Today’s Guest Author is Jennifer Wilson, with her take on Cardinal Pell and the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse. Thank you, Jennifer, and you are definitely not alone.
Father Doyle, the CA Royal Commission witness from the US, was superb. His honesty and compassion were most evident. He gave many reasons for the behaviour of priest and the church and what needs to be changed.
The commissioners really appreciated his testimony. Doyle was effusive with praise for the establishment and conduct of the RC and on behalf of the “good” clergy in the US he expressed heartfelt thanks for what they are doing and how they are going about it. He said that of all the similar inquiries around the world this RC stands out and its findings and deliberations will be so important in the future.
Eat your heart out Pontificating Paul Kelly and your ilk!
The Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane, Mark Coleridge, this morning expressed his horror and outrage at the latest report from the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse on the extent of that abuse within his church.
The Archbishop was at pains to reassure listeners that after years of intense and ongoing scrutiny (thanks to former Prime Minister Julia Gillard ordering the Royal Commission which catholic MP Tony Abbott and his catholic henchman did everything possible to sabotage) catholic schools are by now among the safest possible places for your child to be.
While he might have a point he is missing the point: the former head of the church in Australia, Cardinal George Pell, is himself under investigation both for alleged child sexual abuse, and for his role in covering up the offences of other priests.
Cardinal Pell is currently in Rome, in a position that keeps him very close to Pope Francis. Victorian Police yesterday submitted a second brief of evidence against the Cardinal to the DPP. The Vatican is a sovereign state from which Pell cannot be extradited. When last required to appear before the Royal Commission, Pell pleaded a heart condition that left him unfit to fly long distances. He gave evidence via video link.
I would like to ask Archbishop Coleridge how anyone can trust the catholic church in Australia when its former head is under the protection of the Pope. I’m struggling to imagine this situation in a secular organisation in which 7% of employees were guilty of sexually abusing children, and 4,400 alleged cases of child sexual abuse had been brought against it.
Both these figures are conservative: how many victims have not made complaints? How many have suicided? How many made complaints that were mishandled by the church, or dismissed?
As a fish rots from the head, so has the catholic church. I’m neither heartened nor impressed by various catholic clergy and lay commentators wringing their hands at the awfulness of it all. Had it not been for an atheist ordering an investigation, this would still be hidden, and the perpetrators still protected.
I’m willing to bet a great deal that no one, but no one inside the church would have taken action to prevent the sexual abuse of children, or to instigate useful investigations that resulted in prosecutions, and demands for moral accountability.
This will not be over until those at the highest level are held accountable, including the Pope. Until churchmen and catholic commentators are willing to acknowledge that accountability starts at the head, nobody is safe in the catholic system, and the fish continues to stink.
THE PUB 
The United Nations refugee agency has expressed alarm at reports that Papua New Guinea has begun forced deportations from Australia’s offshore detention centre on Manus Island.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/un-alarmed-at-reports-of-forced-deportations-of-manus-asylum-seekers-20170209-gu97vp.html
7.5 is doing Kill Bill.
I’ve noticed the full court press of ‘Labor bad’ and ‘Kill Bill’ today. Must be another newspoll due.
Not so much – it’s moire a response to last weekend’s Newspoll. Desperate tactics to push up the Coalition polling ahead of the next one.
What if it doesn’t work? Bye-bye Fizza?
I’m not sure people are bothering with that show any more. It barely gets a mention on Twitter these days.
Credit where it is due, some RWNJ poiles do have good policy’s at times –
—Ecuador presidential hopeful promises to evict Julian Assange from embassy—
‘In an interview with the Guardian, Guillermo Lasso, of the rightwing Creo-Suma alliance, said it was time for the WikiLeaks founder to move on because his asylum was expensive and no longer justified.’
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/09/ecuador-julian-assange-embassy-notice-eviction
poiles = polies
Been looking for some breweriana to decorate my “bar” in my new house.
Sunday found this, $35 down from $38:
Needs a clean but will look nice with some neon light added.
There is a nice poster in an antique shop which also has a neat Black and White whiskey tray. That should do. Also have a nice round silver tray.
PolAnimal – check your email
I don’t know what idiot thought having the front bench pass around a lump of coal was a good idea, but at least we now know for certain who owns this government.
