Feathers Fly at the Federal Chook House

Gather around kiddies and I’ll tell you a story. 

Once upon a time there was a large farm where many farmyard animals lived. It was a very special ‘Animal Farm’. The farmer loved all his animals, but most of all his big flock of chooks. The farmer loved chooks so much he collected them from all over the country. He had hundreds of them. The more types of chook he had, the happier he was. Because he was ‘green’ farmer, he allowed his chooks to wander all over his farm to eat what they wanted, and scratch around where they liked. They were his pride and joy. He even had some that were rather thin and some that were lame. He was a kind farmer. He made sure they had plenty to eat. Every day he fed them grain and scraps.

He had run his farm for many years, and enjoyed watching how his chooks got on with each other. Sometimes they seemed to get on well; sometimes they quarrelled. Some were kindly chooks, but others always seemed to be angry and ready for a fight.

He noticed how there was always the boss chook, the Top Chook who was in control. The other chooks showed respect and seldom dared to challenge his authority. For a long while the top chook was a male, a rooster. He was a fine buff-coloured Orpington. Strangely, he didn’t have the most beautiful feathers, and he was not the biggest chook. He just looked important though, so important that he stayed Top Chook for over eleven years.



There was another chook who was always with the Top Chook. He helped him sort out the scraps that the farmer threw into the paddock every day. He was an Orpington too, but he was larger and white.



Secretly, he wanted to be Top Chook, but the other chooks didn’t like him that much. He always had a peculiar look on his face, and tilted his head to one side, as if he thought himself wise and clever. Although all the other chooks knew he wanted to be Top Chook, and some said he should have a go, he never plucked up enough courage to challenge Top Chook, so eventually he went off to another farm. He still thinks he ought to have been Top Chook, and occasionally comes to the other side of the fence to give advice to the other chooks.

All the time Top Chook ruled the roost, there was another chook who wanted his job. He had different ideas about how the scraps and the grain the farmer threw about should be divided up. He was a big and friendly Sussex with fine silver and black feathers.



He puffed up his chest but never bullied. But he let Top Chook bully him. So every time he tried for the Top Chook job, Top Chook came out on top. Eventually Silver Sussex’s friends decided he could never win. They decided instead that another chook, a much younger one, should have a go for the Top Chook job. He was a Silkie. He had a rich white colour and a fine crest of feathers. He was particularly proud of his crest and often tossed his head to keep his feathers in place.



Silkie decided that to beat Top Chook for the job he would pretend he was almost the same, only better. It worked. The other chooks were tiring of Top Chook. So was the farmer, and even the farmer’s wife and children thought it would be nice to have a different Top Chook after all this time. So when there was a contest, Silkie won and became Top Chook. His friends were delighted and gently pecked his plumage. He became the most popular chook since as long as anyone could remember. He did lots of good things and his friends and the farmer were very happy. But he became very cocky. He thought he was the smartest chook in the farm. He didn’t ask anyone else about what to do, because he though he knew it all. He looked down his nose at the other chooks and often kept them waiting when they wanted to talk with him. They got more and more angry, but he was so popular with the farmer they couldn’t do much about him. The farmer took him to chook shows where he did well, so he stayed the farmer’s favourite. But eventually Silkie became so cocky that his popularity fell and fell, and his friends got so fed up with him they decided they didn’t want him as Top Chook any more.

Instead, they wanted someone different to be Top Chook. Who do you think it was? Here’s a surprise. Top Chook had always been a rooster – now they wanted a hen. Imagine that – a hen. A hen had never been Top Chook before. But this hen was special – she was a Rhode Island Red. She was popular and clever.



She had been a helper to Silkie, had done a great job helping him, and had lots of admirers. Then one day, all of a sudden, the other chooks banished Silkie and made Rhode Island Red Top Chook. It was big shock to all the other chooks and to the farmer too. Although Rhode Island Red was popular, some didn’t like how she became Top Chook so quickly.

But then something nasty happened. Silkie still thought he was the best one to be Top Chook, and so started telling spiteful tales about Rhode Island Red. The tales worried the other chooks and the farmer and his wife and children. This nastiness went on and on for years. Rhode Island Red became less popular. Silkie tried to become Top Chook again and again, but failed every time.

All this time there was another chook who wanted to be Top Chook. He was a scrawny fellow that ran around the farmyard continually clucking the whole time. He never actually said much, but he crowed a lot and made a lot of noise. He was a strange chook, one you don’t often see - an Australian Pit Game. He had dark feathers but just a few on his head, and his red crest was small. He was very lean.



He kept on saying that Rhode Island Red should not be Top Chook. He said he should be. He had become ruler of the roost in his part of the chook pen by knocking off an opponent who also wanted the Top Chook job, a stylish, aristocratic rooster, a White Leghorn with lots of tail feathers.



So with White Leghorn out of the way, it became a contest between the Rhode Island Red and the scrawny Australian Pit Game. He said he would do anything to become Top Chook, anything. He just wanted the job.

So there was a big contest and something strange happened, something that had never happened before – at the end of the contest it was a draw! Rhode Island Red and the scrawny Australian Pit Game had the same number of friends. But there were some other chooks around who were not friends to either of them, and so they had to decide who would be Top Chook.

First they asked Rhode Island Red how she wanted to run the chook yard, and then they asked scrawny Australian Pit Game. The Red said she wanted to make sure that all the chooks got their fair share of the grain and the scraps. She had noticed that the big fat bossy chooks got the biggest share leaving only what they couldn’t eat for the smaller, thinner chooks, and those that were lame. So they stayed thin and their feathers stayed dull. She wanted to give them their own pile of scraps. Scrawny Australian Pit Game said he too was concerned about the lame chooks, but felt the thin ones didn’t deserve their own special scraps unless they put more effort into finding food. He felt everyone should work for what they wanted and not rely on others. He preferred to hang out with the bigger chooks, the bossy chooks, the fat ones that could look after themselves.

Guess how long it took the other chooks to decide who should be Top Chook – seventeen days! And which chook did they pick? You might be surprised – they picked Rhode Island Red to be Top Chook. Scrawny Australian Pit Game was furious. He wanted to be Top Chook and to sit on the Top Perch. He told the others that he would do anything to be Top Chook, anything at all. But they knocked him back. He was so angry and grumpy that he decided he would do whatever he could to push Rhode Island Red out, to throw her off the Top Perch. He started to call her names. He told everyone she told lies, broke promises and could not be trusted. The farmer and his family began to listen to him and her popularity fell. They began to wonder if she was the right person to be Top Chook. No matter what she did to help the other chooks, grumpy scrawny Australian Pit Game told everyone she was no good at her job, that she made too many mistakes. Like Henny Penny, he went round telling everyone that the sky was about to fall down because of her mistakes. He accused her of paying too much attention to the thin chooks. Her popularity fell and fell.

Then along came Top Fox. The farmer knew there were sly foxes around looking for an opportunity to take his chooks and kill them, not so much to eat them, but just to kill them. That’s what foxes do. Top Fox set out to kill Top Chook.



He had lots of fellow foxes that would do what he wanted, but the farmer had put a high fence around his chook yard to stop the foxes, so Top Fox had to wait for a chance to get her. He tried and tried. He too told everyone that Rhode Island Red was an untrustworthy liar and that she was so bad at looking after the chook pen that she was ruining it, and should be thrown out. He never ever talked about the good things she was doing. Scrawny Australian Pit Game was delighted. He crowed loudly and told anyone who would listen that he would soon be on the Top Perch.

But time went by and Rhode Island Red clucked quietly and went on looking after all the chooks, making sure the thinner ones and the lame ones got enough to eat. She smiled at Top Fox and his troop of foxes through the fence and ignored all their nasty talk. The other chooks took less and less notice of them and even laughed at them. This made Top Fox mad and he tried even harder to get through the fence.



All the while scrawny Australian Pit Game got even madder. He hated losing to females, he always had, and now he was losing again. She was Top Chook, not him. He made fun of her because she was ‘only a hen’. Hens were for laying eggs and looking after chickens, and here she was strutting around as Top Chook. She had no chickens, and had never even hatched any. He called her all sorts of names and so did the foxes, who were friends with scrawny Australian Pit Game. Then one day Rhode Island Red had had enough abuse from scrawny Australian Pit Game. She stood on the Top Perch and told him off in no uncertain fashion. She said he was anti-hen and should be ashamed of himself. He sat there very crest-fallen and looked much smaller than he was. Hens everywhere flapped their wings in delight. They too had had the same nastiness from roosters, and they were glad someone had finally stood up to a bullying rooster.

But with all the awful stories the foxes and scrawny Australia Pit Game were putting about, the farmer and his family began to believe them, became more and more worried, and wondered if Rhode Island Red was really the best one to be Top Chook. Her popularity fell even further. Eventually the farmer decided he might have to get rid of her when there was an opportunity. Her fate seemed sealed. No matter how well she managed the chook house, he felt that she might have to go because she was becoming so unpopular.

Then a funny thing happened. It really was funny because a flock of kookaburras came along. You know their nickname is Laughing Jackass. They sit on a tree branch and laugh and laugh and laugh.



They laughed at scrawny Australian Pit Game, and at Top Fox and his company of foxes too. The foxes became so mad they barked and screamed at the kookaburras and jumped up to catch them. But they always sat on high branches, too high for the foxes, and laughed and laughed and laughed.

They told the foxes they were sly and nasty and should stop telling lies about Rhode Island Red, and should be nice to her when she was doing such a good job in the chook pen. But the foxes didn’t want to listen, and said the kookaburras were ignorant and stupid and had no right to tell them what to do. They said foxes knew more about chook pens than ‘amateur’ kookaburras. But the chooks and the farmer’s family took more and more notice of the kookaburras and less and less notice of the foxes. The more they were ignored, the angrier the foxes became, and the louder they screamed. They were not used to being ignored. They had never ever been ignored in the past, and to make matters worse, the kookaburras were taking over from them. The chooks and the farmer enjoyed the laughing of the kookaburras and were getting sick of the screaming and barking of the foxes.

Kiddies, this is not the end of the story. How do you think it ended? Did they get rid of Rhode Island Red as Top Chook? Did scrawny Australian Pit Game become Top Chook and get to sit on the Top Perch? Well, we don’t know. We don’t know because there’s more to the story. The contest between Rhode Island Red and scrawny Australian Pit Game is not for another four months. He tried and tried to have the contest sooner, but no matter what he tried, he failed, which made him madder and madder.

The farmer was a fair man. He realized that he couldn’t throw out Rhode Island Red while she was doing a good job. His wife wasn’t so certain, and the children were split – one sided with Dad and the other with Mum. They all agreed though that scrawny Australian Pit Game couldn’t expect to waltz into the Top Chook job and sit on the Top Perch without telling all the chooks how he would make the chook pen better. He often said he would be much better than Rhode Island Red. He said she was hopeless, and was always running around like a ‘chook with no head’, but he never said how he would do a better job. The chooks that were friends with Rhode Island Red said: “Come on scrawny Australian Pit Game, tell us what you would do”. So did the kookaburras. Even some of the foxes said the same. But he wouldn’t say – he said “I’ll tell you later”.

So kiddies, you will have to wait. You will have to wait for scrawny Australian Pit Game to tell us what he will do. The farmer and his family and the other chooks wonder why he’s keeping it a secret, and some of the foxes are beginning to complain about the few things he did say he would do. Scrawny Australian Pit Game is beginning to look worried.

All the chooks, and the farmer and his family too, are asking when will he tell everyone what he intends to do to make the chook pen a better place? And if he does eventually, will the farmer’s family and the other chooks like it?

Isn’t it exciting kiddies! Only four months to go to the big contest. Then the feathers will fly in ernest. The Top Fox and his troop of foxes are getting madder, scrawny Australian Pit Game is frowning a lot and crowing very little now, but Rhode Island Red goes on calmly doing her job, trying to make the chook pen better, and the kookaburras go on laughing and laughing and laughing.



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Ad astra

12/05/2013Folks Here’s a little light relief ahead of the heavy week in politics coming up. I hope you enjoy the satire.

jane

12/05/2013Ad astra, I have heard on the grapevine that a python is starting to feel rather peckish. It's been months since he fed and he really needs a good meal. A potential meal had piqued his interest with news of the chook pen and he knew at once there would be rich pickings there. Enough to keep him fat for years to come. The python had good reason to head for the chook pen. He had grown up and grown fat there, but the wider world and richer pickings had beckoned and he had spent many years away growing fatter and more powerful. But now he has to return to the chook pen; he's well and truly worn out his welcome in his adopted homes and intends to spread his poison in the chook pen with the active help of the scrawny Australian Pit Game and his hangers on, the sly loud mouthed foxes. He knows he has to mortally wound the Rhode Island Red so he can install the vain, half-witted Australian Pit Game and his equally vain, stupid and corrupt bantams. Then he'll be able to get down to the business of devouring all of the chook run, the farmer and his family, the foxes and he'll do his damndest to get rid of those kookaburras. He can feel his coils rippling at the thought. But first he has to get rid of the Rhode Island Red; if he doesn't he knows she'll destroy him at her leisure with the help of the kookaburras-the death of the thousand pecks. Thank you for a fun post, Ad astra.

DMW

12/05/2013just wondering ... how come no galahs? or sulphur crested cockatoos? Big opportunity lost, the fifth estate has been let down

GordonWA

12/05/2013Hi Ad, Cute!. I loved the imagery of the fox for the baying media and the word association it conjures up. For some reason I'm reminded of Charlotte's Web rather than Animal Farm. In Charlotte's Web Charlotte the spider saves Wilbur the pig from becoming bacon by writing in her web how wonderful Wilbur is. "Some Pig!" She writes and everyone on the farm, and from miles around, agrees that Wilbur is indeed a fine specimen. So smitten are they with Wilbur they overlook the real intelligence at work which is, of course, Charlotte. Your Rhode Island Red, like Charlotte, is quietly doing great things but her achievements are simply overlooked in the noise and dust of the farmyard. I hope that when the vote is taken the Rhode Island Red's intelligence and determination is recognised and the scrawny Australian Pit Game is seen for the pathetic feather duster that he is.

denese

12/05/2013ad astra we have chooks,, some states call them fowls but love the name chooks,, that aside I noticed that the liberals had a add that had the we don't like labor theme and bad givment, and the add was about headless chooks,,, I mentioned this to my friend who said what they portrayed them selves as headless chooks, that occurred to me to and now tonight you have confirmed it in my mind. thank you as usual ps I noticed a tweet tonight that indicated the liberals will mostly likely take from the missadvantaged , where as labor educates people for not fault of their own have missed out on a good education, then they can contribute to the country themselves and their families. you have to think that liberals don't like their fellow aust that much

KHTAGH

12/05/2013Ad You surely know how to raise a person spirits & put a smile on ones dial, very amusing.

Ad astra

12/05/2013Jane, DMW Thank you for your comment. I agree that as well as the foxes out there in the Fourth Estate, there’s the python, the galahs and the sliver crested cockatoos, but for this piece I’ve let the foxes fill the bill. GordonWA The reference to Animal Farm was made in passing – I didn’t attempt a closer alignment, tempting though that was. Your alignment may be more appropriate. I just let the story tell itself. denese When I was kid ‘chooks’ was the common parlance, and it did lend itself to the ‘headless chook’ analogy. Of course, some of the cooks are fowl - I mean foul. Liberal philosophy is not sympathetic to the disadvantaged, whom they regard as the bludgers – the dole bludgers – a characterization that purposely demeans them in the eyes of the voters. KHTAGH I'm pleased the piece has put a smile on your face.

TalkTurkey

13/05/2013Our Little Red Hen Abbortt and Hockey, Turnbull and Robb, Morrison and Barnyard, That FNQueensland yob All of them are after The Red Hen's job. Abbortt, strutting Fighting cock, Wants our PM On the block! He would love to Have her head - But she's just One step ahead! When foreign Fox With many minions Pinions PM With opinions - Every day A different trap - Red Hen just clucks: Don't write crap! They say she's A headless chook! Get 'em a mirror, Make 'em look! Go on Roosters Look again! Your Head Rooster's Got no brain! When we wake up On Election Morn Our brave Red Hen Will greet the dawn And carry on For one more day While We the People Have our say; Then Abbortt and Hockey, Turnbull and Robb, Morrison and Barnyard, That FNQueensland yob Murdoch and Rinehart Howard and Reith Born-to-rule-us bastards Who lie in their teeth All them can slither off Quietly to Hell Eased by the holy oil Of Arsebigot Pell But Our Little Red Hen will be much too busy, Our Little Red Hen will be much too busy, Yes our Little Red Hen will be much too busy, She'll be making plans for her next three years in power! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Original: The Little Black Hen by A. A. Milne Berryman and Baxter, Prettiboy and Penn And old Farmer Middleton Are five big men . . . And all of them were after The Little Black Hen. She ran quickly, They ran fast; Baxter was first, and Berryman was last. I sat and watched By the old plum-tree . . . She squawked through the hedge And she came to me. The Little Black Hen Said, “Oh, it’s you!” I said, “Thank you, How do you do? And please will you tell me, Little Black Hen, What did they want, Those five big men?” The Little Black Hen She said to me: “They want me to lay them An egg for tea. If they were Emperors, If they were Kings. I’m much to busy To lay them things.” “I’m not a King And I haven’t a crown; I climb up trees, And I tumble down. I can shut one eye, I can count to ten, So lay me an egg, please, Little Black Hen.” The Little Black Hen said, “What will you pay, If I lay you an egg For Easter Day?” “I’ll give you a Please And a How-do-you-do, I’ll show you the Bear Who lives in the Zoo, I’ll show you the nettle-place On my leg, If you’ll lay me a great big Eastery egg.” The Little Black Hen Said “I don’t care For a How-do-you-do Or a Big-brown-bear, But I’ll lay you a beautiful Eastery egg, If you’ll show me the nettle-place On your leg.” I showed her the place Where I had my sting. She touched it gently With one black wing. “Nettles don’t hurt If you count to ten. And now for the egg,” Said the Little Black Hen. When I wake up On Easter Day, I shall see my egg She’s promised to lay. If I were Emperors, If I were Kings, I couldn’t be fuller Of wonderful things. Berryman and Baxter, Prettiboy and Penn, And Old Farmer Middleton Are five big men. All of them are wanting An egg for their tea, But the Little Black Hen is much too busy, The Little Black Hen is much too busy, The Little Black Hen is MUCH too busy . . . She’s laying my egg for me!

2353

13/05/2013AA, this takes "feeding the chooks" to a whole new level. Well done.

Paul of Berwick

13/05/2013Yay! http://www.politifact.com.au/

lyn

13/05/2013Today’s Links Pollies beware: the Truth-O-Meter is open for business by @PeterFray PolitiFact Australia has been launched to coincide with the federal election and will pay particular attention to the statements from individuals or groups seeking your vote. http://www.politifact.com.au/truth-o-meter/ Manufacturing base by @awelder Do you really want these clowns running the show? Would it really be so bad if the incumbents got back in - sure, they could do some things differently/better, but look really hard at the alternative. http://andrewelder.blogspot.com.au/ How come readers of the Fifth Estate can see what our journalists can’t? by @MigloMT More and more people are questioning their lack of honesty in the way this policy is being reported, which they unanimously laugh off as just another lefty conspiracy theory. It sums up why they don’t report the truth: they are simply oblivious to it. http://theaimn.com/2013/05/12/how-come-readers-of-the-fifth-estate-can-see-what-our-journalists-cant/ Tainted Journalism by @Vic_Rollison there are literally tens of journalists, commentators, columnists and personalities on News Ltd, Fairfax and the ABC who are openly partisan towards the right, openly hostile about the Gillard government, and completely unreasonable when it comes to balance and accuracy, http://victoriarollison.com/2013/05/11/tainted-journalism/ Smarter than the average pundit… by @BushfireBill But with her tendency to politically outwit and successfully second guess her opponents, allegedly losing every confected battle but still somehow achieving her desired outcomes, the pundits and their paymasters may yet be due for another big disappointment. http://pbxmastragics.com/2013/05/12/1309/ Big Lib-Lab gap now but not for long by Crispin Hull detestation has been caused by the relentless News Ltd exaggeration and repetition of every fault and blemish of the government and its silence over anything the government does well. Of course, those newspaper newsrooms set the news agenda for so much of the rest of the media http://www.crispinhull.com.au/2013/05/11/10415/#more-10415 A brief look at The Coalition's Policy to Improve the Fair Work Laws by @no_filter_Yamba I decided to take a look at this policy document which sets out (among other things) an intention to further limited a union’s right of entry into a workplace, reinstate the Australian Building and Construction Commission and alter the Better Off Overall Test http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/a-brief-look-at-coalitions-policy-to.html Bolt no free speech champion, just another rhetor* By @metaboleus IPA donors Murdoch and Gina could finance a free speech fund with their spare change. This appeal is about something else, changing the very meaning of free speech to suit the very big, very rich, very powerful end of town http://australiansforhonestpolitics.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/bolt-no-free-speech-champion-just-another-rhetor/ Billionaire 'philanthropy', capital flight, and the 'self-made man' by @newsfliporg Tony Abbott and his IPA-inspired gang of neo-liberal ideologues promise that workers will have “access to flexibility arrangements” and that “corrupt union and corporate officials” – (as though the two could possibly be comparable http://www.newsflip.org/l. A Direct Response to the Coalition’s Policy to Stuff Workers by @gemoase Overall, the document paints workers as victims, who can sometimes be conned into misguided action by unions, but in the main need a Coalition government to look after them and protect them from fraudulent unions http://tradeunion.wordpress.com/2013/05/12/a-direct-response-to-the-coalitions-policy-to-stuff-workers/ Something you wouldn’t read about by @btckr I have one question for the MSM, especially the political writers and commentators: How well do you understand Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and the kind of government he will introduce, mainly as the result of your promotion of him? http://truthinmediaresourcecentre.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/something-you-wouldnt-read-about/ Slipper didn't know he was in Palmer's UAP by SBS "I was unaware that any announcement was being made today (Saturday) of my possible involvement with the party and I regret that this occurred without my knowledge," he said in a statement on Saturday evening. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1765310/Slipper-didnt-know-he-was-in-Palmers-UAP Why Would Clive Palmer want Peter Slipper to join his Party? by @AntonyGreenABC a party with a member in Parliament, does not need to prove it has 500 members, Having an MP that can register the party slashes the amount of checking required by the AEC and allows the party to be registered more quickly. http://blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/2013/05/why-would-clive-palmer-want-peter-slipper-as-a-candidate.html Austerity… So how’s that working for you- by Truth Seeker Make no mistake, Abbott stands for exactly what the UK, the EU and the USA are, and have been, dealing with since the start of the GFC, and if he gets the opportunity http://truthseekersmusings.wordpress.com/ “What Has That Bastard Said Now?” or “Tony, You Son of a Gun by Patriciawa In Canberra now, wide awake, not abed, Tony paces his room, feeling all muddlehead. What had he been thinking of earlier today, That some inner compulsion forced him to say? http://polliepomes.wordpress.com/2013/05/12/what-has-that-bastard-said-now-or-tony-you-son-of-a-gun/ Can a leopard change its spots? by @thisworkinglife It’s not just that he thinks the boss is always right. It’s a pattern involving the consistent use of the power of the Government to mount a ferocious assault on workers and there unions. http://workinglife.org.au/2013/05/10/can-a-leopard-change-its-spots/ Australia’s Billion-Dollar Blind Spot by @MikeSeccombe So even if you have perfect vision this concerns you. Wherever you are, someone is footing the medical bills; in Australia, hundreds of millions of your tax dollars are at stake http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/australias-billion-dollar-blind-spot/613/ Federal Budget: ABC by TV Tonight Here is the breakdown of coverage on the Federal Budget this week on ABC1 and ABC News 24. Tuesday May 14 http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2013/05/federal-budget-abc.html Today’s Front Pages Australian Newspaper Front Pages for 13 May 2013 http://www.thepaperboy.com/australia/front-pages.cfm

Ad astra

13/05/2013LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated; http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

Gravel

13/05/2013Ad Astra That is fantastic and wonderful pictures to go with it. Are 'we' the Social Media the Kookaburra's. I hope so.

Ad astra

13/05/2013Talk Turkey You have picked up splendidly on the ‘chook’ theme with your version of A A Milne’s [i]The Little Black Hen[/i] – [i]Our Little Red Hen[/i]. Thank you. 2353 Good point. How the Federal contestants regard ‘Feeding the Chooks’ is starkly different. Paul of Berwick [i]Polifact[/i], which Lyn has placed at the top of Today’s Links, looks promising. Gravel You are right – the kookaburras are the Fifth Estate.

Pappinbarra Fox

13/05/2013AD, the accumulation of your articles is like a python squeeze around the neck of the scrawny rooster and his bantams. Each week the rooster gasps for air and the squeeze gets tighter, ably cheered on by the laughing kookas. Hear hear!

Ad astra

13/05/2013PF As the Fourth Estate collectively puts a progressive python squeeze on Tony Abbott's chances of becoming PM, it is doing this nation a great service.

denese

13/05/2013ad astra polly fact. can I point out that the first article, the pm is not given the grace of long answers by the media I would of thought the figure she used was an average figure and when I read it I got the feeling the figure she did use , could in fact be much higher I was astounded by the opp. broadband cost even more so from that article. I di not realised if your house happened tobe next to the node box ( what ever that is} it is cheaper to connect than if you live further up the street, or else where on the side of hill. so I would think the word discrimination should be thought about re the opp. broadband. but do you know my feelings are it will NEVER be built by the opp. we could see the copper in the ground rot and our phone lines full of water in know time and no connection. I wish people would get it through their heads we need fibre for our phone lines eveventuly the copper is falling apart just check out pictues on google

Ad astra

13/05/2013denese I’ve taken a look at the details in the PolitiFact website by clicking on the link associated with each item. It gives comprehensive reasons for its rating. I expect it would be accurate in reporting what the politician actually said. The reasons must be wholly truthful for this site to be legitimate. I expect that with PolitiFact on the job, politicians might be more cautious about their statements, except those politicians who are cynical enough to operate under the Goebbels belief that ‘If you tell a lie often enough, the people will eventually believe it.’ They will go on telling lies, as usual.

TalkTurkey

13/05/2013Paul of Berwick Please Please Please I'm begging you On bended knees* - I've asked before No answer so far - PLEASE EXPLAIN Your GRAVATAR! * I did, I got down on my knees to make it truly true! Soplease tell us : What manner of creature is this? It has a head like a Kangaroo joey, a tail that could have come from a skink, and feet like a Seal; it's wearing a lab coat and specs, clutching an important-looking folder, and has evidently been operating a laptop showing a graphic of indeterminate shape. And in the other handy paw it is clutching a POINTY THING! [i][b]VAS IST DAS *POINTY THING*? [/b][/i] What is the laptop displaying? I have puzzled over your wonder-ful gravatar more than any other on the Web. I am agog you might say.

TalkTurkey

13/05/2013Ad astra said [i]PF As the Fourth Estate collectively puts a progressive python squeeze on Tony Abbott's chances of becoming PM, it is doing this nation a great service.[/i] I think you meant the [b]Fighting 5th![/b] CARN THE KOOKABURRAS! KICK THE COCKERELS!

Ad astra

13/05/2013Talk Turkey How right you are - it is the [b]Fighting Fifth Estate[/b] that is putting the python squeeze on the Abbott man - the [b]Fawning Fourth Estate[/b] would never give him a python squeeze - more likely an affectionate hug.

DoodlePoodle

13/05/2013Great read. AA you forgot to mention the "old boilers" in the LNP - e.g. BB!! AND I hope we the believers "live happily ever after".

Patriciawa

13/05/2013Talk Turkey, great verses as always from you with an irresistable metaphor from Ad Astra there of PMJG as our little red hen. I had a pome starting to form in my own head last night after reading his article....like.... Our little red hen Will outwit those big men. She has done it before She will do it again. But you're first in, best dressed! Lyn, thank you as always for your links setting me up with my reading for the day. By the way, minor glitch there with your generous reference again to my Son of a Gun piece which Miglo had reproduced at http://cafewhispers.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/you-son-of-a-gun-tony-or-what-has-that-bastard-said-now/

Ad astra

13/05/2013DoodlePoodle Thank you for your comment. We all know some ‘old boilers’ in Coalition ranks – apologies to them for not mentioning them as unique chooks, ones that should have been pensioned off. When I was a kid, the only poultry we ever had were ‘old boilers’, aged chooks that had finished their laying career, and were fit only for the boiling pot. If boiled long enough, they were edible, but only just. Chicken was a luxury we never enjoyed in those days. I can remember an industrial dispute at Ansett Airlines being precipitated by Reg Ansett calling his hosties ‘old boilers’.

Ad astra

13/05/2013Patriciawa I did enjoy your ‘Son of a Gun’ piece on [i]Café Whispers[/i], and loved your contribution to [i]TPS[/i]. [i][b]Our little red hen
 Will outwit those big men.
 She has done it before
 She will do it again.[/i][/b]

Tom of Melbourne

13/05/2013So when the women's movement took on Ansett for calling women old boilers, were they wrong? It seems that overt misogyny is acceptable here.

nasking

13/05/2013 DIDN'T TONY ABBOTT SAY PREVIOUSLY HIS 'WOMEN OF CALIBRE' PPL WOULD MOVE AWAY FROM A BUSINESS LEVY? SO IS MY WIFE SUPPOSED TO COP PAYING BIG TAXES TO PAY FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO KEEP TAKING TIME OFF TO HAVE BABIES AND BEING PAID 75 GRAND FOR EACH SIX MTHS OFF? N'

nasking

13/05/2013 NOTICE ABBOTT'S TEAM DOESN'T PERMIT ALL QUESTIONS TO BE ASKED...THEY MOVE ABBOTT AND HOCKEY ON BEFORE THINGS GET TOO UNCOMFORTABLE...TOO MUCH SCRUTINY AVOIDED. REMINDS ME OF GW BUSH. WHAT A GREAT JOB THE CYCLING GW BUSH DID WITH THE AMERICAN ECONOMY. N'

Curi-Oz

13/05/2013I used to think that the Australian Liberals were "conservatives" in that they wanted to preserve the status quo, but I have come to the conclusion (thanks in part to information I've gained here) that they are actually more likely to be "reactionaries" wanting to return to a mythica golden age ... I also came across this website (I may have found it on TPS, originally) that I think might be a handy reminder when dealing with those reactionaries How to defeat the 'right' in three minutes http://sideshow.me.uk/annex/defeattherightin3minutes.htm (US based, but remarkable in the increasing similarieties between the US and AUS 'conservatives'. Thanks for the reading and thinking matter, chaps!

Tom of Melbourne

13/05/2013Some 'left' site. Recently a regular contributor was insulting towards indigenous people who didn't vote according to her preferences Now we have the use of language that the women's movement thought it got rid of 3 or 4 decades ago. What is it with people here and their willingness to default to racism and sexism?

TalkTurkey

13/05/2013Curi-Oz That's a GREAT article!http://sideshow.me.uk/annex/defeattherightin3minutes.htm TWO WORDS : CHEAP LABOUR! It's true. Everybody please read, it's like a spotlight focussed on the very tissue of capitalism.

nasking

13/05/2013 TOP POLITICAL SATIRE AD, I PARTICULARLY ENJOYED THIS: [b]Secretly, he wanted to be Top Chook, but the other chooks didn’t like him that much. He always had a peculiar look on his face, and tilted his head to one side, as if he thought himself wise and clever. Although all the other chooks knew he wanted to be Top Chook, and some said he should have a go, he never plucked up enough courage to challenge Top Chook, so eventually he went off to another farm. He still thinks he ought to have been Top Chook, and occasionally comes to the other side of the fence to give advice to the other chooks. [/b] AND AT THE CRACK OF DAWN EACH MORNING HE CROWED COCK-A-DOODLE-DEBT!!!...COCK-A-DOODLE-OUTSOURCE!!!...COCK-A-DOODLE-PRIVATISE!!! HE GOT SO MUCH PLEASURE FROM THIS CROWING THAT ANNOYED THE HECK OUTA SO MANY OF THE OTHER CHOOKS HE STARTED DOING IT DAY AND NIGHT...UNTIL IT WAS PICKED UP BY OTHER ROOSTERS... EVEN THOSE LIVING ON OTHER FARMS IN OTHER STATES. COCK-A-DOODLE-DEBT!!!...COCK-A-DOODLE-OUTSOURCE!!!...COCK-A-DOODLE-PRIVATISE!!! THEY CROWED... UNTIL ONEDAY THE FARMERS GOT SO TIRED OF IT THEY PUT THEM IN SACKS...AND DONATED THEM TO THE NEXT SPACE LAUNCH. N'

Ad astra

13/05/2013Curi-Oz Thank you for that great link, which I have bookmarked. Although written in an American context and about a past era, it is as true now as when it was written. The way the author contrasts conservatives with the others through the use of the term: ‘cheap-labour conservatives’ is a clever way of highlighting their ideology. It’s no different here and now. Nasking Thank you for your kind comment; I’m glad you enjoyed the piece. I can see that you and others commenting here are tuned into satire – we make a good team!

Jason

13/05/2013Tanks for the piece Ad Astra a great read!

42 long

13/05/2013Liberal doesn't suit them as a name, and what does "Country" Party mean? perhaps Tory (aust) instead of liberal but what would the country mean. Non City? Anyhow it's some kind of permanent co-alition. Why would they always agree? One thing would be the anti labour attitudes they possess in common, but what else? Wait!! I have the answer, hate for Greens and intellectuals, the truth and the underprivileged and anything that stands in the way of wrecking everything for money in the short term. The COUNTRY will just be disused mine sites and ensuing contamination and destroyed agricultural land and rivers like everywhere miners have been.

lyn

13/05/2013Hi Ad, Thankyou for your new article as normal absolutely delightful, as Gravel said “wonderful pictures to go with it” Ad Astra you are very innovative. Hi Patricia, thankyou it’s a pleasure and you are a pleasure. Curi-oz thankyou , I love new sites appreciate your link . I will include on “Todays Links” tomorrow, have also tweeted it for you. http://sideshow.me.uk/annex/defeattherightin3minutes.htmI A couple of links for you:- [quote]Abbott confirms pledge on no-confidence motion [/quote] ''Simon Crean and Martin Ferguson don't have confidence in this Prime Minister so it's right and proper we should give the Parliament an opportunity to move no confidence in the Government http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/abbott-confirms-pledge-on-noconfidence-motion-20130513-2jhcn.html#ixzz2T8s3FLPX [b] Hannah has inluded The Political Sword in her Tweeted Times today:- [/b]HannahQuinn ‏ My Tweeted Times http://tweetedtimes.com/NannaHannah - top stories by bettsie2u, sydnets, TAWNBPM Johnny Boy ‏ Dear @PolitiFactOz - could you please fact check the pamphlet just released by Tony Abbott http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-13/tony-abbott-with-little-book-of-big-labor-waste/4685844 … :):)

Jason

13/05/2013Aa, Have a listen to Combet with Fran Kelly this morning. http://www.abc.net.au/radio/player/rnmodplayer.html?pgm=Breakfast&pgmurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.au%2Fradionational%2Fprograms%2Fbreakfast%2F&w=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.au%2Fradionational%2Fmedia%2F4685130.asx&r=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.au%2Fradionational%2Fmedia%2F4685130.ram&t=Government%20minister%20tells%20%27whingers%27%20that%20election%20can%20be%20won&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.au%2Fradionational%2Fprograms%2Fbreakfast%2Fgovernment-minister-tells-whingers-that-election-can-be-won%2F4685130&p=1

KHTAGH

13/05/2013DoodlePoodle BB, I take it you mean ex-minister for kerosene baths?

Ad astra

13/05/2013Hi Lyn I’m still working through your links, between responding to comments. Thank you for your kind remarks. I’m glad you enjoyed the fun with chooks. Tony Abbott never knows when to stop his destructiveness. He’s like a child wanting to throw other kids’ toys out the window. His threatened no confidence motion and his booklet on Big Labor Waste are just more childish pranks. Yet he wants to show how responsible and evenhanded he is, so suitable to be PM. I hope people will see that this man will not, indeed cannot change from his childish bad tempered desire to smash things. PolitiFact looks like being a real asset in the next five weeks!

Ad astra

13/05/2013Hi Lyn My last sentence should have been "PolitiFact looks like being a real asset in the next four months!" Jason That was a good statement by Greg Combet, and Fran Kelly let him have a good go.

Curi-Oz

13/05/2013Slightly off-topic THIS is where I want my country to go ... http://www.marcuswestbury.net/2013/05/13/how-the-nbn-has-actually-changed-my-life/ It strikes me that apart from being a bunch of scaredy chooks, the majority of our politicians (particularly those grafted to commercial interests) are actually pot-bound and cannot see beyound the horizon of their current pot. The question then becomes, who provides the 'bread and circuses', what laws regulate the medium, and where does the responsibility lie to control the information flow, when will information no longer be available (curation and permance of information), and how will it all be paid for. I can see this metaphor has further possibilities, Ad Astra! Regards,

Ad astra

13/05/2013Curi-Oz Thanks for the link to the NBN story. That's what we need, not some [i]el cheapo[/i] scheme that can't handle the load or adapt to future needs.

TalkTurkey

13/05/2013What's Howard up to? This is beautifully damaging to Abborrrtt! http://www.theadviser.com.au/breaking-news/8673-pm-praises-strong-economy We can use it many times in the months to come.

Janet (jan@j4gypsy)

13/05/2013Ad, suspect you had a lot of fun with this piece. It's wonderful :-). I laughed out loud quite a few times. In awe of your capacity and skills, especially after giving us the extraordinarily incisive austerity piece last week (which is still going down well in Twitter, by the way, and getting lots of retweets). Gravel asked if the kookaburras were social media. Ad said, the fifth estate. And perhaps they may represent, too, every sane Oz citizen who can see what happening, who knows laughter is the best offence, the very best weapon of all, and just lets rip? Pappinbarra Fox, I agree that Ad's accumulated work is like a python-squeeze – lovely thought, especially given the dangers of the Murdockian foxes (the ones whose every media outlet screams 'change the regime', every page, every day). Sorry for being away so long peeps. (Thank you Jason for the recent telephonic wave, and Pikiranku for the textual one. Thank you to the amazing Lynnie for always being there, even when one is absent :), and Nas, it's lovely to see Miglo picking up so many of your comments recently and weaving them into his posts on Cafe Whispers and elsewhere :)) Finally, just a bit of Twittertalk from the last couple of days. (and a PS – if you find any links don't work, please give me a yell and I'll re-supply). This evening, with an occasional comment :). [b]Twitteratti + verse, & vice versa[/b] (and the LNP dirt team gets to work with the little red book of stunt to go with the little blue book of plan): [i]TheFinnigans天地有道人无道 ‏@Thefinnigans[/i] OMG another "book" from Tony Abbott and this time it is being held up by the Three Stooges https://twitter.com/Thefinnigans/status/333841928577748993/photo/1 [i]George Bludger ‏@GeorgeBludger[/i] .@LanaDelNeigh_ I challenge the veracity of that image - here is the book Abbott was holding up earlier: http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgebludger/8733717401/in/photostream … [i]Ben Pobjie ‏@benpobjie1h[/i] You might also be interested to know just how the government prepares for a budget http://www.kingstribune.com/index.php/weekly-email/item/1804-canberra-s-night-of-nights … [i]Di Smith ‏@DiSmithLabor[/i] Anyone who thinks the major parties are 'the same as each other', should have a closer look. Labor has policies. Abbott has a pamphlet. [i]Paul Bongiorno ‏@PaulBongiorno[/i] Tony Abbott today promised to spend less than the current govt on advertising, consultants and spin doctors. Note it down. 13.5.2013 [i]Little Loud Guy ‏@LittleLoudGuy[/i] There you have it. Murdoch says jump. Gillard says NO, Abbott says YES. Vote for strength or vote for subservience. Easy choice.. [i]Mari R ‏@randlight[/i] http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4685962.html … Mungo's opinion on the LOTO [i]Angela Lo Rosso ‏@AngelaLoRosso[/i] Out to sea in a chaff bag | Independent Australia - http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/out-to-sea-in-a-chaff-bag/ … Says it all really. #auspol [i]Robert Oakeshott MP ‏@OakeyMP[/i] After 2 yrs of hiding from a town hall debate, RHadley finally books into top hotel in Port Macquarie - 2 days before federal election. Meeooww. [i]Luke Mansillo ‏@mansillo[/i] Has anyone noticed it is 1001 days since @TonyAbbottMHR was on #qanda [i]margo kingston ‏@margokingston12m[/i] More #Ashby #mediafail: Joan Evatt on the appeal http://wp.me/p2WWGt-11K  via @NoFibs @boeufblogginon [i]DAILY TERROR ‏@johnnybridge[/i] JOHN HOWARD PRAISES GILLARD-SWAN STRONG ECONOMY Ex-PM praises strong economy http://bit.ly/12tjXyS  #auspol [i][i]Michelle ‏@PrimMich[/i][/i] Corangamite moving up in world...next thing you know they'll refer to us in same reverence as western Sydney. Lol [interesting - included because once the electorate of this gypsy] [i]Bernard Keane ‏@BernardKeane[/i] Clive Palmer's party registration application will eventually appear at the AEC website here: http://bit.ly/16XuogZ  [i]Larissa Waters ‏@larissawaters[/i] [Larissa is on Q & A tonight] Very telling Xstrata made own decision to ditch coal port in #GreatBarrierReef - it wasn't Qld or fed gov insisting on protecting the Reef.. [i]eva cox ‏@evacox[/i] Not just policy but arts discriminate too! Why are so many arts organisations run by blokes? http://theconversation.com/why-are-so-many-arts-organisations-run-by-blokes-13217 … via @conversationedu [i]GeorgeMonbiot ‏@GeorgeMonbiot[/i] A huge story: how #BigPharma bribed East German govt to use its citizens as guinea pigs. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/drugs-giants-used-communist-east-germany-for-illegal-trials-8612929.html …

DoodlePoodle

13/05/2013 BB, I take it you mean ex-minister for kerosene baths? KHTAGH[/quote] Spot on Khtagh!!

42 long

13/05/2013Looks like the AEC have "Palmed off" PALMER. maybe they haven't got the 500.members If so it will be interesting to watch the Q&A "thing" tonight What a comedy of errors our political scene is becoming/is. It would be good to watch and ponder if the outcome wasn't far more serious than most realise.

Ad astra

13/05/2013Janet Thank you for your kind comments and for your links. I did have a lot of fun composing this piece. I was astonished to read John Howard's assessment of the Australian economy. How will Abbott and Hockey respond?

