42 days to go until the election and I think week 2 was a clear winner for the ALP.
Shorten clearly won the debate last Friday Night
And despite a few hiccups ( Feeny you idiot ) are clearly beating the libs on policy.
The polls though close are in labor’s favour
The coalition train seems to have come of the tracks.
They are running around putting out spot fires like changes to super,the medicare rebate freeze and Mr potato head Dutton.
So I an pretty optomistic and happy this Friday. I know there is still a long way to go but i,m going to enjoy it while I can.
Who wants to join me?
THE PUB 
I hope someone, somewhere is keeping an account of the cost of all Turnbull & Co’s election bribes.
In the budget $1.6 billion was set aside for election campaign bribes, things that were not specified in the budget, things like Bananaby Tomato’s $600 million cash splash for dairy farmers today.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/federal-budget/budget-2016-buried-in-the-budget-is-a-16-billion-election-war-chest-20160504-gom6ps.html
Leone
I am finding talking about a cartoon far more stimulating than lnp politics and their lies and bullshit.
Yep.
Gravel /L2
My impression was one of these (The cord seems to have faded a bit):
But as has very often happened I could be wrong.
That appears to me to be a “pull through”. Used to clean and oil the bore of the old 303 rifle.
It had a cylindrical weight on one end and a loop used to hold a piece of flannel os similar at the other.
Then again I could be wrong.
This is what I was thinking of – a sounding lead.
http://aquarium.ucsd.edu/Education/Learning_Resources/Challenger/science2a.php
I am of no opinion.
Then, again, I could be wrong.
it is a drawing by a cartoonist; it may be just drawn badly.
Or indeed be just a non-specific representation of something used to check depth etc. A cartoon is only designed to create an impression in people’s minds. The message is clear enough.
Photo op for Ms Chan
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2016/may/25/voters-think-malcolm-turnbull-is-arrogant-but-likeable-newspoll-finds-politics-live
Tired of politics?
Twitterers might like to follow this – every day you get a lovely picture of the plant (or agricultural implement) of the day.
Today’s tweet –
What’s the Republican Calendar?
http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-french.html
Will send it to my sisters …
Agreed that Chris Uhlmann’s efforts last night were mind numbing.
Agreed that all that’s happening is mud throwing & that some of it will stick.
Agreed that it’s all meant to convince a disengaged & uncaring electorate to think it’s best to stick with the coalition.
I still don’t think it’ll work. it’s clear that the Coalition are losing support, rather than the ALP gaining it. it’s not like 2007 where a wave of optimism suddenly swept over us. This is disenchantment with what’s currently happening. You just can’t do this stuff and get away with it when sentiment has turned against you. It makes you look even more desperate and defensive. I expect the public reaction to all this smear and fear malarkey will be “So what? Anything’s better than what we have now.”
Generally, right now, Australians don’t want to hear that the ALP are reckless spenders and economic mismanagers. Consumer and business confidence is low, so the idea that there’s an alternative is appealing to them. If they can tune out the Liberal trash-talking, they will. But they have to be allowed to do that, which means the ALP should stay the hell away from this kind of talk. What the electorate want to hear is one of two things:
1. The Coalition care, and are going to commit money to the things Australians need.
2. Turnbull and his cronies are gone.
No third alternative.
All Shorten’s team needs to do is not engage in this nonsense. If they try to argue against it or defend themselves, they’ll be in trouble. If they keep pointing out Liberal gaffes and the lack of substance in the current government, they’ll be fine.
Andrew P Street, on his Facebook page, seems to be asking people to deface campaign corflutes. Surely not! Who would ever want to ruin Pyne’s lovely photo?
Here’s Arnold Rimmer –
It’s funny how every time there is a perceived Labor issue a bigger and better one comes along to ruin the day for the Coalition.
The latest, taking the attention right away from Nova Peris deciding to leave –
Liberal candidate for Whitlam, Carolyn Currie, resigns citing lack of support
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-25/liberal-candidate-caroline-currie-seat-of-whitlam-resigns/7444334
Well, well. It appears not everything is as it seemed.
Trust Bill Shorten?
“No way!” says Miranda Devine.
It appears Bill deliberately waived road safety rules in pulling his convoy over to the side of the road, then shamelessly got the cameras to photograph him “comforting” one of the women involved in the accident, and didn’t even go over to the other car to attempt CPR. Give Shorten the “Jaws Of Life”and I bet he wouldn’t know what the eff to do with them.
So much for Union OH&S laws.
