What do you think of Rupert Murdoch’s power and influence?

The newly developed Australian Blog Sites, created to give bloggers ‘a sense of unity’, lists contemporary political blog sites, at last count over fifty of them, that visitors to the site can access. This attempt to give those of us who operate in the Fifth Estate a feeling that we are not alone and that our collective voices can be heard and, as recent events with Grog’s Gamut show certainly are, is laudable and warrants our support.

The first edition of this site gave us something more – a series of videos about the Murdoch Empire, in particular the Fox News Channel in the US. A short introductory piece is followed by eight ten minute videos titled Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism. This is the most revealing exposé of Murdoch in America I have seen. There is a Melbourne University Publishing ‘media discussion’ on Bruce Guthrie’s book Man bites Murdoch at Federation Square in Melbourne on the evening of 8 November that will expose something of Murdoch in Australia. Paul Barry of Media Watch will chair the event; Crikey’s Eric Beecher, Caroline Overington from The Australian, and Bruce Guthrie will be the panellists. I will report on that later.

Here is the introduction to Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism.



This piece draws heavily on the abovementioned videos and that source is hereby gratefully acknowledged. It attempts to capture some of the material presented there. It would repay anyone who has the time and inclination to play the videos in full as they portray more dramatically than words ever could how the Murdoch outfit operates.

Let’s start by sketching how far the Murdoch influence extends. Be prepared to be alarmed that one man, one empire, could reach so far.

At the time Outfoxed by Bravenew Films was released in 2004, Murdoch owned 9 satellite TV networks, 100 cable channels, 175 newspapers, 40 book imprints, 40 TV stations and one movie studio. These reached audiences of 280 million through US TV, 300 million via Asian satellite, 300 million via cable and 28 million through magazines, which together with his newspapers and TV stations gave him a total audience of 4.7 billion people, about three quarters of the world’s population at that time. Has any man in business ever had such capacity to influence so many for good, or for the opposite?

Interviewed in Davos, Murdoch denied wanting to set the agenda for current affairs, but conceded he wanted ‘to make a difference’ by putting forward his own opinion. He added: “You can’t change the world completely” (note ‘completely’), and you “can’t change elections” (many would disagree), and that “good strong views and organizations, by disclosing things, can shape the agenda, but only in a limited way” (believe that if you will).

A number of media people are interviewed in Outfoxed: Bob Mc Chesney, Founder of Free Press and author of Freedom of the Media, David Brock, President of Media Matters for America, Gene Kimmelman of the Consumer Union, Peter Hart, Media Analyst for FAIR, Av Westin, former Vice President of ABC News, James Wolcott, former staff writer for the New Yorker, veteran anchor man Walter Kronkite, and former Fox News producers, presenters and contributors: Jeff Cohen, Frank O’Donnell, Diana Winthrop, David Burnett, Larry Johnson, Jon Du Pre, Clara Frenk, Joseph Caffaso, and many others. These are some of the things they had to say.

Jeff Cohen said “Media is the nervous system of a democracy – if it does not function well democracy cannot function.” Frank O’Donnell, who was involved with TV WTTG 5 in Washington, DC before Murdoch took it over for his Fox News Channel told how Murdoch executives left them alone for three years because they were so successful, but insidiously began to influence their news coverage to the point where the producers were “ordered, from the top to carry propaganda, Republican right-wing propaganda.” Walter Kronkite asserted that Fox was ‘far right’. Another commentator said that Fox carried distorted, caricatured information where the original source was unknown, and where an ‘echo effect’ operated to amplify the distortions. Does that remind you of Murdoch outlets in this country?

Although Fox executives’ stated aim was to present 'fine, balanced journalism' and through a PR genius created the ‘Fair and Balanced’ strapline and the ‘We Report, you Decide’ slogan, those who worked for Fox testified that they were monitored by bureau chiefs, worked in an atmosphere of fear, and were given to understand that ‘you are with us or you are against us’. To survive it was necessary to go along with the mindset of the chiefs, who would issue edicts to reporters about what they could or could not say. Av Westin, former Vice President of ABC News, spoke of the ‘message of the day’ memos issued by bureau chiefs about what to report and what to emphasize. Kronkite said he had never heard of this way of reporting news. One anonymous commenter said: “Fox has eliminated journalism”. Another said that Fox News blurs the line between news and commentary. Yet another said Murdoch wants all news to be ‘a matter of opinion’. Fox journalism seems anything but fair and balanced.

This raises the question of how much this type of pernicious interference in journalism occurs in this country, in the newspapers and Murdoch pay TV outlets. Many of us have opinions about the former; those of you who can access the latter may wish to comment.

There are some revealing and disturbing clips of techniques used on Fox News: how interviewees whose opinion does not match the station’s position are verbally bullied, and sometimes told belligerently to ‘shut up’. There is an amazing clip where one anchor man says to an interviewee who is challenging America’s involvement in Iraq: “Every American should support the military, and if not, ‘shut up’.” A study revealed that there were five times more Republican interviewees than Democrat; those from the former were well known figures and had 83% of the time, those from the latter were almost totally unknown, were picked because of their centrist position and preparedness to be compliant with conservative positions, or could be readily bullied. Do you who watch Murdoch’s pay TV channels see that here?

Another tactic is for presenters to use the ‘some people say’ technique. There is an amusing yet disturbing sequence of such instances, with several variants, used over and again. It allows presenters to present their own opinion while attributing it to someone else, anonymous and unknown. Our own Glenn Milne is a master of this tactic.

Yet another tactic is to ‘play the man’. There was a disquieting sequence where Richard Clarke, former Bush military adviser, giving testimony on the 9/11 Commission Report to the US Senate, said; “Your Government failed you, those entrusted with protecting you failed you, I failed you”, and then asked for forgiveness. Being anathema to the Bush administration and to Fox News, both set about repudiating not just Clarke’s testimony, but the man himself, attributing to him ulterior motives and a mercenary desire to tout the book he had just written. The way Fox set about demeaning Clarke, who from what we have seen of him on ABC TV seems a decent and honest man, is distressing to behold.

Another example was an account of Murdoch’s dislike of Teddy Kennedy who was a long time opponent of Murdoch, and how Fox News was ordered to run an uncut version of the ‘Chappaquiddick incident’ to discredit Kennedy’s advocacy for victims of racism and AIDS, although the incident was not news at the time.

These well-tried ‘play the man’ tactics were designed to destroy Clarke’s and Kennedy’s reputations and thereby their arguments.

There is another device Fox News uses – its Special Report. This is seen as a way of overshadowing important news with relative trivia so that focus is taken from what the people ought to be told. We have seen this here with stories about Julia Gillard’s earlobes, ear rings, handbag or lack thereof, her tie-less partner, even what will happen to Kevin Rudd’s chooks at The Lodge. Such stories can be and are used to distract from the significant ones.

When it could be said at the time by past Fox News personnel to those currently presenting Fox News that the more the viewers consume their media, the less they know about the subject and the more they will agree with Bush Government policy, it is not just a sad state of affairs, it is a manifestation of political manipulation by the media on a grand scale - ‘George Orwell Nineteen Eighty Four’ style. One ex-presenter, who insisted that ‘Murdoch is partisan to his core’, lamented “this is the worst thing a journalist would want to learn”.

Peter Hart, Media Analyst for Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, said that in pursuit of conservative politics Fox News distorts the facts, misrepresents them and at times simply fabricates them. Does this resonate with you when you reflect on Murdoch outlets here in Australia?

I could go on and on – the videos give a more complete picture of the nature and magnitude of the media problem that is Fox News in the US. A look at them would repay your time. But if you do, please sit down calmly in a comfortable chair with perhaps your favourite tranquilizer at hand. To view them go to Australian Blog Sites; you will find them in the left panel.

Finally, the most frightening comment was that if we don’t do something about this, we will be having the same conversation in 50 years’ time with Rupert Murdoch the Third. God forbid.

So please tell us: “What do you think of Rupert Murdoch’s power and influence?”

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2353

8/11/2010Ooh! I'm first. The Courier Mail is the perfect example of monopoly behaviour. Effectively News Corp owns the Brisbane daily newspaper, most of the local "free" weekly newspapers and therefore has an influence on the agenda of the electronic medias news gathering in this state - as they have to be seen to be at the same events as the only paper. While the newsgathering is reasonable - there is always a suspicion that the "opinion" of the editor/owner is being included, rather than factual reporting. Most of the "commentators" are blantantly against Bligh, for Newman (the Mayor of Brisbane) and follow the owners direction on Australian politics. While the local news can also be gained from "The Brisbane Times" - a Fairfax owned on-line only paper, a lot ot people still prefer the "smell" of newsprint.

TalkTurkey

8/11/2010November 8. 2010 10:54 AM Ad astra, I just posted the post below on the last subject re Populism, crossing your new lead, so I'll post it again below the new one, not yet having read what you have said. (Murdoch of course is #1 populiser of populists anyway.) So - from previous post - "Talk Turkey I hope that What do you think of Rupert Murdoch’s power and influence?, which I will post soon, will enable discussion about this man’s weighty place in world and local politics." (Ad astra, 8.52 this AM) As I mentioned last night the subject of Rupert Amerigo Murdoch is much on my mind too. I wonder what makes an old man like him so want to expand expand expand his power, is it for his own glory, for his kiddies, for his Mam, for the good of the World, ha, what makes him tick? More importantly, how to stick a stick in his ticker? And what will become of Global Murdochracy on his demise? I remember a line from H.G.Wells' War of the Worlds, the author is imagining a conversation between the Dodos on (?Mauritius?) when the sailors start coming and eating them, "We will peck them to death tomorrow, my dear", he's comparing their plight to humans' at the hands (well, tentacles) of the invading Martians. Murdoch is Chief Martian as far as I'm concerned, and his invasion of world media is more than political, it really does threaten Life on Earth - Imagine if the power of his empire was turned to smartening up rather than dumbing down of the People, we'd have climate change agreement in a flash, urgent eco-action everywhere, demilitarisation via better communication, and on and on - The man is a megalomaniacal global disaster. Waiting for him to die is not good enough. We really gotta get a-peckin'. His dragon brood is poised to take over seamlessly, as with Packer. (Gotta getta better Packer pecker. Say that 99x daily!) TalkTurkey

Ad astra reply

8/11/2010Folks It may not be a coincidence that the top three items in Lyn’s Daily Links are about Rupert Murdoch. Here is the link to LYN’S DAILY LINKS: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/Lyns-Daily-Links.aspx They address Murdoch’s attempt to gain full control of BSkyB, a highly profitable UK satellite TV and news outlet in which he already has almost a 40% stake. Commenting on the prospect of Murdoch becoming "Britain's Berlusconi", the second piece concludes: [i]”As for Murdoch becoming "Britain's Berlusconi", - to many, that has already occurred. There is, however, one crucial difference. The people of Italy can at least vote Berlusconi out of office. In Britain, Murdoch has a presence in government whichever party is in power. That makes it all the more important that any increase in his hold on the media is closely scrutinised.”[/i] Although the above [i]TPS[/i] piece focuses on Murdoch’s Fox News Channel in the US, these items show clearly how his ambitions extend to the UK and Europe, and we know Asia and Australia are also in his expansionary sights. The three items are worth a read, particularly the second.

Ad astra reply

8/11/20102353 The consistent complaint here at [i]TPS[/i] has been that the MSM, particularly News Limited outlets, inextricably intertwine facts (news) and opinion. The [i]Courier Mail[/i] is a classic example of this. When we read that Murdoch wants all news to be ‘a matter of opinion’, we can see that this is a deliberate strategy to confuse, obfuscate and push the particular line the paper supports, as you have illustrated with your comments about the [i]Mail’s[/i] very different attitudes to Anna Bligh and Campbell Newman.

lyn

8/11/2010Hi 2353 Congratulations, I have been trying to be first to comment for 18 months. My next door neighbor buys the Murdoch paper everyday so that he can sit in the garden and read it, they have a desk top computer. Good reason do you think, I suspect he would save enough money in a year to pay for a laptop anyway.

