Holiday Weekend Friday

Fiona Uncategorized

Endeavour the World

Well, for those of us in South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (all celebrating Labor Day), and the ACT (celebrating Canberra Day, which is really 13 March) it is.

It’s also a thoroughly deserved long weekend away for Bushfire Bill and HI, who from the contents of an earlier comment will be glamping in a secret location somewhere on the New South Wales coast (which sort of inspired the picture chosen to start this thread).

Strictly speaking, it’s not a holiday weekend for moi: my university does not have Labor Day as a public holiday which is a Good Thing – otherwise three days of classes would have to be rescheduled during Semester 1 instead of just two (Good Friday and Anzac Day) – and rescheduling two causes more than enough chaos.

However, here’s to all the lucky devils who are having Monday off. May your weather be perfect, your beverages appropriately cold or hot, and your batteries fully recharged by the end of it.

What do people think about having a raffle this evening? I’m prepared to run it, and it would be on a first in best-dressed basis: no saved numbers from previous raffles.

If youse think it would be fun, let me know and I will give it a whirl, starting 5pm and closing 7:30pm Melbourne time (I will need a short break to deal with food).

Australian Air Holidays

269 thoughts on “Holiday Weekend Friday”

  7. Do you take Blackmores vitamins and supplements?

    Then stop it. Right now.

    Blackmores sponsored the Johnny Howard anniversary celebration in Parliament House last week. Now you know where the money you spend on their not-so-great products goes, feel free to bin any you might have.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/2016/03/12/gadfly-lets-stick-together/14577012002980

    Need more proof? The woman sitting next to Lucy Turnbull at that dinner was Caroline Blackmore, wife of Blackmore’s CEO. Her husband Marcus was beside her, just across the table from Tony Abbott. To give two people such prominence at an important Liberal Party function show just how financially valuable they re to the party.
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3475510/Malcolm-Turnbull-brushes-Tony-Abbott-Christopher-Pyne-defends-Abbott-defence-White-Paper-leak.html

    Marcus Blackmore and his company have been substantial donors to both the Liberal Party and to Abbott’s fund-raising group the Warringah club for many years. Have fun rummaging around on this site to find out more.
    http://periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au/Donor.aspx?SubmissionId=56&ClientId=17886

    • See what the chemist has to offer. There are lots of other brands.

      I used to take Nature’s Own and found it good.
      https://naturesown.com.au/magnesium-chelate-500mg/

      I can’t tell you if that manufacturer donates to the Liberal Party, though.

      My daughter is a nutritionist and she has signed me up to a site that sells only to practitioners and their clients, so I get my magnesium there now, to keep her happy and stop her nagging at me. I don’t think it’s any different or any better, magnesium is magnesium.

    • I’ll try NO, see if I can find it elsewhere. Preferably not at the chemist’s which is much dearer than Woollies for things like that. Chemists are exhorbitant.

    • I wouldn’t mind betting that all pharmaceutical manufacturers (Big Pharma goes without saying) and the great majority of pharmacists vote coalition and financially support liberals.

      The various pharmacy associations are among the most powerful unions in the country.

  8. Wouldn’t have anything to do with WA polls beginning to favour Labor?

    The former federal minister Stephen Smith has made a pitch for the leadership of the West Australian Labor party, saying an ALP win at the next state election is essential for WA’s economic future.

    Speculation of a challenge against Mark McGowan, who has been opposition leader for the past four years, reached fever pitch on Friday – exactly one year out from the next state poll.

    Smith has now told the Sunday Times in Perth: “If a majority [of the party] … formed a view that I could help Labor and the Western Australian community by leading Labor to victory at the next state election, then clearly I would consider my obligations to the party and the future of the state and its people.”

    http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/mar/13/labor-party-stephen-smith-makes-pitch-for-west-australian-leadership

    • To be honest I have no sympathy for McGowan, he only kept his job because he was able to deflect blame for Labor’s poor performance in the 2013 state election onto Gillard.

    • Probably a fair comment on the blog

      “Donald Trump is planning this. He is cancelling rallies in places where he won’t place first so that he can harden his base support.

      Weimar-style.”

  13. Einstein dies and goes to heaven. At the Pearly Gates, Saint Peter tells him, “You look like Einstein, but you have NO idea what some people will do to sneak into Heaven. Can you prove who you really are?”

    Einstein ponders for a few seconds and asks, “Could I have a blackboard and some chalk?” St Peter snaps his fingers and a blackboard and chalk instantly appear. Einstein proceeds to describe with arcane mathematics and symbols his theory of relativity.

