Belated Birthday Bash

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Birthday Bash!

It’s been a pleasantly cool weekend in Melbourne, so as promised here is the thread to celebrate The Pub’s sixth birtday.

What an amazing ride it has been!

Thank you so much to The Boss, Joe6pack, for starting the site, and for his firm but always fair treatment of us Pubsters, even when we become a little rowdy …

Thank you to Bushfire Bill and C@tmomma for being excellent moderators and post authors. I hope “retirement” is going well.

And thank you to our new moderators, Leone and This Little Black Duck. Superb choices!

A quick note on this evening’s Raffle: I will start issuing numbers at 6pm Pub time (i.e., 7pm in NSW, VIC, and Mania, 6:30pm in SA, 5:30pm in NT, and 4pm in WA, with a view to drawing about an hour later.

2019 looks as though it should be even wilder than 2018. My prediction is for a successful coup by Dutton, followed rapidly by an election (HoR and half Senate) in February.

Fasten your seatbelts, mes amis – it’s going to be a rough flight.

365 thoughts on “Belated Birthday Bash”

  3. After a very very painful weekend, almost no sleep for two nights, this cranky piece of gravel rang the dentist right on the dot of 8.30am. Mind you, I did sleep last night and woke with nothing but the minutest tinge of pain. By the time of 11am appointment, no trace. What a farce. Had full dental exam, couldn’t find any problem, on very small filling and a clean, then I was kicked out the door with the words “If it happens again make sure it is a weekday and come straight back in”.

    • I only lasted about 10 mins in, it just breaks my heart to see the wasted opportunity and the inefficent mess that these rwnj idiots have left behind.

  13. The Coalition barbarians have not killed of great science in Oz yet.

    Computers could soon run cold, no heat generated

    Common inefficiencies in transistor materials cause energy loss,” says the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), in a news article on its website this month. That “results in heat buildup and shorter battery life.”

    The lab is proposing, and says it has successfully demonstrated, a material called sodium bismuthide (Na3Bi) to be used for a new kind of transistor design, which it says can “carry a charge with nearly zero loss at room temperature.” No heat, in other words. Transistors perform switching and other tasks required in electronics.

    The new “exotic, ultrathin material” is a topological transistor. That means the material has unique tunable properties, the group, which includes scientists from Monash University in Australia, explains. It’s superconductor-like, they say, but unlike super-conductors, doesn’t need to be chilled. Superconductivity, found in some materials, is partly where electrical resistance becomes eliminated through extreme cooling.
    https://www.networkworld.com/article/3326831/data-center/computers-could-soon-run-cold-no-heat-generated.html

  14. 30 minutes of what the French do well. Anti government riots.
    .
    DANS LA GUERRE DES GILETS AUX CHAMPS ÉLYSÉES

  15. Does the $24 Trillion of coltan and other minerals in Central Africa .have anything to do with this?

    Trump deploys troops to central Africa following disputed Congo election

    By Eddie Haywood
    7 January 2019

    In the wake of a hotly contested poll December 30 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Trump administration has deployed a contingent of troops to nearby Gabon, for the purpose of “protecting US assets from possible violent demonstrations” following the election to determine a successor to longtime leader Joseph Kabila. Election results which had been expected to be released Sunday by election officials have been delayed indefinitely due to a delay counting all ballots.

    Trump sent a letter to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Friday informing Congress that he had ordered the indefinite deployment of around 80 troops to Gabon to protect US citizens and embassy officials in the DRC. Trump’s letter noted that the first soldiers arrived in the country on Wednesday with the “appropriate combat equipment and supported by military aircraft.” The letter also stated that more troops could be deployed to Gabon, the Republic of Congo and the DRC “as needed.”