Ad astra reply

8/11/2010Folks It’s worth looking too at Mr Denmore’s piece on [i]The Failed Estate: Sermons on De’Mountables[/i] http://thefailedestate.blogspot.com/ which although focussing on a Paul Kelly opinion piece concludes: [i]” The job of the News Ltd minions is to dress up their boss' tawdry, ideological and commercial ambitions in an unspecified "reform" agenda that no Labor government, however diligent, could ever live up to. In the meantime, our own democracy is laid to waste by a man who controls 65 percent of our print media and who lives somewhere else. One wonders when people will wake up to this ruse.[/i]

D Mick Weir

8/11/2010I osted this on the populism thread before I knew about this latest post. So for those that missed that comment: November 8. 2010 12:06 PM D Mick Weir What an entertaining and informative hour of SlowTV I have just consumed. Festival of Dangerous Ideas - Good Ideas = Bad Politics. http://www.themonthly.com.au/good-ideas-bad-politics-festival-dangerous-ideas-2812 If I knew how, I would insert several thumbs up thingies here!!!!! Miriam Lyons, Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Development used an example of Hottellings' Law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotelling%27s_law to illustrate why our political parties have both moved to the 'middle ground' Waleed Aly, lecturer in politics at Monash University, was great and his comments on how politics has become more about managing rather than about ideas struck a chord for me. The other panelists, Elizabeth Farrelly, Sydney-based columnist and author as well as Annabel Crabb also had some great contributions To steal a phrase 'Must see (Slow)TV'

HS

8/11/2010lyn, Sorry to go off topic but I am putting this up before I forget. I have just been reading the noms for the Wonkleys and have noticed a blog called 'Social Scapegoat' getting a few mentions. I was wondering if you could include it in your 'Daily Links' when it's worth a run? Cheers

Hillbilly Skeleton

8/11/2010Hi again! Sorry, AA, nothing to do with the blog, just checking NormanK's suggestion to submit a comment from another computer in order to see if my Gravatar appears again. :)

Hillbilly Skeleton

8/11/2010That would be a big, black 'No' then. :(

lyn

8/11/2010Hi Hillbilly Thankyou so much Hillbilly, for the tipoff on a new blog for today's links. I've been through the nominations without success, but found this blogg, can you check if it is the one you mean, for me please. Social Scapegoat Mark Arbib comes out in support of marriage equality. http://socialscapegoat.com/

lyn

8/11/2010Hi Ad Thankyou very much for a fantastic, brilliant, piece, I hope your writing on this topic, travels all over the World far and wide. The extent of Murdoch influence is staggering, what is more amazing, there is no end in sight, he keeps buying more and more, all in the name of power. As you will see in the link to "Online Opinion" today's links [quote][b]Murdoch has a presence in government whichever party is in power.That makes it all the more important that any increase in his hold on the media is closely scrutinised.[/b][/quote] Excellent opinion piece http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=11197

Gravel

8/11/2010Ad Astra And somehow or other the ABC is parroting the same themes. I think his influence has gone further in Australia than many of us may realise. In the US and Briton, they at least have more than one proprietor, which allows alternate views. We here in Aussie have no alternate views except on the net. Scary.

Ad astra reply

8/11/2010Folks I'm with my son-in-law who has shown me how to embed a YouTube video, which you now see at the top of the page.

HS

8/11/2010'One wonders when people will wake up to this ruse.' I don't think it's ever going to happen because, like an Escher painting, no matter how much uphill progress the collective 'we' make against Mr Murdoch, we always seem to be going downhill as he rises inexorably up. Which is not to say that I will ever give up fighting against his pernicious influence on our media, and why it is essential to keep fighting for the NBN. Experience in the US with Private Broadband Internet carriers has shown that they have started Black Listing some people and organisations, which is disrupting the flow of free speech on the Internet, much as the opponenets of the Internet Filter here in Australia fear will ultimately be the case, and especially if it gets into the hands of a Conservative government, Wikileaks being the prime example of an organisation they want to stomp on, and you can guarantee Murdoch would be in full agreement with that. Anyway, as I was saying originally, I don't think Murdoch, owning between 65-80% of all media platforms in Australia, will ever allow a popular insurrection against his empire. No one who works for him, or his echoes in media he doesn't own, will let out so much as a peep. Same goes for the rest of the World as his octopus-like grip extends its tentacles everywhere he isn't already. To paraphrase the John Farnham song: 'He's the voice, and he understands it.' One last point. Has anyone else joined the dots about the insidious infiltration of the ABC that Murdoch enjoys, on a daily basis, with the latest segment on ABC TV and Radio, called 'What's on the Front Page of the Daily Papers?' Thus, if Murdoch owns the majority of the papers, his pov gets repeated ad nauseum on the ABC, mostly without question or comment, day after day after day...

Patriciawa

8/11/2010I tried to get this pome to find a way to give Murdoch his comeuppance, but the rhyme was inexorable. Sorry! Perhaps Talk Turkey or someone else can turn it around for me! [quote]News Ltd defends its Proprietor [/quote] What’s this talk of media bias? We at News are honest, pious, We meet our readership’s desires. Yes, some are climate change deniers. That’s why Greenies, fans of Gaia’s, Sneer as if we were pariahs! Pacifists who promote ceasefires Say we collude with arms suppliers. We can always claim ‘ultra vires’ If a politician enquires Into why this or that transpires. Anyway they're just leftie liars, We report, as Rupert requires. 'Cos we know he’s the man who hires Only journos whom he admires. We also know of those he fires On each newspaper he acquires. Don't hope for this to change when he expires. We will survive. Just look how well he ‘sires’ And know, this man we’ve helped build these empires Plans to be the first whom not even death retires.

CALLIGULA

8/11/2010Title – “A flavour they like.” – or – “Bread and Circuses” – or – “Here be Dragons” – or – “Ouch, I simply cannot believe they’d think like that”. Rupert’s a good bloke His outfit shows us nothing we don’t want to see or hear. After a hard day at work and having a few beers at the pub you want to watch a bit of sport – not be bothered with whinging refugees or referees, for that matter. I mean that. If Rupert (God bless him) can get this girlie government the bum’s rush then Tony can take over and get stuck into them boat people. Once that’s out of the way and things are back to normal we can start making the Australian team win the cricket again. Its been bad the last few weeks, done me dough every bet. Whats wrong with wanting to watch something you know turns out good? For my money Rupert gets the politics out of the way and saves a hard working man get on with life. Besides which I don’t have to vote for him every few months anyway. That’s your trouble – you think voting changes anything? Well yure wrong and Rupert don’t charge us taxes either If, dear HS, you can’t get the angle on this ‘populist’ view – then I apologise and offer my sympathy at the premature passing of your sense of irony. In other words – joke it may be but very much based on what I hear out in town.

Ad astra reply

8/11/2010Gravel, HS You are right - we have seen for a while now the infiltration of the ABC with News Limited 'news'. Has it got a deal going with Murdoch, or is it just easier for the ABC to purloin the papers, most of which Murdoch owns, to feed its news services and now the 24 hour service? The routine of looking at the papers on air, seen every week on [i]Insiders[/i] locks into this so conveniently. Patriciawa Thank you for your sombre verse - and your sobering conclusion: [i]And know, this man we’ve helped build these empires Plans to be the first whom not even death retires.[/i]

HS

8/11/2010Godwin's Law warning! 'Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.' ~Adolph Hitler You could almost replace A.H. with R.M., couldn't you?

CALLIGULA

8/11/2010“Concentration deficit syndrome and its application in propaganda” Extract - “If governments not only permit but collude - with some privatized international information dissemination monopoly so that dissent is, for all intents and purposes, extirpated – then either - governments are driving the agenda of that monopoly, or the monopoly is driving the agenda of - governments.” “If that process involves the denial, ‘dumbing down’ or misreporting of essential fact by the news media to a significant and evidently ‘targetted’ proportion of the population – then that activity is nothing different from what nation states have been perpetrating for centuries – in conjunction with the more recognizable arms of state such as the military, law enforcement and courts. – and in consequence deny expressions of self-determination – less than a background noise -” “It is perhaps understandable after the 9/11 terrorist act that nation states forging military alliance toward preventing further outrage would – upon realizing that their pockets were only so deep – turn to a reliable commercial resource – that in their estimation, if not sympathetic to the cause – or at least self interested enough to micro-manage output – until the required outcomes are achieved. In this respect nothing differs much from the past situation except the global scale of the operation and the immense profits, power and influence the contractor will accrue. – any adverse outcomes more than compensated for - the fair expectation of – need only deal with – a more pliant, less savvy, majority” Myron M. Herzbaum “Bad Apple Press” 4/2002

Ad astra reply

8/11/2010Hi Lyn Thank you for your kind comments and for posting the links to other Murdoch pieces this morning. We're off now to the MUP forum on Bruce Guthrie's book: [i]Man bites Murdoch[/i]. I'll report on that tomorrow.

TalkTurkey

8/11/2010PatriciaWA . . . Bigger than Walmart, bigger than Myers, Friend of Bush's, Howard's, Bliar's, He whom Zion most admires, He who pulls all global wires, He to whom all power aspires, He who bigger fish to fry has, He whom none has been as sly as, He whom none can fly as high as, What I can't work out is why has God not lit his funeral pyres? Oh - Rupert's bought God's heavenly choirs! You're right the rhyme's inexorable but it don't help eh. Murdoch is the #1 UN-Australian of all time, very few Aussies have been so base as to sell their Australian birthright for a mess of Yankee pottage, and there is a little chink in his armour there, Aussies don't think much of that. If we had Murdoch's media on our side we could stick a Bolt in his vitals on that score no probs, but we have only each other and the promise of the NBN. And Julia. And a damn fine Labor-plus Government which we must defend ferociously. For all the hateful aspects of the way the Rotten Right impinges on us, let us remember how very blessed we are not to be living almost anywhere else, especially e.g. in Palestine where the people are so abslutely powerless and repressed as we can hardly begin to imagine. That fact makes it all the more incumbent on us to fight Them, using what power and freedom we have. Rage against Rupert! Nil desperandum! VENCEREMOS! NO PASARAN!

HS

8/11/2010Sorry to do this but I am testing a new email.

CALLIGULA

8/11/2010HS sez- “One last point. Has anyone else joined the dots about the insidious infiltration of the ABC that Murdoch enjoys, on a daily basis, with the latest segment on ABC TV and Radio, called 'What's on the Front Page of the Daily Papers?'” I say – Yes. I also say – A good way to discuss such annoyance is to maintain an open and flexible approach affording all those involved a chance of looking at the matter from several angles. It never hurts to take the view of the perceived ‘enemy’. Put yourself in their ‘shoes’. I would suggest that deep down within your ‘ogre’ is a much diminished soul terrified of his mortality. If you believe him to be so bad – then attack that aspect of him – then consider what you’d achieve – ultimately making yourself as bad (not as him) as your perception of him. Another thing - It amazes me that you guys are so adept at quoting the Murdoch, etc. press by line and verse. My astronomer reckons you’ve lost the battle by letting Murdoch lead you by your noses. He suggests the ogre can’t get you if you turn off the TeeVee and neither, for that matter, can the Cybermen ! Get outside, says she, breathe evenly and cast your eyes upon the eternal firmament. Bless you all,

Ad astra reply

8/11/2010Folks It was an interesting discussion this evening at Federation Square on [i]The Future of the Australian Media[/i] with Paul Barry, Bruce Guthrie, Caroline Overington and Eric Beecher. I'll get together a brief report tomorrow. I'm off now to view my favourite evening on ABC TV. From all accounts [i]Media Watch[/i] should be good viewing.

Acerbic Conehead

9/11/2010AA, in the kitchen of Limited News and Associates, works Berk Shanahan, the loyal servant of Rupert, The Thing Upstairs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-dapSswWTQ The previous evening, Rupe had flown in from the US. As he slumbers upstairs, in the kitchen below, Mark ‘Boney’ Scott, as usual is making fun at Berk’s expense. Boney: Here, Berk old chap...what’s on the menu for Rupe’s breakfast this morning – you cooking up the usual Newspoll figures...heh...heh... Berk: Now look here, denture-face...I’ll have you know I’m a whiz with figures... Boney: Yeah...compared to Barnaby you are...ho...ho... [suddenly, an ear-splitting bellowing thunders from the room above their heads. It is Rupe – he who has such a voracious appetite, he would make Joe Hockey look like Gandhi after a hunger strike] Rupe: Berrrrrrkkkkkkk!!!Where’s my breakfast???!!! Send up lots of chillied circulation figures, with heaps of well-webered website hits, and a big bowl of antepastoed advertising revenue...and hurry up with it, you drongo!!!! Berk: Yes, your high-n-mightyness...it’ll be up in two shakes of Kev’s sauce bottle... Boney: Here, Berk...where are you going to get enough circulation figures to put into Rupe’s breakfast – the last I heard, the Oz is selling even less copies than Gay Weekly did at last month’s Iranian Mullah’s Convention...hee...hee... Berk: Huh, you can talk, bone-brain...for the tosh Your ABC dishes up, you should be paying people 7 cents a second to watch it...haw...haw... [the two sparring partners decide, for the sake of their future employment prospects, that they better put their heads together and come up with a plan to gather all the ingredients demanded by Rupe for his breakfast. However, wracking their brains to the limit, they come up with zilch. In a fit of desperation, Berk suggests some alternative ingredients – maybe some of Joe’s beeswax-pastry pies? Or his black-hole pudding? Or some fish that Tones caught on his trip up north, when he couldn’t catch any boat-people? Or some airline food left over from Tones’ jet-lag trip to England? Or crocodile steaks from the 20 or 30 on Bob Katter’s roof? Then, suddenly, when they think they have enough problems, the trap-door flies open and their worst nightmare is beginning to be played out right in front of their eyes. Out steps one of the most fearsome monsters that inhabits the murky depths beneath the trap-door. It is so distinctive in its resemblance to a kitchen sieve with legs, it can only be...] Boney: OMG, Berk...it can’t be... Berk: Globbits, Boney...it is, y’know...It’s...it’s...it’s...Steve Conroy, the Filter Monster!!! Run for your life!!! [the Filter Monster is clearly not interested in the two minions, Berk and Boney, and jumps into the lift-contraption that The Thing Upstairs’ food is sent up in. It pulls the lever (designed by Joe) and the lift shoots up to the upper floor. Berk and Boney listen for the sounds of skin and hair flying. They are not to be disappointed. Above their heads, the sounds of mortal combat are so deafening, they would make Armageddon sound like a dummies’ meeting. Then, at last, silence breaks out. After a few moments, it, in turn, is broken by the confidently issued commands of the Filter Monster] Steve: Erm...Berk...get that air-head, Boney, to make himself useful for a change and phone for a taxi for Mr Murdoch...It seems he has had a change of plan and needs to get to the airport toot sweet...Oh, and while you’re at it, Berk, I’m feeling quite peckish...so be a good chap and send me up some of my favourite tucker... Berk (obsequiously): And I think I might know what that is, your new-high-n-mightyness – Nasigoreng with Broadbean Noodles, I’ll wager... Steve: Yes, Berk, the new NBN diet – it might give you, Rupe and Boney the shits...but it will Move everyone else Forward...heh...heh...