42 long

13/05/2013If there is a lack of confidence out there in the community and business ( and there IS) How much blame should be sheeted home to the LNP politically motivated negativity and lies about the real performance credentials of the current government plus the reluctance of them to provide any convincing alternate courses of action. Just cancelling things that labor have done ( which could necessitate a double dissolution to get it through the two houses and take forever with No sure outcome at this time) Further raises speculation as to the pathway ahead with the alternative gov't. This is collateral damage the LieNP don't care about.

jane

13/05/2013TT, I just about had to call for oxygen when I read that Howard had given a thumbs up to Gillard & Swan. He wants to be careful or the wizened foreigner will have him lynched or force him to listen to a loop of Anal's creepiest rants.

TalkTurkey

14/05/2013And now this from the redoubtable Tony Windsor MHR! - http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2013/05/13/11/49/no-truth-in-confidence-motion-albanese O Boy and aren't the Chooks coming home to roost!

Truth Seeker

14/05/2013Ad, great analogy ;-) And one thing for sure, under the Australian Pit Game, A dozen eggs will cost a whole lot more to produce and the farmer and his family will suffer huge bouts of depression as a result of the higher costs to them. After a while, they might even have to start eating the chooks :-) Love your work :-) :-) Cheers :-)

lyn

14/05/2013Today’s Links Out to sea in a chaff bag by @independentaus Tony, on the other hand, worries me. He shows all the signs of being a bit of a loose cannon. While I don’t know him personally, to me he comes over as brash, cynical, combative, sexist, insincere, opportunistic, short fused, overtly self-interested and ruthlessly power hungry; http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/out-to-sea-in-a-chaff-bag/ Tony Abbott, ebook author by @beth_blanchard after the lofty heights of his political manifesto Battlelines, published by no lesser publishing house than Melbourne University Press, it seems odd indeed that Abbott has found such a happy home in the world of self publishing. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/liticism/2013/05/13/tony-abbott-ebook-author/ Charge your glasses for The AFR’s budget drinking game by Glenn Dyer and Bernard Keane Serious question: does The Australian Financial Review actually convene these ludicrous “business roundtables” or does it just get some intern to write up the same old stuff business leaders always http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/05/13/charge-your-glasses-for-the-afrs-budget-drinking-game/ Weekly aggregation 44.2 to 55.8 by @Mark_Graph Today's Morgan (56-44) and Essential (55-45) polls are largely narratives of the status quo. The Morgan result is identical to last week. The Essential result is the same as the previous independent fortnight; however, it is up a point for Labor on last week http://marktheballot.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/weekly-aggregation-442-to-558.html Australian govt avoids recession but voters say thanks for nothing By James Grubel Around 400,000 first-time voters go into Australia's September elections with no idea of economic hardship, adding to Treasurer Wayne Swan's mounting problems as he delivers what is shaping up as his last, and most difficult, budget on Tuesday. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/13/australia-budget-idUSL3N0DP0WD20130513 Budget becomes Canberra's con job on the nation by @1RossGittins Why does everyone in Canberra have an interest in misleading us about the budget's macro-economic significance? Because, as the ACT's principal export to the rest of Australia, the budget is how they make their living http://www.rossgittins.com/2013/05/budget-becomes-canberras-con-job-on.html A 'horror page' in our economic history? by Gary-Sauer Thompson We know that government revenue is declining, and that this means the naive commentary that the deficit is caused a profligate, wasteful Labor Government blowing the revenue from the mining boom and maxing the credit card is too one sided. http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2013/05/a-horror-page-i.php#more What is the typical Australian’s income in 2013- by @MattCowgill The chart below shows this quite starkly. It compares the actual income distribution, in which 10% of people are in each decile of income, with the results of a survey that asked people to place themselves into income deciles. http://mattcowgill.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/what-is-the-typical-australians-income-in-2013/ 961,027 reasons why budget flexibility is working by Jim Chalmers Budget time is a good time to acknowledge, if not celebrate, the fact that Australia has been able to do what few other comparable nations have: avoid a crippling and sustained recession through temporary stimulus; create almost a million jobs in five years; http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4684870.html Abbott attacks 'Labor waste' but doesn't offer own savings by Emma Griffiths They include government advertising, staff payouts, travel for the foreign minister and market research, but Mr Abbott said a Coalition government would not be able to cut those areas entirely .http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-13/abbott-targets-27big-labor-waste27-in-updated-booklet/4686018 A Scenario For Tony Abbott And A Motion Of No-Confidence by @austpoliticstv It is in Abbott’s political interests to not disrupt the Budget and then to tie its contents to an all-out parliamentary assault on the government – AFTER he has delivered his speech on Thursday night. http://australianpolitics.com/2013/05/13/abbott-no-confidence-scenario.html Tony Abbott goes back to court in June by @OnLineOpinion No newspaper or other mainstream outlet has attempted anything but the most superficial coverage of the bare news elements. Just bizarre. So we wait until 6 June. Or, as now seems likely, a negotiated settlement beforehand. http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=14999 More #Ashby #mediafail: Joan Evatt on the appeal by @boeufblogginon If the media starts to cover a case there is an obligation on the media’s part to finish covering it, and that means both sides. Otherwise the media is both abdicating their responsibilities as our eyes and ears, http://australiansforhonestpolitics.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/more-ashby-mediafail-joan-evatt-on-the-appeal/ Abbott’s record erodes any trust by A. Stephenson Tony Abbott took a personal interest and was actively supporting the employers to prevent workers being paid their due entitlements, as per the agreement negotiated during his term as Workplace Relations Minister http://www.southcoastregister.com.au/story/1496519/abbotts-record-erodes-any-trust/?cs=202# The Tony Abbott I have got to know. by @EmpoweringFem all say that Julia Gillard lied, J U L I A R placards and such, yet Tony Abbott is a self-proclaimed liar. So evidently it is fine to lie, if you say that you are lying, but not fine if you do not lie at all. That is basically what MSM says by default http://alternativeviewstomsm.wordpress.com/2013/05/12/the-tony-abbott-i-have-got-to-know/ Slippery Pete and the Record for Political Flexibility ByMungo MacCallum Palmer’s advisers feared that he might be a plant, a mole for Tony Abbott. On the face of it this appeared unlikely; after all, Slipper’s defection from the Liberals to become Labor’s nominated speaker had left him as number one on Abbott’s enemies list. http://www.themonthly.com.au/blog/mungo-maccallum/2013/05/13/1368421761/slippery-pete-and-record-political-flexibility ABC struggles to know which party is in Government (hint: it is not Tony Abbott’s side) by @turnleft2013 This kind of subtle bias may make a viewer feel that Pyne is the most important one in that interview, and view what he says from a position of power, rather than opposing. http://turnleft2013.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/abc-struggles-to-know-which-party-is-in-government-hint-it-is-not-tony-abbotts-side/ Carbon price tax cuts deferred by @LarvatusProdeo If elected the LNP will commission an audit of public services and the state of the finances, will throw up their hands after receiving a politically helpful report and blame Labor forever about how things are worse than we’d been led to believe. That will provide cover to do anything they like. http://larvatusprodeo.net/archives/2013/05/carbon-price-tax-cuts-deferred/ Terrible News About Carbon and Climate Change by Nicholas Thompson Everything we use that emits carbon dioxide needs to be replaced with something that doesn’t, whether a car or a cooking stove. Many people are working toward this goal. Many more need to http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/05/terrible-news-about-carbon-and-climate-change.html?mbid=s Brass In Pocket by @madwixxy The Coalition keep saying they understand those living in Sydney’s West, and maybe that’s part of the problem. Understanding them seems to only have improved the way the Coalition set about picking their pockets http://wixxyleaks.com/2013/05/13/brass-in-pocket/ Politifact launches in Australia by @mumbrella Peter Fray, the former publisher and editor-in-chief of The Sydney Morning Herald, has today launched his new political fact checking website PolitiFact Australia and says he is close to announcing a media partner for the site. http://mumbrella.com.au/politifact-launches-in-australia-155191#more-155191 The Little Book of Big Labor Waste The Coalition has today released an updated version of The Little Book of Big Labor Waste, which lists the worst examples of Labor waste and mismanagement since the overnight coup that installed Julia Gillard as Prime Minister. http://www.liberal.org.au/latest-news/2013/05/13/little-book-big-labor-waste Belt Tightening for Oz? By Surgery or Dieting? by Patriciawa I remembered John Howard’s public service clean out but most of damage was confined to Canberra businesses. Back then too there wasn’t this obsession with debt and deficits amongst both state and federal politicians http://cafewhispers.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/belt-tightening-for-oz-by-surgery-or-dieting/ Today’s Front Pages Australian Newspaper Front Pages for 14 May 2013 http://www.thepaperboy.com/australia/front-pages.cfm

nasking

14/05/2013 RARE THAT VIRGINIA TRIOLLI LIKES ANYTHING THAT DOESN'T ORIGINATE FROM THE MURDOCH EMPIRE'S HERALD SUN ETC. WHAT A NEWS LTD SPRUIKER SHE IS. N'

nasking

14/05/2013 TRIOLLI'S FOCUS ON PUBLIC CYNICISM AND LACK OF TRUST IN ANYTHING GOVT SAYS SOUNDS LIKE THE FOX NEWS LINE. DANGEROUS. N'

Pappinbarra Fox

14/05/2013OK here is a test - who can write the LOTO reply to the budget? Now - before it is delivered? I reckon MOST people who visit this site could do that now, even the trolls (of course they would actually believe it is credible) so why not gie it a go. A prize to the person who gets the closest. Here are some tips, themes if you like of what LOTO will say: This budget is a disaster for the nation. It is drivign proces up. It has no real plan to return to surplus. It is a chaotic and dysfunctional budget from a chaotic and dysfunctional government. The government should resign immediately this budget is so hopless. The NLP on the other hand will deliver endeavour to deliver a budget that returns to surplus in 2 years based on a real plan. We would abolish all those unnecessary taxes that are destroying employment. OK, over to youse ...

janice

14/05/2013Well, Ad astra, after reading this excellent post, I have no doubt your grand children flock to you to hear your stories :) This one deserves to be in a little children's book of its own and, I am sure, would earn pride of place in a Children's Library. For me, I remain positive that the Rhode Island Red will win the battle and continue to run her chookyard fairly and well. The Australian Pit Game will get on his bike and peddle off to a place where he can lick his wounds.

nasking

14/05/2013 TIME FOR THE ALP TO GO FULLBORE ON PROMOTING THE BENEFITS OF A [b]MAJORITY ALP GOVT[/b]... N'

Pappinbarra Fox

14/05/2013Oh I forgeo ... dollops of waste and mismanagement

Pappinbarra Fox

14/05/2013mmm cold here this morning fingers just won't hit the right keys, sorry too much

nasking

14/05/2013 ALP UNDER PM GILLARD IN A REFRESHINGLY FEDERAL/STATE BI-PARTISAN WAY STREAMLINING WHAT IS AT PRESENT A CHAOTIC SYSTEM...JUST AS THEY DID WITH MEDICARE MANY YEARS AGO.

nasking

14/05/2013 Should be: DISABILITYCARE ALP UNDER PM GILLARD IN A REFRESHINGLY FEDERAL/STATE BI-PARTISAN WAY STREAMLINING WHAT IS AT PRESENT A CHAOTIC SYSTEM...JUST AS THEY DID WITH MEDICARE MANY YEARS AGO.

Ad astra

14/05/2013LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

nasking

14/05/2013 ARE THESE THE SAME PERSON?: [quote]John Sydney Freebairn (born 31 July 1930) is a former Australian politician. He was the Liberal member for Light in the South Australian House of Assembly from 1962 to 1970. In 1974 he contested the federal seat of Wakefield for Steele Hall's breakaway party the Liberal Movement Wikipedia[/quote] AND: [quote]John Freebairn holds the Ritchie Chair in economics at the University of Melbourne. He has degrees from the University of New England and the University of California, Davis. Prior to joining Melbourne in 1996 his preceding career includes university appointments at the ANU, LaTrobe and Monash, and periods with the NSW Department of Agriculture and at the Business Council of Australia. John is an applied microeconomist and economic policy analyst with current interests in taxation reform and environmental economics. The Concersation[/quote] IF SO, THEN WHY DID VIRGINIA TRIOLI NOT MENTION IT? FREEBAIRN WAS EXTREMELY NEGATIVE ABOUT THE STATE OF THE ECONOMY...CALLED IT "REASONABLY SICK". FARTED ON ABOUT SURPLUSES. GIVING NO CREDIT TO THE ALP FOR GETTING US THRU THE GFC. THIS ECONOMY IS VERY HEALTHY COMPARED TO MANY AROUND THE WORLD...NOT THAT TRIOLI DID ANYTHING BUT FEED AND AGREE WITH THIS FREEBAIRN CHARACTER. N'

Bloss

14/05/2013Thanks Ad Astra for your great article. Slightly off topic but still topical re the 'stop the waste' pamphlet that Tony is spruiking atm I remind everyone here of the "Tony Abbott and his extravagant expenses" on the PhonyTonyAbbott.Blog. His office admin costs in 2011 were $202,065.73 compared to the Prime Minister's Office $8,241.60. Office facilities for Abbott $165,916.15 compared to Julia Gillard's $41,431.82. The list goes on.. He runs the most expensive office in Parliamentary history . What a hypocrite.

nasking

14/05/2013 SICK AND TIRED OF HOUSING ESTATES BEING BUILT WITHOUT PROPERLY SETTING UP PUBLIC TRANSPORT AND ROAD ADJUSTMENTS AND OTHER TRAFFIC EASING MEASURES. I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW MANY TIMES MY WIFE OF LATE HAS BEEN STUCK IN TRAFFIC JAMS BETWEEN WATERFORD AND SLACKS CREEK HERE IN LOGAN, QLD ON HER WAY TO AND FROM THE SCHOOL SHE WORKS AT. DISGRACEFUL! AND DANGEROUS, AND WASTE OF PETROL...WHICH IS NOT GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT. [b]SEEMS TO ME THAT THOSE OF US LIVING IN AREAS NOT DEEMED TO BE POSH AND TOP SOCIO-ECONOMIC AREAS GET A BUM DEAL...TOO OFTEN. THAT'S WHY WE'VE BEEN SO APPRECIATIVE OF THE LAST TWO FEDERAL GOVTS WHO AT LEAST INVESTED USEFUL FUNDS INTO OUR SCHOOLS...INCLUDING TRADES TRAINING CENTRES...LIFTING MORALE. AND MONEY DID ALSO GO TO LOCAL GOVT TO HELP PUT IN ESSENTIAL TRAFFIC EASING MEASURES AND FOR ROAD MAINTENANCE IN MANY OF OUR SUBURBS. [/b] BUT...KINGSTON RD...THAT'S A WHOLE NUTHER STORY. [b]FEELS LIKE I'M BACK LIVING IN BIG CITY NTH AMERICA CIRCA 1970s. [/b] TRAFFIC JAMS EVERYTIME THERE'S AN ACCIDENT OR DRIVERS SLOW TO GAWK AT SOMETHING...PARTICULARLY IN WET WEATHER. A DECADE + AGO WE COULD DRIVE AROUND HERE SOMETIMES WITHOUT SEEING A CAR FOR A FEW MINUTES. [b]CAN'T WAIT UNTIL WE CREATE A WHOLE NEW SYSTEM OF TRANSPORT. THE PRESENT ONE IS SO BLOODY DANGEROUS...ANTIQUATED...AND HAS LED TO ENVIRO DESTRUCTION...AND SOOO MANY CASUALTIES...[/b] [b]FAR FAR MORE THAN THE WAR ON TERROR.[/b] MY WHINE FOR THE DAY. N'

nasking

14/05/2013 BTW, I BET OUR AREA WILL NEVER SEE THE NBN EITHER IF ABBOTT GETS IN. THIS IS WHY YOU NEED ALP GOVTS...TO SPREAD THE WEALTH...SO REGIONAL AND LOWER SOCIO-ECONOMIC AREAS GET THE BENEFITS TOO...THE NECESSARY INFRASTRUCTURE...FROM ROADS TO PUBLIC TRANSPORT TO IMPROVED EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES...COMMUNITY CENTRES...EGALITARIAN AND AFFORDABLE SPORTING AND HEALTH FACILITIES...CHILDCARE... WHICH IN TURN INCREASES WORK PARTICIPATION, IMPROVES EDUCATIONAL AND TRAINING OUTCOMES, CREATES MORE BUSINESS VENTURES AND OPPORTUNITIES...GIVING MORE OF A HEARTBEAT TO COMMUNITIES (DIVERSE PARKS, RESTAURANTS, SHOPS, BIKEWAYS, ENTERTAINMENT) LEADING TO BETTER HEALTH...MORE VIBRANT LESS CRIME RIDDEN COMMUNITIES...MORE SAFETY FOR CHILDREN...INCREASES LONGEVITY... IMPROVEMENT IN PRODUCTIVITY. THE CONSERVATIVES TEND TO GET SCROOGISH WHEN IT COMES TO OUR AREAS THINKING THAT PROMOTING A FEW CHOSEN BUSINESSES AND USING A BIG STICK ON SOCIAL SECURITY RECIPIENTS AND LETTING PROPERTY DEVELOPERS CHOMP ON ALL THE BUSH, TREES...AND CREATING A BUNCH OF EXPENSIVE SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT FACILITIES TO PUSH PROFESSIONAL SPORTS AND CORPORATE BRANDS...AND LET RELIGIOUS GROUPS GO WILD...IS THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING. IT'S NOT. N'

nasking

14/05/2013 WAYNE SWAN DID A GOOD JOB THIS MORNING...AND HE'S RIGHT TO POINT OUT THAT THE GLOBAL ECONOMY HAS BEEN VOLATILE...AND THE TREASURY OFFICIALS WHO HAVE HELPED PROVIDE THE BUDGET FORECASTS ARE THE SAME AS THO WHO WORKED UNDER THE PREVIOUS HOWARD GOVT. JOE HOCKEY SPOKE ABOUT THE POTENTIAL FOR LABOR TO DO HEAPS OF DAMAGE IN THE NEXT FEW MTHS... SEEMS TO ME THE DAMAGE WAS DONE BY AN IRRESPONSIBLE HOWARD/COSTELLO TEAM WHO LEFT LABOR WITH HAVING TO DEAL WITH MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE AND ESSENTIAL SERVICES NEGLECT... AND HAVING TO DEAL WITH THE COST OF VOTE BUYING HANDOUTS TO THE WELL-OFF FOR PRIVATE HEALTHCARE, DENTAL AND EDUCATION... AND THOSE SUPERANNUATION BENEFITS FOR THE RICH... NOT TO MENTION NOT PUTTING IN A MINING TAX DUING THE BOOM... A BABY BONUS THAT SAW TOO MANY YOUNG POOR KIDS HAVING BABIES WHO WILL NEED LOTS OF GOVT FUNDING AND EDUCATION/CHILDCARE/TRAINING/DISABILITY SUPPORT... LETTING BUSINESS CREATE A CRAP INTERNET STRUCTURE...LEAVING THE COPPER WIRING IN TELSTRAS GREEDY HANDS... AND HOWARD GETTING US INTO EXPENSIVE GW BUSH WARS...AND SIGNING US UP TO THE F-35 WHICH IS TURNING OUT TO BE A FINANCIAL BLACK HOLE. YER PAST GOVT JOE CAUSED MUCH OF THE DAMAGE AND MANY OF THE PROBLEMS...A GOVT YOU WERE PROUD TO BE A PART OF...WHILST YOU SOLD THAT WORKCHOICES DOG TO A GULLIBLE PUBLIC. YOU CAN'T BE TRUSTED. N'

DoodlePoodle

14/05/2013[quote]SEEMS TO ME THE DAMAGE WAS DONE BY AN IRRESPONSIBLE HOWARD/COSTELLO TEAM WHO LEFT LABOR WITH HAVING TO DEAL WITH MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE AND ESSENTIAL SERVICES NEGLECT... AND HAVING TO DEAL WITH THE COST OF VOTE BUYING HANDOUTS TO THE WELL-OFF FOR PRIVATE HEALTHCARE, DENTAL AND EDUCATION... AND THOSE SUPERANNUATION BENEFITS FOR THE RICH...[/quote] Exactly right NAS. It is difficult to understand why the general voting public can't see that ALP is improving all of these things. Regarding the Super benefits we personally benefited greatly from them. When Costello annouced that our Financial Advisor couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was in the lock up for the budget and said he couldn't wait to get out and spread the word among his clients. That was very short sighted.

nasking

14/05/2013 LIBERAL SHADOW TREASURER JOE HOCKEY SAID IT WAS THE ASIAN ECONOMIES STEAMING ALONG THAT WE SHOULD COMPARE OURSELVES TOO. NOT THE EUROPEAN ONES. I THINK JOE WILL LIVE TO REGRET THAT. LOOK BELOW THE SURFACE OF MANY ASIAN ECONOMIES AND SADLY YOU WILL SEE MAJOR FLAWS AND STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS. FURTHERMORE, THE IDEA THAT ALL THE EUROPEAN AND ASIAN ECONOMIES ARE THE SAME IS STUPID. EACH COUNTRY IS UNIQUE. [b]JAPAN HAS BEEN STRUGGLING FOR A GOOD LONG TIME AFTER ONCE BEING PERCEIVED BY MANY ECONOMISTS AND LAYPERSONS AS THE 'ECONOMIC MIRACLE'... SEEN AS THE GREAT 'ECONOMIC IMPERIALIST' OF THE 80s...[/b] IT IS NOW TRYING DESPERATELY TO STIMULATE ITS ECONOMY... AND DEAL WITH INSIDIOUS CORRUPTION/CRIMINAL UNDERWORLD AND POLITICAL INFLUENCE, EXCESSIVE DRINKING, THE PATRIARCHY/MISOGYNY, PATCHY SOCIAL SUPPORT STRUCTURE, WORKER EXHAUSTION, CONFLICTS WITH NEIGHBOURS OVER LAND & RESOURCES, INAPPROPRIATE CONCRETING & DEVELOPMENT OF FERTILE & POTENTIALLY FERTILE LAND, AN AGEING POPULATION, DISCRIMINATION AGAINST MIGRANTS, WAR COMPENSATION BATTLES, PROPERTY RIGHTS & COPYRIGHT ISSUES... MAJOR ENERGY PROBLEMS STEMMING FROM RELIANCE ON NUCLEAR ENERGY... COMPETITION WITH CHINA AND OTHER COUNTRIES RELATED TO MANUFACTURING & TOURISM... AND I MIGHT ADD, PLENTY OF JAPANESE MANUFACTURED GOODS WERE QUALITY YEARS AGO...TOP NOTCH - OUR TWENTY YEAR OLD CAR AND STEREO ATTEST TO THAT - SO IT'S NOT AS THO WE CAN PUT ALL ASIAN ECONOMIES IN THE SAME BASKET. IT SEEMS TO ME THAT ONCE AGAIN WE HAVE A GROUP OF LIBERALS WHO HAVE NO REAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE GLOBAL SITUATION...APART FROM WHAT THEIR MEGA-RICH MASTERS TELL THEM... THE SAME LIBERALS WHO GAVE US GAWD KNOWS HOW MANY INTEREST RATE INCREASES IN A ROW... N'

nasking

14/05/2013 Should be: [b]LIBERAL SHADOW TREASURER JOE HOCKEY SAID IT WAS THE ASIAN ECONOMIES STEAMING ALONG THAT WE SHOULD COMPARE OURSELVES TO. NOT THE EUROPEAN ONES.[/b]

nasking

14/05/2013 MIGHT ADD, CLEAN FOOD AND WATER IS ANOTHER PROB FOR JAPAN...ESPECIALLY AFTER THE NUKE DISASTERS AND TSUNAMI... AND APPROPRIATE DISPOSAL OF WASTE. WE COULD THEN MOVE ON TO STH KOREA...THE PROBLEMS WITH MILITARY SPENDING DUE TO ITS AMERICAN COMMITMENTS, AND HOSTILE TWIN IN THE NORTH...AND WORRIES ABOUT CHINESE AGGRESSION OFF THE BACK OF EXCESSIVE NATIONALISM IF CHINA WOBBLES...AND RESOURCE AND LAND RIGHTS COMPETITION FROM NEIGHBOURS: NOT TO MENTION, THE KAESONG INDUSTRIAL REGION: [b]At times of tension between North and South Korea, southern access to the Industrial Park has been restricted. On 3 April 2013, during the 2013 Korean crisis, North Korea blocked access to the region to all South Korean citizens. On 8 April 2013, the North Korean government removed all 53,000 North Korean workers from the Kaesong industrial park, which effectively shut down all activities.[/b] Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaesong_Industrial_Region I COULD GO ON... SUFFICE TO SAY, A LOT OF COMPLEX AND UNDERLYING STRUCTURAL AND SOCIAL AND NEIGHBOUR-RELATED PROBLEMS IN EACH ASIAN COUNTRY. LESS GENERALISATION JOE. YOU MIGHT REGRET YER COMMENTS SOON ENUFF. N'

Ad astra

14/05/2013janice Thank you for your kind comment. The piece seems to have struck a chord with the [i]TPS[/i] family and has evoked other chook clichés: ‘headless chooks’; ‘feeding the chooks’; ‘old boilers’; ‘coming home to roost’ and verses: a variant of A A Milne’s ‘The Little Black Hen’: ‘Our little red hen’, with two versions from our resident poets; a comment that ‘the scrawny Australian Pit Game is seen for the pathetic feather duster that he is’. Even the image of the python devouring the chooks was induced. Of course I should have ended with: ‘They lived happily ever after’, which would be the case with your words: [i]”Rhode Island Red will win the battle and continue to run her chookyard fairly and well. The Australian Pit Game will get on his bike and peddle off to a place where he can lick his wounds.”[/i] I need more practice at writing children’s stories!

nasking

14/05/2013 [quote]COMPETITION WITH CHINA AND OTHER COUNTRIES RELATED TO MANUFACTURING & TOURISM...AND I MIGHT ADD, PLENTY OF JAPANESE MANUFACTURED GOODS WERE QUALITY YEARS AGO...TOP NOTCH - OUR TWENTY YEAR OLD CAR AND STEREO ATTEST TO THAT - [b]SO IT'S NOT AS THO WE CAN PUT ALL ASIAN ECONOMIES IN THE SAME BASKET.[/quote] NOR BE ABLE TO PREDICT WITH CERTAINTY WHERE EACH WILL BE IN FIVE YEARS...LET ALONE TWENTY...OR FIFTY YEARS.[/b] REGARDLESS OF MULTINATIONAL CORPORATE AND MEGA-RICH DYNASTY MANIPULATION OF THE ECONOMY. THO, SOME SURE TRY HARD...TO RETAIN AND GAIN MORE CONTROL OVER EVENTS...AND WHOSE HANDS THE MONEY AND ASSETS END UP IN. FORTUNATELY FOR US SOME MEGA-RICH ARE SANER THAN OTHERS...AND HELP TO OFFSET THE PSYCHO CRAP. JUST. IF THEY DIDN'T...WE PROBABLY WOULDN'T BE HERE. OH YEA, HAVING PARTICIPATORY, FUNCTIONING, FAIR-GO DEMOCRACIES HELPS TOO. :D N'

Ad astra

14/05/2013nasking I see you’re running hot again. What a great source of intelligence you are from a variety of sources. I don’t watch ABC Breakfast TV so I appreciate your opinion of the performance there. It seems many in the ABC have decided that an Abbott government is inevitable and are pandering to Abbott and the Coalition to gain an advantage post-election. I watch ABC’s [i]The Drum[/i] and generally find the anchors there quite reasonable and balanced, although some of their guest are not, to wit Reith and Co. What I find astonishing, because it seems to me to defy logic, is that it is the ideological prism through which economists and ex-politicians view the world that influences their thinking and creates their utterances, rather than the incontrovertible facts and the logical conclusions that can be drawn from them. Last night on [i]The Drum[/i] there was former Liberal MP, Ross Cameron, (a regular there) who vigorously argued that the GFC had virtually no impact on Australia and therefore all the Government stimulus, and the debt it created, was unnecessary. I notice that many Liberals talk this way, as if reciting a catechism that has been learned and can be reeled off on cue, without thinking, without reasoning, without feeling the need to explain themselves. Like a catechism, it just IS, no explanation needed or permitted. It’s uncanny, it’s very common, it’s standard Liberal practice, and it’s scary because a rational debate is impossible.

Curi-Oz

14/05/2013Just read Mat Cowgill's article on typical Aussie incomes (http://tinyurl.com/cc8cgpa) and am tempted to comment sarcastically on each and every story that puts up the 'struggling on $200K' examples. And the best bit is that Mr Cowgill has provided the documentation links so that the evidence can be shown *g* PS Pappinbarra Fox - I think that Mr Abbott's Reply will be full of "um and arh" (and possibly "noddy head") but then, I think that Mr Abbott's non-verbal language is both very well trained and quite betraying at the same time (informed by this TED talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc) Captcha - manifested urtsbil *chuckles*

nasking

14/05/2013 [quote]It is difficult to understand why the general voting public can't see that ALP is improving all of these things.[/quote] DoodlePoodle, THE MESSENGERS. TOO MUCH CORPORATE AND INCREASINGLY CORPORATISED MEDIA. SPREADING OF TOO MUCH CYNICISM...AND BROKEN GOVT CRAP... A PUBLIC ADDICTED TO CHEAP, DISPOSABLE GOODS...WITH UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS BASED ON THEIR BRAINWASHED ATTITUDE WE SHOULD KEEP LOWERING TAXES...ASPIRING TO HAVE A GRAND LIFESTYLE THAT IS NOT REALISTICALLY SUSTAINABLE FOR EIGHT BILLION PEOPLE... AND A MORALLY BANKRUPT, ECONOMICALLY DULLARD GROUP OF LYING TOADS IN BOTH THE LIBERAL AND NATIONAL PARTIES. WHOSE INTERESTS ARE THESE POLITICIANS AND THEIR CORPORATISED MEDIA SUPPORTERS LOOKING AFTER? I THINK WE KNOW. HEY! BUT I'M PART OF THE COFFEE DRINKING PROGRESSIVE ELITE...WTF DO I KNOW? JANET ALBRECHTSON AND ANDREW BOLT ARE THE GUIDING LIGHTS. ROFL DIM LIGHTS IF YA ASK ME. N'

TalkTurkey

14/05/2013Ad these wimmen want you to do MORE WORK! Janmah ‏@j4gypsy 54m @lynlinking @TalkyTurkey You know wot? We need Ad to start his own YouTube channel, hop on and comment once a week min. Waddya reckon? :) Lynlinking Lynlinking ‏@lynlinking 8m @j4gypsy @TalkyTurkey Hi Janie & TT good idea how about asking him. Fabulous work yesterday TPS is very proud of you Janie:):) Janmah Janmah ‏@j4gypsy 5m @lynlinking @TalkyTurkey TPS is alwwaaaays very proud of you! Lynnie :). OK. Will I ask him? Or better coming from you or TT?

Ad astra

14/05/2013PF I’m sure you are right. Already, before they have even heard it, Coalition members are dismissing the Budget on the grounds that it will be ‘unbelievable’. Their response is entirely predictable, as you have indicated. And the Fourth Estate, by and large, will go along with them. Bloss Thank you for your kind comment. What your examples of expenditure show is the well-tried principle, used by the Coalition, that whatever your own defects, you can counter them by laying them on your opponent. I suppose it’s the political equivalent of Freud’s phenomenon of ‘transference’. If you are an inveterate liar, as Abbott is, call your opponent a liar. If you are a spendthrift, as your data suggests Abbott is, call your opponent a spendthrift. Add to that the Goebbels maxim that if you tell a lie often enough the people will believe it, and the bigger the lie, the more it will be believed, and you have a powerful propaganda machine.

Catching up

14/05/2013Mr. Swan is doing as Hockey demanded. That is outlining how we can afford Gonski and NDIS into the future. Hockey is now ridiculing him for attempting to do so. What we need from Abbott is an explanation of why Swan is wrong, and what is his alternative plan. A plan with figures. That we will not get.

nasking

14/05/2013 [b]Last night on The Drum there was former Liberal MP, Ross Cameron, (a regular there) who vigorously argued that the GFC had virtually no impact on Australia and therefore all the Government stimulus, and the debt it created, was unnecessary.[/b] CHEERS AD, ENJOY READING YER WISE COMMENTS...AND WONDERFUL POSTS....APPRECIATE THE SUPPORT. I SAW CAMERON ON THE DRUM TOO...NOW, IF THERE WAS EVER A SLIMEY SNAKE OIL SALESMAN HE'S THE GUY. HE REMINDS ME OF THE SLIGHTLY PLUMB IN MOUTH TOFF TORY LAWYERS I'D MEET OR SEE ON TV IN THE UK... MOST WERE SUPER DUPER 'KING/QUEEN AND COUNTRY'...AND ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIER WANKERS...WHO'D SPEND AN INORDINATE AMOUNT OF TIME MOCKING, PONTIFICATING, PUTTING ON PRETENSIONS OF HIGH GAY, AND SELLING THEIR ARSES TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER. OFT PRINCIPLES ZERO. BUT LIKE ROSS AND ABBOTT...CRAVED ATTENTION. AND THOUGHT THE SUN SHONE OUTA THEIR PRIVILEGED BUTTS. CAMERON CAN PLAY THE OVERLY SINCERE HIGHLY EDUCATED GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOY POMPOUS ARSE KNOWS BEST STUFF ALL HE LIKES...THE IDEA THAT PLENTY OF THIS GOVT'S TARGETED STIMULUS SPENDING AND POLICIES IN TANDEM WITH RESERVE BANK MOVES DIDN'T HELP US GET THRU THE GFC IN A MUCH BETTER POSITION THAN COULD HAVE BEEN IS ABSOLUTE ROT. N'

Catching up

14/05/2013"Liberal MP, Ross Cameron" naskin what was nice, the others on the panel disagreed strongly with him.

lyn

14/05/2013Good Morning Ad, I have had this link to Hot headlines in my files for awhile. If you have time would you take a look & let me know if worth including before the Front Pages, Paperboy link each morning. http://www.hotheadlines.com.au/ Nasking, you said “SEEMS TO ME THE DAMAGE WAS DONE BY AN IRRESPONSIBLE HOWARD/COSTELLO” you are correct check these articles in Murdoch papers this morning: Federal Budget 2013: Howard-era tax cuts keeping Budget in red, independent modelling shows http://www.news.com.au/money/federal-budget/federal-budget-2013-howard-era-tax-cuts-keeping-budget-in-red-independent-modelling-shows/story-fn84fgcm-1226641523508#ixzz2TDwG7lUM Seeds of Labor's destruction sown six years ago http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/seeds-of-labors-destruction-sown-six-years-ago-20130513-2ji5t.html#ixzz2TDvwQO5G Federal Budget 2013: Howard-era tax cuts keeping Budget in red, independent modelling shows TODAY'S Federal Budget would be in surplus by at least $25 billion, with an estimated $40 billion in extra revenue, if income tax cuts introduced between 2005-2008 had not been put into place. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/money/federal-budget-2013-howard-era-tax-cuts-keeping-budget-in-red-independent-modelling-shows/story-fni0cqcs-1226641523508 Seeds of Labor's destruction sown six years ago http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/seeds-of-labors-destruction-sown-six-years-ago-20130513-2ji5t.html#ixzz2TEC6zrUg Real deficit is the will to get tough by Peter Hartcher http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/real-deficit-is-the-will-to-get-tough-20130513-2jiax.html#ixzz2TECs3t2Y :):):):):)

Ad astra

14/05/2013DoodlePoodle You are right. It was the Howard Government and Peter Costello that created the ‘sense of entitlement’ through its middle class welfare via handouts and benefits that the electorate now sees as entitlements. In the times of rivers of gold from the mining boom, instead of saving and creating contingency funds for ‘a rainy day’, Howard and Costello spend too large an amount of that revenue. Ironically, it is now Hockey who is complaining about the ‘sense of entitlement’, yet very few economics writers, Ross Gittins, Peter Martin and George Megalogenis excluded, point out that we are now suffering from the politically motivated largesse of the Howard/Costello era.

angrbee101

14/05/2013Nas, Ad Virginia Trioli is married to Russell Skelton who is currently a contributing editor of The Age. I have heard that Michael Rowland is married to a News Ltd Journo, but can no info on-line to support this. Either way, their bias reflects the News and Fairfax group think. For the ABC to at least have the faintest appearance of impartiality, they should in future, not hire Journo's/presenters who have personal Conflicts of Interest with other news organisations, and for the current situation, both MR and VT (and other presenters) should declare their personal Conflicts of Interest publicly, the same way that other commentators are (inconsistently) asked to declare political affiliations.

KHTAGH

14/05/2013Hi AA & all I'm slightly going off topic here, but did anyone else catch the report on ABC radio yesterday(which seemed to vanish after only 1 report). If you have never been worried about something before this is something that should scare the crap out of everyone!!. They reported the Coronavirus has mutated into an air born variety, the Coronavirus has a 90% death rate!! it is itself a mutation of the SARS virus, if my memory serves me correctly. Are we about to see the next major pandemic?. Why was the story pulled? was it so those that are able can grab as much Tami-flue before stocks are exhausted? This is really serious. Go & buy some Tami-flue while you still can. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/who-warns-that-deadly-new-coronavirus-could-be-passed-from-person-to-person-8613292.html

TalkTurkey

14/05/2013Lyn you are a wonderful researcher. You have immeasurably enriched my reading, in the very area in which I am most interested. But more than for myself I thank you for what you have provided for all of us, and for strengthening the whole Fighting 5th Estate, than which is no nobler cause. And Jan by your collaboration you give her great encouragement as well as heaps of help, Lyn treasures your comradeship you know. We all treasure you both. And Nasking Your passionate peregrinacious posts do you great credit. Your posts are the widest-ranging of anyone I know. I guess there'll be QT this arvo? Tonight the Budget. And it's ON!

Ad astra

14/05/2013Hi Lyn As you can see, I’ve been busy with posts this morning and so am still to read your links. Thank you for posting the links regarding the Howard/Costello contribution to the current budget difficulties, which I read after posting my comment on that subject. It is good to see some articles filtering into the MSM that focus on the Howard/Costello era, even in a News Limited outlet. Regarding [i]Hot Headlines[/i], I think it would be a useful addition to your links. It is a bit like ‘Breakfast Politics’ used to be, but that has gone. It is a good source of news from a variety of outlets. Naturally, it is somewhat repetitive because the same story appears in many outlets, but that doesn’t detract from its value. I notice all outlets were up to date except the ‘Hot Headlines Blog, which was last updated in December, which I thought was strange. Anyway, let’s include it above Front Pages and see how [i]TPS[/i] visitors like it.

Janet (j4gypsy)

14/05/2013 A budget story (and a fabulous resource for the election). A while back on Twitter I ran across a mature-age student called Rosie. She was putting together a data-backed and -based website aimed at making infinitely more transparent what goes on with the Federal Budget, as a project. Today she sent me a Tweet linking to this story in the SMH: [b]Unlock the budget, say data activists[/b] [i]Gareth Hutchens[/i] [i]Each year on the day when the federal budget is released the press are allowed to enter what's called the budget “lock-up.” To get inside they have to sign a few papers, hand their mobile phones to government officials and promise not to leak information to the outside world.[/i] [i]Once inside they can read the budget papers before anyone else and write stories on what they find, but they're not allowed to publish their stories immediately - they have to wait until 7.30pm when the budget is released to the public. That's what some of the press will be doing today.[/i] [i]But it will be a different kind of day for Rosie Williams. Ms Williams has spent the last eight months building a website, called BudgetAus, that can slice and dice the federal budget data to show people where the government is spending their money.[/i] Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/federal-budget/unlock-the-budget-say-data-activists-20130514-2jiwl.html#ixzz2TEJ5Md6c Rosie’s site is at: http://budgetaus.net/ Her Twitter handle is @budget_aus Do help spread the word on Rosie’s site through Facebook, if you have a page, and Twitter too. As Rosie said in a tweet a little while ago: [i]Rosie Williams ‏@budget_aus [/i] @njenkinsau in this election year I think it extremely important to get this data & also funding by electorate by September #budget

Janet (j4gypsy)

14/05/2013Hi Ad, and I see that talking turkey person has dobbed us in :-). (Thank you TT for your always lovely and generous words.) So, Ad, am afraid one did have a rather wild thought about whether using YouTube might be a good idea or not. The thought followed hearing that the Libs' horrible headless chook advertisement has had 400,000 views! Its appeal may partly be in the fact that it uses a visual medium. I happen to think, however, that 'Feathers Fly at the Federal Chook House' holds the real truth of a several-year narrative. Have been promoting it this way on Twitter and getting lots of retweets. Since it's THE story (as opposed to the headless chaos, confusion one), it needs really wide dissemination. We know that about 20% of Australians use Twitter, versus about 70% for Facebook. Don't know what the figures might be for YouTube. But we do know that this medium really appeals to young people/voters in droves. [i]Your[/i] chook story is so warm and witty and wise I began wondering whether you might set up a little YouTube channel and read it out!! (Nothing to it for the fabulous Web Monkey and for the experienced medico, teacher and publisher that is Ad Astra, went my ongoing musings :-).) Having, in my head, got you onto YouTube, I then began thinking how valuable it would be to have you do the talking head and 'speak' some commentary, oh, on some kind of regular basis. So that's how I came to throw the idea at Lyn and TT first. Guilty, by all the evidence. If you're horrified (hope you aren't), hope you'll forgive me :-).

