So the globe is warming after all

Climate skeptics and deniers should read no further. The factual information below will cause them to have acute cognitive dissonance as the facts and figures clash with their entrenched beliefs and fantasies.

I suppose it is coincidental, but recently there has been a spate of reports on the state of the globe, and all point in the one direction, the globe is warming, and the only plausible explanation is the man-made accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Let’s look first at the recent World Bank-commissioned report, Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided (pdf) (eBook version), carried out by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics, on behalf of the Bank.

I will quote extensively from an article published on November 18 this year by the Bank: Climate Change Report Warns of Dramatically Warmer World This Century, which begins with these highlights:

“The New World Bank-commissioned report warns the world is on track to a ‘4°C world’ marked by extreme heat waves and life-threatening sea level rise.

“Adverse effects of global warming are “tilted against many of the world's poorest regions” and likely to undermine development efforts and goals.

“In response, the Bank is contemplating increased support for adaptation, mitigation, inclusive green growth, and climate-smart development.”


Drawing attention to this summer’s satellite image of the melting Greenland ice sheet, the report suggests that “…time may be running out to temper the rising risks of climate change”, and the Bank “…warns we’re on track for a 4°C warmer world marked by extreme heat-waves, declining global food stocks, loss of ecosystems and biodiversity, and life-threatening sea level rise.”

The Bank adds that because the effects of a warming climate are “…tilted against many of the world's poorest regions”, they are “…likely to undermine development efforts and global development goals”. The report urges "…further mitigation action as the best insurance against an uncertain future."

Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group insists: "A 4°C warmer world can, and must be, avoided – we need to hold warming below 2°C. Lack of action on climate change threatens to make the world our children inherit a completely different world than we are living in today. Climate change is one of the single biggest challenges facing development, and we need to assume the moral responsibility to take action on behalf of future generations, especially the poorest."

The World Bank article continues: “The report, reviewed by some of the world’s top scientists, is being released ahead of the next comprehensive studies by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2013/14, and follows the Bank’s own Strategic Framework for Development and Climate Change in 2008 and the World Development Report on climate change in 2010. ‘Turn Down the Heat’ combines a synthesis of recent scientific literature with new analysis of likely impacts and risks, focusing on developing countries. It chronicles already observed climate change and impacts, such as heat waves and other extreme events, and offers projections for the 21st century for droughts, heat waves, sea level rise, food, water, ecosystems and human health.

“The report says today’s climate could warm from the current global mean temperature of 0.8°C above pre-industrial levels, to as high as 4°C by 2100, even if countries fulfill current emissions-reduction pledges.

"This report reinforces the reality that today’s climate volatility affects everything we do," said Rachel Kyte, the Bank’s Vice President for Sustainable Development. "We will redouble our efforts to build adaptive capacity and resilience, as well as find solutions to the climate challenge."

“The World Bank doubled lending for climate change adaptation last year and plans to step up efforts to support countries’ initiatives to mitigate carbon emissions and promote inclusive green growth and climate-smart development. Among other measures, the Bank administers the $7.2 billion Climate Investment Funds now operating in 48 countries and leveraging an additional $43 billion in clean investment and climate resilience.”


Let’s look at some details:

Rising Sea Levels
“The report says sea levels have been rising faster in the last two decades than previously, and this rise is being seen in many tropical regions of the world. This phenomenon is partly due to melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets; the rapid growth in melt area observed since the 1970s in Greenland’s ice sheet is a clear illustration of its increasing vulnerability. Arctic sea ice also reached a record minimum in September 2012. There are indications that the greatest melt extent in the past 225 years has occurred in the last decade. It’s early yet but clearly some of the small island states and coastal communities are beginning to take a hard look at their options. The need to adapt to climate change will increase as global population reaches 9 billion in 2050.”

Ocean Acidification
“Coral reefs are acutely sensitive to changes in water temperature and acidity levels. The report warns that by the time the warming levels reach 1.4° C in 2030s, coral reefs may stop growing. This would be a result of oceans becoming more acidic as a result of higher CO2 concentrations. And with 2.4° C, coral reefs in several areas may actually start to dissolve. This is likely to have profound consequences for people who depend on them for food, income, tourism and shoreline protection.”

Heat Extremes
“A 4°C warmer world would also suffer more extreme heat waves, and these events will not be evenly distributed across the world, according to the report.

“Sub-tropical Mediterranean, northern Africa, the Middle East, and the contiguous United States are likely to see monthly summer temperatures rise by more than 6°C. Temperatures of the warmest July between 2080-2100 in the Mediterranean are expected to approach 35°C – about 9°C warmer than the warmest July estimated for the present day. The warmest July month in the Sahara and the Middle East will see temperatures as high as 45°C, or 6-7°C above the warmest July simulated for the present day.”


Lower agricultural yields
”Hotter weather could in turn lower crop yields in a 4°C world, raising concerns about future food security. Field experiments have shown that crops are highly sensitive to temperatures above certain thresholds. One study cited in the report found that each “growing degree day” spent at a temperature of 30 degrees decreases yields by 1% under drought-free rain-fed conditions.

“The report also says drought-affected areas would increase from 15.4% of global cropland today, to around 44% by 2100. The most severely affected regions in the next 30 to 90 years will likely be in southern Africa, the United States, southern Europe and Southeast Asia, says the report. In Africa, the report predicts 35% of cropland will become unsuitable for cultivation in a 5°C world.”


Risks to Human Support Systems
”The report identifies severe risks related to adverse impacts on water availability, particularly in northern and eastern Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. River basins like the Ganges and the Nile are particularly vulnerable. In Amazonia, forest fires could as much double by 2050. The world could lose several habitats and species with a 4°C warming.”

Non-linear impacts
”As global warming approaches and exceeds 2°C, there is a risk of triggering nonlinear tipping elements. Examples include the disintegration of the West Antarctic ice sheet leading to more rapid sea-level rise, or large-scale Amazon dieback drastically affecting ecosystems, rivers, agriculture, energy production, and livelihoods. This would further add to 21st-century global warming and impact entire continents.

“The projected 4°C warming simply must not be allowed to occur—the heat must be turned down. Only early, cooperative, international actions can make that happen".


And while the globe is burning, some politicians fiddle, filled with doubt as they are by the skeptics and deniers. It is criminal negligence on a monumental scale.

In case anyone thinks that sitting here down under we might be spared these terrifying consequences of global warming, let’s turn to the evidence, that is verifiable facts and figures presented on the 15 November edition of the ABC’s Catalyst, where Dr Jonica Newby interviewed several climate scientists. If you missed this informative program, you may wish to view it here.

Dr Kenneth Green says: ”In 60 years, we've lost a third of our total snow cover. But there is some rough comfort for my skiing aspirations. And that is that the beginning of the season hasn't really changed.



Newby:
”So, basically, since 1954, snow depth in July is much the same. When you reach September, it starts to drop off. So that by October it's noticeably less. Essentially, spring is coming earlier.



“It's even clearer when you look at the records for the thaw, now two weeks earlier than in the '60s. And the snowline appears to have lately moved up from 1,500m to 1,600m.

“So we're looking at minimum temperatures. And, Karl, basically, this is how cold it gets at night.”


Dr Karl Braganza:
”That's correct, Jonica. If we start at the Snowy here, we've warmed by about 1.1 degrees since a century ago. And that's similar to Perth, Sydney. If we're looking over here at Cairns, it's almost 2 degrees since 1910.

Newby:
”So that's night-time minimums, but I bet what most of you are more interested in is what's happened to daytime maximums. And, for that... I'm heading here.”

Braganza:
”You can see here - Sydney through to Melbourne, Canberra, Hobart, they've warmed up by about 0.7 of a degree. And in some capitals a lot less. Adelaide - 0.3. But if you go over to the west - Perth - and into the centre - Alice Springs - you've got 1.1 to almost 2 degrees of warming.
 Overall, averaging maximums and minimums, our nation's core temperature has gone up 0.9 of a degree.”

Newby:
”Alright, so this next diagnostic is... a measure of extremes.”



Braganza:
”It is. And what we've seen is more and more stations are breaking extreme heat in the last 100 years, and less are breaking extreme cold.
 In fact, in the last ten years, the number of stations breaking extreme heat records has doubled those breaking extreme cold. So, frosty nights are becoming less common, but extreme heat days are becoming more common.”

Katherine Brown (of Brown Brothers vineyards):
”Talking to our scientists, winemakers and viticulturists, they really pretty much turned to the board and said, 'We have to find this cooler-climate property because within decades we could see a 2-degrees temperature rise in our current vineyards in Victoria.' So, they pretty much told us that if we continued to want to do what we do best, make quality wine, we had to come south.”

Newby:
”So the chance of one month being above-average temperature, is one in two. The chance of the next month also being above-average temperature, is one in four. The chance of the next month also being above-average temperature, is one in eight.”

So what do you think are the chances of having 330 months in a row of above-average temperatures? Because, since February 1985, we have had... 330 months in a row of above-average (global) temperatures.”

Dr Mark Howden:
 ”It's really extraordinary. If it was just by random chance alone, then there's only a 1 in 100,000 chance that that would have happened in the absence of human influence.”

”It's exciting times for Tasmanian fishermen. With so many new fish arriving, they've teamed up with scientists to plot them. They've seen leather jacks, green turtles, dusky morwong...”

Mark Nikolai: 
”It's actually really good news for Tasmanian fishermen, because all the New South Wales fish are moving south into our waters.
 “All in all, scientists have confirmed 45 new species have, like Brown Brothers, shipped on down to Tassie.”

Newby:
 ”Well, obviously, if fish from the big island are moving down, the water here must have got warmer.”


“Alright, Dr Karl. National round-up time again. 100-year health check. Circulation.”


Braganza:
 ”What we're going to look at now, Jonica, is the sea-surface temperatures around Australia. And what we've seen is about a degree of warming over the last century. But you can see over the East Coast we have more warming than we do over the West Coast. There's some hot spots as well. And that's off the coast of Victoria and Tasmania. Sea temperatures here off Tasmania have risen an astounding 2.28 degrees. That's about four times the global ocean average.”

”When the original records were rediscovered just a decade ago, Dr John Hunter was able to work out what's happened.”




Dr John Hunter:
 ”OK, the total sea-level rise since 1841 is about 17 centimetres. So, if you raise sea level by just 10 centimetres...
you find you get a tripling of the number of flooding events. 
And if you raise it by another 10 centimetres, it goes up by another factor of three, so that's a total of nine.”

Newby: 
”So... so we've got nine times, effectively, the number of flooding events for structures at sea level than we did 100 years ago?”

Braganza:
 ”So what we're looking at here is basically from the satellite record from 1993. And we can see sea levels have risen everywhere.”

Newby: ”So, now, the last two years' rainfall have been quite extraordinary, haven't they?”

Braganza: ”They have. They've been record-breaking. So, over the last 24-month period, the two years, we've seen more rainfall in Australia for a 24-month period than we've ever seen in the historical record.”

Newby:
 ”And tell me - does this have something to do with the fact that the ocean and the air temperatures are higher?”

Braganza:
 ”Normally, when you get a La Nina event you'll get almost record rainfall in Australia. This time, what we saw was record sea-surface temperatures around Australia. And so we've got basically a perfect storm. We've got a La Nina event. We've got global warming going on in the oceans around Australia. And then we've got this record rainfall as well.”

”Essentially, what the records show is that global warming isn't something that's coming - it's here in our backyards already. It's pointless now to ask, 'Is this climate change or natural variability?' What we see is one acting on top of the other.”



Braganza: ”So, every parcel of air, every ocean current, every weather system is now about a degree warmer. And when you go through and do the physics, that's actually a hell of a lot of energy added to the climate system in general.”

Newby:
”You know, of all the things I learned on this investigation, it was that comment from Karl that really struck me. It was like, 'Aha! I finally get it.' There's one degree of extra heat across the whole planet. That's just a lot of new energy in our weather system. What happens when you add another degree? And another?”

Exactly, what happens? It gets worse and worse, until we get to the tipping point, where no matter what we do, the destructive process continues beyond the control of human beings.

Older people, those who make decisions about what to do about climate change, even if they acknowledge the disaster that looms, see it as far away and slow moving, something they can be relaxed about, something they can take action about when the time comes. What the World Bank Report tells us is that the time to act is NOW. If we don’t, our children and theirs will suffer the terrible consequences.


If you need any more convincing, read what Graham Readfearn had to say in Independent Australia in a piece titled: The Australian skews climate science… again that starts with how once more The Australian has misrepresented climate change science. The YouTube video that accompanies the piece will repay your attention. Make sure too that you scroll to the end where you will see a very revealing dynamic graph that shows how skeptics segment time periods in an attempt to show that the globe is not warming, in fact might be sometimes cooling, whereas if you look at the whole 40-year period the graph shows – 1970-2012, and insert a trend line (in red) the warming trend stands out starkly.