What a hypocrite Bill Shorten is.
With “friends” like this… There’s nothing else for it: Shorten is a complete fraud.
And who is “Pastor Peter Pelt”?
Well, it’s actually Pastor Peter Pilt, and he’s from Nowra (or was).
Besides being a well-connected Man Of God and Financial Advisor, he’s pretty switched on about politics:
Heh, heh, Billion Dollar Bill… you can;t fool someone who gets his politics from The West Wing.
I’d rather not read the ravings of Ms Devine. She’s just jealous Turnbull didn’t happen upon an even worse road accident, and was denied the chance of taking selfies while performing heart surgery on the victims.
Still, it’s early days yet. Who knows what might happen. Engineering a monster car crash and sacrificing a few peasants for the greater good of the Liberal Party is still possible.
In one of the accounts of that accident the Mayor of Maitland, who was in the first car, said the AFP chap with him gave directions on where and when to pull over and the other cars followed those instructions. (And yes, there would have been an AFP chap travelling in the convoy, maybe more than one, because security has been ramped up for this election campaign.)
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/federal-election/federal-police-bodyguards-assigned-to-record-number-of-politicians-this-election-campaign/news-story/80799a79b6b427c0c68f2f3557c65c0a
So there!
And – untrained bystanders should not attempt to ‘help’ persons seriously hurt in accidents, because if they do they might cause serious damage. Better to wait for the ambos to arrive. You might even see something like that on The West Wing.
I bet that was tweeted with a girlish giggle or three.
I tweeted in response and this is the reply I got ..:
Katharine Murphy @murpharoo 3h3 hours ago
@trulyjaycee @lenoretaylor @debalicious @GuardianAus @gabriellechan #deep
Oops!…I should have included MY tweet!!..:
jaycee@jaycee @trulyjaycee 3h3 hours ago
@lenoretaylor @debalicious @GuardianAus @murpharoo @gabriellechan You play very, very”safe”4 a “left-wing” media platform,more”centre-left”.
Well..I threatened to write a piece on this subject..:
You have to read this first ..:
“The Visigoths, severed from their brethren but saved from the brunt of the Mongol assault by the mere fact that they lived further west than the Ostrogoths, desperately sought protection by appealing to Rome for asylum. There, they ran up against an impermeable shield of customs stations at the Roman border, a veritable wall of imperial disdain which was by then standard policy when barbarians began wailing and waving their hands. Thus squeezed between scorn and the spear, the Visigoths panicked and not a few tried to push their way into Roman territory. Facing a surge of frantic immigrants, the Roman Emperor Valens had little choice but to relent and let them in.
Once inside the boundaries of Rome, the Visigoths found safety but at the same time a new and in many ways more dangerous foe. As new-comers to Roman civilization, they were ill-equipped to live in a state run on taxes and mired in the complex language of legalities, and thus made easy prey for unscrupulous, greedy imperial bureaucrats who cheated and abused them. Very quickly, the Visigoths found themselves bound in something heavier and more constricting than chains—the gruesome coils of red tape—and they responded as any reasonable barbarian would: they demanded fair treatment and, when their pleas went unheard, they embarked upon a rampage.
Valens called out his army, a threat meant to intimate the Visigoths into returning to their designated territory and tithe. But like the truant step-children they were, the barbarians remained disobedient. Left with no other recourse but corporal punishment, Valens met the Visigoths in combat at the Battle of Adrianople (378 CE) in northeastern Greece, and what happened was not only unexpected but unthinkable to any Roman living then, or dead. Primed by the insults to their pride—or because they were simply scared out of their minds—the Visigoths defeated and massacred the Roman legions sent to keep them in their room. Worse yet, Valens himself was killed in the course of the conflict.” http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/1320hist&civ/chapters/08romfal.htm
The desperation of the Goths is reflected in this day and age by the mass of refugees fleeing several conflicts and disasters and trying to come to Australia. The blunt refusal to take any “boat people” may not be the best solution for the Australian govt’. Also risky is any uncontrolled “open border” policy that creates an expectation of a surge of refugees to Australia’s shores.
The above quote is part of a broader study in why the Roman Empire in the West had to fall so Europe could arise. The Roman Empire was a colonizing state that controlled with arms , ruled with fear and milked with impunity via a capitalist system of the wealthy controlling production and distribution. The 1-3% that held the greatest wealth also held the greatest influence over political policy and ruled the masses with disdain that eventually destroyed itself in the most dramatic way.