lyn

9/11/2010[b]TODAY'S LINKS[/b] [i]The Sheridan Intercontinental is Closing, Tim Dunlop, B Sides[/i] With the entire web at our disposal, why would those of us with an interest in foreign affairs seek out the Oz and their foreign affairs editor? http://tjd.posterous.com/ [i]Rooty Me! Ashghebranious, Ash's Machiavellian Bloggery[/i] To me Joe this whole thing smacks of scaremongering Scott Morrison style. You want the people to vent their anger at the banks. http://ashghebranious.wordpress.com/ [i]Fairfax’s hypocritical web ’spying devices’ beat-up, Stilgherrian, Crikey[/i] A cookie is nothing more than a piece of data that a website leaves on your computer.Phillips’ story, with its scary-sounding foreign-owned spying devices, is nothing but a beat-up. http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/11/08/fairfax%e2%80%99s-hypocritical-web-spying-devices-beat-up/ [i]Big Brother Pollies tracking You, John, True Politik[/i] Flash cookies can be removed. See the following sites: http://www.itworld.com/internet/118784/how-murder-a-flash-cookie-zombie http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager.html http://truepolitik.blogspot.com/ [i]Break up the banks? , Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson, Public Opinion[/i] Let's put a levy on the bank's assets to trim some of their fat. http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2010/11/break-up-the-ba.php#more [i]Banks to stop gouging ... unless you're already gouged, Peter Martin[/i] "The ACCC already has phone-tapping powers for cartel behaviour," he said. "I think it is entirely reasonable for them to have similar powers when it comes to allegations of price-fixing or price-signalling.'' http://www.petermartin.com.au/ [i]Joseph Benedict (Arnnold) Hockey "Fixes Banks", Stephen, Stroke of luck[/i] Now that he is not in government we should do something, provided he doesn't have to take the blame himself. http://www.goodluckstroke.com/ [i]Copenhagen was not a (complete) failure, Michael Jacobs,Inside Story[/i] As a result of Copenhagen every major economy in the world has now made commitments to reduce emissions, and most are beginning to implement them. http://inside.org.au/copenhagen-was-not-a-complete-failure/ [i]A Curray made of nothing, Steve, Opinion Dominion[/i] Those who have an interest in climate change debates would know all about Judith Curry, a climate scientist http://opiniondominion.blogspot.com/ [i]Better Friends, Banking Regulation, a Referendum, Mining Tax Words, Community Consultations and Liberal Party Troubles? , Aussie Pollies and their Paradigms[/i] Brian Loughnane did however say that the party organisation is awaiting outstanding donations pledged to them prior to the election, but he expects those http://newparadigmpollies.blogspot.com/2010/11/better-friends-banking-regulation_08.html [i]Greens success spreads to Victoria, but they're flirting with the Liberals, Solidarity.Net.Au[/i] The Greens have supported a Liberal government before. We did that from 1996 to 1998 in Tasmania. All options will be open and we won’t shut any option off.” http://www.solidarity.net.au/29/greens-success-spreads-to-victoria-but-theyre-flirting-with-the-liberals [i]No kowtowing by Kevin, Richard Farmer, The Stump[/i]. Kevin Rudd is back to racing in his right class. As Foreign Minister he seems so much more assured and credible than he did as Prime Minister. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/thestump/ [i]Constitutional recognition of Australia's first peoples at last? The Conscience Vote[/i] Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced today that the government will take the first steps in keeping a key election promise, albeit one that gained almost no media attention. http://consciencevote.wordpress.com/ [i]Senate to consider the bloggers v. journos, conundrum in journo's shield law amendments, Kim, Larvatus Prodeo[/i] the degree to which a lot of journos actually reflect the code of practice, well, in practice, has been questioned. http://larvatusprodeo.net/ [i]TED BAILLIEU: Liberal leader’s attack on Herald Sun reveals his stubbornness and stupidity, Vex News[/i] Baillieu rages against the News Corp machine, not comprehending that doing so just might make his damaged relationship with them rather worse http://www.vexnews.com/news/11455/ted-baillieu-liberal-leaders-attack-on-herald-sun-reveals-his-stubbornness-and-stupidity/ [i]Newspoll: 52-48 to Coalition, William Bowe, The Poll Bludger[/i] GhostWhoVotes reports the latest Newspoll has the Coalition with a 52-48 lead http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger/2010/11/08/newspoll-52-48-to-coalition-2/

HS

9/11/2010Brave New Films also have a light-hearted side to their media output. Enjoy: http://bravenewpacman.com/

Feral Skeleton

9/11/2010How about this for a Christmas present for the political tragic in your life? http://www.cambridge.org/aus/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521147071 How Australia Decides Election Reporting and the Media

Feral Skeleton

9/11/2010I just love the graphic that goes along with this perceptive story by Malcolm Fraser in The Age today: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/no-benefit-in-bashing-the-banks-20101108-17kfz.html

Ad astra reply

9/11/2010LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/Lyns-Daily-Links.aspx AC After last night's medis discussion, your satire is very apt. I'll be out for a few hours but will report on that event this afternoon.

nasking

9/11/2010I hope Rupert Murdoch remains the head of New Corp for a good long time. He, like Tony Abbott, unifies so many groups and people w/ differing viewpoints. You might find this interesting from March 2003...related to the Iraq invasion...mentions Emperor Rupert: CounterPunch March 19, 2003 A Cheap Family Farce This War is Brought to You By... By PEPE ESCOBAR Wolfowitz and his proteges's are hardcore "Straussians"--after Leo Strauss, a Jewish intellectual who managed to escape the Nazis, died in 1999 as a 100-year-old and was totally anti-modern: for him, modernity was responsible for Nazism and Stalinism. Strauss was a lover of the classics--most of all Plato and Aristotle. His most notorious disciples were Chicago's Allan Bloom and also Harvey Mansfield--who translated both Machiavelli and Tocqueville and was the father of all things politically correct in Harvard. Strauss believed in natural right and in an immutable measure of what is just and what is unjust. Thus the Wolfowitz credo that a vague "democracy and freedom" is a one-size-fits-all panacea to be served everywhere, even by force. Plenty of neo-hawks followed Bloom's courses at the University of Chicago: Wolfowitz of course, but also Francis Fukuyama of "end of history" fame, and John Podhoretz, who reigns over the editorial pages of the ultra-reactionary Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid the New York Post. As to Mansfield, his most notorious student was probably William Kristol, the editor of the also Rupert Murdoch-financed magazine Weekly Standard. In Kristol's own formulation, all these Straussians are morally conservative, religiously inclined, anti-Utopian, anti-modern and skeptical towards the left but also towards the reactionary right. Under Bush senior, William Kristol was Dan Quayle's chief of staff. Under Clinton, he was in the wilderness until he finally managed to launch the Weekly Standard. Who financed it? None other than Rupert Murdoch, whose tabloidish Fox News is widely known as Bush TV. The Weekly Standard loses money in direct proportion to the expansion of its influence. It remains invaluable as the voice of "Hawk Central". Arabs, Asians, Europeans--and a few Americans--warn of blowback: the whole Middle East may explode in a violent, vicious anti-imperialist struggle. As this correspondent has been hearing for months from Pakistan to Egypt and from Indonesia to the Gulf, "dozens of bin Ladens" are bound to emerge. The strategy advocated by the evangelic apostles of armed democratization--overwhelming military force, unilateral preemption, overthrow of governments, seizure of oil fields, recolonization, protectorates--is being roundly condemned by the same educated Arab elites which would be the natural leaders of a push for democratization. more here: http://www.counterpunch.org/escobar03212003.html Cheers N'

nasking

9/11/2010This is worth reading too...from Nov 2003: November 24, 2003 The Megalomania of Rupert Murdoch The London Trip of a Global Tyrant By ALEXANDER COCKBURN At BskyB's annual general meeting on Friday November 14, Murdoch conducted himself in a manner that would have won the approval of Vlad the Impaler, snarling at one dissident that if he didn't like it he should sell his shares, bickering openly with BskyB's chief executive, his son James. Investors irked by a share price dead in the water for six years and virtually nothing offered in the way of dividends, did make their views clear. Murdoch was quoted by the Guardian's man Jeremy Warner as complaining to his wife at the end of the session that some had been "bloody insulting" and "seriously nasty", but he carried the day, at least for now. The global tyrant still had time that Friday to grant an interview to the BBC in which he placed Tony Blair on notice that the loyalty of Murdoch's newspapers was not to be taken for granted. Referring to himself respectfully in the first person plural, Murdoch was kind enough to intimate that "we will not quickly forget the courage of Tony Blair" but then made haste to emphasize that he also enjoys friendly relations with the new Tory leader Michael Howard. ...Murdoch offers his target governments a privatized version of a state propaganda service, manipulated without scruple and with no regard for truth. His price takes the form of vast government favors such as tax breaks, regulatory relief, monopoly markets and so forth. The propaganda is undertaken with the utmost cynicism, whether it's the stentorian fake populism and soft porn in the UK's Sun and News of the World, or shameless bootlicking of the butchers of Tiananmen Square. There was something so megalomanic about Murdoch's interview with the BBC that one wonders hopefully whether it has all gone to his head and soon he'll be gnawing the carpet like other moguls before him. Probably not. Murdoch is too focused a predator for the wasteful extravagances of insanity... more here: http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn11242003.html Cheers N'

Feral Skeleton

9/11/2010Nas, Have you read, 'The Man Behind the News' by Michael Wolff, who used to be Rupert's son-in-law? He faced an uphill battle to get published(surprise, surprise, not, as that's one thing that Rupert wields ruthlessly, the law and lawyers). I, myself, have a copy but haven't got past the first chapetr yet. I think I might just make the effort again to get into it over Christmas. Sadly, I'm one of these people who finds books the best sedative. :( Also, you would know who Bill Kristol's latest political protege is? A new leader of the worldwide Christian Conservative political movement, and an employee of Rupert's.

Ad astra reply

9/11/2010Nasking, HS Thank you for your comments and the informative links. Clearly Rupert has been up to his customary form for decades. Nothing seems to stop him, nothing seems able. HS, I’m pleased to see you back with Gravatar, even although you had to go feral to banish the forbidding black square.

Miglo

9/11/2010Hi Ad astra, thank you for your strong show of support. I also should be out there doing some spruiking but I'm either too busy, too tired, and at my age . . . too lazy. Still, we've made a good start all the same and the wheel can only keep turning.

