All the cocks a’crowing, each on their own dunghill

Guest Author Uncategorized

Sally Baxter, Girl Reporter, has consulted her favourite Chinese astrologers to find out what may happen to the movers and shakers in this new Year of the Rooster. As always, Sally, thank you for your permission to republish here.

Kung Hei Fat Choi! Welcome to the Year of the Rooster and Your Girl Reporter’s first post for 2017. In honour of the Lunar New Year I thought we’d kick off with a look at the prospects of some of the leading lights in our political firmament with a little help from the ancient Chinese zodiac. It makes as much sense as anything else that’s going on in this crazy old world.

According to the principles of Chinese astrology, the way to determine your prospects is to see how your sign matches up with the characteristics of the animal in charge of the next 12 lunar months.

How would the two animals interact? And what qualities does the ruling animal possess that you could learn from to improve your chances of a good year?

I think we can all agree that the Year of the Monkey lived up to its reputation for chaos and confusion. The Rooster is so different he’s an astrological backlash, a home bird for all his crowing, happy to be master of his own dunghill.

Where Monkey is more likely to reward agility and risk taking, the Rooster prefers loyalty, hard work and the family values that keep the hens in line and order in the barnyard.

Appearances count. A lot. Nuances and complexities are under-appreciated in the Year of the Rooster who prefers plain speaking and clear intentions. It is not a time for new ideas or the addressing of complex problems. Which sounds bad, I know, but let’s press on.

The Rooster requires hard work and diligence for success, a willingness to play the longer game without the gratification of instant results. The Rooster is related to the harvest and reminds us that we reap what we sow.

Your Girl Reporter’s favourite online astrologer Master Tsai says the Fire Rooster is related to gold and precious gems, suggesting financial events will be uppermost in the year ahead.

According to the folk at the Astrology Club, the Year of the Rooster will be a powerful one, with no middle of the road. Since the times appear to be suiting a certain kind of politician, let’s check out a few horoscopes, starting with the Man of the Hour.

Donald Trump – Year of the Dog

Master Tsai at Chinese Fortune Calendar presciently observes that Dog will happily receive the wealth which Rooster brings with it. He then goes on to say that the generous Dog will also be making donations.

The Dog is the enduring symbol of loyalty and honesty and people born in the Year of the Dog, at their best, are faithful, smart, straightforward and responsible.

Not all of this sounds particularly pertinent to our subject, but Water Dragon at Online Chinese Astrology has a darker view of a certain kind of Dog:

The Overly Pessimistic Dog is always barking up a storm about doom and gloom. The evil Dog sees things in black and white, which kind of makes sense as in real life dogs are actually colour-blind.

This Dog also has fears and anxieties of being not loved or not liked enough. Instead of seeking reassurances, the Overly Pessimistic Dog would rather sulk by itself stewing in its own state of depression.

And, in the case of Top Dog Trump, feverishly tweeting about it.

Master Tsai warns that the Rooster is connected to fog, which can bring confusion to the Dog making it difficult to prioritise and make decisions. The wise Dog will relax and enjoy the comforts of the hearth in a Rooster year, avoiding challenges and risks and certainly not taking on a new job.

Oops! Too late! Good luck, Humanity.

Malcolm Turnbull, Pauline Hanson and George Christensen – Year of the Horse

Back on home shores and Australia has a few politicians seizing their moment in the wake of the Trump presidency. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is being a bit half-hearted about it, as he is about most things, but the commentariat has been in furious agreement that Pauline Hanson’s set for a great year.

Hanson was returned to the Australian Senate in 2016, thanks to Malcolm’s brilliant plan to get rid of some difficult senators in a bold double-dissolution strategy that, to put it mildly, backfired spectacularly. Anyone else hear a Monkey laughing?

So, thanks to Malcolm, Hanson’s openly racist One Nation party holds, at last count (One Nation politicians are slippery), three Senate seats. She’s also picked up a spot in the Queensland State Parliament with a defection of an MP from the opposition Liberal National Party, and is seeking to gain ground in state elections this year in Western Australia and Queensland.