    By deploying troops to the region, Washington is making it clear that it intends to install a pliant government in Kinshasa that will ensure that America’s economic interests in the country are secured. Trump’s proclamations of “America First” in foreign policy does not mean a retreat from the intervention in the affairs of other nations or the flowering of peace; rather it means the naked pursuit of American imperialist geopolitics by economic and military means against adversaries and allies alike.

    https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/01/07/cong-j07.html

  16. WSWS full of good stuff tonight:

    Opal Tower structural flaws expose rot in Australian construction industry

    By John Wilson
    7 January 2019

    As more information surfaces concerning the severe structural faults in the $165 million, 36-storey Opal Tower in the Sydney suburb of Homebush, it is apparent that the problems stem from a broader crisis caused by self-regulation and the culture of cost-cutting throughout the construction industry.

    On Christmas Eve, cracks appeared in a six-metre by three-metre pre-cast panel on level 10 of the tower complex, which has been occupied for less than 12 months. Residents in the building’s 392 apartments and businesses on the ground floor were ordered to evacuate. On Saturday, they were told they must wait at least another week before they can reoccupy the building…

    The most revealing aspect of the Opal Tower faults is that few experts in the building industry appear surprised.

    A report presented in April 2018 to the federal, state and territories’ Building Ministers’ Forum (BMF) stated: “Those involved in high-rise construction have been left largely to their own devices. Where there has been supervision, this has generally been by private building surveyors (also known as certifiers) whom critics argue are not independent from builders and/or designers.”

    https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/01/07/opal-j07.html

    • I don’t see him getting in, too much competition outside of the two major parties from The Greens, Hanson, Fred Nile and The Shooters. It also depends on where he is positioned on the ballot paper,

  20. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.