Ad astra reply

9/11/2010Folks This is a report on a panel debate before a packed audience on [i]The Future of the Australian Media[/i] held at BMW Edge at Federation Square on 8 November. Chaired by Paul Barry of [i]Media Watch[/i], the other panellists were Bruce Guthrie, former editor of the Melbourne dailies the [i]Herald Sun[/i] and [i]The Age[/i] who successfully sued News Limited recently for wrongful dismissal, and who has recorded that episode in his book, [i]Man Bites Murdoch[/i]; Caroline Overington, dyed-in-the-wool journalist for [i]The Australian[/i] and Murdoch supporter; and Eric Beecher, publisher of [i]Crikey[/i] and former editor and journalist. Alan Kohler did the introductions. As the whole event was recorded and will be posted in two to three weeks on [i]SlowTV[/i], http://www.themonthly.com.au/video this report will be a brief. [i]SlowTV[/i] is an interesting site that you may care to visit. It is associated with [i]The Monthly[/i] magazine. Barry began by pointing out how much newspaper advertising revenue had fallen from an average of 150 pages an issue of a tabloid at $6000 per page to about 60 pages at lower rates, and how News Limited was attempting to sell online subscriptions at modest rates to cover the loss. Overington said that the new Optus equivalent of iPad would come with an initial subscription to [i]The Australian[/i]. Guthrie opined that Murdoch had come too late to the online market and was still a newspaper man at heart, and quoted the [i]Herald Sun[/i] as still making a profit of $100 million a year. Overington agreed about Murdoch’s love of newspapers but insisted he was above all a businessman. Although small town papers were surviving, the large city dailies were doing less well and because they could not afford the journalists they needed, they were bearing the brunt. Overington said [i]The Australian[/i] had only nine Canberra journalists to cover all parliamentarians, public servants and countless lobbyists. All agreed that as a result investigative journalism had suffered, and that other sources of information had come to the fore and were filling the gap; WikiLeaks was mentioned specifically. The difficulty of covering, for example, all the courts, was highlighted, and in Britain some papers had stopped doing so. Nonetheless Overington insisted the MSM here ‘was doing a good job’. She indicated she had little time for bloggers. Beecher said Murdoch’s ownership grip of the media had never been greater, and opined that anything that breaks it should be welcomed. Guthrie quoted the blogsite [i]Politico[/i], run by an ex-Washington Post journalist, which now engages 175 journalists. Beecher said [i]Crikey[/i] employed 30 to 40 journalists, adding ‘the story must be right, not wrong’. This type of journalism is on the up; newspaper journalism is under pressure. Guthrie said that Chris Mitchell, editor of [i]The Australian[/i] had made a considered decision that that paper would be ‘right-wing conservative’ – something we have all observed. Barry revealed that he does not buy newspapers any more; his general news reading is online. Of course he reads papers for his [i]Media Watch[/i] assignments. A recent survey showed 60% of those surveyed believed Murdoch had too much power. Barry opined he would become more powerful because his interests were so many. A questioner asked why people still buy papers; Barry agreed, as they exhibited the worst of journalism. Overington objected, pointing to the Walkley Awards earned by [i]The Australian[/i]. Although Guthrie said most journalists had ethical standards, Beecher insisted they had fallen. He said that News Limited was shedding journalists in the UK; he believed that they were too important to let go. It was stated that there were 300 blogs operating throughout the GFC, but many of the top sites were run by media companies. Barry said there were lots of good sites, and that there was a need to continue to enlist journalists for these websites. Overington agreed that there were good sites and quoted [i]MamaMia[/i], but generally held blog sites in contempt. Although the event featured the sale of Guthrie’s book, it was not mentioned until a questioner commented on the arrogance of News Limited chief John Hartigan over the unfair dismissal case that Guthrie said that News Limited had misrepresented the case so much that the papers’ accounts bore no resemblance to what actually went on in court. Overington protested that Guthrie was wrong, which evoked an audience comment: “Well the judge didn’t think so”. Guthrie insisted that Murdoch paid for poor journalism, and that was a problem for News Limited. It was not until the end that two instances of Murdoch interference with editors emerged. Guthrie recalled that he had been asked to feature a half-eaten donut in his masthead to promote the Simpsons movie produced by the [i]Fox Broadcasting Company[/i], which he refused. Beecher recalled with some disgust the severe reprimand he received for front-paging a story of an overseas air crash. He was told that since Murdoch was involved with an airline (Ansett) his papers did not feature air disasters. The event was not a Murdoch-bashing event, but it was clear from audience reactions that there was little affection for him or his representative Caroline Overington. The event told me little I did not know, but it was fascinating to see the cut and thrust of the players. Overington was the only pro-Murdoch panellist; the others were clearly critical. No doubt this is just another episode in the ongoing debate about the future of the media in this country; there will be many more. But it was heartening to confirm that while MSM journalism and the outlets for it are in decline, Internet journalism is on the rise and becoming increasingly influential. Our efforts seem to be bearing fruit.

Feral Skeleton

9/11/2010Ad Astra, Thank you for your precis of the event you attended last night. I find it interesting that you have reported that Caroline Overington is 'anti-blog', when is it not she who is 'The Australian's' resident online blogger? That is, if I am not mistaken(as I do not buy the hard copy Australian), Caroline Overington is only to be found online and on her blog, and not in the pages of the newspaper anymore. I imagine she rationalises that away because she is a 'journalist', and we and the other 5th Estate bloggers are mere media proles. :) Though how anyone who physically assaults a candidate for parliament, as she did to George Newhouse at Bondi Primary School, when he was running for the ALP against Malcolm Turnbull in 2004, can think themselves above the rest of us who comment on politics, is beyond me. Btw, sadly I still cannot manifest a Gravatar, even with the new e-mail address. I can only access the general avatar linked to this blog engine. :(

Feral Skeleton

9/11/2010This has absolutely no relevance to the topic, except that it is about Murdoch's favourite politician, Sarah Palin. However, it sure is a good read: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/06/opinion/06collins.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=general

Patriciawa

9/11/2010F.S. I really enjoyed the N.Y.Times article but even more the comments - mostly several paras of good sense, often witty and always well written. Reminds one of why Obama was so much appreciated by so many in his own party and by others. His kind is not that unusual in America. Gives one hope that things could turn again for the better......if Murdoch would only get out of the way.

Feral Skeleton

9/11/2010Something just occurred to me about Murdoch. That is, he has momentum behind him such that he has almost become an unstoppable force, and, if he was going to be stopped, he should have been constrained when Paul Keating changed the media ownership rules. Who else, bar, say, Silvio Berlusconi, who owns almost all the media in Italy, and is a politician and leader of his country, has as much influence over politics(despite what he openly admits to), in as many countries, as Rupert Murdoch? As has been noted, it doesn't matter which party is in power, Murdoch, through his media, controls what they can do. His agenda is paramount, superseding those of any government. Although, I will admit, that if the federal ALP government gets to implement the NBN, in opposition to Murdoch's desire to see it 'demolished', then we may just have some hope for a few more flowers to bloom in an arid media landscape in Australia.

lyn

9/11/2010Hi Ad Thankyou so much for your summary of the report on the panel debate The Future of the Australian Media, I really appreciated reading what you had to say. Trust Carolyn Overington to praise the Mamamia Blog site, out of the incredible amount of brilliant sites on the web, Mamamia is a trendy teenager girl site, or young mothers site, designed to attract young newly married couples and new mothers. Mamamia: http://www.mamamia.com.au/

Ad astra reply

9/11/2010Hi Lyn Thank you for the MamaMia link. It seems to be a popular site for young women. Funny she didn't mention [i]Grog's Gamut[/i] or for that matter [i]TPS[/i]! Murdoch does look unstoppable FS, but even the most powerful can come to an unexpected end - maybe the NBN will be his [i]bête noire[/i]. Packing it in to watch TV for the night, but I doubt if I can stomach watching Joe Hockey on [i]Lateline[/i]

Feral Skeleton

9/11/2010I'm not going to bother with Mr Joe 'Slogans and Platitudes' Hockey on Lateline, either. I imagine the interview will be similar to this one: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/323522/watch%3A_rand_paul_has_no_idea_how_he%27ll_cut_government_spending/

CALLIGULA

10/11/2010Oh Good Grief, Have all you people turned into right wing non writers, or something? Come on guys – what happened to all your fullorem? If the postings are getting somewhat samo-samo, Hillbilly Skeleton offered me a chance to post one the other week. But since then she’d temporarily mistaken me for some sort of master of war so I suppose the offer was withdrawn. What’s collectively up? Cat got yer tongue?

CALLIGULA

10/11/2010But since I said that, my last, I’m stuck here with a warmed up word processor just having missed the most obnoxious ABC radio presenter I’ve ever had the misfortune to endure and his guest – one Lee Deighton, science, The Australian. You mentioned the whiteanting of the ABC? Do you people know the word eugenics? Like genetic selection of human beings. Like having put down those who don’t make the grade? Like desexing those whose kids might not make the grade? Like aborting those who get past that net. Like letting some bureaucrat make the decision for you? Like we’re talking about some journo who was apparently kicked out of Canada sprouting that stuff. Like she’d KNOW, wouldn’t she? After all she’s got a cute accent and that’ll do to impress most Aussies. Or do you all agree with Lee? Oh. I forgot. She works for – Who?

Feral Skeleton

10/11/2010Calligula, Good to see your quizzical expression again. :) Not, 'Master of War', more 'Blinded by the Light' of a General's stars and bars, maybe. :) Anyway, the offer's still there, if you want to open up the debate, any debate, a bit more from your perspective, come on down! I don't profess to have all the answers, and, in fact, your contributions have got me thinking quite deeply this week. Haven't been able to come to any conclusions yet, so why not spur us on here at good ol' TPS? I know you have your own blog, but surely you could cross-pollinate? :)

lyn

10/11/2010[b]TODAY'S LINKS[/b] [i]That's Entertainment, Mr Denmore, The Failed Estate[/i] story-telling" - even if those splendid yarns misinform the public - it is prepared to put the planet at risk. This is why the Fourth Estate has become the Failed Estate. http://thefailedestate.blogspot.com/ [i]The Last thing they need are ideas - ALP edition, The Piping Shrike[/i] Rudd had one of the weakest holds on the party of any Labor leader. He had no real base in the party, certainly not in the union movement http://www.pipingshrike.com/2010/11/the-last-thing-they-need-are-ideas-alp-edition.html [i]Libs offer their single solitary "solution" again, Jeremy Sear, An Onymous Lefty[/i] PS If the high dollar is reducing revenue from company taxes, isn’t it also increasing our ability to pay our overseas debt? http://anonymouslefty.wordpress.com/ [i]Work for the dole - Crooked Timber, John Quiggin[/i] For a government that is busy creating unemployment to start attacking the “work-shy” requires a truly impressive level of hypocrisy. http://johnquiggin.com/ [i]Alan Jones--Wireless jock-- HE RIDES A DIFFERENT KIND OF HORSE-- IT'S NO HONEST HORSE!! Stephen, Stroke of luck.[/i] JONESY YOU SHOULD WIPE YOUR MOUTH WITH TOILET PAPER, BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE RUNS GIVE IT A WIPE AND A REST!! http://www.goodluckstroke.com/ [i]Invisible Disabilities Conservatively Discounted, The Bannermann[/i] As is the penchant for editors of Murdoch rags, The Australian in particular, social research outcomes and commentary are only ever published from the Centre http://www.waddayano.org/blog/2010/11/invisible_disabilities_conserv_1.php#more [i]How Much Bang Can Optical Fibre Cable Deliver?,Chris Dziemborowicz, New Matilda[/i] There’s also a lot of confusion about what the proposed network can deliver, and, in any event, whether it’s worth the projected cost. http://newmatilda.com/2010/11/09/how-much-bang-can-optical-fibre-cable-deliver [i]An IPad for every Doctor, Victorian Labor Promises, Delimiter[/i] In July the state unveiled a program where 500 iPads will be delivered to a number of hospitals around the state — costing about $500,000. The trial is slated to take place in January 2011. http://delimiter.com.au/ [i]Asset valuation, John Havyatt, Anything Goes[/i] Standard economic theory says that in a competitive market the quantity produced and consumed will be that which sets prices equal to marginal cost. http://davidhavyatt.blogspot.com/ [i]Let’s play bash the banks, Crikey[/i] As Mungo MacCallum wrote in yesterday’s Crikey, the issue of what to do with the banks presents some opportunities for Gillard to - in her own words - “move forward.” http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/11/09/lets-play-bash-the-banks/ "[i]Go on, charge what you like",the Aussie mortgage contract, Peter Martin[/i]"Australian home-buyers sign a contract which gives the bank the right to change the interest rate whenever and to whatever it wants," http://www.petermartin.com.au/ [i]Whatever They Want, Whenever They Want, Leon Delaney[/i] that wonderful escape clause basically means that you have agreed to let them get away with doing whatever they want http://leondelaney.blogspot.com/

Feral Skeleton

10/11/2010Calligula, Could you please provide a link to the Lee deighton stuff as I missed it. Btw, as a mother of a child with a congenital genetic abnormality, but who has such a warm and sunny disposition that his brother, the 'Golden Child' genius, and I, could not live without, that beatific factor that just can't be quantified at birth when you run the ruler over his chromosomes and count the number of perfectly-formed fingers and toes, as you can imagine, I'm against this fascistic eugenics stuff. I just have to take one look at Stephen Hawkings to know the truth of that. Speaking of IQ and EQ, did anyone else do the 'National IQ Test' last night? I got my usual 120, while making dinner, serving dinner, arguing with 'Golden Child' who thought it all a crock, and No 2 Son who was trying to tell me all the answers while I was trying to concentrate. :)

Ad astra reply

10/11/2010LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/Lyns-Daily-Links.aspx

nasking

10/11/2010"This has absolutely no relevance to the topic, except that it is about Murdoch's favourite politician, Sarah Palin." I've heard on the bear grapevine that there are more than a few grizzlies who'd like to have Sarah Palin & Rupert Murdoch over for dinner. Interestingly, when I was foraging for berries way back when I don't recall comin' across any mama grizzlies who sounded like Minnie Mouse and spent an inordinate amount of time signing books & waving at people w/ dopey signs. I think this Palin lady & her followers are fundy frumps in bear clothing. I hear, like Tony Abbott & Joe Hockey, that if they had an original idea it might melt their brains into glacial pools. N'

Mr Denmore

10/11/2010Ad Astra, thanks for your summary of the panel event in Melbourne. It doesn't surprise me that Caroline Overington sang so dutifully from the Murdoch songsheet. What does surprise me is that there should be any debate about the pernicious influence of Murdoch's domination of our media. Thanks again for your effortsyour blog. Mr Denmore The Failed Estate

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10/11/2010Mr Denmore Thank you for your comment - you pay [i]TPS[/i] a great compliment. We here much admire [i]The Failed Estate[/i]. http://thefailedestate.blogspot.com/ Miglo We are happy to give Australian Blog Sites http://australianblogsites.com/ all the support we can. Folks I’ll be away from my computer for a few hours – back later this afternoon.