Writing in New Matilda in Our Role In The Climate Deadlock, Ben Eltham writes: ”The problem posed by climate change is difficult to overstate. It is global. It is endemic. It is devilishly difficult to address. But address it we must, or our children and grandchildren will inhabit a planet almost unimaginably different from our own: a world of dangerously destabilised climates, devastating natural disasters, flooded cities and dead coral reefs. A world most likely riven by conflict and war. A world in which the global economy struggles against the huge cost of dealing with a preventable global disaster that our generation did little to prevent.”

The ramifications of climate change go way beyond variations in climate. In an article by Tristan Edis in Climate Spectator, John Hewson: Climate change the next sub-prime meltdown he writes of his interview with Hewson, who has now taken up the Chair of the Asset Owners Disclosure Project, an initiative aimed at getting retirement and superannuation funds to pay more heed to the risks of climate change and the need to invest more money in companies that reduce carbon emissions. Hewson ”equates climate change as equivalent in its likely impacts on financial markets to that of the sub-prime loan crisis that led to the GFC. He also points out that governments across the globe are subsidizing carbon intensive industries, and board members can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to the risks associated with investing in these industries.”

Again in Climate Spectator Julian Poulter writes in The climate for super fear: ”The largest pool of money in the world is held by the big pension and superannuation funds – called the ‘Asset Owners’. They have a fiduciary duty to us to invest wisely and the unique risk-return challenge of climate change and other ESG issues (Environment, Social, Governance) have prompted us in recent times to question whether they are carrying out their duties.

“The problem arises because we know that the Asset Owners give our money to fund managers who in turn invest in companies. And sages that we are, we have a sneaky suspicion that some of the investments aren’t sustainable and that in the context of climate change, we might wake up one day with the mixed news that the low carbon economy is fully underway but our retirement savings portfolios that are currently stuffed with high carbon assets are worth dramatically less than they were yesterday. And when this sudden low carbon tipping point occurs, causing inevitable portfolio destruction, it won’t be like the sub-prime crisis where the highly technical complexity of the issue engaged us all for months allowing everyone to avoid true scrutiny. No, this is climate change – it’s simple and we’ve been talking about it for years and trustees cannot now escape.”


In the face of all this evidence, in the face of all these warnings, how can anyone take a cavalier attitude to climate change, how can anyone ignore the reality of global warming so recklessly? The only explanation is that these people are the climate equivalent of the Obama ‘birthers’ and the Creationists who believe the planet is only 6000 years old, who cast aside evidence, ignore verifiable facts, so that their beliefs, their ‘faith’ can hold sway.

These people can never be convinced. But there must be some rational people out there who if they knew the facts would be so scared out of their wits for the welfare of their grandchildren that they would act, and would support any government that was acting decisively to mitigate the effects of climate change, even if the cost was high. The cost of not acting is much, much higher.

We must counter the deniers and skeptics. The survival of the human race, and indeed all living things, depends on it.


What do you think?

UPDATE 29 November 2012

Since writing this piece, two further reports on global warming have emerged that will repay your attention.

The first was: UN Report: Melting Permafrost Seen as New Peril in Global Warming that alerts us to the extreme danger of the release of the powerful greenhouse gas, methane, from melting permafrost in the Arctic.

It began: ”Permafrost lands across Siberia and Alaska that contain vast stores of carbon are beginning to thaw, bringing with it the threat of a big increase in global warming by 2100, a U.N. report said on Tuesday.

“A thaw of the vast areas of permanently frozen ground in Russia, Canada, China and the United States also threatens local homes, roads, railways and oil pipelines, the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP) said in the report which was released at the U.N. climate talks being held this week and next in Qatar.

“Permafrost has begun to thaw,” Kevin Schaefer, lead author at the University of Colorado told a news conference in Doha.

“An accelerating melt would free vast amounts of carbon dioxide and methane, which has been trapped in organic matter in the subsoil, often for thousands of years, the report said.

“Warming permafrost could release the equivalent of between 43 and 135 billion tons of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, by 2100. That would be up to 39 percent of annual emissions from human sources.

“Permafrost now contains 1,700 billion tons of carbon, or twice the amount now in the atmosphere, it said.


The second came out today from the Doha talks. It is reported in The New York Times in an article Global Warming & Climate Change (Doha Talks, 2012.UN Report: Melting Permafrost Seen as New Peril in Global Warming that begins:

”Global warming has become perhaps the most complicated issue facing world leaders. Warnings from the scientific community are becoming louder, as an increasing body of science points to rising dangers from the ongoing buildup of human-related greenhouse gases — produced mainly by the burning of fossil fuels and forests.

“Global emissions of carbon dioxide jumped by the largest amount on record in 2010, upending the notion that the brief decline during the recession might persist through the recovery. The increase solidified a trend of ever-rising emissions that scientists fear will make it difficult, if not impossible, to forestall severe climate change in coming decades.”


There is another version published in Salon: Area of Arctic sea ice larger than US melted this year U.N. weather agency released worrying report at Doha talks. It begins: ”An area of Arctic sea ice bigger than the United States melted this year, according the U.N. weather agency, which said the dramatic decline illustrates that climate change is happening “before our eyes.”

“In a report released at U.N. climate talks in the Qatari capital of Doha, the World Meteorological Organization said the Arctic ice melt was one of a myriad of extreme and record-breaking weather events to hit the planet in 2012. Droughts devastated nearly two-thirds of the United States as well western Russia and southern Europe. Floods swamped west Africa and heat waves left much of the Northern Hemisphere sweltering.

“But it was the ice melt that seemed to dominate the annual climate report, with the U.N. concluding ice cover had reached “a new record low” in the area around the North Pole and that the loss from March to September was a staggering 11.83 million square kilometers (4.57 million square miles) – an area bigger than the United States.

“The alarming rate of its melt this year highlighted the far-reaching changes taking place on Earth’s oceans and biosphere,” WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said. “Climate change is taking place before our eyes and will continue to do so as a result of the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which have risen constantly and again reached new records.”

“The dire climate news – following on the heels of a report Tuesday that found melting permafrost could significantly amplify global warming – comes as delegates from nearly 200 countries struggled for a third day to lay the groundwork for a deal that would cut emissions in an attempt to ensure that temperatures don’t rise more than 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) over what they were in preindustrial times. Temperatures have already risen about 0.8 degrees C (1.4 degrees F), according to the latest report by the IPCC.”


These reports are scary.

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KHTAGH

26/11/2012Ad What can I say, I can't praise this piece enough. As a lot here you know I take this subject very seriously & I did save a few week ago that we will see what comes within 20yrs. We have successfully setup an environmentally + feedback cycle. Now that cycle is on a downward ride, with us on board. Sit back strap in & kiss your arse goodbye because there is thing squat we can do without serious attitudinal change in our thinking. If we allow the Mad Monk at the wheel all he will do is [b]RELEASE THE BREAKS![/b]

2353

26/11/2012Hi Ad - a wonderful article which points out the bleeding obvious. To borrow a phrase it is an inconvenient truth that the world is warming. Unfortunately, there is a number of high profile (predominately) US scientists who for their own political reasons have accepted payments and donations from a number of people in the energy production industry to deliberately mislead. The method of operation (as well as a discussion on the process used to discredit CFC's causing the hole in the ozone layer, tobacco smoking is dangerous to health and a few other campaigns) is detailed in a book I think I have referenced here before called [i]Merchants of Doubt[/i]. Merchants of Doubt is a 2010 book by the American science historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchants_of_Doubt

2353

26/11/2012There is some hope. The US voted Obama back in in spite of the mother of all scare campaigns by the Tea Party and related interests that use the methods described in [i]Merchants of Doubt[/i]. The LNP also is using a lot of the same methodology, which people are (finally) twigging to regardless of a large proportion of the media attempting to guild the lily. As an example Gratten reports online at Fairfax tonight that Gillard did well today in neutralising any damage to her or the Government and noted as the final paragraph [i]"Of course her critics won't be satisfied, and will throw up more questions. But Gillard has narrowed their opportunity to get fresh momentum."[/i]. You wouldn't have seen that for love or money 12 months ago. http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/impressive-gillard-attack-narrows-target-for-critics-20121126-2a30p.html#ixzz2DJie6hsk

MWS

26/11/2012Tim Lambert at Deltoid has covered [i]The Australian[/i]'s misrepresentations of climate change for a while now: http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/category/the_war_on_science/

TalkTurkey

26/11/2012 Ad You gazzump me nearly every time, you post while I write the I post on the old thread so then I want to re-post my crystals of wisdom on the new one, I don't mind at all but I feel it's a bit presumptuous. But we all want Lyn's Links reposted anyway! November 26. 2012 06:55 PM Folks I have just posted [i[So the globe is warming after all[/i]. www.thepoliticalsword.com/.../...ng-after-all.aspx > I haven't read it yet but my heart has permanently migrated to my mouth wrt global degradation. I'll read it 'presently'. Hi Lyn Could you please repost your 5.01 PM post here. Ad astra reply November 26. 2012 08:08 PM That link to the photo of Credlin and Mesma, don't just look at Credlin's folder, check the "jewellery" on her wrist, it looks like something out of Mad Max! And while you're there check her moustache. She looks like a budding Johnny Depp! ashghebranious.wordpress.com/.../ Patricia said Talk Turkey, were you time travelling this morning? Well, I have brought my Eye of Time to a tight focus on these last few days, and just as I have been spot on in my long-range prognostications, (by reason that I think I have always read *J*U*L*I*A*s fighting abilities aright), so I had only to put myself in her mind, she could hardly have felt other than the way I projected. It's always her I'm really proud of, I preen myself a little for getting things so dam right but it's only because she has lived right up to my hopes, nay, expectations - and Abbortt has lived 'way down to my expectations of him. We are EXACTLY where I have always thought we would and should be at this stage, I am very comfortable with our position as we near the last long break. You can't score Own Goals in Aussie Rules but you sure can in Politics and Mesma kicked one today.

pj

26/11/2012What (another)great essay. Thanks so much. I take great heart this blog exists, the people here. The real story(s) of within Australia.

pj

26/11/2012Excellent article by Bernard Keane of Crikey here, re the story of the mechanics of how the smear (against our PM) was legitimised :http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/11/26/the-mechanics-of-how-a-smear-campaign-was-legitimised/

nasking

26/11/2012 Better repost here...forgot to refresh so missed this new post: Well, I just watched 7:30 and all I learnt was Blewitt comes across as a grubby character whose flight and hotels are being paid by an obsessive. I felt like I was watching some crappy Channel Nine Current Affairs tabloid pap. Leigh Sales should have better things to do... but I guess hopping on board the sleaze model train is an addiction these days... NINE, Seven and Murdoch and shock jocks having trampled all over themselves acting like crazed kids at the playground in order to get attention from an increasingly bored audience, readership... and so it's not surprising that Fairfax, a Fairfax-run and Murdoch-influenced ABC and increasingly desperate TEN should dive into the muddy playground and come out looking just as grubby and mud-smeared...and foolish. Nothing like wasting the public's time...in the hope you'll come out on top. King of the castle. Time for a media inquiry I reckon...this place has the UK infection obviously. Pathetic. www.crikey.com.au/.../ Sadly, I think Sales has hooked into her past...seems to have worked for NINE. I guess it's hard to shrug off that kind of fever when you've got Gillard-haters poking you left, right and centre. I'm thinking the ABC could use a real flush. I'm still wondering why they put one-tenth the effort into exposing the lies and BS in the run-up to the Iraq War. And Abbott's slush fund. Oh, that's coming is it? YEA...RIGHT. I won't hold my breath. Not with so much misogyny and union-hating around. And child-like behaviour...everyone trying to be Rupert. Well guess what kids...Rupert's crown is made of paper-mâché. N'

nasking

26/11/2012 [b]In the face of all this evidence, in the face of all these warnings, how can anyone take a cavalier attitude to climate change, how can anyone ignore the reality of global warming so recklessly? The only explanation is that these people are the climate equivalent of the Obama ‘birthers’ and the Creationists who believe the planet is only 6000 years old, who cast aside evidence, ignore verifiable facts, so that their beliefs, their ‘faith’ can hold sway. These people can never be convinced. But there must be some rational people out there who if they knew the facts would be so scared out of their wits for the welfare of their grandchildren that they would act, and would support any government that was acting decisively to mitigate the effects of climate change, even if the cost was high. The cost of not acting is much, much higher. We must counter the deniers and skeptics. The survival of the human race, and indeed all living things, depends on it.[/b] Good work Ad, at least someone is getting on with the ADULT work...has avoided the PLAYGROUND mentality. The clock is ticking. The evidence comes in day by day. And yet all we get from most leaders and MSM is distracting play. I'm not surprised now we ended up with so many destructive wars...and car accidents...and oil spills...and smoking and asbestos-related illnesses and deaths...and continued child abuse...and poverty and starvation across the planet the past hundred years... even with a supposedly civilised, informed media and political leadership... that's what we get when we let power hungry, money obsessed, tabloid-driven, narcissistic freaks run the show for FAR TOO LONG. The rational and the competent begin to get on top of things...only to be trampled by the herd acting like something out of Lord of the Flies... time...and time again. Such behaviour seems to be INFECTIOUS. And sadly...instead of HEALING the planet...and the big problems...we end up once again battling or distracted by the INFECTED. And the benefit of toff schools and religious institutions and media empires are??? N'

Ad astra reply

26/11/2012KHTAGH, 2353, pj Thank you for your kind words. Thank you 2353 for your reference to Merchants of Doubt, which I must read. I agree that Michele Grattan's article was more reasonable than we usually have from her. pj, Bernard Keane's article is very sound and balanced. MWS, Thank you for your reference to Deltoid, a site I must read. TT Sorry to upstage you; I hope you enjoy the piece which has taken several days to complete, and which I was mightly pleased to finish and post. It's hard to guess the best time. The previous piece is still open for comment; I hope folks will read them and Lyn's comprehensive account of this afternoon's events. I agree with your assessment of our PM, of whom we are increasingly proud.

