In our esteemed Publican’s absence on his mission of mercy – braving the wild weather and the rotten roads – I declare Friday Night Frivolities open.
Enjoy yourselves in the PUB’s unequalled ambience, remember that our bar and cellar have never yet been found wanting, exchange badinage with the saucy staff, and lap up the music, the stories, the videos …
The traditional FRIDAY NIGHT RAFFLE will begin around 7.00pm AEDT (goodness how this will work in Joe6Pack’s absence – but we will do our best), and will be drawn approx 8.00pm AEDT.
As always, name your three favourite numbers (1 – 100 both inclusive) and remember, first in best dressed.
And oh, beHAVE …
________________________________________________________________________________________________________I may just add
Good evening loyal patrons and magnificent co-workers.
What a week!
PMJG blindsided everybody again by announcing Nova Peris will enter parliament as Australia’s First elected Indigenous senator, to much cries of derision by sooks,losers,whinges,wankers,wankettes and other assorted members of what passes for our elite Msm journalists.
Mad man the lying truckstunter Tony Abbott has announced he will go on a mini election campaign next week to howls of approval by many psychopaths,idiots suckers,suckeruppers ,fawning brain-dead janissaries and other assorted members of what passes for our elite msm journalists.
Rain is pouring down in QLD. while other parts of our great land are burning.
Tommorow is Australia day where Proud Aussies will fly their Chinese made flags on their Korean built cars and then get drunk and abuse Chinese and Koreans.
To all of this is I say a great big PPFFFFTTTT because its ‘RAFFLE NIGHT’.
Now for the benefit of new patrons and for other people who for the life I me I cannot understand what is so hard about the rules .
At 6.00pm QLD TIME The raffle will open (I will announce when it is 6.00pm in Qld to help some of you who have started early on the friday night drinks,lucky buggers)
Request your 3 numbers between 1 and 100. First in first served . If your number is taken you can request another but a maximum of 3 numbers per person.
The draw will be held at 7.00pm again Qld time (in case some of you thought you only has 1 second to ask for your numbers)
Again I will determine when it is 7.00pm in QLd. I hopefully would have had a few drinks by then.
The Prize will be announced at the time of the draw or soon after.
Enjoy yourself, welcome to new patrons, join in the fun let drinks be had,stories told,music discussed and lets hope everyone who is stuck in the floods gets home safe shortly.
Happy Australia Day Tommorow.
THE PUB 
o there u are PA.
hi
Morning
C@tmomma
Trust you had a good birthday?
Good morning everyone. BK, links still working, thanks heaps. 🙂
Interesting night a The Pub last night, a few more popping in and adding to the hubbub. 🙂
Thunder and lightening here from the wee hours, fire siren 7am, on short sharp shower, sky clearing. 😦
victoria,
Had a lovely birthday dinner! I thought that the Indian food may have not been as authentic as I would like it to be, as we are not exactly located in ‘Sophistication Central’ here on the Central Coast, however I was pleasantly surprised. 🙂
gravel3,
We’re heading into Mosquito Season here. Hot, humid days, about 30C and 70-90% chance of a shower. Sometimes we get them, sometimes we don’t. The mosquitoes are guaranteed though. 😦
c@tmomma
That’s good.
I am actually off to the coast for the day. Mild conditions today which is brilliant.
The Mike Carlton link as posted by BK today tapped into my current mood about politics. It gave me a laugh at least!
happy birthday
for yesterday , hope you are treating your self all week end
victoria have a lovley day.
Thanks denese
I need a change of scenery. It has been a very difficult week.
C@t
At least you didn’t have to do the dishes. By the way did you find the money on the bar that I left for your faviourite birthday drink. 🙂
I think I read on TPS that Julia is going to be on smoothfm this morning at 9am, here is the link if anyone else is interested.
http://www.smoothfm.com.au/station/smooth915 thanks to LadyinRed. 🙂
BB. interesting post re..one : “Rummell”.
I don’t know “Rummell”…but I know Liberal sympathisers. BB. is correct in that they rarely “go over”. There is a reason for this and I am serious when I say that I believe their thinking toward politics and economics is based not on logic or rational thought, but rather on INSTINCTIVE thought.
Consider the arguements put forward by the Liberal hoi-polloi..usually there is less substance but much suspicion..followed by the regulation mantra. All signs of a sort of animal instinct in operation.
I have had years dealing with the handling of horses. They have a sort of intelligence, but they act more on a cautious inquisitiveness for that which will benefit them than on a trust….unless, of course (and this is very like a Liberal Voter!) they are hungry!
