance with calls of “misogyny” and “you’re a man therefore you’re dumb lol”.

    “I bet YOU never held a senior position…”

    “We should vote Gillard back in because we need more women leaders”

    I feel sorry for these ALP serfs.

    .

    27 Feb 13 at 11:06 pm

  476. Mamamia is a den of sin and iniquity.

    .

    27 Feb 13 at 11:10 pm

  477. Clearly Craig Thomson is no longer under suicide watch.

    Gab

    27 Feb 13 at 11:11 pm

  478. I feel sorry for these ALP serfs.

    I admit, I do not think the “strategy” is working given that the comments are running overwhelmingly against Gillard.

    It’s just the deceit of the media that pisses me off, the Womans Weekly know exactly what they’re doing, they’re deceiving their readers. It was a wonderful lesson for the Mrs though.

    twostix

    27 Feb 13 at 11:17 pm

  479. The Coalition should have attack ads criticising the puff pieces by ALP henchmen and henchwomen.

    It would be stupidly obvious that this case in particular is extremely cynical, considering the “misogyny” crap and how Thomson treated his wife.

    “Not even the wife of an ALP politician wants to share his last name”

    Boom.

    Mortgage belt seats secured against the imploding ALP and moonbeam Greens.

    .

    27 Feb 13 at 11:17 pm

  480. Am I just being silly?

    No. Facebook is a gotcha trap. Facebook is forever as many unfortunates have found out when applying for jobs, for example. I never EVER post a comment on any site using FB.

    About three years ago, I was grilled about my political orientation by a friend because of a Bolt link I had posted on FB before I fully understood how the system worked.

    FB is a personal vanity — a free website for everyone on earth to talk about themselves. It is almost as intrusive as the high-pressure garbage that Linked In sends around the universe.

    I wouldn’t trust FB (or Linked In) as far as I could kick it.

    Tom

    27 Feb 13 at 11:17 pm

  481. Between Channel 9 and the Australian Womens Weekly (in its heyday) it was no wonder Kerry Packer had the PM jumping when he called – and Australia waited an extra decade or two for a pay TV service.

    McSporran’s duchessing of the Mummy bloggers is typically half-arsed by comparison.

    H B Bear

    27 Feb 13 at 11:20 pm

  482. Thanks Tom. HIA says that sort of thing and he is something of an IT legend, but natch I sometimes think that he is just being an old fuddy duddy protecting me, so it is good to have your viewpoint too.

    Hmmm.. unless you are doing same.

    Nah. Sense and reason tell me you are both right.

    Time fur bed now. Sense and reason getting a look in tonight.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    27 Feb 13 at 11:28 pm

  483. Am I just being silly?

    No not at all the fascist left can be very intimidating in real life towards females who are on the “wrong” side of politics.

    twostix

    27 Feb 13 at 11:29 pm

  484. For those Cats who keep an eye on technology, this graphene stuff could be the next super material. It’s been promising to be so for a few years now but it seems like we’re right on the cusp of a big breakthrough in materials science (in a commercial sense too):

    http://io9.com/5987086/meet-the-scientific-accident-that-could-change-the-world

    tbh

    27 Feb 13 at 11:54 pm

  485. Not while the water is dripping on the towel across their face. Waterboarding inhibits greenie leftie fascists intimidating innocent people. The more often applied the better the results.

    WhaleHunt Fun

    27 Feb 13 at 11:55 pm

  486. “Not even the wife of an ALP politician wants to share his last name”

    quoth Dot.

    *sniff* That’s just beautiful. I dearly hope some fearless journo pinches this line and trumpets it from the rooftops.

    Pedro the Ignorant

    28 Feb 13 at 12:14 am

  487. Just remember with any website, if you’re not paying, you are the product not the customer.

    brc

    28 Feb 13 at 12:24 am

  488. Sorry to be late, but isn’t the term “canning”? From the poem:

    In the street of a thousand arseholes
    By the sign of the swinging tit
    Lived an ancient Chinese prostitute
    By the name of Who Flung Shit

    With hair like [forget this line]
    and eyes like pools of piss
    She sat in a corner canning herself
    With a look of celestial bliss…

    Abu Chowdah

    28 Feb 13 at 12:32 am

  489. Incredible story in The Australian:

    Stephen Conroy’s pitch to control the news.

    CABINET ministers have canvassed a startling intervention in news and current affairs to prevent television networks from striking partnerships with other media companies in a sign of last-minute changes to reforms due within weeks.

    Communications Minister Stephen Conroy is understood to have put the proposals to Julia Gillard on Monday night in an attempt to stop the Ten Network from working with News Limited to produce a Sunday current affairs program.

    As Wayne Swan joined the discussion, Senator Conroy suggested expanding his reform package to ban free-to-air TV networks from outsourcing news and current affairs to other media companies.

    Labor’s anxiety over the Meet The Press program on Ten contrasts with the show’s impact on public affairs, given the forum for political interviews draws fewer than 75,000 viewers on Sundays.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 12:40 am

  490. Fresh from advocating the Nazi supervision of citizens’ mail by the state, Greg Sheridan officially loses his marbles:

    Australia’s defence and security can only be saved by…

    Kevin Rudd.

    Rudd has the best strategic road map in his head of any politician on either side of parliament.

    For example, just look at border security.

    From Kevin’s head.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 12:45 am

  491. Incredible story in The Australian:

    Stephen Conroy’s pitch to control the news.

    He really is a jumped up little fascist. There aren’t enough rude words in the English language to describe what a turd that man is.

    tbh

    28 Feb 13 at 12:53 am

  492. Fun post at Tim Blair about some bitching between lefty editors. (The Monthly vs Good Weekend)

    Harold

    28 Feb 13 at 12:54 am


  493. Not while the water is dripping on the towel across their face. Waterboarding inhibits greenie leftie fascists intimidating innocent people. The more often applied the better the results.

    WhaleHunt Fun
    27 Feb 13 at 11:55 pm


    Given the hygiene habits of the average greenie, weatherboarding is no doubt unnecessary, hunt. The mere threat of a firm wiping with a wet face cloth would probably be enough to keep them in line.

    Entropy

    28 Feb 13 at 1:06 am

  494. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy is understood to have put the proposals to Julia Gillard on Monday night in an attempt to stop the Ten Network from working with News Limited to produce a Sunday current affairs program.

    Can the package ban media companies from letting spouses and partners of ALP politicians operate under pseudonyms?

    twostix

    28 Feb 13 at 1:20 am

  495. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy is understood to have put the proposals to Julia Gillard on Monday night in an attempt to stop the Ten Network from working with News Limited to produce a Sunday current affairs program.

    Iron Fisted Autocrats.

    This behaviour must be given back with interest, ABC, Arts, Quangos banned, bullied and cajoled.

    twostix

    28 Feb 13 at 1:33 am

  496. Drive-by posting here, and I’ve still not finished reading up.

    On sex-selection abortion, I’m not going to vote no on the web polls because I honestly don’t care. It’s hypocritical to say that a woman has the right to choose to abort, but only when we decide what her reasons are. She either has choice or she doesn’t.

    I’m against abortion anyway, so the ‘whys’ don’t matter.

    On Bill Clinton as Father of the Year, Lawrence Auster put it beautifully:

    William Clinton performed heinous acts which, when they became public, his young daughter, in order to maintain her relationship with her father, had to accept those acts and turn off her mind and her moral sense and turn herself into a zombie. He did this to his daughter, and now he’s awarded as an Ideal Father.

    And Bill Shorten is the Guest of Honour at an upcoming islamic finance forum.

    Gotta keep the Saudi $$ coming in – the taxpayers are nearly bled dry.

    nilk

    28 Feb 13 at 6:35 am

  497. I’m sick of the sight of Mrs. Combet reading the ABC TV news. I know, I shouldn,t be watching, but commercial TV and radio is mostly such a turn off too.

    Blogstrop

    28 Feb 13 at 6:39 am

  498. What then, what was so important to you Steve that you had to give in to your addiction?

    Andrew Bolt and Boobies.

    Why does it always come back to boobies?

    nilk

    28 Feb 13 at 6:43 am

  499. Someone say TITS ?

    jumpnmcar

    28 Feb 13 at 6:50 am

  500. This behaviour must be given back with interest, ABC, Arts, Quangos banned, bullied and cajoled.

    Double a

    Jc

    28 Feb 13 at 7:00 am

  501. double and then square it.

    Jc

    28 Feb 13 at 7:00 am

  502. Thanks to Twostix here last night, I sent Blair the link about Thommo’s missus writing government propaganda for the Women’s Weekly, which failed to acknowledge who the author was.

    Tom

    28 Feb 13 at 7:29 am

  503. The minister who made fun of the PM’s Rooty Hill escapade has been forced to kiss Duckbum’s ample freckle.

    Tom

    28 Feb 13 at 7:50 am

  504. Thanks to Twostix here last night, I sent Blair the link about Thommo’s missus writing government propaganda for the Women’s Weekly, which failed to acknowledge who the author was.

    Great work. All I can say is great work.

    Let’s see how well the Love Media cover this up as they won’t allow their game of positioning Shagger’s wife as a victim to end. She’s an ALP insider after all.

    Token

    28 Feb 13 at 8:20 am

  505. Incredible story in The Australian:

    Stephen Conroy’s pitch to control the news.

    Let’s apply that rule to the ABC & SBS.

    No collaboration with the public radio organisations globally (US – NPR or PBS, Germany, Netherlands, BBC). No collaboration with FauxFacts or the Guardian.

    How many hours of radio & TV would that slash?

    Token

    28 Feb 13 at 8:24 am

  506. Further to CL’s link, mad dog mouth-breathing former union gangster Stephen Conroy is conducting a personal vendetta against News Limited to stop its recently launched alliance with Ten Network’s revamped Sunday morning Meet The Press:

    While Senator Conroy expressed no concern about News and Ten when asked his view in the Senate on Monday, several individuals told The Australian he is privately furious about the alliance.

    Labor’s frustration with News is well known after cabinet ministers talked about “going to war” with the company in August 2011 because of their anger at reports critical of the government.

    Sources told The Australian yesterday that Senator Conroy used the talks on Monday night to suggest measures to prevent any commercial free-to-air TV network from outsourcing news and current affairs to another media entity.

    The idiot’s jihad, of course, is totally irrational:

    Labor’s anxiety over the Meet The Press program on Ten contrasts with the show’s impact on public affairs, given the forum for political interviews draws fewer than 75,000 viewers on Sundays.

    And the high-level focus on the program appeared to ignore similar deals at the ABC in which Four Corners aired reports by journalists from Fairfax newspapers on subjects such as the Reserve Bank’s note-printing subsidiary and global warming in the arctic.

    Forget ICAC and the Obeids: the fact that an incompetent hack like Conroy can rise to become an Australian government cabinet minister under the Labor system of union payback is the reason the party is heading for oblivion.

    Tom

    28 Feb 13 at 8:24 am

  507. Ex-cop Tim Priest has a damning (and entertainingly written) assessment of our Keystone Cops immigration bureaucracy:

    …for genuine Yes Minister debacles, you can’t go past the Immigration Department.

    In what should be a relatively straightforward portfolio protecting the nation from asylum-seekers and “queue jumpers”, the department has managed to become the Fawlty Towers of the global immigration community.

    Tom

    28 Feb 13 at 8:50 am

  508. It’s hypocritical to say that a woman has the right to choose to abort, but only when we decide what her reasons are. She either has choice or she doesn’t.

    It’s not hypocritical.

    Dangerous childbirth is a lot more understandable than “I want boys, not girls”.

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 9:04 am

  509. What is wrong with an Islamic finance forum, Nilk?

    The best way to soften hardline Islam is to the empower their lower and middle classes. It happened in Europe with their civil Governments (although it took a long time).

    It won’t happen if no one gets wealthier.

    Although I do see the irony of Shorten going…he is out of his depth in multiple ways.

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 9:16 am

  510. How long do you reckon the comments thread Mrs Thomson’s defence of Gillard will last?

    It would be worth saving. There are some beauts in there.

    areff

    28 Feb 13 at 9:18 am

  511. Despite being completely untrue, the accepted wisdom is that Australia is a high-tax country…

    … it is estimated that the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and Gonski reforms to education would together cost about $14 billion.

    FFS. There is just so much wrong in this bucket of excrement from a braindead marxist (BIRM) that I don’t even know where to begin.

    Posted on the frigging dumb at your expense, of course.

    Rabz

    28 Feb 13 at 9:21 am

  512. Let’s not forget the quaint bureaucratic fiction that the government has the ability to perform meaningful background checks on people purporting to arrive from a country where a majority of the population is illiterate, has been at war for the past 30 years and every 2nd person is called Muhammad.

    H B Bear

    28 Feb 13 at 9:27 am

  513. It’s fast becoming the story of the day and it’s sure to feature on next week’s Media Watch … isn’t it?

    Tom

    28 Feb 13 at 9:29 am

  514. Interesting to note that the WW appears to be censoring the comments. Twostix’s initial comments last night have disappeared.

    Huckleberry Chunkwot

    28 Feb 13 at 9:37 am

  515. Before it can be removed, here is a brilliant contribution to Zoe’s piece by PerryStalsis1.

    PerryStalsis145 minutes ago
    I want to endorse Zoe’s argument. Women have gained a lot, but they have done so at the expense of genuine masculinity in their partners. Zoe realises that it is important for a woman to accept that a powerful male partner simply must express the natural urge to indulge the sexual urge, sometimes as much as eight times a day, with thoroughly professional carnal consultants. When this is done with money and union fees contributed by toilet cleaners, floor moppers, bedpan emptiers, so much the better.

    If all women were accepting as Zoe about brothel bills on their hubbies’ credit card bills, fewer wives would be asked to dress as naughty nurses in the domestic boudoir or keep a whip and a large marrow in the bedside table. Australia would be a fairer, happier and far more just nation as a result.

    For her next article, may I suggest a topic, and it is not for the cooking section: When Your Husband Brings Home Crabs.

    Keep up the good work, WW. You are to magazines what Julia Gillard is to leadership and integrity!

    Pure gold.

    Huckleberry Chunkwot

    28 Feb 13 at 9:43 am

  516. Good question:

    Who’s in charge of coalition climate policy?

    Bernard Keane also has an article out but I haven’t read it yet: The evolution of ‘Direct Action’: soil magic to magic pudding

    Perhaps Tom can log on with his Crikey membership and report back…

  517. The WW comments were a laugh. Hard to understand that anyone would go on there and stick up for the lying slapper. Stevieliar QC, your presence there doesn’t surprise me.

    Tiny Dancer

    28 Feb 13 at 9:53 am

  518. Why isn’t Mrs Thommo still on suicide watch? Mal Wishy-Washy can’t do all the heavy lifting.

    H B Bear

    28 Feb 13 at 9:56 am

  519. I’ve always found not reading anything written by Bernard Keane helps my understanding of an issue. Thanks shitfer.

    H B Bear

    28 Feb 13 at 10:03 am

  520. Perhaps Tom can log on with his Crikey membership and report back…

    Perhaps you could do as everyone has asked and fuck off and not report back.

    Huckleberry Chunkwot

    28 Feb 13 at 10:04 am

  521. But I haven’t received my death threat yet…

  522. Tom, where are you?
    Quickly, more scorn and vitriol required!

    Huckleberry Chunkwot

    28 Feb 13 at 10:09 am

  523. repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive nutjob dweeb repetitive obsessive

    Tom

    28 Feb 13 at 10:13 am

  524. She promised a surplus: “We will do that in 2013 … The budget will come back to surplus in 2013 … I think you know, what I say in this campaign is what I will do.”

    She promised a cut in company tax – later scrapped – funded by a new mining tax that’s since raised next to nothing: “I personally worked through with our biggest mining companies and we’ve structured the tax now … and that tax will go to fund reducing company tax.”

    There was a new railway line which has now vanished: “We’re going to put in $2.1 billion … You’ll see work starting on Parramatta to Epping in 2011.”

    Every one of the promises made at Rooty Hill was broken. And now she returns to say “trust me this time”.

    I really don’t think voters are as stupid or forgetful as Gillard thinks.

    Even her stunts are pathetic.

    Gab

    28 Feb 13 at 10:14 am

  525. Lol is steve still talking about climate change?

    2007 called: it wants you back.

    Nobody gives a shit.

    In fact Abbott would gain another point in the polls if, as part of his magnificent Colonising the North and Dam Building Plan he also said he was going to build 50 new coal fired power stations.

    He should do that.

    twostix

    28 Feb 13 at 10:20 am

  526. Dear me, Tom. Not very creative.

    Anyway, can’t stay around all day today watching the quivering intensity of Gillard hate that is the 95% of the content of Catallaxy now. It has become pretty boring.

  527. I feel like I’m on Jepardy.

    What is the pathetic statement tax payer fed AGW scientist money make in their desperate quest to be relevant?

    But I haven’t received my death threat yet…

    Any other suggestions?

    Token

    28 Feb 13 at 10:25 am

  528. Fuck off and wreck someone else’s threads, you babbling psychopath. Get psychiatric help. I’m serious.

    Tom

    28 Feb 13 at 10:25 am

  529. Thank you Tom, above and beyond the call of duty.

    Huckleberry Chunkwot

    28 Feb 13 at 10:26 am

  530. Good Steve. Go back to the worlds most unread blog and keep pondering about Tony’s genitals. You know you like it.

    Tiny Dancer

    28 Feb 13 at 10:26 am

  531. I’m sick of the sight of Mrs. Combet reading the ABC TV news.

    Ditto. She had really bad bed hair on last night’s 7.00pm News. Prefer not to think about why.

    Septimus

    28 Feb 13 at 10:29 am

  532. Actually my blog numbers have been up lately, Tiny. Google seems to refer to it a lot when phrases I have used are searched now – it might be something to do with the number of posts or something, I don’t know. Well over 6,000 now.

  533. Whoops, I’m still here…

  534. Dogshit Today, 18/08/12:

    In any event, it’s time to give myself another burst of mild self congratulation for maintaining this eclectic place for so long. It’s funny how after doing it for this length of time, I forget quiet a few of the things I have said in years past, but I am happy to say that most of the time, upon re-reading old posts, I am pleasantly surprised at their quality.

    Commenter, Dogshit Today, 18/08/12

    6000 posts and about 100 comments, most pointing out your immense stupidity, dishonesty and arrogance. Still impressed with the quality of your own posts? How fitting.

    Back to the blog with no readers, Bumboy.

    Tom

    28 Feb 13 at 10:42 am

  535. Despite being completely untrue, the accepted wisdom is that Australia is a high-tax country…

    High taxing. Not high revenue. Bludgeoning a goose to pluck it of its feathers if you will.

    … it is estimated that the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and Gonski reforms to education would together cost about $14 billion.

    Both of which are terribly wasteful and unnecessary before any real world cost overruns are made.

    Outcomes in both instances can improve with decreased funding.

    The establishment in the left are people who have never had to pay taxes on their hard earned.

    It is like they want to pretend taxes have no costs and are painless, and the benefits of public spending outweigh the benefits of private spending.

    Outside of the Iron Curtain, you’d never meet more hardcore far leftists.

    I’m libertarian but my profession tilts me towards utilitarianism.

    There is no justification to spend on what isn’t justified by a cost benefits test, and taxing more than this amount required and not using the most efficient taxes at the broadest base with the lowest rate is simply negligent and misanthropic.

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 10:52 am

  536. Mark Steyn seems to be onto something here. Doesn’t the AFL have a pink round or something?

    Pink is now the colour of conformity

    …Meanwhile, Cable 14 in Hamilton, Ont., has been Tweeting up a storm: “National Day of Pink/Anti-Bullying Day is tomorrow. What will you be wearing?” Er, I don’t think I have a lot of choice on that front, do I? “For schools holding Anti-Bullying events in April, you still have time to order shirts at a discount.”