Clean coal and dirty hands.
What email addy did you use, BK?
The tiny horses one. Anyway here’s the link to what I thought would interest you.
http://newatlas.com/ancient-chinese-beer-brewed-stanford/47798/
Ah, interesting. Thanks BK!
You Brexit, you are liable for the damage:
I’ve now seen two journalists try to draw an equivalence between Gillard’s misogyny speech and Turnbull’s entitled rant, calling out people critical of Turnbull for being hypocrites. Viz:
Now, quite aside from the two speeches being very different in both intent and impact, there’s an inherent hypocrisy in both those statements, because as we know the press reaction to Gillard’s speech was dismissive-bordering-on-hostile, and they all got right behind Turnbull’s from the get-go. So if they’re going to react differently, why shouldn’t they expect the wider audiences to do exactly the same?
I’m utterly convinced, based on the past couple of days, that political journalists see themselves radically differently to the way they demonstrably behave. They have this idea of themselves as impartial observers, free to take whatever position they like on a day to day basis and yet have an underlying consistency of ‘presenting the truth’. When in reality they all exhibit a bias that’s fairly obvious to the onlooker.
Both those tweets are fairly precious. And both suggest that political journalists understand the broad sweep of politics better than anyone else. When challenged, they all exhibit this level of passive aggression. And at times active aggression.
One day the journalists will catch up with the cartoonists!
Dick Pratt’s Family Donated Way More To The Liberals Than Labor
Turnbull accused Shorten of ‘sucking up to Dick Pratt’. If he did, it didn’t work very well.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/02/08/dick-pratts-family-donated-way-more-to-the-liberals-than-labor/?ncid=fcbklnkauhpmg00000001
Comes with some lovely pictures of Anthony Pratt with the Trumbulls, Scummo and Bananaby.
QI with Sandi in The Chair (ABC)
“QI Friday 10th February at 8:01 pm (31 minutes)
Naming Names: QI is back for a brand new series with new host Sandi Toksvig. On the panel tonight are comedians Alan Davies, Cariad Lloyd, Romesh Ranganathan and Phill Jupitus.”
I should also add that those tweets are evidence that the approach Turnbull has adopted isn’t working, and the journos are pissed off about it.
I checked Turnbull’s speech on Youtube, and it’s still under 5000 views. So there’s no chance of it going viral. Shorten’s one preceding it, which was pretty much your standard classy Shorten fare and totally ignored by the media, has nearly 3000 views.
Coorey, Libtika and class don’t come together.
Most of those views would be repeats views from Trumbull’s staff, his family and assorted Liberal MPs, plus journalists looking for a quote. And of course, Labor supporters looking for something to mock.
There’s not one thing in that ‘speech’ that would give anyone a good reason to watch, certainly not anyone overseas, unless they want to mock it. It contains nothing worthwhile, it was just a nasty rant by an angry and jealous old millionaire.
Honestly, I can’t be bothered watching. I have better things to do than listen to that smarmy git and I’m not going to add even one YouTube view to his miserable count.
Also found some nice Art Nouveau tubelined tiles for my bathroom:
Have another set, four identical ones plus three plain green half tiles, make a knockout highlight in the kitchen! (Still on layby.)
So now to find a set to go around my fireplace.
This afternoon, as I was sitting at a Viennese table shipped out of Europe post 1945 by a woman after she had been released from Auschwitz, I listened to a woman say she liked Trump because he was doing things. The other woman at the table said she didn’t like the rise in uncivil discourse Trump engendered.
My cosmopolitan hosts expressed concern that today’s political climate felt like the 1930s revisited
Billie,
Your cosmopolitan hosts have excellent memories. I share their concern.
The difference between the Turnbull spray and Gillard’s misogyny speech might measured by whether Turnbull’s speech was reported on overseas networks. Gillard’s speech was on German TV news BEFORE it was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald
The omnibus bill is dead before it has even been debated.
Government Plans To Slash Youth Allowance Are Already Dead
The changes — a long wait for payments, and lower payments — will not pass the Senate.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/02/08/government-plans-to-slash-youth-allowance-are-already-dead/?ncid=fcbklnkauhpmg00000001
But they have a mandate and a working majority!
mandate of one!
