If Malcolm B Duncan were still alive, I’d be asking him to direct his attention to Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. As – unfortunately for us – he is now seated at the heavenly bar with Tom Lewis (when Claude the White Persian isn’t trying to resume its rightful position on the Leather Armchair), we will simply have to endure another excursion to the Land of Nadir …
(Image Credit: Steppin’ Up)
As the three, Peter, Amanda and Little Lucy, walked along warily with the Beavers, their feet became increasingly wet in the burgeoning slush as the snow melted around them – a bit like Good King Wenceslas without the Page, thought Amanda to herself. Peter was walking with a funny gait, having had the Field Marshal’s baton which he had always carried in his back pocket wedged firmly up his … well as this is a children’s story, let’s just say that sitting down was now a painful process, made all the more galling by the fact that it had been an own goal.
Further into the Land of Nadir, the Dwarf and the White Queen were gaining on the children as they came closer to the teak table. Ruddock, now incarnated magically as a wolf, loped along beside them, fondly recalling the interview he had sat in on with Mr Patel. Why the boss was having renovations done when Patel wasn’t even in residence remained a mystery to him, but he supposed at least it meant that Patel couldn’t object to the DA. Corder was off somewhere doing whatever it was that Corder did.
In a fashion which need not be described but could only happen in a magical land, the Lady Jadis had become aware through Alexander of a scheme to supply Australian wheat to the land of Nadir. A huge amount of it was now available as a result of a shooting incident in a place called Mesopotamia or something like that – and the terms were extremely favourable.
A scheme had been devised by Little Johnnie, the Cabinet Secretary, the Head of Treasury and a frighteningly clever accountant – the modern Nugget Coombs, A W Board. It was top secret and known only to its devisers as quadruple entry book-keeping whereby the wheat deal could go ahead to everybody’s advantage. As a young solicitor, Little Johnnie hadn’t really understood double-entry book-keeping and he’d left the running of the trust account largely to the book-keeper but this new system looked – well – almost too good to be true. Mr Board would supply the wheat to the Lady Jadis, who would then pay for it twice-over by way of Fruits of Office. Half the Fruits of Office went to Mr Board (after the deduction of a handling fee) and half went to Little Johnnie who could then offload them on office holders, friends etc., at whatever he could get for them. A number of boards were already interested and suddenly retirement was starting to become an attractive short-term option on his horizon. He’d even put in a DA on the house. Because it was an offshore deal, there was no taxable supply and no GST. The Lady Jadis sold the wheat in Nadir for faery gold which she then stored in a pot at the end of a Swiss rainbow in Jeanette’s name.
Mr Board’s crucial role, however, was to ensure that no-one was ever told about the scheme or knew anything about it. He was vastly experienced in these things, having already been sent on trade missions about which he knew nothing to places as far afield as Mesopotamia and Persia. Little Johnnie thought it was a pity that we didn’t have Imperial Honours any more, because Mr Board definitely deserved a knighthood for this one. The Treasury Secretary said it would be sufficient reward to put him on the Board of the ABC and make him a Governor of the Reserve Bank. Mr Board liked that idea very much as he hadn’t been sacked as a CEO for a long time and could do with the cash. He wondered whether the job at Telstra might be coming up. It should be, he thought – they’d appointed the last one months ago.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the cabinet, there was terrible trouble brewing because of some documents that had fallen off the back of a trolley in the Federal Court. The Coalface was flintier than ever, as a consequence of which Mr Board had been asking about the possibility of a position with Macquarie Bank. The last one had been taken by an actor named Booth who did incredible impersonations of Abraham Lincoln. His wife never liked the plays, though. That didn’t really matter, because it wasn’t actually his wife he was interested in.