    That’s great news! Nothing says “celebrate diversity” like forcing everyone to dress exactly the same, like a bunch of Maoists who threw their workers’ garb in the washer but forgot to take the red flag out. If you’re thinking, “Hang on. Day of Pink? Didn’t we just have that?” No, that was Pink Shirt Day, the last Wednesday in February. This is Day of Pink, second Wednesday in April. Like the King streetcar, there’ll be another one along in a minute, enthusiastically sponsored by Scotiabank, Royal Bank, ViaRail and all the other corporate bigwigs.

    If you’re thinking, “Hang on. Pink awareness-raising? Isn’t that something to do with breast cancer?” No, that’s pink ribbons. Unfortunately, all the hues for awareness-raising ribbons are taken: not just white for bone cancer and yellow for adenosarcoma, but also (my current favourite) periwinkle for acid reflux. We need to raise awareness of how all the awareness-raising ribbons have been taken, so anti-bullying groups have been obliged to move on from ribbons to shirts.

    Token

    28 Feb 13 at 10:54 am

  537. The thing about taxes is you get what you pay for

    No.

    This is beyond wrong. The Fabians are naive to boot.

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 10:55 am

  538. Nikki Savva continues her forensic analysis of the rabble’s “what if?s”:

    Those who know Shorten say he will shift if it becomes obvious Rudd has secured a solid majority in caucus. Count on it becoming obvious if it happens.

    “If we were sitting on 50 votes, we won’t get Bill, but if we get to 60 we will,” one says. “He wouldn’t want to lead it, but he won’t want to miss it either.”

    At that point they say a delegation comprising, say, Shorten, Simon Crean, Greg Combet or Mark Butler would have to visit Gillard to tell her it was over.

    If she still refused to go, one of them, or a surrogate, would then have to move a no-confidence motion against her in caucus. The no-confidence motion is first preference, the second is for a spill motion to declare the leadership vacant. Rudd would nominate for it as distinct from challenging for it, an important technical distinction given his pledge.

    First they have to get to 60, which won’t happen if Rudd doesn’t shut up and behave himself, and just in case it looks close, the Liberals provided a taste of what can be expected with their devastating memories ad. Rest assured the groans over Newspoll on Tuesday morning were not confined to Labor offices.

    There is one other small subset faction in caucus, the whistlers in the dark who believe Gillard can still come good. Perhaps they will be proved right, but it will happen only if Tony Abbott and those around him allow it to.

    Tom

    28 Feb 13 at 10:59 am

  539. Looks like there a few journalists remaining in Washington.

    Bob Woodward blasts President Obama ‘madness’
    The Pentagon announced earlier this month the U.S.S. Harry Truman, which was supposed to leave for the Persian Gulf, will remain stateside due to budget concerns. The sequester, which will cut billions in defense spending, is scheduled to hit on Friday.

    Woodward has become an unlikely conservative hero in recent days for calling out the administration over whether Obama had “moved the goal posts”’ in negotiations over the sequester.

    Token

    28 Feb 13 at 11:06 am

  540. It’s not hypocritical.

    Dangerous childbirth is a lot more understandable than “I want boys, not girls”.

    Indeed. Also what is missed is that sex selection in many countries is done for long term financial reasons. Eg traditionally in China when a woman gets married she looks after her husband’s parents. So in an environment with poor government support its not surprising that people really want boys so they will have someone to look after them when they get old. Fix the fundamental reasons for the behavior and eventually the culture will change.

    We don’t have those same sorts of pressures here in Australia – if anything there’s probably a bias towards women looking after their parents, not men.

    Chris

    28 Feb 13 at 11:11 am

  541. I’m sick of the sight of Mrs. Combet reading the ABC TV news.

    Incomprehensible that she could be turned on by that deranged stare. But given that she is, Combet had better keep her away from this bloke – he would lose her in a second.

    It reminds me of a great line from Piers Morgan (yeah, I know) when it transpired that Kate Garraway from ITV’s Breakfast Show in the UK had married the permanently dishevelled low-level (and low-life) Labour apparatchik and braggard Derek Draper: “If I had known she set the bar that low, I’d have had a crack myself.”

    James in Melbourne

    28 Feb 13 at 11:15 am

  542. Why do Australians hate women leaders?

    Because every single one of them has been a hopeless, incompetent clown.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 11:23 am

  543. Well, who’d have known? According to ALPBC24, Bill Shortened has been travelling around the country for the past 12 months investigating dam capacities and flood mitigation. Apparently, he is now about to announce a $100M study into them.

    Septimus

    28 Feb 13 at 11:28 am

  544. Indeed. Also what is missed is that sex selection in many countries is done for long term financial reasons. Eg traditionally in China when a woman gets married she looks after her husband’s parents. So in an environment with poor government support its not surprising that people really want boys so they will have someone to look after them when they get old. Fix the fundamental reasons for the behavior and eventually the culture will change.

    Fuck me. Another sob story about how the Australian welfare lobby which engenders generational poverty ought to have some clout in the developing world.

    Newsflash chris, China has become considerably wealthy in the last three decades, and it isn’t because they created a welfare state.

    We don’t have those same sorts of pressures here in Australia – if anything there’s probably a bias towards women looking after their parents, not men.

    Do you realise when you aggregate this, it amounts to nonsense? The net effect is NO gender imbalance.

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 11:28 am

  545. C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 11:29 am

  546. The sex selection bill idea is very useful.

    Both Barry Soetoro in the US and the Australian left have now officially endorsed killing girls as a ‘right.’ They also support killing the disabled as a ‘right.’

    The abortion multinationals’ links to Nazism are already established historical facts and the connection is thus made clearer and clearer in public discourse.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 11:33 am

  547. Greg Combet is a dangerous idiot #1697.

    From today’s Oz:

    …Virgin Australia yesterday highlighted a $24.4 carbon tax cost as a factor in its slump in net profit from $51.8m to $23m.

    However, Climate Change Minister Greg Combet defended the tax, saying the aviation industry will remain profitable.

    It looks like the threat of draconian fines is no longer silencing victims of the carbon tax.

    Steve of Ferny Hills

    28 Feb 13 at 11:35 am

  548. A useful pie-chart illustrates the great horror of the fiscal sequester.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 11:50 am

  549. Apparently, he is now about to announce a $100M study into them.

    Sounds like the High Speed Rail study Labor announced last election. Locking in funds for their cronies while actually delivering nothing.

    Token

    28 Feb 13 at 11:55 am

  550. The White House has threatened Bob Woodward for denouncing the Magic Negro’s sequester lies – or what he calls a “kind of madness I haven’t seen in a long time.”

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 11:58 am

  551. From CL’s link, TLS is sounding like one of her clueless sycophants:

    Ms Gillard gave the example of her cabinet reshuffle earlier this year involving the retirement of senior ministers Chris Evans and Nicola Roxon.

    “I thought the media reaction to that was absurd,” she said.

    “Two wonderfully competent ministers who have decided to go and do something else with their lives seamlessly replaced by two fantastically competent ministers and this is written as crisis. Excuse me?

    “That was complete silliness.”

    Um, she has no idea what she is doing. She doesn’t have the intellect for politics. Yes, yes, I know. Stephen Conroy. FMD.

    Tom

    28 Feb 13 at 11:59 am

  552. “That was complete silliness.”

    Yes Julia! We agree. You are ‘complete silliness’.

    stackja

    28 Feb 13 at 12:08 pm

  553. Fuck me. Another sob story about how the Australian welfare lobby which engenders generational poverty ought to have some clout in the developing world.

    Not a sob story. Just an explanation of why the behavior occurs – combined with the one child policy which exacerbates this issue. And in those situations banning the behavior doesn’t really work because the incentives are so strong.

    But on the other hand when people with this background immigrate to Australia the culture pretty quickly (within a generation) changes.

    Madigan is bringing this up now as an issue in Australia just to create some media attention for himself.

    Chris

    28 Feb 13 at 12:08 pm

  554. The Jews are being driven out of Australia.

    What you will be left with will disgust you as much as they do us. More I suspect. Antony Loewenstein and a few dickhead barristers in Melbourne.

    After what we have done?

    You will miss us when we’re gone.

    geoffff

    28 Feb 13 at 12:12 pm

  555. And in those situations banning the behavior doesn’t really work because the incentives are so strong.

    LOL, no sh*t sherlock. You do realise you are at a blog dominated by Libertarians, don’t you?

    Interesting, maybe Chris is learning after all. I do hope he remembers his own comment next time he regurgitates the statist party line from the ALP.

    But on the other hand when people with this background immigrate to Australia the culture pretty quickly (within a generation) changes.

    Are you saying that when people live in a society where the state does not prevent you from saving for retirement, people across cultures will change their behaviour?

    Token

    28 Feb 13 at 12:22 pm

  556. After what we have done?

    You will miss us when we’re gone.

    I have not tracked the detailed voting in Aus by booth in the past few years, but is it likely that Jewish voters stand up for themselves and stop voting based upon values from the 1950′s?

    In the US last year we saw Jewish women vote for the most anti-Jewish president at a rate of 70/30, why won’t that be repeated here?

    Token

    28 Feb 13 at 12:26 pm

  557. Hahahaha – another one from CL’s link

    In a frank and personal interview on ABC radio in Brisbane, Ms Gillard said fairness and a “love of country and a love of family” were at the core of her personal values.

    Well not so much a love of family, just the husbands really.

    H B Bear

    28 Feb 13 at 12:39 pm

  558. After what we have done?

    You will miss us when we’re gone.

    Hard to care too much when Jews keep aligning themselves with leftist filth.

    Infidel Tiger

    28 Feb 13 at 12:46 pm

  559. “It’s hypocritical to say that a woman has the right to choose to abort, but only when we decide what her reasons are. She either has choice or she doesn’t.”
    It’s not hypocritical.

    Dangerous childbirth is a lot more understandable than “I want boys, not girls”.

    Dot this isn’t about dangerous childbirth, unless you’re suggesting that it’s more dangerous for a woman to give birth to girls.

    This is about the idea that a woman can choose to abort pretty much whenever she wants, for whatever reason she wants.

    Unless she’s decided it’s due to the XX or XY chromosomes, and then suddenly the feminazis start having attacks of the vapours and bleating on about gendercide.

    Sorry, they don’t get to do that. They demanded choice, they got it in spades.

    They can suck it up and deal with the fallout.

    nilk

    28 Feb 13 at 12:48 pm

  560. nilk, you have the right to buy and consume alcohol today. If you buy a 24 bottle carton and drink it all tonight, I would say that is an irresponsible exercise of the right, even though it is a right perfectly capable of (and usually is) exercised responsibly by most people.

    Furthermore, if the idea was to prevent the irresponsible exercise of your right by insisting all liquor outlets ask “how fast do you intend to consume that?” and then banning the sale depending on the answer, one response would be “well, that would be trivially easy to avoid. Who would answer honestly even if they did intend getting plastered that night?”

    On the other hand, most people have no great problem with some money being spent on anti binge drinking campaigns. Do people say “But it is legal for me to drink. Its absurd that you should try to tell me or anyone I shouldn’t drink to excess! Either ban it, or you have no right to talk about it at all!”

  561. And in those situations banning the behavior doesn’t really work because the incentives are so strong.

    But on the other hand when people with this background immigrate to Australia the culture pretty quickly (within a generation) changes.

    Notice the insipid trickery here from Chris?

    He shifts the focus of an Australian bill banning the gender-specific killing of girls overseas where he claims the practice is culturally acceptable.

    This has nothing to do with the bill – whose aim is to utterly ban gender abortions in this country.

    Second, while the desire for gender-specific abortions might dissipate in non-Anglos after a few generations, utilitarian exterminationism more generally does not. More than 90 percent of Down syndrome babies are killed for eugenic reasons in Australia. While all of us know somebody with Down syndrome – or a family that has a Down syndrome member – future Australians won’t know any ‘clowns of God’ (to use Morris West’s touching phrase). They will have been exterminated.

    This is not like Nazism. It is Nazism.

    It is fully supported by feminists and the left.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 1:08 pm

  562. Apparently, he is now about to announce a $100M study into them.

    Now been announced by the Town Crier. Hear Ye, Hear Ye. She has to be seen to be doing things.

    Septimus

    28 Feb 13 at 1:09 pm

  563. Steve wins Clunkiest Analogy of The Year Award.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 1:10 pm

  564. Scott Morrison demands that ‘asylum seekers’ (actually, mysterious criminals) not be allowed into society without being schooled on their responsibilities (like not raping students). Labor calls this “dog-whistling” and “vigilantism.”

    Once again: objectively pro-rape when the perpetrator is a grievance card holder.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 1:13 pm

  565. Well, at least one positive of Tony Abbott being the effective prime minister is that his Dams policy looks like being started before he actually takes office.

    I wonder what Milne will have to say about new Dams?

    ‘don’t do that’…
    ‘but don’t worry, we’ve got your back, supply guaranteed’.

    There is no principle the ALP will not abandon in the lust for power.

    brc

    28 Feb 13 at 1:15 pm

  566. Andrew Bolt, who criticised Morrison last night for the same thing, is also “pro-rape” too, I suppose CL.

  567. … most people have no great problem with some money being spent on anti binge drinking campaigns.

    Yes, because ‘most people’ are frigging bog ignorant morons.

    If there is one thing ‘anti binge drinking campaigns’ are noted for, it’s their proven record of utter failure to change anybody’s drinking behaviour.

    But then I wouldn’t expect a lobotomised statist shill such as yourself to even consider such an inconvenient fact.

    Rabz

    28 Feb 13 at 1:17 pm

  568. Criticising Morris isn’t pro-rape, Steve.

    Calling an adherence to the law against rape “vigilantism” is objectively pro-rape.

    Try again, Mr Clunky.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 1:21 pm

  569. I note your objection Rabz is on the grounds of ineffectiveness; not on the principle that no one has the right to encourage responsible exercise of a legal right.

    By the way, I think they are pretty sure smoking campaigns have some effect. Same thing.

  570. Oh, so Labor was saying the perpetrator shouldn’t be prosecuted? I must have missed that.

  571. I strongly object to anti binge drinking campaigns. Is there anyone that doesn’t know binge drinking is bad? Hint, the hangover is a clue.

    Such campaigns simply satisfy the need for politicians and public servants to ‘do something’ with other peoples’ money.

    Steve of Ferny Hills

    28 Feb 13 at 1:25 pm

  572. By the way, I think they are pretty sure smoking campaigns have some effect. Same thing.

    The evidence suggests they are slightly more efficacious, but not, I would argue, to a significant degree. Nor to a degree that justifies the inordinate amount of taxpayers’ dollars expended, nor the utterly infuriating, intrusive nanny state hectoring – of which I for one, am absolutely f*cking fed up with.

    Rabz

    28 Feb 13 at 1:27 pm

  573. Is there anyone that doesn’t know binge drinking is bad?

    They are usually aimed at young drinkers who, indeed, may have little experience of hangovers before the first binge in which they do something they later regret.

  574. A week after Labor banned non-whites from coming to Australia to work, Gillard spokesman Phil Coorey is outraged!

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 1:28 pm

  575. I have no problem with people exercising a ‘right’ to encourage responsible exercise of a legal right. As long as they use their own effing money.

    Steve of Ferny Hills

    28 Feb 13 at 1:28 pm

  576. There would be a lot less binge drinking if Nanny Roxon was still Health Minister and allowed only licensed Federal government bureaucrats to open your drinks for you.

    H B Bear

    28 Feb 13 at 1:30 pm

  577. Are you saying that when people live in a society where the state does not prevent you from saving for retirement, people across cultures will change their behaviour?

    What I’m saying is that people in a country where they know their government will not let them rely simply on charity from fellow citizens and so possibly starve to death when they get too old to work will make different decisions to those who know that is a real possibility.

    Second, while the desire for gender-specific abortions might dissipate in non-Anglos after a few generations, utilitarian exterminationism more generally does not. More than 90 percent of Down syndrome babies are killed for eugenic reasons in Australia. While all of us know somebody with Down syndrome – or a family that has a Down syndrome member – future Australians won’t know any ‘clowns of God’ (to use Morris West’s touching phrase). They will have been exterminated.

    Well if anti-abortion activists put more effort into supporting children and adults (after all they do grow up!) with disabilities there would be fewer potential parents fearful of the future that a disabled child would have. And I’ve seen how it affects families, the parents and the other children in the family – how many end up in divorce because of the huge pressures on the parents who struggle with inadequate support.

    But no, instead as soon as they’re born all support disappears and it becomes one of personal responsibility for the parents not to be a burden on the taxpayer. Who should have got insurance, and should have saved up huge amounts of money first so they could stop working and instead spend their rest of their life looking after their children 24/7 and provide them with the medical help they need.

    Chris

    28 Feb 13 at 1:31 pm

  578. Is there anyone over the age of 10 that doesn’t know that drunks may do something stupid and or dangerous?

    Steve of Ferny Hills

    28 Feb 13 at 1:33 pm

  579. Well if anti-abortion activists put more effort into supporting children and adults (after all they do grow up!) with disabilities there would be fewer potential parents fearful of the future that a disabled child would have.

    LOL.

    Stunning.

    The left’s normalisation of Nazism is the pro-lifers’ fault.

    But of course.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 1:35 pm

  580. At least the alcopops tax has been a boon for apple and pear growers!

    Steve of Ferny Hills

    28 Feb 13 at 1:36 pm

  581. “Well if anti-abortion activists put more effort into supporting children and adults (after all they do grow up!) with disabilities there would be fewer potential parents fearful of the future that a disabled child would have.”

    That’s one of the silliest things I’ve heard today.

    candy

    28 Feb 13 at 1:37 pm

  582. Today in moderate Australian Islam…

    or ‘That craaaazy Wilders…’

    FOUR men who took part in the whipping of a Muslim convert as punishment for him drinking alcohol and taking drugs have been found guilty of assault in Sydney.

    Christian Martinez, 32, was whipped with an electric cord at his home in Silverwater in Sydney’s west between July 16 and 17 in 2011.

    His mentor, Wasim Fayed, was accused of carrying out the whipping as punishment under sharia law, while the other three men held Mr Martinez down on his bed.

    Fayed, 44, along with Zakaryah Raad, 21, Tolga Cifki, 21, and Gengiz Coskin, 22, pleaded not guilty to charges of assault occasioning bodily harm, causing harm in company and stealing.

    Fayed also faced two charges of intimidation.

    Magistrate Brian Maloney convicted the men in Burwood Local Court on Thursday.

    He will sentence them at a later date.

    As Fayed left the court and was bundled into a car, he told reporters, “I love him for the sake of Allah”, referring to Mr Martinez.

    Four men guilty of whipping Muslim convert.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 1:38 pm

  583. Well then, you agree with my point. Just because feminists want abortion to be legal does not mean they can’t have legitimate views about how the legal right is exercised.

    Sex selecting abortion is illegal in India, I believe, and yet still easily obtained. (Surprise!) If there was a big enough cultural push to do it here as well, I would also agree with making it illegal, if only from the point of view that it sends a message.

    However, with a lack of evidence of it being done here, I can understand feminist reluctance that this is an appropriate way to deal with it here.

  584. Since packing up his thinking cap Phabulous Phil is a much less effective Gillard spokesman at the AFR where, instead of being unread in the rapidly shrinking Pravda-on-the-Yarra, he is unread by capitalists whose employers haven’t got around to cancelling the subscription yet.

    H B Bear

    28 Feb 13 at 1:41 pm

  585. So the big campaign is on to make Ms Gillard warm and loving and nice.

    I think she will do well in Rooty Hill face to face, it’s her only talent, charming people face to face and they’re right to capitalise on it.

    But will it work to make people forget her lies and treachery …

    candy

    28 Feb 13 at 1:43 pm

  586. Joe Biden on home defence:

    “Just fire the shotgun through the door”.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 1:43 pm

  587. New US Secretary of State rules out any relationship with the Gillard government:

    John Kerry: It’s okay to talk to Iran because their government was elected.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 1:45 pm

  588. Is there anyone over the age of 10 that doesn’t know that drunks may do something stupid and or dangerous?

    Please Steve of FV, use some common sense.