Then you have the different types of Liberal Voting middle-class…A) There is the Producing middle-class (Manufacture, acedemic,building etc) and B) there is the entrepreneurial / speculative middle-class…these are the most right-wing because their road to riches depends so much on variables of opportunity and deal-making and quasi-criminal activities that demand a sympathetic ruling order that will put in place AND maintain in place an system that advantages the speculators method of operation.
In the case of Rummell, you would have to know his line of employment or business to be able to know his thought patterns. For there is a set pattern of behaviour that is regulated by the percieved neds of those with less talent but deluded ideas of grandeur……it is usually quite predictable.
On the subject of Toolman…have you noticed how he has a sort of smug smirk when he dishes it out to Labor or the PM.?
just been reading about the uk.
mr swan does the opposite here,
.
we even gave out extra money to stop a recession,\
let this be a little warning of what the tories would may be do here.
you do wonder why people dont learn, will the poms vote torie again
in the future i suppose so.
when will they ever learn , the difference.
i hope some over there points out the uk position
so lukers there can understand,
the labor gov, dont take money off the poor and disadvantaged
they in fact give more, which means people spend more
which mean s more gst, more services stay in business and more
busineses remain open for business . less unemployment.
so hope this link from Political Animal, is posted over there
especially also for the above mentioned lib poster
When you hear Tony Abbott, Joe Hockey and Christopher Pyne rabbiting on about “We, as a nation, have to live within our means”, and Pyne stating that class sizes could be bigger without adverse effect on teaching, then use this as a cautionary tale that you keep in the back of your mind:
http://www.eclectablog.com/2013/01/in-michigan-thanks-to-republicans-its-byotp-for-school-kids-bring-your-own-toilet-paper.html
It is worth reading(short and sweet), because it also go to Abbott’s ‘Lower Taxes’ mantra which is he is trying to make out as a good thing. As it was observed yesterday, it only means lower taxes for Abbott’s corporate benefactors.
The point is, with Abbott’s scandalously effective way with words you have to take the time to pull them apart, phrase by phrase, in order to see more clearly just what he actually means by them.
BK’s link to Jon Stewart’s take down of Paul Ryan’s ‘Makers v Takers’ rhetoric is instructive and in the same ball park as Abbott’s rhetoric and it’s link to real world actions such as those I have linked to above.
Just imagine how you would feel if your children or grandchildren at a Public School had to pack their own toilet paper with their lunch every day. While the kids at the Private School had the best quality Sorbent laid on. It creates social schism and a too definite line between Them in the Private School System, and Us in the Public School System. Which includes us who wished to send our kids through the Public School System for egalitarian reasons.
And Abbott & Pyne will introduce Vouchers to funnel even more money to the Private School System and away from Public Education.
There will be no egalitarian society with Abbott and Pyne. Just a strictly stratified system with clear dividing lines. The side starved of money and resources and the other side lavished with money and resources. Starting at the School gate.
And ‘Aspirational’ parents will be left in no doubt that if they want THEIR kids to get ahead in any way in an Abbott Australia, then they better find a way to get the $500000 per child to pay for a Private Education. Plus another half a million to pay for a Tertiary Education when Abbott chokes the funding off for that with his Waste-cutter’s Scalpel.
jaycee,
On the subject of Toolman…have you noticed how he has a sort of smug smirk when he dishes it out to Labor or the PM.?
And a supplicant’s mien when he interviews a Tory.
denese,
True Liberals care not a fig for the poor. Their poverty is all their own fault, doncha know?
What annoys me is the obsession with “asking the hard questions”, especially when the interview is time-limited.
It usually goes like this:
It’s the same over and over again. Same format, same rushed questioning to get as many gotchas in within 5 minutes. Same ending: we’re none the wiser.
In addition, the antagonism and aggression, the rapid-fire machine gun style puts the viewer on edge.
Partisan Labor viewers are waiting for it to be over. Partisan Coalition viewers are yelling for gaffes and gotchas. And viewers in the middle are left as ignorant at the end as they were at the beginning, because the aim is not to educate, but to embarrass.
The interviews Gillard did with John Doyle and that guy at the Woodford folk festival:
(a) were polite,
(b) were informative.