Ad astra reply

26/11/2012Nasking Thank you for resposting on this piece, and for your complimentary remarks. You are right. This is adult work, such a contrast to the childish, immature and vicious campaign being waged by the Coalition and the media about the S&G matter.

nasking

27/11/2012 [b]GOOD WORK BY EMMA ALBERICI AND THE LATELINE TEAM:[/b] [quote]Brother Thomas Grealy, who was jailed on molestation and buggery charges in 1997, has been welcomed back to the order. Not only has he been reinstated as a Patrician Brother, a recent newsletter produced by the order refers to him as a Patrician "treasure". Lateline has learned that police soon expect to arrest another two men who had been at the Patrician Brothers school at Blacktown over sexual abuse allegations. The Entrance, a popular beachside town an hour and a half north of Sydney, is one of several places across New South Wales that the Patrician Brothers' Catholic order call home. It's where Thomas Grealy has been living, a convicted paedophile who spent four years in jail for the rape and indecent assault of two boys at the Patrician Brothers' Primary School at Granville in Western Sydney. JASON PARKINSON, VICTIMS' LAWYER: It would appear that every boy in the class had been assaulted. EMMA ALBERICI: How many in the class? JASON PARKINSON: Um, around 28. EMMA ALBERICI: Jason Parkinson represents five men who allege they too were abused by Brother Thomas Grealy in the '70s. Brother Grealy was the school principal. During his 1997 trial the court heard that he would cover the statue of the Virgin Mary in his office with a coat to hide his shame before abusing the nine and 10-year-old boys in his care. JASON PARKINSON: In the classroom he would move boys to different seats. He would then squeeze up beside them and would molest them for 10 to 15 minutes before moving on to the next child. That was happening every day. EMMA ALBERICI: Nearly 40 years later, what's been the attitude of the Patrician Brothers today? JASON PARKINSON: The attitude has been they've taken no responsibility at all. They wouldn't even admit that they ran the school. They allege that it was the Archdiocese of Sydney that was responsible. The Archdiocese of Sydney said it was the Patrician Brothers who were responsible. We had to go to the Supreme Court on two occasions just to be able to find out who was going to take responsibility for at least owning or running the Patrician Brothers at Granville. EMMA ALBERICI: Jason Parkinson says Brother Grealy's victims have been abused twice, first at the hands of the man who was supposed to protect them, and now 40 years later, they're being made to suffer again. [b]JASON PARKINSON: It was just terrible that Catholic orders and the Archdiocese and the Catholic Church itself can arrange their affairs in such a way that they can attempt to escape liability and responsibility. There's no other organisations in Australia that can do that. But that's what happens regularly. [/b] These men have been terribly damaged after being as young boys repeatedly sexually molested. They're suffering serious psychiatric injuries. It's had such a detrimental effect on their life that there's been a number of suicide attempts and a number of, um, serious issues in relation to self-harm. EMMA ALBERICI: To add insult to injury, in this newsletter dated September, 2012, not only is Brother Grealy standing alongside leaders of the Patricians in Australia, he's referred to in the caption as one of three "Patrician treasures".[/quote] http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3641455.htm At least a few people in the ABC are getting on with the job...and not chasing shadows of rumours, innuendo and gossip...put out there by The Liberals and usual suspect media. N'

nasking

27/11/2012 [b]How much taxpayer money do these schools get? Seems as risky as sending yer kids to learn in a prison...or amongst the homeless every night. Might even be safer. Astounding. Lucky for these swine that much of the MSM was FOCUSED all those years on so called 'falling standards' in public schools...the teaching of the three R's....performance pay...and RANKING SCHOOLS. Priorities eh?[/b] --------- [quote]EMMA ALBERICI: Can you tell us why you have dragged these five victims through the courts to even just establish whether it's yourselves or the Sydney Diocese who are responsible here? PHILIP MULHALL: I would like to talk to that. And I don't think of this as a court battle. And I need to say this to you very honestly: I hate the fact that this has gone on. I really do. There's five people out there who have been hanging for so long. We have never raised any defence of not being able to be sued and we won't. We will not plead this at all. What happened was that in earlier hearings about this - and they were very - quite early hearings, really, just sort of preliminary stuff that people do to get these things underway. The Archdiocese of Sydney asked to be not - to be taken off as - I don't know the correct legal terms - but to be taken off as a defendant and they pleaded certain legal arguments. EMMA ALBERICI: So basically the Patrician Brothers will pay the compensation, they will be liable? PHILIP MULHALL: Oh, yes, we have - nowhere from the start have we disputed any of this. We've just gone through the procedural stuff. And we've been waiting until - mediation I believe is supposed to take place in February and I'm so glad that it is in February. But it's much too late, much later than it should be. But we have never pleaded those ... EMMA ALBERICI: It's 40 years too late, really, isn't it? PHILIP MULHALL: Ohh, I know that. That I know, yeah. EMMA ALBERICI: Let's move on. Brother Phillip, until recently, very recently you were in fact the executive officer of the Catholic Church's National Committee for Professional Standards ... PHILIP MULHALL: That's correct. EMMA ALBERICI: ... in dealing Australia-wide with governing the Towards Healing process ... PHILIP MULHALL: That's correct. EMMA ALBERICI: ... which is supposed to help ... PHILIP MULHALL: That's right. EMMA ALBERICI: ... sex abuse victims. PHILIP MULHALL: Mhmm. EMMA ALBERICI: Not just for the Patricians, ... PHILIP MULHALL: No, no, no. That's right. EMMA ALBERICI: ... but for the entire Catholic Church in Australia. Can you say you've always put the interests of children above the welfare of the Patrician Brothers and other parts of the Catholic Church? PHILIP MULHALL: I think that I have placed the needs of victims in particular ahead of Church personnel. And that includes my own members. EMMA ALBERICI: You had your photo taken for instance in the same shot with Thomas Grealy, ... PHILIP MULHALL: Yes, I ... EMMA ALBERICI: ... knowing the effect that might have on victims as the head not only of the Patricians in Australia, but one of the most senior figures in the Catholic Church in Australia, standing alongside a convicted paedophile. What message does that send? PHILIP MULHALL: I'll take - I'll accept criticism of that. Sometimes when you have a gathering, gatherings can be for all sorts of things, for meetings and stuff like that, someone says go and stand over there and we'll take a picture. And sometimes you don't think about it. I don't stand in solidarity with Tom Grealy at all. And I - I know it's easy to say it, but I am genuinely concerned for his victims and I'm very concerned for these five victims that have been waiting so long. I would love to have been able to have even some contact with some of them and just say what I felt about it. As I have done in other cases which didn't go into that adversarial mode, but were dealt with in other ways. And I've been happy to talk with lots of victims and talk with them many, many times if they wanted to do that. EMMA ALBERICI: Now we know another Patrician Brother has been charged with child sexual abuse at the Patrician Brothers College at Blacktown.[/quote] http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3641458.htm [b]I've been shaking my head since Lateline. Seems to me the Catholic Church and too many in leadership positions permitted these schools to be used as candy shops... whenever some peda teacher or priest got an urge to taste...they had lots of goodies to choose from... the only problem...they weren't lollies... they were the children of Australia...you sick bastards!!! LOCK 'EM UP...THROW AWAY THE KEYS. That goes too for the leadership who aided and abetted...the cops who did same...the media who did same... They shoot, put down animals that take a BITE out of kids... Yet these PREDATORS are oft permitted to ROAM FREE. Leaving minds and bodies scattered across the religious education landscape... ROAMING BLISSFULLY...BLESSED BY THE CHURCH...[/b] "[b]Here's another lolly for your sweet tooth friend...go with the blessing of God and the church...our friends and allies in the police, politics and the media will be turning a blind eye...God bless them...and if any stand in our way...like a PM for instance...we'll set the mad Christian dogs of war on them...you can count on that[/b]". PUKE N'

nasking

27/11/2012 Yep...Al Jazeera has its priorities right: [b]Australia's government has apologised to hundreds of victims of abuse within the military, clearing the way for victims to receive compensation. In an address to parliament on Monday, Stephen Smith, defence minister, acknowledged that soldiers, sailors and member of the air force had suffered abuse, often by superiors under the excuse of toughening up younger recruits, since the early 1950s. "Young men and women have endured sexual, physical or mental abuse from their colleagues which is not acceptable and does not reflect the values of a modern, diverse, tolerant Australian society," Smith told parliament. "On behalf of the government, I say sorry." An independent report into abuse within the military earlier this year found 775 plausible allegations of sexual, physical and mental abuse within the armed forces since 1951. The report detailed 24 allegations of rape that never went to trial. Smith said senior military leaders were committed to changing a defence force culture which has often turned a blind eye to abuse and was often hostile to women or those who spoke out or complained about their treatment.[/b] http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/11/2012112651921118808.html Interesting that a government trying to HEAL and bring JUSTICE for victims... trying to warn off young people from trying CANCER STICKS.... putting a broadband system across the country...so business can CHANGE, COMPETE...and EDUCATIONAL AND HEALTHCARE OPPORTUNITIES can grow...and ART and COMMUNICATION PROJECTS can FLOURISH... and providing FUNDING for CLEANER ENERGY INITIATIVES.... whilst putting in place a super profit MINING TAX...and INCREASING the TAX-FREE THRESHOLD...instead of providing tax cuts for the rich... and PROTECTING MANY WORKER'S RIGHTS AND WAGES... should be so reviled by some...detested... find themselves under a constant barrage of attacks. Now who could possibly be so angry...hateful? And what would their MOTIVES be? Surely those who stood by for years and years...those with power and influence...those perhaps who even benefitted...surely they can't be so self-interested, greedy and narrow thinking now they'd feel the compulsion to RESIST? Not when so many had the opportunity to CHANGE things...HEAL...PROGRESS... surely they can't possibly be wanting to add to the neglect, the suffering, the zombifying of a country? I find that hard to believe...that anyone could be that.... N'

nasking

27/11/2012 [b]Severe storms like Hurricane Sandy have forced Americans to investigate possible links to global warming. This summer, a record-breaking drought ravaged the Midwest, destroying crops and boosting food prices. Yet, efforts to enact a national climate policy remain stagnant. Al Jazeera's Rob Reynolds reports from Washington.[/b] http://www.aljazeera.com/video/americas/2012/11/2012112663349453427.html LEADING THE WAY... Not quite. I guess the good old USA has become a FOLLOWER these days. Guess that's what happens when you let the Luddites and religious kooks and paranoid delusional and power hungry psychopaths run part of the show...throw up hurdle after hurdle. A WORLD LEADER becomes a FOLLOWER...scared to move forward... Not exactly the RACE TO THE MOON types these days eh? More the hide at home and see what others do first. [i]Maybe they'll drink our Coke and Pepsi and make us rich...as the ship goes down.[/i] Kinda pathetic really. N'

nasking

27/11/2012 THE HIDDEN AND ONGOING COSTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE...FIDDLE PLEASE: [quote]Hundreds of thousands of flood victims face steep increases in their home insurance costs or risk losing it altogether, following a breakdown in talks between the government and the insurance industry. The collapse in talks was branded "outrageous" by charity the National Flood Forum (NFF), which said being refused insurance "could spell financial ruin for thousands". Insurers agreed a statement of principles with the government in 2008 to renew cover for flood victims, usually at a very high premium and with an even higher excess. But this agreement runs out on 30 June 2013, when householders face being refused cover unless the government and the industry come to a new agreement. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) recently proposed a scheme to make sure 200,000 households affected by flooding will be able to renew their policies next year. It meant any house that would normally incur a much higher premium because of flood risk would have the extra paid out of a levy on every home policy in the UK. While the industry is not asking the government for funding for the scheme, its proposal does require it to provide a temporary overdraft facility that would be used to pay claims if there were heavy floods in the early years of the scheme before it had built up its reserves – but the government has not agreed to this. The ABI has now called for the government to commit to a joint solution to ensure affordable flood insurance for high-risk households, describing the current state of talks as being "at an impasse".[/quote] http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/nov/26/flood-insurance-talks-reach-crisis-point?intcmp=122 HEY! What me worry? As long as I've got my pizza, my big steak, my beer, fave action, soap opera and reality shows, pap distracting news, violent computer game...shopaholic moment, door knocking holy roller, latest disposable gadget, credit card...kids running around like headless chooks...thamping thumping music...angel looking out for me on online...and in my sports and celebrity addicted mind... why should I care? THAT HUGE WAVE OF COSTS AND WATER AND HEAT AND DROUGHT AND FIRE AIN'T EVER GONNA HIT ME... right?.... right?