Back in the land of Nadir, Sir Alfred Deakin was giving himself some advice (he had been Attorney-general, after all) and he thought, on balance, that there had to be some accounting. Unfortunately, he couldn’t count so he wandered quietly into the Otherworld and looked up Sir Garfield at the Club. Sir Garfield couldn’t count either, which was why he’d gone bankrupt although it wasn’t really his fault but, as this is a children’s story, we don’t really have to discuss the vexed question of whether barristers can continue to practice after they’ve been bankrupted. As they were pondering what to do, a terrible thing happened: Red Ted Theodore walked into the Club bold as brass as though he were a member. Before the shocked assembly at the bar could call for him to be thrown out Sir Alfred suddenly had a brilliant idea: if anyone could count it was Red Ted. In fact, if he remembered correctly, Red Ted could count to 12 just using his fingers. To avoid the inevitable nasty incident, Sir Alfred threw his arms around Red Ted and said, “Sir Edward, how delightful to see you. Will you take a little air on the terrace, and a pint of porter? I keenly want to seek your views on Wheat.”
THE PUB 
jaycee
Read:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=head-dick
Gigi’….”O”….!..I see.
But that’s a vernacular thing…..that action has another name here.
Hey!…anyhow..what’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like that??
jaycee
“Nice girl”.
Me?
🙂
http://www.thelocal.fr/20140819/ebola-air-france-staff-object-to-flights-to-ebola-countries
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/treasury/treasury-sinks-budget-crisis-talk/story-fn59nsif-1227029980625
But try the link in the tweet first
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/napthine-rejects-conflict-claims/story-e6frgczx-1227029826968
ditto
http://media.theaustralian.com.au/multimedia/2014/08/renewable/
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2014/08/australia_businesses_get_to_vote_sydney_conservatives_want_it_to_be_required.html
A feel-good hedgehog story:
http://www.thelocal.de/20140819/police-free-hedgehog-natural-order-restored
Can this govt be saved from its blindness?
They would say that, wouldn’t they…
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/20/health-bureaucrats-clash-greens-impact-script-price-rise
If your job is under threat or you are an acting departmental secretary hoping to stay in or perhaps better that position then you will be only too happy to push the government line, even if you know it is incorrect. So we have bureaucrats telling senate inquiries only what the government wants them to say.
In other, related news – Abbott says he is sure his GP tax will get past the senate. He has a lovely new excuse for making everyone pay, it invovles a bit of pensioner-bashing as well.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/gp-fee-will-pass-tony-abbott-stands-firm-on-contentious-budget-measure-20140820-3dzhh.html#ixzz3AtPrS4Mw
The existing pharmaceutical co-payment deters low income earners from fulfilling all their prescriptions. Pharmacists tell stories of people asking them which is the most important drug to take and which they can ignore.
Pensioners get a Pharmaceutical Allowance of about $5 a week to help out with the costs but I believe the centrelink recipient co-payment should be about $2.50.
I know a few (and have been told of a good many more) pensioners who often run out of their medications and often pay their rent, electricity etc and then find they need to wait until their next pension payment to get their prescriptions filled.
Of course, the likes of HoJo and the abbott would not have any idea how pensioners get by on their ‘entitlement money’, yet they have no compunction in claiming their own un-needed entitlement of expenses for staying in their own establishments in Canberra, or attending a friend’s wedding or enjoying a bicycle ride for charity.
Just heard Cormann saying that the $20 billion expected from the co-payment over six years…$20.billion!….where the hell does he think that sort of money is going to come from if not the pockets of sick people who just happen to be a majority of lower income people?
Cormann
His head is so far up his own fundamental he would not know how anybody lives, and he would not care anyway.
Palmer said many times he wouldn’t pass the GP tax, not that we can really trust him. The trouble is the rest of his team might plit from him now that he made a fool of himself on Q&A. They might want to distanciate themselves from him and could be bought by the govt. You can’t trust anyone really.
About pharmaceuticals, prescriptions and payments.
The Pharmaceutical Allowance is $6.20 a fortnight for a single person and $3.10 each for couples. A bit less than the subsidised cost of one prescription a fortnight. Subsidised prescriptions for pensioners, people on other benefits and low income earners who qualify for a Health Care Card currently cost $6, not the amounts lazy journalists claim they cost. I know the right price because I’m on a pension and I get several prescriptions filled every month.