I have to note with some degree of irony that most of the US MSM opposed Trump from the start, yet most of the Australian MSM backed Abbott to the hilt.
That alone makes me proud of Shorten. He managed to off that vile creature with very little help at all from the vacuous press gallery.
Oh so on the mark . 😆 Truffles “manning up”
À la lanterne!
One difference between Truffles’ and Gillard’s speech is illustrated by the CPG. While millions flocked to see Julia and the twitterverse was alive to the sound of tweets over it the CPG were busy telling we proles “Meh , nothing to see here.” .The Truffles speech, I use that term loosely, on the other hand was been lauded by the CPG whilst the proles said Meh.
Watching George Christiason being interviewed on “Hard Chat” . Best interview I’ve seen. Homo-erotic photos in the Good Weekend! Not the best decsision I’ve made says George!
That is good.
Well, d’errrrr…
http://www.smh.com.au/business/coles-to-test-12item-limit-on-selfservice-checkouts-as-supermarket-giant-fights-theft-20170209-gu9blk.html
I have just spoken with Mrs Scorpio.
Scorpio has come through the surgery well. He’s in intensive care at the moment (of course). Mrs Scorpio, and two of the Junior Scorps have visited him, and apparently he was pretty cheerful.
I asked Mrs Scorpio to tell him we are all sending our best vibes, thoughts, etc., to Scorps. I was also somewhat presumptuous and suggested she should look after herself – which she says she will do.
Good!
Excellent news.
Katharine is coal-fired
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/feb/09/scott-morrison-brings-coal-to-question-time-what-fresh-idiocy-is-this
Well, I had to, didn’t I?
From BKs link about ancient chinese beer brewing:
Indian tribes in Central America still make chicha corn beer by chewing cornmeal and spitting it into the brewpot: corn can’t be malted but the salivary amylase enzyme in our saliva breaks down starch into fermentable sugars.
Liked this bit too “cereal grains like millet and barley, and grasses like Job’s tears.” Never heard of Job’s tears before! But the grains used in the Fertile Crescent in prehistory were grasses like wheat, barley, oats and rye. A bitter herb was kept in the mouth and the sweet (unhopped) beer swished over the herb before the beer was swallowed. Dunno if the Chinese did anything similar.
Egyptians used bappir bread to make their beer, bread made out of sprouted (=malted) grain. The bread was broken up in a basket placed over the fermenting vessel and water poured over the bread, and into the fermenter.
They drank the bread–beer through long straws pushed through the mass of bread floating on the top of the beer. Out the fermenter, the only way to get some fizz back in those days.
Only one story tonight, the original and the debunkers, all I have time for:
Up to 13,000 secretly hanged in Syrian jail, says Amnesty
As many as 13,000 opponents of Bashar al-Assad were secretly hanged in one of Syria’s most infamous prisons in the first five years of the country’s civil war as part of an extermination policy ordered by the highest levels of the Syrian government, according to Amnesty International.
Many thousands more people held in Saydnaya prison died through torture and starvation, Amnesty said, and the bodies were dumped in two mass graves on the outskirts of Damascus between midnight and dawn most Tuesday mornings for at least five years.
The report, Human Slaughterhouse, details allegations of state-sanctioned abuse that are unprecedented in Syria’s civil war, a conflict that has consistently broken new ground in depravity, leaving at least 400,000 people dead and nearly half the country’s population displaced.
It suggests thousands more people could have been hanged in Saydnaya since the end of 2015, after which former guards and detainees who spoke to Amnesty no longer had access to verifiable information from inside the prison.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/07/up-to-13000-secretly-hanged-in-syrian-jail-says-amnesty
Hearsay Extrapolated – Amnesty Claims Mass Hangings In Saydnaya, Syria, Provides Zero Proof
If you haven’t heard about this bogus Amnesty International report that came out, then surely you will hear about it soon.
