Fast and Furious Friday

joe6pack Uncategorized

Hello Pubsters . I”m still in Cairns so this is a quick Friday Post.

I’m Sure all people on this site contributors and lurkers where saddened to hear of the passing of Fiona’s Mum. I only met her once and liked her immensely. We owe her and her husband many thanks for raising such a wonderful daughter.

On a Happier Note

ON THIS DAY

BK WAS BORN  HAPPY BIRTHDAY

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ALSO

  • 1992 The first exoplanets are discovered

    Polish astronomer Aleksander Wolszczan announced that he found two planets orbiting the pulsar PSR 1257+12.

  • 1967 Dictator Georgios Papadopoulos assumes power in Greece

    During his six-year reign, thousands of political opponents were incarcerated and tortured.

  • 1934 The Surgeon’s photo, allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, is published in the Daily Mail

    In reality, the famous image depicts a toy submarine with a head and neck made of wood putty.

  • 1918 The Red Baron is killed

    Manfred von Richthofen was a legendary German fighter pilot. He earned his renown and nickname by achieving 80 air combat victories in World War I. He was shot down and killed during combat at the age of 25.

  • 1509 Henry VIII is crowned King of England

    In popular culture, the monarch is known mainly for his six marriages, two of which ended with the wife’s execution.

Births On This Day – 21 April

  • 1959 Robert Smith

    English singer-songwriter, guitarist

  • 1947 Iggy Pop

    American singer-songwriter, producer, actor

  • 1926 Elizabeth II

    of The United Kingdom

  • 1864 Max Weber

    German economist, sociologist

  • 1838 John Muir

    Scottish/American environmentalist, author

Deaths On This Day – 21 April

  • 2016 Prince

    American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actor

  • 2003 Nina Simone

    American singer-songwriter, pianist

  • 1946 John Maynard Keynes

    English economist

  • 1910 Mark Twain

    American author

  • 1736 Prince Eugene of Savoy

  • As Anzac Day is next Tuesday I predict the Libs are going to ramp up the patriotism cry to high level.
  • I don’t think it is doing them much good.
  • Labor still ahead in the polls. YAY

275 thoughts on “Fast and Furious Friday”

  4. Why an American went to Cuba for cancer care

    Cuba has faced more than 50 years of US sanctions. Now, for the first time, a unique drug developed on the communist island is being tested in New York state. But some American cancer patients are already taking it – by defying the embargo and flying to Havana for treatment.

    Judy Ingels and her family are in Cuba for just six days. They have time to go sightseeing and try out the local cuisine. Judy, a keen photographer, enjoys capturing the colonial architecture of Old Havana.

    And while she is in the country, Ingels, 74, will have her first injections of Cimavax, a drug shown in Cuban trials to extend the lives of lung cancer patients by months, and sometimes years.

    By travelling to Havana from her home in California, she is breaking the law.

    The US embargo against Cuba has been in place for more than five decades, and though relations thawed under President Obama, seeking medical treatment in Cuba is still not allowed for US citizens.

    “I’m not worried,” Ingels says. “For the first time I have real hope.”

    She has stage four lung cancer and was diagnosed in December 2015. “My oncologist in the United States says I’m his best patient, but I have this deadly disease.”

    He does not know she is in Cuba. When she asked him about Cimavax, he had not heard of it.

    “But we’ve done a lot of research – I’ve read good things,” Ingels says. Since January, Cimavax has been tested on patients in Buffalo, New York state, but it isn’t yet available in the US.

    Ingels, her husband Bill and daughter Cindy are staying at the La Pradera International Health Centre, west of Havana. It treats mostly foreign, paying patients like Ingels, and with its pool complex, palm trees and open walkways, La Pradera feels more like a tropical hotel than a hospital.

    http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-39640165

    BBC Podcast here:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04zvqyt

  5. US, Iraq Trying to Quash Coverage of ISIS Chemical Attacks

    epeated reports of chemical weapons attacks by ISIS forces in Mosul have gone barely commented upon by US and Iraqi officials, and in many cases denied outright, which Kurdish officials say is part of a quash any major coverage of the multiple gas attacks in the past week, and any reports of casualties resulting from them.