    David Wroe reports on the Uber Tuber’s latest legal embarrassment.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/dutton-s-citizenship-case-against-terrorist-prakash-shredded-20190107-p50q2e.html
    And he tells us why it was right to jump all over Fraser Anning.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/fake-facts-and-normalising-extremists-why-it-was-right-to-jump-all-over-fraser-anning-20190107-p50q1q.html
    Freelance journalist Tarric Brooker tells us why the weekend’s racial protest made him proud to be Australian.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/why-the-weekend-s-racial-protest-made-me-proud-to-be-australian-20190107-p50pxy.html
    Despite many mainstream media reports, Scott Morrison did not condemn racism, nor did he condemn the racist rally, writes Noely Neate.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/pm-morrison-fails-to-condemn-racists-and-their-rally,12251
    And Sam maiden says that the Morrison government has warned it won’t be taking “ethics advice” from the Labor Party on accepting the vote of a Queensland senator who attended a protest marred by Nazi salutes and racist abuse.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/01/07/fraser-anning-government-vote/
    Stephen Bartholomeusz examines the consequences for Australia in the event of failure of US/China trade negotiations.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/damage-will-be-widespread-if-beijing-trade-talks-fail-20190107-p50pys.html
    The New York Times’ David Leonhardt lays out the case for the impeachment of Donald J. Trump. Ouch!
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/the-case-for-the-impeachment-of-donald-j-trump-20190107-p50pyu.html
    Experienced school teacher Dean Fitzgerald piles into the attack by the Australian Council of Deans of Education on the raising of intellectual standards for teacher training which, if successful, would betray the nation’s children, especially the most vulnerable, who need the cleverest people to teach and guide them.
    https://www.smh.com.au/education/betraying-our-children-academics-stifling-teaching-standards-20190107-p50pyc.html
    Dave Sharma in an op-ed writes that the Middle Eastern power order is at stake when US troops pull out of Syria.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/middle-east/middle-eastern-power-order-at-stake-when-us-troops-pull-out-of-syria-20190107-p50q1e.html
    Labor’s Jim Chalmers explains how private-public sector co-operation can tackle major challenges if done properly.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/private-public-sector-co-operation-can-tackle-major-challenges-20181213-p50m4l.html
    WorkSafe has seized control of eight toxic dump sites in the Melbourne’s north and will now spearhead the clean-up operation amid fresh public safety concerns.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/worksafe-seizes-control-of-toxic-dump-sites-takes-over-clean-up-20190107-p50q1d.html
    Shane Wright says that tumbling house prices including a massive seven per cent fall in some Sydney suburbs, are set to play a huge role in this year’s election campaign.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/house-prices-will-tank-through-2019-as-debt-weighs-on-buyers-20190107-p50q1g.html
    The Australian reports that Labor plans to revamp job search criteria that could ditch a ­need for jobseekers on welfare to apply for 20 jobs each month.
    https://outline.com/zs8cWm
    Stephen Koukoulas explains how our falling dollar reflects global concern all is not well in the Australian economy.
    https://thekouk.com/item/661-falling-dollar-reflects-global-concern-all-is-not-well-in-the-australian-economy.html
    Given homes are used as security for many small business loans, tighter bank assessments have dried up SME credit, the ombudsman and senior bankers have warned.
    https://outline.com/8hNgeF
    Harriet Alexander writes about the fallout for honest cops who broke the unwritten code.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-cops-who-broke-the-unwritten-code-20181122-p50hmt.html
    Malcolm Knox looks at how India’s watershed win will reverberate around the entire subcontinent.
    https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/india-s-watershed-win-will-reverberate-around-the-entire-subcontinent-20190107-p50q1p.html
    Christopher Knaus reports on how the websites of a string of government agencies experienced embarrassing errors yesterday afternoon causing domain names to erroneously display the home pages of separate departments. This government has presided over an IT omnishambles.
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jan/07/unintended-redirection-renders-australian-government-sites-unusable
    Karen Maley writes that whatever Commissioner Kenneth Hayne recommends in his final report, one thing is certain: the days when the corporate regulator grovelled before the country’s financial elite are mercifully over.
    https://outline.com/zLXvNt
    Child sex offenders and murderers were among the criminals who faced deportation from Australia when they were stripped of their visa last year. More than 800 criminals had their visas revoked in 2018 because of convictions that put them behind bars for 12 months or more, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Immigration Minister David Coleman announced yesterday.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/01/07/criminals-lose-visas/
    Thousands of customers of failed online travel group Bestjet have been left exposed to potential losses worth millions of dollars because longstanding consumer protection laws and travel agent licensing requirements were scrapped by state governments in 2014 in favour of industry self-regulation in the name of cutting red tape.
    https://www.outline.com/5Hh938
    GetUp is asking the public to nominate which conservative Coalition MPs are “the worst of a bad bunch” to help it prioritise targets for the federal election.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/08/getups-hard-right-hitlist-for-federal-election-revealed
    Big banks are facing an annual tax hit of up to $300 million combined from a tussle with the ATO over its crackdown on the finance sector claiming credits for GST.
    https://outline.com/rnhX8x
    Is the Darling River dying before our very eyes? I wonder why.
    https://www.smh.com.au/environment/sustainability/nature-bites-back-algal-blooms-trigger-mass-fish-deaths-in-western-nsw-20190107-p50q0m.html
    Here’s why doctors are backing pill testing at music festivals across Australia.
    https://theconversation.com/heres-why-doctors-are-backing-pill-testing-at-music-festivals-across-australia-109430
    It seems Fraser Anning has used taxpayer funds to fly to at least three far-right meetings across Australia. I reckon that qualifies him for nomination for “Arsehole of the Week”/
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/fraser-anning-billed-taxpayers-thousands-to-attend-two-more-far-right-events-20190107-p50q21.html
    Although this teen would give it a run . . .
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/i-always-get-bail-illawarra-teen-gets-rude-awakening-20190107-p50q22.html

    Cartoon Corner

    David Pope’s back from leave with this contribution.

    Cathy Wilcox visits St Kilda,

    Matt Golding’s collection.






    Jon Kudelka with David Leyonhjelm.
    https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/1447a1a0bafb05b88683f7b984f3994a
    From the US.