    Saint Peter is suitably impressed. “You really ARE Einstein!” he says. “Welcome to heaven!”

    The next to arrive is Picasso. Once again, St Peter asks for credentials. Picasso asks, “Mind if I use that blackboard and chalk?” St Peter says, “Go ahead.” Picasso erases Einstein’s equations and sketches a truly stunning mural with just a few strokes of chalk.

    St Peter claps his saintly hands. “Surely you are the great artist you claim to be!” he says. “Come on in!”

    Then Saint Peter looks up and sees Barnaby Joyce. The gatekeeper scratches his head and says, “Einstein and Picasso both managed to prove their identity. How can you prove yours?”

    Barnaby looks bewildered and says, “Who are Einstein and Picasso?”

    Saint Peter sighs and says, “Come on in, Barnaby.

    https://archiearchive.wordpress.com/2016/01/04/st-peter-and-barnaby-joyce/

  14. Re: NBN I live in a small town that is 40k away from a exchange. So the majority had mobile wireless broadband and this worked until smartphones became ubiquitous and now you wait until the kids go to school and after 10 at night so that the internet does not time out or drop out. The worst time is school holidays and that includes a caravan park when we get southern visitors coming here to escape the cold. My download speed was so bad that when I exceeded 3gigs and they throttle it down to 64kb/s I could not tell the difference.

    NBN put up a wireless tower which is about a kilometre away and I can see it from my front door. I have just had the NBN Fixed Wireless installed. I can get 16- 23 Mb/s download and 3.6-4.2 Mb/s upload. I don’t know how long the speeds will last as I am one of the first to have it installed and the contractor has orders for another 500 installations.

    It is $60 dollars a month for 50 gigs and when I signed up there was a special deal and they doubled it 100 gigs. I can now watch youtube clips with no worries.

    • TD-LTE is a standardised technology with a clear roadm
      ap. Its fundamental characteristics
      make it suitable for a fixed wireless deployment requiring asymmetric downlink and uplink
      •
      Base station equipment is generally off-the-shelf but
      reconfigured for specific requirements
      •
      A design parameter of 500/150kbps Committed Informatio
      n Rate (CIR) for all fixed
      wireless premises can deliver a satisfactory end-user experience for a product with Peak
      Information Rate (PIR) of 25/5Mbps
      •
      By using outdoor wireless network termination units (W
      NTDs) at the premises with near
      line-of-sight to the fixed wireless tower, NBN Co can deliver the required performance
      level, and satisfactory cell coverage to address 20 percent of the area within 14km radius
      •
      The WNTDs are fine-tuned to maximise performance (e.g
      . uplink power level is 1dB above
      3GPP standards)
      •
      The placement and selection of sites are generally in
      close proximity to the majority of
      serviceable premises (currently 52 percent of connected premises are within 3km of the
      tower)

    • Basically what they deliver is “entertainment value” broadband…I don’t think it is good enough for medical services or real-time video transmission.

  15. Some may think you are wonderful …

    Independent senator Nick Xenophon has called on the major parties to agree to a more transparent parliamentary entitlement scheme as parliamentarians await the release of the review in the wake of the Bronwyn Bishop choppergate scandal.

    Others may just call you a sanctimonious blowhard.

  20. The humidity is horrible..the march flies are bad…the air-con is wonderful..wunderbar!

  21. This afternoon my son and I took his little daughter to a suburban police complex to do a handover to the other parent. a Snr Constable engaged little Evie in conversation and asked her favourite colour and if she liked dogs. He went out the back and a few minutes later appeared with a really good mini-balloon poodle to present to her.
    How’s THAT for community engagement!

    • Larry Marshall is an absolute nutter, but we already knew that.

      I wonder if Waffles will want him to look at rain making ………..

  28. gigilene

    ”

    I’d like to see Smith as Premier of WA.’
    ,
    McGowan has done the hard yards when times were tough. So I say FRACK Smith or anyone else who thinks they can waltz in and take the glory and rewards from those who were there when it was grim in the trenches.

  29. Holy Guacamole ! Bit hot in Perth today so checked weather at BOM and it was a warm 38 BUT !!!!! 40 C predicted tomorrow, in mid March. Thank goodness climate change is crap.

    gigilene
    I think there is some MSM mischief going on. Similar rumours about Alannah were also circulated and before that speculation he will get rolled by unnamed “senior” peasants. May even be true but local meeja are firmly LibNat so such reports need to be taken with a bucket of salt.