If time is of the essence in the 7.30 style format then change the format, or invent another program altogether where the aim is to enlighten the viewer, and not to cause them, and the subject of the interview, defensive stress and embarrassment in order to make the interviewer look like a “star”.
ive noticed a lot of libs have smugness about them
equals us turning off our tv so its only the rusted ons that
watch smirkness.
goodnes only knows why they smirk.
also there are some that need the health benefits more than others
would abbott follow his church doctrine re some benefits
these and other question are never ask.
i am hoping the guardian will turn up to press. conf, and i do wish the
the ind. on the net here could also,
does any one know when the guardian actually comes on line
here
============================================================MODerators.
can you tell us how many lurkers we have that is people looking
not posting,
in an election year we need to have things for swining voters
to understand, which we are of course doing.,
i hope we get a bigger audience so the good posters here
are able to in a around about way instruct and educate
how good this gov, is.
Pa example of showing what is happening with torie
gov, is a great example
good morning all. Have had ABC radio on all morning as background noise and all I’ve heard each time I ‘tuned’ in is Ita blowing her trumpet.
http://www.gg.gov.au/australia-day-2013-honours-lists
The full Australia Day 2013 Honours Lists
BB
whilst they let the other side get away with the most outrageous obsfucations…
Listened to Sophie M being asked a question about Assange once. Her answer began with “some people think…’ and then went on from there.
At no stage did the journo ask, “And what do you think?”
I knew what SM thought – she’s a lawyer, and I’ve been on discussion panels where she’s been asked hypotheticals about the law.
But she was allowed to frame an attack on the government which was counter to her own beliefs, and get away with it, because journos – supposedly trained in these matters – missed the simplest and most obviouis of questions.
A sensible article
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/gillard-unlikely-to-overturn-poll-date-promise/story-e6frerc6-1226562053228
Gillard unlikely to overturn poll date promise
by: Dennis Atkins
From: The Courier-Mail
January 26, 2013 12:00AM
WHEN Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott were negotiating in 2010 with the self-styled three amigos – Independents Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and Bob Katter – the timing of the next election was high on the agenda.
I wonder if it was P Costello who started all that Lib smirking.
I had a look through the Australia Day honours list and noticed that this time, unlike 2009, we didn’t ‘honour’ those who won gold medals at the Olympics last year. So thank heavens for that. We pay for Olympic athletes to train. Unlike doctors and teachers and others who go though uni using HECS our Olympians are not expected to pay back one cent. Not even if they are lucky enough to land a very lucrative sponsorship deal. Surely that Olympic gold medal and the financial security that inevitably follows is reward enough. Let’s save the OAMs for those who actually do something for their communities, often at considerable cost to themselves.
So, to whoever decided to give the jocks a big miss this year, my very grateful thanks and a whole lot of applause.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/tom-uren-a-man-of-letters-pow-mp-oa-20130125-2dccr.html
Tom Uren, a man of letters: POW, MP, OA
January 26, 2013
Tony Wright
”I’VE been hit with open hands, closed fists, pieces of wood, iron bars and bamboo about two inches in diameter,” Tom Uren says.
He was hardly more than a boy then – a prisoner-of-war and slave of the Japanese in his early 20s on the Burma-Thai railway.
But Tom Uren would take many more hits as his long, often controversial life wore on, and he rolled with them all and refused to lie down.
Today, aged 91, with most of his opponents fallen away – and a lot of them forgiven by him, including the Japanese – he will receive the highest honour his nation can bestow on a civilian: Companion in the General Division of the Order of Australia.
Ita and people like her should decline being nominated for the award; let less known people, who are equally or more deserving, have a chance.
Good news!
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/mitt-romney-in-washington-im-not-going-away-86741.html
Mitt Romney: ‘I’m not going away’
By ANNA PALMER | 1/25/13 3:18 PM EST Updated: 1/25/13 4:04 PM EST
Mitt Romney’s campaign ended, but he’s not getting out of politics.
Romney told top Washington bundlers, donors and senior campaign leadership in a meeting Friday morning that he would help out GOP candidates for governor in 2013, during the upcoming midterm elections and the 2016 presidential race, according to two people who attended the meeting.