  21. BK thanks for your roundup

    WRT revamping Unemployment system

    1. Remove need to apply for 20 jobs a month – good

    2. Reduce number of interactions with Centrelink. Hmmm! At moment must submit online claim every fortnight. Should increase opportunity for face to face interactions with Centrelink. Vulnerable people don’t have computer skills or emotional stamina to deal with computer system designed by Kafka

    3. Retain Job Network Providers to deal with most difficult cases NO

    4. Kelly ODwyer wants to get the 20% of people unemployed for more than 5 years into jobs. How about allowing the invalids to access Disability Support Pension and stop hounding older job seekers who are waiting for Aged pension

    5. Over past decade number of businesses hiring dole recipients has dropped from 14% to 4%. How about reintroducing CES

  22. From the SMH article about Fraser Anning –

    “Critics believe the Queensland senator is boasting of his attendance at far-right attempts as part of a deliberate strategy to avoid likely defeat at this year’s federal election.”

    Well, derr! Who would have thought?

    From Anning’s first day in the Senate, with his bizarre decision to turn independent, it’s been obvious he plans to stay in his seat for as long as possible. It has also been very obvious he is courting the votes of extreme right-wingers, neo-nazis, racists and so-called “patriots” in an attempt to win their votes.

    Anning may be in for a surprise though – does anyone know if these neo-nazis actually vote, or if they do, how many of them live in Queensland? I would think if they do bother to vote then they would go for ON. Courting voters in Victoria and NSW is not a clever move from a leader of a party of one Queensland senator.

    Maybe he should have stayed with ON.

  23. Facebook pulls down St Kilda Beach rally page due to ‘hate speech’

    The social media behemoth’s global teams have watched pages, groups, events and other accounts related to the St Kilda event over the weekend, including pages linked to anti-fascist groups, and found multiple content violations on the event page after the rally ended.

    Some other related pages were shut down over the weekend for breaching content rules, with Facebook’s policies defining hate speech as direct attacks like dehumanising speech, statements of inferiority or calls for exclusion, over characteristics such as race and ethnicity

    https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/facebook-pulls-down-st-kilda-beach-rally-page-due-to-hate-speech-20190107-p50q06.html

    Good! About time Facebook did something decent.

    They won’t remove Fraser Anning’s page though. Plenty of Australians have complained about the videos he posted over the weekend, but apparently they are not in breach of Facebook’s very lax rules.

    This was the response I received after I complained about Anning’s videos on Saturday.

    Thanks for your report – you did the right thing by letting us know about this. We reviewed the video, and though it doesn’t go against one of our specific Community Standards, we understand that it may still be offensive to you and others. No one should have to see posts they consider hateful on Facebook, so we want to help you avoid things like this in the future.
    From the list above, you can block Senator Fraser Anning directly, or you may be able to unfriend or unfollow them. If you unfollow them, you’ll stay friends on Facebook but you won’t see their posts in your News Feed.
    We know these options may not apply to every situation, so please let us know if you see something else you think we should take a look at. You may also consider using Facebook to speak out and educate the community around you. Counter-speech in the form of accurate information and alternative viewpoints can help create a safer and more respectful environment

    I don’t follow Anning, I’m not his “friend”, I don’t follow him on any other social media. I’m not going to block him. I want to know what this vile creature is saying, and where he is saying it,

  24. Looks like Trump will invoke a “national emergency” loophole in order to get the wall built:

  25. First Senate bill of 2019 would give Israel billions of dollars, combat BDS

    he first Senate bill of 2019 would finalize a $38 billion aid package to Israel, combat BDS, and rebut Trump’s attempt to withdraw troops from Syria….

    By Alison Weir

    According to Marco Rubio, the first bill the 2019 U.S. Senate will take up is one that is focused on Israel. His twitter announcement shows a number of people suggesting that he should instead focus on getting the U.S. government running

    https://israelpalestinenews.org/first-senate-bill-of-2019-would-give-israel-billions-of-dollars-combat-bds/

  26. Yellow Vest protester caught pummeling riot cop revealed to be ex-champion boxer (VIDEO)

    A Frenchman who was captured pummeling a riot police officer during Yellow Vest protests in Paris has been revealed to be a former professional boxer.