George Christensen, another Horse senator, currently lives on the outer right fringes of Malcolm’s Liberal-National Party coalition government. He’s a National who doesn’t like a lot of the same things Hanson doesn’t like and he’s pretty much declared open war on his prime minister.

If he breaks away, will he join his fellow Horse Hanson? Or will he prefer the company of another Australian right-wing warrior, Rooster Cory Bernardi?

Whatever this disparate mob of brumbies does this year, if they are to achieve their goals in the Year of the Rooster they will need to put in the hard yards.

Master Tsai advises that as long as the Horse maintains its passion and continuously sets higher goals, career success should follow. If the Horse is offered a job change, accept the challenge.

“Horse needs to run and compete. They will see victory,” says Master Tsai.

Of course, victories can be hollow. Ask Malcolm.

Cory Bernardi, Tony Abbott – Year of the Rooster

So many senators in our sights and here’s another. Cory Bernardi has been playing coy about his political plans for some time now. If he really is planning his own political party – and speculation is mounting that he is – what are the prospects?

According to Chinese astrology, the year of your birth animal is not regarded as a time for rejoicing. In the case of the Rooster it’s easy to see why, because cockfighting’s a thing. So Roosters by their nature will be in opposition to the prevailing fortune.

Master Tsai warns Roosters seeking a job change that there is no sign that you’re ahead of the people around you. The Venerable Tsai goes so far as to recommend that if you receive a job offer you should think twice about accepting.

He recommends a humble and polite attitude, good advice for Cory and possibly for that other Rooster, former prime minister Tony Abbott, the Banquo’s Ghost of Australia’s 45th Parliament.

If Cory does strike out on his own, he should expect competition. And indeed that’s exactly the situation he would be pondering if he is indeed harbouring such plans. Pauline Hanson has already helpfully suggested that he might like to join One Nation but Cory strikes me as the kind of guy who dreams of his very own dunghill.

And, while the challenges will be many, Master Tsai reckons the Rooster that can face the competition and work hard for his goal could yet yield a good result.

But is a good result for Cory a good result for Australia? While Cory probably thinks so, judging by his Make Australia Great Again hat, it’s hard to see how a move would do anything other than splinter the vote still further.

Get the popcorn in. It hasn’t got off to a great start, with the steel gates slamming down on America, but nevertheless I wish you all a happy and prosperous Year of the Rooster.

© Sally Baxter 2017

889 thoughts on “All the cocks a’crowing, each on their own dunghill”

  1. By the early 1700s, beauty patches had become such a cosmetic staple, they were worn more for aesthetic accent than blemish camouflage. For instance, the Pitt Rivers Museum explains how “women pasted them on the face, neck, and breast, according to a newly emerging language of symbolism: a patch above the lip meant coquetry, on a forehead, grandeur, and at the corner of an eye, passion.” Some women even strategically placed patches on the right side of their foreheads to denote support for the Whigs, while Tory supporters sported their patches on the left sides of their foreheads.

    http://www.stuffmomnevertoldyou.com/blogs/beauty-patches.htm

  2. Fiona

    Some women even strategically placed patches on the right side of their foreheads to denote support for the Whigs, while Tory supporters sported their patches on the left sides of their foreheads.

    Things go opposite … but the Whigs were not a party of the common people, instead they tried to entrench the right of the lords to overthrow the monarchy.

    The ‘little people’ didn’t count.

    • CTar,

      The ‘little people’ didn’t count.

      Under most governments, whenever in time, wherever in the world, they never have.

  3. Trumpland making more friends

    A former prime minister of Norway has spoken of his shock after he was held and questioned at Washington Dulles airport because of a visit to Iran three years ago.

    Kjell Magne Bondevik, who served as prime minister of Norway from 1997-2000 and 2001-05, flew into the US from Europe on Tuesday afternoon to attend this week’s National Prayer Breakfast.