Some prescriptions cost more than $6. For example, some eye drops I need cost me $7.95. I’ve been prescribed other substances that have been quite expensive – $45 for a special nasal spray (and worth every cent) for example. Then there are things that are ordered by your doctor but don’t attract any subsidy. An example – I take a Vitamin D supplement on doctor’s orders. It is not a prescription item, just an over-the-counter purchase. Even with a prescription the $35-$39 (depending on where you buy it) for a two month supply does not go down.
There is a safety net. Once the threshold is reached – currently $360 for concession card holders and $1421.20 for everyone else – all subsequent prescriptions for the rest of the year are free. Note – that is only for one year. At the start of a new year you go back to paying for your drugs and keeping records.There are rules and conditions and it is up to you to make sure your chemist keeps a record of what you spend.
Abbott wants to increase the thresholds substantially in progressive increases. Concession holders will pay for 68 standard-rate prescriptions before they reach the threshold which will eventually be well over $450. Those paying the full rate will be hit with progressive threshold increases until 2020, when it will bw well over $2000
Abbott wants to increase the co-payment for pension card and health care card holders to $6.80 on 1 January next year. The co-payment has increased by 10c a year on 1 January every year for years, if this measure gets through the senate a lot of people will get quite a shock when they have their first round of 2015 prescriptions filled.
There will be no increase in the Pharmaceutical Allowance to help cover this cost.
it is not just oldies on pensions who wll be hard hit. Families on low incomes will also find paying for prescriptions difficult, even with a concession card. For those who don’t qualify for that assistance things will be extra tough. Just imagine the cost if the entire family comes down with something that requires prescription drugs.
Remember when Abbott said we could all keep the carbon price compensation Labor gave us, even after he got rid of the carbon ‘tax’? Well, these increases along with other budget nasties like Abbott’s changes to pension indexation and the GP co-payment, are his way of clawing back that money without actually saying he is taking it back. It’s time Labor and the media said that.
Some useful links.
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/pharmaceutical-allowance#a3
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/pharmaceutical-allowance#a3
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/medicare/pbs-safety-net
http://www.guild.org.au/docs/default-source/public-documents/news-and-events/media-releases/2014/medicines-partnership-pbs-scorecard-may2014_2.pdf?sfvrsn=0
First Dog on the Moon introduces the Federal Independent Commission Against Corruption Show:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cartoon/2014/aug/20/first-dog-icac
And introduces “embattled Joe Hockey”.
There is a parody Twitter account using Eddie Obeid’s name. It’s funny, in a dark and twisted way. Anyway the other day the fake Eddie tweeted this –
And of course, someone took it seriously. Today we had this –
Margaret has now seen the light after other Tweeters set her right. What makes this even sillier is the woman is a journalist at the Maitland Mercury. Seems even country journalists are too lazy to check their facts.
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/tasmanias-liberal-senators-support-the-retention-of-the-renewable-energy-target/story-fnj4f7k1-1227029793554
http://theconversation.com/speak-well-of-the-bourgeois-and-prosper-29824
This is a very interesting subject…not the economics, but rather the use of language by and for a certain class…I have been considering writing on this subject for a while…ie; how those with a command of words that “fit” a certain vernacular of essay writing dominates the political conversations of our times…I believe it even sustains in place those dumb-arse journos’ that give us all the shits!……I will work on it!
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/aug/19/earth-ecological-debt-earlier
So THIS is what keeps the IPA. afloat!!
” Furthermore, the IPA is an Approved Research Institute and hence qualifies as a deductible gift recipient whereby any donations to the IPA are tax deductible. The tax laws pertaining to this status are clearly defined. The IPA may only use the tax-deductible donations for the purpose of scientific research.
The IPA states on its website that it relies solely on the financial support of its members and donors. If the IPA has indeed funded this report from tax-deductible donations, to be legally compliant proper scientific research methodology and reporting does matter, a lot. ”
– See more at: http://nofibs.com.au/2014/08/19/innumerate-or-deceptive-adropex-dissects-theipa-report-into-abc-coal-coverage-leardblockade/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=innumerate-or-deceptive-adropex-dissects-theipa-report-into-abc-coal-coverage-leardblockade#sthash.6dKkUDj3.dpuf
Jaycee,
Many people (including moi) have been calling for the ATO to audit the IPA to determine whether its use of those tax-deductible donations is compliant.