    Former light heavyweight champion of France, Christophe Dettinger, was filmed repeatedly punching the officer, who was wielding a baton and a shield, as the protest turned violent on on a bridge in central Paris on Saturday. Video footage of the incident went viral over the weekend, leading to the boxer’s identification by police.

    https://www.rt.com/news/448230-french-yellow-vest-boxer/

  27. Pres. Bongo safe after failed coup in OIL RICH” Gabon fails:

    Coup Attempt in Gabon Is Thwarted, Government Says

    DAKAR, Senegal — The government of Gabon quickly beat back a coup attempt on Monday, killing two suspects and arresting eight others after the plotters took over the state radio station in the Central African nation and announced plans for a “national council of restoration,” in a country where one family has held the presidency for almost a half century.

    President Ali Bongo Ondimba has been out of Gabon since October, receiving medical treatment for what many believe was a stroke he suffered while attending a conference in Saudi Arabia. His absence apparently created what the coup plotters perceived as an opportunity.

    Shots were heard Monday in the capital, Libreville, but government soldiers soon swarmed the streets and stormed the radio station. Military tanks and armed vehicles were visible, and the authorities sought to project an image of normalcy.

    Guy-Bertrand Mapangou, a government spokesman, said Monday afternoon that order had been restored. He said the two suspects had died in the course of being arrested.

    A video clip of three of the coup plotters at the radio station showed that two were armed, and each wore the military fatigues of junior officers. The government is investigating the group’s motives, Mr. Mapangou said.

    The plotters appeared to be young, low-ranking officers who did not seem to have a meticulous plan. Radio workers said one of them had disrobed a station employee and changed into civilian clothing before fleeing.

  28. Existing Coal mining in the Sydney water catchment has higher water loss than would be acceptable for new mines

  29. Thanks BK, I particularly recommendthe article by Denis Fitzgerald who I have enormous admiration for. An ex-president of the NSWTF and instrumental in th Center for Professional Learning which is a professional learning affiliate of the federation. An extremely intelligent and gifted teacher and one who can pull together disparate ideas into a cogent and very persuasive whole.

  31. Razz and I laughed at this. It would also frustrate ourselves, as we have all grown up using the top draw.

  32. My personal opinion is that the anger currently being expressed against Fraser Anning should rightly be directed toward One Nation. They’re the morons who originally let him run under their banner, and it indicates that they have no interest in quality control, which is appalling for a party that commands somewhere between 6-8% support. He wouldn’t be a senator at all if it hadn’t been for them, because there’s no way he’s attracting enough support on his own.

    Anning’s an idiot. There’s no point trying to reason with him, or argue against him. And there are always going to be twits like him in any country. What needs to be addressed is the political systems that allow the likes of him to lever their way into Parliament.

    • Fully agree with that assessment Aguirre. Where is that woman anyways? Is she on one of those pollie gravy train world tours? She’d normally be in the thick of any racist gathering.

  33. billie11

    3. Retain Job Network Providers to deal with most difficult cases NO

    Get rid of them but keep them open for two years, during the 2 years sentence all major shareholders, owners, executives to two years undergoing the job network ‘client’ ‘experience’ . Oh and of course the full Centrelink ‘client experience’.

  35. The truth about David Littleproud’s marriage – at last.

    Once again the Press Gallery were aware of what had happened but opted to run their usual government protection racket.

    TRUE CRIME NEWS WEEKLY
    LITTLE TO BE PROUD OF ALL ROUND! Nationals MP David Littleproud admits separation from wife after social media alights in false rumours of affair with staffer

    And thanks to Canberra’s press gallery remaining dead silent for almost a year, a vacuum of information has been created, that has now been filled instead with sleazy innuendo and false allegations on social media involving affairs with staffers a la Barnaby Joyce. Our publisher, Serkan Ozturk, wearily wades into the political mudslinging once again so you don’t have to

    https://outline.com/XwbnDW

  36. I loathe the Centrelink robodebt system.

    It’s unfairness, the onus of proof is flicked back to recipient who has to find payslips from more than 6 months ago, sometimes 7 years ago. It’s often error ridden. Clients are unable to talk to a person who can explain how debt was generated.