    The official responses to every chemical attack by ISIS has claimed them to be “ineffective,” or “low-grade,” and Iraqi Prime Minister Hayder Abadi insisted the chemical attacks were a myth, shrugging the incidents all off as smoke.

    Iraqi intelligence sources essentially confirmed this as a specific policy of denial by the governments, saying that the current priority is to maintain the morale of the soldiers invading Mosul. Confirming that chemical weapons were being used against those troops would make their open-ended offensive harder to sustain.

    Kurdish forces have been much more forthcoming about the chemical attacks they’ve come under, with a lot of reports of people injured by exposure to chlorine gas. Though indications are that similar accounts exist within the Iraqi military, policy appears to be such that such reports are being kept from the public.

    http://news.antiwar.com/2017/04/19/us-iraq-trying-to-quash-coverage-of-isis-chemical-attacks/

  6. Who’s coming to dinner in New Zealand?

    Mystery still shrouds the exact identity of VIPs expected in Queenstown this weekend, but Prime Minister Bill English’s office has ruled out a current or former head of state, such as former US President Barack Obama.

    In a statement a spokesman for Prime Minister Bill English confirmed a number of senior officials were coming for a conference hosted by the Government – but would not reveal what the conference was.

    “Due to specific security requirements we cannot comment further at this time. However, as police have pointed out they are not aware of a visit to Queenstown by a current or former head of state.”

    The high level of secrecy has led to speculation it is a Five Eyes related meeting – the intelligence partnership of the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

    If so, one of those attending could be US President Donald Trump’s new Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11841241&ref=NZH_Tw

    • That was beautiful, Billie – thank you. And thanks for your SMS. I look forward to catching up soon.

    • Monkey was a big, big deal for my kids when they were growing up. Me not so much,

      I don’t suppose the will keep the original opening song. Pity.

  10. Sources: US prepares charges to seek arrest of WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange

    Washington (CNN)US authorities have prepared charges to seek the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, US officials familiar with the matter tell CNN.
    The Justice Department investigation of Assange and WikiLeaks dates to at least 2010, when the site first gained wide attention for posting thousands of files stolen by the former US Army intelligence analyst now known as Chelsea Manning.
    Prosecutors have struggled with whether the First Amendment precluded the prosecution of Assange, but now believe they have found a way to move forward.

    During President Barack Obama’s administration, Attorney General Eric Holder and officials at the Justice Department determined it would be difficult to bring charges against Assange because WikiLeaks wasn’t alone in publishing documents stolen by Manning. Several newspapers, including The New York Times, did as well. The investigation continued, but any possible charges were put on hold, according to US officials involved in the process then.

    Going after Assange

    The US view of WikiLeaks and Assange began to change after investigators found what they believe was proof that WikiLeaks played an active role in helping Edward Snowden, a former NSA analyst, disclose a massive cache of classified documents.

    Assange remains holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, seeking to avoid an arrest warrant on rape allegations in Sweden. In recent months, US officials had focused on the possibility that a new government in Ecuador would expel Assange and he could be arrested. But the left-leaning presidential candidate who won the recent election in the South American nation has promised to continue to harbor Assange.

    Last week in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, CIA Director Mike Pompeo went further than any US government official in describing a role by WikiLeaks that went beyond First Amendment activity.

    He said WikiLeaks “directed Chelsea Manning to intercept specific secret information, and it overwhelmingly focuses on the United States.”

    “It’s time to call out WikiLeaks for what it really is: A non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia,” Pompeo said.

    http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/20/politics/julian-assange-wikileaks-us-charges/index.html?sr=twCNN042017julian-assange-wikileaks-us-charges1015PMVODtopVideo&linkId=36726637

  12. A belated v but latelyedry happy birthday,BK.

    Should not have forgotten, being just a week before mine,

  13. I haven’t been keeping up the last few days so I missed this.

    Fawn – grovel – arselick – grovel – fawn –

    So very, very embarrassing! Why doesn’t Turnbull just have ‘All the way with Donald J’ tattooed on his forehead and be done with it.

    Malcolm Turnbull: I trust the ‘wisdom and judgment’ of Trump and Pence
    The prime minister’s comments are the strongest backing so far of the US administration and comes ahead of visit by vice president on Friday

    Asked if he trusted Trump and Pence’s judgment, Turnbull replied: “I do. I trust the judgment, the wisdom of the American government, the president and the vice president.”