Lyn

27/11/2012TODAY’S LINKS BESTIES: Age editor fails to disclose friendship with key player in Gillard embezzlement tale, Vex News The senior journalist has not disclosed to readers his close personal association with Styant-Browne, now a Seattle based lawyer, long considered a foe of Gillard’s and her former mentor at the firm, now Federal Court judge, Bernard Murphy, so we’re doing it for him. http://www.vexnews.com/2012/11/besties-age-editor-fails-to-disclose-friendship-with-key-player-in-gillard-embezzlement-tale/ AWU Affair Is No Schadenfreudegasm, Mike Seccombe, The Global Mail those intent on making a case against her — particularly the Murdoch media and the Opposition, are seeking dirt from increasingly dirty sources.The most recent and classic example is their reliance on the word of Ralph Blewitt – one of the AWU officials who siphoned money from the fund, who claims — quelle horreur! — that Gillard had witnessed a power of attorney without actually been present. http://www.theglobalmail.org/blog/awu-affair-is-no-schadenfreudegasm/497/ The Canberra volcano: “Questions the PM must answer”, Alan Austin, Independent Australia Analysts with a reputation for neutrality and scepticism have been unwilling to join the attack. These include the ABC’s Jon Faine, Nine Network’s Laurie Oakes, Phillip Coorey at The Sydney Morning Herald, Laura Tingle and Mark Skulley at The Australian Financial Review and Media Watch.So, why has the Prime Minister’s personal standing soared while the allegations have been swirling? http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/politics/the-canberra-volcano-questions-the-pm-must-answer/ The mechanics of how a smear campaign was legitimised, Bernard Keane, Crikey What was intriguing about the campaign at this stage was that it was strongly gender-based. The campaign was being run entirely by older white conservative males. The Australian is staffed and run almost entirely by such people. The shock jocks giving constant airtime to it are the same. The bloggers and net trolls obsessing about it online, too, are the same demographic. That, of course, is the same demographic and the same media figures that drove the anti-carbon price and climate denialist protests, http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/11/26/the-mechanics-of-how-a-smear-campaign-was-legitimised/ Coalition say they do not have dirt files, Ash, Ash’s Machiavellian Bloggery http://ashghebranious.wordpress.com/2012/11/26/coalition-say-they-do-not-have-dirt-files/ I did Nothing Wrong, Gabrielle Chan, The Hoopla Her physical presentation is different. She holds her head higher and dares the press gallery to put a specific allegation of wrong-doing against her. She warned a male reporter not to “hector” her and metaphorically slapped him down for misunderstanding the AWU matters. http://thehoopla.com.au/julia-gillard-nothing-wrong/ The Great Murray River: The Real Tragedy of the Commons, Moth, New Anthropocene It has been the actions up-stream that have affected the lives and prosperity of communities and ecosystems down-stream. “No water” has been seriously contemplated along the tail-end of this common resource long before the slogan was planted all over the lucky up-stream region. http://newanthropocene.wordpress.com/2012/11/26/the-great-murray-river-the-real-tragedy-of-the-commons/ How can we hurt you? Let us count the ways…Jennifer Wilson, No Place for Sheep Politicians from both major parties have set themselves quite a challenge to come up with a deterrent that will persuade asylum seekers that traveling to Australia by boat will result in them facing a situation worse than that they’ve fled. Potential refugees are clearly undeterred by the prospect of life threatening boat journeys: http://noplaceforsheep.com/2012/11/26/how-can-we-hurt-you-let-us-count-the-ways/ Explainer: what are Australia’s duties to rescue at sea? Eric Wilson, The Conversation Australia’s own domestic law, the Navigation Act, which is the domestic adoption of an international principle, commits us to undertake rescue. Although a clear and fully enforceable bilateral instrument between Australia and Indonesia would of course be desirable, in my opinion it is not necessary. Australia still has a duty to rescue at sea. http://theconversation.edu.au/explainer-what-are-australias-duties-to-rescue-at-sea-9782 Blewitt defends credibility after PM's attack, ABC Former Australia Workers Union (AWU) official Ralph Blewitt says it is "a bit hypocritical" of Ms Gillard to complain of being the victim of a smear campaign while at the same time referring to him as a "complete imbecile" and a "sexist pig". http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-26/blewitt-response-on-730/4393298 Gillard’s Second Press Conference On The AWU And Slater & Gordon, Australian Politics Speaking to the Canberra press gallery 50 minutes before Question Time in the House, a sharp and at times angry Gillard, her voice occasionally wavering, took questions for 48 minutes about her dealings with Bruce Wilson and Ralph Blewitt and her role in the formation of a slush fund. http://australianpolitics.com/2012/11/26/gillard-awu-slater-and-gordon-press-conference.html Today’s Front Pages Australia Newspaper Front Pages for 27 November 2012 http://www.frontpagestoday.co.uk/index.cfm?PaperCountry=Australia

Truth Seeker

27/11/2012Ad, great post as usual. It must be getting harder and harder for the deniers to continue with their lies as the evidence continues to build. Great work. :-) I know this is off topic, but I was prompted to write this after yesterdays fiasco starting with Abbotts gutless performance at his presser and followed up with Brishops stupidity in QT. Julie Bishop. Julia Gillard… is her name Industrial relations… is her game As lawyer.. pollie.. and now PM To fight the right wing I R meme Fighting for… the workers rights Against the corporate… shinning lights Education is… her other… passion Though the Liberals think.. it’s out of fashion As the bottom line… is their concern With our children future.. theirs to burn Along with… services… and jobs As lies and smear roll.. from their gobs But our PM… gets on.. with her job Ignoring Abbotts… lying mob And their accusations.. thrown each day In the LNP’s… mendacious.. way Cos she knows there’s still.. much work to do To make OZ.. great.. for me.. and you Now Julie Bishop…. is her name industrial relations.. was her game As.. a lawyer…. from the west Striving to be… the corporates best But not supporting.. workers rights But those of.. corporate.. shinning lights Her corporate client… C S R To not pay compo… raised the bar With Bishop’s help… they sought to try To force delay…. till victims die But the case was lost.. as the Justice saw That their corporate lawyer… erred in law But worse than that… she showed her hand As one… prepared… to take a stand Against… what’s moral.. right.. and good Like… an Anti…. Robin Hood To steal… Asbestos victims.. pay So corporate profits… win the day With no compassion.. concern.. or care She turned her back.. on what was fair And now she’s… brought her moral lack To parliament… as the Abbotts hack With the dirt file there… for all to see As Abbott ducks… his misogyny While Abbott’s mute… the Bishop shows For a lawyer… how little… law she knows With questions… based on false premise Proving Bishop’s full of wind.. and piss Renowned for cats claws… and pussy calls Abbott sends her out… to take the falls To prove… to all…. exclusively He doesn’t… have…. Misogyny And women love him… this is true Cos their loyalty.. is real true blue And the Abbott.. mustn’t… be a Jerk Cos the girls… will do his.. dirty work With lies.. and death stares ..in her.. armoury To disguise.. her leaders.. misogyny She’ll go out.. looking like… the fool Being used as Abbotts… latest… tool With feet in mouth she’ll… take the falls Cos Abbott… doesn’t have the…. Balls But as election year… rolls around And Abbott.. keeps on.. losing ground Our PM… gets on… with the job Of taking the fight.. to the Abbotts mob And continues turning up the heat As they open their mouths.. to just change feet And their policy vacuum…. clear to see Snatching defeat… from the jaws… of victory Cheers :-)

Ad astra reply

27/11/2012LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

jaycee

27/11/2012I would have thought that climate change was so bloody obvious now, it needed no more defence! Sadly, I appear mistaken. There appear to still be some, indeed some in high places, That persist in stalling and politically procrastinating when it comes to doing the hard-yards on turning the problem around. To be honest, I doubt there is either the time nor the capacity to stop the ship from running aground. I live in a marginal farming area...it wasn't always that way, but after a century and half of misunderstanding and ignorance, the area is now sufferring from entrentched "Dunning-Kruger Effect" where conservative citizens find it difficult to either believe or concieve that man could cause such catastrophe, let alone be willing to work at a change. After each subsequent hotter and hotter summer heat wave...each sudden and devastating flash-flood, sharper and deeper frost I keep hearing from locals (themselves average age c.50yrs) that in the "old days" they had this sort of weather also. So I say to them.."You have super-dooper high-tech farming equiptment so you can get a crop down "in a day" and harvest it also "in a day"...that's because you have to act super fast to beat the weather. Yet in the "old days" when they used horses or the first tractors, it took weeks or more to get a crop in..and the same to get it off...if the weather was as erratic then as it is now, how could they even do it!?" There is usually a long pause at this point while you can hear the brain-cogs grinding down! Getting away from the more obvious results from catatrophic change, the one killer item overlooked is the possible..nay ; inevitable viral/fungal/bacterial surge. I'm sure AA. can enlighten us further on this point.

Michael

27/11/2012Regarding the rather confronting photographs of Ms Bishop and Ms Credlin putting their heads together over 'how to get Julia'... Putting your dirt file in a bright white folder doesn't make it any less a dirt file. Some politician a week or so back warned that this election (and let's face it, we've been in election mode since Rob Oakeshott finished reading his 17 pages) would be 'filthy and personal', but that would come from the other side, not him. Oh no, not him. Now, who was that? Was it Wordless Wuss, the Opposition Leader who says not a word, as if silence from him is as effective as an ostrich with its head in the sand. 'If you didn't hear me say it, how could I have done anything "filthy and personal"?'. This is really childish stuff from the Opposition. Sandpit stuff. Nice lined-up lettering on their dirt file, though. Real school project standard, big enough for anyone to read across the room. Which seems 50 shades of stupid, too.

TalkTurkey

27/11/2012Ad. . . . [i]apropos[/i] . . . http://www.sensis.com.au/search.do?partnerid=bigpond&find=sea+butterflies&profile=global-only&ref=connectionmgr These are sea butterflies. They are tiny gastropods. Snail-like creatures with thin shells. Just google ~ sea angel pictures ~ for sea angels, which eat sea butterflies. Together they make up a huge proportion of the basic diet of creatures near the bottom of the food chain - and great whales. Sea butterflies' shells are dissolving in the increasingly-acidic oceans. Carbonic acid is formed when carbon dioxide dissolves in water. It is also affecting coral polyps. The next level up from sea angels, krill, which are crustacea, are much reduced both in number and growth rates this year. Fish eat krill but what they don't get they don't eat. Umm.

pappinbarra foxette

27/11/2012Climate is just one of the global systems that are undergoing basic change. If the globe is looked at from a systems analysis perspective it becomes plainly obvious that we are are in serious trouble. Systems have moved form stable to meta-stable over the past 50 years. Systems such as: fresh water, arable land/desertification, ocean current flows, ecosystems, extinction rates et al. There are over 17 systems in seriously meta-stability states. I studied this in 1991-2 and there has not been a single movement towards more stable state in any of the systems studied in the past 22 years. Sea level rise will turn out to be an inconvenience when the system collapse happens. Call me pessimistic but the data is there.

LadyInRed

27/11/2012This smear campaigne is going to be the biggest backfire in Australia's political history. The PM is formidable. LOTO is pathetic. Hiding behind Bishops skirt.

