First Tuesday in November

This little black duck Uncategorized

It was ordained that, on the first Tuesday of this November, a couple of dozen hexapods would chase each other round a track for about 3 minutes and 20 seconds. This, apparently, is cause for much celebration and the wearing of outfits.

This seems to have been the case for some years.

1881 (from Wikimedia)

1896 (National Film and Sound Archive)

1896 (National Film and Sound Archive)

1896 (National Film and Sound Archive)

1930 (Wikimedia)

1937 (Fin Review)

1965

1968

1970 (edition.cnn.com)

1980 (Goulburn Post)

I’ll close this one for comment after tomorrow

 

143 thoughts on “First Tuesday in November”

  10. First two paras

    As the Sco-Mo Express putters up the Bruce Highway it is a neat symbol of the stand off between the mystical powers of marketing and the once iron laws of politics.

    While the bus may appear to be nothing more than an empty vessel in search of a photo-op, it is part of a rising global tide where surface trumps substance and feelings beat facts.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/06/a-good-bloke-who-deserves-a-crack-the-coalition-re-election-strategy#comments

    • That article is just more pointless blather using PPM numbers to try to prove a non-existent point.

      As soon as a journalist starts referring to those numbers as if they had meaning I stop paying attention.

    • The key line for me is this one:

      While Morrison has proven effective at unifying an albeit dwindling base…

      Really? How effective can you be when your base is dwindling? It’s the same as saying, “after he’s shed all the soft Liberal voters, the ones that are left will be more faithful.”

    • The brainfart about Virgin and veterans didn’t “unify” the base, it alienated a lot of veterans who probably used to vote Coalition and brought on some more dwindling.

      Whatever StuntMo does turns more voters away. How can anyone say he is “unifying” anything? He’s shedding support.

    • Therefore we should kill all sharks.

      That might upset the fish-n-chips shops around our proud nation.

    • Umm I thought it was about the temporary existence of someone swimming in known shark habitat

  12. Looks like the dei ex machina of Leave are in for a hard time

    Leave.EU and Arron Banks’s Eldon Insurance have been fined £60,000 each for serious breaches of the privacy and electronic communications regulations 2003 (PECR), the law which governs electronic marketing, over adverts sent to 2 million Leave.EU subscribers for Eldon’s insurance products, without consent, the report says.

    A separate £15,000 fine has been levied against Leave.EU for another breach of email regulations in the opposite direction, sending 300,000 emails to Eldon customers with a Leave.EU newsletter.

    Both fines are currently at the “notice of intent” stage, giving Banks’ organisations time to appeal or file countering evidence.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2018/nov/06/information-commissioner-to-levy-fines-against-leave-eu-live

    Sounds like the information commissioner is on the job.

    • 8m ago 10:24

      In her blogpost announcing the report, the information commissioner says the report “is not the end.”

      Some of the issues uncovered in our investigation are still ongoing or will require further investigation or action […] But it’s not just about enforcement action.

      We are at a crossroads. Trust and confidence in the integrity of our democratic processes risks being disrupted because the average person has little idea of what is going on behind the scenes.

      This must change. People can only make truly informed choices about who to vote for if they are sure those decisions have not been unduly influenced.

  14. So much for StuntMo’s “listening” tour.

    He will only listen to those who have been invited to events and have paid to be there – aka the Liberal Party faithful.

  15. I’m still baffled as to why Morrison would be so keen on differentiating his ‘personality’ from that of Turnbull. Turnbull’s personal ratings were the only thing holding him up, and it certainly wasn’t that turning the electorate off him. The party dragged him down. Morrison bouncing around like a jackass pretending to be an ocker just makes everything seem that much more insincere. Now we’ve got a government whose policies we hate being led by a man we don’t much like pretending to be something we like even less.

  16. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.