    The robodebt software is wrong, actually ILLEGAL, it takes recipients annual income from all sources and averages income over 52 weeks. So when a recipient receives a tax refund they get hit with a robodebt automatically within 24 hours.

    My friend has a robodebt because he received a tax refund and is terrorised. He won’t say how much the debt is, he hopes Centrelink will stop dipping into his bank account when debt is paid.

    I only just realised that the tax refund generates the robodebt.

    Oh well Kelly ODwyer I will bust my chop to see you ousted

  37. Happy New Year to everybody here!

    Been continuing to buy cookbooks, mostly small, single subject books. Found a fantastic book on mussels this morning, an opshop in the western suburbs of Adelaide plus a couple others.

  41. The NSW government seems to be making a habit of ignoring management plans in its haste to get projects uner way before the March election.

    And –

    NSW Government allows Shenhua to start work on Liverpool Plains mine without crucial management plans

    The NSW Government has allowed mining company Shenhua to alter its development approval for the controversial Watermark open cut coal mine in the Liverpool Plains, near Gunnedah, which will enable work on site to begin without key management plans being approved.

    Despite the NSW deal, Shenhua is still not able to commence work under the Federal environmental approval until two important management plans, including the crucial Water Management Plan, have been approved by the Federal Government.

    Now local farmers are afraid that the Federal Environment Minister, Melissa Price, may be about to follow the NSW Government lead and vary the approval to allow Shenhua to start pre-construction for their mine without the management plans that were promised.

    Liverpool Plains farmer John Hamparsum said, “We’re disgusted that the NSW Government has capitulated to Shenhua yet again, and amended the development consent to let them start pre-construction work without the crucial Water Management Plan in place

    https://www.lockthegate.org.au/nsw_allows_shenhua_work?fbclid=IwAR0HF_7GnQVmcltNrY1k5BGxYc0qzFkMMC9NWa39MN5XVFTxStbA4D3SM4s

  42. The Kouk is nuts if he thinks the RBA cutting interest rates will do anything good. The low rates could help business fund new investment but obviously that is not happening.

    Monetary policy is a good brake but a lousy accelerator, need fiscal policy to do that but no way the Libs will do that.

    • Spot on, PA. The fact that most western economies mainly try to do it with monetary policy is a primary reason for their failure during the GFC. Australia and Norway led the world in recovery precisely because they went heavily into fiscal policy methods.

  43. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.