About Ita
This is how things work. Someone insignificant decides to set up an organisation to help people with a particular problem. It might be cancer, or dementia, or child welfare or people with disabilities. They slave away with a committee of unknowns and get it all set up and running, but it becomes obvious they need a spokesperson, someone well-known who will be able to attract media attention and sponsorship. They approach someone like, say, Ita, someone who has had a well-publicised career, made lots of money and , most important, has all the right contacts and links to the OM. This celebrity then does all the show pony stuff, often using material prepared with a lot of effort by various unknown members of the group. The show ponies are referred to by the media as ‘advocates’. Eventually someone important notices the PR done by the show pony and decides that all their ‘hard work’ for a worthy cause deserves an illustrious award. The unknowns who do all the real work, of course, remain unknown.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obamas-daring-liberal-agenda-is-neither-daring-nor-liberal-discuss/2013/01/25/ec53b2fe-6637-11e2-9e1b-07db1d2ccd5b_story.html
Obama’s daring liberal agenda is neither daring nor liberal. Discuss.
By Zachary A. Goldfarb, Saturday, January 26, 9:10 AM
If there was one word that was used most often to describe President Obama’s second inaugural address Monday, it was “liberal.” Obama supposedly tossed away the post-partisan efforts of his first term and embraced big government, fully committing himself to the cause of gay rights and showing a Gore-like dedication to the climate-change fight.
Yet the next day, the White House expressed surprise at the notion that the president’s speech amounted to an affirmation of liberalism. Press secretary Jay Carney told reporters that he rejected “the idea that this was an ‘ism’ speech.” He added, “It’s on behalf of ideas that represent who we are as Americans.”
…………..
Over the past four years, politics in the nation’s capital has been consumed by the fight between the president and tea party Republicans. But because Obama is far closer to the center than the tea party is, what counts as middle ground in Washington is more conservative than the political center nationwide. In this setting, even centrist proposals face mighty legislative hurdles.
Beyond the capital’s divisions, citizens across the country resist the “liberal” label — even though polls show that they tend to hold liberal positions on individual issues. Political scientists call it “symbolic” vs. “operational” ideology.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/01/24/the-morning-plum-obama-as-the-anti-reagan/
The Morning Plum: Obama as the anti-Reagan
Posted by Greg Sargent on January 24, 2013 at 9:17 am
Little by little, it’s sinking in that Obama’s inaugural speech has the potential to be a turning point in American history, one akin to Ronald Reagan’s inaugural address in 1981, in which he declared: “Government is not the solution to our problem; it is the problem.” That speech did more than articulate the conservative philosophy of governance; it was a declaration of ideological victory, a proclamation that the nation had opted for a new ideological direction.
Oh dear, I think those candidates for GOP Governor may just run away FROM Mitt Romney. I would think he’d lose votes for the GOP rather than gain them.
C@tmomma…I agree with the line of your post..the principle sold to the public by the Abbott and by the Howard Liberals is that tiresome idea that a national budget be compared to a household budget…not even the dimest economist or even a serious thinker would compare the operations of the two save in the idea that both function on money!….The National budget, as we here all realise, on a agreed system of international exchange of responsible fiscal dealings..hence such institutions as the IMF. while a household budget can best be described as “catch-as-catchcan”…with mum/dad…on wages or stipend of one kind or another.
Those bastards in the Liberal party will continue to sell this furfhy as long as the media let them get away with it and with the OM. in their back pockets, they will get away with it for some time yet.
I still think we have to target the OM. journalists yet more..they are on the back foot and we must keep them there for as long as it takes to shake some sense into them or they must be brought down in disgrace!
gigilene,
It seems to me that it is the high-profile people who get the gongs. Ita, for example, has already got a couple of medal gongs and here she is getting yet another.
I wonder if any volunteer Fireys, ambulance personnel and paramedics, and other emergency rescuers are ever nominated, and if nominated, why are the same high profile people given the gong?
http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/is-obama-biblical-lord-of-the-flies/
WND EXCLUSIVE
IS OBAMA BIBLICAL ‘LORD OF THE FLIES’?
Prophecy sites have field day with president’s insect moments
Published: 8 hours ago
by AARON KLEIN
JERUSALEM – Prophecy websites are having a field day with the worldwide attention President Obama is getting for sparring with a fly yesterday.
News reports have recounted Obama’s history of attracting flies during recorded interviews and speeches.
Already, religious and other websites are using the headlines to point out that a biblical reference for Satan, the Semitic deity Beelzebub, literally translates from Hebrew into “Lord of the Flies.”
As Obama nominated two new members of his second administration yesterday, a swarming fly stole the show.
“This guy is bothering me here,” said Obama, who repeatedly swatted at a large black fly buzzing near his face.
I’m in CMC at the moment. (Hometown of Mr Windsor)
Was out for a meal last night with some friends who are of the farming stock, scaredy cat conservo variety. Discussion came up about the election.
They are multi generational Nationals voters who have always voted for TW because of his Nationals background.