    Turnbull explained that despite changes of government the “central national interests of the United States remain the same” and the alliance was “vital” and would survive many prime ministers and presidents

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/apr/20/malcolm-turnbull-says-he-trusts-the-wisdom-and-judgement-of-trump-and-pence?CMP=soc_567

    When are our leaders going to realise the US uses Australia shamelessly and will give nothing in return? When are they going to get over this stupid ‘the US will always come to save us’ cargo cult bullshit?

  14. I’m just wondering … if Australia is going to be graced by the presence of Mr Pence, will we also be graced by the presence of Mrs Pence so that the Vice President can be in the same room as our Foreign Minister?

    Or is that just too cynical?

  15. No one saluted so …

    The finance minister says the government won’t adopt a plan to allow people to dip into the superannuation to buy a house.

    Allowing first-home-buyers to dip into their super was flagged as a possible budget measure and some Liberals had voiced support for the idea.

    Mathias Cormann told Sky News says it would only put upward pressure on housing prices and did not serve the primary purpose of superannuation – to save money for retirement.

    ‘Increasing the amount of money going into residential property – all other things being equal – doesn’t help make it more affordable, it obviously puts upward pressure on prices.

    ‘That’s not something we think would help address the problem,’ Senator Cormann said.

    http://www.skynews.com.au/news/politics/federal/2017/04/21/cormann-shuts-door-on-super-for-housing-idea.html

  16. Right on!

    The Australian government must admit it controls the offshore processing centres on Manus Island and in Nauru and has a duty of care to the asylum seekers and refugees it detains, a Senate inquiry has found, declaring that “to suggest anything else is fiction”.

    On Friday the Senate standing committees on legal and constitutional affairs delivered damning findings from a seven-month inquiry into allegations of abuse on Manus Island and Nauru, sparked by the Guardian’s publication of the Nauru files.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/apr/21/australia-must-end-fiction-it-does-not-control-nauru-and-manus-centres-senate-inquiry-finds

    • That was not meant to be a reply. Here’s the real reply.

      Anyone who puts lemon rind in Anzac biscuits deserves to be thrown onto a bonfire.

      Where did that idea come from? Maggie Beer? One of the wankier foodie magazines who just can’t leave classics alone? Put lemon rind in if you like, just don’t call what you’ve made ‘Anzac biscuits’. Same for the ones with added rosemary, and the ones with lemon icing. Or ones with added choc chips. They might be biscuits, but they aren’t Anzac biscuits.

      All the classic recipes like the Women’s Weekly one, the CWA one and the Presbyterian Ladies Cookbook don’t mention lemon rind. Neither do my old cookbooks inherited from my mum.

      As for chewy or crisp – I don’t care, as long as they taste right and don’t contain freaking lemon zest.

  22. Moi is most annoyed. Moi’s fave pullover has developed a hole in the left sleeve.

    And moi has only had the pullover for 14 years.

  27. Saw Ms O’Meara on her 6 PM program tonight.

    She signed a book for me here about three years ago. I found her chock full of personality and attractive.

    On her programs now, she is totally gorgeous. SBS has done no enhancements, crows’ feet and all, to any there.

  28. Now I lay me down to sleep.
    I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
    If I should die before I wake,
    I pray to God my soul to take.
    If I should live for other days,
    I pray the Lord to guide my ways.

    Father, unto thee I pray,
    Thou hast guarded me all day;
    Safe I am while in thy sight,
    Safely let me sleep tonight.
    Bless my friends, the whole world bless;
    Help me to learn helpfulness;
    Keep me every in thy sight;
    So to all I say good night.

    • My introduction to opera at the age of 3 was Hänsel und Gretel, the 1953 recording conducted by Herbert von Karajan with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Elisabeth Grümmer (respectively Gretel and Hänsel). I would curl up on the rug next to the radiogramophone and listen in bliss:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnxHE–qsh4

  29. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/millionaires-try-to-draft-peta-credlin-to-unseat-higgins-mp-kelly-odwyer/news-story/d6b1ee15792c74f1a4c090789f7f5fb4 paywalled, google the URL for full story

    Millionaires trying to draft Peta Credlin to unseat Higgins MP Kelly O’Dwyer
    JAMES CAMPBELL and ROB HARRIS, Herald Sun
    23 minutes ago

    DISGRUNTLED millionaires are attempting to draft Peta Credlin to unseat federal Cabinet minister Kelly O’Dwyer in the blue-ribbon seat of Higgins.