Divide and rule was perfected in the Roman strategy…populations would be shunted from one side of the empire to the other so there would be little sympathy to local customs and mores, thereby polarizing those groups of peoples to compete against each other. Likewise, soldiers from western provinces of Gaul were sent to hold the eastern provinces of Palestine..and vise versa. Rule and profit by division worked well while these 3% held absolute control of the military . Once those trained , foreign generals like Alaric became isolated , they gathered their loyal soldiers about themselves and using their trained skills, turned them against the empire itself.
Australia is itself a colony, with all the states separate colonial developments before federation. The nation still shows signs of that early colonial independence and attitude, with some states threatening succession even now! The colonial mentality and it’s governance by an elite is in evidence still. The divide and rule program very much in practice still..The use and abuse of cheap immigration labour a desire if not also a common practice. The playing of ethnic groups against each other for political purpose still in operation.
We are continuing the practice that failed the Roman Empire so spectacularly and only insanity could desire a success where they failed so miserably! Australia has to develop a new way, a better way to confront this twenty-first century phenomenon of the surge of asylum seekers that have swept across the globe from east to west and west to east. If we continue to believe and practice a “raise the drawbridge” policy, we will be open to the legitimate criticism of demanding an unrealistic isolationist existence in a region of realistic inclusion. The added reality of climate change with rising sea levels and drying cropping areas in the delta regions of Sth. East Asia could bring a avalanche of climate refugees who have little sympathy with a resource rich, land rich, population poor nation just over that stretch of water.
Australia needs to engage much, much more cooperatively with our northern neighbours to create a regional safety net for any temporary shifts of population as required after any disasters , natural or sociological, to allow a safety-valve result rather than an uncontrolled explosive conflagration. To consolidate our “authority” over the land of this continent, we also need to very quickly complete a treaty with the indigenous peoples and to bring those peoples completely into the political process and policy making of this nation. For THEY are the measure of integrity of antiquity of ownership of the nation and for us who migrated here from everywhere else, to claim a right of rule over the land, we have to allow equal partnership with an agreed treaty with the original inhabitants of this land…it only stands to reason.
Rome had to fall so that a Democratic Europe could arise..We here in Australia must learn from the hard experience of Europe and begin to implement attitude and social change to create a more homogeneous governance with this multicultural population, or risk the result foreseen in history of the demise of our ideal of social order and civil governance.
I’m learning a lot of Roman history from your posts. This time all I can say is I absolutely agree.
There is nothing “new” under the sun..The only difference with Rome is that they were obsessive archivists….much like the later Nazis…
I’ll just leave this here……
That was such a disgusting thing for that ‘thing’ to write about that accident. I wonder if that ‘thing’ has any influence? It would probably be only political tragics (what, who me? Never.) that would bother with this sort of crap.
She’s just one of the reasons NewsCorpse’s rags are losing readers and buckets of money.
She’s got form for opportunist sludge. Sunday morning after Black Saturday she ran a piece blaming Greens opposition to burn-back for the massive damage and lives lost.
When people were still rescuing people and working to control the devastation, it was impossible to know the actual cause. Once things settled a little after a few days it was still not entirely clear. I was driving a cab that day in Warrnambool when the extreme conditions hit. Cricket matches, of all things, were abandoned because there were nearly gale-force winds in temperature of +45C. I’d never personally known such conditions and remember thinking that just a match, or a cigarette butt would have set the entire area ablaze and nothing much would survive. Miraculously, the Warrnambool district was spared any fires, but it was sheer luck.
Most of us knew then that the first of climate change extremities had arrived. Later many speculated that poor maintenance of electricity cables, something that had occurred with the cost-cutting when the SEC was privatised. Maintenance was minimal even after official warnings. The subsequent enquiry put it down to that.
It was malicious to blame the Greens without any evidence. It is sadly typical of the opportunist writing of Murdoch reporters like Devine and Bolt. The latter was first out of the blocks to blame Islamic migration and violence for the Norway massacre before the terrorist turned out to be a blonde aryan-type nutter. In consisten fashion there was never an apology, just a moaning about how leftist people had laughed at his error instead of empathising with the victims, as he never did.
We deserve better.
Getting a job as a propagandist on the Tele or the Oz is the RWNJ version of sheltered workshop employment. People like Devine with no skills, no credibility and no empathy are unemployable anywhere else. Its like the Chelsea Hospital for broken down right wing hacks.
Apparently Mad as Hell is back on. Not bad stuff from Micallef, particularly this piece of satire.