    No child could ever have an understanding of the effects of alcohol if the government had not pointed it out.

    Add to that the reality we all have to deal with that pre-teens & teens really respect authority figures like government bodies a lot more than their parents and never make irrational decisions.

    Token

    28 Feb 13 at 1:46 pm

  589. “Is there anyone over the age of 10 that doesn’t know that drunks may do something stupid and or dangerous?”

    True enough, kids know just about everything by then.

    candy

    28 Feb 13 at 1:47 pm

  590. Sex selecting abortion is illegal in India, I believe, and yet still easily obtained.

    Both India & China would have greater success stamping out these barbaric practices if they stopped meddling in the economy, drastically reduced government regulation, and spent all their time building legal framework around property rights that doesn’t leave people with the fear the government will nationalise their savings.

    If people believe their savings is going to be stolen by government before they get old, the will choose to have a son to provide for them in old age.

    Token

    28 Feb 13 at 1:52 pm

  591. FOUR men who took part in the whipping of a Muslim convert as punishment for him drinking alcohol and taking drugs have been found guilty of assault in Sydney.

    Why they’re just like everyone else! As Aussie as a meatpie with tomato sauce.

    But seriously CL, a bit of perspective please, like just last week wasn’t there was a story about how all these christian “AOG Fundies” were sent to prison in Melbourne for planning to blow up the MCG?

    I’m sure Chris mentioned something about it.

    twostix

    28 Feb 13 at 1:53 pm

  592. Joe Biden on home defence:

    “Just fire the shotgun through the door”.

    Is his brain damage so severe he is not aware of Oscar Pistorius?

    Token

    28 Feb 13 at 1:54 pm

  593. But seriously CL, a bit of perspective please, like just last week wasn’t there was a story about how all these christian “AOG Fundies” were sent to prison in Melbourne for planning to blow up the MCG?

    I’m sure Chris mentioned something about it.

    If I recall, it was reported on the same day that the priest in charge of the “AOG Fundies” were found to be helping parents butcher the genitals of infant girals.

    Token

    28 Feb 13 at 1:56 pm

  594. “I love him for the sake of Allah”, referring to Mr Martinez.

    If he was westernised, he would have told the reporters:

    “It hurt me more than it hurt him, I tells ya!”

    Rabz

    28 Feb 13 at 1:59 pm

  595. In 50 years the 2 genders will officially be – female & other:

    Transgender child Coy Mathis banned from using the girl’s bathroom at Colorado school

    Token

    28 Feb 13 at 2:02 pm

  596. And guns, Token. You forgot to fit in how having more guns in India and China would lead to less girls being aborted.

  597. Meanwhile Farr Out reveals Labor is concerned about the loss of a generation of its best talent, curiously illustrated with a photo of David Bradbury. Fortunately for his readers, he identifies the problem,

    One reason why the west is likely to be won by the Liberals is a redistribution from just before the 2010 election, which moved some seats further from the grasp of Labor MPs.

    Yep, more Labor bad luck.

    H B Bear

    28 Feb 13 at 2:04 pm

  598. If I recall, it was reported on the same day that the priest in charge of the “AOG Fundies” were found to be helping parents butcher the genitals of infant girals.

    Those AOG fundies, they’re a twisted bunch.

    I saw one of them force their teen daughter to wear a long sleeved tracksuit and hood while swimming in 30 degree goldcoast heat at a resort the other day.

    Good thing the liberty loving left are onto those crazy illiberal AOG “fundies”.

    twostix

    28 Feb 13 at 2:06 pm

  599. charming people selected Labor apparachiks face to face

    That’s better, isn’t it Candy?

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    28 Feb 13 at 2:07 pm

  600. And guns, Token. You forgot to fit in how having more guns in India and China would lead to less girls being aborted.

    Abortion and the resultant Chinese gendercide is of course a light hearted matter to resident self identified “howard voting convserative catholic” steve.

    twostix

    28 Feb 13 at 2:09 pm

  601. Western Sydney will look like the Mary Celeste after McSporran’s crew have cleared out the non-believers for media events.

    H B Bear

    28 Feb 13 at 2:14 pm

  602. I saw one of them force their teen daughter to wear a long sleeved tracksuit and hood

    Yep, Two-Stix, I’ve watched a couple of easy-going laid back blokes in shorts and t-shirts really tucking into a hamburger in a Maccas, while two black shapes with them were desperately trying to shove a bit of food somewhere under some drape or other, one presumes towards their mouths.

    Touches the female heart it does, to see such care and concern for the womenfolk. It was over 30 degrees outside too, so wasn’t it thoughtful of them to allow ‘their’ girls inside to be exposed to sinful Western catsmeat?

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    28 Feb 13 at 2:15 pm

  603. Hey, it never occurred to me before to check, but yes, Muslims are against tattoos.

    See, there is something good in every faith.

    And Lizzie, you’re so short you could use a bin liner for a quick outing down the street, no?

  604. the fear the government will nationalise their savings.

    Thanks for the reminder, Token. Must check those old bank accounts of mine, and there might also be a bit of lost super to chase up.

    Can’t gift it to Swannie by default through failing to meet the May deadline.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    28 Feb 13 at 2:24 pm

  605. ” Charming people selected Labor apparachiks face to face

    That’s better, isn’t it Candy?”

    True enough Lizzie, but she’s a bullsh.t artist and that’s the nature of bullsh.t artists, to fool people.

    candy

    28 Feb 13 at 2:28 pm

  606. Stevie, my Sainted Mother was the one who could get very creative with bin liners. She made excellent raincoats for us out of them during my childhood. Another of her best tricks was to wear a tea-cosy as a hat; it was tiger striped, it looked quite fetching with her red socks and high heels.

    But let me put my mind to how you could profit from a bin liner. I know. Put it in a big wheelie bin and jump in, Stevie. There now, see how I have given you a nice new one, all to yourself. Just wait for the garbage truck to come along and be quiet till then.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    28 Feb 13 at 2:33 pm

  607. I strongly object to anti binge drinking campaigns. Is there anyone that doesn’t know binge drinking is bad? Hint, the hangover is a clue.

    Such campaigns simply satisfy the need for politicians and public servants to ‘do something’ with other peoples’ money.

    So how many people know this about even moderate alcohol consumption(2 servings per day):

    Reduces neurogenesis to a worrying degree and a recent research paper highlighted how age related cognitive impairment is very much about loss of neurogenesis. Loss of neurogenesis is often a hallmark of depression and some argue that the value of antidepressants is when the drug spurs on neurogenesis.

    That research highlights a association between regular alcohol consumption and anxiety related disorders.

    That only last night a news release highlighted how alcohol is associated with 1 in 30 cancers and that rises to 15% for breast cancer.

    That alcohol is a driver of violent behavior.

    John H.

    28 Feb 13 at 2:43 pm

  608. Well in that case, I’m gone, John H., and so is Da Hairy Irish Ape.

    But why are we so happy? Is it just some premature incipient senility that keeps us smiling and making with the one-liners at each other? Guess we just have to live with it. Too much good stuff in the cellar to give the grog away right now. :)

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    28 Feb 13 at 2:49 pm

  609. But why are we so happy? Is it just some premature incipient senility that keeps us smiling and making with the one-liners at each other? Guess we just have to live with it.

    Ever noticed how intellectually disabled people are often happy. :D

    John H.

    28 Feb 13 at 2:50 pm

  610. Giving up drinking and smoking only lets you live longer during the period of your life when you are pooping yourself.

    It’s a false economy to spend 70 years sober and clean just to spend an extra 10 years sitting in your filth hoping the robot nurse wipes you properly.

    Infidel Tiger

    28 Feb 13 at 2:52 pm

  611. It’s a false economy to spend 70 years sober and clean just to spend an extra 10 years sitting in your filth hoping the robot nurse wipes you properly.

    It is which is why I have already planned my exit. I’d rather die of cancer than dementia.

    John H.

    28 Feb 13 at 2:54 pm

  612. John H,

    Have you been playing ‘Stairway to Heaven’ backwards or something? Four standard drinks per day is my prescription for you. Alcohol keeps the arteries clear :)

    Septimus

    28 Feb 13 at 3:03 pm

  613. Giving up drinking and smoking only lets you live longer during the period of your life when you are pooping yourself.

    It’s a false economy to spend 70 years sober and clean just to spend an extra 10 years sitting in your filth hoping the robot nurse wipes you properly.

    Amen to that

    tbh

    28 Feb 13 at 3:06 pm

  614. If I stayed as a house guest for a week I imagine I could re-adjust your level of happiness to “normal”, Lizzie.

  615. Always the risk of a major over shoot, though.

  616. FFS, wowsers are bunch of sanctimonious killjoys.

    Rabz

    28 Feb 13 at 3:09 pm

  617. Garbage truck’s late today, isn’t it?

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    28 Feb 13 at 3:10 pm

  618. “wowsers are a bunch of sanctimonious killjoys.

    also they’re dream squashers.

    candy

    28 Feb 13 at 3:12 pm

  619. If I recall, it was reported on the same day that the priest in charge of the “AOG Fundies” were found to be helping parents butcher the genitals of infant girals.

    Nah, he was busy elsewhere.

    http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Hillsong-farewells-a-lost-sheep-pioneer/2004/11/12/1100227581958.html

    Chris

    28 Feb 13 at 3:16 pm

  620. Go figure!

    Ectopic eyes function without connection to brain: Experiments with tadpoles show ectopic eyes that ‘see’

    Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-02-ectopic-eyes-function-brain-tadpoles.html#jCp

    Septimus, the benefit is so small that a regular walk will provide the same benefit.

    John H.

    28 Feb 13 at 3:17 pm

  621. John H, what twaddle.

    It’s kind of the reverse of ‘every sperm is sacred’ – every cigarette takes five minutes off your life, every drink reduces your intellectual capacity, every drink increases your risk of cancer, boils, foot-rot, piles or whatever the ailment of choice is.

    It’s junk science, mostly based on junk ‘epidemiology’ and crap data like the notorious US Nurses Survey. These large, uncontrolled, self-reported surveys can be data-mined to produce pretty much any result you want.

    There are a few examples where actual mechanisms which cause a particular disease at a higher rate that the general population have been identified, but to say that alcohol consumption causes cancer as a general statement is just bollocks.

    The spectre of Nanny Roxon will not die! The wooden stake, Epicurus, quick, the wooden stake!

    johanna

    28 Feb 13 at 3:19 pm

  622. It is which is why I have already planned my exit. I’d rather die of cancer than dementia.

    If you’re luck you might get both. Given that smoking doubles the risk of you getting a dementia related disease later in life.

    Chris

    28 Feb 13 at 3:19 pm

  623. There are a few examples where actual mechanisms which cause a particular disease at a higher rate that the general population have been identified, but to say that alcohol consumption causes cancer as a general statement is just bollocks.

    I stated “associated with cancer”. Learn to read.

    Carcinogenesis. 2013 Feb;34(2):325-30. doi: 10.1093/carcin/bgs340. Epub 2012 Nov 3.
    Genotoxicity of alcohol is linked to DNA replication-associated damage and homologous recombination repair.
    Kotova N, Vare D, Schultz N, Gradecka Meesters D, Stepnik M, Grawé J, Helleday T, Jenssen D.
    Source
    Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Toxicology, Arrhenius Laboratory, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.

    Abstract
    Although alcohol consumption is related to increased cancer risk, its molecular mechanism remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that an intake of 10% alcohol for 4 weeks in rats is genotoxic due to induction of micronuclei. Acetaldehyde (AA), the first product of ethanol metabolism, is believed to be responsible for DNA damage induced by alcohol. Here, we observe that AA effectively blocks DNA replication elongation in mammalian cells, resulting in DNA double-strand breaks associated with replication. AA-induced DNA damage sites colocalize with the homologous recombination (HR) repair protein RAD51. HR measured in the hypoxhantineguaninefosforibosyltransferase (HPRT) gene is effectively induced by AA and recombination defective mammalian cells are hypersensitive to AA, clearly demonstrating that HR is essential in the repair of AA-induced DNA damage. Altogether, our data indicate that alcohol genotoxicity related to AA produces replication lesions on DNA triggering HR repair.

    PMID: 23125219 [PubMed - in process]

    John H.

    28 Feb 13 at 3:26 pm

  624. That only last night a news release highlighted how alcohol is associated with 1 in 30 cancers and that rises to 15% for breast cancer.

    So non-drinkers get the other 29/30 cancers and 85% of breast ccancers?

    Cheers!

    Steve of Ferny Hills

    28 Feb 13 at 3:28 pm

  625. Not a sob story. Just an explanation of why the behavior occurs

    No. It was a sob story you have no proof of. Welfare makes people act more civilly…please visit Claymore the next time you’re in SW Sydney. Three walled houses. Etc.

    Given that smoking doubles the risk of you getting a dementia related disease later in life.

    Except it doesn’t.

    I bet you the two studies you are likely to find merely show an “association” with causation.

    Hence why differing levels of dementia don’t show a gradiation along with the level of smoking or passive smoking.

    There isn’t even a correlation.

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 3:36 pm

  626. STITCHED UP: Blind athlete portrayed as ‘drunk’ by ABC

    Not blind drunk but blind. Shame Four Corners, shame.

    Harold

    28 Feb 13 at 3:39 pm

  627. Nah, he was busy elsewhere.

    http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Hillsong-farewells-a-lost-sheep-pioneer/2004/11/12/1100227581958.html

    That doesn’t even make sense in response to Tokens comment.

    Withdraw your idiotic “AOG” “fundies” are just like Muslims comment or you’ll continue to be laughed at forever.

    twostix

    28 Feb 13 at 3:45 pm

  628. It’s junk science, mostly based on junk ‘epidemiology’ and crap data like the notorious US Nurses Survey. These large, uncontrolled, self-reported surveys can be data-mined to produce pretty much any result you want.

    Yep, it’s GIGO, Johanna. Also like the Women’s Health Initiative study that lobbed a bomb into HRT. And then there is the crazy fringe: the ‘home birth is beautiful’ stuff and innoculation causes autism stuff, etc, etc.

    Always check the epidemiology. You don’t need a statistics degree (though it helps). Just simple common sense on study design is often all it takes.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    28 Feb 13 at 3:49 pm

  629. ps. There is some good, scientific, and cautious epidemiology too. Don’t want to throw out the clean baby with the sullied bathwater.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    28 Feb 13 at 3:52 pm

  630. FFS, your a long time dead

    enjoy a smoke, enjoy a bottle of coonawarra’s finest or two, use your youth to gauge your tolerance to tequila. Balance the shit you take in with exercise and healthy food. It’s pretty fucking simple really.

    Dan

    28 Feb 13 at 3:56 pm

  631. If you want people to moderate their smoking, drinking, gambling and rooting, I suggest you encourage marriage. Nothing puts the handbrake on fun faster than saying “I do”.

    Infidel Tiger

    28 Feb 13 at 4:02 pm

  632. Not if you marry into a westie family IT. If you weren’t one of those chaps you would be headed for divorce court

    Dan

    28 Feb 13 at 4:04 pm

  633. That doesn’t even make sense in response to Tokens comment.

    Read the whole thing

    Withdraw your idiotic “AOG” “fundies” are just like Muslims comment or you’ll continue to be laughed at forever.

    I never said that so there’s no need to withdraw it.

    Chris

    28 Feb 13 at 4:05 pm

  634. Western Sydney will look like the Mary Celeste after McSporran’s crew have cleared out the non-believers for media events.

    No need. The locals will see Gillard coming, and cross to the other side of the street.

    Keith

    28 Feb 13 at 4:08 pm

  635. Gotta be careful distinguishing those “AOG fundies” from the AOG fundies…

    Steve D

    28 Feb 13 at 4:10 pm

  636. I dunno Keith, maybe they will bus in a heap of unionists to fill out the joint

    Dan

    28 Feb 13 at 4:16 pm

  637. John H., thanks for sharing a single study which relates to alcohol consumption in rats.

    I’m taking the pledge, I tells ya! It’s just that I first have to wait until enough brain cells die for me to be able to be convinced by a single study – and then I have to turn into a rat.

    Looks like I won’t be pouring the Coonawarra reds down the sink just yet.

    johanna

    28 Feb 13 at 4:26 pm

  638. John H,

    I’m half way through a Corona as we speak. Enjoying it very much. Three standard drinks to go before bedtime. The sun is definitely over the yard-arm so I suggest you get started on the prescription. Time’s a-wasting. Cheers :)

    Septimus

    28 Feb 13 at 4:45 pm

  639. Over at The Drum, somebody called Clementine Ford calls for a ban on jokes.

    Which is not to say she isn’t brave and cutting edge:

    Comedy often walks a fine line between the funny and the offensive. But Clementine Ford says there is one rule that should be heeded by all comedians: the powerless should never be the victim of the punchline.

    I personally enjoy lots of politically incorrect humour. I am very fond of jokes about abortion.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 4:56 pm

  640. His mentor, Wasim Fayed, was accused of carrying out the whipping as punishment under sharia law, while the other three men held Mr Martinez down on his bed.

    No, no this can’t be true. The Islamist-loving lefties tell us sharia law doesn’t exist in Australia!

    Gab

    28 Feb 13 at 5:00 pm

  641. Comedy often walks a fine line between the funny and the offensive. But Clementine Ford says there is one rule that should be heeded by all comedians: the powerless should never be the victim of the punchline.

    http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-opinion/what-should-we-call-our-vaginas-20120718-22a3j.html

    Abortion jokes good, vagina jokes bad.

    Does she even know where babies come from?

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 5:05 pm

  642. What should we call our vaginas?

    In my experience, women and men have a stock standard they use in their own company. And all without Clementine Ford’s assistance, amazing to relate.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 5:13 pm

  643. What should we call our vaginas?

    Mussels? Clementines?

    Gab

    28 Feb 13 at 5:15 pm

  644. I never said that so there’s no need to withdraw it.

    The key thing is to remember is that leftists lie, all the time, about everything.

    It’s good to be reminded.

    In a discussion about violent muslim behaviour you dropped the unique comment that “AOG fundies” refuse to associate with non “AOG fundies” as some sort of AOG parishoners = fundamentalist Muslims equivocation.

    twostix

    28 Feb 13 at 5:16 pm

  645. How come she’s only being convicted for the third killing?

    Convicted baby killer refused bail.

    Does anyone seriously believe the earlier two didn’t condition her to have an attitude of fatal entitlement in relation to the third?

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 5:18 pm

  646. What should we call our vaginas?

    A vagina?

    Splatacrobat

    28 Feb 13 at 5:23 pm

  647. What should we call our vaginas?

    Clementine’s as good a word as any I suppose.

    Infidel Tiger

    28 Feb 13 at 5:31 pm

  648. Great post, a must read on wages

    http://www.themoneyillusion.com/?p=19504

    Pedro

    28 Feb 13 at 5:31 pm

  649. Um, the point of her column about vaginas was to satirise people who are appalled that an advertisement calls it “a vagina”.

    Don’t know about her saying she likes jokes about abortion – in my experience, I’ve only heard men make such jokes. I would have thought few women do…

  650. Another Labor crock falls at the first hurdle. There are still a couple of police investigations on foot though?

    H B Bear

    28 Feb 13 at 5:57 pm

  651. Took me a while but found a funny abortion joke…

    Did ya hear what President Clinton had to say about the Abortion Bill?
    Ah thought ah paid it!

    Harold

    28 Feb 13 at 5:58 pm

  652. Well gollleee H B Bear
    “Mr Slipper’s credibility and good name with his voters is significant”

    What an uyterly hilarious comedy website this ABC site is.