https://sarahabed.com/2017/02/07/hearsay-extrapolated-amnesty-claims-mass-hangings-in-saydnaya-syria-provides-zero-proof/?iframe=true&theme_preview=true
Amnesty Internation report on Syria: a response from a Syrian dissident (former political prisoner living in Europe)
Of course, the Syrian regime committed and is committing and will continue to commit human rights violations but this is about the Amnesty International report on Syria. Western human rights organizations–specifically Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch–don’t have any credibility among most Arabs about human rights. Their reputation has sunk far lower ever since the Arab uprisings in 2011, where they have been rightly perceived as propaganda arms of Western governments. So I saw the report yesterday and read the Methodology section and immediately felt that it is not credible: given the mention of unnamed sources (not one of them willing to be identified and the reference to countries which host Syrian opposition groups). But I am not an expert on those details and specifics. I don’t trust the Syrian regime (and its sponsors) and I don’t trust the Syrian rebels and their sponsors in the West and East. How to judge the report? I asked a well-known Syrian dissident who, due to his leftist underground activities, served years in Syrian jails and was subjected to torture by the regime. His name is Nizar Nayouf. He wrote me those responses, and I can’t judge the validity of the specific answers but given that there is no scrutiny by Western media to anything coming out which is in sync with Western government propaganda on Syria, I thought it would be useful. These are my (rush) translations (edited) of his answers: ” The white prison is the one on the shape of Mercedes. It is the main building (the old and big). As for the red prison, it is the new and small [structure], and contrary to what is contained in the report–which it seems does not distinguish between the two. The first was inaugurated in 1988 while the second was not inaugurated until 2001. As for the main White building, it is quite impossible for it to accommodate 10,000 prisoners. We know it inch by inch, and know how much it can accommodate, at maximum, and assuming you put 30 prisoners in a cell like pickles (or Syrian style pickles, makdus), it can’t accommodate more than 4500 prisoners (in fact it was designed for 3000 prisoners). The red building is much smaller and is exclusive to public defendants among the military members (traffic, desertion, various criminal offenses, etc), and can’t accommodate more than 1800 prisoners, and even if you put 3 on top of one another. Yes, paying money to achieve release is true. I personally documented tense of cases, in which `Ali Haydar (minister of national reconciliation) was the mediator. The talk of rape is lie on top of lie. It has no basis in truth. I challenge them…to show once case, not only now but also from the beginning of the era of Hafidh Al-Asad, whether with women or with men. Yes, there were rape cases with tools (like raping around ten young women from Communist Action Party, and others, with soft drink bottles. There is nothing in official papers which prisoners sign something called Sidnaya prison. This is the popular name and not the official name*. And this reveals the lies about them signing papers indicating that they were “from Sidnaya prison”. Prisoners are not moved from prisons to On-site Courts in Al-Qabun. The on-site courts move to prisons and hold its trials there, especially now as the Al-Qabun area is targeted by the fire of the rebels and is not safe at all. As for the length of the trials, it is one minute or two, and that is true since the 1980s till now. They admit that on-site trials’ rulings require the signature of the president or the Minister of Defense and yet they say in another section that execution is approved only by the members of the court and officers with it. They claim that the second on-site court was formed to accommodate after the crisis, and this is a lie and show ignorance or fabrication. The on-site court (first and second) have been in existence since 1968, and the Palestinian colonel, Salah ad-Din Al-Ma`ani, was chief of the second on-site courts since the 1980s. He was the one who was in charge of trial of Muslim Brotherhood, along with Sulayman Al-Khatib. As for the requirement of confessions by prisoners while they are blindfolded, this was ended by an order from Hafidh Al-Asad in 1998 or 1999, as far as I can remember, but I don’t know if this practice was resumed. There is no representative of the mukhabarat in the Hay’at Al–Mahkamah Al-Maydaniyyah, and thus he does not sign on any ruling, contrary to what is claimed by the report. There is a mess in what they say that the head of the on-site court is the military prosecutor, (p. 20) and this is real rubbish.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com.au/2017/02/amnesty-internation-report-on-syria.html
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/02/amnesty-report-hearsay.html#more
I believe these guys are in town not Fergie):
Anyone know when Turnbull stood up to Rupert?
I would guess Fizza is as much a shirt-fronter as is his predecessor.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers. Another monster selection today.
Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe has predicted some of the Trump administration’s economic policies could be good for Australia and the global economy, while warning it could also turn out “very badly” if America retreats from the international order of the world.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/borrow-for-infrastructure-while-cutting-tax-says-reserve-bank-governor-philip-lowe-20170209-gu9d7k.html
Stand by for another tirade against wind power.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/going-to-be-a-big-day-heatwave-to-strain-hospitals-power-supplies-in-nsw-20170209-gu99le.html
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has told China that she doesn’t take seriously the Trump administration’s threat to tear up its trade agreement with Australia. Peter Hartcher says. “Let’s see”.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/julie-bishop-dismisses-donald-trumps-threat-to-tear-up-free-trade-agreement-20170209-gu9kb9.html
Is Gladys about to face her first big embarrassment?
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/the-problems-gladys-berejiklian-wont-want-to-talk-about–but-should-20170201-gu3a8a.html
Amy Remeikis gets stuck into the anachronistic embarrassment Senator Macdonald over his Gold Pass spit. (Amy has been developing into a worthwhile journo).
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/gold-pass-defender-ian-macdonald-lacks-the-wit-to-realise-hes-an-embarrassment-to-politics-20170209-gu9ehw.html
More from Amy Remeikis. This time on Pauline Hanson excusing Putin with respect to MH17.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/pauline-hanson-shrugs-off-criticism-of-russian-leader-vladimir-putin-over-mh17-20170209-gu9lj0.html
Centrelink will front the industrial tribunal on Friday morning, trying to stop its public servants from embarking on a six-day campaign of micro-strikes over the robo-debt and pay and conditions issues between February 15 and February 24.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/public-service/centrelink-in-bid-to-stop-robodebt-strike-by-public-servants-20170209-gu97uh.html
In a bit of a reversal from yesterday Laura Tingle writes that Malcolm Turnbull’s big challenge does not come from another leadership contender but from a morass of conflicting ideas let loose by the Trump phenomenon, which makes constructing a coherent policy platform with which to bring the fractured Coalition party base back together a nightmare. Google.
/opinion/columnists/laura-tingle/malcolm-turnbulls-attack-on-bill-shorten-aims-to-please-party-not-public-20170209-gu9bh7
When Liberal MPs come down from the “high” of watching their leader’s roasting of Shorten, they will be back to looking at the polls, and whether they show any sign of improving says Michelle Grattan.
https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-liberals-get-high-on-bubbles-and-billionaires-72754
Here is the second article on the new Chief Justice’s role in failing the victims of big bank malpractice.
https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/chief-justice-kiefels-role-in-failing-victims-of-bank-malpractice–part-21,10005
Section 2 . . .
The Age says that Crown Casino’s murky deal with Andrews needs explaining.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/crowns-murky-deal-with-andrews-needs-explaining-20170209-gu9iro.html
Coles Customers should boycott these abominations and queue up behind checkouts and complain to store management over lack of service and if unsatisfied walk away leaving full trolleys.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/coles-to-test-12item-limit-on-selfservice-checkouts-as-supermarket-giant-fights-theft-20170209-gu9blk.html
It is profits, not security, that is driving America’s military build-up in the Pacific – and we could all pay the price writes John Pilger. It’s not China we should fear. Rather it’s the US he says.
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/the-coming-war-on-china-pilger-says-us-is-real-threat-in-the-pacific-not-china-20170209-gu96bp.html
This will fire idiot Hanson up! Mind you, the subject woman should abide by the laws and conventions of the country in which she abides.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/moutia-elzahed-to-be-charged-for-refusing-to-stand-for-a-district-court-judge-20170209-gu9e93.html
Mark Kenny and the shrill government may be in for a surprise once rational analysis of the national electricity arrangements occurs.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/turnbull-government-sharpens-attack-on-labors-clean-energy-20170209-gu9h5l.html
This morning’s SMH editorial says that consistency and fair dinkumness are hardly the Prime Minister’s strong points when it comes to an emissions intensity scheme and so-called “new coal”.
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-editorial/turnbull-rewrites-history-on-emissions-reduction-policy-20170208-gu8sx8.html
And the NSW government is in last-minute talks with the energy regulator to avert power blackouts as temperatures soar across the state and electricity demand hits record levels. The Australian Energy Market Operator, which regulates power supply and demand, warned yesterday it would consider emergency rotational load shedding, which would temporarily shut off electricity to different parts of the NSW grid. Google.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/nsw-next-to-face-emergency-load-shedding/news-story/9548e74f84c51aff8113b92ef2e8ef90
Furious South Australians have been promised a “dramatic” overhaul of their energy network to avoid further blackouts but given scant details, as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull lashed the State Government as “lazy” and “hypocritical” for creating the most fragile power system in the nation. Google.