    He was held for an hour after customs agents saw in his diplomatic passport that he had been to Iran in 2014. Bondevik said his passport also clearly indicated that he was the former PM of Norway.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/03/former-norway-pm-bondevik-held-washington-dulles-airport-2014-visit-iran

  4. Yes, Mesma …

    Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says US officials are continuing to interview asylum seekers in Nauru as part of the refugee deal with America, despite lingering uncertainty over the agreement.

    Reuters has reported interviews on Nauru were suspended because US officials were uncertain about what security checks were going to be imposed on refugees under the agreement.

    But Ms Bishop denied there had been a pause.

    “My understanding is that interviewing and vetting is still taking place,” she said.

    “The agreement is to be honoured by the Trump administration [so] I’m pleased this agreement will continue.”

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-04/bishop-denies-us-officials-paused-nauru-asylum-seeker-interviews/8241626

    • CTar,

      Cwuel.

      Poor liddle mesma – aren’t the fluttering eyelashes enough to evoke your sympathy (at the very least)?

  5. Tlbd

    BishJnr probably has a struck out paragraph in her resume about ‘attending’ the Saddam Hussein College of Public Relations to match her having ‘attended Harvard’.

  6. Fiona

    Nah , you are thinking of her CSR College’s Graduate Diploma in Crocidolite Induced Mesothelioma.

  7. Bushfire Bill – there is some evidence in this for some positive reaction for Turnbull re the Trump call, or at least its not negative, in Morwell Victoria (the coal mining & power station town). I’ve copied & pasted that section, but its worth reading the whole thing.

    http://www.switzer.com.au/the-experts/david-speers/turnbulls-coal-revival/

    These are folks who feel they’ve been forgotten and left behind. These are the very people who would have voted for Donald Trump if we were in the United States. But here’s the thing, we’re not.

    They aren’t huge Trump fans in the La Trobe Valley. They can see why American voters wanted radical change, but see this guy as “inexperienced” and a “fool”. Nor do they support his immigration ban.

    When news came through yesterday about the fiery weekend phone call between Trump and Turnbull, I was at the bottom of the huge Hazelwood open cut coal mine, which after 60 years of continuous operation is about to be closed. It’s noisy and dusty down there and the workers didn’t exactly down tools to pore over the details of the breaking news. The excavators kept on digging, the conveyors kept on running. The workers were largely unfazed by the whole story which has jolted the US-Australia relationship.

    After some discussion that night at the Bowlo, the general sentiment was anger that the US President would try to “bully” an Australian Prime Minister like this. They liked that Malcolm Turnbull stood up to Trump. Not that they have necessarily warmed to Turnbull.

    These disenchanted voters are looking for someone who’s willing to listen to them and offer some real solutions. Pauline Hanson is a favourite amongst some of the older pensioners I spoke to, but not because she’s offering any solutions. One Nation is seen as a good way to lodge a protest vote, but not much more.

    • Hi Fiona, its David Speers in this case, but you could say the same thing about him. However, this anecdote rings true to me. I can easily imagine these opinions being held out there in rural VIC, and in lots of places.

    • I’d also really question Speers ‘assertion

      Nor do they support his immigration ban.

      If my uncle had productive tits, he’d be a cow.

  8. Lots of good background on the Rod Culleton debacle here, two longer articles.

    http://www.farmonline.com.au/story/4446139/rod-culleton-farmer-litigation-boast-was-red-flag-for-dick-lester/

    Rod Culleton farmer litigation boast was red flag for Dick Lester
    Colin Bettles
    3 Feb 2017, 5:02 p.m

    WHEN Dick Lester looked out over a pile of freshly harvested oats on his Williams farm in WA’s south-eastern Wheatbelt over seven-years ago, while chatting with his then neighbour Rod Culleton, little did he realise their seemingly banal business conversation would play a pivotal role in terminating one of the most colourful and controversial chapter’s in Australian political history.

    http://www.farmonline.com.au/story/4446744/culletons-political-sojourn-spotlights-floors-in-candidate-scanning/

    Culleton’s political sojourn spotlights floors in candidate scanning
    Colin Bettles
    4 Feb 2017, 5:35 p.m.