    WhaleHunt Fun

    28 Feb 13 at 6:07 pm

  653. Bill is an abortionists error.
    Treats women like disposable shavers and the left love him.

    WhaleHunt Fun

    28 Feb 13 at 6:12 pm

  654. C.L. 28 Feb 13 at 11:29 am

    Gillard will not be misunderstood by the voters.

    stackja

    28 Feb 13 at 6:21 pm

  655. Asylum seekers moved out of Macq Uni

    Rooty Hill visit starts already.

    stackja

    28 Feb 13 at 6:24 pm

  656. WhaleHunt – I think you’ll find that is from one of the clown collective. Most of their statements now fall into one of four broad categories: lies, smear, delusion or stand-up.

    H B Bear

    28 Feb 13 at 6:25 pm

  657. Asylum seekers moved out of Macq Uni

    No word on where they are moving them to.

    jupes

    28 Feb 13 at 6:31 pm

  658. Or when

    Rousie

    28 Feb 13 at 6:35 pm

  659. Curti, who was paranoid after taking LSD.
    Ombudsman savages Roberto Laudisio Curti investigation

    Police should call the Ombudsman to handle the next paranoid.

    stackja

    28 Feb 13 at 6:36 pm

  660. Acacia Rose is a spokeswoman for the Snowy River Alliance.

    stackja

    28 Feb 13 at 6:39 pm

  661. How’s this going to work? Journalistic resources devoted to the biggest game of ‘Where’s Wally-a-eed’ and each time they are found, what they get moved? Top shelf policy that.

    No clean air in Rooty Hill this coming week.

    Rousie

    28 Feb 13 at 6:45 pm


  662. Acacia Rose is a spokeswoman for the Snowy River Alliance.

    Science Activism is not the only big loser when it comes to catchment and river management in NSW. What about the people activists? The death knell for the SSC activists does not bode well for the future catchment and river management use in NSW. The best hope is that the people activists take a stand for the health and future prohibition on the use of the Snowy River, and in doing so, set the benchmark for catchment, ground and surface water health prohibition across the state.

    Tom

    28 Feb 13 at 7:02 pm

  663. In a discussion about violent muslim behaviour you dropped the unique comment that “AOG fundies” refuse to associate with non “AOG fundies” as some sort of AOG parishoners = fundamentalist Muslims equivocation.

    That was not the context of the comment. The context was one religion encouraging their believers not to mix with non believers. Actually not that rare a property amongst religions or cults

    Chris

    28 Feb 13 at 7:02 pm

  664. That was not the context of the comment.

    Hahahahahaha!!!

    Tom

    28 Feb 13 at 7:04 pm

  665. Acacia Rose?

    My name is Fair Dinkum Mc Possum…

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 7:05 pm

  666. It’s kind of the reverse of ‘every sperm is sacred’

    As in kind of the reverse of a teaching never taught?

    dover_beach

    28 Feb 13 at 7:07 pm

  667. Rooty Hill 2013: The don’t give up on us tour
    .
    I nearly lost my head last night, you’ve got a right to stop believing
    There’s still a little love left, even so

    Don’t give up on us baby, lord knows we’ve come this far
    Can’t we stay the way we are, the angel and the dreamer
    Who sometimes plays a fool, don’t give up on us I know
    We can still come through

    Splatacrobat

    28 Feb 13 at 7:23 pm

  668. Found on Drudge.

    Never shy to make a controversial comment, “Bigmouth Strikes Again” singer Morrissey has claimed that “homosexual men would never kill other men”.

    The 53-year-old singer, made his claims in an interview with an online magazine for teenage girls

    Who is this imbecile?

    Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer (May 21, 1960 – November 28, 1994) was an American serial killer and sex offender. Dahmer murdered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991, with the majority of the murders occurring between 1987 and 1991. His murders involved rape, dismemberment, necrophilia and cannibalism. On November 28, 1994, he was beaten to death by an inmate at the Columbia Correctional Institution, where he had been incarcerated.

    Jc

    28 Feb 13 at 7:23 pm

  669. nilk, you have the right to buy and consume alcohol today. If you buy a 24 bottle carton and drink it all tonight, I would say that is an irresponsible exercise of the right, even though it is a right perfectly capable of (and usually is) exercised responsibly by most people.

    Ah, the lengths sfb goes to in defense of the indefensible. And it doesn’t even achieve its aim since the ‘right’ claimed by women here is that of killing their unborn child for whatever reason they themselves deem relevant. So its incoherent to acknowledge the right of abortion particularly in its pro-choice guise but then to be judgmental with respect to the reasons this ‘right’ is here or there exercised.

    dover_beach

    28 Feb 13 at 7:24 pm

  670. Morrissey has a great voice but his opinions are, well,…

    dover_beach

    28 Feb 13 at 7:25 pm

  671. When you ram ships; hurl glass containers of acid; drag metal-reinforced ropes in the water to damage propellers and rudders; launch smoke bombs and flares with hooks; and point high-powered lasers at other ships, you are, without a doubt, a pirate, no matter how high-minded you believe your purpose to be.

    9th US Circuit Court of Appeals

    Jim Rose

    28 Feb 13 at 7:35 pm

  672. Ol’ Crazy Eyes goes back to basics as the world’s longest campaign grinds on. Where is Conroy and his Fink Chamber when you need him?

    H B Bear

    28 Feb 13 at 7:36 pm

  673. Went to a bookshop today to buy a present for my wife. Was astonished to see this book from that opinionated yoof who goes out/lives with/significant others with Simon Sheikh. You have never seen a bigger example of begging the question (in its proper rhetorical meaning) in your life. It must be great to decide and assume that you are wholly and indisputably right. Sure saves you the time wasted in argument. That this over-promoted arts student feels certain that it is Minchin’s mind that has to be changed does not surprise me at all in one who is a fully paid-up member – indeed darling – of the inner-city ABC/RRR leftie intellegentsia that are our betters, but its breathtaking in its precocious arrogance nonetheless.

    And no, I did not buy it.

    James in Melbourne

    28 Feb 13 at 7:37 pm

  674. Dover, the only reason Dogshit is here — the reason for all his trolling of a site he hates — is essentially to stalk the females.

    The quote you’ve highlighted above was simply smalltalk to engage Nilk. He went on to post this:

    If I stayed as a house guest for a week I imagine I could re-adjust your level of happiness to “normal”, Lizzie.

    He is a sexual predator. I’m sure that if the Queensland police had his IP, it would lead them to an offender.

    Tom

    28 Feb 13 at 7:44 pm

  675. geoffff:

    The Jews are being driven out of Australia.

    I certainly hope not. And if that siort of shit is starting to happen, then it is time to give in to the desire to ‘spit on one’s hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats’. And if the islamists and their left-wing lackeys don’t like that, then tough cheddar.

    What you will be left with will disgust you as much as they do us. More I suspect. Antony Loewenstein and a few dickhead barristers in Melbourne.

    Rule .303 will fix that quick enough.

    After what we have done?

    You’ve been splendid citizens and contributed immensely to this country. Which is just another reason why the traditionally amti-semitic left IS anti-semitic.

    You will miss us when we’re gone.

    Yes, we would. Which is why applying Rule .303 to those who attack you is a perfectly fine response.

    I’ll take those of the Jewist faith over middle eastern muslims any day. A choice between valuable, cultured, civilised human beings and ignorant barbarian savages is an absolute no-brainer.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    28 Feb 13 at 7:45 pm

  676. jupes

    Asylum seekers moved out of Macq Uni
    No word on where they are moving them to.

    Or when

    This house is vacant next week

    Septimus

    28 Feb 13 at 7:48 pm

  677. sea shepherd is being sued under the the Alien Tort Statute, which dates from 1789 to provide remedies for violations of the law of nation.

    sea shepherd claims the US courts lacks of jurisdiction. dutch shell and Rio Tinto tried that argument too. the National Volunteer Coast Guard of Somalia will be next

    the pioneering suit was against a Paraguyan police chief living in the US in 1980.

    Jim Rose

    28 Feb 13 at 7:49 pm

  678. Sorry Rousie, The ‘Or when’ was yours.

    Septimus

    28 Feb 13 at 7:53 pm

  679. S’ok Sep. We are us.

    Rousie

    28 Feb 13 at 8:04 pm

  680. Asylum seekers moved out of Macq Uni

    Move them back to where they came from.
    I’ve had it with the ninety nine point nine percent being let in a reffos when they are country shoppers.
    Their own countries should be allowed to sort out the terrorists within, as Sri Lanka has done, without more bleeding hearts interfering with their sap sucking international treaties. Yes, people get hurt in the process, but that’s the only way in many cases.
    Then they all go back.

    blogstrop

    28 Feb 13 at 8:16 pm

  681. Dover, winter is coming in April – although if you’re in Melbourne then it’s already here, climatewise.

    Gab

    28 Feb 13 at 8:16 pm

  682. Why is it the government sent some Sri Lankans packing and others were given bridging visas? Bowen stated all Sri Lankans were to be sent back post haste. Does anyone in Immi dept know what they’re doing? (Two more boats this week with 100 or so).

    Gab

    28 Feb 13 at 8:20 pm

  683. (Two more boats this week with 100 or so).

    Bullshit, I would have heard about that in the MSM.

    jumpnmcar

    28 Feb 13 at 8:27 pm

  684. Dream on :)

    Gab

    28 Feb 13 at 8:27 pm

  685. Does anyone in Immi dept know what they’re doing?

    No.

    Tom

    28 Feb 13 at 8:30 pm

  686. Remember the days when someone said ” another boat, another policy failure ” ?
    Can’t recall who…..

    jumpnmcar

    28 Feb 13 at 8:32 pm

  687. hahaha!, that’ll do, Tom. That’ll do.

    Gab

    28 Feb 13 at 8:33 pm

  688. Yes, Tim Priest’s article is very good. Adam Creighton, on the other hand, has a go at Family Tax Benefits, which he sees as a terrible waste of 4.5 billion and a hangover from the Howard era.
    I believe there’s something worthy in supporting families, but I’d limit it to the first four kids. I’ve had enough of hearing about fast-breeders who have both mum and dad unemployed and living off the benefits of having ten children. For good measure I’d add a “likely to assimilate” test.
    As for his bemoaning the expenditure of $4.5 billion, well, back when Howard and co. did their sums, they weren’t paying interest on a 267 billion (and rising) government debt. They could afford a bit of the erroneously named Middle Class Welfare. You don’t have to be middle class to have a few kids.

    blogstrop

    28 Feb 13 at 9:16 pm

  689. Speaking of the family tax benefits and welfare in general, does anyone know if the UK attempt to limit total welfare per household to no more than the minimum wage was actually implemented?

    dismissive

    28 Feb 13 at 9:23 pm

  690. Jc

    28 Feb 13 at 9:25 pm

  691. I think it was the average wage of 26,000 pounds

    Jim Rose

    28 Feb 13 at 9:31 pm

  692. Jim Rose

    28 Feb 13 at 9:34 pm

  693. It is mind blowing to see Homer talk about statistics.

    Is he saying we should ignore the autocorrelation/cointegration issues?

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 9:34 pm

  694. Hi I’m an idiot reader whom pays taxes for John Quiggin to be paid for his pointless research and executive level salary in his do nothing climate change job.

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 9:35 pm

  695. (Two more boats this week with 100 or so)

    That’s OK, we signed a deal with NZ to take 120.

    Wait.

    Oh crap, that wasn’t enough, was it?

    brc

    28 Feb 13 at 9:35 pm

  696. Speaking of the family tax benefits and welfare in general, does anyone know if the UK attempt to limit total welfare per household to no more than the minimum wage was actually implemented?

    That’s a fairly good idea, now get rid of the minimum wage, and high EMTRs along the entire income tax schedule.

    How does the UK spend so much money in the Government sector generally?

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 9:38 pm

  697. research

    lol…oh wait, you’re serious? That’s highly generous of you, Dot.

    Gab

    28 Feb 13 at 9:38 pm

  698. That this over-promoted arts student feels certain that it is Minchin’s mind that has to be changed does not surprise me at all in one who is a fully paid-up member – indeed darling – of the inner-city ABC/RRR leftie intellegentsia that are our betters, but its breathtaking in its precocious arrogance nonetheless.

    And no, I did not buy it.

    I hope you gave it the David Hicks treatment and hid it under the shelves.

    brc

    28 Feb 13 at 9:39 pm

  699. I believe there’s something worthy in supporting families, but I’d limit it to the first four kids. I’ve had enough of hearing about fast-breeders who have both mum and dad unemployed and living off the benefits of having ten children. For good measure I’d add a “likely to assimilate” test.

    The solution is to cut their taxes by double the amount that the welfare industry is offering them in handouts.

    Abolishing the carbon tax would go a long way to do that, as would eliminating excise taxes, tariffs and raising the TFT sensibly above the maximal dole payment.

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 9:42 pm

  700. Dover, winter is coming in April – although if you’re in Melbourne then it’s already here, climatewise.

    Only for a day it seems, Gab. Re Game of Thrones, March 29 if memory serves which means I should be able to obtain a torrent the following day. Brilliant. Re great viewing, I watched Homeland while os and loved it; addictive viewing, as was the last series of Boardwalk Empire. Currently watching The Following and The Americans. Both really good.

    dover_beach

    28 Feb 13 at 9:44 pm

  701. Yes, The Americans is rather exceptional viewing. haven’t seen the Following as the description put me off:

    The FBI estimates there are currently over 300 active serial killers in the United States. What would happen if these killers had a way of communicating and connecting with each other? What if they were able to work together and form alliances across the country? What if one brilliant psychotic serial killer was able to bring them all together and activate a following?

    All those serial killers running around forming a collective…still, you’ve recommended it so I may just put on my big girl’s blouse and watch an episode.

    Gab

    28 Feb 13 at 9:48 pm

  702. Dot

    On one thread Homer “thinks” you’re commenting there. That intellectual giant, “rog” also chimes in.

    It’s about the Lurch/Rudd insulation fiasco. Paxton is saying the fiasco actually was helpful in reducing fires. Rog says it’s impossible to burn houses down with faulty insulation.

    These two idiots ought to be on the Stanford faculty as statistics geniuses.

    Here, take a look. It’s really like visiting a sheltered workshop.

    Jc

    28 Feb 13 at 9:49 pm

  703. Joe ,cmon it’s got to be hard on Homer watching the ALP behave this way
    Christ knows what sort of spin he’ll come up with
    Shanky Ho will be mild

    Tal

    28 Feb 13 at 9:52 pm

  704. Oh yes, Boardwalk and Homeland very good. Especially Homeland with many twists and turns.

    Gab

    28 Feb 13 at 9:52 pm

  705. On one thread Homer “thinks” you’re commenting there. That intellectual giant, “rog” also chimes in.

    I own him, mentally. I live in his mind rent free.

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 9:54 pm

  706. Sede vacante.

    No pope since 8 pm AEST.

    I hope the new papa is like Premier Newman: that he comes in and sacks the hell out of a lot of people – especially the rats who made Benedict’s life difficult.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 9:55 pm

  707. The Fisk Doctrine will take care of them Mark

    Tal

    28 Feb 13 at 9:56 pm

  708. Dot, I take the Kwiggler post as a sooky-wooky retaliation for the recent post here re his ‘prediction’ about the death of the Federal Liberals.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 9:57 pm

  709. Shanky Ho will be mild

    He has been taken to task over this as well.

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 9:58 pm

  710. Dot, I take the Kwiggler post as a sooky-wooky retaliation for the recent post here re his ‘prediction’ about the death of the Federal Liberals.

    Good call, Pr Q.

    You should start a business forecasting consultancy.

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 9:59 pm

  711. Leave Homer alone.

    Good old Homer.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 10:00 pm

  712. I hope the new papa is like Premier Newman: that he comes in and sacks the hell out of a lot of people – especially the rats who made Benedict’s life difficult.

    Please explain.

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 10:00 pm

  713. Good grief! Is John Quiggan some sort of pissant colonial version of northern hemisphere fruitcake zombie activists like Paul Krugman?

    With a readership of the same sort of mouth-breathers apparently:

    Sam February 28th, 2013 at 19:52 | #1 Reply | Quote Horrible. Anyone who has spent time walking in Northern Australia knows how special it really is. So much true wilderness; it’s one of the last places left on Earth where humans are not in control. To think that it’s all about to be brought under cultivation and tamed is just too dreadful.

    Martin Spalding February 28th, 2013 at 19:55 | #2 Reply | Quote Yes, the last scrap of intellectual consistency is gone. But the IPA has long been mainly about serving conservative interests & aligning with the right wing of the Liberal Party.

    What worries me more is the ridiculous number of times the ABC puts them on their shows, giving them a legitimacy & mainstreamness that is completely unwarranted. How many hundred associations, groups & think tanks are out there doing wonderful things but getting a fraction of the airtime the IPA gets?

    Can one person tell me what the IPA has done to deserve this inflated media profile?

    Unlike 30-40 years ago, Australia now has a whole class of communists dedicated to sabotaging national economic development and wealth creation. Like all leftists, their whole mission in life is to pretend they’re not really saboteurs. The war against these gutless white ants needs to be won in the next five years. Because the Libs have no overarching set of guiding intellectual principles that they actively adhere to, they’re a pushover for the left. Shithole here we come.

    Tom

    28 Feb 13 at 10:01 pm

  714. Dot, if the VatiLeaks docs are being accurately reported (a big if), there is a coterie of lifestyle prelates in the Vatican who need to be booted. Preferably to missionary work in some São Paulo favela.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 10:04 pm

  715. Dot, if the VatiLeaks docs are being accurately reported (a big if), there is a coterie of lifestyle prelates in the Vatican who need to be booted. Preferably to missionary work in some São Paulo favela.

    Quick summary or link. VatiLeaks? Really?

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 10:07 pm

  716. Anyone who has spent time walking in Northern Australia knows how special it really is.

    Ahahahaha.

    No no. It’s really not. It’s a putrid, hot bog with ferns.

    To think that it’s all about to be brought under cultivation and tamed is just too dreadful.

    No, it’s wonderful. Creation was given to us by God to master, shape, rule and judiciously exploit. The viroment will do as it’s told.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 10:11 pm

  717. The Following started ok but is just getting silly now.
    More soap than serial killer chasing.
    Besides, the guy must have been recruiting 24-7.

    Watch Utopia instead. Much, much better and being a UK show, is only six episodes (sob) with a story that goes somewhere.
    And avoid the wiki entry – it’s riddled with spoilers.

    Derp

    28 Feb 13 at 10:11 pm

  718. Did the Latin American chance firm up in the odds for Pope?

    Dan

    28 Feb 13 at 10:11 pm

  719. Dot, where have you been, dude? :)

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 10:12 pm

  720. From wiki

    The scandal escalated in May 2012 when Nuzzi published a book entitled His Holiness: The Secret Papers of Benedict XVI consisting of confidential letters and memos between Pope Benedict and his personal secretary,[5] a controversial book that portrays the Vatican as a hotbed of jealousy, intrigue and underhanded factional fighting

    Well…no one ever saw that coming…LOL

    Seriously though, Italian TV journalism…worse than their appeals for a penalty in a soccer pre quarter final.

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 10:12 pm

  721. Australia now has a whole class of communists dedicated to sabotaging national economic development and wealth creation.

    The idea began in 1884 but the Bill was finally passed in 1949, under the then Labor government led by Chifley. I cannot imagine how ashamed they would be today reading the utter simpering tosh of the likes of “Sam” and “Martin Spalding” and that of this current idiotic Labor “no dams” government.

    Gab

    28 Feb 13 at 10:12 pm

  722. Joe ,cmon it’s got to be hard on Homer watching the ALP behave this way
    Christ knows what sort of spin he’ll come up with
    Shanky Ho will be mild

    What annoys is his forthright blockheadness, Tal.