  30. http://www.afr.com/news/politics/fairfaxipsos-poll-government-holds-lead-but-malcolm-turnbulls-star-falls-20160312-gnhlg5

    Mar 13 2016 at 7:00 PM
    Fairfax-Ipsos poll: Government holds lead but Malcolm Turnbull’s star falls
    by Phillip Coorey

    The Turnbull government has a comfortable lead over Labor just months from the next election, but the Prime Minister’s personal standing continues to tumble as his administration struggles with indecision and infighting.

    The latest Fairfax/Ipsos poll shows the Coalition’s two-party-preferred lead relatively steady since the last poll a month ago, at 53 per cent to 47 per cent. But Malcolm Turnbull is falling down to earth while Bill Shorten’s standing has improved marginally.

    The poll of 1402 voters, taken from Thursday night to Saturday night last week, shows Mr Turnbull’s approval rating fell 7 percentage points in a month to 55 per cent, and his disapproval rating has risen 8 percentage points to 32 per cent.

    Mr Shorten’s approval rating has increased 3 points to 33 per cent and his disapproval rating is down 3 points to 52 per cent. Mr Turnbull leads Mr Shorten as preferred prime minister by 61 per cent to 22 per cent, down from 64-19 in last month’s poll.

    The Coalition’s primary vote is relatively steady at a strong 45 per cent while Labor’s is still low at 31 per cent. The Greens are on 14 per cent.

    The government’s two-party-preferred lead is out of kilter with other polls published recently, which have the major parties level-pegging at 50 per cent apiece. Strategists on both sides say they believe 50-50 cannot be attained when Labor’s primary is so low, and they estimate the actual numbers to be either 52-48 or 51-49.

  31. Laura repeats Phil’s opinion that the real margin out there is probably 51 or 52 to the govt.

    http://www.afr.com/news/politics/fairfaxipsos-poll-pm-back-in-the-land-of-the-political-mortals-20160313-gnhupq

    Mar 13 2016 at 7:00 PM
    Fairfax-Ipsos poll: PM back in the land of the political mortals
    by Laura Tingle

    Contradictory polls: Fairfax-Ipsos reckons the two party preferred vote is split 53/47 in favour of the Coalition. Newspoll and Essential in the past couple of weeks has put it at the more hair-raising 50/50.

    The capacity for a large margin of error built in to the Ipsos South Australian figures in this latest poll, suggests the likely split may well be closer to 52 or 51 in the Coalition’s favour.

    Certainly, the difference between Ipsos and Newspoll seems to reflect a continuing much weaker reading by Ipsos in the Labor primary vote than Newspoll in the period since Malcolm Turnbull became leader six months ago.

    Alarmed Coalition MPs might take some comfort from the more reassuring Ipsos numbers, given that they finished the last parliamentary fortnight suddenly contemplating the idea that the government could face an election loss.

  32. http://www.afr.com/news/politics/fairfaxipsos-poll-voters-up-for-grabs-on-super-and-negative-gearing-20160312-gnhlho

    Mar 13 2016 at 7:00 PM
    Fairfax-Ipsos poll: Voters up for grabs on super and negative gearing
    by Phillip Coorey

    Public opinion over changes to superannuation tax concessions and negative gearing is there to be won with one in four voters yet to be swayed either way.

    With both issues front and centre of the tax reform debate, the latest Fairfax/Ipsos poll shows slightly more voters oppose touching either tax concessions than supportive, but one quarter of voters remain undecided.

    The monthly poll shows 42 per cent oppose changes to negative gearing, 34 per cent are supportive, and 24 per cent are undecided.

    Whereas only Labor has negative gearing in its sights, both sides are targeting superannuation tax concessions.

    The poll of 1402 voters, taken from Thursday night to Saturday night last week, finds 35 per cent support paring back superannuation tax concessions and 34 per cent are opposed. Another 26 per cent are undecided.

    Negative gearing looms as one of the key issues at this year’s election with the government nominating Labor’s policy and its supposed affect on housing prices a prime focus of its campaign.

  33. The likelihood of the Coaltion 2PP remaining steady while Turnbull’s approval ratings are falling is pretty minimal, I’d say. He was the only thing propping them up for the first few months of his leadership. Nothing else about the Liberal Party is appealing at all.