Gravel

10/11/2010Ad Astra Thanks for your summary of what happened at The future of Australian Media debate. I look forward to watching it when it is posted.

lyn

10/11/2010Hi Mr Denmore Thankyou so much for taking time away from your valuable blogg site to comment on "The Political Sword". You really are one of our loyal friends, as Ad Astra said we appreciate and admire every piece you post on "The Failed Estate," we do look forward to each and every new post. Have a nice day Mr Denmore.

Miglo

10/11/2010Hi Aa/HS/Lyn and all, As I expected, right-wing extremists have been doing their best to derail ABSites with comments they left at the site, and the links to commentary bashing what we stand for. Apparently, that we like-minded blog sites are attempting to promote our position in the blogosphere is denying the right the opportunity to voice discerning opinions. Yes, you heard right! What we are doing is grossly unjust and does not promote free speech. Can you believe it? The personal abuse towards me is laughable. In my years of blogging I have noted that the trolls never go away. They come back under a different persona and take up where they'd left off. I wouldn't be surprised if the sites listed on ABSites start receiving visits from these trolls, leaving derogatory comments at will. Fortunately, for every 1 troll in the blogosphere there are 100 dedicated bloggers. We belong to that group of 100. Those trolls can annoy us, but they can't beat us.

lyn

10/11/2010Hi Miglo You are doing a fantastic job with "Australian Blog Sites" and I can see an incredible amount of time and effort. There are some brilliant blogs out there, no doubt about that, but there is also some rubbish, that is why the time you spend Miglo, checking the sites out is necessary, to ensure the quality of your blog list on "Australian Blog Sites". Congratulations Miglo, you have done so well, a great effort. Cheers

CALLIGULA

10/11/2010Dear Feral Skeleton, Your - “Could you please provide a link to the Lee deighton stuff as I missed it. Btw, as a mother of a child with a congenital genetic abnormality –“ I’ll do better than that FS. I doubt they keep transcripts of Delroy’s stuff on the net so here’s a copy of my futile vexatious complaint to the ABC. Be assured I did receive a po-faced reply which entirely failed to address my complaint but which did state the right of the ABC to say whatever they felt like saying no matter how trivial, how stupid, how biased, how fallacious, how confusing, how misleading, false, hurtful, compromising, futile, asinine, repetitive, bland, annoying. Pro-Murdoch, or just plain boring ever it could impossibly be. Then they told me to ‘go boil me head’. I’ll say one thing for ABC radio though when they are not playing execrable musak they are on about voluntary assisted death, euthanasia, congenital this or that, negative health outcomes, detriment caused by substance abuse – a lovely mosaic all mortared together with their dullard politics and encroaching, inevitable, environmental disaster. I reckon they’ve lost their sense of humour. Contacting the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Record of Correspondence Please print out the following record of your recent correspondence with the ABC: Correspondence Date: 12/05/2010 20:14 AEST Firstname: ------------------------ Surname: ---------- Email: --------------------------------------- Location: QLD Response Required: true Program: The Nightlife Program Date: 11/12 may 2010 ABC Service / Network: Local Radio ABC Recipient: Audience & Consumer Affairs Subject: Tony Delroy 'Nightlife' - Leigh Dayton, interview, evening 11/12 May 2010 Your Comments: Subject - Tony Delroy 'Nightlife' - Leigh Dayton, interview, evening 11/12 May 2010 Discussion - allegedly 'science matters' - left handed people - their 'challenged' status. Complaint - 1 - Occasion - I was researching and drafting a paper dealing with censorship within the electronic media including other matters touching upon the quasi-legalised practice of eugenics experiments under the aegis of agencies such as Interpol. The radio nearby was tuned to ABC Local Radio from before the commencement of the discussion Mr Delroy / Ms Dayton, subject above. The content of the discussion was utterly discriminatory and actually insulting by way of inferring that left handed people were undoubtedly challenged in numerous ways - lifespan, intellect, cognisance, achievement, life skills, et cetera. The content appears to follow an argument - "The Perils of Living in a Right-Handed World, L Dayton" - yet projected on ABC radio in a way completely at odds with fact and peer reviewed scientific literature - and for that matter with my own life experience. To make that plain - If Ms Dayton and Mr Delroy wish to air their prejudice against left-handed people they should make it clear that such is their intention at convenient times during their discourse. If, on the other hand they attempt to expound science - then they should stick with science and abide by the fundamental tenets of science. I submit the causal link between activities such as eugenics, psuedo science, unethical value judgement, invalid moral judgement, and outcomes such as the 1942 Wannsee Conference, quasi legal procedure, concentration camps and the attempted 'final solution' is direct, incontrovertible - had been 'recognised' and dealt with by international tribunal at Nuremburg in 1945/6 - yet continues to appear, as I maintain has been exhibited, in some guise or other even to the present. Complaint - 2 - I phoned the contact number provided by Mr Delroy - 1300 800 222 - which repeatedly rang out. When finally answered, a member (I assume) of Mr Delroy's team was advised that I had an objection to what had been broadcast. I attempted to ask for an apology on behalf of left-handed people to be broadcast as soon as possible. The response was abrupt, unmannerly, discourteous and was terminated by that contact person before I 'd been able to begin imparting my concerns. Complaint - 3 - Reflecting upon this situation I decided to have my try at Mr Delroy's quiz and if possible, like many of his guests, have a few words in favour of left handed people while, as he puts it, 'guessing' my answers. Since '-------------' (my name) had met no luck and such an attitude with the previous call, I chose the pseudonym 'Yossarian' this time, gave that name when the phone was answered and someone asked something best described as -"Yairwozzyername". I volunteered 'Yossarian' as is my perfect right - and waited at a 'dead' handset until some time later I heard something as best I can write accurately as "Wozzyernameagin?" Whereupon I repeated 'Yossarian'. "Wot?" asked the contact person. I replied 'Yossarian and asked if she had a problem with someone called 'Yossarian'. After which she replied and responded with something like - "Had a 100 psychopaths this week - don't need another one" - Klang: went the phone again. Apparently last night was a bad night for left handed Armenians. A reasonable person (according to the accepted legal definition) confronted with this sort of thing has a perfect right to exhibit their reasonable degree of anger or whatever other emotion may result from this sort of thing. Here I've taken time to reflect upon my own emotions and figuratively 'put myself in the other fellow's shoes' by gauging how he might feel next morning about what he said on radio the night before. If in doing so I resort to the implications of another recent ABC radio article about the 'Dunning Kruger effect whereas "people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it." - then in Mr Delroy's shoes and aware of that I believe I'd long ago have died of shame. Outcomes - I request and require a correctly and sensibly worded retraction and apology be broadcast by Mr Delroy. I would expect it to be directed to the 10 or so percent of the human population who by accident of birth are left handed. I would insist on being informed when that apology is broadcast so that I may hear it in 'real time'. I would expect the apology to cite the material above. Mr Delroy need not offer me a personal apology. Despite my being one of that allegedly intellectually challenged left-handed 10 percent I'm perfectly aware of the pressures of his occupation and his having to say whatever he's told to say. © 2008 Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Feral Skeleton

10/11/2010lyn, I don't know if you have this blog on your virtual Rolodex, but someone just nominated this blog for 'Best Amateur Blog', and I have had a look and he does some political blogging, along with other general stuff. :) http://www.geordieguy.com/

Feral Skeleton

10/11/2010Migs, You should feel flattered that you have made such an impression in Rightoid Trollville, so quickly. :) Keep up the good work! You know, if we keep multiplying our footprint the way that we have been, the trolls will have to spend all their waking hours keeping track of us, and we can lead them on a merry dance, and do some A Grade messing with their heads! Anyway, what you should reply to their tortured logic that goes along the lines of that song, 'What about me? It isn't fair!', is that you would gladly allow them equal space and time if only the Rightoid blogs did the same for us and our views. As you know that that will never be the case, I mean how many times have you tried to comment on News Ltd. blogs, and either been blocked or used as a subject of derision? So, all you have to say to the trolls is that you will gladly extend a quid pro quo when they do. Or, you can just exert the same amount of totalitarian control over YOUR ABS baby as they do over us and our contributions to their blogs. :)

Feral Skeleton

10/11/2010You know, if I was of the paranoid variety of Skeleton, I might come to the conclusion that my Gravatar account had been hacked and replaced with the Black Box.

jj

10/11/2010I agree with most of your comments, that Murdoch does have too much influence over the media industry not just in Australia bu around the world. However i do not think that The Australian is a paper that is overly bias towards the conservative side of politics...i mean at the 2007 election the paper's editorial backed Labor. I do however believe that the Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun are far more biased towards the conservative side of politics, but in NSW i dont think that there is a media organisation that isnt seeing as we have the current hopeless Labor State Government. In Europe and America i do believe the Murdoch has too much power, with him pretty well being able to influence election results in the UK and US...however the extent to which he influences the papers editorials is still unclear. I do not believe that a monopoly in the media industry is healthy, but Governments around the world have let it come too far, and it is now pretty well impossible to turn the ship around.

nasking

10/11/2010Hi all, I've put up a new post at the Cafe: They said what? – Quotes from Opinionated Movers & Slackers http://cafewhispers.wordpress.com/2010/11/10/they-said-what-quotes-from-opinionated-movers-slackers/ [quote]Perhaps it has something to do with the troubling sense that these highly opinionated types are not really stating their own views, rather, they are delivering a loaded message that is part of a concerted campaign meant to manipulate you, influence yer attitude towards an issue or person. So, the general comment sticks in yer head as you attempt to work out their motives…and who might benefit from their opinion if enough people fall for it…and whether they really mean what they’re saying.[/quote] Thnx for all the links Lyn. I checked out Mr. Denmore's piece at The Failed Estate...highly informative & spot on. Cheers N'

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10/11/2010Folks Back again - thanks for your comments. jj It's good to be in agreement with you. I think your last sentence is correct - unfortumately for us all.

lyn

10/11/2010 Hi Calligulla What a great time you must have in your body, you are hilarious: This very descriptive sentence is my favourite: [quote]no matter how trivial, how stupid, how biased, how fallacious, how confusing, how misleading, false, hurtful, compromising, futile, asinine, repetitive, bland, annoying. Pro-Murdoch, or just plain boring ever it could impossibly be. Then they told me to ‘[b]go boil me head’[/b]. [/quote] I can hardly read for the laughter tears pouring down my face, Calligulla thankyou for the best laugh I have had for a while, Yossarian unique name, love it, "Yairwozzyername", Wozzyernameagin, funnier still, did you have a fun time with the ABC: This is my favourite too: [quote]I volunteered 'Yossarian' as is my perfect right - and waited at a 'dead' handset until some time later I heard something as best I can write accurately as "Wozzyernameagin?" Whereupon I repeated 'Yossarian'. "Wot?" asked the contact person. I replied 'Yossarian and asked if she had a problem with someone called 'Yossarian'. After which she replied and responded with something like - "Had a 100 psychopaths this week[/quote] cheers

CALLIGULA

10/11/2010Dear Lyn, I pinched ‘Yossarian’ from Kurt Vonnegut’s “Catch 22” Absolutely no idea why that name came to the forefront of my mind but I suppose the ABC board would have had someone who was au-fait with it. Doesn’t matter – they’ve striven in so many other ways to prove themselves to be imagination challenged anyway. On reflection there was so much more I should have said about the ABC but whenever I set up to do that the Ghost of Tim Bowden taps me on the shoulder. I did notice something the other night. Delroy (ABC Local) announced that transmitters would be down for maintenance. He did NOT mention that ABC National would keep transmitting. What conclusion? Overt factions within the organisation? I apologise for not replying to you until now – especially since you appear to be the one who has noticed my ‘Rowan Atkinsonian’, biting wit. Or leastways his scriptwriter.

TalkTurkey

10/11/2010News Ltd to support independent bloggers Senior political journalist with The Australian Newspaper, Janet Albrechtsen, announced today that in a bid to encourage quality comment in Australian political blogsites, the Board of News Ltd has voted $2.4 million over the next 3 years, to be awarded to moderators of the most popular sites. The scheme, to be known as the Lachlan Murdoch Independent Blogsite Award, will deliver the first $800,000 on September 8 next year, Mr Murdoch Jnr's 40th birthday. Speaking to a luncheon audience organised on her behalf by Government Minister Steven Conroy, Ms Albrechtsen said today, "If you believe that this article is kosher, you represent just the kind of readership Mr Murdoch wants to encourage."

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10/11/2010Folks If you want to see the insidious way the conservatives in the US perpetrate untruths, take a look at this YouTube video posted by Tom R today in a piece on Café Whispers: http://cafewhispers.wordpress.com/2010/11/10/they-said-what-quotes-from-opinionated-movers-slackers/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBxzMMCokpI

Feral Skeleton

10/11/2010Calligula, Sorry to be impertinanat, but that's Joseph heller wot dun wrote Catch 22. Actually, that's what America is sorely lacking atm, piss-taking satirists that can take the wind out of the sails of politicians who are all piss and wind, and the society that they are encouraging to be created in their image.