    Jc

    28 Feb 13 at 10:12 pm

  723. Dot, where have you been, dude?

    Out with Jack Chick and Alberto Rivera fighting against dark forces…

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 10:13 pm

  724. Dan, most know-alls seem to be coming around to the view that an Italian will be chosen. Personally, I hope so. A ‘foreign’ pope arrives in Rome at a big organisational disadvantage. The Italians are immune to that old trick – they invented it long before Humphrey Appleby.

    We need somebody who knows what’s what from the get-go.

    C.L.

    28 Feb 13 at 10:16 pm

  725. Anyone who has spent time walking in Northern Australia knows how special it really is.

    Ahahahaha.

    No no. It’s really not. It’s a putrid, hot bog with ferns.

    To think that it’s all about to be brought under cultivation and tamed is just too dreadful.

    No, it’s wonderful.

    Earlier on, places like this were avoided, because it was a mosquito infested shithole. If we can turn it into a massive breadbasket for the rest of the world, that’s a good thing. A great thing. More food production means cheaper prices and more people eating fine quality food.

    Develop the area asap.

    Jc

    28 Feb 13 at 10:16 pm

  726. Come on Homer. Just answer the question.

    http://nottrampis.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/around-traps-22213.html

    Anonymous 28 February 2013 02:57

    Hey Homer, you never explained to the “cattalxy crew” why you seriously thought Skan Ki Ho was a “Chinese warlord’s mistress”, rather than Mark Latham calling Janet Albrechtsen a “dirty street hooker”.

    Seems like you learned your history through the ‘Speed Learning’ brainwashing the ALP stole from the plot of The Prisoner.

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 10:22 pm

  727. Anyone who has spent time walking in Northern Australia knows how special it really is.

    It’s exactly the same as the rest of the country – the best bits are amde of hardwood, covered in absorbent toweling, have cold metal taps attached and a sheila named Shirl behind them asking you what you want to drink.

    Infidel Tiger

    28 Feb 13 at 10:23 pm

  728. Tony Ming Ly, 21, IT student from the University of Western Sydney, refused bail over half-tonne of ice imported from southern China.
    Ly’s co-accused, Hong Kong national Cheung Tuen, 51, and Singaporean national Boon Cheng Leow, 32, did not apply for bail, which was formally refused. All three men will have their matters heard before the same court on May 8.

    Ice from China? The Party is dealing drugs?

    stackja

    28 Feb 13 at 10:28 pm

  729. Derp, I’ve just watched episode 6 of The Following. The twists and turns are great.

    dover_beach

    28 Feb 13 at 10:28 pm

  730. Northern Australia needs a lot of work, in so far as we need an army of people to pick up the rocks before you can start torun a plough through the joint.

    Which in turn probably means cheap labour, 457 visa migrants, which means a shit fight from the unions because of them foreigners taking jobs from hardworking centrelink Aussies. Because as we all know, all those fools from the Illawarra to Balcatta just wanna move digs and go and get a job in the middle of nowhere growing calluses and earning cash.

    ______

    CL: Latino il papa for sure

    Dan

    28 Feb 13 at 10:29 pm

  731. Which in turn probably means cheap labour, 457 visa migrants, which means a shit fight from the unions because of them foreigners taking jobs from hardworking centrelink Aussies. Because as we all know, all those fools from the Illawarra to Balcatta just wanna move digs and go and get a job in the middle of nowhere growing calluses and earning cash.

    A wise person recently suggested that unlike the Americans and South Africans Australians never really fought against their masters.

    Jc

    28 Feb 13 at 10:31 pm

  732. Which in turn probably means cheap labour, 457 visa migrants

    Nope, just market rates. 457 visas? What is the point, they are better than some of the refugees.

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 10:32 pm

  733. Ridgy Didge true blue first Australians ?.

    Dan

    28 Feb 13 at 10:38 pm

  734. They really should offer it up in a homesteading bonanza.

    .

    28 Feb 13 at 10:39 pm

  735. To fix the North ready for plowing, illegals can pick up rocks for subsistence diet for four years before becoming eligible for a flight to country of birth, naked in manacles, ankle irons and a bag on head covering a tattoo stating in Arabic how they have converted to Christianity.
    No need for 467 visa people.

    WhaleHunt Fun

    28 Feb 13 at 10:43 pm

  736. Well, if our original inhabitants didn’t ‘fight back’ that is there fucking problem. And no amount of 21st century guilt trip can sway me otherwise.

    Dan

    28 Feb 13 at 10:53 pm

  737. Rooty Hill may suit you, Jules, but keep away from Kingswood.

    There’s a hospital there where they’ve got that lean and hungry look.
    Ides of March and all that.

    Ellizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    28 Feb 13 at 10:58 pm

  738. Rooty Hill may suit you, Jules, but keep away from Kingswood when out West.

    There’s a hospital there where they’ve got that lean and hungry look.

    Ides of March and all that.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    28 Feb 13 at 11:04 pm

  739. Anyone who has spent time walking in Northern Australia knows how special it really is.

    To think that it’s all about to be brought under cultivation and tamed is just too dreadful.

    There will be massive amounts of it left untamed. Just like the rest of Australia, if anyone actually paid any attention.

    wreckage

    28 Feb 13 at 11:06 pm

  740. To fix the North ready for plowing, illegals can pick up rocks for subsistence diet for four years before becoming eligible for a flight to country of birth, naked in manacles, ankle irons and a bag on head covering a tattoo stating in Arabic how they have converted to Christianity.

    This nation was built on the back of the chain gang.

    twostix

    28 Feb 13 at 11:19 pm

  741. Watching fast forward reruns again. So far they abe taken the piss out of black people,gay people, people from the western suburbs, old people and people who wear wigs, poms and kiwis. Refreshing old humor.

    brc

    28 Feb 13 at 11:24 pm

  742. Well, if our original inhabitants didn’t ‘fight back’ that is there fucking problem. And no amount of 21st century guilt trip can sway me otherwise.

    I think JC was speaking about the colonials.

    twostix

    28 Feb 13 at 11:26 pm

  743. Better explanation here than in link above:

    That’s two horror stories in less than a week, and there will be more to come fears the Opposition, if budget cuts are forced on the region.

    There have been almost $3 million in cuts this financial year alone.

    “This is just dreadful care, you need an explanation to how this could happen and you also need a commitment to fix the problem,” shadow health minister Andrew McDonald said.

    And a commitment to take better care of first-time mums like Talissa, and little Ryleigh.

    Five-day-old baby Ryleigh, who was delivered via cesarean after mother Talissa endured 26 hours without food. Photo

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    28 Feb 13 at 11:35 pm

  744. Token

    It is similar to what Phil Koperburg did to the volunteer NSW Fireys.

    You may know some people that my family knows if you are from NSW!

    kae

    28 Feb 13 at 11:54 pm

  745. In this post at Bad Catholic, there is a glorious video of “Miserere Mei Deus”.

    Beautiful Renaissance polyphony, and superbly sung. It would send chills down the spine to hear it live.

    Eddystone

    28 Feb 13 at 11:57 pm

  746. There’s a hospital there where they’ve got that lean and hungry look.

    I don’t think looking at her picture Liz that not eating for 26 hours has done her any harm. She looks like she has been in a fairly lush paddock for a fair while prior to her confinement.

    The other point is did she also suffer from laryngitis? Didn’t she bother to ask if her surgery was on time and if not could she eat?

    Splatacrobat

    1 Mar 13 at 12:07 am

  747. Youtube just recommended this video to me:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl2JIDJNcxA

    Look at the liars eyes as she bullies the interviewer into accepting what we now know, was a blatant lie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl2JIDJNcxA#t=1m42s

    The first of many.

    Seems like an age ago.

    twostix

    1 Mar 13 at 12:19 am

  748. Look at the liars eyes as she bullies the interviewer into accepting what we now know, was a blatant lie

    She is a pathological liar. If people cannot see that by now, or refuse to see it, then they are either evil or plain morons.

    Gab

    1 Mar 13 at 12:30 am

  749. at Perth airport in the qantas club. who just walks in? bob fucking brown……..

    Harrys on the Boat

    1 Mar 13 at 12:31 am

  750. Dover, am watching the first episode of the Following. I’m at the 33 minute mark – it’s only taken me over an hour to get to that point. I have to keep stopping it as it’s scary, gory and electrifying.

    (Note to self: watch the next episode during daylight hours).

    Gab

    1 Mar 13 at 12:33 am

  751. Silly girl, Gab. I’ll wager you’ll sleep with the light on now.

    Eddystone, Bad Catholic is just about my favourite religious blog at the minute.

    dover_beach

    1 Mar 13 at 12:40 am

  752. at Perth airport in the qantas club. who just walks in? bob fucking brown……..

    A bit out of place among all the FIFO miners, surely?

    squawkbox

    1 Mar 13 at 12:41 am

  753. Having crippled what laughingly passes as the Tasmanian economy, Bob Brown has joined the rent-a-feral crowd protesting Woodside’s James Price Point in the Kimberley.

    H B Bear

    1 Mar 13 at 12:46 am

  754. im just hoping he’s not on my flight. the hypocrisy of the shithouse knows no bounds.

    Harrys on the Boat

    1 Mar 13 at 12:57 am

  755. at Perth airport in the qantas club. who just walks in? bob fucking brown……..

    Did you give him an atomic wedgie? I saw him at the James Price Point demo on the news at the weekend. Fuck off Bob you senile old goat. Go back to Tassie and destroy their economy some more.

    tbh

    1 Mar 13 at 1:08 am

  756. I note with interest that one of the few things that the Coalition and ALP in WA agree on is that JPP should go ahead. It’s only the ferals in the Greens who disagree.

    tbh

    1 Mar 13 at 1:09 am

  757. my wife was goading me to poke his eyes out, bless her!!

    Harrys on the Boat

    1 Mar 13 at 1:36 am

  758. She is a pathological liar. If people cannot see that by now, or refuse to see it, then they are either evil or plain morons.

    She’s full of rage.

    Check it:

    “Thanking” Kevin Rudd: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl2JIDJNcxA#t=0m31s look at the face, pure hate.

    “I’ve heard your question and I’ve answered it” aka Dont you fucking push this any further:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl2JIDJNcxA#t=2m03s

    Also just on that video, check out the weird edit at 2:02 in the middle of her being pushed to answer the question of whether she new about Rudd being rolled. She’s getting angry and flustered so 4 corners splices in a few seconds of footage unrelated to the question where she’s neutral, composed and smiling to make it appear as though she was less angry and flustered than she appeared.

    A lesson in deceptive ABC editing.

    twostix

    1 Mar 13 at 1:38 am

  759. Google co-founder Sergei Brin: cell phones “degrading,” “emasculating,” “anti-social.”

    “The cell phone is a nervous habit,” Brin explained. “If I smoked, I’d probably smoke instead, it’d look cooler. But I whip this out and look as if I have something important to do.”

    C.L.

    1 Mar 13 at 2:12 am

  760. What would happen if these killers had a way of communicating and connecting with each other?

    They already do. It’s called facebook. :D

    nilk

    1 Mar 13 at 6:36 am

  761. FMD. FWA is the single most corrupt, regressive big union shop ever invented and business is screaming about its role in strangling the economy, so the Libs will leave it in place unchanged:

    THE Productivity Commission would be charged with overhauling the nation’s workplace laws if Tony Abbott wins power – but major changes to the Fair Work Act would be delayed until after the 2016 election under a plan being “actively considered” by the federal Coalition.

    Defying business demands for major changes to Labor’s workplace system, senior Coalition figures said yesterday the proposal was designed to neutralise a looming multi-million-dollar campaign by Labor and the unions to convince voters that the Opposition Leader would reintroduce aspects of John Howard’s Work Choices regime if he won the September 14 election

    The Coalition has no principles. In two years, it will be more reviled than Cameron’s circus.

    Tom

    1 Mar 13 at 7:11 am

  762. Where’s Stella?

    I did not let my disability crush the dreams.

    Tim Harris: Breakfast, Lunch and Hugs.

    nilk

    1 Mar 13 at 7:27 am

  763. The Lying Slapper switches from the Novotel to the bogan-friendly Rooty Hill RSL, then makes sure no real people can get near her:

    THE first venture into Sydney’s west at the start of a week-long sleep-out tour to win back disenchanted voters will see Julia Gillard preaching only to the converted.

    Of the more than 1000 people the Prime Minister will address at Parramatta on Sunday night, 800 are Labor Party members and the remaining 260 registered to attend are Labor supporters.

    Ms Gillard will address the rally at the University of Western Sydney before going to a Labor Party dinner for 300 people at a nearby hotel.

    Diners have been charged $100 a head.

    She will then spend the first of five nights staying at the Rooty Hill RSL club ahead of a week in which she will be joined by her cabinet and will make policy announcements for the region.

    Tom

    1 Mar 13 at 7:31 am

  764. Tom, while it is disappointing that the Coalition are, according to a rumour, not going to do much the IR laws, that does mean they are going to be as woeful as Cameron or Baillieu.

    Andrew

    1 Mar 13 at 7:32 am

  765. The Coalition has no principles. In two years, it will be more reviled than Cameron’s circus.

    To be fair to Abbott, the only group more duplicitous than pollies in this country is business.

    The screwed the Coalition over in 2007 and for 3 years after.

    The slimy cow Ridout needs to be hung, drawn and quartered and the Industry group she headed needs to ignored by Coalition ministers for the first decade of their government.

    Fu k em’

    JamesK

    1 Mar 13 at 7:40 am

  766. Labor’s illegal immigrant importing business is going gangbusters:

    A GROUP of boat people crammed into a commercial building in the centre of Parramatta has been kicked out after a raid by the council.

    Dozens of Sri Lankans were sleeping on the floor of converted offices in a single-storey house that formerly was home to a drafting and engineering business.

    Parramatta lord mayor John Chedid said last night he ordered the raid late yesterday because council had not approved residential use of the commercial building. “Parramatta City Council has not approved a boarding house on this property, and it has not received any complaints or reports about it being used as a boarding house previously,” he said.

    “Following this morning’s media coverage, council took action to look into the matter and organised a team to undertake an inspection of the property this afternoon.”

    Among the men living in the office was Daxchan Selvarajah, 21, who has been charged with breaking into a female student’s room at Macquarie University and putting his hands down the young woman’s pyjama pants while she was sleeping.

    Tom

    1 Mar 13 at 7:55 am

  767. To be fair to Abbott, the only group more duplicitous than pollies in this country is business.

    The screwed the Coalition over in 2007 and for 3 years after.

    The slimy cow Ridout needs to be hung, drawn and quartered and the Industry group she headed needs to ignored by Coalition ministers for the first decade of their government.

    Fu k em’

    Agreed, Business screwed them over with their IR changes big time. Many privately back the reforms, very few actually wanted to publicly support them or put money into a campaign, counter to the unions’ campaign.

    Andrew

    1 Mar 13 at 8:02 am

  768. Splat, not saying she couldn’t do with a diet, just pointing out that Julia will find it hard to garner support from a visit to Neapean Hospital with this sort of bad publicity.

    For those who doubt the impact of Sydney’s West on the electoral result, and who might have missed the economic vitality and importance of this area, see this in today’s Oz.

    Watch out for some massive vote-buying promises coming out Westie way this year.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    1 Mar 13 at 8:05 am

  769. After 1,100 deaths from a policy Nicolson campaigned for with the other left wing fruitbats, he finally decides it is time to revisit the asylym seeker issue…

    …by picking a false claim by Labor of dog whistle politics.

    Morrison was verballed

    Let’s see if Nicolson is man enough to retract his smear, or if he proves there are people at The Oz who are as base and unrepentent as the ABC

    PS: Gregory, it would be great if you can leave the well-mined abortion & Emily’s List memes for a while and do something with this material:

    * Left wing journalist who:

    1. Supported the Gillard policy of rolling back the borders
    2. Ignored the humanitarian crisis as over 1,100 people died
    3. Ignores the riots & mixing asylym seekers with young women in colleges
    4. Ignores the lack of care by government about the people who arrives

    There must be a view good images here.

    Token

    1 Mar 13 at 8:10 am

  770. The slimy cow Ridout needs to be hung, drawn and quartered and the Industry group she headed needs to ignored by Coalition ministers for the first decade of their government.

    Judith noted how business groups have poor bookkeeping. I think it is time people got Sell-out in the same way they got Al Copone, through the books.

    Token

    1 Mar 13 at 8:12 am

  771. If you are an amoral supporter of the criminal trade in humans that has taken at least 1,100 lives, you would desperately grasp at equivalency and call this summary of the business by Pier Ackerman dog whistle politics:

    IT is not only commonsense but good manners for new neighbours to introduce themselves when they move in next door.

    But not according to the Australian Red Cross, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the Gillard government. They prefer to sneak into neighbourhoods, keep the blinds down and hide their presence.

    According to a Red Cross spokesman: “To protect the well-being and identity of our clients, Red Cross does not disclose the whereabouts of accommodation provided. We have clients living in private accommodation at various locations around Australia. Our experience has shown us that because of their circumstances, asylum seekers are generally highly motivated to integrate and contribute to Australian communities.”

    The last sentence makes a mockery of the first. If someone is “highly motivated to integrate and contribute to Australian communities” it is reasonable to expect they would do so openly and not by stealth, skulking around a neighbourhood and hiding their identities.

    There is, in some quarters, a great deal of sympathy for genuine refugees who face indisputable risk in their home countries. There is also a great deal of hostility toward those who do not face any authentic threat but opt to pay people smugglers to assist them jump the legitimate migration queue.

    Transparency is only required by these people when it helps them push a political agenda.

    Token

    1 Mar 13 at 8:32 am

  772. Despite years of studies showing the impact of global warming on the planet, only 49 per cent of people now consider climate change a very serious issue – far fewer than at the beginning of the worldwide financial crisis in 2009.

    Translation:

    Despite years of studies showing the impact of global warming on the planet, After years of being lied to by a corrupt cabal of political activists with science degrees in an attempt to drum up research funding and new government taxes and taunted with childish scare tactics, only 49 per cent of people now consider climate change a very serious issue – far fewer than at the beginning of the worldwide financial crisis in 2009.

    HT Blair.

    Tom

    1 Mar 13 at 8:36 am

  773. Hey fellas (and gals) a short anecdote: yesterday evening I was returning to my office building and saw an elderly gentleman standing in the doorway out of the rain, by himself. As I approached I realised it was John Howard. I shook his hand and said to him “We miss you”. He laughed and said “well thats great, thank you”. And then when I was waiting for the lift in the building I saw another person also shake his hand and have a chat. It says a lot about Australia and more about John Howard that that sort of thing can take place. I mean …substitute Tony Blair in that anecdote …would it work?? nah!

    dragnet

    1 Mar 13 at 8:38 am

  774. I mean …substitute Tony Blair in that anecdote …would it work?? nah!

    Try it with Julia Gillard.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    1 Mar 13 at 8:44 am

  775. Amazing. Imagine if Abbott said this:

    We’re becoming too democratic. The miners make the mining policy, the clubs make the pokies policy, a bunch of blackfellas under a humpy with a hunch of goonys [cask wine bladders], they’ll be in charge of indigenous affairs.

    Not that Abbott would say that but how is it the love media and Abo activist groups don’t howl down the one time Labor leader? This is the guy the Labor party put forward as would be Prime Minister to defeat Howard in 2004. Where’s the outrageous outrage lefties? Or do they remain silent because they approve of such a comment by Latham?

    Gab

    1 Mar 13 at 8:55 am

  776. There is also a great deal of hostility toward those who do not face any authentic threat but opt to pay people smugglers to assist them jump the legitimate migration queue.

    Yes there is. Especially when they pay five times the cost of an airfare for the chance to throw away their passport – that is the only reason they come by boat. Their first act is deception.

    The first policy Morrison should enact as minister is ‘No passport – no asylum. Ever.’

    jupes

    1 Mar 13 at 8:59 am

  777. For the life of me, I cannot work out the mental gymnastics required for an assessor to deem someone who has thrown their passport away as a genuine refugee.