    A powerful group of local Liberals want Tony Abbott’s former chief of staff to challenge Ms O’Dwyer in retribution for her role in an unpopular tax on their superannuation savings. When asked by the Herald Sun about the plan on Friday, Ms Credlin would only say: “I have not been formally approached to run for Higgins”.

    It’s understood the group of ­current and former Liberal branch members have made an unofficial approach and are willing to bankroll a challenge to the Revenue and ­Financial Services Minister because of their fury over the Turnbull ­Government’s changes to super.

  30. Sorry to hear about your Mum Fiona, best wishes to you and all your family from me. I hope we and other Melbourne Pub patrons can catch up again some time soon.

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-21/federal-opposition-unveils-plan-for-housing-affordability/8459954

    https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-malcolm-turnbull-forges-values-into-political-weaponry-76480

    http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/20/politics/julian-assange-wikileaks-us-charges/index.html

    http://www.vox.com/culture/2017/4/20/15369442/columbine-anniversary-cassie-bernall-rachel-scott-martyrdom

    http://www.thestranger.com/features/2017/04/19/25082450/the-heart-of-whiteness-ijeoma-oluo-interviews-rachel-dolezal-the-white-woman-who-identifies-as-black most of what has been written about her has been rubbish, but this interview (by an actual black woman) is the only thing you will ever need to read about Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who tries to pass herself off as black

  32. DISGRUNTLED millionaires are attempting to draft Peta Credlin to unseat federal Cabinet minister Kelly O’Dwyer in the blue-ribbon seat of Higgins.

    “Disgruntled millionaires”… ha,ha, that’s funny.

  40. Victoria
    Friday, April 21, 2017 at 10:25 am
    Puffy

    I tried a couple of times to post a message to Fiona on the pub site. Not sure if they will go through. Can you pass on my best wishes to her?
    Thanks in advance

  41. I’m really sorry to hear about Fiona’s mum. From what I heard of her, she sounded like a wonderful lady who had a wonderful long life. May she rest in peace.

  42. Monte Carlo Tennis. The first major tournament for the year on clay and part of the lead up to the French Open.

    Well known players ‘gone’ – Murray, Berdych, Wawrinka, Tsonga, Zverev, Thiem and Djokovic. (Federer not a contestant. Tomic, the only Australian, out in the 1st round.)

    Nadal looking sharp and into the semi-finals against players ranked quite a few numbers lower.

    He’s looking good for his 10th Monte Carlo win.

  43. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.

    Our politicians wouldn’t be conflicted when it comes to considering changes to negative gearing and CGT would they?
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/houses-of-parliament-politicians-own-an-estimated-370m-of-property-20170420-gvp2g5.html
    Jack Waterford and Turnbull’s crisis of legitimacy. Ouch!
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/malcolm-turnbulls-crisis-of-legitimacy-20170421-gvpaj4.html
    Laurie Oakes has a message for Turnbull. Abbott is not going away. Google.
    /news/opinion/laurie-oakes-tony-abbott-is-not-going-away/news-story/d941e668abeddc6ebe4b9b151b791ee7
    Elizabeth Knight looks at how top executives have been using 457s as a pathway to citizenship
    http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/forget-the-shearers-and-welders–corporate-executives-on-457-visas-20170421-gvpkkv.html
    Paul Kelly on the march of populism. Google.
    /opinion/columnists/paul-kelly/turnbulls-457-visa-ploy-risks-policy-for-populism/news-story/d5da41ff3e44d1078dd537ff2109a11d
    Kristina Keneally writes that Turnbull and Dutton are appealing to racist attitudes for base political purposes.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2017/apr/21/its-hard-to-integrate-into-australian-society-even-as-an-english-speaking-white-woman
    Paul Bongiorno says that Turnbull has “crossed the line” over 457 visas.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2017/04/22/malcolm-turnbull-crosses-the-line-457-visas/14927832004526
    Mike Pence’s visit will be a very “unTrump” affair.
    http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/2017/04/21/mike-pence-australia/
    There is a new disease in the US. Trumporrhoea .
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/worst-political-event-of-my-lifetime-lissa-muscatine-on-the-trump-ascendancy-20170421-gvpgye.html
    Turnbull has cooled expectations of an affordable housing “centrepiece” in the budget.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/malcolm-turnbull-dampens-talk-of-affordable-housing-focus-in-budget-20170421-gvph9r.html