    With another exhibition of this government’s tin ear Greg Hunt is set to announce long-awaited changes to the government’s My Health Record legislation to address privacy concerns, as call centre workers reported a last-minute rush to opt out of the controversial e-health system.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/health-minister-greg-hunt-to-announce-my-health-record-changes-20181106-p50eca.html
    And speaking of tin ears . . . a prominent Sydney Anglican school has apologised for signing a controversial letter calling on the Morrison government to maintain laws allowing schools to discriminate against gay teachers and pupils, and blamed church leaders for “unintended hurt and division” in the school community.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/we-are-sorry-anglican-school-backtracks-from-letter-on-gay-teachers-and-students-20181106-p50ed8.html
    David Crowe writes that the Morrison government is running out of time to settle a heated dispute over religious freedom, casting new doubt over whether a Religious Discrimination Act can be put in place before the next election.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/time-running-out-for-religious-freedom-as-dual-election-option-dismissed-20181106-p50ed9.html
    Biologist Oliver Griffith gives a first hand account of the damage that can be done to gay students in Christian schools.
    https://www.smh.com.au/education/growing-up-gay-in-a-christian-school-had-lasting-effects-on-my-life-20181106-p50e8n.html
    Phil Coorey tells us that NSW Liberal moderates are defying a request by Scott Morrison to spare outspoken MP Craig Kelly from preselection defeat, arguing that Mr Kelly and other conservatives helped bring down Malcolm Turnbull and that he should go. There is another reason – the man’s an out and out dill.
    https://www.outline.com/v66A8u
    Matthew Knott writes that the politician with the most at stake at the midterms is not Trump, but another polarising figure: Nancy Pelosi, the Democrats’ leader in the House of Representatives.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/meet-the-politician-with-the-most-at-stake-at-the-midterms-hint-it-s-not-donald-trump-20181106-p50e89.html
    Odious Fox News host Sean Hannity spoke from the stage of President Donald Trump’s last midterm election rally, after Fox News Channel and its most popular personality had insisted all day that he wouldn’t.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/fox-news-host-joins-trump-on-rally-stage-despite-promising-he-wouldn-t-20181107-p50eer.html
    The New York Times explains how Trump has closed out an us-against-them midterm election campaign that was built on dark themes of fear, nationalism and racial animosity in an effort to salvage Republican control of Congress for the remaining two years of his term.
    https://www.outline.com/LzV7sq
    Why Trump’s pathologies make this election unlike any other. Quite frightening really.
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/06/midterm-elections-trump-pathologies
    The Washington Post says that the Mueller investigation will heat up after the mid-term elections.
    https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/mueller-investigation-will-heat-up-after-midterms-20181106-h17kan.html
    John McDuling looks at how Facebook is managing the mid-term elections as the trolls circle and what it might mean for the Australian scene.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/as-trolls-circle-facebook-s-election-war-room-faces-critical-test-20181106-p50eab.html
    As the Morrison Government stumbles from fumble to bungle on a daily basis, Labor Leader Bill Shorten is keeping a low profile. Would this not be his turn to shine, or is he just biding his time?
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/bill-shorten-where-the-bloody-hell-are-you,12070
    Fairfax’s environmental journalists report that according to the former chief of the federal government’s green bank the potential Morrison government move to shield new coal-fired power projects from the future costs of their carbon emissions amounts to a taxpayer-funded subsidy and would be an “extraordinary” and “irresponsible” move.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/former-official-criticises-angus-taylor-over-extraordinary-coal-protection-measure-20181106-p50ebw.html
    Labor has announced new plans to crack down on directors engaged in illegal phoenixing behaviour, estimated to cost the economy more than $5.1 billion a year.
    https://www.outline.com/zU3j93
    Sam Maiden reveals that taxpayer funding to the richest private and Catholic schools under Labor could be kept secret until after the next federal election following complaints from the sector.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2018/11/06/catholic-school-funding-labor/
    James Massola writes that fears the signing of the Australia-Indonesia free trade deal could be delayed look to have been put to bed, but risks remains to the deal being ratified.
    https://www.theage.com.au/world/asia/australia-indonesia-free-trade-deal-to-be-signed-next-week-20181105-p50e6q.html
    David Wroe says that Trump has picked a mainstream Republican and seasoned political insider as his top envoy to Canberra in a move that has been praised by Washington-watchers in Australia.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/trump-names-former-reagan-lawyer-as-new-us-ambassador-in-canberra-20181106-p50ecy.html