    WEST Australian farmer and Shire of Wagin President Phillip Blight says Rod Culleton’s contentious, litigation-laden political journey raises serious questions about the need to properly vet election candidates and intensify voter-scrutiny.

  10. New rules and other stuff –

    New rules pt 2 (as usual can’t find pt 1 as a stand alone vid)

    Opening monologue –

    Overtime –

    The whole shebang for those interested in not new rules pt 1 is at 46:35

    And for dessert a bit of Keithy boy (may have already been linked)

  11. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.

    Trump has thrown a real tanty over the federal judge who temporarily blocked his immigration order, showing no respect for the institution.
    http://www.smh.com.au/world/trump-slams-judge-who-blocked-travel-ban-vows-to-overturn-ruling-20170204-gu5o7v.html
    And Chuck Schumer says president has shown ‘disdain for judiciary that doesn’t bend to his wishes’ after Trump brands suspension of travel ban ‘ridiculous’.
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/04/democrats-react-trump-travel-ban-judge-ruling
    The only thing standing between Trump and authoritarianism is the Supreme Court. And Trump is doing his best to nobble it!
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/03/democrats-block-neil-gorsuch-democracy-at-stake
    The White House will launch a major investigation into how awkward details of the blunt phone call between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull were leaked to the media. This will be fun!
    http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/2017/02/04/white-house-leaks/
    While his Muslim ban was sinking under the weight of popular backlash, President Trump tried to boost support for his Executive Order by promoting a fake news story on his Facebook page.
    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/02/04/trump-promoted-fake-news-story-fool-americans-muslim-ban.html
    The Turnbull government is set to put the brakes on federal money pouring into “over-funded” private schools in a new deal to take effect next year. Good stuff – a start I suppose.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/turnbull-government-looks-to-trim-funding-growth-for-overfunded-schools-20170202-gu4l8n.html
    Paul McGeough tells us all about the dangerous Steve Bannon.
    http://www.canberratimes.com.au/world/wrecking-ball-with-steve-bannon-in-charge-of-security-what-does-donald-trump-mean-for-usaustralia-relations-20170202-gu4kgw.html
    Kellyanne Conway, the Trump counsellor and infamous spokeswoman for “alternative facts”, is blaming “haters” for all of the flack she’s getting for making up a fictional massacre to justify Trump’s Muslim ban. She is without peer.
    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/02/04/kellyanne-conway-blames-haters-caught-making-fictional-bowling-green-massacre.html
    Meanwhile Labor and others are pushing the government to continue with Gonski funding.
    http://www.smh.com.au/act-news/federal-act-labor-calls-for-funding-agreement-with-gonski-future-in-doubt-20170203-gu4yui.html
    Daniel Flitton on how to tell Trump to go jump – The Australian way.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/telling-trump-to-go-jump–the-australian-way-20170204-gu5jxs.html