MWS

27/11/2012While reading Mike Secombe's blog (as linked by Lyn), I discovered another Global Mail piece on the most ethically-challenged Government of the last forty years - the Howard Government, who lost 2.1 Ministers per year of office - and in second place was the Fraser Government with 1.6 per year. Also in the article was a quote from Malcolm Turnbull, which is pertinent to the current topic: [quote]He [Turnbull] made particular reference to the media, saying that as news organisations came under greater cost pressures, good reporting which held governments and oppositions to account "was diminishing". "Instead, he said, newspapers and other media were resorting more to commentary and opinion and more to analysis of the effectiveness of political spin than to analysis of the substantive issues. At the same time, there was more media "narrowcasting" — strident partisanship aimed at like-minded consumers. "Fox News in the United States is an example of how commercially successful that strategy can be as are some of the shock jocks in Australia," he said. "Dumbing down complex issues into sound bites, misrepresenting your or your opponent's policy does not respect 'Struggle Street'; it treats its residents with contempt. It is the opposite of the Jeffersonian ideal," said Turnbull. "This was extraordinary stuff, coming from a Liberal MP. He was bagging the Murdoch media model — only Fox by name, but its Australian operation by implication — when he talked about that the "hopeless, confused, hyper-partisan" coverage of climate change. The News Ltd papers, and particularly The Australian, have led the climate-change deniers.[/quote] http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/truth-tally-whats-wrong-with-australian-political-debate/372/

jaycee

27/11/2012Julia Gillard has already won in this campaign. History will not and cannot wipe the slate clean of Liberal Party and MSM. filth tactics...forever is recorded the low-brow, low-down smear used against a sitting Prime Minister of this nation. Just as Adolf Hitler used smear against those he perceived as enemies by the most low-lieing-denigration he could use, yet he and his name and his party is villified through ALL history AND can NEVER be redeemed...NEVER be redeemed..so it will be with the Liberal Party and the MSM. journalists that joined in with the slander...We will remember them. History will record their names. They will live in infamy!

bob macalba

27/11/2012This might sound terrible but to me both Credlin and J Bishop look like a pair of pre-op transvestites, so manly they look

MWS

27/11/2012nasking @2.03 AM: The rewarding of a convicted paedophile in the Catholic Church isn't an isolated case. A few weeks ago, 7.30 WA had an interview with Eoin Cameron, the WA ABC Breakfast presenter, who was sexually abused by a Marist Brother at school. He recently formally renounced his Catholic faith after discovering that his abuser ([b]after[/b] Eoin had reported the abuse and had received an official apology) was honoured by the Church for his services. I wonder, if instead the Catholic brothers had publicly stated their support for female ordination - would they have been welcomed back into the fold in the same way that convicted paedophiles are? Apparently sins against children are much less important then sins against the Catholic Church!

42 long

27/11/2012They look "manly" do they Bob? I'd rather you could find some other term, because that used to have connotations that were admirable. They look Hard and Scary. Like the famous female french poisoners of history. Their minds are full of poison and vile thoughts. They plot and scheme and show no virtue or humanity.

TalkTurkey

27/11/2012LiR The smear campaign is juvenile and pathetic, Bitchop in trying to denigrate *J*U*L*I*A* has done herself a deadly blow. Her nastiness is now known, in particular her role in attempting to delay Asbestos compensation must be known now to many times the few who knew of it before. To keep punching the wall around the PM's head is so ridiculous! *J*U*L*I*A* isn't scared of you Julie, and the wall is not going to crumble! But you have nothing else have you! Like a dumb blonde motorist who's run out of gas and the engine stops but you sit there pressing the starter button . . . Julie you are in an irretrievable situation. No-one likes you now, same as Abbortt himself, whose fall guy and stooge you have made yourself. The whole Coalition Leadership is in a state of chaos. With its primary and only strategy for taking power having failed, it is dismayed to find itself so unpopular. No policy or costings or even ideas, nothing but Fear which has now degenerated into Smear . . . into Nothing Here! So will there be a Leadership Spill this week? If they had anybody any good they'd gladly jump . . . but they are all no-hopers! So they might be stuck with a stinking gangrenous yob and his nasty slag of a deputy ll the way to the next election . . . which suddenly seems a [i]longer[/i] way away, all that time to continue the Great Dismembering of this terrible horde! The Coalition probably find themselves out of options actually. It's almost past time that they [i]could[/i] change leaders. If not this week, then not until February - a breathtaking gamble that would be, because Labor is already breathing down their necks - or neck-and-neck as it might be now - and with the right to choose the timing of the election, the Coalition would be running scared. They really are in a dreadful bind. Oh Woe! Today's QT should be a DOOZY!

nasking

27/11/2012 [b]GET THE FEELING THAT SCHEMER ABBOTT HAS PUT JULIE BISHOP OUT THEIR TO COP THE CRAP BECAUSE HE SEES HER AS COMPETITION?... SETTING HER UP AS THE FALL GUY...OR GAL IN THIS INSTANCE... KNOWING FULL WELL THIS KIND OF INFO WOULD COME UP:[/b] [quote]Well, what did the Federal Liberal Party expect? Once it began to use its Deputy Leader as the main attack dog targeting the Prime Minister, eventually it would become a case of political pot kettle black. Practicing law in Perth in the 1980s with Robinson Cox - then reportedly as a managing partner with Clayton Utz - before entering Federal Parliament in 1998 and, with Clayton Utz becoming somewhat notorious as one of the law firms hired by CSR to fight asbestos disease compensation claims there were always going to be negatives associated with her name.[/quote] http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/bishop-in-check.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FUtodS+%28North+Coast+Voices%29 THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT THE MURDOCH EMPIRE CONTRIBUTED TO THIS BIG DOB ON JULIE BISHOP...INCLUDING USUAL SUSPECT SAMANTHA MAIDEN. THINK ABOUT HOW MALCOLM TURNBULL WAS SET-UP OVER THE GRETCH AFFAIR. AND THEN STABBED...AND THEN PUT INTO THE ANTI-NBN PORTFOLIO...A LOSE LOSE FROM THE START. THINK ABOUT HOW CHRISTOPHER PYNE WAS GETTING TO BE KNOWN ON Q&A...AND THEN SO MUCH OF THE SHIT THAT HIT THE FAN OVER THE SLIPPER BUSINESS WAS DUMPED ON PYNE. LOOK AT HOW HOCKEY AND ROBB GOT STUCK WITH THE BLAME OVER THE BLACK HOLE. TIME AND TIME AGAIN WE SEE ABBOTT LURKING IN THE SHADOWS...RESCUED NOW AND THEN BY JOHN HOWARD AND THE MURDOCH EMPIRE...AND OTHER USUAL SUSPECTS WHEN THINGS GET TOUGH. WE SEE ABBOTT...JUST LIKE HOWARD...USING OTHERS TO DO HIS DIRTY WORK. OTHER LIBERALS BEING SUCKED IN...BEING PERMANENTLY DAMAGED. AND IT MAKES ME NOW QUESTION WHAT ABBOTT AND HOWARD KNEW ABOUT THE CREATION OF ONE NATION...AND THEIR MEDIA ALLIES...IF THEY HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT...CREATING THIS MONSTER...AND THEN...WHEN THE TIMING SUITED THEM...BRINGING IT DOWN. IT MAKES ME QUESTION THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HOWARD, MURDOCH, ABBOTT, PELL AND OTHERS... HOWARD LED US TO BELIEVE THAT ABBOTT WAS NOT HIS PREFERRED LEADER...BUT IN FACT I HAVE HEARD FROM A HIGH-LEVEL SOURCE THIS WAS NOT THE CASE...THAT IN FACT ABBOTT WAS BEING GROOMED YEARS BEFORE HE BECAME LEADER...AND NO WAY WAS COSTELLO GOING TO GET THE JOB. N'

Lyn

27/11/2012Good Morning Ad and Everybody, Twitterverse for you: Tony Abbott and his dirt unit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtYXD6awWuQ&feature=em-uploademail Bushfire Bill Posted Tuesday, November 27, 2012 at 9:00 am Perhaps Bishop is seeking to contrast what Gillard said in the letter (if there is one) with what she said later to her partners, who would have most likely had access to the letter as I assume it was on a company letterhead and had been filed.What irks me is the opposition’s and the media’s tendency to dismiss any dark clouds in the pasts of any of her accusers as mere diversions, while obsessing about names, dates and rubber stamps in Gillard’s past. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger/2012/11/25/newspoll-51-49-to-coalition-3/?comment_page=34/#comment-1483440 Bushfire Bill Posted Tuesday, November 27, 2012 at 9:16 am The whole thing looks obsessive. The media would have us believe that the entire nation, and the reporting of its function, governance and policy is nothing compared to whether any more blood can be squeezed out of a 20 year old stone.You can understand how people get so frustrated they punch holes in walls. I’m feeling a bit that way myself.However, some of the more sober journos – Probyn, Taylor, Bongiorno, even the Gillard-hating Ol’ Coke Bottles – are starting to get sick of this story. I hope the sickness is infectious. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger/2012/11/25/newspoll-51-49-to-coalition-3/?comment_page=34/#comment-1483454 Bushfire Bill Posted Tuesday, November 27, 2012 at 10:16 am The fact that JBishop was desperate enough to meet with Mr Blewitt on Friday,tells me that they are grasping. This is worse than Turnbull/Grech affair If Bishop admitted she thought Blewitt was not trustworthy, then there goes a lot of her case right there. I think Bishop’s strategy is to catch Gillard misleading parliament. This may all be a lead-up to presenting the Speaker with an application for a Privileges Committee reference.On the other hand, if Gillard files a case for defamation against Bishop can she then refuse to answer questions under sub judice? http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger/2012/11/25/newspoll-51-49-to-coalition-3/?comment_page=35/#comment-1483501 Law firm defends not releasing AWU files, ABC This morning Slater & Gordon released a statement saying: "Slater & Gordon has consistently maintained, and still maintains, that at all times it has acted in accordance with its legal and ethical obligations in relation to all aspects of the AWU matter." It said it had obtained independent advice confirming that it: "was (and is) not permitted to divulge confidential and privileged information of one client to another client or any other party." The firm said it "acted for both a union and a union official (personally)" in the "AWU matter." http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-27/slater-and-gordon-defends-not-reporting/4393720 PM wanted to hide 'siphoning' – Bishop, Sky News Ms Bishop also admitted she met the notorious union bagman Ralph Blewitt on Friday. http://www.skynews.com.au/politics/article.aspx?id=820667&vId= Destroy the Context ‏ So Julie Bishop met with Blewitt. Confirmed. No questions about who funded him and why? Gillard's evasion keeps issue alive, Mark Baker Ms Gillard can expect further scrutiny over her part in establishing the association after refusing to deny in Parliament that she had been instrumental in securing approval for the incorporation of the association by writing to dispel concerns of WA Corporate Affairs Commission about its bona fides http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/gillards-evasion-keeps-issue-alive-20121126-2a3o9.html#ixzz2DMr8ZKcG Firm couldn't report Bruce Wilson and AWU slush fund to police, Slater and Gordon say Ms Bishop said she had met with Mr Blewitt in Melbourne for ten minutes last Friday but said this morning she found the man she described as a "self-confessed fraudster,'' who has made allegations over the affair, was not credible. The Opposition claims the incorporation of the association set up in WA was against union rules and that it may have breached state laws because "it was not for the purpose stated in the documents.'' http://www.news.com.au/national/firm-couldnt-report-bruce-wilson-and-awu-slush-fund-to-police-slater-and-gordon-say/story-fndo4eg9-1226524718954 PM didn't open file to 'hide' siphoning: Bishop, Judith Ireland Ms Bishop said that she had met Mr Blewitt in person last Friday for about ten minutes, also describing him as a ''self-confessed fraudster'' http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/pm-didnt-open-file-to-hide-siphoning-bishop-20121127-2a4e3.html In the court of public opinion, PM's case is holding sway, Lenore Taylor If it was produced (or if it is referred to in detail in as-yet unreleased sections of the interview Ms Gillard gave before she left the law firm) that letter would take the Coalition much closer to proving a case http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/in-the-court-of-public-opinion-pms-case-is-holding-sway-20121126-2a3nc.html#ixzz2DMrbSjKz 'I did nothing wrong' says Gillard, Phillip Coorey As the opposition's deputy leader, Julie Bishop, vowed to keep pursuing the prime minister despite having no documentary evidence to back her central claim, Ms Gillard again protested her innocence and warned the Coalition it risked losing voters by focusing on ''filth and smear and sleaze'' http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/i-did-nothing-wrong-says-gillard-20121126-2a3na.html#ixzz2DN8EXsl3 Logic to Gillard's version as AWU slush fund story continues to haunt PM, Dennis Atkins For Gillard's pursuers, it is a matter of what she knew, when she knew it and what she did about it - all relating to events dating back to the years from 1992 to 1995 when the PM was a salaried partner with the Slater and Gordon law firm. For Gillard, it is a question of what she didn't know, as she kept saying yesterday, which makes the other two parts of the charge redundant. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/logic-to-gillards-version-as-awu-slush-fund-story-continues-to-haunt-pm/story-e6frerdf-1226524539473 Bishop claims PM breached law on fund, Michelle Grattan After the opposition devoted all its questions in the House of Representatives to the affair, Ms Bishop said Ms Gillard had breached ‘‘relevant laws’’, including the Associations Incorporation Act ‘‘by advising on the creation of false documents incorporating the association’’. The documentation was false because it did not set out the association’s true purpose – a slush fund for re-electing union officials. http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/bishop-claims-pm-breached-law-on-fund-20121126-2a3o7.html#ixzz2DMp8bElE I can't recall bank payment, says PM , Gemma Jones http://www.news.com.au/national/i-cant-recall-bank-payment-says-pm/story-fncynjr2-1226524544260 Plot thickens, but it's a very slow burn, Jacqueline Maley Bishop asked all the opposition's questions, slowly roasting Gillard over her part in setting up the AWU ''slush fund''. Later, Bishop said ominously: ''Today we set the scene. This is just the beginning.'' It may be about as pacy as an Ingmar Bergman flick, but it's not going to end soon. http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/plot-thickens-but-its-a-very-slow-burn-20121126-2a3n6.html#ixzz2DMyI4xvX Sexist jokes served up at hotels association dinner, AFR Federal opposition frontbencher Bob Baldwin (left), pictured with opposition leader Tony Abbott in October, says he doesn’t “support any attacks based on a person’s race, sexuality, age or weight”. Mr Baldwin was present at an Australian Hotels Association dinner during which Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Finance Minister Penny Wong were the butt of sexist and homophobic jokes http://www.afr.com/p/national/sexist_jokes_served_up_at_hotels_iWzLYGF2MY2nOHNQ7JXzTO TheFinnigans hmmmm, Two weeks ago The OZ barked at #TheirABC "why you didnt cover #AWUgate" then last week #TheirABC did. spot the coincidence Possum Comitatus Really, you should read this (even if you're Mexican - just for the Lulz) http://bit.ly/SnJq8G MPs must provide written loyalty statements Geoff Pearson ‏ The NBN is popular - 69 per cent approve. The mining tax too - 63 per cent approval Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/blogs/the-pulse/politics-live-november-26-2012-20121126-2a26d.html#ixzz2DJCVqdfo … Agnes Mack ‏ Stopping verbal abuse & character assassination wld be a start.MT @TonyAbbottMHR White Ribbon Day Event, http://bit.ly/10F74Cs Belinda Sanders ‏ Ray Hopper on LNP: "I will not shut my mouth & be a good boy" @abcsouthqld http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/11/26/3641240.htm?site=southqld … #Toowoomba #News :):):):):):):)

nasking

27/11/2012 Should be: GET THE FEELING THAT SCHEMER ABBOTT HAS PUT JULIE BISHOP OUT THERE TO COP THE CRAP BECAUSE HE SEES HER AS COMPETITION? Sacrificial lamb...so to speak. N'