What will they vote this year. Quick as a flash “TW of course”. They think Abbott is a tool, they don’t like JG, but on balance prefer her to Abbott.
They believe TW had no option but to support JG after the 2010 election.
Why not Torbay? “Because he calls himself a ‘Nationals independent’ and he is one who’ll call himself anything and agree to anything to get elected.””
Bit like another bloke who’ll give anything except his arse.
Another grudge they hold against Abbott is that when his caravan came to CMC for a “public meeting” 12 or 18 months back, there was a rigorous process over the preceding weeks to identify hand picked attendees to be invited.
How the likes of Ita Buttrose “get things done” is to supply a money stream for the types she keeps company with. A self respecting woman would not have worked to promote anything Kerry Packer did…no self respecting woman would even voluntarily keep company with the likes of the Packers..Germaine Greer and many other ordinary feminists ripped shit out of the male dominated establishment WAY..WAY before Buttrose and was canned by the likes of Woman’s Weekly for it.
Ita doesn’t look happy accepting the award from Julia..probably because she feels it should be HER doing the giving.
Say!..here’s an idea…how about we create our own “Aussie of the year” here and vote on , say ; five nominees put up by ourselves complete with a short biography of their everyday contributions?
They can be Mum, Dad, workmate, skilled, unskilled but they have to be “ridgy-didge”
I’ll kick it off with a brickie I know….he wouldn’t even know this site or the world of blogging exists..he is 74yrs. was brought out from Italy just after the war at fourteen years old by his uncle. Has worked in the building trade all his young and adult life….is an obstrepolous but humerous old bastard..perhaps in BOTH senses of the word (never mentioned a father..may be a “war baby”)….but has always been fair minded and as honest as the day and by jeeezus, a hard worker!.
There..a little bit as a kick off!
Whlie we are talking about Australia Day honours, what did Fishnets Downer do to deserve an AC?
They said it was ‘for eminent service to the Parliament of Australia through the advancement of international relations and foreign policy, particularly in the areas of security, trade and humanitarian aid, and to the community of South Australia.’ I suppose giivng kickbacks to Saddam comes under ‘trade’ and throwing a tantrum in Chile because he didn’t get a motorcade from the airport comes under ‘ the advancement of …foreign policy’
If I was really cynical I’d suggest that they should have included ‘services to the entertainment industry’ for his long career as a stand-up comic and drag queen.
Leone,
Didn’t Lord (“Fishnets”) Downer of Baghdad manage to unite the Greek and Turkish Cypriots in dislike for him? I think that comes under the heading of the advancement of international relations …
leonetwo….He got the AC. to go with his DC. it suits him don’tchaknow!
BB (& Jaycee),
I was a member of the Liberal Party 1978-1982. I also STUPIDLY voted for Howard in 1996.
I have not voted Liberal since then, and until such time as the party is largely composed of the likes of Dick Hamer and Lindsay Thompson (i.e., when hell freezes over), I will never vote for it again.
Meanwhile, I think I’m trustworthy. Except when grilled fish and/or fizz are accessible …
I’ve heard of chooks and cats alerting the family of fires, dogs rescuing children from drowing. May be there should be a reward for them too …
It amazes me that Crikey with all of its resources, can’t operate a blog without constant technical difficulties.
Then they want us to pay money for it!!
Tell ’em they’re dreaming!
fionajr
Indeed he did. He’s still busy at that ‘uniting’. It seems he has been accused of involvement in ‘a number of conspiracies involving the promotion of Turkey’s aspirations for the island’ according to the latest report on his activities.
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/alexander-downer/downer-visit-passes-almost-unnoticed/20130112
Could it be possible that the Cypriots, both Greek and Turkish, are behind the move to make him premier of SA?
Gigi,
There are several awards for exceptional animals:
– the Dickin Medal, also called the animals’ Victoria Cross; and
– the PDSA Gold Cross, the animals’ equivalent of the George Cross.
These are both British awards, but there are Australian equivalents.
However, I thought that you would particularly like this one 🙂
Leone,
Now, that’s the most delightful conspiracy theory I’ve seen in a long long time
😆
This is what happens when one wears a comedy tie to one’s citizenship ceremony.
Dare I suggest that it seems very fitting that Alexander Downer can now write AC/DC after his name on all those official letterheads?
Gigi,
I loved this account of one of the recipients of the Gold Medal, Endal:
Most delightful little Tamaruke Dylan, fionajr, and so brave …