KHTAGH

14/05/2013"Rich people don't create jobs" Everyone should take 5 mins to watch this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKCvf8E7V1g&feature=player_embedded

Pikiranku

14/05/2013Nasking Does Joe Hockey mean those thriving Asian economies like Japan whose government debt is 220% or 230% (I'm talking from memory here) of GDP? Good one, Joe, we'll gladly compare ourselves with that!

nasking

14/05/2013 Gandhi's Talisman "[b]I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away.[/b]" - One of the last notes left behind by Gandhi in 1948, expressing his deepest social thought. Source: Mahatma Gandhi [Last Phase, Vol. II (1958), P. 65] http://www.mkgandhi.org/gquots1.htm INDEED. N'

Curi-Oz

14/05/2013If any one is interested, the Federal government makes a lot of information available through http://data.gov.au and they encourage folk to create applications that use that data. In combination with the BudgetAus site, I think that will prove quite handy. Also for those so inclined, there is a challenge coming up in June for http://www.govhack.org that may be of interest. I think it may be a bit too late to actually make an entry, but I am intrigued enough that I hope to attend my local version as an observer (I love watching hard work *G*)

nasking

14/05/2013 LYN, I WILL CERTAINLY SCAN THOSE ARTICLES YOU'VE LINKED...I APPRECIATE YER EFFORT...YOU A BRIGHT SHINING STAR OF THE BLOGOSPHERE. TT, CHEERS...I TRIES ME BEST. JUST WISH THERE WERE THREE OF ME...[i]TIME KEEPS ON SLIPPIN' SLIPPIN' SLIPPIN' INTO THE FUTURE[/i]... AS EVIDENCED BY HOW LONG AGO THAT SONG CAME OUT YET IN SOME WAYS IT FEELS LIKE YESTERDAY WHEN I FIRST PUT ON THAT SHINY SWEEET VINYL AND WAS TAKEN AWAY...I CAN VISUALISE MY FORMER SELF (ALL NEW CELLS NOW I'M TOLD) WONDERING WHAT WOULD BECOME OF ME...AND THE OTHERS I KNEW...AND IF I COULD STOP TIME WOULD I BE ABLE TO RELAX MORE...GET RID OF THIS FEELING THAT MY LIFE WAS RUSHING PAST LIKE A FREIGHT TRAIN...HEADING TOWARDS A DERAILING THAT WOULD BRING IT TO AN ABRUPT END. STRANGELY, THE MORE I FOCUS ON DOING THE RIGHT THING BY OTHERS...THE LESS I WORRY ABOUT MY FUTURE...SOMETIMES I ENJOY TEMPORAL OVERLAPPING...IMAGES OF THE MANY MEs...TALKING, LAUGHING, DOING WITH THE MANY OTHERS...IN MANY PLACES...ALL JOINED BY THE LEARNT, THE SEEN, THE READ, THE HEARD, THE IMAGINED... A MENTAL COLLAGE... IN THE MIND'S EYE. HELPING THAT WHICH IS 'ME' NOW SEE THE MANY PATHS...OF THE POSSIBLE INFINITE...AND MULTIPLICITY OF PATHS...AND ASSISTS ME IN MY INTERACTION WITH OTHERS...TO EMPATHISE...EXPRESS...COMMUNICATE IN DIVERSE WAYS... SO YES, A FEW MORE OF ME MIGHT HELP...PARTICULARLY IF WE (ME AND MY CLONES) COULD READ EACH OTHERS MINDS...IT MIGHT HASTEN THE JOURNEY...BUT ALSO PROBLEMATICALLY BE DEFINED PARTLY BY MY GENETIC DERMINANTS... SO PERHAPS WHAT WOULD BE PREFERABLE, OR WORK MORE EFFECTIVELY WITH THE CLONING, IS THE ENTIRE GLOBE BEING ABLE TO READ ONE ANOTHER'S MINDS... AND I SUPPOSE IN SOME WAYS THE INTERNET IS JUST ANOTHER STEP IN THAT PROCESS...ANOTHER STEP IN OUR EVOLUTION...TAKING US BOLDLY TO WHERE NO SPECIES WE KNOW OF HAS GONE BEFORE... BUT THEN...PERHAPS WE WEREN'T, AREN'T MEANT TO KNOW THEM... FOR NOW. THE TIME BEING. N'

Catching up

14/05/2013No movement of no confidence motion. MPI, asylum seekers. Morrison in his glory.

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14/05/2013Janet Thank you for your very kind remarks, and for paying me the compliment that I might consider setting up a YouTube version of the chook story. Although my previous occupation has necessitated public speaking to small and large audiences, I find communication via the written word best suits me now. Maybe someone else with the skills of TV presenter would be better suited to a YouTube presentation. It need not be me. In any case, with a large family and many other responsibilities, I find that my time is limited, and attending to [i]TPS[/i] takes most of what spare time I have. For example, I'm still to read Lyn's Links for today. I'll do so now after watching a pretty tame QT.

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14/05/2013KHTAGH That is a great TED YouTube presentation. All economists and politicians should view it. Conservatives peddle the notion that the rich create jobs, that the benefits trickle down to those at the bottom of the heap, and base their political ideology on it. It is false, and has been shown to be false, but as it suits them and their wealthy supporters, they promulgate it as the truth. It's wicked.

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14/05/2013Curi-Oz That looks like a valuable dataset. I've bookmarked it.

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14/05/2013KHTAGH It is worrisome that a deadly new respiratory virus, a coronavirus related to SARS that can be passed between people in close contact, is already in Europe. I wonder whether there is any effective prophylaxis.

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14/05/2013nasking Gandhi's talisman is brilliant; it is at the heart of progressive politics.

nasking

14/05/2013 PIKIRANKU, SOMETIMES I THINK JOE HOCKEY MAKES IT UP AS HE GOES ALONG. HE HUFFS AND PUFFS...BUT THE ONLY HOUSE I SEE GETTING BLOWN DOWN IS THE HOUSE OF CARDS THAT ARE THE ODDBALL MIX OF THEOLOGICAL, POLITICAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC THEORIES...AND MYTHS CREATED ABOUT THE HOWARD GOVT...THAT HE PURPORTS TO BELIEVE IN. I BET JOE WOULD BE A NICE FELLA TO HAVE A BBQ WITH...BUT I RECKON HIS TASTES WOULD BE LIMITED...HIS IDEA OF WHAT SHOULD BE EATEN SOMEWHAT ARCHAIC AND SELF-DESTRUCTIVE...COMPARED EVEN TO SOME OF HIS ANCESTORS. THAT'S HOW HIS AND ABBOTT'S POLICIES COME ACROSS...LIKE BOYS BROUGHT UP IN THE WORLD OF PAST PRIVILEGED CATHOLIC SCHOOLS...KNOW ASPECTS OF THE WORLD SO YOU CAN HELP US DOMINATE IT BY WAY OF OUR COMPASSIONATE BIGOTED MISSION, SOMEWHAT RESTRICTIVE, SOMEWHAT OPPRESSIVE, FORCED COMPASSION, WESTERN AND JUDEO-CHRISTIAN-CENTRIC, TALK AND CHALK, HE WHO MUST BE OBEYED, RUGGER BOYS ARE GO!, SPREAD YER SEED FAR AND WIDE BUT DON'T LET ON, MARRY A GOOD VIRGIN CATHOLIC GIRL, KNOW GOD IS WATCHING AND WILL PUNISH UNLESS YOU SPILL THE BEANS AT CONVENIENT CONFESSION, WOMEN ARE ALMOST EQUALS, YOU ARE DESTINED FOR GREATNESS IF WE TELL YOU SO, ANIMALS ARE PUT ON EARTH FOR OUR USE...AND SO ON... CERTAINLY THAT'S A STEREOTYPE... BUT THAT'S HOW JOE AND ABBOTT AND PYNE AND THE LIKE COME ACROSS TO ME. I REQUIRE MORE. THIS COUNTRY IS TOO VALUABLE IN THE SCHEME OF THINGS TO BE PARTLY HANDED OVER TO A GROUP OF SCHOOL BOYS AND GIRLS WHO HAVE A HARD TIME ESCAPING THE CONFINES OF THEIR EDUCATION...THEIR OCKER SPORTS EXPERIENCES...AND CULTURE WARRIOR MINDSETS FROM UNI. I'M JUST NOT SEEING THE NECESSARY WIDENESS OF THOUGHT, DIVERSITY AND IMAGINATION REQUIRED TO DEAL EFFECTIVELY WITH THE EXTREMELY COMPLEX AND FAST EVOLVING LOCAL & GLOBAL ISSUES IN THIS GROUP OF LIBERALS AND NATS. THE CHEAP, NEGATIVE SLOGANS...MANIFESTOS AND LITTLE RED BOOKS...UBER CHARITY DUDE STUFF WHILST GETTING PAID...THE THOUGHT BUBBLES ON THE RUN WHILST TRYING TO HIDE THE 'NASTY PLAN'...THE SINCERE COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATIVE SPIEL TO THE POINT OF SOUNDING PONTIF-LIKE AND VOMIT INDUCING...THE NUDGE NUDGE WINK WINKS TO XENOPHOBES, MISOGYNISTS AND HOMOPHOBES...THE DOG WHISTLING WITH ACCOMPANYING "WHO ME?"s...THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN ADS, SORRY FEATURES, THAT OOZE PROPAGANDA AS THEY TRY DESPERATELY TO SELL TONY THE LOVED FAMILY MAN AND RESPECTER OF WOMEN... JUST DON'T DO IT FOR ME. N'

nasking

14/05/2013 angrbee101, YOU MAKE SOME VALID POINTS AND PROVIDE USEFUL INFO. N'

Austin 3:16

14/05/2013And here in Queensland we're still waiting for Campbell Newman to spell out his policies in detail. Didn't seem to bother the voters too much at the last election though.

lyn

14/05/2013Hi Talk Turkey Thankyou so much for your post @ 12:46 PM. You are a character “a loveable one”. Janie thankyou so much for your excellent work. I know how much time & effort you have put in to your posts. Talk Turkey is correct and your work is very much appreciated. Nasking our lovely bear, thankyou for your comment 03:13 PM & your always rock solid support & amazing contribution to TPS. I see Christopher Pyne being obnoxious as usual, here is a funny comment Kath Mallot Christopher Pyne is making my teeth itch, I have shoe in hand, I cant afford a new tv, but what the hell, my teeth need me!

Jessica

14/05/2013Oh I love the satire! Sending our love from HK to you both. Can't wait to see what's in your next installment.

KHTAGH

14/05/2013AA [quote]I wonder whether there is any effective prophylaxis.[/quote] I don't know, none of the article I have read have mentioned any treatment, seems to be a wait & see if your are in the 90% or the 10% group. I do remember seeing it first reported on about 3 months ago & that was the scariest part of the Coronavirus, no effective treatment.

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14/05/2013Hi Lyn I’ve just finished reading your links – what a fantastic collection of valuable information and opinion. Mat Cowgill’s article was full of interesting data – I’ve bookmarked it. All the others were informative too. Thank you for your research that gives us such treat every day.

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14/05/2013Jessica Welcome to [i]The Political Sword[/i] family and thank you for your kind comment. Do come again. Love to you and Dad and Mum.

nasking

14/05/2013 NEGABORE GRUMPY ANTAGONISTIC [b]PETER REITH[/b] ON THE DRUM LOOKS AND SOUNDS LIKE A [b]ROMULAN[/b]. N'

nasking

14/05/2013 MARIUS BENSON IS FULL OF IT...RECKONS TONY ABBOTT IS BIG ON KEEPING HIS PROMISES. LOL Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has defended his 2004 broken election promise on the Medicare safety net, saying it is not the same as the Prime Minister's carbon tax backflip. Mr Abbott, who has made the issue of a broken election promise central to his attack on Labor's carbon pricing scheme, pledged as health minister that the then-Government's commitment to the Medicare safety net levels was "an absolutely rock solid, ironclad commitment". But the Howard Government later lifted the safety net levels... http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-22/abbott-defends-broken-promise/2805876 HMMM... N'

42 long

14/05/2013After the waterfront deception Reith if he had any self respect would just go somewhere else. He is very focussed but so was Hitler. THIS MOB WANT TO FIGHT WORKERS ALL THE TIME. It's fetish with them Bangladesh is introducing minimum wages now and forming unions. They will be ahead of us if the abbott succeeds. Germany gets along with Unions CONTRIBUTING to the enterprise. Half the problem at least here is the pathetic management. Think-alike McGraw Hill students of management psychology. The only way to compete is have the latest techniques and skills. What industries TRAIN their own apprentices like LNER and BM &S? railways did til Maggie Thatcher closed them all down. Just the sort of thing that the LieNP do here. Not an original though in their heads . Just Dogma. rather steal workers from less developed countries ( Where they are needed more than here). How can we in all conscience take doctors from Nigeria and such places when they are needed THERE more than here. We should shoulder our responsibilities and train our own citizens for our jobs like we did in the 50's.

jane

14/05/2013Lyn, as usual your links are brilliant. Have just been reading the link to the modelling done by the Australia Institute and it makes VERY interesting indeed. This is a brilliant rod to beat barrackers with. More proof of the profligacy, wastefulness and appallingly bad economic management by the Howard government. [quote]TODAY'S Federal Budget would be in surplus by at least $25 billion, with an estimated $40 billion in extra revenue, if income tax cuts introduced between 2005-2008 had not been put into place. Independent think tank The Australia Institute has released modelling that shows the state of the federal finances would be in much better shape if governments had thought more about the long-term structure of the budget. It shows income tax cuts, the majority of which were delivered in the last few years of the Howard/Costello government during the pre-GFC mining boom, were "having a big influence on the present federal government's budget". The modelling shows most the benefits of the tax cuts from 2005 to 2008 have flowed through to higher income earners. "Of the $38 billion in tax cuts in 2011-12, the top 10 per cent of income earners gained $16 billion," the report said.[/quote] NAS' AS USUAL YOU'RE ON FIRE AND AS USUAL MAKING A LOT OF SENSE. recaptcha system TORYusu

nasking

14/05/2013 WHAT AN IMMATURE, DISRESPECTFUL BUNCH THE COALITION ARE...SPOILT PRIVILEGED MOCKERS...ALL VERBAL FLATULENCE AND BLOWHARDING SIGNIFYING NOTHING. N'

Diotima

14/05/2013Celebrating Chooksunto Alice in cyber-wonderland Without a living Palmer band To play La Marseillaise before The grim reaper reaps some more What sweet relief the poet said To give us today our daily bred A tale of bastardy instead Waits where angels fear to tread No apple of mine eye were he Though now he’s gone I feel the glee Reserved for times like Thatcher’s dong Dinged when the witch’s song Was sung in preparation for Clive’s footloose knocking on the door To the shady lady’s hades lair With bella donna in her hair In May Ad Astra's rhymes Bring hilarity in trying times To take away the gloom and dread Left by chooks without a head Cunning linguists’ twisted prose Over our heads - nobody knows The trouble all of us have seen With froth and bubble in between Now I wait for June for more Literary ambrosia galore Like pearls hidden in the dirt A smile or two to dull the hurt.

Austin 3:16

14/05/2013[quote]RECKONS TONY ABBOTT IS BIG ON KEEPING HIS PROMISES. LOL [/quote] Yeah and what's the bet that after the election one of the first things the Abbott government will do is announce an audit of the countries finances. Before you can say "who ever would have picked it" they will discover a "black hole" in the finances that Labor have deceitfully hidden and all bets and promises will be off.

Tom of Melbourne

14/05/2013Swan surrended his credibility tonight.

nasking

14/05/2013 LEIGH SALES CAN WEAR ALL THE RED OUTFITS SHE LIKES...IT'S PRETTY OBVIOUS SHE'S A LIBERAL. SHE ASKS QUESTIONS OF SWAN THAT WOULD HAVE LIBERALS CLAPPING. THE TOPICS SHE CHOSE ARE THE GIVEAWAY. HER RUDE SUGGESTION TO SWAN THAT HE SHOULD RECONSIDER STAYING ON AS TREASURER WAS AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE...AND UNPROFESSIONAL. UNBECOMING OF A MAJOR PRESENTER ON THE PUBLIC BROADCASTER...SOMETHING YOU WOULD EXPECT FROM A SKY OR FOX NEWS HOST OR SHOCK JOCK. BIASED BIASED BIASED. YOU'VE LOST THE PLOT LEIGH...YER HOSTILITY FOR THIS GOVERNMENT IS OBVIOUS FOR ALL TO SEE. OBJECTIVITY NIL. N'

Jason

14/05/2013Swan surrended his credibility tonight. Tom of Melbourne Oh it's Groundhog day! ToM is back to share some of his finest work and whity comment on an un suspecting audience who has heard it a thousand times! Shove off dickhead!

Tom of Melbourne

14/05/2013Leigh Sales was incredibly easy on Swan. She should have specifically pressed Swan on why he provided an [b]UNEQUIVOCAL COMMITMENT TO BRING IN A SURPLUS[/b] But typically she just bowled up standard questions and allowed Swan to bluster.

Catching up

14/05/2013Maybe sensible people see that it is about more than surpluses.

Catching up

14/05/2013"..Recessions and global economic funk are bad news for Australia’s budget position. Over the past four decades or so, each time Australia has been hit with a global slump or a domestic recession, there has been a budget deficit for either five, six or seven years. The current figuring has Australia in budget deficit for seven years, if Treasury is right this time and there is a return to budget surplus in 2015-16. From a purely accounting perspective and according to the latest Treasury figuring, the fiscal impact of the global banking and economic crisis on Australia will be budget deficits each and every year from 2008-09 to 2014-15. If we hark back to the fiscal position in the aftermath of the early 1990s recession, the budget went from healthy surpluses of 1.5 per cent of GDP before the recession hit to deficits for seven consecutive years – from 1990-91 to 1996-97. A recovery in tax receipts, rather than spending cuts, drove the improvement in the budget bottom line. Maybe it is time to move pass the surplus obsession. Read more: http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/5/14/federal-budget/budget-2013-seven-year-deficit-itch#ixzz2TGLz3CXh.. Maybe turning surpluses into a political bun fight is what Labor got wrong. According to most experts tonight, the trend back to surplus over seven years or more is the norm.

Sir Ian Crisp

14/05/2013[quote][b]Swan surrended his credibility tonight. Tom of Melbourne Oh it's Groundhog day! ToM is back to share some of his finest work and whity comment on an un suspecting audience who has heard it a thousand times! Shove off dickhead! Jason [/b][/quote] JGuy, it's not like you to be rude before your tenth beer.

Sir Ian Crisp

14/05/2013When was Wayne Swan the Treasurer? I have asked several people and they say that Swan wouldn't know the first thing about financial matters. What was it he said around about this time last year? Was it something like ".... tonight's budget is the first of a few budgets that will return a surplus." Shouldn't Mr Swan have Both hands visible when he is being interviewed?

nasking

14/05/2013 [quote]The modelling shows most the benefits of the tax cuts from 2005 to 2008 have flowed through to higher income earners. "Of the $38 billion in tax cuts in 2011-12, the top 10 per cent of income earners gained $16 billion," the report said.[/quote] JANE, MAKES YA WONDER WHY SOME OF THE RICH MOAN SO MUCH AND SPEND AN INORDINATE AMOUNT OF TIME TRYING TO BRING THIS GOVERNMENT DOWN? HOW MANY RACE HORSES, YACHTS, MANSIONS, SPAS, RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE ARTWORKS, LUXURIOUS RESORTS, POSH CARS, DIAMONDS, PROSTITUTES, MISTRESSES, TOY BOYS, SEX SLAVES, OVER-THE-TOP JEWELLERY, DESIGNER CLOTHES & BAGS & WALLETS & SHOES & HATS, TOP END ELECTRONICS, DAYS OF BEAUTY, GYM MEMBERSHIPS, HOME GYMS, MASSAGES, SWIMMING POOLS LIKE LAGOONS, NANNIES, VALETS, PERSONAL TRAINERS, PERSONAL ASSISTANTS, PERSONAL CHEFS, MAIDS, GARDENERS, POOL MAINTENANCE, RARE ANTIQUES, VINTAGE WINES...MONEY TO SILENCE PEOPLE...MONEY TO BUY INFLUENCE... DO THESE PEOPLE NEED? OF COURSE THEY DESERVE TAX CUTS...THEY ARE THE WEALTH CREATORS... CREATING A WEALTH OF BS AND EXPLOITATION 24-7. N'

Janet (j4gypsy)

14/05/2013Bernard Keane from Crikey on the budget. [b]Swan song: budget heads in right direction but lacks courage[/b] [i]Bernard Keane[/i] Wayne Swan’s sixth and likely final budget charts a path to surplus, but fails to take enough tough decisions to rein in spending, writes Bernard Keane. The government will rely on higher taxes and a handful of high-profile spending cuts to chart a path to fiscal sustainability and provide funding for its totemic education and disability reforms in its 2013-14 budget. Treasurer Wayne Swan has unveiled an $18 billion deficit for 2013-14, coming on top of a $19.4 billion deficit for this financial year, with no return to a substantial surplus until 2016-17. The budget boasts an array of savings measures and tax rises, but apart from what is likely to be a controversial dumping of the baby bonus, the government’s “savings” again rely heavily on tax rises or closing tax loopholes rather than genuine hard cuts to spending. The “savings” are designed to gather momentum toward the end of forward estimates rather than affect the economy straight away, reflecting Treasury’s more gloomy outlook for the economy over 2013-14. Echoing the expectations of the Reserve Bank, Treasury expects growth below trend, at 2.75%, with unemployment higher than previously forecast at 5.75% and inflation lower, at 2.25%. Terms of trade will be slightly softer (down 0.75%) but export growth will still outrun imports at 6.5%. With this softer economy, there’ll only be $2.15 billion worth of cuts in 2013-14; that builds to nearly $10 billion in 2014-15, then $15.6 billion, then over $16 billion. However, the nature of the “savings” is revealed in spending forecasts. This table shows predictions on spending across the forward estimates from last year’s budget, compared to this year’s: 2012 budget 2013 budget $b $b 2013-14 387.3 (23.7% of GDP) 391.2 (24.5% of GDP) 2014-15 404.9 (23.5%) 409.1 (24.4% ) 2015-16 427.3 (23.6) 425 (24%) 2016-17 443.8 (23.8%) That’s because the bulk of the “savings” are tax rises, with tax forecast to rise as a proportion of GDP a full 1 percentage point between now and 2016-17, driven by the NDIS levy, which is forecast to raise around $12 billion over four years, and a major crackdown on corporate tax avoidance forecast to generate $4.2 billion. The major talking point from the budget is likely to be the abolition of the baby bonus, to be replaced with a significantly smaller Family Tax Benefit A payment of $2000 for a first child and $1000 for subsequent children. That, along with the already revealed cancellation of FTB-A increases in 2013-14, cuts to the Clean Energy Future package and cuts to health spending form the guts of the government’s savings initiative. However, there’s a host of small savings initiative spread through the budget papers, right down to forcing public servants into smaller workstations in order to save rental costs. At the same time, the Treasurer has tried to make a virtue of the government’s low tax to GDP ratio, insisting the budget would be in healthy surplus if he were taxing at the levels bequeathed him by John Howard and Peter Costello. If this is Labor’s final budget, it will mark Wayne Swan’s Treasurership as a period in which, together with the RBA, the government got the big calls right and took some significant steps toward a more sustainable fiscal policy, but in the end lacked the political capital, or courage, to really address the budget’s long-term needs — even when falling tax revenue demanded it.

nasking

14/05/2013 COOL: Julia Gillard ✔ @JuliaGillard $434.1m will support the work of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. #Budget http://ow.ly/l0tOX 8:09 PM - 14 May 2013 TWO THUMBS UP. N'

nasking

14/05/2013 MORE GOOD NEWS: UnitedVoice Victoria @UnitedVoiceVic Labor's $300 million fund to support childcare educators is an investment in our children's future #budget2013 #ausunions #budget #bigsteps 7:48 PM - 14 May 2013 GOOD...I HOPE VOTERS REMEMBER THE ABC LEARNING CHILDCARE DEBACLE UNDER THE HOWARD GOVT. N'

TalkTurkey

14/05/2013I started this weeks ago, and every time I got a little way into it, circumstances changed and made my comments outdated. It stalled eventually, but it was always supposed to be my tribute to the most remarkable leader this nation has had in my lifetime, in the most remarkable and difficult Parliament of Australian history. Today, the long-awaited breath-bated Budget Day, seems like that last opportunity for it to be relevant, because it was meant to be [i]predictive.[/i] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Many sporting analogies have been used of the state of play of the current Parliament: metaphors from Aussie Rules Football, Cricket, Boxing and Horse-Racing. I have called our PM Red Caviar myself, quite recently. But of all games to use as a metaphor, surely the most apposite image is Chess. I'm not very competitive at it but I know what makes a good player: [i]the ability to second-guess an opponent's moves, preferably several moves ahead[/i], given that there are often many choices and possibilities at any step; and equally, [i]to develop a countervailing strategy of one's own[/i]. Chess is THE mind game: of feints and gambits and temptations, of judicious sacrifice and cunning ruses. Deception and surprise. Forks and Queen-traps. Shrewd rational thinking, creative forms of attack and defence. Positioning and manoeuvring, timing and evaluating, and using the forces at one's disposal. It's some game, is li'l ol' Chess. Arabic in origin they say. And the few wooden pieces, 16 per side, look so innocent. Now I don't know whether our Prime Minister plays Wooden Chess, though I would guess she does; but what I do know is, she is Grand Mistress of the most primordial, ubiquitous, and important of all games: what might be termed [i]Human[/i] Chess. The way she handles real-life situations of every kind. I have really known it ever since she first came to my notice. That's why I always write her name *J*U*L*I*A*! She is [i]not ordinary[/i], as in, she is truly exceptional. You may hear it in her firm, uncompromising - and never-compromised - statements: in her grasp of every issue; in the way the international community is in awe and adoration of her; in her undaunted determination to achieve what are full-on Labor goals; in her wisdom in choosing our economic direction and industrial policies; in every aspect of the way she has handled herself during this last horrible parliament. And much more. But in no field do her qualities shine brighter than in Rope-a-Dope politics. [Aside: I came across David Donovan's reference to "Rope-a-Dope" politics a few hours after I wrote the term myself, not having seen it for a year or so: you know the reference I'm sure, give'em enough rope and they'll hang themselves. It felt synchronous more than coincidental, like it was sort of shared 5th-Estate consciousness, "Great Minds Thinking Alike", because it was essentially in reference to the same issue: the snares *J*U*L*I*A* has so innocently left lying about for the Opposition, into which they are dutifully tumbling and entangling themselves. It was encouraging to see someone else, especially one of DD's insights, thinking along the same lines as I. Like having a mate in my trench, as if I'd know. YKWIM?] As ABBA noted in their first great hit WATERLOO , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FsVeMz1F5c there are times when you win when you lose. One of the great skills in Chess is to know when to sacrifice a better piece for a lesser one, or even for no obvious gain, for the purposes of a more devious plan; one should always have Backup Plans B and C and especially Q . Did Conroy really get rolled on Media Reform? Or did something much more subtle, deliberate, and clandestinely planned, take place instead? I have seen others think as I do: that that apparently hamfisted effort was to draw out the most rabid of the RW hatemongers - which it did certainly did anyway. But note, deliberate or not, our Red Queen will certainly use to advantage their screeching self-exposure for the bigots they are. Remember she said more than 2 years ago ,wtte If there's a roadblock in the way you want to go, you don't just sit there, you find a new way around it. We have not heard the end of Media reform from this very Government yet, I predict that there will be some payback from Labor before the election. The Gonski Gambit I believe is especially an admirable from a Chess point of view. The Gonski reforms have the Liberal Premiers over a barrel of Abbortt's making - How funny, they know they'd never get the deal on funding from him that they will from Labor! So there they are, headless chooks* running around trying to work out what to do, in the absence of a brain. Are they going to be so pig-headed as to turn down Gonski for their own State, I don't think so! WA maybe, but don't be surprised if even their Government tucks in alongside ALL the others. [*NB That was written before this thread Ad!] Note: NSW's O'Farrell Govt has signed up since I started this post yesterday*, that tells Abbortt like a bugle blast what responsible Liberals think of him! It is a major coup for *J*U*L*I*A*, loss of face for Abborrtt and sobering reality check for State Liberals who know they will lose if he wins! [*That tells you how long ago I started this - well actually no, it was before that!] But *J*U*L*I*A* was always going to win on this. Whichever way it went. For see, if the reforms had gone straight ahead, of course that would have been good, but then the Yellow Media would have given more kudos to the Premiers than to the Feds! And in 2 days the huge reforms would have vanished like Titanic, nothing to see as if nothing had happened. But it so happens that Education is our PM's passion, her chosen battleground, she radiates when she's with kids, and schools give her a perfect platform to say nearly everything she needs to. Abborrrrt can't do it. Kids know disingenuity, they read different cues and they see through Abborrrtt right away. So she will love doingthe rounds for the next few months. andshe will make many many friends. And then there's NDIS. Dam, the Abborrrttians DID fold too bloody easily on this! (All except WA's stupid Govt anyway, EVERY State signed up virtually straight away. And Yes, the MSM did make it look very much as though the LNP thought of it. But the main thing is the NDIS is in place!) The NBN is a great winner for us. The more time goes by, the more people want it, exponentially. Apart from the education issue, with which it obviously dovetails, it is the definitive issue of the Future. And Turdball's proposal is a rotten lemon, and every websavvy person knows it. The price on carbon. The MRRT. Plain packaging. So many good things this beleaguered Government has done, every one in the teeth of rabid opposition! But the point is, Red Queen has all her pieces exactly where she wants them. Now she has delivered the bad news (I've just watched the Budget) and we have our backs to the wall it's true, but now the job is to wedge Black on every day in every way at every moment. Game on! VENCEREMOS!

Janet (j4gypsy)

14/05/2013Laura Tingle on the budget. [b]Swan’s bold retreat in face of political defeat[/b] [i]Laura Tingle[/i] Wayne Swan’s sixth budget owes much to the scorched earth tactics used over the centuries by the Russians retreating to Moscow in the face of a numerically superior enemy. At considerable cost, the Russians would systematically destroy their own country as they lured the enemy to follow them into country devoid of sustenance. In what is without doubt a courageous and highly unorthodox election-year budget, Labor has opted to look beyond election defeat, removing “easy” savings from the Coalition’s armoury and giving the government the best chance of reducing another deficit: its deficit on economic credibility in the race to September 14. At the same time, it is a strategy that locks in its legacy reforms in education and disability. These are goals that have an eye to the 2016 election campaign and Labor’s hopes for rebuilding from a crippling defeat. It is not a budget with which to win an election, or even dramatically change voters’ sour perceptions of the government. But it does give Labor the best chance of putting Tony Abbott on the spot about the cost of his own plans. Some in the government refer to it as the “give away, take away” strategy. That is, the budget contains no giveaways, but will highlight that if Abbott is serious about doing what he has said he will do, he will actually have to take away a lot of existing entitlements from families. The political tactics inherent in the budget may or may not work. The Opposition Leader has proved an elusive quarry. It is not just that he keeps finding excuses not to outline his own spending plans; he and shadow treasurer Joe Hockey have also been softening their previously strident insistence that they would pursue a tougher fiscal policy. Whether the strategy works or not, it will not have been implemented at the cost of bad budget policy. There are some very tough and commendable spending cuts in this budget – including $2.3 billion to John Howard’s “middle-class welfare” baby bonus and family entitlements. Labor has dumped pledges to increase family tax benefits and give more tax cuts, and paused the indexation of limits on a range of other payments. It is increasing the Medicare levy by half a percentage point to partly pay for its disability scheme. There are lots of other tax measures, notably a raft of corporate tax changes set to raise $4.2 billion over four years. The government can argue these are not wild and ill thought through grabs for revenue but measures that have been the subject of extensive consultation and reflect similar moves to crack down on profit shifting around the globe. Once again, they may prove difficult for the Coalition to argue against. The budget is almost certain to pass through Parliament before it rises for the election, with crossbench support and with none of the delays that have marked former reforms like those to the private health insurance rebate. There may even be some wedging of the Coalition over its position on the various measures, particularly the baby bonus. That means Labor will go to the election with its savings and economic plan written into the law books, even if some of the spending is years away. In framing this budget, Labor’s fiscal woes were almost as great as its political woes. Economic and budget forecasts that proved wildly wide of the mark in an uncertain post-GFC world have shredded Swan’s credibility. The high dollar and falling commodity prices have helped wipe $60 billion from revenue forecasts. Treasury officials say it is the third-biggest write-down in revenue after the Great Depression and the global financial crisis. The government’s response has been a budget which sets out $43 billion of savings or increased revenue offset by $15 billion of new spending. Treasury officials say the spending cuts are the biggest since Peter Costello’s budget in 1996. If there is a weakness in all this virtue, it lies in the pattern of where spending and savings occur. Yes, the government has documented a range of measures (some announced several years ago) which offer a steady path of accumulating savings to fund its signature Gonski and disability reforms. Yet the government has also committed to two massive new spending programs on education and disability and to major infrastructure projects (another wedge on the Coalition). But, in the shorter term, it is forecasting an increase in spending in real terms of 4.3 per cent in 2013-14, followed by more restrained spending in the following two years to produce average annual growth over the four years of 1.3 per cent. Its credibility problem rests in history. For example, in the 2010 budget, it forecast real growth in spending would fall by 0.6 per cent in 2011-12, and rise by just 1.7 per cent in 2012-13 and 1.9 per cent in 2013-14. Spending in 2011-12 ended up growing by 4.8 per cent. This year’s budget predicts spending in 2012-13 will record a spectacular 3.2 per cent slump (partly because of shuffles between years at the time of the midyear review). But instead of growing by 1.9 per cent, as was suggested in 2010, spending in 2013-14 will grow 4.3 per cent. Combined with the collapse in profit-based tax collections, the result is a $19.4 billion budget deficit this year (instead of the $1 billion surplus forecast last year) and a $18 billion deficit in 2013-14. As big savings and revenue measures kick in over the following years, the budget forecasts a return to surplus by 2015-16. These forecasts are based on assumptions made particularly cautious by the savaging to reputations of ministers and Treasury in the past couple of years. One of the legacies of those past, more audacious forecasts was but a footnote in last night’s budget. The mining tax, the budget papers told us, would raise just $200 million in 2012-13 and $700 million in 2013-14 – a long way from the $3 billion and $9 billion predicted in 2010. Swan has delivered the budget he should have delivered in 2008, or even in 2011. His colleagues may not thank him for it, but he should be commended for making tough decisions nonetheless.

nasking

14/05/2013 I GUESS LABOR'S TRYING TO AVOID CREATING A WELFARE STATE WHERE GENERATIONS GROW UP WORKLESS AND UNMOTIVATED DEPENDENT ON THE STATE: ACOSS @ACOSS 'Budget secures landmark disability and education reforms, but gaping hole for poorest on allowances: ACOSS' http://www.acoss.org.au/media/release/budget_secures_landmark_disability_and_education_reforms_but_gaping_hole_fo … 8:17 PM - 14 May 2013 TUFF STUFF THO. LUCKILY WE'RE NOT IN A DEEP RECESSION...THEN THE JOBS TO EARN EXTRA CASH ON NEWSTART WOULD DRY UP. STILL, PLEASED WITH THE FOCUS ON DISABILITYCARE AND EDUCATION...ALONGSIDE CHILDCARE AND TRAINING....AND INFRASTRUCTURE. THO, I WAS HOPING THEY'D ASK MORE OF THE MEGA-RICH...AND CHANGE THAT MINING TAX. SO MUCH FOR THE CLASS WAR ACCUSATIONS MURDOCHITES AND CLONES...ONCE AGAIN YER PROVED WRONG. N'

Ad astra

14/05/2013Diotimo I think this is your first time here, so welcome to [i]The Political Sword[/i] family. You are a skilled writer of verse. Do come again.

nasking

14/05/2013 JANET, THNX FOR THOSE ENLIGHTENING ARTICLES. TT, GOOD STUFF! [b]Game on! VENCEREMOS! [/b] INDEED N'

nasking

14/05/2013 I DIG THIS: Justin Barbour Scandalous. RT @allisonekane: So I guess people will go back to having babies because they want babies? #budget2013 9:28pm - 14 May 13 COSTELLO'S INCENTIVE FOR POOR YOUNG WOMEN TO GET PREGGERS AND LEAVE SCHOOL PREMATURELY HAS BEEN GIVEN THE BOOT...DESERVEDLY SO. SOCIAL ENGINEERING AT ITS WORST...AND MOST IRRESPONSIBLE. N'

Tom of Melbourne

14/05/2013So in Swan's 6th budget, who is responsible for the deficit??!! Apparently Costello!

Catching up

14/05/2013Clever budget. Investment for the future, that is hard to deny. All the low hanging fruit now gone. Yes, Mr. Abbott, we need to know what you intend to do.

nasking

14/05/2013 THIS FELLA ON SKY NEWS IS COMPLAINING ABOUT STRUGGLING FAMILIES AND HOW AWFUL IT IS THE BABY BONUS HAS BEEN TAKEN AWAY...NOW THEY ARE ONLY GETTING UP TO TWO THOUSAND BY WAY OF FAMILY BENEFITS. HOW I SEE IT, IF FAMILIES ARE STRUGGLING THAT MUCH...THEN MAYBE THEY SHOULD STOP HAVING SO MANY BABIES THEY CAN'T AFFORD. WE SEE IT AROUND HERE ALL THE TIME...MOTHERS LEAVING SCHOOL EARLY TO HAVE MULTIPLE CHILDREN AND THEN COMPLAINING THEY CAN'T AFFORD THEM...AS THEY SIT THERE SMOKING CIGS, TALKING ABOUT BETTING, THE LATEST SHOW ON FOXTEL, ORDERING MORE HI-TECH EQUPT, BUYING CHEAP DISPOSABLE TOYS AND OTHER CRAPPY PRODUCTS, SIPPING ON DIET COKE, THEN HEADING OFF FOR ANOTHER BIG FAST FOOD FEAST...ALL THE WAY TO THE DEBT BURDENING BIG CAR SNAPPING AT THEIR KIDS AND PARTNERS. I CAN'T HELP BUT WONDER HOW THEIR LIVES WOULD'VE TURNED OUT IF THEY'D STAYED IN SCHOOL AND GOT SOME DECENT QUALIFICATIONS...AND SAVED UP FOR A HOME AND KIDS. WHAT A LEGACY COSTELLO LEFT US. HARVEY NORMAN, MACCAS, COKE, GAMBLING SYNDICATES, TOBACCO, CHEAP TOY MANUFACTURERS AND GROG COMPANIES MUSTA LOVED HIM. N'

nasking

14/05/2013 [b]The Federal Budget in 3 minutes [/b] http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=77ABbMCstRM&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D77ABbMCstRM USEFUL VID. N'