Feral Skeleton

10/11/2010I wish Australia had someone like Rachel Maddow. :(

nasking

10/11/2010[quote]Speaking to a luncheon audience organised on her behalf by Government Minister Steven Conroy, Ms Albrechtsen said today, "If you believe that this article is kosher, you represent just the kind of readership Mr Murdoch wants to encourage." [/quote] Conroy eh? WTF. Well, if it's true, that's the last vote Labor will be getting from me. By gawd what kind of party have they become? Fancy helping those media mongrels after all the crap they've throw their way. Gutless wonders. Makes ya wanna puke. And this concerted broadside on Rudd from all & sundry, including the ABC. And Paul Howes using a Victorian Lib to launch his book & bash Rudd. What kind of twisted, traitorous logic is that. Pathetic! What a wonderful democracy we have. Money & rich dynasties makes the world go around. N'

TalkTurkey

10/11/2010Oh-Oh!!! What have I done . . ?! Nasking, Amigo, . . . Sorry . . ! . . Didn't you read what I made (note, what I made) Ms Albrechtsen say . . . IF YOU BELIEVE THIS ARTICLE IS KOSHER . . . etc . . . ??? Can you really believe Conroy doing anything to accommodate Albrechtsen . . . ? Can you really believe any Murdoch subsidising bloggers? Oops. I don't really think that you Nas are the kind of reader Mr Murdoch would want to encourage . . . but you did, it seems, think my BS article was kosher . . . Anyway, good to see your rage at THINKING that Conroy would do that! I don't quite know whether to giggle or weep . . . But I'm giggling anyway, can't help it. But I sure meant no embarrassment to anyone on OUR side . . . FORGIVE ME!

lyn

10/11/2010Hi Nasking I meant to talk to you earlier, but got tied up. Thankyou for your enjoyable comment up above, and now another one, I do enjoy reading your opinion Nasking, you are a very valuable contributor to the TPS. Yes it is disheartening to see Paul Howes using the party to make money from his book, but never mind it's only a small glitz, we must continue our fight to keep our Government, don't ever give up. Cheer up Nasking we need you.

Miglo

10/11/2010Hi Ad, I must have missed Tom R's Rachel Maddow video today at the Café (getting old AND blind). It's a ripper and I've added it to the videos at ABSites. Hillbilly, I agree that Australia needs a Rachel Maddow. How do you think Lyn would go? :) Lyn, I second your comment: Cheer up Nasking we need you.

Patriciawa

11/11/2010Talk Turkey - I did a double take on your Blogsite awards story and then got it with the punch line. But had I, like Nasking, come to it reeling after the Howes/Kroger stuff on the 7.30 Report I think I would have exploded halfway through. Nasking might be raging about Kroger and Howes on Rudd, but even more filthy was Kroger's foul rumor mongering about Gillard. It was as bad as anything we've seen in the character assassination stakes so far this year. "I can't prove it," he says! What is Howes up to? Smug little idiot.

TalkTurkey

11/11/2010I truly am sorry, dear Nasking! I surely can’t blame you for asking, OMG . . . WTF ?! Has Conroy run amok? Seems it's time for TalkTurkey's unmasking . . . You must never again trust my word! Conroy Loves Albrechtsen? Absurd! That article's satire! I'm just Turkey by attire - Believe me, I'm a true Liar Bird!

cALLIGULA

11/11/2010Some silly skeleton or other has called me to task – (Smiley here) She said - “Sorry to be impertinent, but that's Joseph heller wot dun wrote Catch 22. Actually, that's what America is sorely lacking atm, piss-taking satirists that can take the wind out of the sails of politicians who are all piss and wind, and the society that they are encouraging to be created in their image.” Hellfire ! you are right. I’m senile. Vonnegut wrote “Schlachthof Funf” – “Slaughterhouse Five” – But Brenda Vaccaro in the movie has always bent my mind even when she played the Governor’s wife in “Water” beside that old ham – wazzisname with the Cockney accent. – Michael Caine. Sorry. Its my childhood; saw the movies – read the books later – blame MGM. But there is some thread of something that you seem to need to say outside merely taking me to task over a mere detail. I’m absolutely sure that your concerns have less to do with me posthumously annoying Messrs. Heller and Vonnegut than your wanting to say something rather derogatory about those you call politicians and the same sort I call raffle winners. A few moments reflection will avise you that if you buy a lottery ticket that fails to win – then you are perfectly entitled to curse and blind against fate – to froth and fulminate against your misfortune until, as they say, the cows come home. Let’s look at that picture for a ballot - But if YOU are forced to take a ticket – one of thousands and scoped the other way so that the odds, instead of one in thousands as it would be for you, are stacked so that only one out of three or four gain the glittering prize – the sort of prize that elevates them to be some sort of piss poor petty princeling for a number of years – then the result has to be rigged. You must know that in your own heart as well as anyone whoever gave the shindig a few seconds thought. I mean, you’d have to be out of your nut not to – surely – wouldn’t you? Any decent bookie would rig the whole show the other way if he wanted to set up a fair raffle. In a real democracy we’d all get to put our own ticket in the hat along with each of those in our electorate. We’d all have a chance at a win. The new member of parliament would be the first ticket drawn from the hat. The second, third, etc., would go to make up their team commensurate to the size of the electorate. They might all hate each other but they’d have to work together – or else. They’d have to be the leaders of our society – or else. Elsewise if they refused to work together we could easily have another raffle next week. If we did that we’d have democracy. If we did that people would soon learn to work together. If we did that we could stop endlessly bellyaching on the internet about injustice. That would be because we could get up off our tired old butts, just walk down the street, knock on our parliamentarian’s door and have them pay immediate attention to what is ticking us off. Be interesting, wouldn’t it? The present lot of squeezers would shudder in horror and reject such a scenario out of hand – while they hide behind their Praetorian Guard. Mainly because the sorry sacks get to pretend they haven’t been/can’t be advised about anything – while they’re hiding behind their Praetorian Guard. Oh Yes. The world turns, but doesn’t change much.

TalkTurkey

11/11/2010To help make amends Nas, I want to THANK YOU for your earlier post of November 10. 2010 04:52 PM . . . Which I have reposted below: "Hi all, I've put up a new post at the Cafe: They said what? – Quotes from Opinionated Movers & Slackers cafewhispers.wordpress.com/.../ Perhaps it has something to do with the troubling sense that these highly opinionated types are not really stating their own views, rather, they are delivering a loaded message that is part of a concerted campaign meant to manipulate you, influence yer attitude towards an issue or person. So, the general comment sticks in yer head as you attempt to work out their motives…and who might benefit from their opinion if enough people fall for it…and whether they really mean what they’re saying. Thnx for all the links Lyn. I checked out Mr. Denmore's piece at The Failed Estate...highly informative & spot on. " [End of Nas' post on TPS] NOW: To ALL Swordsfolk I say: GO to Nas' post at 4.52 AM; GO to Tom's comment; GO to RACHEL MADDOW on video! It is AMAZING! FUNNY yes, but oh so SAD and FREAKY and enough to scare you out of your wits! It is the most compulsive viewing I have ever seen exposing the Rotten Right in the Good Ol' U.S.A. Once again Thanks Nasking

lyn

11/11/2010[b]TODAY'S LINKS[/b] [i]Throwing the disabled off the top of a Bank, Ashghebranious, Ash's Machiavellian Bloggery[/i] Last week you were ready to lead the lynching of the Bank chiefs. This week, you want exterminate the disabled pensioner ‘problem’ and sack thousands. http://ashghebranious.wordpress.com:80/2010/11/10/throwing-the-disabled-off-the-top-of-a-bank/ [i]The people have spoken, Andrew Elder, Politically Homeless[/i] Abbott was freaked out at coming up against a woman. The Liberal Party benefitted from Labor's mistakes (the fact that it had no policies to run on, the Oakes-Rudd leaks) http://andrewelder.blogspot.com/2010/11/people-have-spoken-after-federal.html [i]George Brandis on the Tea Party: "legitimate but very heated criticism", Kim Larvatus Prodeo[/i] Richard Farmer has helpfully put together a compendium of these “legitimate” comments for his information. Go read!http://larvatusprodeo.net/2010/11/10/george-brandis-on-the-tea-party-legitimate-but-very-heated-criticism [i]Evidence Banks don't get it, Peter Martin[/i] Things are good. So Treasury's worried Australia's unemployment rate is set to plunge to 4.5 per cent as the mining boom gears up http://www.petermartin.com.au/ [i]Standard variable rate mortgages, Stubborn Mule[/i] Interesting though that may be, the real problem with Australian mortgages has nothing to do with whether bank margins are or are not going up. http://www.stubbornmule.net/2010/11/standard-variable-rate-mortgages/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+StubbornMule+%28A+Stubborn+Mule%27s+Perspective%29 [i]Australia: asylum seeker policy — 2, Neil, Neil's Second Decade[/i] we should not be distinguishing asylum seekers by their mode of arrival as the “boat people” are in fact guilty of no crime by either Australian or international law. http://neil2decade.wordpress.com:80/2010/11/10/australia-asylum-seeker-policy-2/ [i]The transparent ballot, Tim Dunlop, BSides[/i] I wrote a little while back about journalists revealing who they vote for, so good to see a couple of others http://tjd.posterous.com/ [i]G20: skating on the surface , Gary Sauer-Thompson , Public Opinion[/i] This is a political failure in that its political parties, rather than working together to address pressing economic problems, remained at each other’s throats. http://www.sauer-thompson.com/ [i]MR BIG: Billionaire Clive Palmer’s huge influence exposed, Vex News.[/i] the powerful figure in the Liberal National Party in Queensland takes a very hands-on role to dealing with government officials. http://www.vexnews.com/news/11477/mr-big-billionaire-clive-palmers-huge-influence-exposed/ [i]Election quickies and the politics of publishing, Mark Bahnisch, Larvatus Prodeo[/i] Paul Howes’ “campaign diary”, Confessions of a Faceless Man from Melbourne University Publishing, the same mob who brought out Cassidy’s book. http://larvatusprodeo.net/2010/11/10/election-quickies-and-the-politics-of-publishing/ [i]Oh dear, why did I install solar panels?, Rooted, Crikey[/i] counting the interest I have failed to earn on the money outlaid, I am well over $5000 worse off and have nothing to show for it. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/rooted/2010/11/09/oh-dear-why-did-i-install-solar-panels/ [i]Wild Rivers snub shows Abbott's 'contempt' for shire, Chrissy Arthur, abc[/i] Burke Mayor Annie Clarke says she has been told Mr Abbott's meeting in Normanton today is a private meeting http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/10/3062066.htm

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11/11/2010LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/Lyns-Daily-Links.aspx

nasking

11/11/2010Thnx for the support all above. "FORGIVE ME!" No probs Talk Turkey. I did take it seriously in fact. I read thru so many blogs, sites & comments I'm pretty tired later in the day. For some reason I could see that eventuating...Labor havin' backed down so many times when the fight is gettin' tough...and the fact there has been this concerted & petty broadside against Rudd of late. I find it all quite depressin'. As I said to Patricia at the Cafe this morn: the ego of Paul Howes & his desperate need to justify his stupid & ill-conceived Lateline appearance in support of the assassination of Kevin Rudd I believe has done as much damage to the Labor party as the leaks & Mark Latham’s antics. Damn foolish & selfish stuff on his part. It makes one wonder if he really does have the interest of Labor at heart…or just his own ambitions. Regardless of how they spin it, the assassination team will never be forgiven by many, particularly QLDers, the way Kerr & others are remembered for the Whitlam dismissal. It was one of the most grotesque days in Australian history…and some in the ALP, the ABC & Murdoch empire should hang their heads in shame. Certainly Rudd is a maverick who needs a wee bit less hubris…but for Mark Latham to melt down as he has…and now this ongoin’ assault on Rudd again after his assassination as PM (I thought Rudd did a good job as Foreign Minister the past few weeks, not disimilar to Smith in defence…one of the few effective Laborites out there of late)…it goes to show that somethin’ is rotten in the core of the ALP & it cannot seem to handle difference of views & values. At this point, I cannot see the rainbow alliance lastin’…sadly. Considerin’ the pathetic state of the Coalition…their sh*t stirrin’, corporate suck-arsin’ leader w/ his kooky religious values…the shadow treasurer who ties himself up in knots…the battle between climate change believers & mining company suckholes. I’m not surprised the minor parties such as The Greens are growing. It’s sad for Julia Gillard, I reckon she woulda felt far more confident comin’ in after two terms of Rudd as PM…she’s tryin’ hard…she has to put up w/ alot of Aussie misogyny (normal state of affairs for this too oft ocker country)…and her people are playin’ vicious games that look petty, mean-spirited, desperate & OCD to many observers…and it does not bide well for the future of the ALP. After watching this news in the UK: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/10/student-protests-conservative-party-hq-occupation and recognising the beginning stages of the usual Murdoch-led “dumbing down” by way of shiftin’ young people away from academia to a corporate-obsessed, market-driven approach…I see little hope for the future of our planet in the short-term. The PRIVILEGED intend to use DEBT FEARS to keep the rains of gold fallin’ into their backyards…whilst the rest of the population will once again be treated as serfs, underpaid, overworked, undereducated, gagged & manipulated by corporate propaganda media…forced to wave flags & booze themselves to ill-health to benefit big pharma & insurance companies …as wars are fought for profits…and the people kneel under the weight of their financial burdens…and work exhaustion. Raising another generation of children who know no better. I think I've lost the fire. Mebbe oneday it will return. When we see a tru fight by progressive politicians...not constant capitulation...and kowtowin'. And the rights of the exploited, disadvantaged, persecuted & conflict ravaged given top priority...instead of catering to the rich dynasties who do little but gamble w/ people's lives...and eat up our media like it is their plaything. N’

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11/11/2010Folks I enjoyed reading your overnight comments. Your satire Talk Turkey evoked an interesting response. Miglo, I'm glad you've added the Rachel Maddow video to your website. It's a classic. I'm getting on the road soon for a few hours - I'll be back late afternoon.