/news/south-australia/blame-game-over-rolling-blackouts-as-south-australia-promised-dramatic-overhaul-of-energy-grid/news-story/6f659cfefcead66d2599f3449f1cb2d6
Meanwhile Katherine Murphy takes Morrison to task for bringing a lump of coal into parliament. It was idiocy she says.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/feb/09/scott-morrison-brings-coal-to-question-time-what-fresh-idiocy-is-this
The federal government could reap an extra $6 billion in tax revenue over the four-year budget horizon if liquefied natural gas projects operating in federal waters are brought under a simple royalty scheme that already applies to competing gas projects in Australia. But would the government be able to withstand the lobbying pressure to not do it?
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/flat-gas-royalty-would-end-free-ride-for-lng-multinationals-tax-campaigners-20170209-gu9a64.html
Section 3 . . .
The deliberate omission of white extremist attacks is necessary for Trump to convince Americans that the only one thing they have to fear is Islam.
http://www.politicususa.com/2017/02/09/opinion-trumps-domestic-religious-crusade-begun-earnest.html
Independent inspections at youth prisons or immigration detention centres will be permitted after the Turnbull government pledged to ratify a United Nations treaty in a bid to stamp out torture. Another little jibe at Abbott?
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/unrestricted-access-australia-to-allow-un-inspection-of-prisons-and-detention-centres-to-stamp-out-torture-20170209-gu996s.html
Why we should pity Sean (Comical Ali) Spicer.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/why-you-should-pity-sean-spicer-20170208-gu8u0r.html
A junior doctor in Sydney, three of whose colleagues have suicided, writes about the crushing pressure experienced by doctors in training.
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/three-of-my-colleagues-have-killed-themselves-medicines-dark-secret-cant-be-allowed-to-go-on-20170209-gu9crd.html
The Resistance 1 – Ivanka Trump 0.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/09/ivanka-trump-nordstrom-boycott-resistance
President Donald Trump’s official counsellor, Kellyanne Conway, may have broken a key ethics rule on Thursday morning when she told TV audiences to “go buy Ivanka’s stuff.” Madame Scrawny is going really well!
http://www.smh.com.au/world/go-buy-ivankas-stuff-trump-adviser-kellyanne-conway-pitches-fashion-line-from-white-house-20170209-gu9nvk.html
Stephen Colbert ruthlessly mocks Trump over his tirade against Nordstrums for dumping Ivanka’s range.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/02/09/stephen-colbert-ruthlessly-mocks-trump-over-nordstrom-freakout/?utm_hp_ref=au-homepage
This is how the media should handle crap coming from politicians! After Trump had tweeted an inaccurate statement about an interview that the cable news network had just concluded, CNN responded to the President’s false statement by playing the tape and tearing into the President for calling the network fake news.
http://www.politicususa.com/2017/02/09/cnn-demolishes-trump-fact-checking-lie-filled-tweet-live-air.html
John Hewson asks what if it is unlikely that either side of politics will ever succeed in creating jobs? What if there are structural shifts in our economy and society such that there won’t ever be enough jobs to meet the desires of those who wish to work?
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/theres-no-real-prospect-that-malcolm-turnbull-or-bill-shorten-will-create-more-jobs-20170208-gu8t1t.html
Can Donald Trump’s tax plan save Apple from paying a €13 billion ($18.2 billion) tax bill to Ireland? Probably not, but the US President could still put his hand up for a share of the pie.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/world-business/can-donald-trump-save-apple-from-its-european-tax-bill-20170209-gu931a.html
Section 4 . . .