  12. Section 2 . . .

    If Turnbull wants to reverse his polling trend he needs to take out Abbott, the Monkey Pod and the RW crazies.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-warns-malcolm-turnbull-dont-break-your-promise-on-samesex-marriage-20170204-gu5j6l.html
    Katherine Murphy is wondering if Cory Bernardi is getting ready to jump ship.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/feb/04/fraught-times-no-surprise-cory-bernardi-jump-ship
    Peter FitzSimons rips apart the proposition the Pauline Hanson will be PM within three years.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/pauline-hanson-as-pm-in-three-years-heres-why-it-wont-happen-20170203-gu4zeg.html
    It’s time Anthony Mundine just slinked away with his big purse and shuts up.
    http://www.smh.com.au/sport/boxing/anthony-mundine-considers-appeal-against-loss-to-danny-green-i-didnt-lose-that-fight-20170204-gu5kku.html
    New documents confirm that Donald Trump retains a direct tie to his business interests through a revocable trust overseen by one of his adult sons and a longtime executive of the Trump Organisation.
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/04/donald-trump-business-ethics-washington-hotel
    And Trump will spend Saturday and Sunday nights attending private events where his presence, and the attendant press coverage of the president, stand to directly benefit the properties’ bottom lines.
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/02/04/trump-has-2-events-this-weekend-and-both-benefit-his-business/?utm_hp_ref=au-homepage
    How could a country like the U.S. that constantly lectures the world on human rights, take such crass and inhuman action as Trump’s travel ban?
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/trumps-travel-ban-is-an-affront-to-civilised-values,9992
    Tanya Plibersek says Labor will never do preference deals with One Nation.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/feb/04/labor-will-never-trade-preferences-with-one-nation-says-tanya-plibersek
    The New Matilda has got hold of a “transcript” of THAT phone call.
    https://newmatilda.com/2017/02/03/exclusive-the-transcript-of-donald-trump-and-malcolm-turnbulls-phone-call/
    University vice chancellors in Australia warn that US President Donald Trump’s executive order – which temporarily bans those from seven countries from entering the US – will threaten the globally connected academic community.
    https://theconversation.com/university-vice-chancellors-say-trump-order-threatens-global-research-72359

  13. Section 3 . . .

    If ever we need encouragement to keep an eye on skin moles!
    http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/veronica-manouks-scars-cut-through-dizzying-statistics-for-world-cancer-day-20170202-gu3z6n.html
    If only Keating was still in the job! This is what he said last year in an interview. “This is a better society than the United States. Therefore the idea we should get around like Uriah Heep like we’re some subordinate outfit that has to get a signal from abroad before we think, is of course a complete denial of everything we’ve created here … I mean isn’t an independent, balanced foreign policy the right answer? Or do we stay in a crouch, saying Hail Marys to the alliance”.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/malcolm-turnbull-desperately-hoping-that-history-doesnt-repeat-20170203-gu55m4.html
    This law lecturer says that Trump’s tweet leaves Turnbull with n9 other alternative than to bring the refugees here. I don’t think it will happen though.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/trumps-tweet-leaves-turnbull-with-no-option-but-to-bring-the-refugees-here-20170203-gu4osu.html
    George Orwell and other writers past see their dystopian views come real.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/m04columnist-20170126-gtzenf.html
    International cricket appears on the verge of a long awaited overhaul, with the Test and 50-over formats to be divided into leagues to add greater context.
    http://www.canberratimes.com.au/sport/cricket/test-and-odi-cricket-to-get-an-overhaul-20170203-gu5flk.html
    Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie has accused unnamed figures within the NSW RSL of trying to drive out the league’s CEO Glenn Kolomeitz, who has spearheaded the recent efforts to reform its finances and investigate past alleged improprieties. She’s probably right, too.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/jacqui-lambie-accuses-rsl-figures-of-bullying-executive-glenn-kolomeitz-20170204-gu5hzf.html
    The EU and former Obama administration members call on Corporate America to combat anti-Muslim hatred and enforce anti-discrimination laws to fill a perceived void from government after the election of US President Donald Trump.
    http://www.smh.com.au/world/as-hate-crime-spikes-american-employers-tasked-with-combating-muslim-discrimination-20170203-gu59b7.html
    Paul Malone writes that governments must do more to tackle tax avoidance and move towards equality.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/governments-must-do-more-to-tackle-tax-avoidance-and-move-towards-equality-20170202-gu3y2s.html
    And Apple Australia has reportedly confirmed it is one of the 50 global companies currently being audited by the Australian Taxation Office. Go for it!
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/02/03/apple-australia-under-audit-as-part-of-7bn-ato-crackdown/?utm_hp_ref=au-homepage
    Many conservative Christians said that despite his long list of improprieties and morally questionable behaviour, Donald Trump was the right choice for president because a Republican would be the best option on “life.” The numbers on the ground don’t back up that belief, though.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/voting-for-trump-on-abortion-didnt-make-sense-20170203-gu5gh6.html

  15. Well, here’s a path for Turnbull to recover some of his lost esteem (and self esteem): bring the refugees to Australia, then double up and allow a vote on SSM. He could actually accomplish something AND confront the Right Wing of the Coalition.