Many people (including moi) harbour serious doubts …
Fiona…When this mob are finally given the boot, it will take a cleansing solution equivalent to battery-acid to erase the stains of the ideological filth from our society!
Let’s hope the next Labor govt won’t be a hung parliament.
Good link, jaycee. I’ve often thought that Friedman and the Chicago school owed their success to a reinterpreting of history . Maybe Wall St and the rest were looking for an excuse to abandon the New Deal and Keynesian economics, and the 70s Oil Price Hike helped.
Basically Friedman spun the line that the great leap in American prosperity came from the Robber Barons of the late 19th century, and related to it, the deregulation that existed in the US compared with Europe.
But it was a misreading. Prosperity did spring from the British Empire and the New World, but aside from the advances of the Industrial Revolution, the great productive breakthroughs came agricultural science and engineering invention. It led to unprecedented increases in food and textile growth and in minerals (exploration, mining and metallurgy). While the Robber Barons played a role in marshalling capital and getting railways and telegraphs built, their significance was overstated. Essentially, they creamed off a lot of the wealth created – they didn’t create it.
In my view, it’s like an untrained eye mistaking the black smoke fumes coming from the boiler for the actual motive power of a steam locomotive.
And because of that and Thatcher-Reagan we’ve handed over power to the brokers, bankers and the spivs of corporate enterprise.
If that calculation in the above post on “human ecological footprint” is correct, then it give rise to a worrying thought…:
Ergo…if this species of human is the last in the series of evolution of the species, then we are logically doomed, for unless there is another evolutionary phase in the human chain, this one ; “homo-sapiens” does not seem to have the nous to live within it’s means and will therefore destroy it’s own means of survival…and if one was to reflect on that age old myth of the garden of Eden, where the “tree of knowledge” fruit came with a caveat that by the eating so will be the eternal frustration in the seeking of knowledge, which with every success of technology, we place more demand on the natural resources WHICH have been for all time limited, while increased knowledge brings more seeking of expansion. Was that “tree of knowledge” story a warning rather than a lure…has this sort of disaster happened before, because how else would the teller of that tale from so many millennia ago have experience enough to know the consequences of what would seem such a benign action?
Just sayin’.
Catalyst & Fiona
Thanks for Roman stuff.
From yesterday – another ICAC casualty in the making?
NSW minister grilled over ICAC probe
https://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw/a/24752035/nsw-minister-grilled-over-icac-probe/
If the hung parliament were of the right proportions would it be a Jacqui Lambie Parliament?
Interesting GD. that ALL wealth resides in the perception of wealth…ie; the SHOW of wealth, the bling of capital…for the peasant to have several sets of clothing for both work and leisure would be considered of certain “wealth” back in the old days…to have a day off to R&R. was considered lookshery !….I remember hearing the tale of the young blokes out here in the mallee keeping several washers amongst their coins to jingle them in their pocket, using the sound as a “show” of “wealth” when at a dance…that may sound silly to our ears in these days of hundred dollar bills and plastic money, but I remember those were the days of sovereigns, crowns and such forth, which made up most of the currency available to the working classes.
CTar1…” Thanks for Roman stuff.”..what Roman stuff?
leone
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT_KzJIm7Ycfgqz891ZDK4j1K8yEgKOE52ZUlYaDYUmDGb0ic7BCQ
On yesterday’s Crikey email (paywalled, I think) there was a reference to a GetUp campaign against the big energy retailers who were lobbying against the Renewable Energy Target. There was a specific reference to advice to Victorian consumers to switch to Powershop from Origin, AGL or Energy Australia GetUp’s “dirty three”. Apparently GetUp is receiving a referral fee for each customer who switches.