Lyn

15/05/2013Today’s Links Budget ticks off big ticket reforms By PS News The Treasurer Wayne Swan has placed the Government’s big ticket reforms at the centre of his sixth Budget despite a deficit of $18 billion. Mr Swan also pledged to return the Budget to surplus by 2016-17, while maintaining support for jobs and investment in the economy. http://goo.gl/uUYxZ Labor policies by @AusVotes2013 These links access information on Labor policies as they are provided on the party’s website in May 2013 as well as announcements made in the 2013-14 Federal Budget. http://ausvotes2013.com/policies-2/labor-policies/ BUDGET 2013: On the wings of the dollar by @TheKouk As Treasurer Wayne Swan was preparing to deliver his budget speech, the Aussie dollar was already trading around 3 per cent lower than this, at a little under $1.00. While this is not enough of a move to make a huge change to the budget forecasts, it is a step in the right direction http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/5/14/federal-budget/budget-2013-wings-dollar#ixzz2TIm7H5d2 Budget2013 The way twitter saw it by @turnleft2013, @MigloMT http://theaimn.com/2013/05/14/budget2013-the-way-twitter-saw-it/ Budget 2013: where will your tax go? ABC http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2f490n/www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-09/interactive-budget-2013-where-will-your-tax-go/4682404 2013-14 Federal Budget- $18bn deficit; profit shifting targeted; medical expense tax offset and Baby Bonus to go by Thomson Reuters http://sites.thomsonreuters.com.au/tainsight/2013/05/14/2013-14-federal-budget-18bn-deficit-profit-shifting-targeted-medical-expense-tax-offset-and- Budget Night By The Numbers by @beneltham Why is the budget is deficit? The Treasury says its mainly because revenue has taken a hit. Labor has held spending increases below 2 per cent. But the shortfall in tax revenues has kept the bottom line in the red. http://newmatilda.com/2013/05/14/budget-night-numbers The LNP is the principal threat to progress and equality in Australia because it deflects all debate from what is really important. by @newsfliporg If the LNP, the IPA and its ultra-conservative set of newspaper editors, including the ABC, were to present the debates of right now as significant to the election, then the LNP would hardly http://www.newsflip.org/2013/05/the-lnp-lethal-negative-pointless.html Adios Austerity? by Russell Marks Abbott’s electoral strategy since he took over as Opposition leader in 2009 has been unlike anything we’ve ever seen in Australia: tell bald-faced porkies about the current state of affairs, and hope that untruths repeated often enough will become common sense to enough people to tip him into the Lodge. http://newmatilda.com/adios-austerity Tony Abbott and the sin of omission by @independentaus Tony Abbott was criticised by what he said in his speech on forced adoptions, but it was what he didn’t say that most revealed his character http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/tony-abbott-and-the-sin-of-omission/ A flawed growth scenario? by Gary-Sauer-Thompson An incoming Coalition is committed to the politics of austerity, given its economic mantra of “stop the taxes” , "cut the debt" and only run budget surpluses always. It is also committed to the supporting multinational capital--- Big Miners, the coal industry and the fossil fuel companies/generators--- by rolling back the mining tax and restricting renewable energy. http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2013/05/a-flawed-growth.php#more The three horsemen of a Budget Apocalypse by @macro_business The problem for the Federal Government going forward is that the terms-of-trade are now falling back towards longer-term averages, which is dragging heavily on income growth, with real per capital national disposable income falling by -0.5% http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2013/05/the-three-horsemen-of-the-budget-apocalypse/ Would a no confidence vote in Julia Gillard create even more confusion in Canberra? @ConversationEDU One can be pretty confident, therefore, that if the coalition holds a vote of no confidence in the Gillard government this week, it will be secretly hoping to lose it. http://theconversation.com/would-a-no-confidence-vote-in-julia-gillard-create-even-more-confusion-in-canberra-14206 Tony Abbott: a weak leader with poor judgement by Steve But back to Tony: his new, barbed wire fence straddling attitude on this is just like his "it depends who I'm talking to" approach to climate change. His vacillation on an ETS, and final decision to take an opportunistic stand against it at the beck and call of Right wing talk back radio and Andrew Bolt . http://opiniondominion.blogspot.com.au/ Bulk Billing Rates for GP Services Reach New Record High by David Griffiths The March quarter figures show bulk billing for diagnostic imaging also reached a new record high of 74.9%; bulk billing of pathology services remains high at 87.6%. Overall, bulk billing for all Medicare services remained high at 76.5%. http://www.australiasmassmedia.com/2013/05/14/bulk-billing/ Budget expectations 2013 by @LarvatusProdeo Finally, Joe Hockey has been calling for honesty in Swan’s budget. He’s the one, with his mate Andrew Robb, who Laura Tingle in 2012 called Liars, clunkheads or both and in any case not fit to govern. Her original piece is here. http://larvatusprodeo.net/archives/2013/05/budget-expectations-2013/ Voters unimpressed by Tony Abbott's parental leave scheme: Poll @BernardKeane Given Abbott's PPL scheme is significantly more generous than the government's, the lack of support for the Coalition's scheme is something of a mystery: the government is deeply unpopular and the Coalition is regarded as more competent on most issues, http://www.womensagenda.com.au/talking-about/top-stories/voters-unimpressed-by-tony-abbott-s-parental-leave-scheme-poll/201305132142 Should local government be in the Australian constitution? by @OnLineOpinion Julia Gillard called this proposal 'small but important', and said it had bi-partisan support.. Whether or not it is small will be determined by exactly what it is we are asked to vote on. http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=15005 Calibrated Women, Airports, Policies & Laborious Dilemma’s! by @knarfnamduh Phoney Tony Abbott and various NO Coalition hyperbolic’s telling us that Labor had ‘lost the plot’, and that the ‘world was about end and disappear into a fiscal black hole’, http://deknarf.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/graphical-manipulations-34-calibrated-women-airports-policies-laborious-dilemmas/ Oz In Need Of Belt Tightening- Surgery or Dieting- by Patriciawa John Howard has given the thumbs up to the Australian economy, and agreed with the Treasurer and the Prime Minister! We are in good shape it seems and not on the brink of http://polliepomes.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/oz-in-need-of-belt-tightening-surgery-or-dieting/ Austerity… The Right Wing Solution! by Truth Seeker We should all sign up to the right wing plan, For their austerity ,The Conservatives, Libs and the Tory’s, And the US Tea Party too, All know that their austerity, Is good for me and you http://truthseekersmusings.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/austerity-the-right-wing-solution/ Offended By Fraudband? Maybe You Shouldn’t have said it First by @sortius For the Opposition to cry about their aspirations dressed up as policy being called ‘faudband’ is laughable, since a Nationals senator coined the term in 2007. One thing Turnbull needs to remember: don’t cry about having the same mud flung at you as you have flung at others in the past http://sortius-is-a-geek.com/?p=2958 Pulling the NBN debate out of the gutter by Mark Gregory Being given the communications portfolio was a poison chalice for Turnbull because the Australian public will not forgive him for the decision to introduce FTTN into the mix and making the promise that the Coalition NBN would provide universal access to a http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/5/14/technology/pulling-nbn-debate-out-gutter#ixzz2TFCZUmSR How the #NBN has (actually) changed my life by @unsungsongs It has greatly improved my efficiency and my ability to move seamlessly between home and office http://www.marcuswestbury.net/ Samsung's 5G wireless cannot replace the NBN (repost from 4G @mwyres While many reports today are mentioning that wireless is different to wired, many headlines are calling into question the viabibility of the NBN. That's misleading (but inevitable given the technical knowledge required to balance mainstream news) and affects public perception. http://michaelwyres.com/newsdesk/article.php?hash=136fb969d2c124eb774b10ce78adeb92 Let the '5G' confusion begin: Samsung demos ultra-fast wireless with bad branding by @AaronIsSocial claiming that it should reach "data transmission speeds of up to several tens of Gbps per base station." That's all very well, but it's not Samsung's job to define industry terms. As we learned with 4G, however, you can never have too many Gs, http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/13/4326192/let-the-5g-confusion-begin-samsung-demos-ultra-fast-wireless-with-bad-branding Is this the worst time to be a journalist? by @mumbrella In Australia, myriad online news websites such as Crikey, The Conversation and Business Spectator have firmly established their place in the media landscape and will soon be joined by other entrants including The Guardian’s online Australian operation and Politifact which have both recently been hiring http://mumbrella.com.au/is-this-the-worst-time-to-be-a-journalist-155470 Today’s Front Pages Australian Newspaper Front Pages for 15 May 2013 http://www.thepaperboy.com/australia/front-pages.cfm News headlines Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - 6:36am http://www.hotheadlines.com.au/

nasking

15/05/2013 TONY ABBOTT LOOKED REALLY AWKWARD BEING INTERVIEWED BY KOSHIE ON SUNRISE...HE COULDN'T SAY WHETHER HE WOULD SUPPORT EDUCATION REFORMS BECAUSE HE DIDN'T KNOW THE DETAILS... KOSHIE REMINDED ABBOTT THAT NSW PREMIER O'FARRELL KNOWS THE DETAILS...AND HE'S IN THE SAME STATE ABBOTT LIVES IN, COULDN'T HE ASK HIM? THAT'S ABBOTT THRU AND THRU...DOESN'T DO THE POLICY WORK...DOESN'T CHECK THE DETAILS...COULDN'T BE BOTHERED...REVEALING HE HAS HIS OWN NASTY PLANS...HAS NO INTENTION OF SUPPORTING ANYTHING THAT BENEFITS THE DISADVANTAGED IN THE PUBLIC SYSTEM...IT'S ALL ABOUT ENTICING KIDS INTO FEE PAYING SCHOOLS AND WEAKENING CONDITIONS FOR TEACHERS. ABBOTT'S SMILE AT THE END OF THE INTERVIEW WAS SO FORCED...HE REMINDED ME OF A SHONKY SALESMAN CAUGHT OUT ON A CON TRYING TO SALVAGE AND INTERVIEW WITH A RIGOR MORTIS SMILE...BUT RECOGNISING HE WAS CAUGHT OUT AND FULL OF IT...AND SOON THE SH*T WOULD HIT THE FAN. N'

nasking

15/05/2013 LYN, THNX FOR THE LINKS...I NOTICED VIA THE FRONT PAGES LINK THE COURIER MAIL ONE WAS DIFFERENT THAN WAS SHOWN ON ABC 24...WAS YET ANOTHER GOVT BASH. AS FOR THE BIASED AS EVER MURDOCH EMPIRE PAPERS...INCLUDING THE AUSTRALIAN, HERALD SUN, DAILY TELEGRAPH, COURIER MAIL, ADELAIDE ADVERTISER... GROTESQUE...HIGHLY DISRESPECTFUL OF BOTH PM GILLARD AND WAYNE SWAN... THE TYPICAL TABLOID MORE BIASED THAN BIASED TRASH YOU'D EXPECT EMANATING FROM THE STINKING BOWELS OF A NEWS CORPORATION MOULDED BY ONE OF THE MOST VILE AND MANIPULATIVE MEDIA BARONS TO EXIST ON THIS PLANET. IF THERE WAS EVER A NEWS CORPORATION THAT DESERVED TO BE TAKEN DOWN...IT IS THE ONE THAT THIS INSATIABLY GREEDY MONSTROUS CHARACTER RUPERT MURDOCH HAS TRANSFORMED INTO SOME SICK MUTATION...UNDERMINING THE VERY FABRIC OF DEMOCRACY DAY IN AND DAY OUT SO THE MURDOCH MAFIA CAN GAIN MORE AND MORE POWER OVER OUR LIVES. [b]OUT FOUL BEAST!!![/b] N'

Ad astra

15/05/2013LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

Janet (j4gypsy)

15/05/2013Some early Twitterverse peeps (and grit teeth for the oh-so-fashionably wry, fin-de-siecle world-weariness of the journo-rati who [i]did[/i] have the privilege of making it into the lock-up -- when fifth estaters like David Donovan could not): [i]David Donovan ‏@davrosz[/i] Here it is, my budget night write-up: 'Swan dive: marked down Sales blows the budget' http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/swan-dive-marked-down-sales-blows-the-budget/ … [i]MSM Watchdog ‏@MSMWatchdog2013[/i] This is brilliant - make this go viral people.The Federal Budget in 3 minutes: http://youtu.be/77ABbMCstRM via @youtube @the masked crus [i]Jim Nicholls ‏@jimbonicholls[/i] Alan Kohler's view on tonight's budget "not tough, not clean, not bad" http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/5/14/federal-budget/budget-2013-not-tough-not-clean-not-bad … @alankohler [i]Geoff Pearson ‏@GCobber99[/i] Swan’s bold retreat in face of political defeat http://www.afr.com/p/national/budget/swan_bold_retreat_in_face_of_political_y0YLsFTLo9w1eYVL7rFlmK … [i]Space Kidette ‏@SpaceKidette[/i] Macroeconomic policy is not about you | Melbourne Review: http://www.melbournereview.com.au/commentary/article/macroeconomic-policy-is-not-about-you#.UZKtUlfks0k.twitter … #auspol [i]Stephen Koukoulas ‏@TheKouk[/i] Budget 2013: WIth correction to nominal GDP forecast. http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/5/14/federal-budget/budget-2013-wings-dollar … [i]GetUp! ‏@GetUp [/i] Here's our wrap-up of the #Budget reforms & reactions - the good, the bad & the ugly: http://bit.ly/14jHUdg [i]Peter Foster ‏@PeterFosterALP [/i] Australia keeps AAA rating after budget http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-business/australia-keeps-aaa-rating-after-budget-20130514-2jkr5.html … via @theage #auspol #ausvotes #Budget2013 [i]John Pratt ‏@Jackthelad1947 [/i] Carbon price slide hits green schemes. #auspol http://www.canberratimes.com.au/business/-2jkma.html … [i]John Pratt ‏@Jackthelad1947[/i] Cornered Labor chooses brave way out. #auspol http://www.canberratimes.com.au/business/-2jklb.html … [i]Conal Hanna ‏@conalhanna[/i] The esteemed @1RossGittins calls it the weirdest budget ever. He'll be holding a Q&A at 12pm on smh http://www.smh.com.au/business/federal-budget/cornered-labor-chooses-brave-way-out-20130514-2jklb.html … [i]Kiera ‏@KieraGorden[/i] “The government has resisted the temptation to try and buy its way back into office”, by Barrie Cassidy http://bit.ly/10UZqQX #AusPol [i]The Global Mail ‏@TheGlobalMail[/i] This is a hangover budget, brought on by two big parties #budget2013 http://goo.gl/Ocw0l [i]The Conversation ‏@ConversationEDU[/i] UPDATED: Stephen Duckett @GrattanInst and Paul Burke @ANUmedia join our expert panel on #budget2013 http://bit.ly/13hfMVP Andrew can have the last word for now: [i]Andrew Elder ‏@awelder [/i] Seriously, if Gillard govt re-elected the press gallery needs a cleanout

Ken

15/05/2013I think a very good budget politically. It really puts the pressure on Abbott and Hockey - no longer so easy for them to say they will make savings because big savings have been made. The LNP will have to announce what else people will lose or attempt what they did last time and have their costings done by some private company that presents rubbery figures. If Treasury costs the policies of both sides it will be very interesting. TheKouk makes the interesting point that it appears Treasury has been more conservative in its forecasts this year and there may actually be some improvements in revenue in the outyears and some may already be apparent when Treasury updates the situation for the election. That leaves Abbott unable to make big new promises without cutting more programs. Gillard has locked in her big promises - Gonski, NDIS and, of course, NBN continnues its roll-out. So Labor is able to campaign on what it is already doing. I imagine Abbott, Hockey, et al will be having to re-examine their "policies" and look for further savings. Before this Budget, he could claim there were lots of savings to make from "Labor waste" but that is no longer an easy out! They will either have to avoid saying what additional cuts they will make or avoid announcing any new policies - sounds like something they are already doing!!! They will continue "playing the man and woman" but in an election campaign that will wear thin and the 4-5% swing the Government needs will move closer. TT I agree. Game on. Amandla Awethu Abu

LadyInRed

15/05/2013Hi Ad great piece as usual. Journalism is now officially fiction (yep I still held a slither of hope). This is a good budget for the times we face, that's the truth of it. Ross Gittens deemed it so, but couldn't resist a play with the politics also. So its a good budget. But oh no that can't be the story! No! "It's a conspiracy to wedge Abbott" "It's a booby trap" "Every interest group is having a bit of a whinge that must mean its a good budget" oh and how can we forget "It's a budget from a government that sees the writing on the wall" .......I just want to rip my hair out (and I love my hair)! Fanciful clap trap that passes as journalism in this country!

nasking

15/05/2013 GOOD ONYA PM...GIVING SPEECH ON DISABILITY...CHOKING UP. [b]SHAME ON THE FCKN MEDIA FOR HOW THEY'VE TREATED THE PM.[/b] [b]GIVE ME DEMOCRATIC WOMEN LEADERS WHO GIVE A CRAP ABOUT THE PEOPLE RATHER THAN MEN IN THE POCKETS OF SOME MEGA-RICH BARONS.[/b] ABC 24 COULDN'T EVEN BE BOTHERED SHOWING PM'S IMPORTANT DISABILITYCARE SPEECH. SOOO CORPORATISED SINCE MURDOCH PEOPLE AND THE LIBERALS PUT THEIR PEOPLE INTO IT. THE PEOPLE DON'T SEE AND HEAR THE TRUTH. N'

TalkTurkey

15/05/2013 Some may suspect that I didn't write this. I didn't even write the intro. But I love the revving up King Harry gives his soldiers, now let Queen *J*U*L*I*A* do likewise to hers, and guess what, I'm good and sure she will too. Emphasis mine. "To gild the lily" as He Himself said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 'Once more unto the breach' - is from the 'Cry God for Harry, England, and Saint George!' speech of Shakespeare's Henry V, Act III, 1598. The breach in question is the gap in the wall of the city of Harfleur, which the English army held under siege. Henry was encouraging his troops to attack the city again, even if they have to 'close the wall with English dead'. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ KING HENRY V: Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead. In peace there's nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility: But [i][b]when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then imitate the action of the tiger; Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage[/b];[/i] Then lend the eye a terrible aspect; Let pry through the portage of the head Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it As fearfully as doth a galled rock O'erhang and jutty his confounded base, Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean. Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide, Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit To his full height. On, on, you noblest English. Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof! Fathers that, like so many Alexanders, Have in these parts from morn till even fought And sheathed their swords for lack of argument: Dishonour not your mothers; now attest That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you. Be copy now to men of grosser blood, And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman, Whose limbs were made in England, show us here The mettle of your pasture; let us swear That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not; For there is none of you so mean and base, That hath not noble lustre in your eyes. [b][i]I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, Straining upon the start. The game's afoot: Follow your spirit, and upon this charge Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'[/i][/b]

nasking

15/05/2013 JOHN PILGER @ COUNTERPUNCH: [quote][b]Murdoch bought the Packer newspapers in 1972 and today controls 70 per cent of Australia’s capital city press, along with dozens of local and regional newspapers. In Adelaide and Brisbane he owns almost everything. Two conglomerates dedicated to a doctrinaire, often extreme world view — Murdoch’s News Limited and Fairfax Media — control 86 per cent of the Australian press.[/b] [b]This absence of choice and real dissent, let alone “balance[/b]”, [b]extends to the national broadcaster, the ABC, a progeny of the BBC run as a corporate hierarchy. [/b] There are honourable exceptions, of course, among them Philip Dorling, Kate McClymont and Quentin Dempster. [b]Unlike the US and Britain, independent online journalism is rare. The result is a sameness that seems remarkable and demeaning in a first world, educated society.[/b] [b]Murdoch’s augmented obsessions rule. The Labor government of Julia Gillard is loathed by his newspapers. [/b] This is inexplicable as Labor’s policies are more or less those of the conservative coalition of Tony “Mad Monk” Abbott. [b]When Communications Minister Stephen Conroy proposed timid post-Leveson regulation, he was depicted as Stalin in the fashion of the Sun in London. [/b] When Labor’s prime minister in 2010, Kevin Rudd, announced a modest tax on the mega-profits of the mining companies, he was deposed by his own party following a propaganda campaign across the media, largely funded by the mining lobby. [b]Public perception of non-conformist minorities, especially Australia’s indigenous people, is often taken from the media. These unique first people are seen as “bludgers” – spongers. This inverts a truth that is never news: a parasitical, lucrative white industry is effectively licensed by federal and state governments to exploit indigenous hardship.[/b] [b]Like America, Australia in its early colonial days had a vibrant press, a “medley of competing voices”, wrote Edward Smith Hall, editor of the crusading Sydney Monitor. Journalists were “the voice of the people” and not of the “trade of authority”. In the late 19th century, there were 143 independent newspapers in New South Wales alone. By 1988, the empires of Murdoch, Fairfax, Packer empires and Alan Bond, later imprisoned for the country’s biggest corporate fraud, dominated the “mainstream” as an exclusive Order of Mates.[/b] [b]This is true across much of the democratic world. The medley of voices on the internet has dented monopoly media power, though the same monopolies are now consuming the web. “Social media” are largely introverted, a look-at-me peep show for the digitally besotted. As the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta approaches, hard-won rights such as the presumption of innocence are buried beneath the tentacular might of corporate systems. [/b] Ironically, in the “information age”, censorship by omission is a weapon of this power – the silencing of whistleblowers without whom journalism can never be free, and of a compliant, privileged “left”. [b]Militarised policing, displayed recently in Boston, consumes an America waging “perpetual war” and now threatening China. In Europe, a savage class war rages from Greece to Spain and Britain. It is no surprise that newspapers in thrall to this corrupt power are ailing. [/b] [b]Edmund Burke mythologised the press as a Fourth Estate. Today, we need a “fifth estate” right across the media and in journalism training and on the streets. We need those like Edward Smith Hall, who see themselves as agents of people not power.[/b][/quote] http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/05/09/hold-the-front-page/ INDEED. THO, THE INDEPENDENT ONLINE MEDIA IS FAR FROM RARE MR PILGER...YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT... RATHER, IT IS GROWING BY THE DAY... BUT MURDOCH HACKS LIKE DAVID SPEARS ATTEMPT TO KEEP IT FROM GETTING MORE READERSHIP...AND VIEWERSHIP... [b]WE ARE HERE...WE ARE NOW...WE ARE GROWING...WE WILL BE HEARD...OUR MESSAGE IS SPREADING...WE ARE CHANGING THINGS...WE ARE. LONG LIVE THE FIFTH ESTATE REVOLUTION!!![/b] N'

TalkTurkey

15/05/2013Diotima Not just rhyme Plays on words too! Truth Seeker and Thee And Patricia and Me Rhyming with glee To keep Aussie FREE!

nasking

15/05/2013 TROUBLING TIMES DUE TO MURDOCH EMPIRE INFLUENCE OVER POLICE FORCES...AND LACK OF APPROPRIATE ACTION TO DEAL WITH THIS CORPORATE MENACE TO SOCIETY: [b]Another problem was Lindy Chamberlain. The Herald Sun did a comprehensive job of planting the idea of that unfortunate woman’s guilt in my mother’s mind to the extent that she could never accept her acquittal and release from prison. Like the jury that put Lindy Chamberlain behind bars, my mother was not interested in the evidence heard in the court. It was enough that when her baby went missing Lindy wore nice clothes and didn’t cry for the cameras. Those are the telling details that establish guilt, and the Herald Sun was there for its readers reporting between the lines the truth they would never get from official sources.[/b] A similar case emerged in the UK in more recent times. A young girl called Madeleine McCann went missing in Portugal. It wasn’t long before media outlets were insinuating that her parents had sold or done away with their daughter, and no amount of evidence to the contrary could put a stop to the innuendo. But the McCanns had an apparent friend in the News of the World which ran a campaign directed at finding Madeleine and put up a £200,000 reward for her safe return. Despite that seeming largesse, in 2008 the News of the World editor published extracts from a diary of Madeleine’s mother Kate that had been seized by Portuguese police and passed to a journalist, who sold it to the British paper for £20,000. It recorded Kate McCann’s most intimate thoughts as her “only way of communicating with Madeleine” at the time the diary was written. Needless to say, she felt violated at the publication of an intimately personal document that passed no public interest test. While the effect of media behaviour such as this was not overtly political, it served a political purpose. If for no good reason the Murdoch papers could actively intrude upon the privacy of Kate and Gerry McCann, Jude Law, Max Mosley and hundreds of other citizens, what could it do to politicians, senior policeman, regulators and the judiciary? The fate that befell those high-profile victims of a seemingly invincible press served as a sobering lesson of the practical merits of subservience and acquiescence. If you were a police commissioner or the head of a regulatory body, it was less complicated to have a cosy lunch with the editor of The Sun or News of the World than do your job and generate an investigation into illegal news-gathering practices at the paper, of which by 2002 there was an abundance of emerging evidence. The [b]former Blair Minister, Tom Watson, provided living proof in case anyone was in doubt. As a British defence minister, Watson committed the unpardonable offence of standing up to Tony Blair on Iraq, a policy the Murdoch papers regarded as sacrosanct. The Murdoch editors made Watson pay by publishing malicious and damaging stories about his personal life that wrecked his career and his marriage. They also created a lasting and implacable enemy that finally proved costly. Watson was a leading figure on the House of Commons culture committee that called Rupert and James Murdoch before the parliament, and he set out in forensic detail the history of News Corporation and the corruption of British institutions in his 2012 book Dial M for Murdoch.[/b] The music had been playing for many years. By 2006 Scotland Yard had amassed evidence that the royal family phones had been hacked along with a number of other well-known public figures, most of whom kept their heads down. Sienna Miller, Jude Law, Steve Coogan, Hugh Grant, Tom Watson and Max Mosley were among them, but unlike the police and regulators, they did not roll over and did not suffer quietly. Despite police knowledge available to Scotland Yard and the Metropolitan Police Service of many cases of illegal hacking by journalists, private investigators and blaggers, a police note to the Crown Prosecution Service in 2006 requested that the case of News of the World’s royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire be ‘deliberately limited” to “less sensitive witnesses”... ...[b]The history of police inertia during the intervening years was a cause of acute embarrassment to the force when the lid blew following the Milly Dowler revelations, and led to the high-level resignations of Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson and his celebrity second-in-command John Yates, both of whom presided over investigations that were breathtaking in their lethargy and reluctance to look attentively at the evidence in the files they held. They were, as events unfolded, revealed to be under considerable pressure not to look.[/b] [b]At the same time, News International executives and editors maintained for five years the line of a single rogue reporter and continued destroying evidence that proved the contrary, until that defence was no longer sustainable. In March this year, around 800 more cases of hacking victims came to light in the UK and more arrests of executives were made. In the US the parent company, News Corporation, split itself into two parts, an entertainment division consisting of the television and broadcasting arm and the troubled newspaper division. Although the action was taken for supposed business reasons, it seems clear it was taken to prevent perceived contamination of the lucrative Fox network from the emerging revelations of criminality in the newspaper division. Although the share price has remained strong, there is apprehension within News Corp about criminal charges brought in Britain against a Ministry of Defence official, Bettina Jordan Barber, for allegedly receiving 100,000 pounds from Murdoch papers for information illegally supplied. If that knowledge comes to the official attention of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, as it surely will, the possibility of action under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act becomes more likely, and would be a threat to News Corp’s licences within the Fox network. Already the US Federal Communication Commission had before it a petition to refuse three licences up for renewal in August. The grounds stated are that the company does not possess the required character to operate a public service, echoing the British parliamentary committee finding that Mr Murdoch is not a ‘fit person’ to run an international corporation. This was rejected, but the decision leaves the door open for future action against Murdoch.[/b] Increasingly, Rupert Murdoch is being viewed on both sides of the Atlantic as a pariah. Yet in Australia, he was recently the guest of honour at a dinner held by the Institute of Public Affairs at the National Gallery of Victoria, and lauded in the press as a courageous and virtuous spokesman in the cause of free speech. At the same time, his newspapers continue to do a Lindy Chamberlain job on Peter Slipper and Craig Thomson, two parliamentarians whose lives have been destroyed by relentless front page splashes in the Murdoch newspapers, all done in the cause of bringing about regime change in Canberra, despite unproven allegations made against the two men. One of the two, Peter Slipper, was exonerated in December last year of the most serious allegations by a Federal Court judge, a fact regarded as hardly newsworthy in the Australian media. The judge also made a damning judgement against the parties that were involved in the public relations campaign connected to the bringing of charges against Slipper. Despite that, the Australian Federal Police has demonstrated a remarkable capacity for inertia with respect to corruption implications arising from the judgement. A detailed request by a backbench Queensland parliamentarian setting out the basis for an AFP investigation has come to nothing. Of the other man, Craig Thomson MP, early this year five members of the NSW Fraud Squad, accompanied by members of the Victorian police, raided his home and arrested him on a number of charges. The only parties that had been given notice of that eventuality were members of the press who were observed turning up at the appointed place from around 7am. [b]Without necessarily drawing untoward conclusions about motivation or unstated agendas, one might ponder why the police from two states would conduct a showcase public arrest with orchestrated media fanfare and attended by numbers of officers for the arrest of a man who was demonstrably not a fugitive from justice, nor likely to be. Among the questions prompted by that public relations performance are who knew what in advance and who was leading whom. If senior members of the Australian police forces are not familiar with the mounting evidence of criminality within News International and the corruption of the British police, regulatory authorities and other government agencies, as presented to the House of Commons parliamentary committee and Lord Justice Leveson in 2012, it could be in their interests to set themselves some required reading.[/b] http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/business/media-2/rupert-murdoch-paragon-or-pariah/ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IS WORTH READING. AFTER THE POLICE COVERUPS IN REGARD TO CHILD ABUSE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH... AND THEIR RELUCTANCE TO PURSUE TROUBLING ISSUES AS SPELT OUT ABOVE HERE IN AUSTRALIA... AND PREVIOUSLY IN THE UK... IT'S NOT SURPRISING THAT MANY PEOPLE ARE BEGINNING TO QUESTION THE INFLUENCE THE MURDOCH-OWNED POLITICIANS, MURDOCH MEDIA AND CATHOLIC CHURCH HAVE OVER OUR POLICE FORCES. AT LEAST IN THE UK THEY HAVE BEGUN TO DO THE RIGHT THING... BUT HOW LONG WILL THAT CONTINUE IF THE MURDOCH EMPIRE IS PERMITTED TO CONTINUE ALONG ITS MERRY PROPAGANDA AND DEMOCRACY MANIPULATING PATH? N'

nasking

15/05/2013 [b]Prime Minister Julia Gillard's moving introduction of the DisabilityCare funding legislation into Parliament this morning. [/b] http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=C8IlMYeS23w&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DC8IlMYeS23w%26feature%3Dyoutu.be [b]THE PM REALLY CARES ABOUT THIS DISABILITYCARE SCHEME...THAT'S FOR SURE... AND SHE'S PUT A BIG EFFORT INTO EDUCATION REFORMS... YET THE MSM OF THIS COUNTRY TREAT HER LIKE SCUM... SHAME ON THEM!!! MURDOCH EMPIRE KOWTOWERS.[/b] N'

bob macalba

15/05/2013Ad.. loved your story, a touch of humour never goes astray, ps Bruce arrived safely, cheers[and to you TT] Lyn..Janet...a hundred thankyous, no way i would have access to most of the info you both provide.. big big cheers Patriciawa..Truth Seeker..Talk Turkey and a newbie Diotima always a pleasure reading your verses All other folk contributing just a personal thanks, you guys and gals are the new gatekeepers of honesty and truth, F@#K the floppy fourth estate and their mendacity you folk rock NASKING..BIG BEAR YOUR ON FIRE MAN..FAIR DINKUM YOUR LIKE SOMEONE WITH A.D.D ON SPEED, AND YOUR TOPICS ARE SO VARIED, A WARRIOR FOR THE COMMON GOOD FOR ALL, YOUR ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS BIG BEAR AND YOUR ENERGY IS AMAZING,, CHEERS VENCEREMOS

bob macalba

15/05/2013Oh yeah.....GONNA FLY LIKE AN EAGLE LET MY SPIRIT CARRY ME cheers

Ad astra

15/05/2013Hi Lyn I’m about to start on your links, such a splendid collection. I found News Headlines via [i]Hot Headlines[/i] useful. I noticed that I could access most, but not all of the articles in [i]The Australian[/i]. Perhaps [i]Hot Headlines[/i] has given us a better conduit past the paywall. I note too that it is updated regularly. It seems to be a useful resource. I thought it might be interesting for visitors here to read what [i]The Conversation[/i] had to say about the budget. It was fascinating to read the variety of opinion being expressed, and how the individual’s orientation economically and ideologically, their individual expectations and hopes, as well as their current position, mostly in universities, influenced their assessment of the budget. I would have expected more fact-driven, logic-based opinion, but judging on their responses, I formed the view that facts must look different depending on the individual optics through which they are viewed. And if the facts look different, even the soundest logic will not lead to a consistent view. Here is [i]Federal Budget 2013: expert opinions[/i]: http://theconversation.com/federal-budget-2013-expert-reactions-14211 The Kouk has looked to external indicators of the effect of the budget in [i]BUDGET 2013: Barely a blip from the trading floor[/i]. http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/5/15/federal-budget/budget-2013-barely-blip-trading-floor His observations are consistent with the reaction of the ASX this morning, which according to Marcus Padley, has so far shown little movement. The AUD has depreciated a little, which some seek to attribute to the budget, but it was already on the way down, a fall attributed yesterday to strengthening of the USD. Why it should be not so today was not explained, except by one feeble statement that the moneymen were looking for a reason to devalue the AUD and the budget gave them a ‘reason’. How often do we hear an explanation as weak as that? What we are seeing yet again, this time in the context of the budget, is how complex economics is, how poorly understood even by many ‘experts’, how influenced it is by ideology and the individual’s preferred model of economics, how subject it is to political orientation, how careless many opinionistas are with the facts, and how irrational they can be when trying to ‘prove’ their point, to ‘validate’ their position. The tragedy for voters is that despite their manifest inadequacies, it is these very ‘experts’ that influence voters’ thinking so profoundly. Sadly, there are not enough economics correspondents of the calibre of Ross Gittins and Peter Martin and Stephen Koukoulas to put us straight. Instead we have quasi-experts in economics such Paul Kelly, Dennis Shanahan, Chris Kenny, and Uncle Tom Cobley and all. The ABC’s Stephen Long often quotes economist John Kenneth Galbraith: [i][b]“The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.”[/i][/b] And so it still is. Why then do we still give economists so much credence, and quasi-economists any at all?

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15/05/2013nasking Yes, she does genuinely and passionately care about care for the disabled, as she does about education. How any observer of her in the House this morning could see the tears and emotion as anything other than genuine and heartfelt is beyond my comprehension, yet some talkback callers have denied their authenticity. There are some hard-hearted, nasty, hateful people out there; they vote Coalition. Thank you for the Independent Australia link, which I shall read after Lyn's Links. bob macalba Thank you for your kind remarks. I'm sure you'll enjoy [i]Brucie the Bilbie[/i].

Ad astra

15/05/2013Janet Thanks for your Twitter talk. I see that the budget has not adversely affected Australia’s AAA ratings – Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s have just reconfirmed their AAA ratings. http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-business/australia-keeps-aaa-rating-after-budget-20130514-2jkr5.html

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15/05/2013Lady in Red Thank you for your kind comment. Sadly, your comment on the death of journalism is close to the truth. I would label it as moribund, with just a few journalists giving it mouth to mouth resuscitation. Whether they can revive it is the question on the minds of both the Fourth Estate and Fifth Estate. Time will tell.

42 long

15/05/2013S&P and Moody's have confirmed the AAA. That is a FACT and it should be a significant one. We DID go through the GFC without a recession, but WHO acknowledges THAT? All we hear from our NEWS people is propaganda echoing the LieNP's slogans. Wayne! why shouldn't you resign. Labor BAD budget dishonest. Labor is finished etc . The fact they are still using the BIG guns flat out means they must not be that sure otherwise it would be a waste of time. If only the masses would read, think and find out they are being HAD big time. There won't be many who will benefit from The ABBOTT's occupancy of the Lodge, but those who do will profit well. After all THEY OWN HIM.

Ad astra

15/05/2013Janet Thanks for your Twitter talk. I see that the budget has not adversely affected Australia’s AAA ratings – Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s have just reconfirmed their AAA ratings. http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-business/australia-keeps-aaa-rating-after-budget-20130514-2jkr5.html TT An inspiring poem. I echo: [b]”WE ARE HERE...WE ARE NOW...WE ARE GROWING...WE WILL BE HEARD...OUR MESSAGE IS SPREADING...WE ARE CHANGING THINGS...WE ARE.

LONG LIVE THE FIFTH ESTATE REVOLUTION!!!”[/b]

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15/05/2013Hi Lyn I’ve just finished your links. What a fantastic collection. I can’t remember when I’ve bookmarked as many, mostly about the budget, which I will refer to later. Thank you for all the effort you put into feeding us so sumptuously every day.

Pikiranku

15/05/201342 Long I know this is off the main theme of the morning,but I just have to tell you how strongly I agree with your post of yesterday evening. The way we habitually steal workers from poorer countries is the new colonialism. In the past the third world was robbed of its natural resources by advanced western nations ruthlessly exploiting their colonies. Now we plunder their human resources, poaching their desperately needed professionals and skilled workers instead of training our own. It's shameful.

TalkTurkey

15/05/2013bob macalba You gave me a rush, thank you Comrade, and I'm sure those others you name will feel similarly. (I "broke down" in MSM terms, I'm soft.) The thing is, we are all doing this for the Party and our country's decency's sake, not for money nor personal aggrandisement, a few kind words is all any of the true-hearted Comrades writing here wants or could hope for. It makes me feel I'm [i]helping,[/i] be it ever so tinily. In fact that's why I like a nom de plume, (not that I'm discouraging nor deriding anyone for using their real name) but I sort of feel it insulates me a little from my own ego. Professor Peter VanNonselen freely insinuates that people who do use a nom de plume are [i]cowardly[/i]: OK he can believe that, but then I am a declared Labor Party Member, and (unlike vanNonselen) I openly wear my attitudes, which are reasonably cogent and consistent,(unlike vanNonselen's of course.) Bob You really told Nasking! I bet he has trouble keeping it together when he reads what you've said. Poor Mr Bear, hope those eyes see you out. (Was that a pun?) Otherwise what'll we do? We might have to start an AUDIO version of the Sword! Because it would be awful if you simply couldn't read & write here any more. Someone clever here will know whether an audio blog is possible, given genuine NBN speeds anyway. Probably Mr Web Monkey, to whom I will give a big Turkey~Hug if ever I get to meet you! Thank you for all your unseen work on our behalf, you run a tight ship these days, glitches hardly ever happen, that I know has been a trial for you. We don't think about things that are going right, so now the glitches are a thing of the past you are a bit like our Government, which got things so right that few Australians even realise that we dodged a torpedo that devastated most of the world's economy. As I write Swannie is looking VERY GOOD at the NPC Guzzle. Very sure of himself. Can't wait till the NPC gets Abbborrrtt in front of them. We're on the home straight now Comrades, it gets very real from here on. The disgraceful front pages today (thanks Lyn) show the kind of fight we're in. Fight 'em in your workplace and bridge clubs. Fight 'em in schools and hospitals and courts and libraries, on the beaches too. Fight 'em with words, while words may yet be enough. Don't be polite, be direct. Answer back when people say stupid ignorant bigoted stuff. If there are others present, enlist their tacit support by isolating the offensive one/s. Irony and humour, grading to judicious ridicule, will usually get the bystanders onside, then you have won and you may be magnanimous to your rival. [b]VENCEREMOS![/b] [i]Yes we will![/i]. Go Swannie. Lookin' good. Answering back to accusation of "Squib" with a quip which brings a general titter, THAT's the Way You Do it!

42 long

15/05/2013The abc connected the budget with a fall in the A$ when it was the USA currency that rose. Pretty shoddy stuff when that happens The situation we have world wide with many interest rates at zero and nations going bankrupt Other currencies being manipulated in value and USA printing money we stand out as a remarkable example of getting it somewhere near right. Only TWO seem better with the percentage of GDP the debt is. We really are a mob of whingers who don't appreciate when we are well off. Record sales of luxury cars. Average house size bigger than the USA. Biggest polluters per capita in the world with Peter Costello wanting to do NOTHING about the Carbon dioxide problem. If we had none in the atmosphere, we would have frozen to death long ago we now have over 400 ppm, more than millions of years ago but IT CO2 Doesn't affect the climate???? Climate change denial is rampant in the IPA and the LieNP. Have they got $hit for brains? Nev

Tom of Melbourne

15/05/2013[i] It's shameful[/i] About the most shameful thing I’ve seen on a blog is a “left” contributor (you) who insulted indigenous people who don’t share your political orientation. ------------------- Meanwhile, who is to blame for Swan’s successive failures in delivering his promised surplus? Apparently the media, Murdoch, Costello. If by some miracle he remains Treasurer, he’s committing to run a decade of deficits!

TalkTurkey

15/05/2013 For Nas & Bob especially, but for everyone of course. http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/seal/flylikeaneagle.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1f7eZ8cHpM And GOOD ON YOU SWANNIE You're doing GREAT Mate!

nasking

15/05/2013 [b]BIG BEAR YOUR ON FIRE MAN..FAIR DINKUM YOUR LIKE SOMEONE WITH A.D.D ON SPEED, AND YOUR TOPICS ARE SO VARIED, A WARRIOR FOR THE COMMON GOOD FOR ALL, YOUR ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS BIG BEAR AND YOUR ENERGY IS AMAZING,, CHEERS[/b] BOB, THNX FOR THE COOL SUPPORTIVE WORDS...YA KNOW, I STOPPED DRINKING ON JAN 2ND AND HAVE BEEN SUCKIN' BACK THE ORGANIC VEGE AND FRUIT JUICES...TOOK POTATOES OUTA MY DIET...AND HAVING PLENTY OF LEGUMES AND SALADS...BORING FOR MANY I KNOW...BUT MY MIND HAS BEEN SPEEDING ALONG...COMPLETELY 100% STRAIGHT AND SOBER...JUST FUELLED BY THE DESIRE TO PREVENT THE MURDOCH EMPIRE AND CERTAIN MEGA-RICH FROM YET AGAIN UNDERMINING OUR DEMOCRACY AND IMPOSING ON THIS OFT GOOD COUNTRY A GOVERNMENT THAT WILL WORK LESS FOR THE PEOPLE AND MORE FOR THE PRIVILEGED FEW...CREATING YET AGAIN THE CONDITIONS FOR WOMEN TO BE DISEMPOWERED...CHILDREN TO BE BORN INTO LESS THAN DESIRABLE CONDITIONS...YOUNG FAMILIES DUPED INTO MASSIVE DEBT BURDENS LEFT WITH NO CHOICE THAN TO BECOME SERFS FOR HOLLOW CORPORATIONS AND POTENTIALLY ABUSIVE EMPLOYERS... THIS PM HAS CERTAINLY PUT IN THE HARD YARDS AND PUT UP COURAGEOUSLY WITH A BARRAGE OF MEDIA ONSLAUGHT THE LIKES OF WHICH I HAVE RARELY SEEN - IT'S LIKE WATCHING FOX NEWS IN HOSTILITY OVERDRIVE - AND IN THE PROCESS HAS EARNT THE RESPECT OF BOTH MY WIFE AND I...PM GILLARD DESERVES TO BE TREATED WITH FAR MORE RESPECT THAN MANY IN OUR MURDOCH KOWTOWING, CORPORATISED, NEO-LIB MEDIA ARE DOLLING OUT...THEIR ONGOING CYNICAL, NEGATIVE, REPULSIVE APPROACH DRIVES ME TO INTENSELY SCRUTINISE THEM...AND TRY TO OFFSET THEIR UNADULTERATED TABLOID CRAP EACH AND EVERY DAY. AND IF FOLKS EVER WONDER WHY I AM SO PASSIONATE ABOUT THE ROYAL COMMISSION INTO CHILD ABUSE I'LL TELL YA... I HAVE TWO DEAR FRIENDS, BOTH LIVING IN SYDNEY NOW, WHO WERE ABUSED WHILST ATTENDING CATHOLIC BOARDING SCHOOLS. I HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THEIR PAIN FOR A FEW YEARS NOW...HOPING THEY COULD FIND SOME AVENUE OF HEALING. ONE RANG ME IN TEARS TODAY...HE HAS FINALLY, AND BRAVELY CONTACTED THE COMMISSION. THIS WONDERFUL AND DECENT MAN, A TREASURED FRIEND WHO WOULD GIVE HIS RIGHT ARM TO HELP OTHERS, HAS SUFFERED IN VIRTUAL SILENCE FOR MANY YEARS...YET HIS PAIN HAS BEEN EVIDENT TO ME FOR MANY A YEAR BY WAY OF CERTAIN BEHAVIOURS. HE NOW HAS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR HEALING. I DO NOT WANT TO SEE AN ABBOTT TEAM, WHO HAVE CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS WITH SOME IN THE TOP ECHELONS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, FCK THIS HEALING OPPORTUNITY FOR HIM. HE DESERVES HOPE, LOVE, EMPATHY, UNDERSTANDING AND HEALING. IF IT MEANS PEOPLE LIKE ME NEED TO KEEP SHOUTING FROM THE CYBER-ROOFTOPS...SO BE IT. I AM ALSO PASSIONATE ABOUT SEEING OUR EDUCATION AND DISABILITY AREAS IN THIS COUNTRY TRANSFORMED INTO MORE EQUITABLE SYSTEMS. N'

nasking

15/05/2013 TT, CHEERS :D LOVED THE MULTICOLOURED PIC ACCOMPANYING THE VID. PEACE YER MUSE IS CERTAINLY GIVING YOU SHINE. N'

nasking

15/05/2013 [b]Professor Peter VanNonselen freely insinuates that people who do use a nom de plume are cowardly: OK he can believe that, but then I am a declared Labor Party Member, and (unlike vanNonselen) I openly wear my attitudes, which are reasonably cogent and consistent,(unlike vanNonselen's of course.) The thing is, we are all doing this for the Party and our country's decency's sake, not for money nor personal aggrandisement, a few kind words is all any of the true-hearted Comrades writing here wants or could hope for.[/b] WELL SAID TT WELL SAID! THE LIKES OF PETER VON ONSELON WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND THAT...NEVER UNDERSTAND THAT SOME OF US DON'T REQUIRE MONETARY REWARDS FOR WHAT WE DO...WILL NEVER FALL TO OUR KNEES AND IDOLISE A SPOILT BILLIONAIRE BULLY LIKE MURDOCH...NEVER LICK HIS TALONS AND GROVEL FOR A PAT AND TARNISHED GOLD COINS. WE FIGHT FOR WHAT WE BELIEVE IN...WE STAND WITH THOSE NOT PERFECT...BUT THOSE WILLING TO DO THE RIGHT THING MUCH OF THE TIME UNDER THE WORST OF MEDIA FIRE. WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER. UNTIL THIS COUNTRY IS FREE OF THE CHAINS THAT BURDEN IT...AND REFRESHING, STIMULATING, PROGRESSIVE, NECESSARY, LONG-TIME COMING, INEVITABLE REFORM IS DONE... THE WEIGHT ON OUR SHOULDERS, IN OUR CHESTS, IS FINALLY RELIEVED. AND OUR CHILDREN...FUTURE GENERATIONS LOOK FORWARD WITH GLEEFUL ANTICIPATION... AND BACK AT US...WITH A SMILE...AND NOD. N'

nasking

15/05/2013 CHEERS AD, [b]What we are seeing yet again, this time in the context of the budget, is how complex economics is, how poorly understood even by many ‘experts’, how influenced it is by ideology and the individual’s preferred model of economics, how subject it is to political orientation, how careless many opinionistas are with the facts, and how irrational they can be when trying to ‘prove’ their point, to ‘validate’ their position. The tragedy for voters is that despite their manifest inadequacies, it is these very ‘experts’ that influence voters’ thinking so profoundly. Sadly, there are not enough economics correspondents of the calibre of Ross Gittins and Peter Martin and Stephen Koukoulas to put us straight. Instead we have quasi-experts in economics such Paul Kelly, Dennis Shanahan, Chris Kenny, and Uncle Tom Cobley and all.[/b] THE LATTER ECONOMISTS...SHOULD WE SAY 'PSEUDO-ECONOMISTS'...REMIND ME OF SOME OF THE ENGLISH ARISTOCRATIC OFFICERS DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION... SO FAR UP THEMSELVES...SO ANTIQUATED IN THEIR VIEWS...SO BLIND TO THE NEED FOR REAL CHANGE...FEARFUL, SYCOPHANTIC, OBEDIENT, UNIMAGINATIVE... SOON TO BE RELEGATED IN THAT COUNTRY TO THE DUSTBIN OF HISTORY. N'

Catching up

15/05/2013Swan has just suggested that there are new policies coming for the boats question.

nasking

15/05/2013 PETER GARRETT WAS ON FIRE. MADE ABBOTT LOOK INSIPID...APATHETIC...LACKING VISION. APOLOGIST FOR RICH PRIVATE SCHOOL DOMINANCE. PERPETUATOR OF INEQUALITY. N'

nasking

15/05/2013 [b]Fanciful clap trap that passes as journalism in this country![/b] LadyInRed, Indeed. Truly tragic considering the talent that is available. Reminds me of the music scene dominated by dust and cobwebs...until the Nirvana breakthrough...followed later by the Internet music revolution... BREAK ON THRU! N'

KHTAGH

15/05/2013AA [quote]I wonder whether there is any effective prophylaxis.[/quote] I don't know, none of the article I have read have mentioned any effective treatment, seems to be a wait & see if your are in the 90% or the 10% group. I do remember seeing it first reported on about 3 months ago & that was the scariest part of the Coronavirus, no effective treatment.