  44. Section 2 . . .

    Meanwhile, in contrast to the government’s empty policy cupboard on housing, Labor has released a comprehensive suite.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/labor-hits-foreigners-vacant-properties-and-super-funds-in-housing-affordability-package-20170420-gvolrj.html
    And Phil Coorey writes that David Murray has urged the Coalition to ban self-managed super funds from borrowing and to do so quickly or risk a stampede of further leveraging between now and the next election which would put more pressure on house prices. Google.
    /news/politics/ban-super-fund-borrowing-or-risk-stampede-20170420-gvp7ca
    Coorey also tells the Coalition that there is no messiah. Google.
    /news/politics/warning-to-warring-liberals-there-is-no-messiah-20170420-gvoj3m
    Dutton is already backpedalling over the new visas under pressure from university vice-chancellors.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/peter-dutton-signals-room-to-move-on-work-visas-for-universities-20170421-gvplsy.html
    In a lengthy contribution Anna Patty wonders if the visa changes are a political illusion act.
    http://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace-relations/are-the-457-visa-reforms-an-illusion-act-20170420-gvokqk.html
    Peter Hartcher takes us along the historical path of immigration policy and concludes that the visa changes are more good housekeeping than radical change. Much more preferable than what Turnbull ‘right wing rump would like.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/immigration-changes-are-modest-housekeeping-and-not-draconian-20170421-gvpv39.html
    And Michael Gordon says that Dutton has stooped to a new low, even as he seeks to impose higher standards on prospective Australian citizens. Potatohead is a real piece of work.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/peter-dutton-delivers-a-new-low-with-comments-on-manus-island-rampage-20170420-gvp6tr.html
    Richard Dennis has written a good piece on conservatives’ ideological indifference to increasing wages.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/australias-fake-crisis-of-high-wages-20170421-gvpj8w.html
    Joel Fitzgibbon channels Orwell’s 1984 to hoe into Barnaby Joyce’s decentralisation ideology.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/big-brother-barnaby-joyces-sequel-to-1984-20170421-gvpmr8.html
    And Zed Seselja also has a dip at Joyce’s decentralisation folly.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/moving-public-servants-from-sydney-and-melbourne-but-not-canberra-helps-everyone-20170421-gvpiz5.html

  45. Section 3 . . .

    Embattled Federal LNP MP Stuart Robert and his former staffer Clr Kristyn Boulton both fall victim to amnesia at a Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission hearing in Brisbane this week.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/stuart-robert-fibs-and-crony-contradicts-him-at-qld-ccc-corruption-inquiry,10221
    President Donald Trump received substantially worse ratings for his initial months in office than any other president elected to his first term since World War II, according to Gallup.
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/04/20/trump-s-first-quarter-poll-ratings-lowest-for-an-elected-preside_a_22048651/?utm_hp_ref=au-homepage
    Mike Seccombe goes inside the war on Safe Schools.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/education/2017/04/22/inside-the-war-safe-schools/14927832004537
    Peter van Onselen piles into the Coalition’s poor record when it comes to gender balance. Google.
    /opinion/columnists/peter-van-onselen/good-night-ladies-were-going-to-dump-you-now-coalition/news-story/7f046e730296c467ca4c507506f021e0
    Cormann has warned former prime minister Tony Abbott’s public criticisms of the Turnbull government could help Labor win the next election.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/mathias-cormann-warns-tony-abbott-may-help-bill-shorten-become-prime-minister-20170420-gvp70h.html
    Coalition MPs with thousands of dole recipients in their electorates have hit out at “job snobs”. Google.
    /national-affairs/industrial-relations/coalition-regional-mps-target-job-snobs/news-story/c66dbf38e429cf62230a6378d79def84
    It looks like Jeremy Corbyn is going to campaign on getting rid of the establishment’s cosy rules.
    http://www.smh.com.au/world/uk-election-can-labours-jeremy-corbyn-win-the-election-20170420-gvp904.html
    Using the odious Bill O’Reilly as an example Julia Baird goes after the workplace sleazes.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/to-the-workplaces-sleazes-of-the-word-your-time-is-up-20170420-gvozta.html
    A pretty good weekend column from Peter FitzSimons.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/vicepresident-mike-pence-heres-how-to-ingratiate-yourself-with-sydney-20170421-gvpt69.html

  46. Section 4 . . . Cartoon Corner

    Ron Tandberg on the fate of housing affordability policy changes.