    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-warns-malcolm-turnbull-dont-break-your-promise-on-samesex-marriage-20170204-gu5j6l.html

    Then he could retire with dignity.

    Or not…

    Would the Right reallywant to see the government go down in a screaming heap over a handful of darkies and a few poufters?

  16. The problem with the story on pulling back funds from the wealthy private schools is that it’s a sop. It first appeared late last year from the mouth of Birmingham and that ‘slip’ as reported then was in fact telegraphed by the LNP weeks before, they even told the NSWTF about it.
    Cynics would say it is a smoke screen to soften the blow of removing the last two years of Gonski funding (60% of the money still to come) and prevent the funding scheme becoming a recurrent item in the budget.
    All this despite the whole scheme being funded fully out of the forward estimates which the LNP consistently lie about.

    • Plus Turnbull desperately needs a good news story before the return of parliament.

      What could the spin doctors put out there that is trivial, not at all likely to happen but would appeal to voters who are more than a bit fed up with this government? School funding of course.

      It’s not going to happen. Turnbull and his private school educated cabinet will never allow it. However there could be a few Dixers on this topic in QT this week intended to distract from what I hope will be a Labor onslaught. What else does this government have to talk about these days that does not involve some sort of scandal or failure?

    • Calculated insult there – getting the title wrong and carefully leaving out Turnbull’s name while every other leader’s name was listed. It sends a message – ‘We don’t give a f** who you are or what you are”.

  24. “If ever we need encouragement to keep an eye on skin moles!”

    Melanoma killed my dad. He had been a keen body surfer in his younger days, still loved the beach until a couple of strokes in his sixties stopped all that fun and eventually a mole on his back turned nasty.

    The other night some friends and I were talking about moles. One of our little group couldn’t be with us for dinner because she had had a mole removed from her foot that day and was laid up recovering from the surgery. She doesn’t know if it was melanoma or not yet. She is having a worrying weekend.

    We talked about doctors telling us to spend more time in the sun to deal with Vitamin D deficiency, common in us oldies. One lady has beautiful olive skin, her doctor told her she can spend an hour a day in the sun because people with her skin colour are less at risk of melanoma. That, to me, was scandalous.

    I had a vitamin D deficiency three years ago, discovered in a routine blood test. Since then, on doctor’s orders, I have been taking vitamin D capsules every day and my levels have been normal. With my family history and with typical Anglo-Saxon skin I’m not going to follow any medical advice to get out and spend more time in the sun. I must have done more than enough damage back when I was a keen beach-goer. I don’t intend to do more damage.

    Sometimes doctors and their dodgy advice really annoy me. Vitamin D is important for immune function and for bone strength, (and a lot of other stuff). As we age our bodies make less of it and we need to take a supplement. Sitting in the sun isn’t enough and has its dangers. If you – males and females – want to maintain a good immune system and have healthy bones and want do as much as you can to protect yourself from age-related fractures then get into the vitamin D.

    Here’s a fun fact for you. Vitamin D deficiency is thought to be linked to melanoma. Low levels mean the body’s immune system can’t fight off cancer cells, Normal levels of vitamin D are said to help recovery from melanoma. Take those capsules, people.

    http://melanomaclinic.com.au/content/page/vitamin-d.html

    • Sorry about your Dad, leone.

      Doctors don’t always give you good advice. If you have some common sense yourself use it. Some people don’t have it though.

      Same with vets. My vet told me that although my cat was a bit overweight it was cruel to starve her, even though, because of her weight, she might have diabetes later in her life. The man is a big fellow, I mean quite big, so a bit of overweight is nothing to him. I remember just looking at him.

      I decided that my cat would have to lose some weight. I carried her several times down the garden (my garden is long and relatively narrow) during the day to make her walk back. If during the day she wanted food I gave her a tiny piece of cheese or a little blob of plain yogurt (she likes that occasionally.) Even a bit of cooked beetroot and a some grains of corn. After a few months of that diet she came back to a normal size. Of course she got her main meal in the evening and bikkies in the morning. But I was not going to have a diabetic cat.