    Now it’s Heathrow flights that have been suspended because of reported drone activity.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/flights-grounded-at-london-heathrow-after-drone-sighting-20190109-p50qa3.html
    The scare campaign on Labor’s dividend imputation policy has kicked off.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/franking-credit-change-could-wipe-billions-from-banks-citigroup-20190108-p50q84.html
    Nicholas Stuart laments that politicians seem to find planning for the future difficult and so they prefer to inhabit a perpetual present.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/choosing-to-live-in-the-present-has-consequences-for-the-future-20190108-p50q7r.html
    Greg Sheridan writes that the Morrison government has made a complete mess of the Neil Prakash citizenship revocation, in a case of such ballsed-up diplomacy that it is much more Monty Python than Yes Minister.
    https://www.outline.com/AsbRnt
    Eryk Bagshaw reports that the big banks have launched an assault on market rivals, accusing short-term lenders such as Afterpay of shirking regulations as the financial services providers face the double threat of a royal commission and parliamentary inquiry.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/big-banks-launch-assault-on-predatory-buy-now-pay-later-rivals-20190108-p50q6h.html
    Industry superannuation funds are on track to overtake self-managed super funds to become the dominant players in the $2.7 trillion retirement savings system in the next two years.
    https://outline.com/qkR28g
    London’s Telegraph tells us that this is the year that mounting hammer blows to the Western alliance system and the edifice of global governance threaten to bring the old order tumbling down.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/the-dystopian-view-is-this-the-year-the-world-falls-apart-20190108-p50q3t.html
    Michael Koziol looks at Fraser Anning’s travel a=expense antics.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/he-invited-himself-fraser-anning-twice-billed-taxpayers-more-than-5500-for-overnight-trips-20190108-p50q5f.html
    How about this for a fatberg!
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/don-t-feed-the-fatberg-mass-of-oil-and-baby-wipes-blocks-uk-sewer-20190109-p50q9v.html
    The Guardian’s Anne Davies writes that The Australian’s unequivocal denunciation of those who seek to foment anger and intolerance based on race was refreshing. But also a little surprising. Had the editorial writer been reading any News Corp publications during 2018? Had they missed the year-long campaign to demonise the African community in Melbourne as a hotbed of gang activity?
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/08/news-corp-seeks-to-dampen-the-far-right-flames-it-helped-fan
    A Federal Court judge presiding over the Australian ”Dieselgate” class action has ordered Volkswagen to name which board members and those in senior management knew about the scandal.
    https://outline.com/83DeCx
    An interesting article from Ross Gittins on personality traits and happiness.
    https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/in-the-pursuit-of-happiness-extroverts-get-a-head-start-20190108-p50q45.html
    Stephen Bartholomeusz looks at one positive legacy from the volatile cryptocurrency scene.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/ten-years-of-bitcoin-is-about-more-than-boom-bubble-and-bust-20190108-p50q5d.html
    Labour market expansion across Australia in 2018 was almost entirely driven by growth in public sector jobs, with private sector employment contracting in the period.
    https://outline.com/MW43nD
    Commonwealth prosecutors have been accused of acting unfairly in the Witness K case after dumping their brief of evidence on defence lawyers about 6pm on the last working day of the legal year.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/09/witness-k-case-prosecutors-dump-brief-of-evidence-on-last-working-day-of-legal-year
    On the basis of this poll Boothby in SA is gorn!
    https://outline.com/bGF7Yp
    This Catholic educator says that raising ATAR for teachers won’t raise standards.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/it-s-not-academic-raising-atar-for-teachers-won-t-raise-standards-20190108-p50q6e.html
    The UK Guardian editorialises that the government has failed on Brexit – it’s time to go back to the people.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/08/the-guardian-view-on-brexit-the-government-has-failed-its-time-to-go-back-to-the-people
    Australia’s fuel stockpiles have dwindled so much that it could affect the country’s ability to react to a crisis, experts have warned.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/01/08/australia-fuel-stockpile-risks/
    Latest figures reveal the country’s onshore storage levels of crude oil are little more than half that of the minimum requirement, putting Australia in breach of international obligations – and at severe risk.
    Idiot Trump is continuing to edge towards declaring a wall national emergency.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-edges-towards-declaring-wall-emergency-20190108-p50q8i.html
    Trump’s claim that his predecessors endorsed his idea of a wall at the Mexican border is getting no support from the ex-presidents’ club.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/ex-presidents-call-out-trump-s-lies-over-support-for-border-wall-20190109-p50q9u.html
    Letting you converse with strangers in dozens of languages, Timekettle’s WT2 Plus earbuds ensure you’re never lost for words when travelling abroad.
    https://www.theage.com.au/technology/wt2-plus-translators-break-down-the-language-barrier-20190108-p50q4f.html
    The Conversation tells us that almost every brand of tuna on supermarket shelves shows why modern slavery laws are needed.
    https://theconversation.com/almost-every-brand-of-tuna-on-supermarket-shelves-shows-why-modern-slavery-laws-are-needed-108421
    ScoMo has opened up on his hopes and dreams for 2019 in a fair dinkum prayer-letter to the man upstairs.
    https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/scomo-opens-up-to-jesus,12250
    A woman standing on her own waiting for an Uber in Rio de Janeiro may have appeared an easy target to a would-be thief. The only problem for the perpetrator was his target was a strawweight UFC fighter, who turned the tables on the thief with punches, a kick and a “rear-naked choke” before forcing him to sit and wait for the police. He certainly came off second best.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/sport/mma/2019/01/08/polyana-viana-thief-ufc-rio/
    And we have a posthumous “Arsehole of the Week” nomination today.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/one-of-the-most-important-drug-dealers-former-giant-punter-dead-at-76-20190108-p50q8d.html
    And a nomination from the land of the living . . .
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/mercedes-mum-in-court-after-200km-h-luxury-car-high-speed-police-chase-20190108-p50q8o.html