Lucy

15/05/2013I'm coming out! Just testing out my new gravatar and changed to Lucy rather than LadyinRed

Sir Ian Crisp

15/05/2013I see that the bird of paradox has had time to reflect on alleged Treasurer Swan's budget and she became quite lachrymose. It has finally dawned on her just how dreadful the federal Treasurer is. May I say that we join with the alleged PM in crying real tears of pain as we realise just how inept Swan is.

Michael

15/05/2013Speaking of 'feathers flying', does anyone have any doubt how the self-consciously superior and quite consistently (against all empirical evidence to the contrary) self-congratulatory Senator George Brandis will respond to this shellacking by Jonathon Holmes? http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-15/holmes-open-letter-to-george-brandis/4688454 Something involving a desire for the application of rubber hoses if my estimation of preening George is at all accurate.

nasking

15/05/2013 NICE PIC LUCY. ENJOY YET COMMENTS. N'

lyn

15/05/2013Hi Lucy, You look beautiful. :):):):)

Tom of Melbourne

15/05/2013Perhaps Gillard’s tears were the result of realisation that she’s going to be slaughtered in a few months, by a politician that people don’t even like or respect. She’s loaded up with an incompetent Treasurer/deputy and a particularly low grade ministry. She has more talent on the backbench than on the front. Anyone would cry.

TalkTurkey

15/05/2013Heh heh Mark Colvin ‏@Colvinius 2h Bang. @jonaholmesmw makes a very strong case that George Brandis badly misrepresented him: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-15/holmes-open-letter-to-george-brandis/4688454 … via @ABCthedrum

Lucy

15/05/2013Thanks everyone. My picky is not as crisp as ad's - Gee ad you must have a good camera? It's better than the last one though.

Patriciawa

15/05/2013Cu, did you see anything come up re boats in QT? I was watching, on the alert from your comment.

Catching up

15/05/2013No, nothing. Just an inference, just that he said he expected the Opposition to get behind the government. Maybe it is wishful thinking on my part. I do believe the PM will go to an election without having another go at getting more of Heuston through.

Lucy

15/05/2013Talk Turkey loved link to Steve Miller band - thanks And Lyn I know we say it all the time but your links are G*O*L*D

KHTAGH

15/05/2013To Leigh Sales, this is how you interview a Lieberal minister, Lieberal opposition leader for Tassie. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-10/opposition-plans-for-a-future-forest-industry/4683008

KHTAGH

15/05/2013PS AA I don't know how that previous post turned up twice?

lyn

15/05/2013Hi Ad, Two links explaining the reason for Julia's emotional address in Parliament today:- David Whalan ‏ http://share.pdfonline.com/234f8d0b691947c183b86e59156efe9a/Gillardcard.htm … [b]card Julia G received that made her so emotional hopefully you report this not repeat 'crocodile tears' [/b] [quote]Gillard brought to tears while introducing disability legislation[/quote] When I met this [b]young man he handed me a card signed by him and his mates [/b]to say thanks for what we are doing for people with disability." http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-15/gillard-cries-while-introducing-disability-legislation/4690692

nasking

15/05/2013 CHANNEL NINE HAS INDECENCY TO DESCRIBE PM'S EMOTIONAL INTRODUCTION OF DISABILITYCARE LEVY AS CROCODILE TEARS... CHANNEL NINE HAS LOST THE PLOT. ONCE NEW BIG BANG THEORY EPISODES FINISH WE WILL BE BOYCOTTING NINE. THEY'VE BEEN TONY ABBOTT KOWTOWERS ACTING LIKE HIS PROPAGANDA MACHINE FOR FAR TOO LONG. LOTTA SMUG OVERPAID A-HOLES ON THAT CHANNEL. N'

42 long

15/05/2013Channel Nine (and such like..) If it doesn't hit them in the hip pocket they will not change. Anyone who has personally known of these poor kids and the destroyed lives of the parents who unaided (often) have to care for them 24/7 would know THIS IS A GOOD THING that MUST be done in a civilised, caring society, worthy of the name. Opposition to this move shames us. Many are only a stroke or an accident away from experiencing this situation them selves. Whatever it costs.. Just DO it.

TalkTurkey

15/05/2013Hi Lucy Lovely pic and good for you coming out but there goes some feminine mystique! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt2YIpZWBqA Here's Her song to say Farewell to Her, and Welcome to You! The first line is uniquely apposite when you think about it. Gee I suck eh. :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And now for my usual nasty critical self: http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/swan-dive-marked-down-sales-blows-the-budget/ I have long been a proud blockee of Sales, now today I've got John Barron to block me too.

TalkTurkey

15/05/2013[u][b]There's something VERY FUNNY going on here![/b][/u] Lucy posted this May 15. 2013 [b]05:50 PM[/b] Lucy Talk Turkey loved link to Steve Miller band - thanks But-? but? BUT !!! [i]I didn't post it until[/i] May 15. 2013 [u][b]06:45 PM[/b][/u] !!!!!!!!!???????????!!!???!?!!!?? TalkTurkey Hi Lucy Lovely pic and good for you coming out but there goes some feminine mystique! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt2YIpZWBqA [i]WHAT?![/i] I think you just got your mystique back, in Spades! HOW did this happen? It can't be true.

bob macalba

15/05/2013I think its because LiR might be a canetoad [no offence but its wot us cockroaches call them up there this time of the year] or......it might be magic

Sir Ian Crisp

15/05/2013Essential Research has released its latest poll figures. The 2PP figures are ALP 45% and the Lib-NP is at 55%. The poll was dated 13th May and obviously wasn't influenced by the budget.

DMW

15/05/2013Hi Lucy (in the sky with diamonds?) ... either way you sparkle

Lucy

15/05/2013hhmmm Never seen so many men ask to dance looking for a little romance.......hhmmmm Lady in Red is dancing with me.....cheek to cheek...... What a gem Talk Turkey listening to it right now!

Lucy

15/05/2013oi bob proud to be a canetoad. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds...another goody. Put Your Shoes on Lucy. That's one all the oldies sing out to me. But I've never heard it, apparently its a real song! Talk Turkey I listened to Lady In Red 3 times! So lovely.

Jason

15/05/2013TT, I see the Salvation Army Captian has said "Come on Turkey Boy - I'll give you odds of 30 to 1!" Pfft if he had any guts he'd give 100 to 1 just to try and tempt you!

TalkTurkey

15/05/2013I LOVE THIS SONG!!! Notice anything [i]*funny*[/i] in the title? ;-) [b]L[/b]ucy in the [b]S[/b]ky with [b]D[/b]iamonds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqXmBy1_qOQ And I'd never heard this one until now but that's what happens when you get entangled with the Internet, you find yourself finding things but especially old songs! Put your shoes on Lucy Don't you know you're in the city! Put your shoes on Lucy You're a Big Girl Now! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOO_r-A_xVE

TalkTurkey

15/05/2013Actually I had heard the chorus, the verse I wrote above, but none of the rest.

TalkTurkey

15/05/2013Bob how would even the most rampant canetoadery get her to jump 55 minutes into the future? Magic would indeed seem to be the most logical explanation.

TalkTurkey

15/05/2013Jason 30's'll do me. Ask this bloke if he is prepared to lodge his stake with Ad astra and if he isn't he can drop dead. If he is I'll talk turkey indeed but he'll have to put up 30x the amount I do. I say before you all I will honour any agreement to which I am party.

Ad astra

15/05/2013Lucy aka LadyinRed What a lovely new Gravatar you have. You have had well-deserved recognition from others here. We look forward to seeing you often. I’ve just discovered your new Gravatar after being away from [i]TPS[/i] site since mid afternoon while preparing the next piece written by someone you all know, who has ‘come out’ as an author of an original piece. Who is it do you think? More later!

Ad astra

15/05/2013Hi Lyn Thank you for the JG links. Some Coalition supporters have sunk into a deep pit today with their remarks about JG's tears. There seems no limit to the depth of hatred that some harbour. Maybe that should be a topic we might explore later on [i]TPS[/i].

Patriciawa

15/05/2013Please don't give time and space to exploring the hatred of LNP supporters. Woulddn't it mean repeating here some of the scurrilous things they say? The less attention they get the better, I think.

lyn

16/05/2013 Today’s Links Crikey says: Wayne’s parting gifts Swan song? Almost certainly, so what does Wayne leave behind? Bernard Keane and Stephen Koukoulas weigh in; report cards for health, climate change, transport, foreign affairs, welfare and public broadcasting; plus how Canberra drowned its sorrows in deficit. http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/05/15/crikey-says-waynes-parting-gifts/ Budget faces up to Australia's economic reality by @GrogsGamut For the most part the political narrative has been written as well. This is the final Swan budget, the Swan song, the attempt to lock in Labor's legacy. No budget is ever really a political game changer, and for the Government this budget comes very much in the shadow of last year's http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4690368.html The new normal in a post-GFC world? by Gary-Sauer Thompson So an economic crisis in Australia has to be manufactured, which is what most of the commentary in the mainstream press is doing with its attack on the Gillard Government for failing to deliver the budget surplus that it had promised. They promised big on the surplus, they didn’t deliver, they look inept. http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2013/05/the-new-normal.php Federal Budget – infrastructure, transport by David Griffiths The 2013-14 Budget not only continues the rollout of the Federal Labor Government’s current multi-billion dollar capital works program, it also begins identifying the major projects to be funded as part of the next Nation Building Program http://www.australiasmassmedia.com/ Budget delivered on the wings of the dollar by @TheKouk It seems to be setting the scene for a pleasant surprise sometime down the track when it turns out that economic growth and government revenue are likely to be higher than it is currently projecting http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/05/15/koukoulas-budget-delivered-on-the-wings-of-the-dollar/ Economy expected to muddle through by @1petermartin Ratings agencies Moody's and Standard and Poor's reaffirmed Australia's AAA credit rating on Tuesday night, saying the budget made only slight changes to previous projections and the country's debt level remained low. http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/1502155/economy-expected-to-muddle-through/?cs=7 Swan's last budget: weird in a good way by @1RossGittins No, the purpose of this budget is not vote-buying - it is reputation-rescuing, a last-ditch attempt to influence what history will say about the Rudd-Gillard government as an economic manager. http://www.rossgittins.com/2013/05/swans-last-budget-weird-in-good-way.html Budget 2013: The sector-by-sector guide by @pdstafford While the small business sector has mostly escaped Treasurer Wayne Swan's cuts unscathed, there has been no new support or any new spending initiatives. SMEs may tend to feel they are no worse or better off than when they came in. http://www.smartcompany.com.au/economy/055554-budget-2013-the-sector-by-sector-guide.html Australia’s ‘carbon budget black hole’: fact or political fiction? by @ConversationEDU The Coalition is framing the election as a referendum on the carbon tax, and emphasising this so-called “carbon budget black hole”.Should we take these forecasts and related claims about the near-collapse of the European carbon market seriously? http://theconversation.com/australias-carbon-budget-black-hole-fact-or-political-fiction-14281 Careful of the fiscal drag, Tony by @macro_business The Opposition’s constant attacks, along with the loon pond agenda loose in the MSM business press, has everyone thinking that this Budget is a massive blowout in terms of spending. http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2013/05/careful-of-the-fiscal-drag-tony/ Tony Abbott talks of tax reform by @PrivateBriefing The Opposition Leader was asked about his plans for tax reform if he becomes Prime Minister on September 14. He replied: “What we said going into the last election is that we would have a comprehensive look at things, provided we got things lower, simpler and fairer. http://privatebriefing.com.au/2013/05/15/tony-abbott-talks-of-tax-reform/ The genesis of the @ch150ch Abbott gaffe list by @ch150ch Over a couple of days I recalled other incidents but in the end I resorted to googling his name month by month from June 2010. That’s how the Tony Abbot list of forty eight gaffes between August 2010 and May 2013 was compiled; an average of 1.4 per month. http://australiansforhonestpolitics.wordpress.com/category/authors/ch150ch/ Australian Media: unbalanced and completely (*NSFW*) up BY Diane Murphy for Turn Left 2013. Ross Gittins, Fairfax economist, produced these two budget-related pieces. Compare the pair: - Cornered Labor chooses brave way out– Budget becomes Canberra’s con job http://turnleft2013.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/australian-media-unbalanced-and-completely-nsfw-up/ Letter to the Honorable Tony Abbott by @wrb330 Mr Abbott im afraid you simply do not stack up under even the most basic examination, although it is hard to know for sure since you haven’t seen fit to confide fully in us the voters regarding your true intentions. http://wrb330.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/letter-to-the-honorable-tony-abbott/ Budget Blues and Other things by @saint13333, @MigloMT The strange thing is that main stream media never opens itself to self-examination. Instead, it just self-righteously assumes that it can continue on its merry way with all the crap their dirty little minds can create and expect to suck us in. http://theaimn.com/2013/05/15/budget-blues-and-other-things/ The Paranoid Case For ABC Bias By Katherine Wilson I fear a return of this scenario under Abbott, championed on by the likes of Flint. In his lecture, Marr pointed out that journalistic bias can be born of considered fairness. But understanding balance beyond Flint et al's simplistic notions of “equal time” and “he-said-she-said” requires Australian editors to consider balance http://newmatilda.com/2013/05/15/paranoid-case-abc-bias Tony Abbott and his book of waste by @phonytonyabbott The book apparently details "billions wasted and mismanaged" on advertising, staff payouts, travel for the foreign minister, market research etc etc - you know, the stuff that Governments, both Labor and Coalition, usually spend money on. http://www.phonytonyabbott.com/blog/tony-abbott-and-his-book-of-waste Swan dive: marked down Sales blows the budget by @davrosz Worse was to come. In the final unnecessary attack on this extraordinarily successful Treasurer, who guided Australia unscathed through the horrors of the GFC, Sales asked Swan, as she jabbed a pen in his general direction, whether he planned to “contest the election in September http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/swan-dive-marked-down-sales-blows-the-budget/ Abbott will cancel NBN fibre: Conroy by @joshgnosis Tony Abbott's plan is to leave 9 million Australian homes disconnected from Labor's NBN, and this is going to create a digital divide across suburbs, across cities, and across all of Australia http://www.zdnet.com/au/abbott-will-cancel-nbn-fibre-conroy-7000014907/ Why You’ll Never Get Vectoring by @sortius For months Turnbull has been allowed to get away with telling half truths & bald faced lies about vectoring, painting it as a magic bullet to solve every failure that has arisen from years of neglect by Telstra. I’ve previously written how terrible a state the copper http://sortius-is-a-geek.com/?p=2970 Today’s Front Pages Australian Newspaper Front Pages for 16 May 2013 http://www.thepaperboy.com/australia/front-pages.cfm HOTheadlines Daily Report http://www.hotheadlines.com.au/

nasking

16/05/2013 [b]HOW DOES RUPERT MURDOCH'S FOX TELEVISION NETWORK GET AWAY WITH TAKING A CASUAL ATTITUDE TO PEDOPHILIA AND INCEST AND ABUSE OF WOMEN AND MISOGYNY IN ITS FOX TELEVISION NETWORK SHOWS LIKE FAMILY GUY AND AMERICAN DAD?[/b] THIS ARE SHOWS SEEN BY MILLIONS OF CHILDREN. INITIALLY I FOUND SOME EPISODES FUNNY...BUT MANY NOW ARE QUITE DISTURBING. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 Should be: [b]THESE ARE SHOWS SEEN BY MILLIONS OF CHILDREN. [/b] N'

nasking

16/05/2013 SO...THE BRISBANE BRONCOS ARE OWNED PRIMARILY BY THE MURDOCH EMPIRE...AS ARE MANY LOCAL PAPERS THAT CRITICISE, CAJOLE, INFLUENCE LOCAL POLITICIANS... AND THE COURIER MAIL: CORPORATE [b]The Broncos are the only publicly listed NRL club.The parent company of the Brisbane Broncos is Nationwide News Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of News Limited, which as of 30 June 2007, owns 68.87% of Broncos shares.[/b] NRMA Insurance are the major sponsors of the Broncos as of 2011, replacing WOW Sight & Sound. Nova 106.9 are the main radio sponsors after taking over from rival station B105 FM in late 2006. Live broadcasts of all Broncos matches are provided by 612 ABC Brisbane except if they play on Monday night, in which case 4MMM do so. [b]Channel Nine Queensland also sponsors the Broncos[/b], although former player Shane Webcke is signed to rival Seven Queensland. In 2012, local Brisbane based company Firstmac Home Loans replaced WOW sight & Sound as sleeve sponsor for 3 years to launch into the retail financial services market. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane_Broncos Hmmm... N'

nasking

16/05/2013 THERE SHOULD BE MORE SCRUTINY ON RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MEDIA COMPANIES, TEAM OWNERSHIP, GAMBLING/BETTING: Those with increased knowledge of a team’s composition and tactics are more likely to have successful wagers. For example, an individual having the knowledge that a team’s star athlete is injured and placing a large wager on the team losing the match before the injury is made public. Compared with match-fixing or contriving an event within a game, the use of this type of inside information is relatively simple. http://www.crimecommission.gov.au/publications/crime-profile-series-fact-sheet/threats-to-integrity-professional-sport-australia INTERESTING...FOR A MEDIA COMPANY MURDOCH'S NEWS LTD SURE GET AROUND...IS IT ETHICAL THAT MEDIA CORPORATIONS WITH ADVERTISING AND SPORTS CHANNEL INTERESTS OWN SPORTS TEAMS? MELBOURNE STORM...APPARENTLY NOW SELLING...BRISBANE BRONCOS...ANY OTHER TEAMS? I'M TIRED OF SEEING KIDS DRAGGED INTO CORPORATISED SPORTS AND CONNECTED GAMBLING PLACES THAT HAS SEEN MORE AND MORE DRUG MISUSE, BETTING CORRUPTION, MISOGYNISTIC AND DRUNKEN BEHAVIOUR... CERTAINLY THERE ARE. SOME GOOD AND DECENT SPORTING ROLE MODELS...BUT MORE AND MORE PRESSURE IS APPLIED BY SPONSORS, ADVERTISERS, GAMBLERS AND SYNDICATES, MEDIA INTERESTS, OWNERS FOR SPORTS' PARTICIPANTS TO DO AS THEY WISH. IT SADDENS ME TO SEE YOUNG PEOPLE DRAGGED INTO THAT NIGHTMARE. OFFSETTING THE POSITIVES. TIME AND TIME AGAIN I SEE INFLUENTIAL MEDIA COMBINING WITH COUNCILLORS, MAYORS AND POLITICIANS TO CREATE THE IMPRESSION THAT 'SPORTS IS A MUST TO GET KIDS OFF THE STREETS, TO REDUCE CRIME...HYPERVENTILATING ABOUT RACIAL CONFLICT...TURNING SMALL CONFLICTS, PERHAPS ORCHESTRATED, INTO TV RIOTS... ETC...ONLY TO SEE THE SAME MEDIA OWNERS BENEFITTING FROM COUNCIL AND POLITICAL DECISIONS. IT MAKES ME LOST TRUST. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 Should be: IT MAKES ME LOSE TRUST.

Ad astra

16/05/2013LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

nasking

16/05/2013 I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE LOGAN AREA NOW AND HAVE DECIDED TO DO AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CIRCUMSTANCES LEADING TO A MEDIA BLITZ THAT FANNED THE FLAMES OF A NEIGHBORHOOD CONFLICT...TRANSFORMING IT INTO A SMALL RIOT...UNDERMINING THE MORALE OF MANY YOUTH AND OTHERS IN THE COMMUNITY WHO HAVE WORKED HARD TO BUILD IT UP. I KNOW A NUMBER OF TEACHERS WHO HAVE CONNECTIONS TO SOME OF THE PARTICIPANTS. SADLY, I SEE A BAD HAND INVOLVED IN SOME OF THIS...AND A GREAT DEAL OF MANIPULATION BY CERTAIN MEDIA ENTITIES AND POSSIBLY POLITICALLY INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE. THE INCREASINGLY CORPORATISED WORLD SADDENS ME DEEPLY. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 INTERESTING: [b]MP's 'inflammatory' tweet slammed[/b] http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/mps-inflammatory-tweet-slammed-20130115-2cqc7.html N'

nasking

16/05/2013 FURTHERMORE...FROM THE EVER DOG WHISTLING MURDOCH EMPIRE WITH BALANCE ADDED AS FIBER: MANY locals say Woodridge residents are friendly and always happy to lend a helping hand. In fact, they wouldn't live anywhere else. [b]But Courier-Mail reporter Mike Bruce found that others say too many cultures have been thrown into the melting pot and this has caused problems for some. [/b] ----- [b]IT LOOKED more like downtown Los Angeles than suburban Queensland. Two baying mobs goading each other, armed with metal bars, sticks, baseball bats and fence palings, separated only by cool-headed police.[/b] It was a picture of social breakdown, a suburb in crisis; and it was media manna from heaven because not only was there conflict, there was racial conflict: Aborigines versus Polynesians. [b]The area has form on racial conflict,[/b] after all. In 2011, eight Samoan males were sentenced to either jail or youth detention for the 2008 bashing murder of Aboriginal man Richard Saunders... ..."You plonk a Samoan family next to a Aboriginal family, next to an African family, next to an Asian family without any thought or bothering to discuss how we blend these groups? Where's the case management here?" http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/racial-tensions-mask-true-spirit-of-woodridge-folk/story-e6freoof-1226557041844 NICE EH? GOOD ON THE MURDOCH EMPIRE FOR BEING SO UNDERSTANDING OF DIVERSITY. AND NOT TRYING TO STIR THINGS UP. VOMIT. REMINDS ME OF A MINI-VERSION OF THE UK SOCIAL ENGINEERING STUFF. NOTHING LIKE GENERALISATIONS EH? STEREOTYPING. LESS THAN SUBTLY FANNING THE FLAMES. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 OH MY GOD...LOOK...IT'S SUDDENLY THE ANSWER TO ALL OF LOGAN'S PROBLEMS: Broncos wing great and development officer Michael Hancock revealed the chat between six-time premiership winning coach Bennett and Greenbank RSL CEO John Limbrick gave rise to the club's first community development program and kick-started the alliance between Logan and Brisbane. ``It all started from that one conversation about having a stronger presence in Logan'' Hancock said. ``They worked on getting something started and I was the man chosen to oversee it. This partnership is just the next step of that conversation.'' Broncos CEO Paul White confirmed on Wednesday the academy would be based at the city's new $6 million sporting facility, which was expected to be completed by next year. White said the academy would be staffed by fulltime Broncos development officers and be a pathway for footballers from the age of 14, including current Queensland Under 16 representative and Marsden State High School product Jaydn Sua and Logan Brothers junior George Fai. ``It will be a satellite to our existing development structure and give us access to a wonderful catchment area of junior rugby league talent,'' White said... ``There is so much talent here and a lot of clubs are picking up players from Logan so it is good that we have been able to link up with them.'' The formation of the academy draws the battle lines with the Gold Coast Titans, which sees Logan as its development ground, although White played down the rivalry. ``It isn't a case of competing with other clubs or going tit for tat but we are here to invest resources into the area and build on the work we have done in Logan over the past 10 years.'' [b]Logan boasts the largest population of people aged between 0-15, with rugby league dominating sporting participation levels in the area.[/b] http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/logan/wayne-bennett-was-a-major-driving-force-behind-the-new-nrl-brisbane-broncos-junior-academy/story-fn8m0u8i-1226643171216 NEWS COURTESY OF THE COURIER MAIL QUEST. HMMM... MAKES YA WONDER WHY OUR LOGAN SCHOOLS EVEN BOTHER TEACHING SCIENCE, MATHS...HAVE TRADE TRAINING CENTRES... WE COULD JUST CREATE CORPORATE SPORTS STARS AND CHEERLEADERS. WHO LUV THEIR COURIER MAIL. AND HATE LABOR. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 MEMORIES...CRIKEY! WE HAVEN'T HAD SO MUCH ATTENTION IN THIS AREA SINCE CHANNEL NINE GOT CAUGHT ON VID TRYING TO PAY LOCAL ISLANDER STUDENTS TO DO GANG SIGNS AT A TRAIN STATION FOR A CURRENT AFFAIRS DOG WHISTLE THEY ENDED UP TRASHING: Minister for Education, Training and Employment John-Paul Langbroek was in Mackay yesterday to officially open the $45 million Mackay Northern Beaches State High School.... This opening comes as nine schools across the state face the chopping block. The Minister said that, like any business, the government needed to look at its assets. "We need to obviously plan where we've got great growth," he said. "We need to look at other schools where enrolments might be declining." Mr Langbroek said any money made from the closure of schools would go back into education. The new Northern Beaches high school is the region's first new state school built in the past 29 years. It is also one of 20 state schools trialling the inclusion of Year 7 students with other secondary students. Year 7 will form part of secondary schooling across Queensland from 2015. There are 300 students enrolled in Years 7 and 8 who started at the school this year. The first stage caters for Years 7-9, while the second stage of the building to be completed in 2015, will cater for senior secondary students. RIGHT MOVE [b]EDUCATION Minister John-Paul Langbroek said the Queensland principal who suspended a student for throwing a sandwich at the Prime Minister made the right decision.[/b] In Mackay yesterday to open the new Northern Beaches State High School, the Minister said principals should be able to make these decisions on their own. "I [b]haven't had to have a chat to (the principal) about this because this is a disciplinary matter that he should be able to deal with, without having a phone call from the minister about," he said. The Marsden State High School student was suspended for 15 days. Mr Langbroek said the behaviour was inappropriate and he would back the principal's decision "100%".[/b] http://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/langbroek-opens-45million-school-northern-beaches/1862728/ INTERESTING THAT THE MEDIA MAY HAVE GIVEN THE PRINCIPAL WRONG INFO...AND THAT THEY ACTUALLY HAD FOOTAGE TO SHOW...LATER. SAD THE PM's WONDERFUL TRIP THERE GOT DERAILED BY TABLOID MEDIA. NOT SURPRISING LNP EDUCATION MINISTER SUPPORTS PRINCIPAL ONE HUNDRED PERCENT... CONSIDERING THEIR UPCOMING POLICIES...AND ABBOTT'S. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 HOLY BALONEY! THAT SANDWICH ISSUE EVEN MADE IT TO SYDNEY'S DAILY RAG: [b]Retreat on promised $1.4 billion makes Julia Gillard the meat in the sandwich SIMON BENSON THE DAILY TELEGRAPH MAY 09, 2013 12:00AM[/b] [quote]THE federal government's litany of broken promises continued yesterday, with families being told they will no longer get a second round of tax cuts worth $1.4 billion in 2015. Prime Minister Julia Gillard had nowhere to hide as she became the target of an unruly student who tried to pelt her with a sandwich as she visited a Brisbane school. It was the second pledge ditched in two days, following the scrapping on Tuesday of $1.8 billion in extra family tax payments worth up to $600 a year. It [b]overshadowed what should have been a momentous day for Ms Gillard as Queensland become the latest state to sign up to the national disability insurance scheme. Insisting she understood families were doing it tough, Ms Gillard said she had "difficult decisions" to make. The Budget position appears to deteriorate daily, with revenues now downgraded by $17 billion: "We are very mindful that for many Australian families it isn't easy to make ends meet," the PM said. But at least one Marsden State High School student made it clear what he thought of the PM when he threw a sandwich at her. While some students appeared to be star-struck by the visit, others yelled "loser" as she walked by. [/b] Student Kyle Thomson, 16, was later suspended for 15 days for throwing the sandwich but denied he was to blame. He was one of many teens surrounding the PM when a Vegemite sandwich was hurled in the direction of Ms Gillard - flying past her and hitting another student. Climate Change Minister Greg Combet yesterday confirmed that, with a lower carbon price than predicted due to the collapse in the European market, the government would no longer be able to afford the extra compensation. The second round of tax cuts linked to the carbon tax would have further raised the tax-free threshold from $18,200 to $19,400 in 2015 - and would have directly benefited people earning under $80,000 a year. He said families would not need it because the cost of living impact of the carbon tax would be lower. He confirmed the current family assistance measures would remain but the second tier of tax cuts due in 2015 would be shelved until the carbon price hit $29 a tonne. "This is a sensible approach to this particular issue," he said. "If the carbon price forecast is revised down, as it will be in the Budget, there's no case for the additional measures we had in place." More cuts have been flagged for next Tuesday, with hacking of clean energy programs appearing likely. [b]Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said the government was now in a state of chaos. "Things are going from bad to worse for this government," he said.[/b][/quote] http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/retreat-on-promised-14-billion-makes-julia-gillard-the-meat-in-the-sandwich/story-e6freuy9-1226637925437 NOTHING LIKE BALANCED REPORTING TO INFORM AND ENLIGHTEN AND EDUCATE OUR SYDNEYSIDERS. WELL DONE SIMON BENSON... DID YOU RECEIVE YER [b]MEDAL OF MURDOR DISHONOUR[/b] YET? N'

nasking

16/05/2013 I ALSO INTEND TO DO INTENSE RESEARCH INTO THOSE LABOR INSIDERS WHO HELPED SABOTAGE THIS GOVT BY WAY OF INTERVIEWS AND LEAKS TO NEWS LTD, CHANNEL NINE AND FAIRFAX. SOMETHING STINKS IN THE STATE OF AUSTRALIA. N'

Ken

16/05/2013Did anyone else watch the two part show about Murdoch on SBS. I found it interesting to see how he has worked against governments in the UK and USA as well as here. The emphasis on the "how". When he decided to support Blair over Major the headlines his papers ran were mch the same as is being done here in Oz now. They continually repeated the story that Major was finished, couldn't win, would be gone at the next election, etc. Seems to be a case of predicting the future often enough until people believe it!!! But also interesting that he likes to back a winner, irrespective of the party - no doubt to keep his influence. And, as we here know, it clearly showed his direct influence over everything his papers do. And to [u]Lucy[/u] (not quite used to that as yet) another song - "Lucy" by Nick Cave Then suddenly above me Her face buried in light Came a vision of beauty All covered in white Now the bell-tower is ringing And the night has stole past O Lucy, can you hear me? Wherever you rest

Tom of Melbourne

16/05/20131. Nasking, not everything is a media conspiracy. It is a serious fault of this government that they are simply unable to connect with the electorate. 2. When various ALP luminaries reflect on the inadequacies of the government, this is because the ALP has demonstrable, serious deficiencies that it has neglected for a couple of decades. Get over the attack on them.

nasking

16/05/2013 I SEE RUPERT MURDOCH HAS JUST BOUGHT A WELL KNOWN VINEYARD IN LA... HE ALSO HOPES TO BUY LA TIMES. NAPOLEONIC AMBITIONS. THOUGHT THIS INTERESTING: [b]Rupert Murdoch must step down as News Corporation chair – shareholders Christian Brothers Investment Services demands action to 'dramatically revise corporate governance practices'[/b] [quote]Pressure for change from shareholders has been mounting since the phone-hacking scandal at News Corp's UK newspapers triggered investigations on both sides of the Atlantic. Given the Murdoch family's control of News Corp's shares, the measures are unlikely to succeed. The company announced last year that it is intending to split its publishing assets, including the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones and Times newspapers, from its faster-growing TV and film assets. Murdoch plans to be chairman of both companies. News Corp released its latest quarterly results in New York later on Wednesday. The company's revenues rose 14% from a year earlier to $9.5bn in the quarter ended 31 March, ahead of analysts' expectations. Net income increased to $2.85bn as a 17% rise in its cable business offset a dip in its publishing earnings. The company announced that the hacking scandal had cost it $42m over the quarter – the company has now incurred more than $380m in costs related to the scandal. Chase Carey, News Corp's chief operating officer, said the new publishing company, News Corp, would update investors about future plans at the end of May. The TV and film business, to be called 21st Century Fox, will hold an investor conference in August. [b]Carey said he was "disappointed" with ratings at Fox, where viewership of the declining hit American Idol has slipped dramatically in the show's 12th season. [/b] The decline of Idol has helped CBS take the top slot among key advertising demographics, ending an eight-year run at the top for Fox. Fox will be unveiling new shows to advertisers and the press at the "upfronts" – the major media firms' seasonal showcases – next week.[/quote] http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/may/08/rupert-murdoch-news-corporation GEEZ...YOU'D THINK 'FAMILY GUY' WOULDA MADE HIS LOT BIG MONEY...CONSIDERING IT'S EVERYWHERE. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 HMMM: [b] "Family Guy" blamed for promoting pedophilia Here's a veteran law enforcement officer -- a U.S. Marshal, I believe -- who calls Family Guy writer and voice actor Mike Henry a "poor" choice to speak Thursday (April 16) at Southeast Missouri State University. Quoth Curt Casteel in a letter printed in today's Southeast Missourian: "Family Guy features as regular characters a kidnapper/rapist and a pedophile, and the show's writers, which include Henry, delight in blatantly treating rape and pedophilia as subjects to laugh about. Anyone who doubts this has only to watch very few episodes. "I am disgusted with my alma mater. It's sad that with a choice of speakers on a variety of important topics, SEMO would elect to provide a forum for just another immoral pop culture figure. I urge SEMO to cancel Henry's appearance." [/b] http://forum.bcdb.com/forum/Family_Guy_blamed_for_promoting_pedophilia_P103779/ RESPONSIBLE FOX EH? AND YOU THOUGHT IT WAS ONLY ADULTS BEING DEALT TRASH BY THE MURDOCH EMPIRE. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 NOT GOOD: ....[b]When I was growing up, there was certainly a lot of sexism in television shows, but misogyny is something different. Sexism was Archie Bunker calling his wife Edith a dingbat; annoying and insulting, certainly; sexist, definitely; but not violent or hateful. An example of misogyny is, for example, the way the character of the daughter, Meg, is portrayed in the popular cartoon sitcom, The Family Guy. Meg is frequently the subject of rape “jokes” and cruel jibes about her supposed ugliness; a frequent theme is that she is worthless and beneath contempt because she is not “hot.”[/b] http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/03/misogyny-bubble NICE EH? QUALITY MURDOCH EMPIRE PRODUCT. TONY ABBOTT AND THE COALITION REALLY DIG THE MURDOCH EMPIRE. AND THE MURDOCH EMPIRE DIG THEM. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 THE SPOONING: [b]Campaign update: A sign of things to come?[/b] Posted by Kelsey 9th April 2013 Share the campaign on Facebook | Share the campaign on Twitter | Donate to the campaign [b]It was the most exclusive of events: a $500 minimum per head gala fundraising dinner last week for a right-wing think tank. Tony Abbott, Gina Rinehart and Rupert Murdoch took turns sharing the stage. Andrew Bolt was MC. Tony praised his fellow key-note speakers, especially Rupert, and promised the crowd a “big yes” to many of a certain think tank’s list of 75 policies to radically transform Australia.[/b] So what, exactly, is on this think tank’s wish list? Independent media – gone. The ABC to be broken up and sold off, SBS to be fully privatised. [b]Corporations to be allowed to make secret payments to political parties, [/b] Medicare gone for most Australians; a return to WorkChoices, just by another name. The clean energy fund and the renewable energy target – scrapped. Funding for sport and arts – including the Australian Institute of Sport – axed. It goes on. Never before has the extreme conservative agenda been laid out so clearly. http://blog.getup.org.au/2013/04/09/campaign-update-a-sign-of-things-to-come/ HMMM: [b]Funding for sport and arts – including the Australian Institute of Sport – axed EH?[/b] NO LONGER EYES WIDE SHUT. I'M BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND THE STORY SO FAR... AND WHAT'S COMING. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 LISTENING TO THE RODENT...SORRY...OUR FORMER PM...CHOKE COUGH COUGH: [b]Politicians of all stripes beat a path to Murdoch's door Indeed, some politicians have had to learn to control their fear. When he was opposition leader in the late 1980s, John Howard was waiting in an ante-room at the Herald and Weekly Times offices, preparing for an audience with Murdoch. The deputy editor of The Herald at the time, Bruce Guthrie, recalled Howard was so nervous, the water in his glass splashed everywhere. Murdoch has long recognised the psychological advantage of bringing supplicants on to his own turf.[/b] Way back in the 1960s, as he laid plans to establish The Australian, Murdoch enlisted the help of a friend and mentor, the tough Country Party leader John McEwen, to help him find a property suitable for a fledgling media tycoon. Thus was born the Murdoch country seat within short driving distance of our national capital: Cavan, a splendid and historic grazing property near Yass. According to John Menadue, the general manager of News Ltd for seven years from 1967, Murdoch once considered running for Country Party preselection. ''But as his power increased clearly he didn't have to defer to prime ministers and ask them for favours; he could be very influential, he believed, in deciding who should be the prime minister or the president,'' Menadue said of his old boss in a 2006 interview. Senior politicians of all stripes have since made the journey to Cavan, where guests for years were expected to dress for dinner, the men retiring afterwards for cognac and cigars. Governor-general Sir John Kerr made his way to Cavan in November, 1974. According to a biography of Murdoch by the journalist George Munster, the governor-general launched into a discussion about prime minister Gough Whitlam's looming problems, including the difficulty of getting supply through the Senate. Murdoch sat quietly, listening intently. Precisely a year later, with supply duly stalled, Sir John sacked the Whitlam government. By then, Murdoch had switched from his earlier enthusiastic support of Whitlam. So extreme was Murdoch's campaign against Whitlam in 1975 that his journalists went on strike and 75 of them wrote to Murdoch, describing their paper as ''a propaganda sheet''. As the News media empire expanded, Cavan was merely the first of a number of luxurious lairs Murdoch would establish. Apart from his $44 million New York apartment and a sumptuous home in St James, London, he has a huge ranch in the Carmel Valley, south of San Francisco. A few days before this year's federal budget, Murdoch flew some of his most senior Australian journalists and the boss of his Australian media group, John Hartigan, to the Carmel ranch, where they workshopped News Ltd's coverage of the Gillard government, scribbling thoughts on butcher's paper. For many years Murdoch also maintained a townhouse at one of Canberra's best addresses, Wickham Crescent, Red Hill, just up the road from Parliament House. Prime ministers could also slip around to Wickham Crescent for a quiet chat. [b]Murdoch was not alone in this. The media baron Sir Warwick Fairfax had a mansion around the corner, where prime minister Robert Menzies was a frequent visitor in the 1960s. Later, the media tycoon Kerry Packer purchased a house nearby, using it as his lobbying headquarters when he was trying unsuccessfully to win control of the Fairfax empire (publisher of The Age). More recently, Kerry Stokes has hosted Kevin Rudd at his beach hideaway in Broome. But Murdoch was the most enthusiastic entertainer of politicians in Canberra and district. [/b] Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/politicians-of-all-stripes-beat-a-path-to-murdochs-door-20110715-1hi4f.html#ixzz2TPUioKJE BLAAH BLAAH BLAAH RODENT. WORKING FOR THE AUSSIE PEOPLE EH? N'

nasking

16/05/2013 THE GREAT EGALITARIAN HIMSELF: The former prime minister John Howard has launched a book that argues Australia’s famous spirit of egalitarianism is under threat from an aspiring ruling class. The book, The Lucky Culture (And the Rise of an Australian Ruling Class), by Nick Cater, discusses changes in Australian culture since Donald Horne wrote The Lucky Country in 1964. [b]The former Liberal prime minister said he agrees with many ideas that Cater, a senior editor at The Australian newspaper, has written about in his book. “We do need books that analyse longer-term cultural trends and Nick Cater has done a very good job of it,” Mr Howard told an audience at Wednesday’s launch at the Art Gallery of NSW. “He’s identified the emergence of a group of people who regard themselves as better than the rest of us and that have a certain moral superiority. “I don’t think that sits comfortably with the Australian egalitarian tradition and that’s the point Nick has identified.” Mr Howard said he was first handed the book by Rupert Murdoch in New York and they both discussed how they had enjoyed reading it.[/b] “It’s very well written and it’s a very easy read and when you agree with most of what is said in many chapters of the book it makes the read even easier,” Howard said. http://www.luckyculture.com.au/2013/05/08/john-howard-launches-the-lucky-culture/ WHO THE FCK DOES HOWARD THINK HE'S KIDDING? HE'S A PUPPET OF THE SUPER RICH ELITE LIKE MURDOCH. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 FROM THE INDEPENDENT PETER WICKS...TELLING IT AS IT IS: [quote]I don’t think that the importance of being a member of the mainstream media can be overstated, it is a huge responsibility. I should point out from the start that there are many in the mainstream press that I greatly admire, too many to name here but many of them would know who they are. There are many things that I would see as being crucial as an editor of a main stream media outlet, balance is at the top of that list. Sadly in Australia we have seen that fall to the wayside as News Ltd seek to overthrow a government that is rolling out an NBN that threatens their current business model in several areas of their empire, such as print media and Pay TV. [b]Given that News Ltd control approximately 70% of media outlets in Australia, this has had a drastic impact on the quality and integrityof the news that the public base their opinions around. We have heard a lot about China’s control of the press and what a terrible thing that is for a society who would like to believe they have some freedom. If you control the flow of information you control the populations minds, it’s a relatively simple concept that seems to also work well in North Korea.[/b] I wonder is Australia so different? [b]Should we refer to Rupert as Chairman Kim Jong Murdoch perhaps?[/b] [b]News Ltd’s main rival Fairfax is now a place where Gina Rinehart has chosen to invest her money, setting the scene for even less balance in the mainstream. I’m not suggesting that everything reported in the mainstream is false, however it is often skewed in a particular direction in the way it is reported. It is typical of the whole glass half empty/glass half full scenario[/b]. [b]When the Daily Telegraph for example are seeking a scientific opinion on global warming they may ask a climate change sceptic. Perhaps when choosing a story to publish, they may pick one on a Liberal backbencher saving a cat from a tree, rather than going with story of the Labor frontbencher saving three babies from a burning house. [/b] Focusing on one side of a topic is another common method. We have all seen the mainstream media splash the skeletons in Peter Slippers closet all over the front page, but have had to go online to find out about his accusers James Ashby’s motives and skeletons, or the full depth of the involvement of Mal Brough and Christopher Pyne, despite it clearly being in the public interest. It has been the same for Craig Thomson and the HSU saga. We have all heard the accusations thrown at Craig Thomson for years and yet still unproven, however we have not read about the involvement of the self-proclaimed whistleblower Kathy Jackson and the criminal investigations she is under. Nor have we heard anything in the mainstream about her fiancée Michael Lawler, the Tony Abbott appointed Vice President of the Fair Work Australia, the organisation that performed the investigation into the HSU, conveniently leaving out his fiancée’s branch from investigation during the period she was secretary. Once again for this information and this side of the story we have had to go online.[/quote] MUCH MORE HERE: http://wixxyleaks.com/2013/05/16/honesty-files/ INDEED. WELCOME TO THE MURDOCRACY. . JOIN THE RESISTANCE!!! [b]HELP TAKE OUR DEMOCRACY BACK.[/b] N'

nasking

16/05/2013 ABBOTT AND TEAM...THOU ART FULL OF CRAP: WENDY HARMER @ HOOPLA: All heart! Charming people! Shame! Unforgivable! The decision by the Federal Opposition to deny Labor MP Michelle Rowland (below right, with PM Julia Gillard) leave to look after her sick child has many furious. The member for Greenway put in an application to be excused early from parliament so she could get home to her sick 14 month-old baby Octavia, who has been sick all week and is suffering a fever. In a hung parliament, the Opposition must find a “pair” to withdraw from the parliament as well. [b]The Opposition refused, despite there being no business listed after Tony Abbott’s budget reply.[/b] [b]Baby Octavia was denied the comfort of her mother’s embrace.[/b] “I’m an member of parliament, I’m also a mother,” Rowland told ABC’s Fran Kelly this morning, “I don’t think it would have been unreasonable (to grant leave).” “All I want is to go home at a reasonable time tonight. If they change their mind I will say thanks very much and I’ll be on my way.” [b]Once again Tony Abbott’s credentials as a female-friendly leader are in question.[/b] http://thehoopla.com.au/chicken-pox-houses/ INDEED. IT'S A PATTERN OF BEHAVIOUR. N'

42 long

16/05/2013Pyne says she can go, but sought to blame the way the communication was worded as reason for the refusal. Michelle Rowland disagrees with what Pyne says the wording was and she should KNOW. Graciousness is something the LieNP knows nothing about. Those "people" who insist the PM is faking tears should have a good look at themselves. THEY are MENTAL about Julia. How could you doubt her genuineness on this matter? any how the fact that there was only ONE person in the parliament from the opposition does INDICATE How disinterested THEY were in hearing HOW she presented it in any case . Whether it was disrespect for her or the matter in hand there is no doubt at all that only one person bothered to be there from the oppn for all to note.