    Is it idealogical, laziness or gross stupidity?

    jupes

    1 Mar 13 at 9:02 am

  778. I wasn’t really up on what Morrison said. But I watched lateline and it gave the impression that it was now coalition policy for asylum seekers to have to report to police like paedophiles. It looks like he has been severely verbal led.

    On the plus side, the interview with Sarah Hanson hanson made her look silly as snowcone repeatedly asked her who had been vilified and how, and she couldn’t answer. They’re running with the ‘but it’s only one sexual assault’ line, the same way it used to be ‘it’s only one boat that sank’.

    brc

    1 Mar 13 at 9:05 am

  779. Thats funny. One cat meets John Howard and shakes his hand. Another meets bob brown and considers poking his eyes out. Judge politicians by their legacy.

    brc

    1 Mar 13 at 9:06 am

  780. I certainly hope not. And if that siort of shit is starting to happen, then it is time to give in to the desire to ‘spit on one’s hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats’. And if the islamists and their left-wing lackeys don’t like that, then tough cheddar.

    Mk50 of Brisbane
    28 Feb 13 at 7:45 pm

    Thank you Mk50 and I know I risk sounding like an alarmist nut for howling about this. But it is the truth and so be it.

    The truth is that Jews are reluctant to make allegations of antisemitism. We know what it is and let’s face it, Jews invented the concept of “turning the other cheek” and the only people to live by it.

    But this is more than just about Jews.

    Please go to my blog and listen to what this lady has to say. Not for the sake of Israel and the Jews. If it was only about Israel and the Jews I would have shut up long ago. I find this stuff embarrassing and demeaning but it is about something far far more important than that.

    geoffff

    1 Mar 13 at 9:08 am

  781. This is also funny:

    JULIA Gillard has snubbed Labor’s most popular member, Kevin Rudd, by leaving him off the invitation list to an event in his own electorate.

    Despite being urged by ministers to capitalise on Mr Rudd’s appeal with voters, The Courier-Mail can reveal Ms Gillard did not even notify the former prime minister about her visit to his Griffith electorate on Wednesday.

    The snub comes amid continuing leadership tension in the Labor party, with some Rudd supporters predicting worsening polls could spark a confrontation when parliament resumes in just over a week.

    So much love in the Labor party.

    Gab

    1 Mar 13 at 9:11 am

  782. Gillard will be doing it tough out in the west, trying to win support back to Labor from angry voters:

    Of the more than 1000 people the Prime Minister will address at Parramatta on Sunday night, 800 are Labor Party members and the remaining 260 registered to attend are Labor supporters.

    Gab

    1 Mar 13 at 9:19 am

  783. After promising he would act on it this year, Anthony Albanese — with the implicit consent of the Liberals — has ensured the country sits on its hands on one of the most important national infrastructure issues:

    The decision on a second Sydney airport will be shelved until after the September 14 election because both major parties fear alienating voters in western Sydney.

    This is despite growing support among western Sydney business and community groups, councils and some unions for the airport to be built at Badgerys Creek, amid claims it would create up to 40,000 jobs and require the building of roads and rail.

    While the government and the Coalition are believed to privately favour Badgerys Creek, they are reluctant to commit, given the large number of marginal seats in the region, which will become the focus of federal politics next week when Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott visit.

    Meanwhile the unregulated SACL monopoly laughs all the way to the bank – it costs roughly $100m p.a. to run Sydney airport, which turns over $1b. Good luck, JC. It’s a licence to print money.

    Tom

    1 Mar 13 at 9:23 am

  784. Whatever happened to the Setka v Abbott defamation case?

    After this blow, nothing more has been seen or heard from the union thug man who makes house calls.

    Gab

    1 Mar 13 at 9:35 am

  785. My goodness but some people are actually quite dumb. On the Sri Lankans asylum seekers in Parramatta being housed 10 to a room and sleeping (allegedly) on the floor:

    Except it’s not Labor’s policy….

    Whach is the Malaysian Solution which HASN”T been implemented..

    The current policy belongs to the Greens and Coalitin…
    Rocky Road (Reply)
    Fri 01 Mar 13 (08:37am)

    It’s a rocky road when you have rocks in your head.

    Gab

    1 Mar 13 at 9:43 am

  786. From the AFR story, I notice Ed Husic (Chifley, 12.3%), who sounds a lot like a Green, has volunteered himself for the high jump:

    The Labor member for the western Sydney seat of Chifley, Ed Husic, said recently that an airport in the west would exacerbate congestion in the area.

    “I don’t think I’ll be the first person to speak up on this, particularly in this year when both parties need to lay out on the table what their position is in relation to the airport,” he said.

    Mr Husic declined to comment on Thursday.

    Tom

    1 Mar 13 at 9:45 am

  787. Treasury looking for graduates:

    Do you want to make a difference?

    “Treasury operates at the centre of government, anticipating and addressing issues from a whole-of-economy perspective. This requires we think deeply, and in advance, about wicked and complex problems, understand stakeholder circumstances and respond nimbly to changing events, in order to assist the government to deliver on its objectives.”

    “As a Graduate you too could be an integral part of our challenging and exciting future.”

    Dr. Martin Parkinson, Secretary to the Treasury

    The Treasury and its people are at the forefront of Australian economic analysis and policy development. By providing advice to the Treasurer and the Australian Government, Treasury’s work impacts directly on the lives of Australians.

    No matter the issue of the day, the Treasury is involved. From the Clean Energy Future package, superannuation retirement policies, macro policy settings to microeconomic reform, Coordination of Australia’s implementation of G20 commitments, we play a key role. The diversity of our business is one of our greatest strengths.

    For further information on the process or to apply for a Treasury Graduate position, please refer to the Treasury Careers Portal .

    For further information on the structure and work of the department, please refer to the Treasury website , our Strategic Framework , the Departmental structure chart and the Treasury Workplace Agreement 2011-2014 .

    God help us all.

    Econocrat

    1 Mar 13 at 9:46 am

  788. No matter the issue of the day, the Treasury is involved.

    Well done Econocrat.

    How clear do the autocrats in the bloated bureaucracy have to be before people pay attention?

    Token

    1 Mar 13 at 9:50 am

  789. By providing advice to the Treasurer and the Australian Government, Treasury’s work impacts directly on the lives of Australians.

    Is that an admission of criminal liability?

    Econocrat

    1 Mar 13 at 10:06 am

  790. Homer Paxton still dodging questions surrounding Skanky Ho.

    http://nottrampis.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/around-traps-22213.html?showComment=1362092751699#c3224115989412974434

    Anonymous28 February 2013 02:57
    Hey Homer, you never explained to the “cattalxy crew” why you seriously thought Skan Ki Ho was a “Chinese warlord’s mistress”, rather than Mark Latham calling Janet Albrechtsen a “dirty street hooker”.

    Seems like you learned your history through the ‘Speed Learning’ brainwashing the ALP stole from the plot of The Prisoner.

    Reply

    Anonymous28 February 2013 03:29
    Hey Homer, Was it his wife or mistress. I forget.

    Reply

    Homer Paxton28 February 2013 13:23
    I did a number of times but unfortunately they were too think to understand

    Reply

    Anonymous28 February 2013 15:05
    “I did a number of times but unfortunately they were too think to understand”

    THEY WERE TOO THINK TO UNDERSTAND

    —————————————————–

    This guy has no shame. He is still sticking to his story.

    .

    1 Mar 13 at 10:07 am

  791. Let’s see how the old coot goes with this googly:

    http://nottrampis.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/around-traps-1313.html?showComment=1362093023008#c1809018769875422227

    Anonymous 28 February 2013 15:10
    Hey Homer, remember when you made up a bizzare theory that you would only support a change of Government and then the incumbent Government one more time, and not support the 2nd re-election of that Government, on principle?

    Surely then, as a man of principle, you are bound to vote for the Liberal/National coalition under the leadership of Tony Abbot?

    .

    1 Mar 13 at 10:11 am

  792. The good folk controlling ABCNews24 hate the idea of people making up their own minds about what they just saw in a live media conference; after hearing Tony Abbott, therefore, we needed Melissa Clarke to put things right: she immediately verballed Scott Morrison and Eric Abetz, claimed that Abbott left the media conference because he was avoiding questions, and made insinuations that Arthur Sinodinos was just as dodgy as NSW Labor.
    Yay for our balanced ABC!
    Meanwhile, a Facebook group, “Larry Pickering breeds HATE.Support Julia Gillard”, which claims to oppose bias, bigotry and hate, of course, displays bias, bigotry and hate against Scott Morrison.

    Deadman

    1 Mar 13 at 10:30 am

  793. The Black Jesus tries to put the frighteners on Washpost veteran:

    Bob Woodward said this evening on CNN that a “very senior person” at the White House warned him in an email that he would “regret doing this,” the same day he has continued to slam President Barack Obama over the looming forced cuts known as the sequester.

    CNN host Wolf Blitzer said that the network invited a White House official to debate Woodward on-air, but the White House declined.

    “It makes me very uncomfortable to have the White House telling reporters, ‘You’re going to regret doing something that you believe in,’” Woodward said.

    Earlier today on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Woodward ripped into Obama in what has become an ongoing feud between the veteran Washington Post journalist and the White House. Woodward said Obama was showing a “kind of madness I haven’t seen in a long time” for a decision not to deploy an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf because of budget concerns.

    HT Bolt

    Tom

    1 Mar 13 at 10:46 am

  794. This looks like an interesting lefty web site

    http://www.project-syndicate.org/

    I was drawn to it by a reference to Connie Hedergaard’s latest polemic about the EU central planning and the necessity of being green.

    Originally picked at the Daily Bell here

    These people have not at all given up on their goal of a globally planned economy, vis. Socialism.

    The article in question (see excerpt above) is written by Connie Hedegaard, EU Commissioner for Climate Action, and provides us with a new and disturbing direction for the European Union’s recovery.

    “The article in question (see excerpt above) is written by Connie Hedegaard, EU Commissioner for Climate Action, and provides us with a new and disturbing direction for the European Union’s recovery.

    The article, posted to the elite-leftist Project Syndicate among other places, makes the case for a “green” European recovery – one that is to be managed to meet certain goals, in other words. The thrust of her argument is encompassed in this statement:

    Beyond the global economic crisis, the world is experiencing a social and employment crisis, as well as a climate and resource crisis. And none can be resolved without addressing the others.

    This is a breathtaking announcement of bureaucratic central planning. Europe’s “recovery,” which surely has not even begun to take place, is to be managed comprehensively.

    This is, in fact, what appears to be the second stage of a two-part process to reshape Europe not just into a unitary political union but into a unified society that accepts – however reluctantly – the entirety of a controversial elite sociopolitical and economic paradigm.

    There is no consensus on global warming, environmental solutions (or problems) or alternative energy facilities, but Ms. Hedegaard is indicating in this article that there will be no argument, either. Out of the ashes of an “old Europe,” a new Europe will emerge, one shaped around an elite “green” agenda implemented out of Brussels and designed by Money Power itself. Here’s more from the article:
    – See more at: http://thedailybell.com/28761/USSR-Redux-Top-Eurocrats-Indicate-Europes-Recovery-Will-Be-Centrally-Planned-and-Green#sthash.2WvA35S4.dpuf

    Are these clowns really in charge? Are national elections simply distractions to shut us up?

    Is Abbott (and company) the Manchurian Fabian?

    Louis Hissink

    1 Mar 13 at 10:55 am

  795. Homer Paxton still dodging questions surrounding Skanky Ho.

    What are the Chinese characters used for the name of this woman? I’m sure that info is provided in the source he is using.

    I know a number of people who know both simplified and traditional characters that can help translate.

    Token

    1 Mar 13 at 11:05 am

  796. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Hardy_(Australian_politician)

    Senator Charles Hardy

    “I attack the whole system of government. The country is being butchered by the overfed city; and we of the Riverina must bring such a state of events to an end. The government is rotten; it is led by extremists and we must stand shoulder to shoulder for a decent government.”

    LIBERTY QUOTE LIBERTY QUOTE LIBERY QUOTE

    .

    1 Mar 13 at 11:19 am

  797. Homer Paxton28 February 2013 15:14
    too thick.

    *People who didn’t know how to use the internet to get definitions used in history.
    *Jason Soon put his foot in his mouth one time by producing a comment I made at the time.

    *I said there were 5 definitions in the Urban dictionary.

    *I also said Latham had no idea of what the term meant. This was confirmed in his diaries as well but of course no-one but no-one would take this as evidence!

    .

    1 Mar 13 at 11:19 am

  798. http://nottrampis.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/around-traps-22213.html?showComment=1362097258707#c7979350157614564090

    Anonymous 28 February 2013 16:20
    http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=skanky%20ho

    There are but 3 definitions in the urban dictionary, none of which pertain to a Chinese warlord’s mistress.

    Recant.

    .

    1 Mar 13 at 11:22 am

  799. Immigration, where the spending is easy, $8,052,306,504.05 in contracts from AAP to Zetner -

    From AAP to Zetner – everybody wants a piece of the action. It’s a shame our palliative care nurses didn’t put in a self-approving grant proposal. Sorry, there’s no money left for people who already live here.

    Rudiau

    1 Mar 13 at 11:23 am

  800. We have the old coot by the balls.

    Homer Paxton sez:

    I support a change of Government after they have been in for two terms so I will be voting for a change of government in September

    .

    1 Mar 13 at 11:23 am

  801. In Japanese i think it is, dorobou neko どろぼう ねこ.

    Carpe Jugulum

    1 Mar 13 at 11:26 am

  802. A sportswoman before a senate committee right now is claiming that, since she’s perfectly happy to waiver various rights, because she’s such a clean athlete, so should everyone else.

    Deadman

    1 Mar 13 at 11:45 am

  803. Remember what Possum said about the pink batts?

    http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollytics/files/2011/04/firesper10dayperiod.png

    Why don’t we see a similar pattern for new homes or air conditioner installations? Why don’t these have a 0-20 day period where fires spike and later on “safety imrpoves”?

    Poor Homer.

    .

    1 Mar 13 at 11:45 am

  804. Oops, for “waiver” please read “waive”.

    Deadman

    1 Mar 13 at 11:46 am

  805. One of the many poison pills this bunch of vandals called the federal government is leaving for its successor – capex is in the toilet, and about to be flushed further down the pipes:

    “Try manufacturing expecting to cut capex investment by 16 per cent next financial year after slicing it by 29 per cent this year. Try an already weak construction sector expecting to more than halve this year’s capex – down from $4.2 billion to just $1.9 billion.”

    and

    “The incredible contribution that the construction phase of the resources boom has made to our economic growth is tailing off as it must. (The boom continues, but not in construction growth.)

    Mining capex will be a massive $105.1 billion this financial year, up from a wonderful $82 billion in 2011-12 and $46.8 billion the year before that, but the outlook for 2013-14 is fairly steady with a first guess of $100.2 billion. That’s still very healthy, but the contraction elsewhere is sharp.”

    If it weren’t for mining, our capex would be frighteningly low. So what do the vandals do? Demonise the mining industry, of course, at every opportunity.

    They really are evil.

    The Coalition is going to have its work cut out reviving the economy once the long-term mining investment starts to tail off in a couple of years.

    johanna

    1 Mar 13 at 11:49 am

  806. “Try manufacturing expecting to cut capex investment by 16 per cent next financial year after slicing it by 29 per cent this year. Try an already weak construction sector expecting to more than halve this year’s capex – down from $4.2 billion to just $1.9 billion.”

    But…but…”da investmint pipeloine!”

    .

    1 Mar 13 at 11:53 am

  807. Hey Truth-told, please turn the caps lock off.

    Not only is are your messages easier to read, changing case when writing helps as it allow you to place emphasis on parts of your message.

    Token

    1 Mar 13 at 12:09 pm

  808. Nah, I love it.

    I THINK YOU SHOULD BOLD EVERYTHING TOO

    .

    1 Mar 13 at 12:11 pm

  809. Perhaps this is cruel:

    http://nottrampis.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/around-traps-22213.html?showComment=1362100417897#c7909194194698073492

    There were 5 definitions when I made the comment hence no-one ever questioned that at the time.

    Urban dictionary is not like an ordinary dictionary.
    It merely gives you the current definition.

    you have provided perfect proof of the Catallaxy mind!

    Reply

    Anonymous28 February 2013 17:13
    Err, Hmoer, urban ditinary has as many defenitions as possible so the ycan generate revenue on there merchandice. somone with a MBA should know that! shouldn’t they?

    .

    1 Mar 13 at 12:14 pm

  810. !!11!!ELEVENTY!

    Derp

    1 Mar 13 at 12:15 pm

  811. THINK YOU SHOULD BOLD EVERYTHING TOO

    AND ADD ITALICS

    it looks funkier that way

    Carpe Jugulum

    1 Mar 13 at 12:17 pm

  812. But, it isn’t. it is necessary to beat this block headed, ignorant boastful ignoramous down where he belongs.

    http://nottrampis.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/pink-batts.html?showComment=1362100628999#c3325909227903050238

    Anonymous28 February 2013 17:17
    “That is the average number fell like a rock.
    Hence we do know what would have happened to the marginal number.
    It could NOT have risen. It could NOT have even fallen slower.”

    No. You are just reparameterising your assumptions until you get the right conclusion.

    Please retire Homer.

    I’ll recant my rather harsh judgment of you if you explain why it is tolerable to have a 20 day post installation period where pink batts burn down homes…but that doesn’t happen with ordinary home installations.

    As for using jargon you don’t understand, you parroting Quiggin and telling everyone to ignore autocorrelation and cointegration in time series data was a laff riot.

    .

    1 Mar 13 at 12:18 pm

  813. The Yarts luvvies at the SMH have been at the magic mushrooms again:

    “Mr Crean’s office has confirmed he will outline the policy, which will define the government’s support for the arts, culture and creativity over the next decade, at the National Press Club in Canberra [on 13 March].”

    In luvvie-land, 6 months = 10 years, apparently. Keep on trucking!

    johanna

    1 Mar 13 at 12:22 pm

  814. SERIOUSLY, WHEN WILL SENATOR CHARLES HARDY’S QUOTE BE A LIBERTY QUOTE?

    AND I QUOTE:

    “I ATTACK THE WHOLE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT. THE COUNTY IS BEING BUTCHERED BY THE OVERFED CITY, WE OF THE RIVERINA MUST BRING SUCH A STATE OF EVENTS TO AN END. THE GOVERNMENT IS ROTTEN; IT IS LED BY EXTREMISTS AND WE MUST STAND SHOULDER TO SHOULDER FOR A DECENT GOVERNMENT”

    A TIMELY REPLY SINC WOULD BE BENEFICIAL FOR ALL OF US.

    .

    1 Mar 13 at 12:24 pm

  815. Potemkin’s Village

    FLASHBACK: Finally thinking, outside the box… here

  816. So, Senator Larissa Waters, Green QLD,

    Before her election Larissa was an environmental lawyer working in the community sector for eight years advising people how to use the law to protect Queensland’s environment.

    She grew up in Brisbane and lives in Bardon with her young daughter.

    I dunno what the community sector is. Is it like the private sector, but better wages and better attuned to achieving Good Feelings? Anyway, Bardon is a little further up the road and full of well to do people. I guess being an advocate for trees and waterways pays as well as any other lawyer type job.

    Anyway, Ms Waters (no mention of a husband, I guess it’s all part of the new Empowerment of Women thang) has moved into a shiny new office located in Paddington

    As you can see, rent is going for $57,500.00 for the joint upstairs next to her office so I would guess that her rental is going for around about that price.

    She has taken to Facebook to post drivel like this, that is indistinguishable from an ALP platform….

    The Greens care for people, and that is why we stand alongside public servants, and their unions, campaigning for more secure jobs with fair wages and conditions. The Greens care for communities, and that is why we stand up for good quality public services.