Feral Skeleton

11/11/2010Nasking, Please rekindle that fire. If good people like you snuff out the flame that keeps them kicking against the pricks, then the pricks have won. Let me tell you, I have just come off fighting a battle against one of the biggest female pricks(I know that's a non-sequitur, but, hey, if anyone could be transmogrified into that, she could), in the Labor Party of late, Belinda Neal; because I knew that my federal seat, Robertson, was going to be crucial to the last election, as it turned out to be. The Liberals thought they had chosen a dream candidate to win the seat for them, a former Policeman, local Chamber of Commerce President, and Surf Club Pres., to be their candidate. He had all the boxes ticked, and was running in the seat against the candidate that represented the biggest running sore for Kevin Rudd in the last government., or so the Liberals thought. However, instead of giving up and taking my bat and ball and going home in despair, I, and a former candidate for the seat who had been done over by Belinda and her husband, John Della Bosca, previously, started work from almost the day after Iguanagate blew up to make sure that we had at least a fighting chance in the seat for the 2010 election, as we knew that we would be decimated if Belinda Neal was allowed to hang on. Long story short, we won! Why? Because we knew we had right, not might, on our side. Tony Abbott and Rupert Murdoch represent 'might'. If we remember that we have 'right' on our side, and we play smart, because that was the other ingredient to our success, which involved picking a fantastic replacement candidate, then we will prevail. I know it must look dire up there in Queensland, what with Tony Abbott up there encouraging the bigots and rednecks with his latest, 'We'll decide who becomes our judges, and the manner in which they adjudicate' schpiel, plus the prospect of an LNP government in your State; however, rest assured, there are those of us in the ALP that ARE debating for and fighting for the heart and soul of the party, and to defend it from attack from both The Greens and the Coalition, for the right reasons. I could have given up, but I didn't. Neither should you. In fact, if you feel so strongly, get up and out and make a contribution to the future of this country yourself. Don't forget, if good men do nothing...

TalkTurkey

11/11/2010Thank you for your tolerance Patriciawa, Nasking, Aa, especially you Nas, I felt a bit mischievous having snagged you, and I do see your point Patricia, that Nas was understandably pre-primed to explode after the Howes/Kroger stuff, which I only saw when half-asleep, but the more I think about it the crosser I get too. Hubris Howes eh, with Kreepy Kroger. I exploded likewise at NormanK during the stress of the post-election interregnum, only to find that he was a very serious contributor to this site, (so that's twice I've felt guilty on this site by virtue of stuff I've writ.) You too Nas, you are a very weighty inputter, seems your berry diet has been good for your brain. Anyway glad you're not a bear with a sore head. I think perhaps quite a few of us have been under brain-snap tension re the political situation, and without Limpy Crisp to vent our stuff at, we're feeling rather highly strung . . . (Where art thou Sir Ian?). Discerning readers will by now have realized that my fortes are insults, and rhyme, and insulting rhyme, and rhyming insults, Oh and a bit of pure fun true, but nothing very deep, so I do honour yous lot who do research and frame thoughtful critiques and link to others who do likewise. What I really like about TPS posters and the sincere commentators on other sites is the sense of solidarity and shared commitment to decency, it's very much like the feeling in good ALP meetings, guess I'm still a sort of True Believer even yet. The thing is, ordinary grassroots ALP members are overall really decent and selfless in my experience, notwithstanding bitching and personal ambition among a subset, and there is a shared sense of purpose when things are going as they should, and it's really vital that when feathers do get ruffled we keep the need for conciliation steadfastly in mind. Same here on TPS. Not saying it happens nowhere else, could happen in any club or social situation, but politics is where it bites beyond its own borders iyswIm. (I made that up, it means if you see what I mean.) (I just learnt roflmao, lol!) That's the trouble with the Greens though, they are quite prepared to jump from left of Labor to the Rotten Right and to cut off all our noses to spite all our faces, damn, I'm bloody Greener than most, always have been, but what good comes of having no bread at all when half a loaf was all there was ever a chance of? I was once privy to a conversation between Gretel and Don Dunstan, 1969 it was, the next day after Steele Hall LCL and Don's ALP had each won 19 seats with one Tom Stott Ind. having ALL the say, with the bare possibility that given enough candy Stott might not kick Labor out . . . (He was an *) . . . It was a case where perhaps Don might have got some but not all his legislation through. Anyway Don and Gretel argued all around the issues, principle vs pragmatism, while I the only other person in the room said nought. In the end Stott kicked Labor out anyway, all to the good in the end as it transpired, with Don cornering Tin Shed - who had some sense of decency after all - into permitting eventual legislation for one-vote-one-value for the Lower House through the Parliament. (The Upper House remains hopelessly gerrymandered to this day.) But NO good, and VAST harm, came from the Greens' puritanical demands for ideal climate change legislation, and now, what's to gain from their support for a Victorian Coalition Government? Eh? How the Hell will a Baillieu Govt help anything good to happen? Come on Greens, you're basically decent, BE REAL! It's your noses too! And it's our noses too! This is one hell of an important issue, one that we left- and liberal-minded people outside Labor itself must address with all our persuasive powers. We are now more threatened by what should be staunchly-comradely left-radical and intellectual forces than we ever were by the bloody DLP! As if we hadn't enough enemies without that! BTW I never thought Labor was perfect . . . It's just people . . . But it's Labor or it's THEM, the Rotten Right, and THEY are HORRID!

Miglo

11/11/2010I'm not going to give away names, but it's a certain little poet's birthday today.

Patriciawa

11/11/2010Nasking and Talk Turkey, if only wars could be solved by people graciously admitting they were wrong or had misunderstood each other! Remembrance Day today and fittingly commemorated by Paul Norton at http://larvatusprodeo.net/2010/11/11/armistice-day-2010. There's a lead there to that lovely Eric Bogle song for Willy McBride. I was born on November 11th, 1935, and my Dad always called me his 'Poppy' girl. As a small child I was somewhat bemused by so many people seeming to remember my birthday by wearing a red poppy. But no one seemed very happy about it, wearing black armbands and taking wreaths to the cenotaph, standing still and quiet for a very long time and then listening to a bugle mournfully playing what I later learned was The Last Post. By the time World War II finished I understood more about war and why November 11th is not really a happy day. After a lifetime of watching and participating in Armistice Day ceremonies over and over again it feels very much to me that war serves no purpose at all except to enrich those who make weapons and the power hungry who use fear rather than good will to rule. Like you, Talk Turkey, and obviously many other TPS bloggers I truly believe that we on the left are more often on the side of good will. But even we can be mistaken and manipulated and fooled. So we need to be on our guard, not defensive, but aware and alert - 'en garde' like true swordsmen? PS will try to think of something to write for Miglo at Cafe Whispers at the weekend on really celebrationg my Poppy Day once due reverence has been paid.

NormanK

11/11/2010Ad astra Thanks for the headline article. Nothing to add except wouldn't it be nice if we had a Rachel Maddow to highlight some of the nonsense generated and regurgitated by the press in Australia? Talk Turkey Just for the record, I have long since drawn a line under our little misunderstanding. Hopefully, we have both learned something from the incident. For my part, I have learned not to put up short posts which might be misunderstood by a new or casual reader. Nasking's misinterpretation (no dig intended) of your earlier satire is a case in point that we can all of us make mistakes if we approach a subject with a preconceived idea of the content, intention or outcome. We all do it, every day. This problem is exacerbated by only having words on a screen to inform us but diligence and keeping an open mind reduce the risk of error. Hillbilly//Feral Sorry to see you are still having Gravatar problems. I'm not sure from what you've written whether you have tried to log in to Gravatar.com from your son's computer. The two most likely sources of your problem are that either your computer is sending garbage to Gravatar.com and it is faithfully broadcasting it or Gravatar.com is broadcasting garbage of its own making on your behalf. What you see on the Manage Gravatars page when accessed from another computer should be informative.

TalkTurkey

11/11/2010Hippy Bathday Poppy Girl! Yes a sombre day from 3 points of view, 1888 they hanged Ned, 1918 the Armistice, 1975 Gough dismissed, but many happies for you. (My birthday was 2 days ago, 9/11, now misappropriated by Yanks to mean 11th September, damn their eyes! At least they can't mess your birthdate up, it's 11/11 either way! Well yes they can, they're likely to call it 10/11/11, mine 11/9/10 or 10/11/9 or any way they can #*&% it up they will. Oh and then there's bloody Daylight Saving!!!) Yes NormanK, I only refer back to my gaffe to make the point that misinterpretation of tiny matters can become such serious stumbling blocks, and as Poppy Girl says, we need to have a bit of en garde-ness and give. A patch in time can make a relationship stronger and more understanding than a relationship never tested, so as they say, it's all good. I have a feeling that many wars are sparked by minute misunderstandings, while getting things straight is what civilization is all about. I do feel understood and pre-forgiven by those on this site, Ta All. As for the wonderful Rachel Maddow - the Chaser boys, Julian Morrow in particular, have done about as well as anyone - but she has so much ammo! But like Muriel the Donkey in Animal Farm who says, (from memory) "God gave donkeys a tail to shoo away the flies, but I'd rather have no tail and no flies", I wish Rachel didn't have so much materiel. Any TPSwordsfolk who haven't watched her yet, DON'T MISS OUT, she is the BEST with the WORST!

lyn

11/11/2010Hi Patricia Wa Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday, Dear Patricia, Happy Birthday to you. Here is a posy of roses for your birthday Patricia. love from Lyn

Ad astra reply

11/11/2010Folks Back at the coast again - 23 degrees with sea breezes. Happy Birthday Patriciawa. What a lovely term of endearment - 'Poppy girl'. You were obviously very special. We look forward to reading what you write on Cafe Whispers.

Feral Skeleton

11/11/2010NormanK, As I am of the time poor(and mentally lazy, lol, variety), I have not gone back over the posts I have made to you recently, but I think I mentioned previously that I had tried to access TPS and Gravatar from my son's computer, to no avail. Which is why I was driven to creating a whole new gmail account, just so that I could avoid the dreaded square black hole, and at least be given an automatic avatar by the TPS blog engine. Added to that, I tried to create a new Gravatar with my new email account, and it still won't work! However, at least I am being 'allowed' to have a general blog avatar again. Which makes me think of the phrase, 'Be thankful for small mercies', as being as black as the endless void was doing my head in. Now, I am only half done-in, with my new anonymous avatar. Sigh. I can't seem to find any other way around the problem.

Feral Skeleton

11/11/2010PatriciaWA, Many happy returns for the day. Here's a little present for you: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/television/2010/11/15/101115crte_television_franklin?currentPage=all My late husband was the first baby born on Mothers Day, and every 7 years we celebrated both together. Also, my 2nd son was born on the 7th of September, which wasn't Fathers Day that particular year, but every 7 years it is! (Or is it 8 with the Leap Year?)