Curi-Oz

16/05/2013Watching the news last night, some thing bothered me about the image of the PM recommending the legislation for the NDIS. Although Hansard for the day observes that "All Members attended (at some time during the sitting)", there was only a single member of the opposition in the LOTO chair as the PM spoke. I'm just wondering who that LNP member was, and what misdemeanor they had committed, to be sitting there apparently representing the LOTO, when their fellowes were so rude as to not attend? I'll let you know when I find out ...

nasking

16/05/2013 MR. FREEDOM OF SPEECH PRESENTLY SPEAKING ON ABC 24...GOT ME THINKING: By Margo Kingston March 12, 2013 This chapter from Still Not Happy, John! (Pengiun, 2007) is required reading for activists and people in non-government organisations which advocate for change. John Howard’s government systematically sought to stifle democratic dissent with the help of the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA). Believe it or not, the Howard government funded the secretly funded IPA to produce a report saying groups who did not reveal their funding should not get government funding. Pressed to justify this hypocrisy, the IPA promised to disclose its donors but it never did. As the likelihood of a government led by Howard’s political son grows, I feel citizens need to ask detailed questions of the Coalition on their intentions this time round. None of the dissent stifling measures discussed here were ever revealed prior to election. I commissioned journalist Paddy Manning (@gpaddymanning) to write this chapter and he did a fine job. READ ON HERE: http://australiansforhonestpolitics.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/howards-blueprint-for-abbott-to-stifle-dissent/ ------------- AND: EMMA ALBERICI: Now the theme of your speech is summed up in one of the opening lines where you say in your view this Government is engaged in a multi front war against the traditional Liberal conception of freedom of speech. Now that same criticism was often levelled at John Howard’s Government, specifically, for instance, over the Coalition’s attempt s to prevent charities, for instance, from criticising the government with gagging orders? GEORGE BRANDIS: I think that’s an entirely different issue. When people give money to charities they expect – that was an issue of corporate governance, in effect, the corporate governance of charities. When people give money to charities they are entitled to expect the charities to spend that money on the purposes for which the money is donated, not on political causes. So I think it is bogus to regard that as a freedom of speech issue. Look at the real assaults on freedom of speech we’ve had. We’ve talked at length EMMA ALBERICI: Can I just go back to this point because John Howard actually threatened to remove the tax free status of charities and church groups who lobbied for a change of laws, who criticised the Government. This is not about how they spend their money, this was specifically aimed, many called it muzzling the charities and church groups? GEORGE BRANDIS: Emma, it’s an entirely different issue. If you want to quote to me the very words that Mr Howard used that you’ve paraphrased then I will comment on them but I know what the Howard Government’s position was and I think it was the right position. It was a corporate governance issue. You cannot go into the public arena as a charity, ask people to donate money to your charity and then spend it on a purpose other than the purpose for which it was given. EMMA ALBERICI: As I understood this was around the time of the CES going to the job network situation where church groups and charities were taking over some of that work and as I understand it this was the Government saying to those charities we’ll give you these contracts, this money on the proviso that you don’t criticise us in return. GEORGE BRANDIS: That might be your understanding but I don’t want to deal with – talk about a particular instance on which neither you nor I are specifically informed. EMMA ALBERICI: You were in the Government. GEORGE BRANDIS: But let me just make this point. Freedom of speech is about the right of people to express their opinions about the right of newspapers and the media to carry the expression of opinions to participate in an unfitted way in the democratic debate. It’s not an issue about corporate governance which the charities issue was an issue concerning. ...[b]EMMA ALBERICI: And let’s finally discuss one more thing I’ll point out from your speech, you say defending freedom of speech today has been left down to conservative commentators Andrew Bolt and Janet Albrechtsen. I put to you that all of us in the media are across the spectrum defenders of freedom of speech.[/b] GEORGE BRANDIS: [b]I wish you were. I wish you were. I wish there’d been more outrage from all quarters in the media when Stephen Conroy did – tried to do what eventually he failed to do, and that is introduce a public interest media advocate[/b] that could, in certain circumstances, have resulted in the Government or officials sitting around Lake Burley Griffin making decisions about what ordinary citizens were allowed to listen to on their radio or to read in their newspapers. I wish there’d been more outrage from the media but my point is there wasn’t and I find that very disappointing. http://australiansforhonestpolitics.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/george-brandis-free-speech-charlatan/ HMMM... IN THE POCKET OF WHO? FREE SPEECH...WHEN IT SUITS THE COALITION. LUV THE WAY GEORGE BRANDIS SPRUIKED SIMON BENSON TODAY... BOLT AND ALBRECHTSON PREVIOUSLY. DOING THE MURDOCH EMPIRE DANCE. PATTERN OF KOWTOWING BEHAVIOUR. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 ONE OF THE CAST: [b]Janet Kim Albrechtsen (born 23 September 1966) is an Australian opinion columnist with the News Limited-owned newspaper, The Australian. From 2005 until 2010, she was a member of the Board of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia's state-owned national broadcaster.[/b] Career Since turning to commentary, Albrechtsen has written for the Australian Financial Review, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sunday Age, [b]Quadrant[/b], Canada's National Post, The Vancouver Sun, [b]The Wall Street Journal[/b] and The Wall Street Journal Asia. Albrechtsen was a member of the Foreign Affairs Council from 2003 until 2007. Albrechtsen was appointed to the board of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 2005.[1][4] She told reporters in late 2009 that she was planning to retire from the board, and completed her five-year term on 18 February 2010 without seeking reappointment. [b]In 2008, Albrechtsen wrote a chapter for Peter van Onselen's book The Liberals and Power. She argued the Liberals have become preoccupied with "dominating the rational low ground," abandoning the high moral ground to the left. Left-wing reviewer Norman Abjorensen said he appreciated her view of Howard's legacy as not just a transformation of the Australian economy but also one of the Labor Party. Janet Albrechtsen is also an Ambassador for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation.[/b] Global warming According to Mark Davis, a Melbourne University academic, Albrechtsen was one of four 'suspect' commentators in the Australian press to "sound the warning that this environmental catastrophe [global warming] will pass into memory" in the 2000s. Media Watch In 2002, following a blog post by controversial Muslim Amir Butler, the ABC's Media Watch program queried Albrechtsen's source for a claim she attributed to psychiatrist Jean-Jacques Rassial a column that "pack rape of white girls is an initiation rite of passage for a small section of young male Muslim youths", asserting that she was misquoting a report in the London Times. Media Watch also said that Albrechtsen misrepresented the findings of Flemming Balvig, a criminologist at Copenhagen University, who wrote in an email to Butler that: The citation is completely wrong. What I have said is, that the main explanation of gang rape probably is social, and not cultural or religious. In the lead-up to this episode of Media Watch sent Friday 6 September 2002, Albrechtsen told them she took the contested quotes from The Times and The Copenhagen Post, that "journalists are entitled to, and very frequently do, rely on such sources reasonably believed to be accurate" and that they "appear to have done exactly the same, although from a source (a blog spot) of far lower stature than those [she] used". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Albrechtsen FREEDOM...FREEDOM!!! FREEDOM FROM WORRYING ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE...YEEHEE!!! JUST DOG WHISTLE AND CULTURE WARRIOR YER WAY TO FREEDOM... COURTESY OF THE MURDOCH EMPIRE AND CLONES. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 MURDOCH FLEEING PAST...BUT SOME HAVE LONG MEMORIES: [b]Rupert Murdoch is in negotiations to move his UK newspaper operations to the "Baby Shard" building in London Bridge, severing entirely his links with Wapping, the headquarters of his press empire for the past 27 years.[/b] Both Estates Gazette and Property Week reported that Murdoch's News International is in talks to take over the entire building, which stands to the east of the main Shard skyscraper next to London Bridge station on the south bank of the Thames. If the deal is clinched the Times, Sunday Times and Sun will move to the 428,000 sq ft office block in 2015 from Thomas More Square on St Katharine's Dock in Wapping. A spokesman for News International said: "Our lease is due for renewal next year and as a responsible employer we will be exploring all options to ensure our accommodation continues to meet the needs of our staff and the business as it develops in thefuture." News International moved to three blocks in the dock two years ago after selling the former printing plant and vast complex of old warehouses and offices across the road on Pennington Street. [b]The publisher currently occupies 11 floors in the main block in Thomas More Square, with operations and commercial divisions housed in two adjacent buildings.[/b] [b]Controversially, News Corporation's management standards committee and staff from Scotland Yard investigating alleged phone hacking and alleged payments to public officials for stories by News International journalists were also in one of the Thomas More Square buildings. Murdoch moved his printing operations and offices for four newspapers including the now defunct News of the World to Wapping from Fleet Street in 1986 in a bid to smash the unions. The transfer led to a year-long strike and riots between unionised workers and so called "scabs". The violence prompted the installation of barbed wire and high fences around the site, leading to the complex being dubbed "Fortress Wapping".[/b] http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/may/08/rupert-murdoch-papers-baby-shard RUN RUN RUN RUN... TICK TOCK... N'

nasking

16/05/2013 JUST SO YOU KNOW: [b]Murdoch is shifting his focus from business news, in print and on cable, to sports. He is rolling out the Fox Sports 1 cable channel in August and intends to take on ESPN, the jewel of Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS ) . If any naysayer wants to carp that Murdoch falls in and out of love quickly, so be it. He wants to seize the day and doesn't worry about criticism. Murdoch is changing the dynamic of his company, while rolling the dice on sports[/b], at an opportune time. News Corp.'s fiscal third-quarter performance was reassuring to the Street. Its revenue and earnings per share topped analysts' projections. [b]Barclays analyst DiClemente[/b] pointed out the "strong results from two of 21st Century Fox's most valuable assets -- its cable networks and film businesses" as well as "[b]the planned separation remaining on track for the end of the fiscal year in June."[/b] He continued: "We reiterate our Overweight rating and increase our price target to $37 as we continue to see upside potential on a sum-of-the-parts basis. ... [b]We remain optimistic that the launches of Fox Sports 1 and FXX can drive long-term affiliate growth."[/b] The sports venture may not yield positive results overnight. Clearly, it will take time to challenge a juggernaut such as [b]ESPN[/b]. Murdoch and his lieutenants certainly recognize that the Fox News Channel needed time to find an audience. http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/05/15/rupert-murdoch-doesnt-care-what-you-think-and-that.aspx SPORTS SPORTS SPORTS... GO BRONCOS!!! N'

nasking

16/05/2013 OR SHOULD I SAY: [b]GO NEWS LTD...SPONSORED BY CHANNEL NINE...BRONCOS!!![/b] N'

Curi-Oz

16/05/2013Two recent YouTubes about Rupert Murdoch that I've watched (it's all your fault Nasking *G*) Rupert Murdoch's Battle With Britain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boeqsd0Lijc Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War On Journalism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFDwdRXCg3I I'm off to the library to find a biography on the man. Perhaps to gain a better understanding of why he is so driven to 'pick the winners' when it comes to power, and what makes it that politicians and others crumble when confronted by such bullying tactics?

nasking

16/05/2013 THIS IS A TOP SITE TOO: http://pbxmastragics.com/2013/05/12/1309/comment-page-13/#comment-51665 GOT BUSHFIRE BILL, MUSKIEMP, GRAVEL AND OTHER COOL FRIENDS ON IT...I INTEND TO GO BACK AND FORTH. CHEERS N'

42 long

16/05/2013Brandis logic and deviousness is scary. He talks over any interviewer. His concept of free speech is ludicrous. The thought of him being the Attorney General of Australia just seems so outrageous. When he does I hope there are ways of holding him to account. Where does the LieNP get these candidates?

Curi-Oz

16/05/2013I forgot this one: John Pilger - Breaking the Mirror: The Murdoch Effect (1998) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOw-4sk4T1Y

nasking

16/05/2013 Curi-Oz, USEFUL VIDS. YOU MIGHT WANT TO READ [b]DIAL M FOR MURDOCH[/b]: Tom Watson has become a heroic pursuer of the truth, hunting down the bullies. The Labour MP for West Bromwich East has spent the past few years trying to unearth the crimes and cover-ups by those involved in phone hacking. Now, at blistering speed, he has given the fullest account yet of the sordid saga. [b]Dial M for Murdoch by Tom Watson, Martin Hickman[/b] Dial M for Murdoch plays on the Hitchcock theme to good effect: the title could equally have borrowed references from The Godfather, but that would have been too obvious. Last year, during the otherwise limp questioning by the Commons culture, media and sport committee of the Murdochs, Watson suggested that theirs was a mafia clan. Watson is at centre stage in the narrative, the caped crusader. This sits uneasily for two reasons. My first and lesser concern is stylistic. It seems strange for the protagonist to be described in the third person in an account he half wrote (his co-author, Martin Hickman, is a journalist at the Independent). Also readers should be reminded that Watson's conversion to the cause of ethics is somewhat belated. During the Labour government, he was one of Gordon Brown's most loyal boot boys, doing the necessaries on anyone who stood in the way of his hapless boss, including Tony Blair. [b]Everyone is entitled to change; to see public life as more than adherence to a tribe. Watson's commitment to rooting out wrongdoers at News International has been staunch. He began fighting the fight long before it became fashionable – and safe – to do so.[/b] The book does not possess killer revelations. Perhaps that was too much to ask, because of the plethora of judicial and parliamentary probes and police investigations that are designed to do so, and have the power to subpoena witnesses and extract evidence. But as a compendium, as a charge sheet, this is a gripping account, particularly for the growing army of Leveson inquiry junkies. Watson and Hickman chart in detail the political and commercial calculations that underpinned editorial decisions at NI. When it came to blagging information about an early girlfriend of John Major's, no problem. But when it came to revelations about a friendship between a 22-year-old George Osborne and a dominatrix, the word went out to cover the story but to cast it in a sympathetic light. It was all about doing favours, and expecting favours in return – a point seemingly not lost on Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary. [b]The collusion was extraordinary, as was the criminality. The authors show how senior figures in the police turned a blind eye even when confronted with compelling information about possible criminality high up in the Murdoch empire. Police chiefs even went in to bat for the Murdochs against the Guardian, to "lobby [the paper] to drop its hostile coverage", they write. Anyone who got in the way of NI and its business interests was encouraged to lay off. Key figures were either wooed (such as the Alexander and Evgeny Lebedev, the owners of the Independent and Evening Standard), or threatened. If blandishments did not work, they could be mercilessly attacked in one of Murdoch's titles. Watson reveals that he was approached on several occasions and offered deals to stop his investigations. When he refused, they went for him.[/b] This doughty campaigner has been spectacularly vindicated. But for a book such as this to be regarded as the definitive work, it needed to analyse why two generations of politicians and public servants prostrated themselves at the Murdochs' feet. Watson reminds readers that even as late as last year, the entire Labour leadership paid homage at the Murdochs' summer party, including Ed Miliband, who has since tried to distance himself. [b]Intriguingly, Watson describes how Blair becoming godfather to Rupert's latest child was supposed to remain a closely guarded secret. For some, like Brown, the motive for cosying up to Murdoch was fear. In Blair's case, it seems genuine affection.[/b] [b]Now the heat is rightly on David Cameron and the cabinet. But readers deserve to understand better why the Labour government allowed itself to become a subsidiary of NI, each policy cross-checked for approval[/b]. Watson makes a stab at some answers, but his conclusions are confined to 13 pages. He provides a rogues' gallery, including names and organisations that are rarely mentioned as moral accomplices: "the London mayor who did not demand action from his police force, the Queen's solicitors who knowingly continued to act for a lying corporation" and, somewhat bizarrely, "the BBC executives who failed to devote resource to a national scandal". [b]"In the end, this story is about corruption by power," he notes, before adding, vividly of the Murdochs: "From the criminal underworld to the headquarters of London's police force, from the decks of yachts in the Mediterranean to farmhouses in the Cotswolds and the deep-carpeted rooms of Downing Street, they had spun an invisible web of connections and corruption." The law of the playground states that the bully survives only if he is indulged. That surely is the greater crime, and that is laid at the politicians' door.[/b] http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/may/06/dial-murdoch-tom-watson-hickman-review THE GAME IS AFOOT. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 WORRIES ME WHEN SENATOR BRANDIS STARTS SPRUIKING MURDOCH JOURNOS.. AND ALLEGEDY DOING THINGS LIKE THIS: THE [b]NSW Police Minister, Mike Gallacher, is being accused of improperly interfering in the Craig Thomson affair after he phoned the Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione, to discuss calls for an investigation into the Labor MP soon after being contacted by the opposition Senator George Brandis. The Herald has learnt that Mr Brandis phoned Mr Gallacher last Friday to alert him of his intention to write to Mr Scipione asking him to investigate allegations that Mr Thomson used a union credit card to pay for escort services. Mr Gallacher has confirmed he returned Mr Brandis's call and then telephoned Mr Scipione that evening to discuss what he had been told by Mr Brandis. The NSW opposition police spokesman, Nathan Rees, said the telephone calls by Mr Brandis and Mr Gallacher created the perception of political interference. ''Senator Brandis's actions are utterly inappropriate and compromise the Minister for Police,'' he said. ''The Police Minister should never have taken the call or had the discussion. For the minister to then phone the commissioner about this matter is a grave error of judgment. It clearly compromises the assessment of the material by the police. There is a separation of powers for good reason and the Police Minister has clearly breached it.''[/b] Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/police-minister-rang-scipione-about-thomson-investigation-20110824-1jadp.html#ixzz2TQMYc9go BRANDIS...TAKIN' CARE OF BUSINESS...WORKING OVERTIME. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 CAN'T WAIT FOR THE ABBOTT MURDOCH RINEHART IPA TEXTOR CATER HOWARD BLOND BUDGET REPLY. AND THE RESULTING PUBLIC BILE. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 [b]Crosby is credited with John Howard's migrant-baiting tactics which won him four elections in Oz. As Andrew Pierce reports in the Daily Mail, unpleasant side-effects included John Howard's claim (later shown to be untrue) that a ship full of asylum seekers had thrown children over the side to blackmail their way into Australia.[/b] http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/nov/19/lynton-crosby-dog-whistle-tories-cameron WHO LET THE DOGS OUT??? SCOTT MORRISON WHISTLING AWAY N'

nasking

16/05/2013 ALBANESE, SWAN AND GARRETT ON FIRE TODAY... ALBO TORCHED THE OPPOSITION N'

nasking

16/05/2013 JOE HOCKEY KEEPS FARTING ON ABOUT NEW ZEALAND...HE REALLY IS KEEN TO PUT UP THE GST EH? N'

nasking

16/05/2013 BILL SHORTEN FIRED UP: [b]CHANNELING HIS INNER-REITH[/b] LUV IT! THAT OLD GUARD CORPSE KEEPS CROPPING UP EVERYWHERE...LIKE A BAD BAD SMELL. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 SWANNY KICKED HOCKEY BUTT WITH THAT GST COMMENT. A SWIFT KICK TO JOE'S SHRIVELLED NADS TOO. JOE TERRIFIED TO TELL ABBOTT HE'S AN ECONOMIC MORON PUTTING OUT FART BUBBLES. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 PM REVVED UP. GOT STUCK INTO HOCKEY NICELY GOOD FINISH. HOCKEY GOT SHAVED. HOPE HE CAN KEEP HIS FOOD DOWN TONITE. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 BARNABY WTF!!! JOYCE BRINGS UP CARBON PRICE FOR UNKNOWN REASON...WHICH BROUGHT BACK MEMORIES OF BARNABY RANTING AT PENNY WONG IN THE SENATE LIKE SOME DEMENTED FEVER STRUCK CHARACTER: http://media.smh.com.au/news/national-times/overegged-or-abbotts-fault-4276510.html N'

nasking

16/05/2013 STEPHEN KOUKOULAS WITH SOME REMINDERS BEFORE ABBOTT BUDGIE REPLY: When Mr Abbott gets to his feet with his budget reply speech, consider the following facts. Never once has a Coalition government delivered a budget that has cut government spending in real terms. Around three-quarters of the “elimination of Labor’s debt” under the Howard years was from asset sales. At the same time, around 40% of Labor’s debt was inherited from the Fraser government! The six highest tax to GDP ratios ever recorded were under the Howard government. Since 1982-83, there have been 10 years where the tax to GDP ratio has been below 22.0%, none of them delivered by a Liberal Party Treasurer. Who’s addicted to tax? Public sector infrastructure spending as a share of GDP fell to an all time low under the Howard government. The mortgage interest rate is currently 6.15% – it was 8.55% when the Howard government was last in office. Small business interest rates are currently around 7.0%. They were 9.1% when the Howard government lost office. Interest rates will always be lower under … It is easy to get budget surpluses and zero government debt if you tax the tripe out of people, don’t build infrastructure and sell government assets. But think of the mess you leave behind. http://www.marketeconomics.com.au/2410-a-few-fiscal-and-financial-facts-ahead-of-mr-abbotts-budget-reply SPOT ON N'

Ad astra

16/05/2013Hi Lyn I’ve just now finished reading your informative links. Thank you for including some balanced appraisals of the budget to counter the partisan appraisals in the MSM. As usual, Gerg Jericho gave us a sound, graph-embellished assessment, as did The Kouk, Ross Gittins and Peter Martin. The articles about what the Coalition will do to the NBN are concerning. The wrecking ball will be unleashed on program after program in pursuit of the Coalition holy grail of a surplus at any price and the strategy of austerity will be applied notwithstanding its failure in Europe and the US, and despite its intellectual underpinnings having been discredited. This Tea Party strategy will be applied, and the consequent devastation will be suffered chiefly by the most vulnerable, as usual with conservative politics. And we won’t hear about the Tea Party strategy tonight, as Tony Abbott will keep under wraps his slash and burn plans, and not release them until the last moment so as to hide them from the electorate until it’s too late for the voters to realize what they are letting themselves in for.

nasking

16/05/2013 [b]Tony Abbott will keep under wraps his slash and burn plans, and not release them until the last moment so as to hide them from the electorate until it’s too late for the voters to realize what they are letting themselves in for.[/b] AD, I THINK ABBOTT WILL DO THE OPPOSITE...HE'LL START SPENDING AND TAKE US DEEPER INTO DEBT. TRY TO LOOK LIKE SAINT TONY. HE'LL GET THE STATES TO DO MUCH OF THE DIRTY WORK... WHILST AGREEING TO LET THE STATES PUT UP THE GST... AND PUSHING ALL THE VOLUNTEER STUFF... WHILST TRYING TO GIVE MURDOCH AND OTHER SUPPORTERS MORE INFLUENCE. HE'LL USE FAKE INDEPENDENT PARTIES PROBABLY DIRECTED BY THE MURDOCH EMPIRE AND SUCH TO PUSH HIM FURTHER TO THE RIGHT LATER IN THE PIECE IF HE GETS IN... BUT THERE WILL BE PLENTY OF DOG WHISTLING FROM THE SUPPORTING MSM WHILST HE DOES THE SAINT TONY STUFF WITH MIGRANT AND ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES... SAYING, "NO NEED TO BE SCARED OF ME...I LOVE ALL PEOPLE...WHO ARE WILLING TO DO ANYTHING TO FIT IN AND WORK HARD". N'

nasking

16/05/2013 BTW, I EXPECT ABBOTT'S MOB TO USE THE JUDICIARY AND MEDIA TO GET COMPENSATION FOR TOBACCO COMPANIES ETC... THEN BLAME IT ON ALP SHORT-SIGHTEDNESS AND LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF COPYRIGHT LAWS ETC. N'

MWS

16/05/2013I've seen on twitter a proposed book cover from Kerry Anne Walsh (an ex-fairfax journalist). I've now seen it on the "bookworld" website, so it looks like it will be released on 1 Ausgust (just before the election). http://www.bookworld.com.au/book/the-stalking-of-julia-gillard-how-the-media-and-team-rudd-contrived-to-bring-down-the-prime-minister/40187246/

nasking

16/05/2013 FUNNY THING IS TONY ABBOTT IS A BIT OF A MAVERICK...AND HIS PAST SHOWS HIM TO BE A BIT OF A DESTROYER... I PREDICT HE MIGHT SIDELINE AND SHOVE OUT A LOT OF THE BIG BUSINESS TYPES IN HIS PARTY AND DO A SAINT TONY IS HERE TO GIVE ALL YOU STRUGGLING FAMILIES A FAIR-GO... I THINK THE ALP MIGHT HAVE MADE A STRATEGIC ERROR IN HURTING SINGLE MUMS AND KEEPING NEWSTART DOWN. ABBOTT IS HIGHLY UNPREDICTABLE...AND NOT ALWAYS LOVED IN HIS PARTY...BUT BELIEVES HE IS THE MESSIAH OF THE PARTY... SO I THINK YOU WILL SEE PLENTY OF BATTLES BETWEEN HIM AND THE COMPANY TAX CUTS AND TOP INCOME TAX CUTS OBSESSIVES IN THE LIBERAL PARTY. HE LUVS BARNABY JOYCE...SO YOU CAN IMAGINE THE MONEY THAT WILL BE THROWN TO THE REGIONS. THE NBN I BELIEVE WILL BE SCRAPPED IN ITS ENTIRETY AFTER THE ABBOTT TEAM PERMIT A BIG COURT CASE OR SUCH TO OCCUR...MORE BLAME DIRECTED AT LABOR... THE UNIONS WILL BE TAKEN CARE OF BY THE SUPPORTIVE MSM... BUT SAINT TONY WILL HOLD OUT HIS HAND TO SELECTED UNIONISTS... WHILST DIRECTING KIDS TO A FORM OF RELIGIOUS CHARTER SCHOOL... AS FOR THE ROYAL COMMISSION...HE'LL LET HIS SUPPORTERS FALL... HE OR OTHERS ON HIS TEAM MAY EVEN ADMIT TO ABUSE. AS LONG AS HE REMAINS STANDING. SAINT TONY AND FRIENDS TO THE RESCUE OF THE ABUSED CHILDREN...EMPATHY FULL ON. HE'S DUPING PLENTY OF HIS BIG SUPPORTERS...AND IT'S AMUSING TO WATCH. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 THE PAID PARENTAL,SCHEME IS THE GIVEAWAY...AND THE FACT HE HAS JOE AS TREASURER. THEY'RE TRYING TO PULL A FAST ONE ON THE LIBERAL PARTY. I RECKON THEY'LL COME UP WITH AN EVEN LARGER FAIRER SCHEME. AND JOE WILL BE OUT THERE WITH ABBOTT PUSHING MIGRANT LOVE...BUT IN THAT CATHOLIC CHARITY WAY. YA KNOW, I DOUBT ABBOTT REALLY GOT OVER THE BOB SANTAMARIA TEACHINGS AND INFLUENCE...I BET THE IDEA WAS TO INFILTRATE A MAJOR PARTY... AND THEN DO THE ALMOST PROHIBITION, CLEAN LIVING, SAINTLY BIT... THE ATTACK ON GAMBLING BY ABBOTT IS YET ANOTHER INDICATION OF WHERE HE'S HEADING...BIT LIKE THE EARLY ROOSEVELT, WAS IT? YES, ABBOTT HAS DONE A GOOD JOB CONVINCING OTHER FREE TRADE AND RAMPANT BIZ LIBERALS THAT HE IS GENERALLY ONE OF THEM AND ACTING OUT THE LEFT BIT... BUT I RECKON THEY ARE IN FOR A BIG SURPRISE. MR. BIKE TIL YOU DROP CLEAN LIVING ABBOTT IS HEADING FOR SAINTHOOD. SAINT AND PM IN ONE. ALMOST POPE. REMEMBER HIS MUM'S COMMENTS. N'

Tom of Melbourne

16/05/2013[i]” until it’s too late for the voters to realize what they are letting themselves in for.[/i]’ It is remarkable how much smarter you people are than the “voters”. I suppose you’d recommend an intelligence test to vote?

Catching up

16/05/2013All the polls that many put their confidence in, still have nearly 30% don't knows or deciders. Notice, they ARE NO LONGER MAKING FRONT PAGE NEWS. WONDER WHY THAT IS SO?

Jason

16/05/2013It is remarkable how much smarter you people are than the “voters”. I suppose you’d recommend an intelligence test to vote? You seem to have taken it and failed!Now we know why you don't vote? Too stupid!

Jason

16/05/2013Abbott should have started with: “my fellow Australians, we can no longer accept this AAA-rated economy. Enough is enough!”

Tom of Melbourne

16/05/2013Ad Astra thinks voters aren't smart enough to choose a government

nasking

16/05/2013 ABBOTT OVERREACHING...SHOWING A LOT OF HUBRIS. VERY PREACHY. THE CLAPPING AUDIENCE LOOKS STAGED...LIKE WHEN BUSH ADMIN USED TO BUS IN PEOPLE. N'

Jason

16/05/2013Ad Astra thinks voters aren't smart enough to choose a government But don't you say that about "us"?

2353

16/05/2013The real problem about choosing Governments is that even those who can't understand the concept of looking after the whole community also get a vote.

nasking

16/05/2013 LOL. ABBOTT IS SUCH AN ECONOMIC MORON. HE'S GOING TO MAKE IT HARDER FOR PEOPLE TO BE LESS RELIANT ON THE PENSION. GONNA HURT PEOPLE ON NEWSTART EVEN MORE. HE'S GONNA CUT THE CARBON PRICE AND MINING TAX...YET KEEP COMPENSATION AND TAX FREE THRESHOLD... HOW CAN AFFORD THIS? SO MUCH LESS REVENUE. SO WHAT WILL REALLY HAPPEN TO THE NBN? GAVE WAY TOO MUCH INFO. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 AS FOR FARTING ON ABOUT CREATING A 'COLLEGIAL ATMOSPHERE'...BEING 'ADULT'... WTF! THIS IS THE SAME GUY WHO COULDN'T NEGOTIATE WITH WINDSOR AND OAKESHOTT...WHO WENT TO PETER SLIPPER'S WEDDING...THEN SET HIS ATTACK DOGS ON HIM... THE MAN IS DELUSIONAL. THAT SPEECH WAS EXTREMELY MOCKING, PREACHY AND GRANDIOSE. FURTHERMORE, HE BASICALLY DECLARED WAR ON AUSTRALIA'S TEACHERS, PLENTY IN HEALTHCARE AND OTHER PUBLIC SERVANTS. NO WONDER HE WAS SO DISLIKED BY MANY IN THE DEPARTMENTS HE RAN. COLLEGIAL...ROFL. ADULT...AS IN HOW HE TREATED BERNIE BANTON AND NICOLA ROXON AND THAT NSW EX-LIB LEADER. TALKING ABOUT WOMEN OF 'CALIBRE'. RANTING IN PARLIAMENT. YEA, REAL 'ADULT'. N'

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16/05/2013If I saw that as part of a fictional series I would think the show was "corny" and the scriptwriter lacking everything a scriptwriter needs. Clapping and cheering on "cue". I can't believe this idiot is going to be the "prime minister". The humiliation of us will be unimaginable. There was some good analysis of the economic conditions pertaining to the Howard and Costello years and to the present time, on the ABC this afternoon. The same "treasury" produced inaccurate forecasts but the error was the other way when Costello was treasurer. External factors don't come into it as far as Tony goes. Of course the TRUTH wouldn't be a good thing to mention when you are trying to say the Labor mob don't get ANYTHING RIGHT. A pretty corny advert for the LieNP. Hope some analysists do a decent job on it soon to show it's inadequacies. Loved the mention of Margy and his 1,000 km bike ride for charity. Pathetic!

nasking

16/05/2013 ALSO, ABBOTT WILL NEVER STOP THE BOATS...THE EXPENSE WILL CONTINUE...DIDN'T HE PROMISE EXPENSIVE DRONES? AND THAT PPL SCHEME...WHAT A BURDEN ON TOP OF EVERYTHING ELSE. AND THAT DOG OF A DIRECT ACTION PLAN...WILL BE A DISASTER. HE'S LIVING IN LALA LAND. [b]MR. GRANDIOSE. [/b] N'

nasking

16/05/2013 'ADULT'...'COLLEGIAL'...IMAGINE THE COALITION TEAM HAVING TO LIVE UP TO THESE CLAIMS FOR THE NEXT FOUR MONTHS... LIKE PYNE? REMEMBER HIS 'ADULT' INTERVIEW WITH EMMA ALBERICI? MORE LIKE CHILDISH DUMMY SPIT. N'

Catching up

16/05/2013I have this feeling that Abbott sees his role as PM, is sitting around a table, Ministers put forward legalisation, cabinet votes on it, he goes out and sells the result. I have a feeling he is not interested in policy. Anything will do as far as he is concerned. Cannot see him doing much reading. Abbott is more interested in playing games, and winning.

nasking

16/05/2013 HEY TONY! HOOK...LINE...AND STINKER. :D N'

Catching up

16/05/2013As for those boats, I have this nightmare, of the boat trade, building up an armada of boats, ready to be launched on Sept 15, all coming down those waters together. Laughing at Abbott, saying what are you going to do now.

nasking

16/05/2013 THAT SPEECH WAS SO STAGED...SO FULL OF HUBRIS AND GRANDIOSITY...SO DUMB... IT COULDA BEEN SARAH PALIN. THE LOOPY RIGHT THESE DAYS SURE KNOW HOW TO PICK 'EM. SO MUCH TO WORK WITH...IT'S BRILL. AND FOUR MONTHS LEFT. :D N'

Sir Ian Crisp

16/05/2013After the unfavourable reviews of Swan's budget it's interesting to note how Abbott's budget reply speech was greeted. Abbott is being hailed as a mature statesman ready to take the baton. Abbott seems to have the ALP rattled.