    From what I can gather from the above, Newspoll and Essential have had a couple of polls around 50-50 now, so it’s unlikely there’s a glitch there. Ipsos seems to be having trouble with its sampling – at least that’s what Laura Tingle is suggesting – so she thinks that particular poll is more like 52-48 or 51-49.

    So overall, the margin can’t be any wider than 51-49 over the pollsters, and may even be closer.

    • And that’s a disaster for Turnbull. His party set him one simple task: employ his considerable public approval ratings in the service of his government – just hold that lead and let time and the PR machine do the rest. And he squandered that within six months.

      It probably says more about the malaise at the heart of the Liberal Party than anything else, I suppose. The machine just chews up its own assets and casts them aside. They’ve lost all perspective when it comes to balancing ideology against public perception. They still think doing whatever the hell you want can be cancelled out with a bit of cynical soft-sell and media connivance. But times have changed. The ‘Innovation’ push is a handy symbol there. It sounds good, it employs all the buzz-words, they’ve sunk some money into getting the idea out there, but it doesn’t actually represent anything. And it runs counter to all their efforts to strip money from areas that might be able to actually innovate.

      It has all the hallmarks of Hockey’s crap a couple of years ago about backing people who are prepared to “have a go”, or Morrison saying a similar thing just recently. Empty words.

      You can’t successfully run a government that’s all facade and no structure. People notice.

  34. Exit one Labor vote from this end of the swamp if Smith gets up. Get stuffed Labor WA.

    Former federal minister Stephen Smith has been accused of disloyalty and bringing the “Canberra disease” to Western Australia by confirming he will challenge Mark McGowan’s leadership and run for premier if the party wants him.

    Mr Smith revealed on Sunday he had been asked by people on the backbench and frontbench to put his hand up, and after a lot of soul searching had decided to do it if the majority supported him.

    https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/31083649/smith-reportedly-up-to-lead-wa-labor/

  35. Ricky Muir to call Malcolm Turnbull’s bluff on double dissolution drive

    When the Senate sits on Tuesday, Senator Muir, backed by other crossbenchers, will move a motion calling for the suspension of debate on the Senate voting reforms so the ABCC legislation can be debated and voted on.

    He said if the government blocks his motion, it cannot then legitimately accuse the Senate of refusing to deal with the ABCC legislation and then cite it as a trigger.

    “If Coalition Senators decide to oppose my amendment, and refuse to debate the ABCC legislation, I would be curious to see how the Prime Minister could then convince the Governor-General that the ABCC legislation had failed to pass the Senate a second time,” he said.

    The government needs six of the eight crossbenchers to support the ABCC bill and so far has just three.

    Senator Muir said he remained opposed to the Bill in its current form and “I’m not worried in the slightest if the Senate votes it down”

    http://www.afr.com/news/politics/ricky-muir-to-call-malcolm-turnbulls-bluff-on-double-dissolution-drive-20160313-gnhqsz#ixzz42m9mU0CR

  37. Glenn Lazarus and Ricky Muir have become good representatives. Jacqui Lambie has her moments.

    The Queensland pup has hardly barked.

    The other two are not worth the candle nor is the eXtra from SA.

    • Ducky,

      I think you mean the WA pup. The former Queensland pup has shown he as formidable in parliament as he was on the field. Dips me lid to him.

  38. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/fairfaxipsos-poll-voters-feel-the-sevenmonth-itch-20160313-gnhx9f.html

    Fairfax-Ipsos poll: Voters feel the seven-month itch
    March 13, 2016 – 8:00PM
    Peter Hartcher

    Malcolm Turnbull promised there had never been a more exciting time, yet the honeymoon was an anticlimax, the voters have concluded.

    And yet. Despite the high expectations, the let-downs left and right, the people remain in the relationship still, hoping for the best. This seems to sum up today’s Fairfax-Ipsos poll.

    The rival suitor, meanwhile, has gone from being largely ignored to winning the first hint of public interest. Bill Shorten is not yet a competitor, but he has been seen to have taken the field.

    Turnbull’s approval rating has fallen from a feverish 69 per cent in November to 55 per cent today.

    This comedown of 14 points, or one voter in every seven, equates to about 2.1 million adult Australians who approved of his performance four months ago but no longer. This is a precipitous fall for a leader who has done nothing offensive or outrageous.

    The people, it seems, hold Turnbull guilty not of any crime of commission but for crimes of omission. The loss of popularity seems to have happened in two phases.