    Cartoon Corner

    Mark David with a brief history of the Liberal party.

    David Pope tunes up the dog whistle.

    Cathy Wilcox serves it up to Gladys.

    From Matt Golding.





    From the US.





  45. Yesterday someone was wondering where Pauline Hanson was.

    She has been busy thinking of new ways to pick on people on welfare, and she’s written to FauxMo with her “helpful” idea.

    Hanson should do this herself, she would be far more use to this country as a cane toad bounty hunter than she could ever be in the Senate.

  47. Anyone want to make a submission on a Queensland government bill that could sink Adani and other proposed mines in the Galilee Basin? You have until 1 February to do that.

    This is the Bill that could stop Adani

    The Mineral Resources (Galilee Basin) Amendment Bill 2018 — currently before the Queensland Parliament — is a potential game-changer in the fight to protect our Great Barrier Reef from catastrophic global warming.
    It’s crunch time for the Great Barrier Reef and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

    Adani claims they are on the verge of securing funding for their Carmichael mega-mine, a move which would open up the vast Galilee Basin to more coal exploration and mining.1

    Meanwhile, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned we need to phase out coal as an energy source in the next two decades or face the near total destruction of our precious coral reefs.2

    The science is clear – to save the Great Barrier Reef we need to keep coal in the ground.

    Help stop coal mining in the Galilee Basin – make a submission using our email tool in support of the Mineral Resources (Galilee Basin) Amendment Bill 2018 before Queensland Parliament

    https://www.edoqld.org.au/help_stop_coal_mining_in_the_galilee_basin

    Here’s the bill –

    Click to access 5618T1771.pdf

    And the Explanatory Memorandum –
    https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/pdf/bill.first.exp/bill-2018-094

    And, as a bonus, here’s all the info on the Galilee Basin (Coal Prohibition) Bill 2018, sadly introduced into Federal Parliament by the Greens so it won’t be going anywhere.

    Galilee Basin (Coal Prohibition) Bill 2018
    https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=s1167

    • DNC Chair Tom Perez has released a statement on Trump’s speech. He is not a fan.

      Lies, fearmongering, finger-pointing, and a manufactured excuse for shutting down the government. Using the Oval Office to deceive the American people and spout offensive, anti-immigrant rhetoric proves, once again, that Donald Trump is unfit to serve as president.

      800,000 workers are furloughed without pay. The American people are demanding an end to the Trump Shutdown. Democrats have already voted to end the Trump Shutdown, and we’re ready to pass legislation to fund common-sense, effective border security. It’s time for Republicans in Congress to wake up, stop marching in lockstep behind Trump, and do their jobs – the president is clearly incapable of doing his.

  50. Will this needle the Chief Muppet into action?

    A man was pricked in the leg after he unknowingly sat down on a random train seat that had about 20 sewing needles discreetly buried in it, sharp side up, during the morning peak hour commute.

    Police are investigating after Anthony Artusa made the uncomfortable discovery during his Tuesday morning train ride on the Watergardens line in Melbourne, Australia.

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/lanesainty/sewing-needles-hidden-train-seat-melbourne

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