Sir Ian Crisp

16/05/2013When was the last time a 'male' MP had to leave parliament to tend to a sick child? Why is it female MPs seem to rely on emotion to get their way? Are male MPs less caring about their children than female MPs?

nasking

16/05/2013 JOHN HEWSON WAS THE ABBOTT SPEECH SPRUIKER ON 7:30...WHAT A BAD OMEN FOR TONY. :D N'

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16/05/2013I hope it is. He certainly wrote himself off single handed. They say he's clever but.... Loves the idea of increasing the GST and applying it more widely. Next they will have to ban pensioners from begging in the streets. Of course there is no paperwork in administering the GST Ha Ha..and it means people who spend every cent (as opposed to having plenty over to invest)pay a higher percentage of their money in tax, so that's real equitable Mr Hewson. A POX on you all. Couldn't lie straight in bed.

nasking

16/05/2013 42 LONG... WAS ODD HOW THEY ROLLED OUT HIS FORMER MENTOR HEWSON TO DEFEND HIM EH? AND THAT LOOPY CLIMATE CHANGE SCEPTIC MINCHIN ON SKY NEWS. AND HOW ABBOTT DID THE BUDGET REPLY...NOT HOCKEY. METHINKS THAT PLENTY IN THE LIBERAL PARTY THINK ABBOTT IS GONNA BLOW THIS...IS TOO OFF THE RESERVATION... LIKE PALIN...GONE ROGUE. [b]Mr Abbott repeated his threat to renege on the federal-state school education funding plan recently agreed between the O'Farrell and federal governments. ''We won't back a so-called national education system that some states don't support, especially as this government has a history of spending more while schools' performance actually goes backwards.''[/b] Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/federal-budget/abbott-pledges-no-nasty-surprises-no-lame-excuses-20130516-2jpen.html#ixzz2TSHalxnm MAKES NSW PREMIER O'FARRELL LOOK DOPEY THEN...SIGNING UP WITH THE GOVT. OR POLITICALLY BS. ALL SHOW...NO SUBSTANCE. I FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE HE AND ABBOTT HAVEN'T DISCUSSED IT BY NOW. OR JUST MAYBE, O'FARRELL WAS SMART...HE KNEW ABBOTT WOULD NOT WIN. ABBOTT'S RASH DISMISSAL OF GONSKI WILL HURT HIM. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 MIKE SECCOMBE: [b]How does an Opposition leader justify such a position? By suggesting that the richest country in the world, one with comparatively negligible debt, a very modest budget deficit, three AAA credit ratings, low unemployment, low inflation, and very “small” government by international standards, “is now in a budget emergency”.[/b] Pick the tabloid headlines for the next day? I’m guessing “BUDGET EMERGENCY” will get a run. Said Abbott: “Many of the measures in this budget are objectionable: the attacks on Medicare; the abolition of the baby bonus … robbing Peter to pay Paul on education; and forcing more businesses to do the tax work monthly, not just quarterly... Abbott repeated those in his speech; a Coalition government would axe the mining tax and the carbon tax but, he said, “no one’s personal tax will go up and no one’s fortnightly pension or benefit will go down. “[b]We will abolish the mining tax because that’s the quickest way to support investment and jobs.” Where would savings come from? Well, they would come at the expense of education, public servants, the poor and the environment. “We won’t back the so-called national education system that some states don’t support[/b]…” he said. The federal bureaucracy would be shrunk by 12,000, through attrition. Labor’s low-income superannuation contribution scheme, which tops up low-income earners, and particularly women, would be scrapped. So would the twice-yearly supplementary allowance to people on benefits. In both cases, he justified the cuts because they were “supposed to be funded from the mining tax that’s not raising any revenue”. Labor’s green loans scheme, intended to foster alternative energy, would also be scrapped, and he promised to streamline — environmentalists would say weaken — the environmental approvals process. And he flagged major reform to federal-state relations, which might see the Commonwealth abandon some major areas of public policy. One example he cited was the federal health department, “employing 6,000 health bureaucrats even though it doesn’t run a single hospital”. He did, however, recommit to the national disability insurance scheme. Other promises were to reinstitute a work-for-the-dole scheme, cut unspecified “red tape” costs to small business by “at least $1 billion a year”, restore the Australian Building and Construction Commission, and to reverse Labor’s commitment to expanded humanitarian immigration intake. [b]All in all, a pretty mean set of commitments.[/b] As expected, Abbott made much of the government’s abandoned promise of a surplus Budget this year. “But there are no surpluses. Not this year. Not the next year. Not the year after that,” he said. [b]But he gave no guarantee of a faster return to surplus under a Coalition Government. Indeed, his words hinted at a similarly long lead time until the budget was in the black. “At least for a first term, until we’re on an honest path not just to surplus but to repaying debt, an incoming Coalition government will resist new spending commitments that aren’t fully funded, nearly always by offsetting expenditure reductions,” he said. Note the words “nearly always”.[/b] No doubt the suite of promises offered will not be enough to satisfy the more hardline elements of the conservative support base. But they might take comfort from the big let-out paragraph which lurked at the bottom of page five of the speech. “[b]We will have a once-in-a-generation commission of audit so that government is only as big as it needs to be to do what people can’t do for themselves.” In other words, as soon as the election is over, they hold out the prospect of an audit by a friendly right-winger – Peter Costello did it for Campbell Newman in Queensland – declare things worse than they thought, and really get chopping.[/b] http://powerhouse.theglobalmail.org/its-awful-well-keep-it/ PLENTY TO WORK WITH PEOPLE. LET THE SAVAGING BEGIN. [b]BUDGET EMERGENCY[/b]...LOL...TYPICAL ABBOTT AND MURDOCH EMPIRE AND SHOCK JOCK [b]OVERBLOWN RHETORIC[/b]. N'

nasking

16/05/2013 [b]TONY ABBOTT'S NOT INTERESTED IN GONSKI EDUCATION REFORMS NOT INTERESTED IN HELPING YOUR POSTCODE'S DISADVANTAGED KIDS... BECAUSE HE'S TOO BUSY CUTTING THE MINING TAX FOR GINA.[/b] N'

nasking

16/05/2013 NOTE: FLOCK IN BACKGROUND ARE FAWNING LNP STAFF: https://mobile.twitter.com/BushfireBill/status/335003100651876353/photo/1 N'

nasking

16/05/2013 MY LAST FOR THE NITE...ENJOYED THIS: Warren Snowdon ✔ @manwiththemo [b]If only Abbott & the opposition spent as much time on policy as they did colour co-ordinating outfits tonight [/b]#nodetailsbudget #auspol N'

Casablanca

17/05/2013[b]How the Case for Austerity Has Crumbled[/b] June 6, 2013 Paul Krugman [i]Indeed, Reinhart-Rogoff may have had more immediate influence on public debate than any previous paper in the history of economics. The 90 percent claim was cited as the decisive argument for austerity by figures ranging from Paul Ryan, the former vice-presidential candidate who chairs the House budget committee, to Olli Rehn, the top economic official at the European Commission, to the editorial board of The Washington Post. So the revelation that the supposed 90 percent threshold was an artifact of programming mistakes, data omissions, and peculiar statistical techniques suddenly made a remarkable number of prominent people look foolish. The real mystery, however, was why Reinhart-Rogoff was ever taken seriously, let alone canonized, in the first place. Right from the beginning, critics raised strong concerns about the paper’s methodology and conclusions, concerns that should have been enough to give everyone pause. Moreover, Reinhart-Rogoff was actually the second example of a paper seized on as decisive evidence in favor of austerity economics, only to fall apart on careful scrutiny. Much the same thing happened, albeit less spectacularly, after austerians became infatuated with a paper by Alberto Alesina and Silvia Ardagna purporting to show that slashing government spending would have little adverse impact on economic growth and might even be expansionary. Surely that experience should have inspired some caution.[/i] http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2013/jun/06/how-case-austerity-has-crumbled/

nasking

17/05/2013 WOKE UP AND THOUGHT...MAN THIS FELLA ABBOTT IS GRANDIOSE AND DELUSIONAL...AND VERY PREACHY. VERY SARAH PALIN. HE REALLY IS IN THE CLIMATE CHANGE SCEPTIC CAMP...HAS NO INTENTION OF DOING ANYTHING ABOUT CARBON PROBLEMS...IS IN WITH THE LOOPIES LIKE MINCHIN AND BARNABY. JUST A BIG CON. THEY'RE LETTING FOSSIL FUEL RESOURCE GREED...AND THEIR WACKY RELIGIOUS VIEWS DICTATE. NOT SURE HOW COMFORTABLE GREG HUNT WILL BE WITH THIS LOT. HE REALLY DOESN'T MIND HURTING PEOPLE. HE'S NO SAINT...JUST ANOTHER POLITICAL GAME PLAYER...BIT OF AN A-HOLE. WORKING OVERTIME FOR GINA AND RUPERT AND THE LIKES OF SINGLETON, ALAN JONES, ANDREW BOLT, HADLEY, DEVINE, ALBRECHTSON. ABBOTT REALLY IS GOING TO LET HIS STATE MATES CARVE INTO TEACHERS, HEALTH WORKERS AND OTHERS. HE'S VERY COCKY...TOO FULL OF HIMSELF. HOCKEY LOOKS UNSURE OF HIMSELF. IN MANY WAYS IT FELT LIKE HE GAVE HIS VICTORY SPEECH FOUR MONTHS EARLY. FROM THE MOUNT. THIS IS NO SAINT...NO MESSIAH...JUST SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN TOLD BY MUM AND A FEW RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL SUPPORTERS HE IS 'DESTINED TO DO GREAT THINGS' BUT HE WON'T HE'S COCKED UP. I COULD SEE THE PATH TO VICTORY WIDENING. DIG DEEP PM...DIG DEEP. DISABILITYCARE, EDUCATION REFORM, NBN, INFRASTRUCTURE, MEDICAL AND SPACE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, PROMOTING RESOURCE PROJECTS BUT WITH RESPONSIBLE REGULATION, EMPATHY FOR CHILDREN AND ANIMALS, ROYAL COMMISSION INTO CHILD ABUSE, SUPERANNUATION, DRUGS IN SPORT...YOU KNOW THE LIST. BELIEVE. KNOW. DO. GETTING THE JOB DONE. DYNAMIC, IMAGINATIVE, CERTAIN, DETERMINED...RIGHT. MOVING FORWARD...SMARTER...FAIRER...STRONGER...EVERY DAY. FCK THE CRITICS. YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO. N'

nasking

17/05/2013 [b]JOB DIVERSITY.[/b] ADAPTING TO A CHANGING WORLD. N'

nasking

17/05/2013 I WOULD REMIND OBAMA...AND OUR PM...THAT THOSE WHO STRUGGLED IN WW2 TO FREE THE WORLD...PROTECT DEMOCRACY...THERE WERE DARK AND RAINY, TOUGHER THAN TOUGH DAYS. BUT WE DID IT. JUST LIKE CAPTAIN JANEWAY IN STAR TREK VOYAGER...ONE HELLUVA JOURNEY. BUT SHE GOT HER CREW HOME SAFELY...BUT WITH INCREASED SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY...AND KNOWLEDGE OF ALIEN CULTURES...THAT WOULD HELP A FUTURE EARTH. SHE BELIEVED. OUTWITTED HER OPPONENTS. NEGOTIATED WELL. ADAPTED. WISER, SMARTER...GOOD AT LIFTING CREW MORALE. THE JOURNEY HAD ITS TOUGH TOUGH TIMES...BUT SHE NEVER GAVE UP...REGARDLESS OF THE HURDLES. YOU KNOW WHERE YOU HAVE TO GET...OBAMA AND JULIA. N'

nasking

17/05/2013 BOLDLY GOING...WHERE NO MAN...NOR WOMAN...HAS GONE BEFORE. THIS PLANET...FUTURE GENERATIONS DEPEND ON IT. N'

lyn

17/05/2013Today’s Links Tony Abbott's Budget Reply Speech 2013 Translated by @no_filter_Yamba Bad guvmin, bad guvmin, look at my RM Williams boots, bad guvmin, I have a wife, bad guvmin, I’m just like you, bad guvmin, no carbon tax, bad guvmin, lower taxes, bad guvmin, me stand for good guvmin, bad guvmin, wasteful spending, bad guvmin, http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/ Budget Reply, 2013 by Marian Dalton @crazyjane13 Actually, he sounded very much as though he were reading a storybook to a child - you know, enunciating ev-e-ry-word-clear-ly-and-slow-ly. http://storify.com/crazyjane13/budget-reply-2013?utm_medium=sfy.co-twitter&awesm=sfy.co_bIxD&utm_content=storify Tony Abbott’s #budget reply: It’s one for the Mad Men and the Good Wives by @turnleft2013 http://turnleft2013.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/tony-abbotts-budget-reply-its-one-for-the-mad-men-and-the-good-wives/ Tony Abbott’s Budget Reply Speech 16 May 2013 by @BernardKeane manufacturing, too, is capable of competing with the best in the world, even with the high dollar – as demonstrated by Cochlear, Blackmores, Murray Goulburn and RM Williams, whose boots I’m wearing tonight. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/thestump/2013/05/16/tony-abbotts-budget-reply-speech-16-may-2013/ It’s Awful we’ll Keep It by @MikeSeccombe In other words, as soon as the election is over, they hold out the prospect of an audit by a friendly right-winger – Peter Costello did it for Campbell Newman in Queensland – declare things worse than they thought, and really get chopping. http://powerhouse.theglobalmail.org/its-awful-well-keep-it/ What's that smell? We make our first Pants on Fire ruling by @PolitiFactOz we award our first Pants on Fire – our lowest rating, reserved for claims that are not only untrue but also ridiculous. Our first Pants on Fire goes to the Liberal Party and its government waste guru, Jamie Briggs. (Memo to Briggs: We are still checking out your e-book on Labor waste. Interesting stuff.) http://www.politifact.com.au/truth-o-meter/article/2013/may/16/politifact-australias-first-pants-on-fire-ruling/ Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s = and the Federal Coalition by David Griffiths The Murdoch Media appears to agree with the Federal Coalition that the views of the rating agencies are irrelevant – because truth is inconvenient. http://www.australiasmassmedia.com/2013/05/16/moodys-and-standard-poors-and-the-federal-coalition/ Beware Turnbull’s Triple NBN Tax – your hidden out-of-pocket expenses by @AusVotes2013 Every DSL-NBN subscriber is going to be saddled with three unavoidable out-of-pocket expenses. All in-house cabling changes have to be done by a registered cabler, it’s NOT DIY. You may go on e-Bay and buy a $50 VDSL modem, but it won’t work. http://australiansforhonestpolitics.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/beware-turnbulls-triple-nbn-tax-your-hidden-out-of-pocket-expenses/ $110,000 done, $69 billion to go. by rossleighbrisbane @MigloMT I read the Liberal “Labor’s Little Book of Waste”, and for the most part I was unimpressed, but then Number 59: It’s costing the taxpayers $110,000 to supply 900 bureaucrats in Treasury with 350 litres of milk. It seems unclear from the document whether this $110,000 is per week or per year http://theaimn.com/2013/05/16/110000-done-69-billion-to-go/ The opinion makers by @madwixxy Given that our mainstream news outlets have become, or are becoming mouthpieces for those with a right-wing agenda, it is incredibly important we have other sources of news to provide balance. http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/business/media-2/the-opinion-makers/ Coalition paints itself into corner on Budget by @macro_business the Opposition remains intent on “delivering a package of tax cuts for families without a carbon tax”, suggesting the Budget deficit could potentially worsen under the Coalition, unless offsetting cost savings can be found. Indeed, the Coalition’s strong insistence that it would remove the mining and carbon taxes once elected looks to have painted it into a corner, http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2013/05/coalition-paints-itself-into-corner-on-budget/ A few fiscal and financial facts ahead of Mr Abbott’s budget reply by @TheKouk It is easy to get budget surpluses and zero government debt if you tax the tripe out of people, don’t build infrastructure and sell government assets. But think of the mess you leave behind. http://www.marketeconomics.com.au/2410-a-few-fiscal-and-financial-facts-ahead-of-mr-abbotts-budget-reply What’s it all about, the Coalition no show for disability, no to MP to care for sick baby? by @YaThinkN The media are already setting the stage for Mr Abbott’s wonderful reply speech, as it will be – just ask them. It has been the lead story on all the TV stations. Not one whimper about the total lack of respect afforded the disabled community yesterday, http://australiansforhonestpolitics.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/whats-it-all-about-the-coalition-no-show-for-disability-no-to-mp-to-care-for-sick-baby/ Is the press giving readers unbiased news? by Alan Davies The East-West Link promoted by Tony Abbott and Dennis Napthine looks questionable, but the media should promote debate on its merits not pedal equally doubtful arguments on the front page http://blogs.crikey.com.au/theurbanist/2013/05/16/is-the-press-giving-readers-unbiased-news/ Let Us Die With Dignity by @newmatilda The Rights of the Terminally Ill Bill before NSW Parliament aims to empower the patient to make their own choices, to have the right to a dignified death. Surely, on our deathbed, each of us should have that ultimate choice. http://newmatilda.com/2013/05/16/let-us-die-dignity Legalising medicinal cannabis is a leap forward for compassion by @ConversationEDU It’s time to treat the issue of medicinal cannabis on its merits. It is not a panacea but it is a useful drug. We should not allow our obsession with the prohibition of recreational use of the drug to http://theconversation.com/legalising-medicinal-cannabis-is-a-leap-forward-for-compassion-14297 Thoughts on Gonski and education reform by @FrijtersPaul With the Gonski reforms expected to be rolled out across Australia in the coming 5 years, it is handy to reflect on what actually are the basic challenges for school reform in Australia. A view of the underlying issues helps one to judge the likely outcomes http://clubtroppo.com.au/2013/05/16/thoughts-on-gonski-and-education-reform/#more-23084 Today’s Front Pages Australian Newspaper Front Pages for 17 May 2013 http://www.thepaperboy.com/australia/front-pages.cfm News headlines http://www.hotheadlines.com.au/

nasking

17/05/2013 YUCK! ARE SUNRISE TRYING TO BRING THE DISASTROUS BUSH YEARS BACK...BUT TO AUSTRALIA? TEXAN CRAP. N'

nasking

17/05/2013 THAT LADY HOST ON ABC 24 THIS MORNING IS A REAL ABBOTT APOLOGIST...I WOULD QUESTION IF SHE IS A LIBERAL PARTY MEMBER? OF COURSE MICHAEL ROWLAND DOES HIS USUAL FOCUS AND SPRUIKING OF NEWS LTD PAPERS... HIS WIFE WORKS FOR THEM. OUR PUBLIC BROADCASTER HAS BECOME A LIBERAL, MURDOCH EMPIRE PROPAGANDA TOOL...PRETENDING BALANCE. N'

nasking

17/05/2013 THAT THOM WOODROOFE FELLA, GUEST ON ABC 24, WAS FULL OF CRAP...HE KEPT PUSHING THE IDEA THAT WHAT ABBOTT DID WAS 'SMART'. THE FACT THAT THE ABBOTT APOLOGIST LADY SAID HE WASN'T GRANDIOSE...AND WOODROOFE KEEPS MENTIONING 'SMART' MEANS THEY ARE WORRIED. FOCUS ON HIS GRANDIOSE, PREACHY BEHAVIOUR. IMAGINE HAVING THIS GUY PREACHING AT YOU EVERY DAY? N'

nasking

17/05/2013 YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE BEAMING SMILE LYNDAL CURTIS HAD ON HER FACE WHEN ABBOTT FINISHED LAST NIGHT...IT WAS LIKE SHE'D HEARD FROM HER MESSIAH. N'

nasking

17/05/2013 "RESERVE THE OPTION" MAKES ABBOTT SOUND VERY ARROGANT. SURE, HE'LL PUT ON THE SOFTLY SPOKEN SINCERITY STUFF IN INTERVIEWS...BUT YOU CAN FEEL THE GRANDIOSITY, NARCISSISM BENEATH... IT REMINDS ME OF A PRIEST PUTTING ON THE SINCERE CHARITABLE UNDERSTANDING YER STRUGGLE BIT...OFFERING UP HOLLOW ANSWERS...SEDUCING... BEFORE HE TAKES YOU IN THE BACK ROOM...AND ASSAULTS YOU. WORKERS BEWARE. N'

Michael

17/05/2013So when did RM Williams start making jackboots? Or is the more sensitive Shouldabeen wearing RM Williams because the company is now 49.9% owned by glamourous French company Louis Vuitton? Which latter possibility requires this query - is Tony's equally unglimpsed underwear in leather or lace?

nasking

17/05/2013 WOW! DID YOU SEE ABBOTT'S EYES FLARE UP...THEN GO SNAKE-LIKE...WHEN LYNDAL CURTIS ASKED HIM IF HE WAS HAPPY ABOUT PUTTING 60,000 FIBRE TO THE NODES ACROSS SUBURBAN STREETS...THEN FOLLOWED UP. ABBOTT REALLY DOESN'T LIKE PEOPLE TRIPPING HIM UP...GOING OFF SCRIPT...HE DOESN'T PARTICULARLY LIKE WOMEN TRIPPING HIM UP. HE HAS A REALLY NASTY SIDE WHEN IT COMES TO WOMEN...PARTICULARLY THOSE WHO PUT UP HURDLES, TRIP HIM UP, ON HIS LONG JOURNEY TO WHERE HE THINKS HE'S ENTITLED TO GET. THAT CLIP NEEDS TO BE SHOWN. THE SUPER ANNOYED, DON'T SCREW WITH ME LYNDAL BECAUSE I HAVE A LONG MEMORY TRANSFORMING INTO VIPER CHECKING OUT ITS PREY LOOK REALLY SHOWS UP. IT'S A PATTERN OF BEHAVIOUR. THIS IS ONE SPOILT, SLIMEY, POTENTIALLY VERY DANGEROUS GUY...WHO DOESN'T BROOK DISSENT WELL. NO WONDER HE DETESTS SO MANY TEACHERS, UNIONISTS, CRITICS, AND WOMEN WHO GET THE BETTER OF HIM...TAKE WHAT HE THINKS IS RIGHTLY HIS (THINK JULIA). SURE, HE'LL CREATE SOME FAUX SITUATIONS WHERE COALITION AND BIZ WOMEN SEEM TO CHALLENGE HIM, PUT HIM IN HIS PLACE... BUT MORE AND MORE WE SEE THE SNAKE BENEATH. BEWARE THE BITE...THE VENOM. EH PAULINE? N'

nasking

17/05/2013 INTERESTING THAT LYNDAL ENDED THE INTERVIEW WITH AN OVER-THE-TOP SMILE...I'M BEGINNING TO THINK THAT JOURNOS ARE TERRIFIED OF HIM...AND HIS BOSSES... WHICH IS PARTLY WHY THEY CATER TO HIM...ONLY OCCASIONALLY TRIPPING HIM UP...BUT THEN SEEING THE VIPER...AND BACKING OFF. COMPARE THE GENERALLY SOFTBALL INTERVIEW BY LYNDAL WITH ABBOTT - APART FROM THAT FOLLOW UP - AND THE ANTAGONISTIC, AGGRESSIVE, CONSTANTLY INTERRUPTING, RELENTLESSLY NEGATIVE, OPINIONATED INTERVIEW WITH BILL SHORTEN. BIAS BIAS BIAS. INCONSISTENT INTERVIEW BEHAVIOUR ON PART OF ABC. SHORTEN HELD UP WELL THO. MADE GOOD POINTS. N'

Ad astra

17/05/2013LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

nasking

17/05/2013 PRETTY DISGUSTING THE ABC 24 GIVING NEWS LTD A BIG OPPORTUNITY TO SPRUIK ITS DIGITAL SHIFT...FOX SPORTS ETC. MICHAEL ROWLAND, LADY IN BLUE, ABC TEAM...YER A BLOODY DISGRACE. WHAT ABOUT GIVING ALTERNATIVE MEDIA THE SAME OPPORTUNITY? N'

nasking

17/05/2013 VERY QUIET ON HERE. CASABLANCA, MICHAEL GOOD STUFF. THNX FOR THE LINKS LYN. THAT TURNLEFT POST WORTH READING. I'VE RUN OUT OF STEAM...BEEN A HEAVY PERIOD FOR MY EYES. DID MY BEST. APOLOGIES IF IT SEEMED I WAS POSTING TOO MUCH. JUST GET PASSIONATE. DETEST SNAKES SNEAKING UP... AND SOFTLY SPOKEN SCUMBAGS. AND SNAKE OIL SALESMEN AND WOMEN. AND RELIGIOUS FANATICS...CHRISTIAN CRUSADERS IN LEAGUE WITH GREEDY MEGA-RICH MINERS AND MEDIA MOGULS. OVER TO YOU. N'

nasking

17/05/2013 YES, [b]POPULISM OF THE WORST KIND.[/b] WELL SAID BARRIE. JUST LIKE PALIN.

Lucy

17/05/2013Hi everyone this is me. http://www.mysunshinecoast.com.au/articles/article-display/small-business-owner-lucy-stanton-will-lead-labors-fight-for-wide-bay,29832 Yep watch out Warren I'm the ALP candidate for Wide Bay

Ad astra

17/05/2013Lucy [b]Congratulations on being endorsed as the Labor Candidate for Wide Bay at the upcoming Federal election. We wish you every success.[/b]

nasking

17/05/2013 JUST HAD TO SAY, CONGRATS LUCY. YA KNOW, YOU MENTION HOW YOU VOLUNTEER WITH THE SALVATION ARMY...RATHER THAN A NON-RELIGIOUS GROUP. I'VE NOTICED A LOT OF ALPers ARE INTO RELIGIOUS GROUPS. I GUESS THAT'S. TURN OFF FOR ME BECAUSE I PREFER WE FUND NON-RELIGIOUS GROUPS WHO AREN'T INTO CONVERTING...THO, I GUESS THE SALVATION ARMY HAS BEEN EFFECTIVE. I WISH YOU WELL...AS A SMALL BUSINESS OWNING LABORITE. BTW, I'VE NOTICED LOTTA DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ALP AND GREENS NOW...REAL RIFT...ON ISSUES LIKE THE MINING TAX, ASYLUM SEEKERS, COAL SEAM GAS, PROTECTING THE GREAT BARRIER REEF, THE AFGHAN WAR, DEFENCE SPENDING, URANIUM MINING, SINGLE MUM AND NEWSTART PAYMENTS, HIGHER EDUCATION CUTS, OVERSEAS AID, FREE TRADE, LIVE EXPORTS...YOU NAME IT. I RECKON THE GREENS AND ALP NOT GETTING ON TOO WELL. LABOR HAS MOVED SOOO FAR TO THE RIGHT. LIKE THE HAWKE/KEATING DAYS. MAKES IT HARD FOR GREEN LABORITES LIKE ME...WHO HAVE SOME CLASSIC LIBERAL TENDENCIES. BUT...I LIKE THE IDEA LABOR IS INTO EQUITABLE, AFFORDABLE EDUCATION, DISABILITY REFORM AND HAS THE NBN...AND PUSHES SUPERANNUATION. IT'S JUST I DIG MANY OF THOSE GREEN STANCES MENTIONED ABOVE. AND I BELIEVE ABBOTT WILL PERMIT THE STATES TO DO THE OZSTERITY MEASURES BIT...WHILST GINA GETS TAX CUTS...AND MURDOCH. PLEASE GET ON TOP OF CHILDCARE. THE ABC LEARNING CHILDCARE DEBACLE WAS A DISASTER DUE TO HOWARD POLICIES...DON'T GIVE ABBOTT AN OPENING. AND RETHINK PPL. DOWN THE ROAD. BTW, I DETEST CLIMATE CHANGE SCEPTICS...THEY REMIND ME OF THOSE WHO DEFENDED HAVING NO SEAT BELTS AND SMOKING ALL THOSE YEARS AGO. SO MANY MILLIONS OF CASUALTIES. GOOD LUCK LUCY. N'

Lucy

17/05/2013Thanks ad for your good wishes. Thanks Nasking. There is a clear difference and plenty for voters to consider when making a choice this September.

nasking

17/05/2013 GOTTA ADMIT, THE RUDDSTER IS GOOD AT GETTING THE MESSAGE ACROSS. I LIKE THAT SERIOUS SIDE WITHOUT TOO MUCH FOLKSY STUFF. HE SOUNDED PASSIONATE AND CONVINCING. N'

Tom of Melbourne

17/05/2013I think it's great that people get involved in politics. But the ALP bottles up all the winnable seats for union hacks, when was the last time the ALP preselected a rank and file member won preselection for a winnable seat? However the margin is under 20% so pack your bags!

Truth Seeker

17/05/2013Congrats Lucy, :-) and as an ALP supporter living in Fisher and hoping for a change of heart here in this LNP heartland, I wish you well :-) Brough is complete scum, and I would even consider voting for Slipper to fragment their vote if I thought it would bring Brough down. Anyway Good luck, and I hope you trounce them in Wide Bay. Cheers :-) :-)

Pikiranku

17/05/2013I've just sat down, haven't had a chance to read anything here yet, so apologies if someone has already linked to this. If they haven't, DO read it. You'll love it - how the polls were so totally and hopelessly wrong on the outcome of the British Columbian election: http://www.threehundredeight.com/2013/05/polling-industry-dealt-major-blow-in-bc.html And congratulations, Lucy! That's very exciting, wonderful news.

lawriejay

17/05/2013Lucy : In thee we Trusst - Go Girl !

Curi-Oz

17/05/2013Congratulations on your first win Lucy, Lady in Red. Love the idea that QLD might send such a smart lady to Canberra later this year!

bob macalba

17/05/2013Go LiR , congratulations and best wishes, cheers

Janet (j4gypsy)

17/05/2013 Hey Lucy, fabulous news to hear you've 'put your shoes on', grabbed those diamonds from the sky and become Wide Bay's Lady in Red! Congratulations! Couldn't have a more astute candidate, and you'll have great local support from Lynnie, and Noely, amongst many others. How about you tell us how WE can help you knock off a dinosaur? Cheering for you.

bob macalba

17/05/2013TT... didnt get a chance to thank you for the youtube music video the other day, cheers it was most excellent, internet playing up lately and it rudely dropped out and only returned today, got lots of reading to catch up on and it looks like Naskings been pretty busy. cheers

nasking

17/05/2013 SHOULD BE AN INTERESTING FEW DAYS. TICK TOCK. N'

angrybee101

17/05/2013NAS, 8:36am WHICH NEWS JOURNO IS MICHAEL ROWLAND MARRIED TO..? I'VE SEEN THIS MENTIONED BEFORE BUT CAN NOT FIND ANYTHING ON THE WEB.

Lucy

17/05/2013Thanks everyone, even our nemesis. Jan absolutely need all the help we can get. I'll keep you informed.

42 long

17/05/2013Go Lucy. Labor get better candidates than the others.

42 long

17/05/2013Why does Brandis seem to have a hotline to the AFP? Is there any way of tracing all the communication between him and them? The cosy arrangement that seems to exist has to be explained or we have a problem of some magnitude.

Lucy

17/05/2013Thanks 42 long. I think its the different ideologies. I couldn't imagine trying to defend the unfairness & unaffordable PPL or Direct Action or indeed the coalition stance on education. Investing in our future is such a strong Labor value.

Janet (j4gypsy)

17/05/2013I try not to post whole articles, but THIS is fascinating, perhaps especially as now TPS had a Fed Labor candidate?(just owning you for a little while longer Lucy :-)) [b]Bob Katter's Australian Party tearing itself apart[/b] by [i]Jason Tin[/i] [i]BOB Katter's Australian Party is "imploding", with senior figures deserting their posts, membership plummeting and a regional delegate turned-Clive Palmer ally accusing his former colleagues of constant infighting.[/i] At least five KAP state shadow cabinet members yesterday told The Courier-Mail they had either stepped down from their positions or were on the cusp of doing so. One shadow spokesman did not even realise his membership had expired, while another is demanding answers from both Mr Katter and his son Rob as to why there has been an exodus from the KAP's upper ranks. This comes on the back of the resignation of national director Aidan McLindon and party vice-president and chair of finance Kevin Brown. Former first-class cricketer Carl Rackemann has resigned as Shadow Agriculture spokesman, Lyn Bishop as Health spokeswoman, Keith Douglas as Shadow Tourism Minister and Michael Bates as Shadow Attorney-General. Mr Bates yesterday discovered his membership had actually expired but when asked whether he planned to renew it said he would "wait and see". He said there was a feeling of "radical change" in the air that would lead to either "collapse or renewal". palmer Clive Palmer, Scott Higgins and Glenn Lazarus line up for photographs at this morning's announcement. Industrial Relations spokeswoman and union liaison officer Belinda Johnson said she would be making a decision whether to step down once she had spoken with Mr Katter and his son. "Why are the key players leaving the party and what is the future?" she plans to ask them. "I am concerned about what's going on." Mr Rackemann said he did not "think it clearly enough through" before accepting his senior role, adding he had a "pretty neglected farm", "too much on (his) plate" and family responsibilities to consider. Ms Bishop said she had "no time" to fulfill her duties while Mr Douglas said the "workload's a little too heavy", adding that he plans to seek a senate position. Many are also concerned the unpaid positions are distracting them from other aspects of their lives and are becoming unsustainable. Party sources say the "lack of enthusiasm" and "disgruntlement" had also spread to its federal ranks. It comes as billionaire Clive Palmer yesterday announced NSW State of Origin veteran and former Broncos player Glenn Lazarus would be leading his senate team. Lazarus did not answer questions yesterday but said he planned to "tackle the difficult issues". The Palmer United Party has also snagged former KAP faithful Bevan Collingwood, who said he left Mr Katter's political outfit feeling "very let down", with aspects of the party being "set up to fail" and members "squabbling" over Senate spots. "In the end it was just about who was going to be the top of the senate ticket," he said, claiming that party membership had fallen from more than 3500 to what he estimated to be about 350. Mr Katter, Rob Katter and Ray Hopper did not return calls seeking comment. Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national-news/queensland/bob-katters-australian-party-tearing-itself-apart/story-fndo4ckr-1226644805119#ixzz2TWBPTxLa

42 long

17/05/2013Would only in the State of Queensland are politics like they are be the way it is. Pretty hilarious. although the "state" of Queensland is not funny. ( For most)

Ad astra

17/05/2013Hi Lyn Your links as usual were marvellous. Don’t you love what The Kouk writes. One of the few balanced economics writers who tell it as it is. Mike Seccombe does so too. Here’s a pleasant surprise: the next piece is [i]Who's been playing in MY estate? Yet more ferment in the fourth and fifth[/i] by one of our regular contributors here, Janet (j4gypsy). I’ll post it Sunday evening.

nasking

17/05/2013 WHICH NEWS JOURNO IS MICHAEL ROWLAND MARRIED TO..? ANGRYBEE101, NICOLA WEBBER OF THE HERALD SUN. THIS FROM 2005 IS WAY OUT OF DATE BUT GIVES YOU AN IDEA OF HOW PROBLEMATIC THE SITUATION IS: http://www.crikey.com.au/2005/07/25/hundreds-of-journalistic-couples/ CHEERS N'

angrybee101

17/05/2013NAS THANKS FOR THE INFO AND THE LINK CHEERS!

nasking

17/05/2013 BTW, TONY ABBOTT WAS ADDRESSING HIS FELLOW SNAKES AND RODENTS [b]AND GUESS WHAT, HE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHERE HIS DEPUTY JULIE BISHOP WAS SITTING. [/b] EVEN THO HE'D BOTHERED TO POINT OUT HOWARD, GREINER AND MANY OTHERS... [b]KNOW MATTER HOW HARD HE TRIES, ABBOTT CAN'T HELP BEING A PATRIARCHAL, IGNORANT A-HOLE.[/b] FURTHERMORE, IT'S BECOMING MORE OBVIOUS BY THE DAY THAT ABBOTT & HOCKEY ARE GOING TO SHIFT THE BURDEN OF TAXATION MORE ONTO THE REGULAR FOLK BY WAY OF A BROADER, HIGHER GST... WHILST CUTTING THE CARBON PRICE AND MINING TAX. MAKING THE NBN CONNECTION FOR HOMES LESS AFFORDABLE... AND GIVING A CORPORATE TAX CUT... AND A PAID PARENTAL LEAVE THAT BENEFITS THE LIKES OF JANET ALBRECHTSON. [b]NO MATTER HOW HARD HE TRIES TO CONVINCE US OTHERWISE, ABBOTT CAN'T HELP BEING A BROWN-NOSER FOR THE WELL-OFF AND MEGA-RICH.[/b] N'

Casablanca

17/05/2013angrybee101 Hundreds of journalistic couples Jul 25, 2005 12:00AM Michael Rowland, ABC finance reporter, and Nicola Webber, Herald Sun reporter http://www.crikey.com.au/2005/07/25/hundreds-of-journalistic-couples/

lyn

17/05/2013Hi Lucy, [b] “Congratulations” [/b] They couldn’t have chosen a better or nicer person . Big hugs and waves to you ♥. Bravo well done, we are all so very proud of you.

lyn

17/05/2013Hi Ad, Thankyou Ad you are always so appreciative you make me smile. Yes I do love Stephen he is my idol, love his work and love it when he is on abc24. Stephen is also one of my Twitter friends. Always friendly and will answer all & any questions. I share your opinion of Mike Seccombe who is genuine and truthful, his articles are always enjoyable I am very excited about Janie our Gypsy’s article being posted on TPS . How many VIP’s do we have lots eh!

Tom of Melbourne

17/05/2013[i]” Don’t you love what The Kouk writes. One of the few balanced economics writers who tell it as it is. [/i]” He’s the nincompoop that said our debt is like having an income of $100,000pa and a mortgage of $10,000. What a dill, he simply doesn’t understand the difference between turnover and paying expenses from the profit.

nasking

17/05/2013 A MUST WATCH... TONY WINDSOR TELLS US ABOUT ABBOTT'S CHARACTER FLAW... DOBS ON BARNABY JOYCE FOR BEING A HYPOCRITE WHEN IT COMES TO LAND PURCHASES... AND JOYCE HAS WELL-OFF BACKERS NOT FROM NEW ENGLAND... AND WINDSOR RECKONS IT'S NONSENSE THAT THERE IS A DEBATE ABOUT THE NBN CONSIDERING THE NEEDS OF A BIG COUNTRY... HE GOES ON TO TELL OF THE COALITION EVEN MAKING LAST MINUTE ISSUES ABOUT DISABILITYCARE...MUCH TO DO WITH ABBOTT'S OPPOSITIONAL STANCE WHICH WINDSOR SEES AS A FLAW... NOR DOES HE THINK THE COALITION WILL WIN THE SENATE AND TONY ABBOTT IF HE WINS WON'T HANDLE THAT WELL: http://media.smh.com.au/news/national-times/windsor-on-character-flaws-4280611.html I BELIEVE WINDSOR...SEEMS A DECENT ENUFF BLOKE. N'

Jason

17/05/2013He’s the nincompoop that said our debt is like having an income of $100,000pa and a mortgage of $10,000. I'll happily admit I'm a simple man when it comes to these things so how would you explain it too me?

Michael

17/05/2013Some young idjut on ABC News 24 this morning offered the opinion that watching Abbott give his budget in reply speech, he looked "presidential". Apart from the fact that the local lawn bowls club has a 'president', the debating society down the road, the tiddlywinks society around the corner, too, what in Australia does looking "presidential" actually mean? Let me offer this definition, if the young idjut was actually referring to national leaders with the title "President": Anywhere in the world you look, 'looking Presidential' is looking like a harried man in a suit.

Sir Ian Crisp

17/05/2013I see that the Abbott budget reply speech has been given an overall ringing endorsement by a variety of people. One of Abbott’s MPs gave it a score of 11 out of 10. That same person is very hard to please and is considered a financial savant. Then Abbott’s mother had her say. She is a taciturn woman who is a hard marker. She said she was proud of her son Tony and she waxed enthusiastic; Australia had a very bright and prosperous future under her son’s tutelage. She was not so forthcoming when asked to comment on the current alleged Treasurer and his alleged budget. She said something about how the Dunning-Kruger effect had found its way into the ranks of ALP MPs; and not for the first time. She is a very observant woman and said that Mr Swan was reading a book “Understanding Finance for Dummies” while he was delivering his alleged budget.

TalkTurkey

17/05/2013LUCY! Congratulations and BEST WISHES! You got dem runnin' shoes on den Gal? You are in for the fight of your life, one I know all too well from my brother's time in Parliament, nothing like it for adrenalin, well not for months on end anyway. You now add personal involvement to all Swordsfolks. Whacko you. You didn't just come out, you charged! We're going to be following your fortunes particularly, and it will energise us all. Brilliant news. Thank you for your commitment! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I want EVERYONE to read this story attentively, I have my reasons, hope you may find out what's afoot soon. http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/how-will-tony-cope-in-jail/

TalkTurkey

17/05/2013Rob Quantock tells Global Hotting-Up the way it will be! http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013//humour/rod-quantock-global-warmings-just-not-funny/

nasking

17/05/2013 [b]Anywhere in the world you look, 'looking Presidential' is looking like a harried man in a suit.[/b] Indeed Michael...a corporate servant. Abbott and co are here to serve...the likes of Ms. Gina, Mr. Rupert... ------ BTW, my wife was able to adjust the glare on this iPad so I can see the words better...no more need for capitals. N'

TalkTurkey

17/05/2013My busy day on Twitter! Not all are self-explanatory and some are retweets by others but you get the picture, I'm out to do what I can to help win this BLOODY ELECTION! And Lucy you are wished well by several on Twitter including David Donovan! And GYPSY JAN I can't wait to read your LEAD ARTICLE here! Gee I'm getting rushes here. [b]WOMEN WILL WIN US THIS ELECTION![/b] Tweets TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 2m @Manic_Henry You never replied to my tweet about the Fujifilm W3 stereo camera. TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 6m @AsGrayAsGray @pepiermargot But just to be sure, And truly secure, $30 Billion won't do 'er - SHE HAS TO HAVE MOAR! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 9m @ningbojoe True, more or less, but actually Murdoch has them in his pocket. Kate ‏@IrateResident 19m #Lateline Alberici/abc/MurdochMSM/Biz i know i can look Disabled Pple in the face & say i Tried 2 help make Life Easier 4 u #NDIS Can u Lot? Retweeted by TalkTurkey Ashley Leahy ‏@AshleyLeahy 26m Libs & Abbott will increase taxes to biz by a whopping 1.5% & increase GST to every man & his dog! It fits, they were highest taxers #auspol Retweeted by TalkTurkey 47m @markjs1 @Belldareu Quelle cochonne! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 48m @markjs1 @Belldareu She thinks that does too. TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 49m @Fact @defenseAU The bubbles set up currants in the champagne that do the raisin, oh Turkey that's weak. Simon Banks ‏@SimonBanksHB 55m Please keep repeating fact that LNP were a bigger credit risk than @AustralianLabor @Manlyboyze Good one @SwannyDPM @banksy65 TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 1h STOP The POPISH PLOT! Because if ever Abborrrtt got in he would FUNDAMENTALLY alter Australia to a RELIGION-CONTROLLED SOCIETY! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 1h NO ROTTEN THING ABBORRRTT DOES COUNTS after each Sunday because ARSEBIGOT PELL ABSOLVES HIM! FFS Don't You Get It? TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 1h WHY IS NO-ONE ELSE focussing on ROMAN CATHOLIC RELIGIOMANIA trying to seize control of Australia? Are you all too f*cking POLITE? No Fibs Geek ‏@geeksrulz 3h @4corners so quick & nimble to get onto tabloid Tom Waterhouse story. Why so slow & useless on James Ashby story? Tells a story. #4corners Retweeted by TalkTurkey TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 1h @mytwocentsandme I do make typoes but never grammer or spelling misteaks! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 1h I can imagine no worse fate for Australia my homeland than 2B seized by religious fundamentalist Abbortt +PyneTurdballMorriscumPellMurdoch! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 1h DON'T LET ROMAN CATHOLICISM SEIZE AUSTRALIA. BE VERY AFRAID! ABORT ABBORRRRT! All his main Droogs are FUNDAMENTALIST RELIGIOMANES! DELENDA! Neil W ‏@nkweggs 1h Catholic Church like mafia and drug cartels - lawyer http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/catholic-church-like-mafia-and-drug-cartels-lawyer-5440551 … via @ONENewsNZ Wonderful religious cult this one Retweeted by TalkTurkey [b]Empress Noely of QLD ‏@YaThinkN 2h Anyone who would like to support Lucy in her battle in #WideBay, please follow her on @louinoosa [/b]http://www.mysunshinecoast.com.au/articles/article-display/small-business-owner-lucy-stanton-will-lead-labors-fight-for-wide-bay,29832 … Retweeted by TalkTurkey TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 2h @MikeRStuchbery Is there a CAT one? TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 2h @Hoobs07 Cripes. When she finally bursts ... ! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 2h Tony Abborrrtt is squeaky clean for a moment every Sunday. Catholicism! ALL your CRIMES are forgiven! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 2h @CEMB_forum @PakistanAtheist Catholics try to impose the same, they haven't quite got the same control tho', not quite but too much anyway. TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 2h If Twitter extended its 140 characters to 200 LIMERICKS would be ever so much easier and prettier to write here! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 2h @KoenjiEikaiwa O yes Gina RindLard is big! For others she don't give a fig! A Gargantuan Guzzler: I wish I could muzzle 'er! Oz's #1 PIG! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 2h I love ppl considering my tweets worth retweeting, Thanks to all, may each decent Tweep feel part of struggle to keep Aust Tea-Party-free! Expand Collapse Unusual Facts ™ ‏@UnusuaIFacts 16 May [b]Marijuana = The number 1 pain reliever & Anti-Depressant on Earth (ILLEGAL). Cigarettes = The number 1 cause of death on Earth (LEGAL). [/b]Retweeted by TalkTurkey TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 2h @jackel53 More like 1550's Catholics! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 2h @TriSam81 @RichardDawkins I escaped baptism but I did get circumcised, bloody religious crap, I'm not Jewish or anything but non theist! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 2h BREAKING! LUCY STANTON (aka Lady in Red on http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/ ENDORSED ALP CANDIDATE 4 WIDE BAY a/g TRUSSzzz !http://www.mysunshinecoast.com.au/articles/article-display/small-business-owner-lucy-stanton-will-lead-labors-fight-for-wide-bay,29832 … TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 10h I know something VERY interesting socio-politically that you don't know, & I can't tell you either, but Tweeps might find out very soon. :-) TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 13h Do you relish living in a CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST RELIGIOUS SOCIETY with Abborrrtt-type hypocrite "Christians" in charge? Jesus would DIE! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 13h @jackel53 Guess who's Catholic in ABC: RowlandsTrioliCurtis WormtongueJonesUhlmanBarronIgguldenSimkinLeakyBurk?! That's the way to do it! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 14h @TalkyTurkey Abborrrtt is a religious fundamentalist.He doesn't believe in evolution! Creationism will become accepted as in the dingbat US! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 14h @TalkyTurkey Abborrrt would change Aust FUNDAMENTALLY twds RELIGIOSITY! Forward to the NEW DARK AGES! DON'T LET IT HAPPEN COMRADES! FIGHT! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 14h LNP front bench nearly all Catholic,NOT the kind of Mick 2 put Country B4 Politics. (As decent Catholics agree 2B be proper.) Religiomanes! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 14h @LeslieHammondQC @ABCNews24 @smh It is a Catholic push to seize Australia. ALL main LNP R Micks. Bye secular educn, liberal abortion, FIE! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 14h Australian Government is supposedly avowedly secular-Can you imagine religion playing no part in the Catholic cabal that wants 2 grab power? TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 15h @newscomauHQ Phutwicks! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 15h @watermelon_man David I'm sorry to say this but you deserve a whack for predicting a Labor loss. WE WILL NOT LOSE! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 15h The entire LNP is a Roman Catholic cabal. PiG~THiNGAbborrtt, SnottyJoe, Turdball, + Credlin+Pell+ Murdoch himself! Aussies RU OK with that? TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 15h @lynlinking Lyn's lovely Links- Read 'em & U R up-to-date & fully informed on best the Fighting 5th has 2 offer. TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 15h @GMegalogenis Both statements would be lies. TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 15h So did Clive Palmhair actually get to register his party by any name? TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 15h @NationalTimesAU No need, we got Mark Kenny, he got all the Nazi excuses we need. TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 16h @Jackthelad1947 Pyne is a LIAR. LIAR LIAR LIAR! TalkTurkey ‏@TalkyTurkey 16h @19thwife @BreakfastNews Sure looks like she eats lots and lots and lots of cake!