    Nice work from Cathy Wilcox on Fox News.

    Broelman visits Point Piper.

    There’s much to see in this effort from David Rowe.

    David Pope with Turnbull’s view of the March for Science.

    Ron Tandberg and Turnbull’s intervention to save Warringah.

    A cracker from Mark Knight!
    http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/093e4962e3be568b2c4fb05e3933db9b?width=1024
    Jon Kudelka with the Sermon on the (Values) Mount.
    http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/7dab2591d910f32dcf354fb8263d3555

  47. All this talk about Turnbull ‘regretting’ campaigning for Abbott in Warringah is a bit weird. Without that seat, Turnbull would be presiding over a hung, and quite probably unworkable, lower house. The way I see it, having Abbott around causing trouble is the price Turnbull pays for being PM.

    • Abbott was never in any danger of losing his seat, the whole thing is just a beat-up and a great big joke. The leaks were probably intended to make Turnbull look caring and magnanimous by ‘saving’ his enemy and to throw a bit of muck at Abbott by making him seem ungrateful for the alleged rescue.

      The propaganda now being put about says Turnbull did robo-calls and a mailout to voters. Big deal. Most robo-calls in election campaigns get a fast hang-up and mailouts usually go in the bin. I don’t see how any of that could have ‘saved’ Abbott. We really have no way of knowing whether any of that happened or if it did, whether it was part of a long-planned campaign or a last-minute effort. Turnbull didn’t campaign in Warringah. You’d think a leader worried about losing a seat to Labor would have been there a lot.

      Abbott won 61.55% of the 2PP vote. I wouldn’t call that result anything like a seat that needed ‘saving’. Abbott spent a lot of time campaigning in marginal seats so he must have been confident of being safe in his own seat. Abbott usually ends up with between 60% and 63% of the 2PP anyway, The result in 2013 – 65.35% – was Abbott’s peak. He’s never been able to get to that level before or since. The slight drop last election from that all-time high was nothing to worry about, it was really in line with Abbott’s usual vote.

      As for the seat being likely to fall to Labor – what a joke! It’s blue ribbon Liberal country in that area. I have more chance of becoming Prime Minister than Abbott had of losing his seat to Labor.

      Turnbull now gets to pout, sulk and whine about Abbott, saved by his magnanimous self, still sniping and undermining. How ungrateful!

  48. Here they are all. Sunday is the big day. Right now they, particularly the RWers, here as much as there, exploit the drama in Paris where a mentally disturbed crim killed a policeman and injured three people.

    • They have to keep us scared, afraid of ‘terrorists’. Fear brings them votes – or that’s the theory.

      When you go through the list of alleged ‘terrorist attacks’ in Australia you find they have not been ‘terrorist attacks’ at all. They have been committed by crazed individuals who have just snapped, or by white supremacist types targeting Asians, or by non-Muslims with political grudges or by white, ‘Christian’ anti-abortionists or white Australian nutters or assassins. There have been no real Muslim terrorist events, none at all although there have been some random killings by nutters with Middle Eastern names so our government has claimed them as ‘terrorist attacks’ to keep as fearful.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terrorist_incidents_in_Australia

      Australian cynics have noticed how an alleged terrorist plot foiled or a new haul of smuggled drugs always happens right after another bad poll for the government.

  49. I don’t really believe for a minute that Warringah was under any real threat. Labor winning it by 57-43 is laughable in anything other than an absolute rout of the Liberals in NSW.

    While yes, James Mathison (Independent) would have been in with a chance had he picked up 10% of the vote that went to Abbott, I don’t think the Earl of Wentworth’s voice alone would have convinced that many people.

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