    According to Jonathan Lis Britain’s arrogant attempts to hoodwink the EU have sacrificed all trust.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/06/britain-brexit-eu-british-government-irish-backstop
    Ben Smee tries to work out what’s behind the ScoMo Express.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/nov/06/whos-campaigning-this-is-just-me-scott-morrison-insists
    As does Greg Jericho who delves deeply into what’s special about Queensland’s circumstances.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/grogonomics/2018/nov/06/morrisons-magical-mystery-tour-let-election-battle-commence
    Peter Lewis tells us that while the bus may appear to be nothing more than an empty vessel in search of a photo-op, it is part of a rising global tide where surface trumps substance and feelings beat facts.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/06/a-good-bloke-who-deserves-a-crack-the-coalition-re-election-strategy
    The Independent Australia tells us that even after it was sent a clear message by the Australian electorate in the Wentworth by-election and polling continues to deteriorate, the Morrison Government insists it is still in control of the nation’s political narrative.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/morrison-embraces-us-style-populist-conservatism-as-desperation-sets-in,12067
    Nicholas Stuart explains how China is sparing no effort in its drive to become one of the most effective surveillance states in history.
    https://www.smh.com.au/opinion
    Retail energy bosses will be given an ultimatum today that they need to begin bringing down power prices by January 1 or face the prospect of more “aggressive” federal legislation around a mandated default market price.
    https://outline.com/mTqCcK
    Jennifer Hewett tells us that political temperature will be distinctly chilly when the big energy retailers get together in Sydney this morning for a roundtable meeting with Scott Morrison’s “Minister for Getting Electricity Prices Down”.
    https://www.outline.com/kKJURD
    The Seven network looks to be exploring the possibilities of a merger with News Corp Australia as it builds agreements with some of its subsidiaries to boost revenues in a weak media market.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/money/finance-news/2018/11/05/seven-news-corp-may-merge/
    Stephen Koukoulas writes that any interest rate cut that the RBA may yet deliver should not, and certainly will not, be aimed directly at supporting house prices. On the contrary – future interest rate cuts should be directed at supporting the economy more generally at a time when the house price falls threaten to erode household wealth, consumer spending and the economy more generally.
    https://thekouk.com/item/647-an-rba-rate-cut-is-not-about-housing-it-s-about-exports-and-investment.html
    This is an indication of an industry in trouble.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/daniel-needed-a-taxi-the-driver-got-abusive-when-told-new-meter-rules-20181101-p50ddi.html
    According to this diverse group of academics the government’s proposed changes to working holiday visa arrangements enabling backpackers to work for an additional third year on Australian farms may create more problems than it solves.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/backpacker-work-plan-creates-more-problems-than-it-solves-20181106-p50ean.html
    Clancy Yeates explains how ASIC would take the lead in policing conduct in the $2.8 trillion superannuation sector under a proposed shake-up by the country’s two top financial regulators, after the royal commission exposed gaps in the current system.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/asic-wants-to-be-top-cop-on-super-beat-20181106-p50eac.html
    Bond fund managers have backed Labor’s proposal to cut the generosity of franking credits, assessing the shake-up will reduce the tax bias for dividends and encourage retirees to put money into the debt market.
    https://www.outline.com/TD3x6M
    Sydney’s housing market downturn could end up being the longest on record.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/sydney-s-housing-market-downturn-could-end-up-being-the-longest-on-record-20181106-p50e7h.html
    Data from one of the black boxes retrieved from the Lion Air plane that crashed into the Java Sea last Monday has revealed the aircraft experienced problems with its airspeed indicators on its last four flights, while admissions from Lion Air have suggested technical difficulties the plane encountered were not isolated to that issue.
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/06/lion-air-crash-black-boxes-reveal-plane-had-airspeed-problems-on-last-four-flights
    Financial planner Paul Benson outlines the three kinds of financial stress.
    https://www.smh.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/financial-stress-inherited-credit-cards-debt-20181106-p50e93.html
    Historian Douglas Newton opines that merchants of death should not be funding the Australian War Memorial.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/merchants-of-death-should-not-be-funding-australian-war-memorial-20181104-p50dxs.html
    And for today’s “Arsehole of the Week” nomination . . .
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/nov/06/police-officer-accused-of-making-threats-to-sarah-hanson-youngs-office-appalled-by-his-conduct