    • “The rival suitor, meanwhile, has gone from being largely ignored to winning the first hint of public interest.”

      That would be, deliberately, by the likes of Fairfax.

  39. The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, accused Malcolm Turnbull of giving up on the “hard things” on the eve of the prime minister’s six-month anniversary in the top job.

    As the government struggles to name a date for the budget, usually reserved for the second week of May, Shorten said Australians were “massively disappointed” with Turnbull, due to a lack of an economic plan.

    “It is clear now, at the six-month anniversary of Mr Turnbull’s ascension to the prime minister, that he’s basically given up on all of the hard things to do,” Shorten said.

    “Instead he’s just obsessed about the date of the election. Australians are massively disappointed by Mr Turnbull, they want to see an economic plan.”

    Meanwhile, they are busy enculant les mouches

    Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats senator David Leyonhjelm told AAP he has won a victory over the Liberal party in the battle over his party’s name.

    Senator Leyonhjelm said the Liberal party advised him on Sunday it was dropping a legal challenge over the use of the word “Liberal” in his party’s name.

    “Perhaps they were embarrassed to be seen to stand on the throat of a party that is actually liberal,” he said.

    http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/mar/13/bill-shorten-says-lack-of-economic-plan-shows-malcolm-turnbull-has-given-up

    • The lionhelmet is guilty of fuzzy thinking.

      What he really meant was “Libertarian”.

      What I wonder is “libertine” . . .

    • Ducky,

      It takes almost as much skill to be a good trombonist as it does to play the French horn really well.

      DD was/is a mean trombonist for one so young.

      Perhaps you were thinking of

      which to my mind pretty much sums up the trump tin whistle.

    • Jeremy Buckingham, so stupid he announced last week he was thinking of running in New England when the Greens candidate had been announced in August last year.

      Someone that dumb doesn’t realise we can easily find his voting record.

    • Leone,

      For some reason, when his name came up I was caught in a warp between Beatrix Potter’s Mr Jeremy Fisher and ELP’s Jeremy Bender.

      No prize for guessing which won.

    • Leone,

      Tempting, and I do understand.

      However, one look at Queensland – whether under Bjekle-Petersen’s or CanDo’s jackboot – should dissuade you.

      The occasional possibility of a check and balance should outweigh none.

  50. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.

    This uber-expensive and divisive SSM plebiscite must be dumped.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/divisive-marriage-equality-plebiscite-to-cost-australia-more-than-500-million-20160312-gnhgtp.html
    Peter Hartcher reckons the Ipsos poll shows 2.1m voters have peeled their initial support away from Turnbull.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/fairfaxipsos-poll-voters-feel-the-sevenmonth-itch-20160313-gnhx9f.html
    The Australian says that a Newspoll in New England suggests Barnaby might be heading for a wipe out. (Google the following string).
    /national-affairs/newspoll/deputy-pm-in-danger-of-wipeout/news-story/360d853fd376fc379ecfb52e7fc6a088
    Gabrielle Chan on Shorten’s statement that Turnbull has given up.
    http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/mar/13/bill-shorten-says-lack-of-economic-plan-shows-malcolm-turnbull-has-given-up
    Ross Gittins puts it to us that neither side is prepared to do more than just tinker with the budget.
    http://www.smh.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/budget-reform-likely-to-be-just-tinkering-20160312-gnhlsg.html
    Everyone is to blame other than Trump says Trump.
    http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/13/donald-trump-weekend-violence-chaos-protests
    It seems this trend is not improving.
    http://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/owners-of-lemon-cars-are-struggling-to-use-their-consumer-rights-to-end-nightmare-20160311-gngmhs.html
    Amanda Vanstone says the PM should be judged on substance rather than sound bites.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/the-relative-calm-has-rattled-the-horses-20160311-gnh1n7.html
    Toddlers with guns kill more people in the US than terrorists.
    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/13/the-macabre-truth-of-gun-control-in-the-us-is-that-toddlers-kill-more-people-than-terrorists-do
    We are now in an era of barricade democracy.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/barricade-democracy-altering-the-world-as-countries-retreat-behind-walls-20160312-gnh9j8.html
    A former Catholic priest turned forensic psychologist writes what Pell should have said at the Royal Commission. It makes sense.
    http://www.theage.com.au/comment/what-cardinal-george-pell-should-have-told-the-child-abuse-royal-commission-20160311-gnh37k.html

    • Has anyone told Mr Gittins that Labor actually doesn’t devise the budget?

Comments are closed.