TalkTurkey

27/11/2012Bob, 42, Did you see where I said Credlin's a bloke? Check out his moustache, he's a bloke and he looks like a nasty hardfaced creepy version of Johnny Depp. His real name is Pyotr!

nasking

27/11/2012 From: Gillard's trial by media was justified by Rob Burgess Published 8:28 AM, 27 Nov 2012 [b]That is a political strategy that, in the absence of any new information relating to this matter, could become as risky for the interrogators – lead by Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop, who continued with a string of questions in question time yesterday – as the interrogated. And as Labor MPs keep pointing out, Rome is burning. There are pressing policy matters that need to be settled. Until such time as new allegations, or evidence come to light, that should be the end of it.[/b] Indeed. N'

42 long

27/11/2012The "Australian" is Murdoch's BIG Gun. It never makes money but serves Murdoch as it does now , for his political ends. which are inseparable from his other aims. With the Levison inquiry in the UK wouldn't you think there would be a case for the same type of thing here? Why would it be any different? Tunbull's comments are right on. Howard for all his unpleasantnes has far more "balls" than the SHOWtony. Look at the policies ( well You have to make a deduction there or would we call it an estimate)It used to be simple insert Tea party/republican. USA The PEOPLE. The nicer more reasonable ones are not in Showtony's shadow cabinet. He keeps them ALL pretty well under check. ( Though there is a Moylan and a Washer to watch.) As to Tony's masculinity,.. sinewy and fit he may be and he might fit in OK with some of the antics and initiations that go on in the services, because he has form there, but I don't know how he would be under fire, on the front line. Might be OK if he could trot out Margie and the kids. Would his MSM support work there?

nasking

27/11/2012 From BUSHFIRE BILL: [b]The fact that JBishop was desperate enough to meet with Mr Blewitt on Friday,tells me that they are grasping. This is worse than Turnbull/Grech affair If Bishop admitted she thought Blewitt was not trustworthy, then there goes a lot of her case right there.[/b] I'm wondering whose idea it was that Bishop meet with Blewitt? Curiouser and curiouser. Excellent job Lyn. If Bishop ends up falling on her sword over this...it begins to look suspiciously like each possible replacement for Abbott is being knocked out one by one. Then, we have to ask ourselves...who wants Abbott there so much? And what is expected of Abbott if he wins? N'

2353

27/11/2012MWS @ 10:22. I reckon Newman in Queensland will beat both of your contenders for "ethically challenged government". Newman has lost two Ministers already (since March), one MP has walked, another one looks likely by the end of the week, one DG has been sidelined pending investigation, a person who has donated considerable funds in the past has resigned before he was pushed and there are spot fires developing elsewhere.

Tom of Melbourne

27/11/2012It’s hilarious that so many here criticised Abbott for simply standing near a sign, and Gillard calls him misogynist…rewriting the definition in the process. [b]But here at TSP, genuine misogynist commentary is applauded![/b] [i] • Did you see where I said Credlin's a bloke? Check out his moustache, he's a bloke and he looks like a nasty hardfaced creepy version of Johnny Depp. His real name is Pyotr! • Bitchop • Like a dumb blonde motorist • They look "manly" do they Bob? • They look Hard and Scary. Like the famous female french poisoners of history. • both Credlin and J Bishop look like a pair of pre-op transvestites, so manly they look[/i] Great work by “left/progressive” contributors here. Hypocrisy is always the hallmark of this site.

Truth Seeker

27/11/2012<i>Hypocrisy is always the hallmark of this site.</i> Only until you leave troll

Jason

27/11/2012ToM, So what if anything are you going to do about it??? I'd say other than open your big mouth you'll do what you do best NOTHING you're all talk!

nasking

27/11/2012 [b]The rewarding of a convicted paedophile in the Catholic Church isn't an isolated case. A few weeks ago, 7.30 WA had an interview with Eoin Cameron, the WA ABC Breakfast presenter, who was sexually abused by a Marist Brother at school. He recently formally renounced his Catholic faith after discovering that his abuser (after Eoin had reported the abuse and had received an official apology) was honoured by the Church for his services. [/b] MWS, reminds me of those war criminals who get promoted rather than having to face justice. There is something terribly wrong at the highest levels of the Catholic Church...and it worries me that we have top politicians and serving police with close connections to the Australian ones... there has indeed been a concerted effort to cover-up...and turn a blind eye for a good long time. And we don't fully know what roles LOYALTY VIA RITUALS AND OLD SCHOOL TIES...and BLACKMAIL...and SHAME...and AIDING AND ABETTING play in this sordid affair. [b]I wonder, if instead the Catholic brothers had publicly stated their support for female ordination - would they have been welcomed back into the fold in the same way that convicted paedophiles are? Apparently sins against children are much less important then sins against the Catholic Church![/b] More and more this reminds me of a mafia-like organisation...attempts to keep it all in La famiglia Remind you of any media empire...and their associates? As we possibly head towards a media inquiry...and this exposing of the extent of child abuse...I've noticed the attacks on PM Gillard have really ramped up. It's not just about the Coalition trying to keep its lead going into the Christmas holidays... I suspect there is alot more involved here. Some obviously have plenty to lose if Gillard remains...and the ALP win the next election. And have plenty to gain...and possibly will find an escape hatch...if Abbott remains...and wins. The intensity of the attacks are certainly desperate and ferocious... like that of A CORNERED BEAST. Or twelve. N'

KHTAGH

27/11/2012pappinbarra foxette Well stated, I couldn't agree more.

nasking

27/11/2012 [b]Church taken to ICC Barney Zwartz November 27, 2012 AN ABUSE survivors group has complained to the International Criminal Court that the Catholic Church is guilty of crimes against humanity over child sexual abuse - and says nothing will change within the Australian church until a bishop is jailed for covering up abuse. A crime against humanity was when someone knew crimes were happening and had the power to stop them but chose not to, the state inquiry into how the churches handled child sex abuse heard on Monday. Barbara Blaine, founder and president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), told the inquiry: ''I recognise how extreme that sounds, but the evidence backs it up in three ways: priest-shifting [of abusers], refusal to co-operate with civil authorities and refusal to remove predators from ministry and keep them from children.'' Melbourne researcher, advocate and lawyer Judy Courtin is preparing a report about abuse in Australia, and especially suicides, to be given to the international court as additional evidence. More than 20,000 documents from other countries have already been presented. SNAP Australia co-leader Nicky Davis quoted research by Ms Courtin that in 99.94 per cent of child sex abuse cases (Australia-wide, not just church ones) the offender is not convicted or flagged on any register, and is free to re-offend. Of the six convictions per 1000 cases, more than half are appealed - up to six times the rate of appeal on other crimes.[/b] More here. http://m.smh.com.au/national/church-taken-to-icc-20121126-2a3wx.html N'

nasking

27/11/2012 From Dec 2009: [b]Second priest in sex claim tip-off[/b] http://www.watoday.com.au/national/second-priest-in-sex-claim-tipoff-20091203-k77s.html N'

Ad astra reply

27/11/2012Hi Lyn Your links make interesting reading, as usual. I enjoyed Mike Seccombe’s analysis of the S&G beat up, the [i]Independent Australia[/i] graphics were diagnostic, the [i]Vex News[/i] revelation about the so-far-hidden close relationship between ex-S&G lawyer Nick Styant-Browne and [i]Age[/i] ‘Editor-at-Large’ Mark Baker, and the [i]Hoopla[/i] piece. Your Twitterverse show how much time you spend looking out material for us. It’s taken me half an hour to go through it; it must have taken you so much longer. Just four more days to go before your end-of-year break!

Ad astra reply

27/11/2012Folks This is Lyn’s last week for posting her daily links. She will take a break over December and January. As parliament rises at the end of this week, it is a suitable time for Lyn’s break. During her absence, NormanK has agreed to provide links from time to time over the break, as time allows him. After another year of intense activity, I just want to say to you Lyn how much I appreciate, as do all who visit here, the effort you put in day after day, week after week, finding valuable information in the Fifth Estate, and also in the Fourth Estate, which features so strongly in your Twitterverse and Twitterati. This morning is a classic example of how generously you feed us with important and highly relevant information. We know this is very time-consuming and tiring, but every day you are there for us, saving us countless hours of searching. [i]The Political Sword[/i] has a byline: [i]A Hub for the Fifth Estate[/i]. You work at the very hub of this site and spread the information you glean along the spokes of the [i]TPS[/i] wheel to your eager audience. Thank you so much for another year of sterling support for this site. You are the life-blood that makes it so popular and valued. We could not succeed as we do without you. I’m sure others will join with me to say: [b]Thank you Lyn for another fantastic year of devotion to [i]TPS[/i] and all who visit here. We love you.[/b]

jaycee

27/11/2012Thank you Lyn for the links..I couldn't help but notice the Mastheads...The Age, AFR., The News. etc. all seem to be coming out with their big-gun journos' against the PM. There seems to be a seamless weld with the Oppn' on this issue...I look for balance and I only see a few isolated pieces. It appears to me to be a cabal of confederates to deliberately bring down the govt' Surely this should attract the attention of the AFP. to do a check on the possibly of a seditious practice. I am wondering if an investigation needs a complaint first...I have decided to send notification of a complaint to the Aust' Fed' Police with my concerns on this issue...I know it sounds a bit weird, but by jingo!..I am a citizen of this nation, and I see what appears to be a cabal of vested-interest media owners joining with a political party to concoct a scandal with the obvious intent to bring down a democratically elected government. I will send an email to the front desk..why not!?

LadyInRed

27/11/2012Here's cheers to you Lyn, I'll have a glass in your honour later this evening. Happy Holidays. Thanks NormanK for offering to help keep us informed.

Ad astra reply

27/11/2012Truth Seeker Thank you for you kind words and for your stylish verse that so cleverly captures the situation. Nasking You are really firing! You mention Hurricane Sandy that so devastated New Jersey and Manhattan. Now we have unprecedented floods in the UK that have caused chaos over a wide area. These are just two recent examples of extreme weather events that have been predicted in the wake of global warming. Of course the skeptics dismiss them as ‘natural events that we have always had’, but how much longer can they do that?

Michael

27/11/2012So there's Julie Bishop outside Parliament this morning, maintaining that the PM should be able to remember every detail of events in her life up to twenty years ago... And she can't even recall whether someone she met just days ago, Ralph Blewitt, flew into Australia from Indonesia or Malaysia. Apart from questions about the efficacy of her memory, is this truly a candidate for Australia's possible future Foreign Minister, someone who either confuses Indonesia with Malaysia, or sees so little difference between them that they both are, as she went on to say, "...overseas". Hint, Julie. If you ever do become Foreign Minister, as apparently your august leader has promised you will, ALL of the job will be about 'overseas'. If you're in any doubt, Julie, there's probably a white folder (or is it a Romney-style "binder") in the hands of Peta Credlin that confirms 'foreign' for Australia means 'overseas'. That rasping sound you hear in the background is Josh Frydenberg rubbing his hands.