I am a long-standing Origin customer – virtually since privatisation occurred – and have been generally happy with them. Recently I have been re-considering, because of reports of the company’s lopsided contributions to the political parties, (favouring the Tories obviously). Because I haven’t been as assiduous as I should have been about the lobbying on the RET, I wasn’t alert to Origin’s role in this issue.
I would be grateful for information from Pub patrons who are better-informed in this matter. Specifically, is the lobbying of the dirty three a fact rather than an allegation? I would also welcome information about anyone’s direct experience of Powershop.
Finally as I have reservations about GetUp I would like to hear current views about the organisation.
Leroy
Business’ also vote in the City of London. And it’s a lot more complicated that what happens in Sydney and a great number of other cities around the world.
This “Slate” author a little ignorant for mine.
jaycee
Never you mind, Oaf. It’s secret ‘Buffs’ business..
(But if you ask nicely and sacrifice several goats I let you in on it).
http://www.goodfood.com.au/environment/climate-change/scientists-may-have-solved-the-giant-siberian-crater-mystery–and-the-news-isnt-good-20140806-100u53.html?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=outbrainamplify
Damn!…I’ve only got these chicken entrails!…Tell you what, C’…what abotu a bucket of “mock KFC.”?
” ‘Buffs’ ” ??…is that the “Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes” ?
jaycee,
OK. But if I find later the LARGE bucket of KFC wasn’t cremated they’ll be trouble.
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/hadrians-wall
….You don’t think I’d eat the shit do you!!??
That looks interesting..I saw it posted last week (I think). When one considers the uniformity of the core of the Roman Army, you’d have to believe there was a kind of mass-production of belts, buckles and sundry fittings to achieve that uniformity.
jaycee – 😆
My OH. gave me a book for chrissy..: “Roman Britain” by one of those blokes on the Time Team crew..: Guy De La Bedoyere. Nice book…not a ‘scholarly” text , but a good read w/pics all the same.
jaycee
Yes. There was a doco on SBS about 6-8 months ago showing there was quite large scale smelting / blacksmithing going on along the English / Welsh border. Way to big to be just knocking out bits and pieces for local use.
Is interesting.
Jaycee-Future Learn is series of FREE online course for interested participants- about a variety of subjects – history, Politics, health, business, creative writing, psychology, WW!- and heaps more. I have currently done two course and found a helpful, friendly and informed group of people .One course also threw up a Fake Countess-
Snot lied? How unusual!
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/20/scott-morrisons-syrian-returns-partner-distances-itself-from-repatriation-efforts
Gigilene’s speculation that Palmer’s outburst on Q&A might lead to disharmony within the PUP might be on the money.
Palmer outed himself not so much as a xenophobe, but as someone carrying a deep personal grudge against a specific Chinese commercial entity. The grudge is deep, hundreds of millions deep, and has led to a prejudicial colouring of his attitude to the Chinese per se. This explains the overreach. But it will be costly for him, because by exposing this conflict of interest it shows him to be unreliable as a credible political operative.
So why might this incite ructions within his own party? I’m mainly thinking of his Chinese senator from WA, who, if he has any balls at all, will be reprimanding his “boss”, if not indeed quitting the party. I’ll be looking towards him for signs of negative blow-back. (And ignoring the media’s hoo-haa, they have their own anti-PUP agenda.)
It was fun to see Lambie coming into this right on queue like a wet-behind-the-ears spinner – she appears to be a recycled Hanson. She’s kept her racist views fairly to herself until now, but very unwisely took Palmer’s outburst as a “go” sign. And then she unleashed.
This is the PUP party for you, a rag-bag of superficial populists with no coherent agenda apart from satisfying Palmer’s skilful manipulation of the nation’s fools. His aims are clear and twofold: propping up his own ego and furthering his commercial interests.
The original Crikey story is paywalled, but this quotes the figures.
Australian newspapers dragging down News Corp
http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/australian-newspapers-dragging-down-news-corp-20140820-1069v5.html#ixzz3AuSiewdK
The 2,000MW coal generator the NSW government sold for $0
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/the-2000mw-coal-generator-the-nsw-government-sold-for-0-59474