    Cartoon Corner

    A cracker from David Rowe.

    Mark David and Morrison’s pie eating prowess.

    Peter Broelman with Morrison at the Cup.

    Paul Zanetti gets fair dinkum,

    A couple from Matt Golding.


    Alan Moir with a Cup form guide.

    And Morrison’s energy policy.

    David Pope rolls out the orange-bellied parrot to make his point.
    https://static.ffx.io/images/$width_828/t_resize_width/t_sharpen%2Cq_auto%2Cf_auto/1205efddc86cc9970fdad442b7c9cae0d4c23f42
    Jon Kudelka and the ScoMo bus.
    https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/3cdcfafbd921d3245deef67fb8867107
    More in here.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/best-of-fairfax-cartoons-november-7-2018-20181106-h17le7.html

  19. I’m sick of this “Where’s Bill” nonsense.

    Shorten is invisible to the MSM because they deliberately ignore him. Our news coverage is wall to wall government. StuntMo gets a headline every time he opens his mouth, Shorten makes an impassioned speech or spends a few hours at yet another town hall meeting and the media look the other way.

    Labor pressers are ignored. Labor speeches in parliament get no coverage. Labor policies are rarely mentioned and if they are it’s usually in a “where’s the money coming from” way. StuntMo, though, can promise half a billion there, a few million there, ignoring the parliamentary requirement of accounting for all proposed new spending, and the MSM will fall about in adoration. They never ask HIM how he intends to pay for his lavish, profligate promises.

    The MSM barely managed a few words of criticism when StuntMo decided to rob the NDIS to pay for his drought brainfart, a scheme that won’t begin until 2020. The MSM barely mentioned the proposed start. You had to search to find it. They allowed their readers/listeners/viewers to believe “something” was being done immediately.

    We get this sort of deliberate omission of information all the time now when journalists write or talk about the government’s latest brainfart. . Facts are left out, articles are so poorly written you struggle to work out what they are actually about, false impressions are given in the hope the government will score some voter approval. While all this goes on Labor, and especially Shorten, are treated as if they were a joke. Every single article about a new poll will make a prominent comment about Shorten being “unpopular” while mostly ignoring Labor’s election-winning position, one they have maintained in every poll since August 2016.

    Yesterday, in her article/interpretation of the latest Essential results Murpharoo admitted Labor’s result “would give Bill Shorten an easy election win”. FFS Ms Murphy! Labor has been in an easy election win position for a couple of years now, and you never noticed?

    You understand. We’ve talked about this deliberate tactic by the MSM many times here.

    Meanwhile all we get from the same MSM is dark mutterings about Facebook taking over the election campaign. Once again they deliberately mislead us by whipping up some unnecessary fear and loathing. The Facebook technique (whatever it really is) won’t work in Australia because we have compulsory voting, we don’t need to be persuaded to get off our bums and vote.

    Labor, uses Facebook well. All Shorten’s town hall meetings are shown live (the sound is sometimes dreadful) and then are accessible as a video. Labor MPs make excellent use of their Facebook pages.Maybe that’s what all the fear and loathing is about – Labor uses social media well, so let’s destroy an avenue of communication that provides what the MSM won’t, fair coverage of Labor.

    • They’ve been doing it since 2009. I’ve given up being frustrated. Seeing Labor in front in the polls for so long has kept me calmish. Most people don’t care and obviously take enough in to know who is offering the better policies even if they don’t understand or follow closely.

    • Very clever. Love it!

      I can see I’m going to be saying these words every day from now until the next election, or until StuntMo gets knifed, whichever comes first -“He really didn’t think this through”.

  23. So we finally get a US ambassador, after two years of being ignored. We get a devout Republican – well, of course.

    Fairfax gushes about this 70 year old chap, mentioning his age twice, for some reason, and to back up their grovelling asks only two people for a comment, Marise Payne and the chap in charge of the very right wing Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Of course they are going to greet this announcement warmly.

    No comment included from Penny Wong, who will soon find herself dealing with this man as our new Minister for Foreign Affairs. (Unless she gets a new portfolio when Labor returns to government, of course.)

  24. I’d say definitely not sober, I think substances other than alcohol are involved.

  26. Will it be “Bye Bye Barnaby”?

    Barnaby Joyce’s preselection for New England in doubt
    BARNABY Joyce is facing an ugly internal battle to keep his place in parliament, with his extramarital affair haunting him.
    BARNABY Joyce is facing an ugly internal battle to run for the Nationals at the next election, with some party members refusing to endorse his candidacy.

    The former deputy prime minister and National Party leader has applied to recontest his northern NSW seat of New England.

    But an eight-member selection committee has reached a deadlock and is unable to unanimously support his candidacy, Sky News reported this morning.

    At least two members are holding out, fearing Mr Joyce could have “more skeletons in the closet” and that his paperwork might not be correct.

    Last time Mr Joyce stood for the seat, in 2016, he failed to disclose his affair with former staffer Vikki Campion or the fact she was pregnant with his child

    https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/barnaby-joyces-preselection-for-new-england-in-doubt/news-story/3cf62cf253a735fa9cbc6a0cafbed0f9

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