42 long

27/11/2012Good on you jaycee. Who really doubts this is happening? Look for the connections, the organisations, the money trails the vested interests and the compliant media. The abc poiitical thrust. If there was a poll on this subject I am sure you would get a surprising number of people in agreement. Polling indicates support, but achieves nothing else. The FACTS if they were out would be what would decide. I believe there is an active conspiracy to get rid of a legally constituted government here, by an influential minority of vested interests that are easy to identify, powerful and rightist. The Abbott team reflect their master's will. and if they get in power will repay their masters, and be continually rewarded for ever. Have things been done that are illegal? On the balance of probability .I would say so. Those who have means have always been able to exercise power and control over the rest out of proportion to their intelligence worth and numbers. The vice-regal lot in England are NOT stronger, brighter, more capable or prettier. They just have more influence They access more of the good things and want to keep it that way or improve it (for them). It's no different here. I am not indulging in a class war here. That war is over. The winners just want to keep control over the slaves. One of the ways to do that is deny them an equal education. Isn't that what is being done in each of the eastern states, right now?

bob macalba

27/11/201242 long, thankyou for pointing that out, you are correct nothing admirable about either of them, your description much better,

jaycee

27/11/2012Yes..A big thank you Lyn for all that hard work throughout the year...three cheers! Hip, hip, HOORAY!

LadyInRed

27/11/2012Nasking - he is hiding behind JBishop because he is still bruising from the well deserved mysogyny speech. It did him great damage, and continues to. And, he has since added to it with his 'play the victim card' nonsense. There is more truth in that statement than he realises, as we all know he can't keep his mouth shut and he projects his feelings onto others. He feels the victim - it's quite obvious. And his 'this (smearing) is going to get a lot worse from Labor' - well he can't use this card anymore. No policies, no personality, no brains, loose cannon, romps around in budgie smugglers - his only way is the pugilistic way, crush the opponent, KO them and take the spoils. The Liberals, who obviously haven't had enough time in opposition, simply want to have their old jobs back. Until they clear that front bench, and a fair bit of the back, they will follow this man into the bowels of the earth to get back into power. I don't want this man running our country.

nasking

27/11/2012 Cheers Ad, I just read that Hoopla piece...talk about synchronicity. :D Seems to me that PM Gillard has fought her way out of the corner...and has now cornered that mutant beast created by a creepy bunch of greedsters and sickos. [b]Of course the skeptics dismiss them as ‘natural events that we have always had’, but how much longer can they do that?[/b] Heckuva lot of 'natural events'...would be like getting hit by skin cancer, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, various infections...all over a few years...and the patient shrugging and saying: "Nothing to do with my lifestyle...was gonna happen anyway...nothing I coulda done to stop it...can't fix it either...so why change my behaviour?" N'

Truth Seeker

27/11/2012Lyn, Have a fantastic break, no one deserves it more. Stay safe and happy, and take care of those gorgeous tweety eyes. 
♪ 
♫ 
♬ we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year
♪ 
♫ 
♬ Hooray Cheers :-) :-) :-)

nasking

27/11/2012 [b]Hint, Julie. If you ever do become Foreign Minister, as apparently your august leader has promised you will, ALL of the job will be about 'overseas'.[/b] Michael, ya reckon? I recall Abbott pushing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Frydenberg Might be an important part of the puzzle. Those backing Abbott...desperately. N'

42 long

27/11/2012Thanks to all the contributors of good intent and to the owner ( Ad As ) and facilitators. The links, (Thanks Lyn for your dedication and time) provide the vital essential connect to the topical events that give relevence and substance to the discussion this forum does best. . It does not have to apologise for being left. There are enough anti left nasty forums out there to not worry about the extreme right being inadequately covered. The extent of their activity is not in question, but we are one of a minority who question it's honesty, and do it well.

jaycee

27/11/2012Now, Fellow Swordsters..It being close to that time of year when good cheer and goodwill should replace animosity and all that..I have decided to come clean..: I have grossly wronged a poster on this site. As I led you astray about Sir Ian's monniker (am glad to have cleared THAT one up)I have also been less than truthful about my knowledge of our "Poster-Boy Troll"..; ToM. Yes..yes..ahh, I have known of ToM for some time..as some of you may be aware by the familiar and affectionate words we have exchanged. ToM..is in reality a talented chap. A lot of you wouldn't know he is a ventriloquist in much demand. BUT!..he is a ventriloquist of a different sort..a quirky sort! ToM is the only practising "analoquist" in Australia!..He is in great demand and his time is totally taken up with "speaking" on the "Scatological Society" circuts. He is thoroughly skilled at "talking through his ar*e" without you seeing his lips move. A skill perfected by need through his connections with the right-wing companions he mixes with as they comprehend no other language. Indeed, the major part of his lectures is when, with the aid of his highly talented face-painter/dresser (named Ian)and a skill in contortion that matches his analoqist skills, he can squat and contort his body so that his face and bare bottom, one above the other, both, with the aid of much rouge and heavy red lipstick made to look so similar that a lay-person could not differenciate, he delivers his oration with a clarity and decible of voice that Dame Joan would envy!...Talk about talent! In this position, he then proceeds to lecture with all the loquatious skills of a seasoned orator out of his..you know what!.. AND..you-won't-see-his-lips-move! Bloody marvelous!.....To you; ToM..I both dips me lid....and apologises for confusing the two orifices when I shoved that bottle of congratulatory lager into what I thought was your mouth!...As Maxwell Smart would say on such moments..; "Sorry 'bout that!"

nasking

27/11/2012 LadyInRed, Abbott is a schemer...he has his impetuous moments...but plenty that comes out of his mouth is designed to have specific effects. He is quite a performer. I find him to be a sly, crafty manipulator. Like Howard in that way. Willing to sacrifice others to remain in power. Gutless in some ways...puppets with strings pulled by seen and unseen masters. BTW, as PM Gillard fought back yesterday...in such a courageous, determined, passionate, persuasive way...a former Howard advisor showed up on SLY/SKY NEWS...and sounded like he was being asphyxiated... memories: http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/politics/prominent-liberal-says-gillard-should-be-kicked-to-death/ Grahame Morris has become increasingly frustrated and using desperate tactics. You can tell that certain Libs know they and Abbott are in THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL... N'

bob macalba

27/11/2012ToM aka the KNOB, eat shit and die, picturing you i.phone in left hand with that dirt filr photo and your right hand with the warty palm going flat out

Tom of Melbourne

27/11/2012What a blog! Full of misogynists and hypocrites, but claiming to be left. And the blog owner lets all the misgyny pass without comment. It is just so entertaining here.

Ad astra reply

27/11/2012Folks Please ignore ToM.

Tom of Melbourne

27/11/2012Correct Ad Astra, and as I’ve said, no one should feel under any obligation to reply to my comments, or even read them. But, Ad Astra, you have allowed misogynistic comments to be published on your personal blog, you’ve allowed them to remain in the public domain. Good for you! ----------------------------- [i] • Did you see where I said Credlin's a bloke? Check out his moustache, he's a bloke and he looks like a nasty hardfaced creepy version of Johnny Depp. His real name is Pyotr! • Bitchop • Like a dumb blonde motorist • They look "manly" do they Bob? • They look Hard and Scary. Like the famous female french poisoners of history. • both Credlin and J Bishop look like a pair of pre-op transvestites, so manly they look[/i] Congratulations on the quality of your blog and its contributors.

Jason

27/11/2012ToM, "you have allowed misogynistic comments to be published on your personal blog, you’ve allowed them to remain in the public domain." No doubt if the offended parties see them they can take whatever action they see fit! I suppose that's why you post as "ToM of Melbourne" so you can say whatever you like and not be held to account! As for what Ad publishes perhaps he can start giving you the flick or let me look after it over christmas break!

nasking

27/11/2012 SCOTT MORRISON: The man who attests that his faith has imbued him with “the values of loving kindness, justice and righteousness” also tried to make political hay when relatives of asylum seekers killed in the boat tragedy off Christmas Island in December 2010 were flown at taxpayers’ expense to attend their loved ones’ funerals in Sydney. The Scott Morrison who claims that deterring boat people from ever embarking on the hazardous journey across the Indian Ocean offers the most humane and Christian approach is also the Scott Morrison whose incessant politicisation of the issue has made compromise so difficult. “There is nothing to negotiate,” he said after a vessel carrying 250 asylum seekers sank off the coast of Java in December, adding glibly that Labor had “super-sized” the problem by releasing boat people into the community. During his maiden speech to parliament in February 2008, Morrison quoted Bono as he made an impassioned appeal for more aid to Africa – hardly a hot-button issue for his constituents in Cronulla. His first words in the chamber acknowledged the Gweagal people of the Dharawal nation, the traditional owners of the land now occupied by his parliamentary seat. Admirers describe him as compassionate, personable, moral and extremely able. Critics take a wholly different view, calling him arrogant, over-ambitious and bullying. “It is impossible to talk about Scott Morrison,” says one, “without dropping the C-bomb.” So with the 43 year old spoken of as a possible future Liberal leader, Australians could be forgiven for asking: ‘Who the bloody hell are you?’... Morrison is now a Pentecostal and thus part of the most rapidly growing denomination in the land. He worships at an American-style mega-church called Shirelive in his constituency, where the gospel of prosperity is preached in an auditorium that can accommodate over 1000 evangelicals. With its water baptisms and designer-shirt pastors, Shirelive has close ties with the better-known Hillsong community. The founder of Hillsong, Harley Davidson–riding pastor Brian Houston, is one of Morrison’s mentors. In Who’s Who Morrison lists the church as his number one hobby, and his maiden speech reads in part like a personal testimony delivered on the last night of a church retreat. It included passages from Jeremiah and also the Book of Joel: “Your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.” http://www.themonthly.com.au/scott-morrison-so-who-bloody-hell-are-you-nick-bryant-4523 Sigh. They really like the rational ones in the Liberal party. N'

Tom of Melbourne

27/11/2012That’s interesting Jason. So you think that misogyny is only of interest to those named and offended? That’s an interesting standard that hasn’t been widely accepted. ---------------------------- Examples of the informed political discourse by “progressives” and “the left” here… [i] • Did you see where I said Credlin's a bloke? Check out his moustache, he's a bloke and he looks like a nasty hardfaced creepy version of Johnny Depp. His real name is Pyotr! • Bitchop • Like a dumb blonde motorist • They look "manly" do they Bob? • They look Hard and Scary. Like the famous female french poisoners of history. • both Credlin and J Bishop look like a pair of pre-op transvestites, so manly they look[/i]

nasking

27/11/2012 From same MONTHLY article on Scott Morrison... Nice guy eh?: [b]Something of a bureaucratic black belt from his days in New Zealand, Morrison also fought running battles with Tourism Australia’s nine-strong board. Its members complained that he did not heed advice, withheld important research data about the controversial campaign, was aggressive and intimidating, and ran the government agency as if it were a one-man show. But Morrison thought he had the upper hand. Confident that John Howard would ultimately back him, Morrison reportedly boasted that if Fran Bailey got in his way, he would bring her down. When board members called for him to go, however, Bailey agreed, and soon it was Morrison who was on his way. “Fran despised him,” says an industry insider. “Her one big win was ousting Scott. His ego went too far.” Another senior industry figure claims that it was Morrison’s arrogance, combined with his misreading of John Howard and the power dynamics of Canberra, that proved his undoing: “He was naive to think he could take on the politicians. Howard was always going to back his ministers.” The “agreed separation” was said to have pocketed him at least a $300,000 payout.[/b] The Coalition seems to pride itself on delivering Australia mean-spirited, egotistical, opportunistic, p/t dog whistling, inconsistent, hard-arsed, religious types. Didn't that type help Romney in the last American election? :D N'

nasking

27/11/2012 I just realised that I've been reading and eating the entire time Julie Bishop has been asking questions...and I don't remember a thing she said. Goes to show how effective her campaign has been. :D N'

Jason

27/11/2012ToM, Yes I do! I don't speak for others nor do I get offended on behalf of others! So why haven't taken offence at what "Vince Sorrenti" had to say at the AHA dinner last night?

nasking

27/11/2012 My ears pricked up tho when I heard Tanya Plibersek telling us about the Coalition's desire to cut Medicare Locals...and other essential funding. I read about that in Crikey. Not on. So Abbott the Grinch wants to steal sick patients' future happier Christmases eh?...by taking away local services. What a disgrace!!! Were the PET scanner delays...and cutting a billion outa healthcare as Health Minister not enuff for him? Does he get a kick out of damaging public healthcare? I bet his family doesn't go without though. N'

nasking

27/11/2012 AHHH, found the article: [b]MARK METHERELL | NOV 23, 2012 Health Minister Tanya Plibersek has seized on Opposition plans to cut into 3,000 Medicare Locals saying it signals an Abbott government would follow the lead of state coalition governments in sacking thousands of health workers. Ms Plibersek says that shadow health minister, Peter Dutton had “belled the cat” by telling Croakey that Australia could not afford 6,000 Health Department staff and an estimated 3,000 in Medicare Locals. It showed how he and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott “would slash and burn frontline health jobs if they ever get into power”. She says the Opposition would slash from Medicare Locals staff who included doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, outreach workers, Aboriginal health workers and care coordinators, she said. “There is now absolutely no doubt that under a Coalition Government, patients would suffer and the standards of care would be downgraded as health services are cut out of local communities.” “I am extremely concerned this is just the tip of the iceberg and Mr Abbott and Mr Dutton are also planning to gut other vital health institutions,” Ms Plibersek said. Mr Dutton had “quietly revealed” his plan in comments to Croakey, she said. He said then that MLs “may be well intentioned, but we can’t afford . . . over 6,000 people in the department and portfolio agencies and over an estimated 3,000 people employed across Medicare Locals”. Ms Plibersek said Tony Abbott and Peter Dutton were following the lead of Coalition premiers in Queensland, NSW and Victoria who were currently sacking thousands of health workers and cutting billions from their health budgets. “Tony Abbott has said he supports the job cuts in health in states like Queensland and now we know why. If he ever becomes prime minister, he will do exactly the same thing.” Ms Plibersek said Medicare Locals do things like link-up frontline health professionals to fill gaps in local services, such as afterhours care, and placed decision-making about health care needs in the hands of local communities. “Medicare Locals are delivering home-grown solutions to local health problems and making it easier for Australians to see and contact a health professional, closer to home.”[/b] More here: http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2012/11/23/medicare-local-row-exposes-health-jobs-as-an-election-hot/ Pathetic eh? N'

Michael

27/11/2012My thanks also to Lyn. Her links here are 'required reading' for me, every day. Congratulations on setting a discursive range of commentary, that is NOT all on what might be described as the 'wavelength' at this site. It is important that we can read comment and material from opposite or tangential positions on any given topic. If only to reaffirm that, on any given topic, where 'I' am right now is where 'I' want to be. Or, 'will need to read wider'. The opportunity your searches provide to read across a spectrum of commentary is much appreciated, Lyn.