It’s obvious that he’s impersonating a News Ltd commentator.
Devine she is not. A sewer rat would not sup with her.
For a very long time I thought the photo used on her column was a photo of a drag queen, and I assumed ‘Miranda Devine’ was a pen-name.
Could you imagine growing up in such a household with such an unsympathetic mother..:
“Aww, mUuum…look!..I hurt myself..”
“Yes..that’s right…: YOU ..hurt yourself…Now don’t come to me looking for sympathy!”
are these whingers, in complaining that nothing Bill did at this accident was good enough, lib or nat supporters, using their families’ unfortunate accident as a political point-score?
Absolutely they are, just like the families of certain ‘pink batts’ victims are Coalition supporters, more than likely paid by the parties to push the tragedy as hard as they can. They should have sued the employers, of course, for failing to provide a safe workplace and proper training, and they might have been successful, but it’s so much better to go after Labor, to them, anyway, and to demand compensation from a government they dislike.
If that person so much as gets an ingrown toenail in the next few months, or gets a paper-cut, they will be whining to the media about ‘Bad Shorten’. Yet if Bill had just driven off and ignored them they’d be whinging even more.
It’s probably even simpler than that. If you saw a chance to excuse your own culpability for an accident, just because some RWNJ media types are sure to run with it… well, it would have to be tempting. You might even get out of a fine and points lost if you played it hard enough.
Pottery used to brew beer:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-36365967
Just a bit more on that accident –
First, the woman should have been paying attention to what was going on in front of her. I wondered at the time if she had been using her mobile phone and was not paying attention. I would bet good money that was going on.
Surely her car had functioning brakes, and she should have used them when she saw the traffic in front slow down. Instead, for whatever reason, she swerved into the oncoming lane and collected another car. As often happens the injured person was not at fault.
Second – the purpose of the stop was to hold a presser on the dangers of that stretch of road. There were media there as well, ready for the presser. I think this accident proved the point. As the presser did not go ahead the media coverage of the accident served the purpose of showing how dangerous this road is.
Video of The Cormannator’s huge stuff-up, with bonus embellishments.
Tomatohead and Potatohead:
I wonder whether either driver will be charged with dangerous driving and how the respective insurance companies will sort out who was at fault, the one who swerved or the one who was hit? It won’t be the motorcade as they were stopped legally.
From what we’ve seen and heard of the accident the woman who was overtaking was in the wrong. The woman and her ‘partner’ are now trying to avoid blame by pointing fingers and making silly accusations. There are enough accident scene photos and videos out there to prove who was at fault. It’s easy anyway, driving on the wrong side of the road is pretty damning. She pulled out, witnesses say she inexplicably swerved to the wrong side of the road.
I suspect someone has seen dollar signs flash in front of their eyes, someone is now desperate to make out they were wronged and it’s all Shorten’s fault. It has taken them a week to start whining to the Murdoch rags – or maybe they were pursued by those rags and offered money for a sensationalised story.
There are enough photos of vehicle positions here to give a clear idea of what happened.
http://www.maitlandmercury.com.au/story/3916998/car-crash-at-bill-shortens-testers-hollow-stop-photos-video/#slide=29
I’m pretty sure Bill’s security people would have taken a lot more videos and photos.
I’ve taken on Pastor Peter Pilt on his blog.
I’ve pointed out that Jesus (someone who Pastor PEter claims to “passionately” follow) said, “Judge not lest ye be judged.” (Matthew 7:1)
I’ve also pointed out that, for someone who doesn’t float his boat too much, Pastor Peter sure let his bloggers know that he’d done a good deed by the roadside… he changed a woman’s tyre, without mentioning Jesus, without asking her to tootle along to church, and without mention Global Care (which is a dead link on his web site, so we don’t know what that is, exactly).
He also didn’t take selfies, which Bill Shorten didn’t do either (someone snapped a long telephoto shot of him and posted it pronto to a news site). That photos were taken is unremarkable: it was a press convoy that had just witnessed a head-on in the middle of a national election campaign, with the leader of the Opposition in one of the cars, in town to talk about… road safety… d’oh!
https://peterpilt.org/2016/05/19/bill-shorten-the-car-crash-today-and-my-cynicism-about-the-photo-op/#comment-19507
Go along, but if you make a comment, please be nice.
That’s us
I just made a nice visit and left some nice comments. youse will work out which one is me.
You overtake 11 cars stopped under police direction.. and I think you’re in the wrong.