CALLIGULA

11/11/2010Dear Lyn, Some have suggested Poor old Rupert ain’t the only culprit Calligula has been at it again and I’d appreciate it if I could mention these – http://calligulashorse.blogspot.com/2010/11/queensland-sunny-one-day-soul.html and – http://calligulashorse.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-part-of-this-dont-you-understand.html also – http://calligulashorse.blogspot.com/2010/11/image-calligulas-horse.html As I so often warn people they might not be everyone’s cup of tea if their reading comprehension is a bit off – but we do good pikkies that are most definitely not scrounged off the net. That Feral Hillbilly person might benefit from a good night’s sleep and the second listed above would fairly well assure that after about paragraph five. That is, if she reads it -

Feral Skeleton

11/11/2010Here's a lovely little comment from the LP link lyn provided today: 'I reckon I’d rather read my own death warrant than anything Cassidy wrote. I looked at the abysmal Onesiders once and that was enough. The News Ltd filth sitting there in our taxpayer-funded studio, the animated robotic Labor/Rudd bashing, the in-your-face anti-progressiveness of the assembly – that told me all I needed to know about Cassidy, and more. How very ABC!'

nasking

11/11/2010Happy birthday Patricia. Have a wonderful night. [quote]Please rekindle that fire. If good people like you snuff out the flame that keeps them kicking against the pricks, then the pricks have won.[/quote] Hillbilly, the fire will come back...I just don't know when. For now, I need a break. It's a long story. And Talk Turkey, you musn't worry...yer satire had nuthin' to do w/ my present low mood. I think my brain just needs some hibernation...plenty of battles ahead, as we know. I'll be myself soon enuff. Keep up the great work all. Great links Lyn as always. N'

CALLIGULA

11/11/2010That’s what’s lacking these days in modern Australia – rigour. It’s supposed to be the Political Sword isn’t it – a mob of commies ripping it into ‘em. But what happens – a birthday list, forsooth. Didn’t I read something up above about this turnout being voted as an exemplar of political comment? Who swung that one? Mr Abbott? But I suppose it is sometimes pleasant to hear unguarded words from some peasant. If not germane they oft speak plain of their own selves, not words of some desecrant, and thus afford a break for the bored or those like me deemed insignificant. But how would it be if I made some decree to have you all accept the ambient. There. That’s enough. A few lines of verse bad enough to have it banned next morning in Queensland.

lyn

11/11/2010Hi Calligulla Thankyou for the links, of course I will post them. I will post them on "Today's Links" in the morning and then Ad will come along and post them on the special page. Howz, zat.

Miglo

11/11/2010Lookin' forward to ya gettin' yer growl back, Nas.

Feral Skeleton

12/11/2010Nas, You know, you're not on yer Pat Malone, there wrt the fire sputtering, especially when you consider the global Stockholm Syndrome that is being experienced in the West after, first, September 11, and even overnight with the bombing in the Red Zone in Karachi,Pakistan, that shows nowhere is safe anymore from the crazed radicals of Islam, who would blow up their own mother if it would advance radical, extreme Islam ,and the world-wide caliphate they are seeking to introduce over our dead bodies. Which has, in turn, seen a rise in extremism in all religions. The Jews are developing policy based upon the Bible ferchrissakes! The Catholic Church is seeking to turn back the clock to the Crusades era; and extreme evangelical whatever it is in the United States is infiltrating politics. It is indeed enough to send the rational, pacifistic, objective, sane people like us into either a bout of extreme ennui, or total despair. Especially when you consider, as Ad Astra has written about so perceptively this week, and Miglo has exposed to us with the 'OutFoxed' video exerpts on 'Australian Blog Sites', that something has happened that we all thought could never happen with an essentially global system of democracy, and all the checks and balances it was supposed to house, and that is that one man, Rupert Murdoch, has established, without a shot of lead being fired, almost global dominance for his Empire. And he has done it with the humble Printing Press, and its modern technological congeners, the TV and the Internet. And the saddest realisation is that there is not a lot that we little guys can do about it, no matter how hard we try, or how many hours of unpaid work we put into it. Except...if that's what you choose to believe is the case and lie down and let the Murdoch machine roll over you, and allow to be elected the political parties that are complicit in his long game. Which I won't. I can't. I was lucky to be born and grow up during the period of activism which almost saw the walls come tumbling down. In fact, one wall, the Berlin Wall, did come tumbling down. No one ever thought that possible, either. Doom and gloom merchants believed that the USSR would keep on rolling over its defiant critics. However, again, as I said before, if you pressure the little guy enough, and a charismatic leader comes along who can galvanise the feelings of discontent, then anything is possible. In Poland and Czechoslovakia, it was Lech Waleska and Vaclav Havel; in bleedin' Afghanistan and Pakistan, it was Osama Bin Laden; however, in South Africa it was Nelson Mandela, and in India, Mahatma Ghandi. I can't remember who it was the spurred the Enlightenment, Martin Luther? After the Crusades and the Inquisition that was a pretty spectacular achievment. So, you see, you can't give up hope, because then you may as well sign your ticket over to Tony Abbott and Rupert Murdoch, who I'm sure would love to see the Australia that spawned Mr Murdoch become the jewel in the crown of the Murdoch Empire. Well, I don't roll over that easily, and I don't give up fighting the good fight until I am beaten down to a stop. However, if that is to be the case, I will be doing my best to let the world know about what is happening, and hopefully that will create a little spark in someone, somewhere, who just might be able to come up with a way to 'replace the bastards'(as Bob Brown defiantly stated). I mean, that's the one thing Rupert Murdoch will never be able to control, that is, that he is human like the rest of us, and even if he lives as long as his mother, no one lives forever, and no child is ever exactly like his parent, no matter how much they are groomed to be that way. And, one day, some where, the anti-Rupert will be born. And it behoves all people of good will to keep the flame burning in our windows, like the star that guided Mary and Joseph and the 3 Magi to Bethlehem, so that he/she can be protected from the forces of evil that seek to kill him/her(all metaphorically-speaking, of course). The extremme religious and conservative perverts can never be allowed to win. And THAT's the thing that I celebrate every Xmas Day. Peace Be To You, Nasking, and Goodwill To All Men.

lyn

12/11/2010[b]TODAY'S LINKS[/b] [i]Lazarus Dying. Lest we forget, Ashghebranious,Ash's Machieavellian Bloggery[/i]Abbott”s call for elected judges. I took no real notice of it as it just seemed like a spike in what had been a good week for Tony in my eyes. Then came the High Court judgement. And I suddenly understood what Tony was alluding to. http://ashghebranious.wordpress.com:80/2010/11/11/lazarus-dying-lest-we-forget/ [i]High Court win for asylum seekers, The Conscience Vote[/i] In one of the most shameless and inhumane pieces of legislation passed by the Howard Government, Christmas Island, Ashmore Reef and other destinations commonly sought by asylum http://consciencevote.wordpress.com:80/2010/11/11/high-court-win-for-asylum-seekers/ A[i] Fair Go In The Courts, New Matilda[/i] Tony "Turn Back The Boats" Abbott last night argued in Brisbane that if judges continue to hand down light sentences, it is "almost inevitable" that we will shift to a system whereby judges are elected http://newmatilda.com/2010/11/11/fair-go-courts [i]Stuck in a inhumane spiral: asylum seekers and the media ,Patrick Ashworth, The Sporadic Rager[/i] under Howard in 2001, and probably before, the media has been entirely complicit in peddling an inordinate amount of fear mongering trash regarding the issue. http://sporadicrager.blogspot.com/2010/11/stuck-in-inhumane-spiral-asylum-seekers.html [i]Stupidest remark of the day, Jeremy Sear, An Onymous Lefty[/i] The damage that tabloid media hysteria could do to justice in our country: http://anonymouslefty.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/stupidest-remark-of-the-day/ [i]Murdoch attacks Google , Jessica Marks, The International Annual[/i] Murdoch in a special position. It is his right to receive lots of money in return. This is classic bourgeoisie arrogance and elitism, parading on as though he has the right to control the world’s money. Murdoch, I believe, has a self-deity complex: he thinks he’s God. http://internationalannual.blogspot.com/2010/11/murdoch-attacks-google-by-jessica-marks.html [i]BY THEIR OWN WORDS: Liberal king-maker Kevin Andrews exposes Greens party menace in gory detail, Vex news[/i] Kevin Andrews, the highly-principled Liberal front-bencher who single-handedly set the stage for the change in party leadership that very nearly won them the last federal election, http://www.vexnews.com/news/11490/by-their-own-words-liberal-king-maker-kevin-andrews-exposes-greens-party-menace-in-gory-detail/ Blogs by our friend & valuable contributor to "The Political Sword" Calligula: [i]"Queensland – sunny one day, soul destroying the next". Calligula's Horse[/i] These days, they contend, it isn’t just aboriginal people and minority groups being marginalized and brutalized – it’s now the state’s entire population. http://calligulashorse.blogspot.com/2010/11/queensland-sunny-one-day-soul.html "[i]WHAT PART OF THIS DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND, QUEENSLAND", Calligula's Horse[/i] Does the rule of Law exist here or has it been extinguished - Or like some chained dog left without succour by neglectful and disinterested owners http://calligulashorse.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-part-of-this-dont-you-understand.html [i]Calligula's Horse[/i], To cut to the chase the decision was made to accept that we’re nothing more than – “Insensitive Doltish Loons” – who just happen to do “Calligula’s Horse” without fear or favour. http://calligulashorse.blogspot.com/2010/11/image-calligulas-horse.html

Ad astra reply

12/11/2010LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/Lyns-Daily-Links.aspx

nasking

12/11/2010Feral Skeleton, well said. I used to comment on Huffington Post...from 2005-2007. Back in them days I was into more independent/semi-Libertarian blog conspiracies at times...had alot to do w/ the Iraq War & 9/11 & no trust in the American government. In 2007 I posted the followin'...but in some ways I still think it's apt: UK Biz Mag Reports Murdoch's Dow Jones Bid Is Done Deal [quote]"He is the Napoleon of crime, Watson. He is the organizer of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this great city. He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker. He has a brain of the first order. He sits motionless, like a spider in the center of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them. He does little himself. He only plans. But his agents are numerous and splendidly organized. Is there a crime to be done, a paper to be abstracted, we will say, a house to be rifled, a man to be removed -- the word is passed to the Professor, the matter is organized and carried out. The agent may be caught. In that case money is found for his bail or his defence. But the central power which uses the agent is never caught -- never so much as suspected."[/quote] (Sherlock Holmes, in "The Final Problem") [quote]"You stand in the way not merely of an individual, but of a mighty organization, the full extent of which you, with all your cleverness, have been unable to realize. You must stand clear, Mr. Holmes, or be trodden under foot.'"[/quote] Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty, in "The Final Problem" posted 07/06/2007 at 20:19:20 AND: [quote]Kane (at 25): I want to make sure that decent hard-working people in this community aren't robbed blind by a pack of money-mad pirates, just because they haven't anybody to look after their interests.[/quote]& [quote]Leland: That's all he ever wanted out of life... was love. That's the tragedy of Charles Foster Kane. You see, he just didn't have any to give.[/quote] (quotes from 'Citizen Kane') [quote]Rupert Murdoch: For better or for worse, our company (The News Corporation Ltd.) is a reflection of my thinking, my character, my values. Rupert Murdoch: There is so much media now with the Internet and people, and so easy and so cheap to start a newspaper or start a magazine, there's just millions of voices and people want to be heard. [/quote] ------------ Yes, voices to be bought, to be manipulated or character assassinated by sewer swimmers indebted to our contemporary Moriarity. posted 07/06/2007 at 20:17:29 ----------------------------------- N'

Feral Skeleton

12/11/2010Why do people want to reward this pack of bastards with their support? http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/12/3064983.htm?section=justin

CALLIGULA

12/11/2010Dear Combo Skeleton (I’m assuming FS and HS are one and the same, FS, now, to avoid that dreaded black rectangle?) Your – “Why do people want to reward this pack of bastards with their support?” Ich konne nicht? What pack do you mean? The banks - Those who deregulated them - Those who’d lose face were that reversed - Or the Hockey team that has diversified into amateur theatrics? I merely ask this to illustrate the limitations of this E-text medium. That’s a lovely photo of Jooles being tight lipped but it does nothing to convey what is going on in her head. As a matter of fact nothing she (or any other politician) says does that either. BTW - Calligula has decided to write a book. The title shall be – “Airbus Australia” The blurb will go – Just like modern airliners Australia is becoming increasingly maintenance intensive. We all expect more of us to be able to go higher and further at less cost but suddenly an engine falls off, the controls stop working, the communications quit or the navigation systems go on the blink – etc, etc..

patriciawa

12/11/2010F.S. - Sickening, isn 't it? Amazing how Hockey, Abbot and Co. accuse the government of their very own sins. It's not even as if they were looking into a mirror of themselves and unconsciously reflecting what they see. These people confect anger and posture moral outrage over any issue they choos, knowing what they do. Then they accuse Gillard and Swan of just those things, thus pre-empting any challenge to their hypocrisy. It's a conscious strategy. Surely they are going to trip themselves up somewhere. Pointless to ask why the media is not calling them on this.

Ad astra reply

12/11/2010Folks I've just posted [i]How lies, deception, slogans and mantras kill the truth[/i]. http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/post/2010/11/12/How-lies-deception-slogans-and-mantras-kill-the-truth.aspx

patriciawa

12/11/2010PS Sorry about the missing 'e' on choose. So indignant - looking at Julia's calm and lovely face which is what we mostly see and reading their accusations of her in that ABC story, I didn't stop to proof read my rushed comment. I guess the ABC couldn't find a picture that suggested confect rage. I think this response and your lead FS may belong on today's post about lies etc. So will take it up there. Meanwhile thank you to everyone for your birthday wishes. I had planned to boast at Cafe Whispers about my advanced age over the weekend when serious comment on Armistice Day had been appropriately made and passed. I've found over the years I can only really enjoy it being my birthday by late afternoon or evening. But once Miglo had semi-outed me it just happened to fit a comment about war and its impact. Many thanks again.
How many umbrellas are there if I have two in my hand but the wind then blows them away?