The church’s strategy on protecting the child is designed to protect itself.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2017/feb/09/the-churchs-strategy-on-protecting-the-child-is-designed-to-protect-itself
The Catholic church’s “pontifical secret” rule is still preventing bishops from disclosing child sexual abuse allegations in some states, an expert has said at the CA Royal Commission.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/feb/09/catholic-churchs-pontifical-secret-stops-disclosure-of-sex-abuse-allegations-expert-says
Clive Palmer’s nephew and wife did a deal for Queensland Nickel. just days before its collapse, to buy $135 million worth of shares in a coal project he was pursuing just five days before the company failed, the Federal Court has been told.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/mining-and-resources/clive-palmers-nephew-and-wife-did-135m-deal-days-before-company-failed-court-20170209-gu9j9z.html
What kind of Christian supports Trump? My answer – a hypocritical one.
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/what-type-of-christian-backs-donald-trump-20170209-gu92li.html
Sarah Gill writes that just like Trump Pauline Hanson has an utter disregard for the truth.
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/like-trump-pauline-hanson-has-an-utter-disregard-for-the-truth-20170208-gu8snp.html
Will Bernardi become our own Geert Wilders?
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/will-cory-bernardi-be-australias-geert-wilders-20170209-gu9fly.html
Cory Bernardi’s new party has been mocked and derisively dismissed by most commentators. Managing editor David Donovan says you write it off at your peril.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/the-underestimation-of-cory-bernardi-and-his-coal-powered-conservatives,10012
Andrew Street why it is that South Australia creates so many political weirdos.
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/view-from-the-street/why-does-south-australia-create-political-weirdos-20170209-gu92vr.html
In less than a decade Bellamy’s had gone from a Tasmanian family run business to the poster child for Australian success in China as it took advantage of surging demand for foreign infant formula which became known as “white gold”. Then, disaster. Google.
/business/bellamys-australia-the-inside-story-of-bellamys-five-weeks-of-hell-20170207-gu7yhd
Section 5 . . . Cartoon Corner
Alan Moir and our leaders regaining public respect.
Andrew Dyson puts Hanson in her place!
Mark David and Turnbull’s inner conflicts.
Broelman conflates several issues here.
Oh dear! David Rowe does it again.
Nice work from Andrew Dyson.
Ron Tandberg analyses Bernardi’s principles.
David Pope and the age of (electrical) reason.
Mark Knight takes us aboard HMAS Packer.
http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/ddfe74b1247f69800517a5d6c27b2bc1?width=1024
Bill Leak gleefully returns to type.
http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/89ad42c5fd8f951e7a28d5c2fe7e81bd
Julie Bishop doesn’t believe Trump will ditch the US/Australia FTA, proving once again that she is just another ditzy bottle-blond wanna-be social-climbing Barbie-doll clone with nothing between her ears but cotton wool.
Why on earth is this twit being promoted as the next Prime Minister after the inevitable Trumbull assassination?
Remember how she was so woefully inadequate as Trumbull’s shadow treasurer (that judgement thing again) that her shadow cabinet colleagues demanded she be removed from that job? She ‘stepped down’, as they say, just before she was kicked out after only five months in that job. I don’t know what is more damning, being forced out or being replaced by HoJo, who was also woeful in that job. It’s also good to remember that Trumbull expressed his confidence in her right up to the moment she stepped down,
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2009/02/16/bishop-quits-shadow-treasurer
Bald Archy is on again
Mark Tippett, “Follow the Yellow Scarf Road or The Wizard of Taz”
Steven Elbourne, “Pauline Rising”
Judi Nadin, “When there’s a lull, the Silver Bodgie does scull”
What a difference 52 weeks makes in Perth. This working week last year average 40 C this year 26 C .
Sharyn Jones, “Maude: the ultimate judge”
Trumped again
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2017/feb/10/travel-ban-judges-refuse-reinstate-trump-order-reaction-live
Twitter Boy is quick
Donald J. Trump Verified account
@realDonaldTrump
SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!
The real Waffles on display still
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/feb/10/malcolm-turnbull-blasts-cult-of-executive-pay-and-hypocrite-shorten
Trump’s tweet:
Being the appellant, going to the Supreme Court now means he needs at least a 5-3 win. A tied vote won’t cut it.
Unless he can push through a political appointment who is likely to become a predictably activist so-called judge…. ah,no… perish the thought… The Donald wouldn’t dream of such a tactic. Not after all he’s ranted about judges sticking their bibs in where they shouldn’t be.