    If your sticking up for the environment, Unions and other whacky BS, It becomes a little incongruous that you should situate yourself in a suburb with a median house price of 850k, held federally by a Liberal (Teresa Gambaro) in a recently refurbished office that costs a motza that you and I all pay for.

    Dan

    1 Mar 13 at 1:01 pm

  817. The mendicant state run by Labor and the Greens has the highest unemployment and welfare dependency rates in the country… so it needs a fat new federal grant enabling it to continue to do exactly what it is doing:

    VODAFONE will create 750 new jobs at a Tasmanian call centre in a Federal Government-backed plan to move the telco’s offshore jobs to the Apple Isle.

    Prime Minister Julia Gillard will today announce a $4 million package that will enable the Kingston Vodafone Hutchinson call centre to double the number of permanent employees to 1500.

    It will also create extra jobs for the construction industry as the telecommunication company expands operations at its Huntingfield site.

    The Tasmanian government will provide $850,000 for infrastructure costs and waive payroll tax for new employees, as part of the deal to get Vodafone to move its offshore operations to the state.

    In other words, Tasmania is now using subsidies in an attempt compete with call centre wages in the Philippines and India. FMD.

    HT Bolt.

    Tom

    1 Mar 13 at 1:13 pm

  818. $5333 subsidy per employee. They are basically paying for their income tax.

    Dan

    1 Mar 13 at 1:20 pm

  819. $5333 subsidy per employee. They are basically paying for their income tax.

    yea not good, but a bargain compared to the car industry subsidies!

    Chris

    1 Mar 13 at 1:31 pm

  820. Ok, so upstairs is 179 square meters, with 115 sq M still for lease, so that puts Ms Waters office at 64 squares. At $500 per square meter for the other floor space, we are paying around $30k for this senators office per year.

    Although that estimate seems a bit on the cheap side compared to this place which is 13 squares.

    Dan

    1 Mar 13 at 1:35 pm

  821. LOL.

    By all means celebrate sodomy while semi-naked but…

    But Assistant Police Commissioner Mark Murdoch has warned that the parade area is an alcohol-free zone.

    He says police will be targeting people who engage in anti-social behaviour.

    Police ready for Sydney Mardis Gras parade.

    C.L.

    1 Mar 13 at 1:38 pm

  822. Chris Kenny rips into Sarah “Tragedies Happen” Heartless-Hypocrit:

    Few things make my blood boil more than the self-righteous moral posturing of the left on border protection. At every opportunity, they denounce anyone voicing concerns about the management of this issue as “racists” and “dog-whistlers”. On the ABC last night Greens senator, Sarah Hanson-Young said; “This is about whipping up fear based on racism. That’s what this is. It is racism at play.”

    Her attack is blatant politicking, it is abusive, it is an attempt to claim moral superiority, it is divisive, and it is an effort to disguise her own complete failure to deal with this difficult issue in a practical and sensible way.

    Let’s get a few things straight. The problem of unauthorised boat arrivals by asylum-seekers was solved through the tough measures of the Howard government. By stopping the arrival of boats, that government prevented people risking their lives on perilous journeys, relieved transit countries like Indonesia of an unwanted problem, maintained the integrity of our immigration system, put the people-smugglers out of business, prevented the self-selection of our humanitarian immigration intake, and therefore opened up those humanitarian places to those people selected by the government and the UNHCR, chosen primarily on the basis of need.

    The outcome was entirely for the good, and it meant Australia took not one less refugee – just that they came here in an orderly fashion.

    Thanks to the incoming Labor government and the posturing and protests of people like Senator Hanson-Young and other activists, these measures were abandoned. Effectively, our border protection regime was softened and the green light given for people-smugglers to start plying their exploitative trade again.

    Even thought there are over 1,100 people dead, Ms “Tragedies Happen” is not sorry and refusese to change.

    Token

    1 Mar 13 at 1:40 pm

  823. Further:

    Since then we have seen tens of thousands of unauthorised arrivals, hundreds of deaths at sea, detention centres constructed and filled in every state, and the integrity of our immigration system undermined. The problem has become so dire that the government has given up on its own preferred detention policy and, instead, is releasing asylum-seekers into the community before their status has been resolved.

    These asylum-seekers, whose identity, security and refugee status checks have not been finalised, are being housed in a variety of accommodation, some of it well below standard. But remember, under the government’s own policy prescription, this is not the ideal outcome. They would prefer to keep asylum-seekers in detention until their claims are completed – they are releasing them into the community only because they have become overwhelmed by the numbers.

    So when an asylum-seeker is accused of a crime, and communities realise people whose status remains unresolved are living in their area, it is understandable there will be concerns. This is not racist, it is not xenophobic and it is not to vilify asylum seekers. It is an understandable concern and interest – and something they might have a right to know about in certain circumstances. In such situations the authorities need to be fully aware of the sensitivities and liaise with the communities, including local authorities like police and councils. This is common sense.

    If your daughter was staying at the university dormitory where a group of asylum-seekers had been accommodated, you too would want to know. You might also want to be told if a team of tradespeople or a visiting delegation had been moved into the university dorms.

    Token

    1 Mar 13 at 1:43 pm

  824. Let’s get a few things straight. The problem of unauthorised boat arrivals by asylum-seekers was solved through the tough measures of the Howard government. By stopping the arrival of boats, that government prevented people risking their lives on perilous journeys, relieved transit countries like Indonesia of an unwanted problem, maintained the integrity of our immigration system, put the people-smugglers out of business, prevented the self-selection of our humanitarian immigration intake, and therefore opened up those humanitarian places to those people selected by the government and the UNHCR, chosen primarily on the basis of need.

    Fantastic summation.

    Rabz

    1 Mar 13 at 1:47 pm

  825. Why was this man ever released from jail?

    Answer: luvvie lefties and Labor lawyers.

    C.L.

    1 Mar 13 at 1:52 pm

  826. …By stopping the arrival of boats, that government prevented people risking their lives on perilous journeys…

    Not to mention the amount the government saved in not having to pay welfare. Which is the most ridiculous part of the ALP policy. By all means come on in, shit brother, you don’t even have to work for two years. Buy yourself a recliner, 54” flat tele, foxtel subscription and relax watching the endless summer of our cricketers in 1080 HD

    Dan

    1 Mar 13 at 1:53 pm

  827. Chris 1 Mar 13 at 1:31 pm

    $5333 subsidy per employee. They are basically paying for their income tax.

    yea not good, but a bargain compared to the car industry subsidies!

    The car industry has the excuse of retaining certain skillsets and capabilities within our country.

    I suppose that in the unlikely event of a national emergency we shall at least be able to still operate a call centre.

    Steve D

    1 Mar 13 at 2:01 pm

  828. Ray Hadley response to Sarah Hyphen-Hyphen’s accusations.

    Audio.

    Steve D

    1 Mar 13 at 2:04 pm

  829. Certain skill sets? There are plenty of other machinists out there who can programme the CNC to make parts who are not getting subsidised.

    Dan

    1 Mar 13 at 2:11 pm

  830. Senator “Tragedies Happen” Heartless-Hypocrit is going learn some lessons as Hadley is methodological, does not give up or back down.

    Now it is personal, Hadley will attack this and all future childish stunts Senator Heartless-Hypocrit pulls to get attention in her dog-fight with Xenaphon for the last SA Senate seat.

    Token

    1 Mar 13 at 2:14 pm

  831. The car industry has the excuse of retaining certain skillsets and capabilities within our country.

    That is a very, very poor reason for fleecing the Australian public of several billion per year in overpriced cars and associated subsidies.

    brc

    1 Mar 13 at 2:14 pm

  832. Perhaps, but better than call centres, surely?

    Steve D

    1 Mar 13 at 2:19 pm

  833. If your daughter was staying at the university dormitory where a group of asylum-seekers had been accommodated, you too would want to know.

    This has been my point since this thing broke. It’s not OK to put people up at a university where young women are staying, and doubly so when they are young men from countries who have been brought in societies which treat women far differently to our own.

    Essentially, Sarah Hopeless Hopeless is saying she wouldn’t mind being felt up in her sleep by a 20 something brought up under sharia law because it would be a cultural experience, and resisting it would be racist.

    Yes, I know, it’s an absurd argument I’ve made but this thing makes me hopping mad. And I suspect I’m not the only one.

    brc

    1 Mar 13 at 2:20 pm

  834. Potemkin’s Village

    Huggies to the rescue… here

  835. Potemkin’s Village

    Huggies to the rescue… here

  836. Perhaps, but better than call centres, surely?

    No. Option C. Neither.

    The Tasmanians are perfectly able of working out to build profitable businesses. The first 200 years of settlement on that island did not require subsidies to get businesses going. It’s just that they tend to elect people who tell them that they can’t.

    Subsidising one business over another is setting them both up to fail.

    brc

    1 Mar 13 at 2:24 pm

  837. Yes, I know, it’s an absurd argument I’ve made…

    It’s not absurd at all.

    That’s exactly what this putrid woman believes.

    C.L.

    1 Mar 13 at 2:27 pm

  838. dan,

    So, Senator Larissa Waters, Green QLD,

    Before her election Larissa was an environmental lawyer working in the community sector for eight years advising people how to use the law to protect Queensland’s environment.

    She grew up in Brisbane and lives in Bardon with her young daughter.

    I dunno what the community sector is. Is it like the private sector, but better wages and better attuned to achieving Good Feelings? Anyway, Bardon is a little further up the road and full of well to do people. I guess being an advocate for trees and waterways pays as well as any other lawyer type job.

    Anyway, Ms Waters (no mention of a husband, I guess it’s all part of the new Empowerment of Women thang) has moved into a shiny new office located in Paddington

    There isn’t a husband except maybe a pirouette as Larissa, a fine looking woman, plays for the same team. But yes, classic inner city luvvie.
    As for Gambero’s seat, it might be one the ALP thinks is a seat that should belong to them and they might campaign hard for it.

    Entropy

    1 Mar 13 at 2:31 pm

  839. From Victor Davis Hanson, “Why do Civilisations give up?”

    The gradual decline of a society is often a self-induced process of trying to meet ever-expanding appetites, rather than a physical inability to produce past levels of food and fuel, or to maintain adequate defense. Americans have never had safer workplaces or more sophisticated medical care — and never have so many been on disability.

    Eddystone

    1 Mar 13 at 2:36 pm

  840. Another ALP cluster****:

    The Royal Australian Navy Test Evaluation and Acceptance Authority (RANTEAA) highlighted in its advice to Chief of Navy that the final results from the 11 OT&E firings were:

    – the shipborne surface lightweight torpedo system (which primarily incorporates the combat system and torpedo tubes) had a 91 per cent success rate in launching the MU90 torpedo;
    – the MU90 torpedo had an 80 per cent success rate of operating correctly once launched; and
    – the MU90 torpedo had an 88 per cent success rate at engaging the target when launched and operating correctly …/…

    the overall MU90 lightweight torpedo system (both the MU90 torpedo and the shipborne surface lightweight torpedo system) had a 64 per cent probability of success. (end of edited excerpt)

    Click here for the audit summary (HTML format), or

    http://www.anao.gov.au/Publications/…/Audit-summary

    Click here for the full report (140 PDF pages) on the ANAO website.

    http://www.anao.gov.au/~/media/Files…%20No%2026.pdf

    That is, 1 in 10 won’t make it into the freaking water and 1 in 5 won’t work even if they do!

    FM

    1 Mar 13 at 2:36 pm

  841. It’s not OK to put people up at a university where young women are staying, and doubly so when they are young men from countries who have been brought in societies which treat women far differently to our own.

    Listen the recording from 2GB from Ray Hadley.

    At 12m 40sec he replays a quote from one of the girls who notes before the incident where she and an Indian friend walked past the men and the men made a comment about their breasts. The Indian friend understood them.

    This was a tinderbox waiting to go off.

    What needs to be examined further is the way that the campus security did not contact police after each incident and why the parents (WHO ARE PAYING BOARD FOR THEIR CHILDREN TO STAY AT THE COLLEGE) were not notified.

    Token

    1 Mar 13 at 2:37 pm

  842. Good Lord! Chris Kenny, stand up and take a bow. Well said that man.

    Gab

    1 Mar 13 at 2:39 pm

  843. Potemkin’s Village

    John Setka, oh poor wee lamb… here

  844. Hey, Grigory. John Setka called and said:

    “I’ll get you. I know where you live.”

    Gab

    1 Mar 13 at 2:45 pm

  845. Loguancio has a long criminal history, including six counts of rape, five of intentionally causing injury, four of making threats to kill and 12 of common assault.

    He reportedly broke his own fingers on a desk in an interview room to avoid finger printing.

    Loguancio was convicted 35 times and appeared before court 12 times between 1991 and his arrest for the rape offences in April 1997. He was then charged with 32 offences relating to those matters that dated back to September 1995.

    He was found guilty of five counts of intentionally causing injury, four counts of threatening to kill, 12 counts of common assault, two counts of reckless conduct endangering life, six counts of rape and one count of reckless conduct endangering a person. At the time he was sentenced he was already serving a prison term.

    Police alleged that Loguancio’s victim was raped and beaten daily for eight months between August 1996 and his arrest.

    Some acts were so vile that they have never been reported publicly.

    And so “vile” where they that he had to be locked away from a massive…12 years.

    Elected judges now.

    twostix

    1 Mar 13 at 2:47 pm

  846. From Victor Davis Hanson, “Why do Civilisations give up?”

    The socialist menace wouldn’t have even got off the ground if VDH was arround in the 40′s and 50′s.

    Token

    1 Mar 13 at 2:49 pm

  847. Sure entropy, she is easy on the eye, but the ugliest part of the body is the mind, which would make The Congress of Fluid with Ms Waters impossible. Really, if she set up an office at West End she would be in the thick of like minded drop outs and spending her our money more wisely.

    I think Gambaro is on a 5% margin, so it’s a safe Liberal seat as such. Personally, I can’t see the Greens making any sort of headway into this electorate but you never know just how dumb your neighbor is.

    Dan

    1 Mar 13 at 2:51 pm

  848. Waters is a Senator. She got elected in 2010, so she’s safe for now unless a DD rears its head.

    In 2016 all bets are off, however. By then I expect the Greens to be down to about 5 senators, no MPs and a handful of bag-lady-crazy councillors here and there.

    brc

    1 Mar 13 at 2:57 pm

  849. Shit I hope so. Which is why it is strange for the ALP to cede ground to them for second preferences. It would absolutely be in their interests to have optional preferential voting.

    Dan

    1 Mar 13 at 3:02 pm

  850. Incredible!

    A third line of evidence, the “four kingdom” results, concerns bacteria, fruit flies, arabidopsis, and yeast. In all four cases scientists have made very successful Boolean models that capture the effects of many normal and mutant genes. Analysis of these models shows that all are critical. . This results is highly unexpected because critical networks are very rare. A selection pressure that causes such vastly different organisms all to be critical(remember, criticality represents an extremely tiny fraction of the entire state space) must be very powerful.

    Reinventing the Sacred, Kaufmann.

    John H.

    1 Mar 13 at 3:07 pm

  851. Credit where it is due. A good article by Mumbles:

    Journalists have space to fill, stories to break, and political players lend a hand—with information they’d like to see in the public arena. Once that relationship develops it can be difficult for the journo to say or write unkind things about that information-supplier.

    It’s just over a year since Julia Gillard called, and then easily won, a leadership spill. That event was followed by this column by ABC journalist Barrie Cassidy in the ABC’s The Drum.

    It is reasonable to say that when it comes to the Labor leadership Cassidy is pro-Gillard and anti-Kevin Rudd. Possibly mostly the latter.

    Cassidy’s March 2012 missive was aimed at journalists who involve themselves in the political game. His sights were particularly set on the Sydney Morning Herald’s Peter Hartcher, who is to Rudd what Cassidy is to Gillard—that is extremely pro.

    Anyone who follows politics closely is aware of journalist-politician alliances. Back in the 1980s you could pick the pro-Bob Hawke and pro-Paul Keating writers and during the Howard government there were pro-John Howard and pro-Peter Costello ones.

    Token

    1 Mar 13 at 3:08 pm

  852. The first 200 years of settlement on that island did not require subsidies to get businesses going.

    Some towns during early settlement depended to a large degree on direct and indirect subsidies. Writers in the 1840s and 1850s reported Tasmanian towns which, though flourishing in former times, began dying immediately once the military moved away.

    Deadman

    1 Mar 13 at 3:15 pm

  853. Shy won’t get in Sept. She only just scrapped over the line last time with Labor preferences. I would think Xenophon’s Malaysia stunt out stunts Mad eye’s waaaacist barking by a long chalk. Any stray Labor voters or half witted swinging voters will kill off any chance she had of darkening the hallowed Senate chamber again.

    Splatacrobat

    1 Mar 13 at 3:38 pm

  854. Mick from Gold Coast.

    Where are you?

    Gab

    1 Mar 13 at 3:40 pm

  855. Some towns during early settlement depended to a large degree on direct and indirect subsidies. Writers in the 1840s and 1850s reported Tasmanian towns which, though flourishing in former times, began dying immediately once the military moved away.

    Which actually proves my point. Once the market was gone, the people packed up and went onto something else productive.

    The point is, today, they would be given a ‘post military co-investment stimulus package’ and be paid to sit there and pretend they still had a military to service.

    I don’t count Military (or construction, or something else) as subsidisation because the primary purpose is the intended one – building a road, housing army, providing a naval base – whatever.

    Subsidisation is paying someone to stay in business even though that business has gone away for whatever reason.

    brc

    1 Mar 13 at 3:42 pm

  856. Anonymous 28 February 2013 15:10
    Hey Homer, remember when you made up a bizzare theory that you would only support a change of Government and then the incumbent Government one more time, and not support the 2nd re-election of that Government, on principle?

    Surely then, as a man of principle, you are bound to vote for the Liberal/National coalition under the leadership of Tony Abbot?

    Well bowled, dotty. Homer! Hurry up and tell us who you’re voting for! It’s Abbott, right?

    Fisky

    1 Mar 13 at 3:47 pm

  857. North Korean style propaganda comes to a primary school in Huston!

    Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Barack could run. Barack ran, he ran and he won so all our children could fly.

    Eddystone

    1 Mar 13 at 3:50 pm

  858. In Canberra, in India and again in Canberra…

    That Black & White ensemble may not be very lucky

    Gab

    1 Mar 13 at 3:50 pm

  859. Rabz

    1 Mar 13 at 3:51 pm

  860. Gab, I think I saw a post from Mick Gold Coast last weekend saying he would be away for a week.

    Tracey

    1 Mar 13 at 4:02 pm

  861. The first 200 years of settlement on that island did not require subsidies to get businesses going.

    The massive amount of free convict labour for half a century wasn’t a subsidy?

    twostix

    1 Mar 13 at 4:05 pm

  862. Gab, he can visit me at work… here

  863. Oh okay. Thanks, Tracey.

    ———————————————–

    Wow. Solar power is now able to replace coal=powered electricity.

    It is also worth pointing out that everyone from David Roberts at Grist to Sean Pool with Science Progress has pointed out that the news may be too good to be true (that said, V3Solar did have their claims validated by an external third party). But what strikes me as the biggest news is the low-tech approach V3Solar took to a series of high-tech problems.

    One of the bigger issues with today’s solar panels is that they’re flat, thus miss more light than they capture. Without expensive and difficult-to-maintain tracking systems, there is no way for flat panels to continuously face the sun. The result is a considerable waste of potential power.

    Equally vexing, if you use a lens to concentrate energy on a solar panel this significantly raises the amount of energy produced (a very good thing), but this also raises the temperature considerably (a bad thing). Finding ways to dispel this immense heat requires expensive cooling systems and more expensive heat-resistant solar materials.

    V3Solar solves both problems at once with their “Spin Cell.” This conical-shaped solar collector (see photo) uses traditional (cheap) solar panels to capture light from any angle, following the sun across the sky by din of its shape alone. Or, at Grist explained: “It’s built-in tracking.”