Curi-Oz

17/05/2013I've just been indulging in watching the Twitter stream and am coming to the conclusion that either there are a hell of a lot of people who:- * only read the MSM news feeds * are actually spam-bots repeating certain statements for the LNP * paid operatives for the LNP who've swallowed stupid pills I wish I could work out why they were all so angry and defensive though?

lyn

18/05/2013Today’s Links Small Business Owner Lucy Stanton Will Lead Labor's Fight For Wide Bay our Lady in Red Lucy, @louinoosa The Australian Labor Party has endorsed local software developer Lucy Stanton as the Labor Candidate for Wide Bay in the coming federal election. http://www.mysunshinecoast.com.au/business/display/lucy-stanton-labor-candidate-for-wide-bay,40815,2885 Tony Abbott’s cut-price budget reply by @independentaus I JUST listened to Tones’ budget reply. The first thing that struck me was his voice. Like NRL caller Ray Warren, who always sounds like an ocker turning on a posh accent for his prospective mother-in-law, Tones was clearly putting it on. http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/tony-abbotts-cut-price-budget-reply/ Tony greeted with the sound of one hand clapping @macro_business The silence could be out down to a few things: there is nothing to say because there are no policies the loon pond media and market want Tony to win http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2013/05/tony-greeted-with-the-sound-of-one-hand-clapping/ Abbott budget reply: mind the gap between rhetoric and reality by Bernard Keane Hockey was exactly right, of course, but his logic has been rejected as politically inconvenient by Abbott. The result: a “budget emergency” so bad you can throw $4 billion at taxpayers for no reason. http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/05/17/abbott-budget-reply-mind-the-gap-between-rhetoric-and-reality/ Why Abbott will have to clean up Labor's super tax mess by @1petermartin Now scarcely functioning (and set to be abolished by the Coalition) the mining tax will raise just $200 million this year and a total of 5.5 billion over five years if it survives. http://www.petermartin.com.au/2013/05/why-abbott-will-have-to-clean-up-labors.html Abbott accused of hiding cuts until after election By Naomi Woodley Tony Abbott has conducted a media blitz to sell his economic plan, denying Labor's claims that he is saving his harshest spending cuts until after the election and cannot be trusted. In his budget reply speech last night, http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2013-05-17/abbott-accused-of-hiding-cuts-until-after-election/1132290 Department of the Treasury - Australian Government : Abbott should rule out considering GST changes by @ForTraders Tony Abbott has refused to rule out considering changes to the GST as part of his proposed tax white paper. Mr Abbott has committed to a review of taxation if elected to Government but has refused to rule out considering the GST as part of that review http://www.4-traders.com/news/Department-of-the-Treasury-Australian-Government-Abbott-should-rule-out-considering-GST-changes--16868549/ The Budget by Townsville Labor despite his busy schedule, a schedule so busy he couldn't make his way into the chamber when the DisabilityCare funding was being introduced, Tony Abbott did find time to talk to the ABC and to tell the nation how important an NDIS is to him and how important he thinks it is for this nation. http://www.townsvillelabor.org/1/post/2013/05/the-budget.html Making sense of Budget 2013 Richard Denniss on ABC 666 Canberra with Genevieve Jacobs https://www.tai.org.au/index.php?q=node%2F19&pubid=1161&act=display Coalition hit list by David Griffiths Services and support on the chopping block as Abbott cuts to the bone. Tony Abbott has placed billions of dollars of vital services and support on the chopping block. http://www.australiasmassmedia.com/2013/05/17/coalition-hit-list/ An Open Letter to Leigh Sales , Jon Faine & Abbott sort of Approves Swan’s Budget by @FairMediaAllian And, just to put it all in a nutshell – you both know that you are aiding and abetting a media whose agenda is to smear and depose our elected government. http://fairmediaalliance.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/an-open-letter-to-leigh-sales-and-jon-faine-and-abbott-sort-of-approves-swans-budget/ Education Abbott Style @MigloMT, by @saint13333 what ever happened to “If there is no carbon tax you don’t need any compensation. And of course he was back to “Stopping the boats” where as last week Scott Morrison was saying they would only be able to bring it back to John Howard levels.” Now Mr. Abbott is guaranteeing to bring down energy prices by 10%. Bloody hell http://theaimn.com/2013/05/17/education-abbott-style/ Bombast + Humbug by Gary Sauer-Thompson Both Tony Abbott and Matthias Gorman on Radio National Breakfast espoused austerity economics, which, they claimed , would lead to a anew age of prosperity. These claims (bombast and humbug were not contested by the journalists even though the flaws of this pre-Keynesian economics were covered over by the rhetoric http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2013/05/bombast-humbug.php Prose for Gina by @newsfliporg Gina Rinehart is a symbol of the most mundane, predictable outcome of capitalism in its most banal and meaningless form. Her personal expectations are repeated uncritically in the mass media superstructure - an institution that she seeks more and more control of http://www.newsflip.org/2013/05/prose-for-gina.html Fact check: will scrapping the carbon price lower electricity prices? by Dylan McConnell It’s worth remembering too that even without the carbon price, electricity prices are predicted to rise. Climate Change Authority research suggests that without the carbon price, the rise would with be slightly smaller, with retail electricity prices just 6% lower. http://theconversation.com/fact-check-will-scrapping-the-carbon-price-lower-electricity-prices-14408 Gone Giles Parkinson solar The more households and businesses turn to solar, and progressively to storage, the more the networks will need to extract revenue from fixed charges and their remaining clients. This could initiate a “death spiral”: the more utilities appear to declare war on their customers http://inside.org.au/gone-solar/ Bolt In The Blue: UPDATED by Bernard Lagan According to Bolt, The Global Mail “wails” about “the vanishing island” of Kiribati, in its coverage of the tiny South Pacific nation. Meanwhile, Bolt implies that climate change hasn’t affected Kiribati at all. http://www.theglobalmail.org/blog/bolt-in-the-blue-updated/617/ How Values influence Policy by @AusVotes2013 Now looking at the Labor Party Values, from their national platform document we observe three main Values , Opportuny, Fairness, Responsibility. http://ausvotes2013.com/2013/05/17/how-values-influence-policy/ Liberal Pre-Election Lies and Misdirection by @wrb330 LNP used Austerity as they wanted to, there would be a financial emergency in Australia, business shut-downs, high unemployment, US style property for-closures and a National recession. The LNP says Austerity works, yes it does, if you prefer high unemployment, business closures & http://wrb330.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/liberal-pre-election-lies-and-misdirection/ Gina Rinehart, The ATM by @archiearchive Just as I pay rent to a landlord, so do you. And I am your landlord. If I decide to put up your rent, then either pay up or move out. http://archiearchive.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/gina-rinehart-the-atm/ Tony Abbott announces the Oprah Winfrey of budget replies: You can have free money and You and You by @turnleft2013 Tony Abbott’s use of “You” throughout the budget (eg. “It is not about us. It is about you”), is not the accepted way of speaking on the floor of the House Of Representatives, where “You” is discouraged. http://turnleft2013.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/tony-abbott-announces-the-oprah-winfrey-of-budget-replies-you-can-have-free-money-and-you-and-you/ Meds by @madwixxy It has been reported to Wixxyleaks that the wedding has been postponed, however it is not known for how long as yet, or even if it is permanently postponed. http://wixxyleaks.com/2013/05/17/meds/ Today’s Front Pages Australian Newspaper Front Pages for 18 May 2013 http://www.thepaperboy.com/australia/front-pages.cfm News headlines http://www.hotheadlines.com.au/

TalkTurkey

18/05/2013Lynnie you are just fantastic Mike Carlton gives the PM a rare bit of recognition including a broadside at the curmudgeons of the LNP. http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/a-magnificent-pm--when-she-drops-her-guard-20130517-2jrny.html And coincidentally I JUST THIS MOMENT saw that Mike Carlton is to be a guest on Q&A on Monday! Might be worth watching if Wormtongue Jones can STFU as soon as anyone says anything positive about Labor.

Michael

18/05/2013Apparently Abbott sees the role of Prime Minister as Comedian in Chief. When asked on television what he would say about his planned canceling of national education reform to the man most associated with it, businessman David Gonski, he turned to the audience with a big smirk on his face, and said "G'day". Hilarious! Howard era education funding, which Abbott and Christopher Pyne maintain "ain't broke", will continue, should the Coalition be elected, to favour private schools charging tens of thousand dollars annual attendance fees. And kids at public schools without even a School Kids Bonus to at least start the year in reasonable order? Make do. That's the message to them in carried over 'Howard Golden Age' education funding, "make do". Sounds like rhyming slang to me, and just about as cynical and sarcastic as Abbott's oh so witty "G'day".

Gravel

18/05/2013Lucy/LadyInRed Congratulations and good luck. I will always think of you as LIR and hope you wear lots of red and it suits your personality. You probably won't have much time to come here now, but when you get stressed it's a good place to wind down.

Ad astra

18/05/2013LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

Lucy

18/05/2013Thanks Lyn. So kind. And thanks to you Gravel I will pop in that's for sure. Michael there is a nastiness and inerrant meanness on display over school funding from the Libs. There's a tone that implies that it is the fault of teachers and the fault of parents that our children are being let down by the education system. They refuse to take the facts and stats on board. For them they are an inconvenience so lets just ignore them. 89% of kids from the poorest regions are reading below average. As an advocate for life long learning this statistic on its own appals me. Learning to read is fundamental to life, its not an optional add-on.

paul walter

18/05/2013Sorry. All I can see is fowl play.

Ken

18/05/2013Lucy - Have only just caught up with your preselection. Congratulations and good luck. Sell the message for real! I was also interested in Abbott's claim that abolishing the Carbon Tax would help household budgets. One of Lyn's links answered my key question of what that actually meant - a saving of about $2 a week, not even a cup of coffee. Big Deal!! How does $2 a week help. Especially since he won't rule out changes to the GST. If food, health and education were added to the GST that would cost about $30 a week (based on the ABS CPI basket of goods and services) on top of a saving of $2. And giving tax relief (as was done when the GST was first introduced)equating to $30 a week would cost billions to Commonwealth revenue, especially if the GST, as now, continues to go the the States. Under that scenario, there is little doubt that the Commonwealth (under the LNP) would reduce it role in education and health on the basis that it has foregone revenue that is offset by increases (the GST)to the States. That fits with Abbott's pronouncements that the Commonwealth does not deliver health services and does not need a health bureaucracy. So one can see that this all fits together - increase the GST (or include currently excluded items), forego long term revenue at the Commonwealth level, but give the increases to the States and reduce/eliminate Commonwealth services consistent with the "small government" strategy. No wonder Abbott won't rule out changes to GST.

patriciawa

18/05/2013Congratulations, Lucy! Your selection tells us again about the quality of our Labor team coming up for election, someone we already know. I've always appreciated your comments here as Lady in Red. Talk Turkey! Lots of laughs with your twitteering there, but always apposite, and how do you keep turning them out at that pace! Very telling point you make there...... [i][b]Marijuana = The number 1 pain reliever & Anti-Depressant on Earth (ILLEGAL). Cigarettes = The number 1 cause of death on Earth (LEGAL).[/b][/i] Lyn, thank you for your unfailing presence here and as always linking me into the reality of our political scene, ghastly though it has been to read about some of it today. I imagine it gets you down too at times!

patriciawa

18/05/2013Where is Tacker? How do I find him?

patriciawa

18/05/2013What's happened to Tacker here at TPS? He's with me at Cafe Whispers. How can I find him?

Janet (j4gypsy)

18/05/2013 Patricia, to get your Tacker gravatar back you will probably have to re-enter your email address and the name you use on the blog, as well as country. Hope this helps.

Ad astra

18/05/2013Hi Lyn Well, I’ve now finished reading Today’ Links and have bookmarked six of them for my next piece which will address the subject of political hatred. Every day, you offer us an always-overflowing well of information that never runs dry. It would take hours of searching to find the gems your draw from your well every day. Thank you. The [i]ausvotes2013[/i] piece on values was sobering reading. If only political values could be the main determinant of voting behaviour, we would have the electorate making rational decisions. Sadly the minds of the voters have been poisoned with propaganda and lies, and values have been pushed into the background. I will address these matters in my next piece, which is the one after Jan’s piece that I’ll post on Sunday evening.

Tom of Melbourne

18/05/2013Ad Astra said – [i]” If only political values could be the main determinant of voting behaviour, we would have the electorate making rational decisions. Sadly the minds of the voters have been poisoned with propaganda and lies, and values have been pushed into the background.[/i] Yet again Ad Astra lectures us on his view that voters are too dumb to choose their own government. More likely is that the political values the public prefer include honesty & integrity, fiscal prudence, consistencey & discipline in decision making and loyalty. On each this government has been a dismal failure. But Ad Astra ignores all the evidence of political and leadership failure, and blames a dumb electorate and the media.

Janet (j4gypsy)

18/05/2013A little bit more reading from today's media. [b]Narrow focus on surplus misses the point[/b] [i]Ross Gittins[/i] May 18 As we learnt this week, the budget balance for this year is now expected to be a deficit of $19.4 billion rather than a surplus of $1.5 billion. Why? Not because the government has continued to spend like a drunken sailor, as some would have you believe, but because the budget didn't whirr back as it was expected to. Rather than growing strongly, tax collections grew by a lot less than expected. Contrary to what most economists were expecting, when the high coal and iron ore prices feeding the resources boom began to fall back, the dollar didn't fall back with them. http://www.theage.com.au/business/federal-budget/narrow-focus-on-surplus-misses-the-point-20130517-2jrvm.html#ixzz2Tc2jcwEl [b]The Look of Fear [/b][i]Bushfire Bill[/i] Whatever Abbott’s BIR speech was, it wasn’t the Gettysburg Address that the pundits are saying it was. The whole thing was stage-managed from the start. From the adoring fans in the gallery, to the heartfelt, earnest looks into the camera, it was a put-up job. You can always tell when Abbott is nervous. His voice goes up an octave. There it was on Thursday, shrill and feathery, almost boyish, as revealing as his new hairdo, the disappeared wrinkles, and the smarmy photos of him and Margie, looking like they’ve long forgotten how to embrace each other. Very American. He only talks to captive audiences, bussed-in from the nearest Liberal enclave. Murdoch – Randolph Hearst to Abbott’s Marion Davies – gives him free publicity, adoring reviews in rags like the Daily Telegraph, phoney gravitas in The Australian, and use of the high tech Foxtel studio space for speeches about the NBN (as if we needed any reminding that Murdoch’s pay-TV operations are in dire trouble from a fast NBN). http://pbxmastragics.com/2013/05/18/the-look-of-fear/ [b]Labor will not increase GST: Shorten[/b] [i]Robert Upe [/i] Mr Shorten, the Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation, said on Saturday that Labor will not increase the GST. He said Labor favoured a mining tax rather thanslugging ‘mums and dads' with a GST increase. ‘If Tony Abbott was elected he would give money back to the world’s richest mining companies, but he is saying to the mums and dads doing their shopping on a Saturday, ‘I want you to pay more for tax’. These are crazy priorities. http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/labor-will-not-increase-gst-shorten-20130518-2jszk.html#ixzz2Tc8e7tT4 [b]Dispute over Coalition's budget savings figures[/b] [i]ABC News[/i] Mr Abbott announced $5 billion in savings, mostly to be spent on keeping carbon tax compensation. The Opposition Leader said he would save up to $400 million by scrapping Labor's green loans scheme, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC). But Finance Minister Penny Wong says it is not a saving because the money is no longer in the budget. She said the Government revealed last month that the scheme had to be financially self-sufficient. "We made it very clear in the investment mandate that they would lend on a commercial basis, so there's not a budget impact," Senator Wong said. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-18/dispute-over-coalition-budget-savings-figures/4697744 [b]Abbott focuses on profit not people[/b] [i]Saturday Age Editorial[/i] Mr Abbott's budget reply was an unabashed campaign launch, one that plunged into the saccharin and theatrical when, in his last lines, he stared into the camera on the floor of Parliament and declared: ''It's not about us. It's about you, the Australian people. We pledge ourselves to your service.' Mr Abbott is going to have to do a lot more than play the showman, however. He has about four months to properly reconcile his proposed initiatives with funding sources. If he does not do that much, he will face legitimate questions about the extent to which the Coalition can be trusted with a mandate to govern after September 14. He says ''there will be no nasty surprises and there will be no lame excuses'' under a Coalition government. But, as yet, too much remains unanswered. http://m.smh.com.au/opinion/editorial/abbott-focuses-on-profit-not-people-20130517-2js2r.html [b]Coalition hit list [/b] [i]David Griffith[/i] Services and support on the chopping block as Abbott cuts to the bone Tony Abbott has placed billions of dollars of vital services and support on the chopping block. Mr Abbott has flagged that, unless he says otherwise, he will place vital services and support on the chopping block. By keeping, if needed, all Labor’s budget cuts – and – by not implementing any of their budget spending measures unless specified [BUDGET-IN-REPLY – 16 MAY 2013] This includes funding for schools under the National Plan for School Improvement and funding for cancer care. Mr Abbott needs to come clean – as he cuts to the bone, will these programs be the victims of Mr Abbott’s Commission of Cuts? http://www.australiasmassmedia.com/2013/05/17/coalition-hit-list/ [b]A magnificent PM - when she drops her guard[/b] [i]Mike Carlton[/i] It's when she drops her guard that she's magnificent. Humanity, passion and decency shine through. So it was on Wednesday, when she introduced the DisabilityCare bill to Parliament in a tide of emotion, tears welling, voice choking. Between sobs she spoke well and her words deserve to be remembered: ''The people who've gathered here today from around the country to witness this debate know what this means,'' she croaked. ''There'll be no more 'in principle' and no more 'when circumstances permit'. There'll be launches, not trials; permanent care, not temporary help. 'DisabilityCare Australia starts in seven weeks, and there will be no turning back.' Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/a-magnificent-pm--when-she-drops-her-guard-20130517-2jrny.html#ixzz2TcETxacG

Catching up

18/05/2013Love to listen to Pyne, whining about Labor being negative against Abbott. So one cannot talk about or disagree with what Abbott says. One is only being negative to do so. So any negative comments, when it comes to Abbott are out of bounds, One must only agree. I fixed that problem up, I emailed you about. Have changed tio Firefox for your site.

Tom of Melbourne

18/05/2013I've never heard anyone whine as much as you Catching Up.

Patriciawa

18/05/2013Okay, done all that. And it works! Many thanks, Janet!

Curi-Oz

18/05/2013I've had conversation recently with a local Labor Party candidate and his campaign manager. Because of that conversation and based on what I have read and linked to from here, I have decided that the following should be written to them and the Labor Party in general. http://curiozcorner.wordpress.com I will probably have some more ranting to do before the end of the year *sighs*

MWS

18/05/2013If Abbott increases the GST, then power costs will increase, because the GST is charged on energy bills. So small price on carbon (about 4% of power bills) will be replaced, by (some reckon) a 5% increase in GST from 10% to 15%. I think I'll be better off with a carbon price! And that's not including the increased GST on everything else. Consumption taxes hit the poor disproportionately, because nearly everything that they buy is taxed. However the rich spend their money where GST isn't charged, or the mega-rich (like Gina Rinehart) pay for everything through her family trusts, which probably use a tax loophole to get the GST back as a business expense. Pensioners need to be very cautious about an increase the GST - because their incomes won't rise in proportion.

Gordonwa

18/05/2013Hi Curi-Oz, I'm with you on this. Also, we need to push the benefits of the real NBN over fraudband. Many younger users of the internet are tech savvy so they should be aware of what they will lose if the LNP are elected in September. We need to keep this at the forefront of the online campaign.

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18/05/2013Changes to the GST as flagged by Hewson would decimate people like myself. I haven't been able to afford to eat out for years the restaurants etc have to charge GST . Just imagine if this IMPOST increase to 15 or 20% Would not many businesses do less business? Surely directly raising the price of every article will put a damper on sales. It is inflationary initially but an impost forever. It was to replace wholesale and other taxes back then. What is it supposed to replace this time? Surely it will encourage a "cash economy" and black market. Will this cause more intrusive monitoring of money movements? Will this lead to everyone doing card and online payments It takes no account of ability to pay. I don't buy processed food . have a look at the exemptions obtained by the efforts of the democrats who self destructed as a result of allowing the GT to be introduced at all even in the improved form.. GST is a bad tax for people who spend everything they get, and it must be a burden to administer by small business. Look at the countries who have it and are they doing so well"? ie England. Exports are exempted so a mountain of paperwork is necessary to process that Nothing is cheap in the UK.

Catching up

18/05/2013Tom, nice to be loved.

MWS

18/05/2013I wonder if Abbott is planning to "keep" the ETS (wrongly called "carbon tax") income/tax changes, but repeal the ETS legislation and increase GST on fresh food and the other exemptions (apparently that doesn't require the agreement of all the states), or even increase the GST to 15%? He would claim that we wouldn't be worse off, as we would be getting compensation, even though it's compensation that we would already be receiving? Whatever Abbot is planning, it will be very hard to find out, as the MSM are colluding with the secrecy.

bob macalba

18/05/2013Wish it was here http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/may/17/cannabis-colorados-budding-industry sigh re captcha....skarro Robert,

bob macalba

18/05/2013One for you to dissect Nasking http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/17/west-hidden-propaganda-machine-social-media we are being manipulated but we can fight back

bob macalba

18/05/2013Way off usual topics but interesting http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/may/17/syphilis-sex-fear-borgias cheers

nasking

18/05/2013 MICHAEL @ THE POLITICAL SWORD: When asked on television what he would say about his planned canceling of national education reform to the man most associated with it, businessman David Gonski, he [Abbott] turned to the audience with a big smirk on his face, and said "G'day". ABBOTT'S MORE INTERESTED IN HELPING HIS STATE MATES CLOSE PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND FEEDING KIDS TO HIS MATES IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. SCARY PROSPECT. Mr. 'Coverup' Pell's mate ABBOTT and his whiney deceitful PYNE deciding where kids should learn... SHUDDER. N'

nasking

18/05/2013 bob macalba, you use the available mainstream communication networks to talk to the masses...and gradually bring them over to the alternative sites... yes, in some ways you are contributing to a system that perpetuates some nasty corporate behaviour by being on ad-filled social network sites...but yer aim is to challenge their message...and offer alternative views, policies, projects, businesses that attract viewers, even the rich and influential...and eventually help propel the political and socio-economic system towards healthier, saner forms of appropriation, adaptability, mutation, incorporation... I'm not interested in some violent revolution...more empowerment. And providing, leading way to alternative options. Or tried and true healhier, more harmoniuos, sustainable, methods that have been abandoned, ignored by a toxic corporate state. You use what you have at yer disposal. The idea that we can just ignore the views and projects of the entrepreneurs and investors is ignorant in the extreme...and ignores the great advances in medicine, science and space technology, engineering, transport, education, communications including the INTERNET and the foundations of these blog sites...etc etc that they have contributed to...sometimes in cooperation with the public sphere. Oft using certain aspects of govt funded initiatives, research, infrastructure etc...another reason why taxes are required. We rely own each other. But that does not mean the private sector...nor public is above criticism...and in need of reform...and scrutiny. Everything is in a state of flux...we just need to bring enuff egalitarian stability to things for enuff time that the common good overwhelms the suffering. Utopia but a dream...but what a goal. N'

nasking

18/05/2013 That should be: [b]Or tried and true healhier, more harmonious, sustainable, methods that have been abandoned, ignored by a toxic corporate state. We depend on each other to move forward. Utopia but a dream...ahhh, but what a goal.[/b] N'

nasking

18/05/2013 The bullying MURDOCH empire having a hissy fit. Too used to getting their way for four decades: [b]Lawyer who took Rupert Murdoch's News International to court over hacking complains of 'bully boy tactics' over possible counter-claim Mark Lewis talks of 'pay back' exercise after learning that UK division of Murdoch empire is considering seeking 'wasted costs'[/b] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/lawyer-who-took-rupert-murdochs-news-international-to-court-over-hacking-complains-of-bully-boy-tactics-over-possible-counterclaim-8621424.html RUPERT LIES IN THE BED OF HIS OWN MAKING. N'

nasking

18/05/2013 LESS THAN SUBTLE RUPERT TRYING TO UNDERMINE FACEBOOK INFLUENCE AND MANIPULATE PUBLIC AND SHARE MARKET PERCEPTION... Rupert Murdoch Warns Facebook It could go Same Way As 'Crappy MySpace' http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/05/17/rupert-murdoch-warns-face_n_3293294.html?utm_hp_ref=uk SEEMS HE'S DECLARED WAR ON FACEBOOK...WONDER HOW THE FACEBOOK CROWD WILL TAKE THAT...NOT SITTING DOWN I IMAGINE. RUPERT'S STILL SULKING OVER HIS BAD MYSPACE GOVERNANCE AND LOSSES. KINDA LET NEWS OF THE WORLD SCREW UP TOO EH? AND THAT FOX BUSINESS CHANNEL IS A BIT OF A DOG. AND OBAMA DIDN'T EXACTLY LOSE THE LAST TWO ELECTIONS...REGARDLESS OF HIS AND FOX NEWS' DESPERATE PROPAGANDA EFFORTS. NOR DID THE TORIES GET A MAJORITY GOVT IN THE UK...THO HE BACKED THEM FULLBORE. AND OF COURSE JULIA GILLARD IS STILL STANDING AFTER TWO AND A HALF YEARS...AND WHO KNOWS...IF MURDOCH KEEPS RANTING AGAINST HER AND HER GOVT THE TIDE MIGHT TURN? WAS IT REALLY A GOOD MOVE FROM THE OLD PRUNE TO BACK CULTURE WARRIOR ABBOTT? PERHAPS NEWS CORP SHAREHOLDERS AND HIS FAMILY MIGHT WANT TO ASK THE OLD TYRANT TO CONSIDER RETIRING...PERHAPS KEEP HIS TRAP SHUT FOR AWHILE SO HE DOESN'T CREATE FURTHER ANIMOSITY AND RESISTANCE TO HIS MEDIA CORPORATION? Just a thought. N'

nasking

18/05/2013 BY THE WAY...ANYONE ELSE NOTICE THAT RUPERT MURDOCH ONLY BELIEVES IN COMPETITION AND FREE SPEECH WHEN IT SUITS HIS GOALS AND FILLS HIS COFFERS? N'

nasking

18/05/2013 CRIKEY SAYS: AS TO RUPERT'S TRASHING OF FACEBOOK FOR VARIOUS NEFARIOUS REASONS: [b]Crappy, indeed. Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace for US$580 million in 2005, failed to grasp where social media was going, and took a bath after selling it for just $35 million in 2011. Mark Zuckerberg — sitting on a company still valued at around $70 billion — probably doesn’t need the advice.[/b] AS FOR RUPERT'S PREDICTABLE FEAR-MONGERING AND SCROOGE-LIKE COMMENT THAT ABBOTT WOULD BE "INHERITING BROKE COUNTRY": [b]Broke? Australia’s credit rating remains at AAA; News Corporation has been rated by S&P at BBB+. Not even Tony Abbott could agree with you there.[/b] AS TO MURDOCH'S CRITICISMS OF THE CARBON PRICE ETC: [b]In fact, Australia is by some measures one of the world’s biggest carbon polluters on a per capita scale — and your own company has launched a significant program to reduce its own emissions (“At News Limited, we believe the small steps add up to big change”). Now you’re disagreeing with yourself? Time for a lie down, Rupert. Have a great weekend.[/b] INDEED. THE OLD GREY GARGOYLE AIN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE...AIN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE... N'

nasking

18/05/2013 JUST REMEMBER...ZUCKERBERG HAD THE NOUS TO CREATE FACEBOOK...MURDOCH JUST USED HIS BIG WALLET MADE FROM TABLOID TRASH TO BUY MYSPACE. BIT OF A DIFFERENCE THERE. N'

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18/05/2013You are on the ball Nasking. Keep it up. ( even though they will get you of they can.) Watch out. They play dirty.

TalkTurkey

19/05/2013Good morning all. 17 weeks to go to the Ides of September! Watching Lopsiders, it's lived up to its name already with the few-seconds grabs.

Ken

19/05/2013 bob m Loved the Guardian article on Western “propaganda”. It reminded me of a book I read way back when I was doing first year Social Anthropology (too long ago to remember the author’s name - and I did mention this way back in one of my posts). It basically argued that the Western democratic/capitalist system relies on an “incomplete socialisation” process. After the family, our education system is the primary instrument of socialisation but because it is incomplete, it leaves space for people to question. To clarify that, compare it to the traditional Aboriginal socialisation process that operated over thousands of years. In Aboriginal society socialisation took place through the family and the initiation process (and associated access to the knowledge of the elders). During these steps a person learned everything there was to know, their relationships with other members of their clan, and to other clans, and their place in the cosmos. There was nothing left to question. This does not imply that change never takes place in such societies but that change occurs at an extremely slow pace. By contrast, because we have an incomplete socialisation process we are left to question. From the capitalist aspect of our system that is important. It means people can question and come up with more efficient means of production, new products, etc, etc. However, it also means that some, rather than questioning ways to improve production, will question social and economic processes. So the democratic side of the system has built-in mechanisms to handle this type of questioning and allow “protests”. At the time I first read this, I was taking part in Vietnam Moratorium marches and sit-ins and it was somewhat disheartening to realise that my protests were not actually attacking the system but were a product of it!!! Our whole system is also “adversarial” as seen in our judicial system, our politics, and, of course, in the competitive market system. This seems a product of the English background. Adversarial processes are not as common in the European system – investigating judicial officers are more common, co-operation between employers and employees (as in German and Scandinavian workplaces) is more common, and even co-operation between different political parties is more common. We are constantly told that this competition is good for us. Two sides arguing their case as best they can in court allows a judge to get to the truth: two political sides presenting their policies and credentials as best they can supposedly allows voters to make a more informed judgment; that competition produces better products and lower prices in the market. But is that true???? The competitive/adversarial nature of our system makes “propaganda”, “influence”, “nudging”, whatever one wants to call it, important to gain an edge, whether in court, in the market, or in politics. And as people have become a little more aware of the influence of this, the competitive edge now comes from being more subtle. As advertising demonstrates, the real message is often subliminal and emotional, rather then the overt demonstration of the product, e.g. who is presenting the product (or the type of person they represent) rather than the product itself. And, of course, these approaches are seeping into the political realm. Voters don’t just need political [u]fact[/u] checking, but expert advice on what the messages they are being sold really mean.

Michael

19/05/2013On Insiders this morning even the usually arms-length sensible Malcolm Farr subscribed to the current line that Tony Abbott is looking more and more like an alternate Prime Minister of Australia. He doesn't look and sound a whit different now than he did the day Andrew Robb assisted him in stabbing his party leader in the back. Abbott reminds me of only one PM I've observed in my life - William McMahon. Equally vacuous, equally reliant on a wife to make him look 'real', similarly vain, and with the hint of an unquitted closet in his every move.

nasking

19/05/2013 I thoroughly disagree with the News Ltd hacks on [i]Insiders[/i]...apologists for Abbott...the Michelle Rowland not being given a pair to enable her to go home to her sick child episode is indeed a reflection on how Abbott runs his ship. He must take responsibility for the actions of his whip and shadow education minister...he knows Entsch's style...he's aware that Pyne is a risky 'shoot first' character who spends more time playing miniature attack dog than getting the details right...oft all show and little substance. It comes down to judgement on Abbott's part...he's chosen for his team a lot of characters who are used to mocking, talking down the economy, doing grovelling doorstops, have big chips on their shoulders, act like private school toffs with an arrogant born to rule mentality, acting nasty, making excuses for theirs and their leaders' dishonesty and mean-spirited policies & behaviour, snake oil salesmen and women, many who have a reputation as old guard liberals as being moralisers and policy lightweights...or scum who have dug themselves out of so many pits they resemble walking dead covered in dead...and don't think their dirty pasts won't come back to bite them... that goes for Abbott too. But even more importantly, this totalitarian Entsch/nasty, shoot first Pyne vs the concerned Mum episode puts a shiver up many a worker's spine because it reminds them of the extremely close ties between the Coalition and the bosses... and by Entsch and Pyne acting like such a non-compassionate, nasty tag team...it evokes memories of WORKCHOICES-dictated environments where workers felt they were living under the whip...and being forced to comply with unreasonable demands that lacked fairness and compassion. And of course we remember, even as Abbott brags about how many former Howard govt ministers and members are still around...the fact that it was the Howard govt that was willing to jail unionists, set dogs on workers, permit airlines to create secret overseas training bases for scabs, use dog whistling tactics to gain votes in order to win both the Senate and Reps to bring in WORKCHOICES...etc etc... SHUDDER. And don't forget...TONY ABBOTT HIGHLY RESPECTED MAGGIE THATCHER...AND HE HAS KNELT AT THE FEET OF THE LIKES OF RUPERT MURDOCH... AND WE KNOW WHAT THAT COMBINATION DID TO WORKERS, UNIONISTS AND THE DISADVANTAGED WHEN IT SUITED THEM IN THE UK. The "[b]NO! YOU CAN'T FCKN TAKE TIME OFF TO LOOK AFTER YOUR SICK KID[/b]" episode is just a SIGN OF THINGS TO COME... if these Liberal and Nat big boss KOWTOWERS get in. COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATIVES? I RECALL GW BUSH WAS ONE OF THOSE. ANOTHER [b]PRETENDER[/b] WHO SAID BEFORE THE ELECTION HE WASN'T INTO OVERSEAS NATION BUILDING. RIGHT!!! N'

nasking

19/05/2013 should be: [b]thoroughly disagree with the News Ltd hacks on Insiders...apologists for Abbott...who reckon that Michelle Rowland not being given a pair to enable her to go home to her sick child episode is not a reflection on how Abbott runs his ship... BS!!![/b]...OF COURSE IT REFLECTS ON ABBOTT...ON HIS STYLE OF LEADERSHIP...IS AN INDICATOR OF HOW HE WOULD RUN HIS GOVT...GOVERN THIS NATION... He must take responsibility for the actions of his whip and shadow education minister...he knows Entsch's style...he's aware that Pyne is a risky 'shoot first' character who spends more time playing miniature attack dog than getting the details right...oft all show and little substance. It comes down to judgement on Abbott's part...he's chosen for his team a lot of characters who are used to mocking, talking down the economy, doing grovelling doorstops, have big chips on their shoulders, act like private school toffs with an arrogant born to rule mentality, acting nasty, making excuses for theirs and their leaders' dishonesty and mean-spirited policies & behaviour, snake oil salesmen and women, many who have a reputation as old guard liberals as being moralisers and policy lightweights... or scum who have dug themselves out of so many pits they resemble walking dead covered in DIRT... [b]And of course we remember, even as Abbott brags about how many former Howard govt ministers and members are still around...that is was, chillingly, the Howard govt willing to jail unionists, set dogs on workers, permit airlines to create secret overseas training bases for scabs, use dog whistling tactics to gain votes in order to win both the Senate and Reps to bring in WORKCHOICES...etc etc...[/b] N'

nasking

19/05/2013 Darn, Okay...one more try...bloody eyes... [b]that it was, chillingly, the Howard govt willing to jail unionists, set dogs on workers, permit airlines to create secret overseas training bases for scabs[/b]

nasking

19/05/2013 TONY ABBOTT TOLD A GROUP OF LIBERALS, BUSINESSMEN AND OTHER SUPPORTERS A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO, WHEN ASKED ABOUT INTEREST RATES, HE WOULD KEEP INTEREST RATES AS LOW AS POSSIBLE TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE NEEDS OF OTHER PARTS OF THE ECONOMY... I THINK WE KNOW THAT IS A LESS THAN SUBTLE HINT, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT HIS AUDIENCE, HE WILL PERMIT HOME MORTGAGE AND SMALL BUSINESS RATES TO RISE SO HIS RICH SUPPORTERS CAN GET LOTS OF MONEY ON THEIR SAVINGS. [b]FIRST HOME BUYERS AND THOSE STRUGGLING WITH HOME AND INVESTMENT HOUSE DEBT BEWARE.[/b] THE HOWARD GOVT GAVE US HOW MANY INTEREST RATE RISES IN A ROW? GINA...AND RUPERT'S FAMILY CAME OUT OF IT PRETTY GOOD THO...EH? AND ALL THOSE RICH SAVERS FROM OVERSEAS. SURE, SELF-FUNDED RETIREES TOO...BUT THEY HAD OPTIONS... THE FIRST HOME BUYERS AND OTHERS WHO HAD BOUGHT INTO MASSIVE DEBT, PARTLY DUE TO THE FIRST HOME OWNER'S GRANT, HAD FEW OPTIONS... AND SURE COPPED IT. ABBOTT HAS THEM BUY THE SHORT AND CURLIES. N'

nasking

19/05/2013 Should be: THE FIRST HOME BUYERS AND OTHERS WHO HAD BOUGHT INTO MASSIVE DEBT, PARTLY DUE TO THE FIRST HOME OWNER'S GRANT SCHEME, HAD FEW OPTIONS... [b]AND BOY DID THEY COP IT WHEN THOSE MORTGAGE INTEREST RATES KEPT GOING UP...AND UP...AND UP...[/b] ABBOTT HAS THEM BY THE SHORT AND CURLIES.

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19/05/2013Reith was asked many times about replacement workers being ready overseas. He always LIED. He's good at it. but you know when he is doing it.HIS LIPS MOVE. If he had any self respect he would not still be around making statements In public but he is very prominent especially on the abc HR NOCHOLLS IPA etc The pilots had their contracts cancelled and were issued with writs and threats to confiscate their Superannuation, immediately they had a work to day only action. OF course the MSM with MURDOCH owning HALF of ANSETT printed a very selected version of events and the ABC wasn't too good then either because THEY liked Bob Hawke who was quite happy to help Murdoch get 100's of pilots from 'anywhere" to replace the ones they had selected and trained over many years. Look at the actions of the OPPN when Qantas management "GROUNDED" itself by management stranding people all over the world, ( and the plot was well known amongst the OPPN before it happened.) Belonging to a Union is not illegal and it is enshrined in the UN charter. Union smashing is Abbotts aim . The IPA and HR NICHOLS can't help themselves yet Management can belong to self interest groups. with impunity and pat millions of dollars to get their propaganda out when they want to. Bailleau in Victoria, was certainly of a similar view and the connection with the younger Grollo is a strong one, with bruising the union it's aim. ted didn't stay long and his government hangs in by the thinnest of margins. Industrial disputes are at an all time low. Industry wants certainty??? Wars with Unions gives certainty? Only IF you eliminate the unions totally. Is that likely to happen without earth shattering disruption?. I would think not but going there would make us resemble Zimbabwe. If management did their job well, the unions would be pussycats and work with them like in Germany. Denying workers agreed and reasonable conditions creates the need for unions to exist. The workers have a common interest in the company they work for doing well. Give them profit related dividends and they work harder.

KHTAGH

19/05/2013AA & All Firstly I would like to apologise for this post being so long & a bit off topic, it just enforces what we all know what goes on in this country these days. LadyInRed Well done my best wishes & hopes go out to you for a successful campaign Fire Aid:- I don't know if you are aware of the situation with a lot of farmers in the SE of Tassie after the fires. Unfortunately it now seems the majority people that got any help with their fencing(blaze-aid) etc were the ultra rich (those in the know with friends in the council & government). Dunbabin a multi millionaire one of the richest people in the South East got all of his fences fixed many $10,000 worth, yet a farmer friend on Carlton River rd on a 200+ acre farm didn't get so much as a single foot repaired, even though he was the only person in Carlton River Rd to lose the majority of his boundary fencing. To make matters even worse the person on the adjoining farm who I might add was one of the people that got several million out of the forestry contractor exit debacle, gave his truck & equipment to his son who is STILL operating!! had his entire fencing system replaced & rebuilt for nothing. Yet my friend can't even run any stock & actually had to get rid of 100's of stock(his livelihood) because there is no secure fencing left(not covered by insurance either)is told to go whistle. How come? why is it that the people who can afford to replace their property out of their own pocket are given all the help & those that really need it are left out of the cold? I realise you may not be aware of this situation but to be honest it stinks, like always the rich people get their faces in the paper & their voices on the radio showing & telling everyone about all the help they have received, do you think this is fair way to hand out help?.

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19/05/2013KHTAGH No, it isn't fair, but that simply reflects the old saying, the rich get richer and the poor are made redundant. It has always been that way. When Labor is in power this inequity is reversed to some extent; when the Liberals are pulling the levers, it returns to inequity again. Just imagine what it would be like under an Abbott government!

TalkTurkey

19/05/2013Grasshopper, You must learn your catechism! What you are complaining about is pure Christian charity, look: Mark 4:25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have ... "For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even ... For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be ... http://biblehub.com/mark/4-25.htm Matthew 13:12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have ... For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: ... But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. http://biblehub.com/matthew/13-12.htm Surely you can see the justice in that? If not ask Gina Rindlard to explain it to you. It is because of the unchallengeable logic, as well as the loving care for those better off than oneself, that I am so devout.

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19/05/2013Folks I’ve just posted [i]Who's been playing in MY estate? Yet more ferment in the fourth and fifth[/i] by our new original contributor, one we know very well as Janet (j4gypsy) who posts Twitter talk regularly on [i]TPS[/i]. She is posting under ‘Jan Mahyuddin @j4gypsy’. I’m sure you will enjoy her well-researched and informative piece on the interaction between the fourth and fifth estate. http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/post/2013/05/19/Whos-been-playing-in-MY-estate-Yet-more-ferment-in-the-fourth-and-fifth.aspx
How many umbrellas are there if I have two in my hand but the wind then blows them away?