  26. Hanson seems to be having trouble finding candidates. We already know any nutter that puts up a hand will be accepted, now Hanson is backing the most idiotic candidates after they make outrageous comments. That tells me she has run out of willing nutters and has to support the ones she has out of sheer desperation.

    Here’s the latest nutjob to get Hanson’s support – following on from her support for the chap who thinks single mums are lazy and ugly and her support for two dirty old men.

    Redcliffe Pauline Hanson’s One Nation candidate off hook over 9/11
    http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/queensland-government/redcliffe-pauline-hansons-one-nation-candidate-off-hook-over-911/news-story/4dc2b9b771a1b8faee3c83caf5c2391c

    Hanson says she personally vets all her candidates. She can’t be much good at ‘vetting’.

  32. Der Spiegel was not the first to go for Trump beheading Liberty.From Dec 2015 . NY Daily News

  37. http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/one-nation-candidates-told-to-sign-250000-exit-penalty/news-story/0d31e5aa127a7036f0ea14857e9ace17

    http://www.huckmagazine.com/perspectives/opinion-perspectives/ignore-trumpologists/

  40. Latest from Manus Island.

    • Now why could they have not identified this before the election, or even before Mr Trump became the presidential candidate?
      It has to be asked why these “investigations” could not have been published any time in the last two years once his name was put forward. Why did the Republicans kowtow to such a “business man” with no understanding of how the three arms of their government is supposed to work? Heavens, even I apparently seem to know that – and I’m an ex-POM!

      Mind you, I think we also have to look at some of our own politicians in the same way … especially given the palavers over Ms Hanson’s demands this morning.

      *sighs* It’s getting harder to be positive at times.

    • I don’t think you can truly undestand the power and impact of his art until you walk into a room and see it for real, pictures, photographs, other people’s description just cannot explain the emotion that is incorporated in the paintings.

    • Pie in the sky rubbish.

      First – One Nation will implode before long. If this twit is now begging her candidates to sign contracts imposing ‘withdrawal fees’ then she already knows most of them plan to jump ship soon after being elected, if, of course, they ever are elected. It happened in Queensland, it will happen in WA if her rabble win any seats and again in Queensland if the party holds together long enough there.

      Second – Hanson would need to get herself into the reps to be ‘in charge’ and have a majority of seats won in a federal election. She has no chance.

      I’m sick and tired of the MSM promoting this idiot. Just stick to telling us the truth about her candidates. A lot more investigative journalism, a lot less promotion, please.

  47. puffyTMD

    Thanks for posting. You inspired me to hit the Google and so discover there was a series of them. They also look like they would be pretty special ‘up close and personal’

    .
    This one was destroyed by fire in Japan during WWII


  50. The National Gallery, London.

    As I was sitting on the viewing bench, a man (suit, 30-something, fond of himself) and a woman, (late 20s, adoring student, girlfriend??) spent their whole time there discussing various aspects of this Van Gogh’s painting, Sunflowers.

    He showed off his knowledge of art and artists, she speculated on the artist’s intentions, the colour, the view (we are looking down on the vase, he proclaims, it is not a level view so the vase must be lower down than horizontal wtte) . He does not whisper, makes sure we all get the benefit of his wisdom, on and on they went for about ten minutes. Did I mention the folder of notes he casually referred to? ‘You can see the whatsit of the line, the wherefore of the whatever, even in these black & white copies. (did he run out of colour toner?)

    ‘Some say the wilting flowers are a metaphor for the different stages of life , but that’s just rubbish’, he pretentiously railed against the pretentiousness of others.(as if Vincent was not capable of metaphor or the expression of life’s frailty.)

    Just as I was getting close to saying something, they got up and left. I turned to my neighbour, a man with the audio-tour gadget in hand like I had, and remarked, ‘Or they could have just shut up and looked at it.’. I got a wry smile in return.

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