    Even better, instead of expensive cooling systems and specialized materials, the cone simply spins. This generates a breeze which lowers temperatures passively which means built-in cooling as well.

    The company put a really cool video up demonstrating how it works. Check it out here.

    Any thoughts from you naysayers?

    Gab

    1 Mar 13 at 4:10 pm

  864. Oooh. I hope he does, Grigory!

    Gab

    1 Mar 13 at 4:11 pm

  865. Grigory, I hear steady eddy is performing humor transfers, give him a call.

    Dan

    1 Mar 13 at 4:52 pm

  866. I will be soon be on a tropical atoll for a week’s break with Da Hairy Irish Ape, comfortably shorn by me for the duration (oops – he might think ‘too much information dere, Lizzie’). We leave not this coming Saturday, but the next.

    Not everyone on the Cat, of course, will remember this, or care.

    I will be busy next week too when he gets back from his gruelling week in China as I have some girlfriends staying over. HIA will probably make himself very scarce and hide out at work a lot.

    I will t’row myself back into it, is his firmly declared intent.

    His work is full of women too, but they don’t sit around giggling at him all day.
    So he tells me. But his PA sometimes giggles discretely with me about him.

    ps. I too miss Mick a lot and hope he is having a good break. From what he tells us, I think Mick’s daughter and his wife have a bit of a giggle about him too.

    With some examples of the male of the species, ya just can’t help it. :)

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    1 Mar 13 at 5:29 pm

  867. Vodafail and Tasmania are a natural fit. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Fairfax head office there shortly.

    H B Bear

    1 Mar 13 at 5:38 pm

  868. Bloke from ACC at senate estimates sea the Threat of organised crime infiltrating sport is real.

    The threat.

    It hasn’t happened.

    What a fucking waste of time.

    Dan

    1 Mar 13 at 6:28 pm

  869. Sea = sez

    Dan

    1 Mar 13 at 6:31 pm

  870. What a fucking waste of time …

    And money.

    When is the AFL going to sack Demitriou for bringing the game into disrepute?

    jupes

    1 Mar 13 at 6:38 pm

  871. I hear Demetriou will step down when he gives up the smokes…

    Dan

    1 Mar 13 at 6:44 pm

  872. Demitriou is the 2nd most useless person elevated to a leadership position recently.

    H B Bear

    1 Mar 13 at 6:45 pm

  873. Dear God is there no depth of murderous incompetence the Lying Slapper’s blithering cretins will not hunt down and perform?

    STOP PRESS! Pickering Post has learnt today from a reliable informant at the reopened Curtin Detention Centre in WA that the centre is being “cleaned out”.

    Illegal immigrants who display traits of violence are regularly sent to Curtin Detention Centre.

    This week there has been movement at the centre.

    Charter jets are coming and going at all hours of the night and locals suspect these people are being distributed around Australia on bridging visas.

    These detainees, males between 25 and 45, have proved to be violent. Four murders committed at the centre have so far gone unreported.

    One informant who works closely with the centre said he was told (tipped off) that a certain detainee was to be murdered. Two days later that same detainee had his throat slashed.

    “It appears that these blokes have had some sort of military training. You can tell by the precision (with which) they carry out the hits” the informant said.

    “It is shocking what is going on here and authorities have been told not to pursue this stuff.”

    Well Julia, you have certainly done another fine job with this one.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    1 Mar 13 at 6:47 pm

  874. NYT: U.S. Asks That Justices Reject California Gay Marriage Ban

    The Obama administration threw its support behind a broad claim for marriage equality on Thursday, and urged the Supreme Court to rule that voters in California were not entitled to ban same-sex marriage there.

    In a forceful argument, the administration claimed that denying gay couples the right to marry violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause. It said that Proposition 8, the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, should be subjected to “heightened scrutiny” — a tough test for any law — and stated flatly that “Proposition 8 fails heightened scrutiny.”

    That argument is similar to the one made in the administration’s brief in a second case before the Supreme Court concerning the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, which the administration has also asked the court to declare unconstitutional.

    JamesK

    1 Mar 13 at 6:51 pm

  875. W.T.F….

    But senator hyphen snake eyes says refugees are top notch people.

    Dan

    1 Mar 13 at 6:52 pm

  876. Jerusalem Post: PM slams Erdogan’s denunciation of Zionism

    Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who has held his tongue for months in the face of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s serial remarks against Israel, jabbed back Thursday, labeling Erdogan’s characterization of Zionism as a crime against humanity “sinister and mendacious.”

    Breaking with its practice of not responding to such tongue-lashings in the hope of not exacerbating its shaky ties with Ankara, the Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement saying Netanyahu strongly condemned Erdogan’s comments and “comparison of Zionism and fascism.”

    Speaking Wednesday before a Vienna forum of the Alliance of Civilizations – a UN framework for West-Islam dialogue – the Turkish prime minister said, “It is necessary that we must consider – just like Zionism, or anti-Semitism, or fascism – Islamophobia as a crime against humanity.”

    JamesK

    1 Mar 13 at 7:00 pm

  877. Transgender Girl’s Parents Lobby for Her Right to Use the Bathroom

    The parents of a 6-year-old transgender girl who has been banned from using the girls’ bathroom at her Fountain, Colorado public school have filed a formal discrimination complaint with the aid of a lawyer—and are using the opportunity to speak out publicly in support of their child.

    “The more you talk about something, the more awareness and acceptance there is,” Kathryn Mathis, mother of first grader Coy, who was born a boy, told Yahoo! Shine. “We’re really just trying to make it known what the school has done and make them accountable.”

    The family has filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Division. It will be investigated, and if either party is unhappy with the outcome, the next step would be a lawsuit.

    JamesK

    1 Mar 13 at 7:03 pm

  878. Any thoughts from you naysayers?

    I think it’s bullshit, Gab.

    Here’s the deal, we’re from Missouri, as Americans say, which means I believe it when I see it.

    Solar heat is very diffuse and you just can’t heat the panel enough.

    Jc

    1 Mar 13 at 7:07 pm

  879. NYT Editorial: The White House Joins the Fight

    President Obama made good on the promise of his second Inaugural Address on Thursday by joining the fight to overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage. Having declared that marriage equality is part of the road “through Seneca Fall and Selma and Stonewall,” we can’t imagine how he could have sat this one out……

    The government made mincemeat of the argument that same-sex couples threaten “traditional” marriage……

    The legal analysis advanced by the Obama administration leads inexorably to the conclusion that all attempts to ban same-sex marriage are inherently unconstitutional. But the administration stopped short of declaring that truth, recognized earlier this week even by the Republicans’ brief. In fact, the administration said the court need not consider the constitutionality of marriage bans beyond the context of this particular scheme.

    We don’t know why the administration did not take that step. Perhaps it was to allow Mr. Obama to go on asserting that the issue of same-sex marriage should generally be left up to the states. We hope the justices recognize the broader truth that the Constitution does not tolerate denying gay people the right to wed in any state.

    JamesK

    1 Mar 13 at 7:07 pm

  880. Listened to Phil Kafcaloudes on Radio Australia this morning for an insight into the lefty mind. Or what’s left of it. I know, I know, happy to take the hit so no one else has to.

    Anyhoo the topic was the PNG Law Reform Commission challenge to polygamy in the PNG High Court. Phil interviewed the PNG reporter who told him that polygamy was a traditional practice in the highlands of PNG, and that it led to violence against women and children. Phil seemed genuinely surprised about the polygamy, and his ignorance about PNG traditional customs was confirmed when someone tweeted later that the practice was common throughout PNG, not just the highlands and he was surprised again.

    Despite his ignorance about PNG customs in relations to polygamy, Phil showed he was an expert in PNG customs in relation to violence. I know this because at the end of the interview he made the statement that, while polygamy is a traditional custom in PNG, domestic violence is not and has only started recently. Seriously, he said that.

    Do you think he actually believes that or he is deliberately perpetuating the myth that tribal societies were perfect until they were destroyed by evil whitey? Or to put it another way, is he incredibly stupid or deliberately lying?

    I’ve listened to Phil a fair bit and I’m not sure.

    jupes

    1 Mar 13 at 7:12 pm

  881. What a silly editorial.

    dover_beach

    1 Mar 13 at 7:15 pm

  882. These detainees, males between 25 and 45, have proved to be violent. Four murders committed at the centre have so far gone unreported.

    Look at these poor asylum seekers. How could anyone accuse them of being violent?

    Gab

    1 Mar 13 at 7:28 pm

  883. Gab, “breakthroughs” in solar power generation have been announced with monotonous regularity for decades. None of them has ever come to anything, for two reasons.

    One is that there is a physical limit to how much solar energy can be captured in a given area, and it is simply not enough to generate useful amounts of baseload power without covering vast tracts of land with panels. The other is that until excess power can be safely and economically stored, intermittency makes it a boutique product.

    The first problem is down to the laws of physics, and the second is unresolved despite billions of dollars worth of research over decades.

    Never mind the smoke and mirrors – until they can tell us how much it will cost (real costs, not subsidised ones) per unit of power generated, and how it will store excess energy, it’s all bullshit.

    johanna

    1 Mar 13 at 7:35 pm

  884. Islamophobia as a crime against humanity.

    So being scared of Muslims is a crime against humanity now?

    Just when you thought we had reached peak stupid.

    jupes

    1 Mar 13 at 7:35 pm

  885. oops.

    These detainees, males between 25 and 45, have proved to be violent. Four murders committed at the centre have so far gone unreported.

    Look at these poor asylum seekers. How could anyone accuse them of being violent?

    Gab

    1 Mar 13 at 7:35 pm

  886. But Johanna, they say they can capture 20x more sunlight on their revolving cone! That’s got to be a breakthrough surely? Oh wait, I get it, there’s no point capturing all that energy when you can’t store it for when the sun don’t shine.

    Gab

    1 Mar 13 at 7:40 pm

  887. kae

    1 Mar 13 at 7:44 pm

  888. It is necessary that we must consider […] Islamophobia as a crime against humanity.

    Islamophobia, if it mean anything, must be an irrational morbid dread of Islam, surely. How can any psychological impairment be criminal? Should we arrest arachnophobes next for crimes against araneae?
    How might we spot these people? “Look, over there, on that high viewing-platform, that man is shaking uncontrollably, weeping, sweating profusely, and trying to keep as close to the wall as possible! Arrest the acrophobic bastard!”
    Might not Islamophobia, however, really describe a quite rational dread of being decapitated by Muslim psychopaths?

    Deadman

    1 Mar 13 at 8:01 pm

  889. Jim Rose

    1 Mar 13 at 8:09 pm

  890. Netanyahu strongly condemned Erdogan’s comments and “comparison of Zionism and fascism.”

    Indeed. The creeping totalitarianism of Erdogan’s “moderate” islamic government is evident in their gradual reversal of everything that Attaturk did to free that country of the theocratic stranglehold. The emasculation of the military was necessary in order to open up the avenues for future, more obvious recidivisms.
    The left never sleeps, and neither does militant Islam. They have that much in common. The sharing of other common goals like wearing down the west with a combination of (i) the long march, (ii) political correctness, and (ii) denigration of Christianity, wil end in tears when the liberal left find themselves being done away with – convert or die. In the case of the (currently trendy here) politically active and downright proselytising homosexuals, it will be die or die.
    They should support our more tolerant culture while they still have choices, instead of pushing the envelope to breaking point.

    blogstrop

    1 Mar 13 at 8:12 pm

  891. Just looked up an old dead blog I used to visit ( an spent days in moderation at ) and it said this;

    Watch this space
    …for the imminent return of Larvatus Prodeo for Election2013

    Oh yes please!!

    jumpnmcar

    1 Mar 13 at 8:20 pm

  892. Jim Rose:

    down the steps he goes for at least 20 years. people can no longer claim he is innocent.

    A young male in a federal slammer.

    Not good.

    A young male in a federal slammer.

    Very not good, fresh meat for the hard men and lifers.

    A young male effeminate homo in a federal slammer.

    It can’t get any worse.

    A young male effeminate homo in a federal slammer for treason.

    It just got so much worse there are no words. Traitors are the only thing in the US system lower than rockspiders.

    The renowned traitor John Walker used to clam up after a year or so of interrogation, abrogating his agreement. So they’d put him into genpop.

    Several hours of merciless beatings and pack rape later, he’d agree to co-operate again.

    Mk50 of Brisbane

    1 Mar 13 at 8:50 pm

  893. Just a heads up for the Blogroll: Chris Kenny has moved.

    Cold-Hands

    1 Mar 13 at 8:50 pm

  894. Dutch guy I know just posted this on twitter:

    http://twitpic.com/c7oko1

    I can’t translate, but something to do with Wilders and Al Qaeda.

    brc

    1 Mar 13 at 8:58 pm

  895. Holy be jeebuzz, anybody up Brisbane way should go to jazzcat.com.au for a meal and get the acid jazz chicken. Really nice, and their gyoza entree is top notch also.

    Dan

    1 Mar 13 at 8:58 pm

  896. One is that there is a physical limit to how much solar energy can be captured in a given area, and it is simply not enough to generate useful amounts of baseload power without covering vast tracts of land with panels

    People just fail to get this one.

    Even if the solar panels were free, they still wouldn’t pay, because it’s a very low yielding high cost use of land.

    brc

    1 Mar 13 at 9:00 pm

  897. I can’t translate, but something to do with Wilders and Al Qaeda.

    Al Qaeda has “hit list” published: Geert Wilders is number 4

    Rabz

    1 Mar 13 at 9:23 pm

  898. From Media Watch Dog:

    I see that John Buggy from an organisation called Australian Reforming Catholics got a run on News Breakfast this morning.

    John Buggy? Orson’s brother?

    blogstrop

    1 Mar 13 at 9:25 pm

  899. Also quoted in MWD, from a book by David Marr, this in reference to university clubs sponsored by the National Civic Council, B.A. Santamaria’s group:

    The Democratic Clubs were small and their membership carefully controlled. The correct line was strictly enforced.

    “The correct line was strictly enforced.”

    Where else would that happen? Unions? ALP?

    blogstrop

    1 Mar 13 at 9:36 pm

  900. Here’s that al qaeda ‘death list’ Top Ten:

    1. Carsten Juste
    2. Terry Jones
    3. Kurt Westergaard
    4. Geert Wilders
    5. Lars Vilks
    6. Stephane Charbonne
    7. Fleming Rose
    8. Morris Sadek
    9. salman rushdie
    10. Ayaan Hirsi Ali

    Rabz

    1 Mar 13 at 9:41 pm

  901. Subtle little smack in the head to Conroy buried in one of Bolta’s updates,

    I know who you’ve called, Steve. You should be ashamed of yourself.

    RTWT
    Just wish that Bolt wasn’t so cryptic and would tell us who Conroy called.

    Huckleberry Chunkwot

    1 Mar 13 at 9:42 pm

  902. Oh, so Conroy rang someone to intimidate them into silence? News at 11.

    Gab

    1 Mar 13 at 9:44 pm

  903. Bolt shouldn’t be so timid, he should be on his soapbox telling the world in his loudest voice what this fascist cnut is up to.
    Don’t hide it at the bottom of a blog post late on a Friday night.

    Huckleberry Chunkwot

    1 Mar 13 at 9:53 pm

  904. Hey, Puppy Boy! Are you ready for the piranha invasion?

    Tom

    1 Mar 13 at 10:11 pm

  905. Salman Rushdie dropped down on Al Qaeda’s hit parade after he wrote “Buddha you fat bastard”. He is now number one with a bullet in Tibet.

    Splatacrobat

    1 Mar 13 at 10:12 pm

  906. Al Qaeda has “hit list” published: Geert Wilders is number 4

    Is Justin Beiber mentioned?

    C.L.

    1 Mar 13 at 10:13 pm

  907. Well Bradley Manning (the Wikileaks hero) can confidently expect to spend the next 20 years or so dodging his daily beating from the hardened crims in a Federal prison.

    As Mk 50 has said, there is no lower former of life in the prison hierarchy than a traitor.

    I remain astonished that such a low ranking, high risk “soldier” was allowed access to such classified material, much less be able to steal a huge quantity.

    I trust that many heads are rolling in the dust over this despicable mongrel’s action.

    Pedro the Ignorant

    1 Mar 13 at 10:23 pm

  908. Prime Minister Julia Gillard will today announce a $4 million package that will enable the Kingston Vodafone Hutchinson call centre to double the number of permanent employees to 1500.

    Will this be another Kodak moment?

    Splatacrobat

    1 Mar 13 at 10:23 pm

  909. Poor suckers, they’re never gonna see that money. gillard’s like that bloke that promises everything just to bed the girl.

    Gab

    1 Mar 13 at 10:25 pm

  910. Well Bradley Manning (the Wikileaks hero) can confidently expect to spend the next 20 years or so dodging his daily beating from the hardened crims in a Federal prison.

    To narcissus Assange this is just collateral damage in the fight against evil. He should offer to swap places with Manning.

    Splatacrobat

    1 Mar 13 at 10:29 pm

  911. http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2013/03/why-gun-control-is-gay-and-wont-succeed/#more-84118 a 3D printed AR-15 capable of 600 rounds?
    Maybe Obama needs look at ammo control, the type of weapon is not in his control.

    jumpnmcar

    1 Mar 13 at 10:30 pm

  912. Hey, we are still alive here on OT. Supposed to be warehoused by now.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    1 Mar 13 at 10:32 pm

  913. It’s too spooky. I am going to bed with hot milk and honey.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    1 Mar 13 at 10:33 pm

  914. Hey, we are still alive here on OT. Supposed to be warehoused by now.

    11:30 AEDT, Lizzie! We have another hour of grace – no Midnight toon tonight though.

    Rabz

    1 Mar 13 at 10:35 pm

  915. Not warehoused, Elizabeth. Sucked into the vortex of outer space!!!

    Tom

    1 Mar 13 at 10:35 pm

  916. Prime Minister Julia Gillard will today announce a $4 million package that will enable the Kingston Vodafone Hutchinson call centre to double the number of permanent employees to 1500.

    Breaking news: Vodaphone announce that due to the shortage of trained call center operators available in Tasmania they intend to apply for 1500 457 visas for qualified Indian personnel already familiar with Vodaphone operations.

    News at 11.00

    Splatacrobat

    1 Mar 13 at 10:37 pm

  917. 11:30 AEDT, Lizzie!

    Wrong. Thought J mentioned 8:30, rather than 7:30.

    Although at this rate it will be 8:30/11:30…

    Rabz

    1 Mar 13 at 10:45 pm

  918. Rabz

    1 Mar 13 at 10:47 pm

  919. I’m coming ’round to your taste in noise, Rabbiester!

    Tom

    1 Mar 13 at 10:55 pm

  920. Prime Minister Julia Gillard will today announce a $4 million package that will enable the Kingston Vodafone Hutchinson call centre to double the number of permanent employees to 1500.

    Vodafail are an absolute goddamned laughing stock. Who doesn’t know somebody who has dropped them because their service went to absolute shit?

    “Vodafone has already lost around a million customers since 2010.”

    Now the redheaded clown is giving the laughing stock of Australian telecommunications $4 million dollars of tax payer money which they’ll probably lose in a class action lawsuit for their breathtaking decline in service.

    Is Julia Gillard simply the shittest fucking decision maker in the entire history of the entire world?

    twostix

    1 Mar 13 at 11:06 pm

  921. Is Julia Gillard simply the shittest fucking decision maker in the entire history of the entire world?

    -Twostix.

    Yep. Makes Gough and Jim Cairns look like mental giants and fiscal conservatives.

    We will dine out on this stuttering clusterfuck of a Government for many, many years.

    “Do you remember when she pissed away X millions on . . . .(insert favourite disaster decision here)”. :-) :-)

    Pedro the Ignorant

    2 Mar 13 at 12:51 am

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