Could just be my nasty nature, but I’d love to see anyone talk their way out of THAT one!
Katharine replaced Gabrielle on The Guardian blog this arvo. Talk about bitchy!
gigi
[Pottery used to brew beer:]
It’s an interesting find but not really surprising. Everyone had worked out about wet grain going off.
A bit of sugar and yeast helps.
How long should an election period be in Oz? Isn’t 3-4 weeks enough? If you can’t make your mind up in about 2 weeks, I’d generally say that you were a few chops short of a barbie. For that matter, why can’t we have 4 or 5 year fixed term (pushing it too far?) federal parliaments? If you don’t know who to vote for now, what does it say?
Should I give a continental stuff about the colour of Private School Mal’s or Private School Bill’s tie and the rest of the MSM trivia that accompanies these things (“One drinks a schooner (of light) with struggling echidna shearers while the other promises $3 million to the Lower-Upper-Packenhan, Farnakling Club” .
The Shorten camp will get my vote, but much of the time I wonder why. It’s habit. I’m a big approver of compulsory voting- it’s a simple ask, if you want a real democracy it’s no big deal to vote. But some times why?
I’m voting early (but unfortunately not often) – possibly may be o/seas on 2 July.
I used to think four year terms were a good idea, but now NSW has to put up with Mike Baird and his corrupt, rotten to the core dictatorship until March 2019 I’ve changed my mind. Four years, yes, good, but not if that comes with a fixed election date, as we have in NSW.
I’m voting early – my postal vote is supposed to arrive around 19 June.
KPT
[I’m voting early]
I’m thinking of same simply because my mind will not be changed.
Why doesn’t Comrade Feeney take a six week holiday or, preferably, piss off the scene permanently.
What a strange three weeks of electioneering it has been. Given that not many voters will pay attention for another three weeks, we can just consider this to have been foreplay.
Labor puts out a policy just about every day and occasionally has a Feeney moment.
Liberal puts out a policy now and again, usually the reverse of what they have said in the past and occasionally has a non-Feeny moment. Lots of Jobson Grothe and Isn’t Labor Awful!
Greens just puts itself about with half-baked ideas which bear non scrutiny at all.
Reportage is as we expect: fourth estate pro-government and fifth estate pro-Labor. I must say the Devine Ms M outdid herself today. She gets my WTF vote for the day.
Is Blisters v that bastard Gibbon on anywhere?
tlbd
It is supposed to be on any regional abc radio, you can stream most of them I think.
It’ll be on abc24 1t 7:30, says “moderator” Oohmann.
Bill Cosby is going on trial for sexual assault. I was never a fan of The Cosby Show but dearly love his solo stuff.
The work that he has has done and others, like Rolf Harris, must not be hushed. I consider that putting Rolf’s painting of Her Maj behind bars is a disgrace: it was terrific.
tlbd
Just saw a tweet, it’s supposed to be on abc24, if it is and you watch, would appreciate a review. 🙂
Shall try live.
And it is.
Looks like Di Natale is there. Check for a referral from the doctor.
The first intervention from the moderator suggests he
doesn’t have a clue about is on uncertain ground.Insulting comment from Dirty Dick – the supermarkets are selling cheap milk to get people to come in and buy soft drinks and chip. Very insulting to families who cannot afford to buy anything but the cheapest milk, and the cheapest everything else.
So that’s what he thinks of families struggling on low incomes – fools who feed their kids junk.
Q: immigrant peeps to outback?
Fitz: yep!
Dick: yep! at length
Blister: waffle + waffle, Mareeba, waffle, “we are doing OK”
Q from NQ.
Missed it.
Dick: whatever he said at length.
Blisters is late on the job “we are doing great stuff on wind”.
After two qs it’s situation normal.
Joel q’s Blisters on wind.
“Blisters loves it!”
Gibbon waffles.
Toolman throws in live animal exports, totally off topic.
Deliberate attempt to gotcha Fitzgibbon
Ooh to Fitz: wasn’t banning live cattle awful!!
NEW POLICY! Labor is MANDATING orifice of animal welfare (abolished by Blisters)
Dick goes all ooh, ooh !!!
This is just a waffle-fest
Agreed.
Watching brief from now.
Sounding quite biffy now.
Blisters goes the Greens on downing industry. Getting very ripe tomato with rapid lips.
No-one mentioning the bleeding obvious – Indonesia is working on becoming self-sufficient in beef production and will not need our beef at all.