42 long

27/11/2012Scott Morrison has always appeared mean spirited and aggressive. Nice to see that those in his party think the same. Fran Bailey was a worthy member who had the sort of respect morriscum will never understand. Tony knows how to pick them or maybe it is the other way around. THEY supported him. There weren't many. Slipper was one of them. Ironic that without Slippers vote We wouldn't have had Tony for leader. Now THAT IS something bad about Slipper. Nasking your description of Tony's team is beautiful. Almost puts me off religion.( on it's own)

nasking

27/11/2012 [b]Tony knows how to pick them or maybe it is the other way around.[/b] 42 long, my Dad oft said: Crud attracts crud. And after their dirty performance so far this week, the Coalition look more loathsome, filthy, despicable and worthless than ever. You've got to pity the Coalition moderates who must feel like they're covered in Abbott and team's...well... crud. :D N'

Ad astra reply

27/11/2012pappinbarra foxette I agree with your assessment: [i]”If the globe is looked at from a systems analysis perspective it becomes plainly obvious that we are in serious trouble. Systems have moved form stable to meta-stable over the past 50 years. Systems such as: fresh water, arable land/desertification, ocean current flows, ecosystems, extinction rates et al. There are over 17 systems in seriously meta-stability states. I studied this in 1991-2 and there has not been a single movement towards more stable state in any of the systems studied in the past 22 years.
 Sea level rise will turn out to be an inconvenience when the system collapse happens.”[/i] As you point out, the evidence is in, but the political will is still lagging.

42 long

27/11/2012Abbott sitting there for the entire QT like a flag in a bottle being goaded by Gillard and Albanese to say something and Stoney Stare Bishop doing all the hard lifting, is really a strange performance. I guess it's all scripted, but you wonder what contorted thought process could produce this spectacle. All grist for the mill but the "thinkers" in the LieNP will be uneasy. Tony is accumulating baggage fast. Tony Burkes comment on the greens move to "dissallow" the murray darling agreement was informative. The consequences of that could have been pretty devastating and he thanked the LNP for not letting it pass ( the greens disallowance). Minority governments can get things done. They are getting an impressive list up now of important projects achieved . No -one votes intentionally for a "hung" parliament but we could get one at the moment were it to be called. Nothing Abbot could do would stop it except continue like he is now and Labor will have a significant victory. Campbell Newman has to be given a lot of the credit here, and bit players like my mate Jeff Kennet who applaided Can do and said Tony should follow his example. In Victoria Bailleau is losing support by the day. WA has the only decent right wing leader.

Lyn

27/11/2012Hi Ad, I will have to post a reply comment to you tomorrow and my lovely TPS friends. Busy, busy, busy Pressers to watch, QT, more Pressers. Julie Bishop just held another Presser, she said she had a chance meeting with Ralph Blewitt, now she says Mike Smith phoned her and said he was meeting Blewitt in a café. This morning JB said Julia Gillard was siphoning funds, then said she didn’t say that she meant Blewitt & Wilson. All I can say is Wow! I think she has caused herself a lot of trouble, see some information below: Here is Twitterati for you Latika Bourke ‏ #abc730 'Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s former boyfriend Bruce Wilson speaks out tonight.' Gillard paid for her home renovations, says builder Kon Spyridis , August 24, 2012, Steve Lewis Mr Spyridis' statement - that Ms Gillard paid for the renovations on her property, which she sold in 2007 - clears the air over allegations that were first raised in the Victorian parliament. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/gillard-paid-for-her-home-renovations-says-builder-kon-spyridis/story-fndo317g-1226457032938?sv= Latika Bourke ‏ Deputy Liberal Leader Julie Bishop says Mike Smith introduced her to Ralph Blewitt. ‘Ten minute chance meeting.' Latika Bourke ‏ What are the odds that at the same time on the same day Julie Bishop, Mike Smith, Ralph Blewitt and Steve Lewis are randomly on same st? Latika Bourke ‏ Deputy Liberal Leader Julie Bishop says Martin Ferguson, Journalist Steve Lewis were in the same street on Friday when she saw Smith+Blewitt Snaky Sandy ‏ What sort of places does Julie Bishop hang out in?, if she just ran into Ralph Blewett by accident? come on pull the other one Latika Bourke ‏ Former Vic Premier John Brumby hired PM Gillard after she quit #SlaterAndGordon - she came with 10/10 reference: http://latika.me/10KV4zg Question Time: paul faure ‏ Abbott gutless! PM's at her best up against the wall! #qt Marian Dalton ‏ Oh dear ... the PM points out that one of the affidavits waved around by JBishop was drawn up by a known One Nation fraudster. #qt Marian Dalton ‏ It being 2pm ... oh look, here's JBishop fishing again. Now she's imputing the PM had her house renovated illegally. #qt Julie Bishop Presser just now: eleanor bloom ‏ lenoretaylor 'You said she profited from it. [quotes]' Bishop, "No, I did not." #presser Geoff Pearson ‏ What was That Bishop denying things she said chance meeting after PHone call from smith this is way out of line Bishop credibilty gone Amanda Mack Interesting that shockjock Mike Smith has J Bishop's mobile number & just happened to know she was in Melb. Coincidence? You be the judge. Jane Cattermole ‏ JulieBishopMP Making further fool of herself. Why did she think this interview a good idea??? Stephanie Philbrick ‏ I am finding some comfort in the media asking some halfway decent questions about her deliberate obtuseness #abc24 David Kirkpatrick GoneHomer So Mike Smith the discredited 2UE host who lost his job over this has direct access to Julie Bishop ??? #auspol Ross Bowler ‏ Rather poor form of the Solicitor, Julie Bishop, to not consult with Senior Counsel as to how the matter ought proceed @ Stephen ‏ Labor says Bishop's position now untenable? What happened?! Latika Bourke ‏ Julie Bishop this morning says PM Gillard didn't open file on fund because she Bruce Wilson and Ralph Blewitt wanted to hide it Latika Bourke ‏ Julie Bishop says they wanted to hide 'fact that an unauthorised entity was being set up to siphon funds through it for their benefit.' Latika Bourke But this afternoon Julie Bishop says she was only referring to Blewitt and Wilson. Bishop admits to meeting with Gillard's AWU accuser http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-27/bishop-admits-meeting-with-ralph-blewitt/4393984 :):):):)

N'ellie May

27/11/2012Dear Lyn and Ad, Just want to say to you both how much I have appreciated and respected all your hard work that you have put into this excellent site. Thanks to you and your fellow Swordsters I have been lifted in spirit. It has been so depressing watching the behaviour of the Opposition and the MSM, including our own ABC, which has been swiped by right wing fanatics. It has been a pleasure to read every-one's ideas and opinions, with links to interesting pieces elsewhere. Will miss you, Lyn, as you take your well-earned break. Have a great rest and looking forward to picking up your work again in the very important new year.Regards to you all.

jaycee

27/11/2012On to the climate change debate...The reason I think humanity as a collective will not enact sufficient policy to reverse the dangerous effects springs from the fact that too many deniers hold sway over such policy. There was a time in Rome, about the time of the invasions of Atilla The Hun where several tribes of 'Barbarians" were "hired" as mercenaries to support and fight with the Roman Army against Atilla. The wives and children of the "Barbarians" were kept at Rome as security (hostage) of loyalty. No sooner had the army crossed the borders, than the Roman people, scornful and hate-filled at being obliged to a mob of :Barbarians" attacked and slaughtered the hostages...Once this news was learnt by the mercenaries, they deserted the Roman army and joined forces with Atilla, thus ensuring a massive defeat to the Romans and bringing about the turning point for the destruction of the capital. We modern Humans are little different in that we demand to be insulated from social and physical discomfort and will consume all and everything to satisfy that demand..NOTHING shall stand in the way of absolute and complete comfort and a section of us (the deniers) will destroy any attempt to secure our future. We are, sadly, buggered!

bob macalba

27/11/2012ToM had a bit of a think about my pre-op remark and i agree that one was from my own point of view was a bit crass, it was a rush of blood is my defense and i apologise if i have offended anyone else, BUT i stand by all else said

Jason

27/11/2012bob, Don't say sorry to ToM! he's a professional mourner he will be outraged on anyone's behalf no matter what's said. Although he doesn't seem to be outraged by the AHA Dinner last night where "Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Finance Minister Penny Wong were the butt of sexist and homophobic jokes at the Australian Hotels Association’s dinner in Sydney last night. Raising the ghost of Alan Jones’ chaff bag speech and the CFMEU’s jokes about Tony Abbott’s personal life, comedian Vince Sorrenti made fun of Ms Gillard’s unmarried status and her “Lesbian Finance Minister”, referring to Ms Wong. Mr Sorrenti also joked that the Prime Minister had done a deal after the last federal election with a “gay vegetarian” – meaning the then Greens leader Bob Brown. Sitting in the crowd were state and federal MP's They included state Nationals MP Andrew Fraser, Upper House Liberal John Ajaka, Smithfield MP Andrew Rohan, Coogee MP Bruce Notley-Smith, Tourism Minister George Souris and former AHA boss David Elliott, as well NSW Liberal director Mark Neeham and federal frontbencher Bob Baldwin. NSW Labor leader John Robertson and independent MP Richard Torbay were also present. None walked out of the room after the comments were made Don't let ToM fool you! http://www.afr.com/p/national/sexist_jokes_served_up_at_hotels_iWzLYGF2MY2nOHNQ7JXzTO

ken

27/11/2012I have also seen an article by two Scandanavian scientists that relates global warming to the amount of heat generated by the human population. Their mathematics showed that the amount of heat could explain a very high proportion of global warming. I imagine no-one wants to hear about this because it raises "the elephant in the room" - population growth. One of their interesting comments was that, if they are right, the use of nuclear energy (often espoused because it does not produce greenhouse gases) would be disastrous because it actually produces more heat per unit of energy than more traditional energy sources.

MWS

27/11/201242 long @ 4.32 PM: [quote]WA has the only decent right wing leader.[/quote] Those who live in WA don't share your opinion. Colin Barnett is called the "Emperor" for good reason. He would prefer to rule by edict, and not have to listen to any dissenting voices.

bob macalba

27/11/2012Jason, cheers, i apologised for my own piec of mind, i was going to anyway unfortunately ToM had already noticed before i could, im new at this and a small lesson i have learned. ps enjoy watching you smacking his bullshit around, genuine good fun

bob macalba

27/11/2012sorry meant to say peace of mind

2353

27/11/2012So the takeout from today's effort in Question Time. Gillard seemed to be above it all, Abbott didn't understand it all (that's why Bishop the slightly younger is doing it) and was told to sit down and shut up, Pyne is obviously annoyed that he has been put on his leach and Bishop the slightly Younger is flying around in ever decreasing circles and will eventually fly up her own nostril. The best bit is that the media generally have realised they have been conned and might finally decide to take their revenge on the LNP. This has the same level of planning as "utegate" except they have kept their "Dear Leader" on ice so he won't be associated with the plan if/when it went pear shaped. Was it all a plan to hang Bishop the slightly Younger out to dry? Those that don't learn history are doomed to repeat it. P.S. And Obama was born in the USA and has a US Passport. That one worked well too - didn't it!

Tom of Melbourne

27/11/2012People can retract or not, fine with me either way, but generous of bob. The issue here is the rank hypocrisy of the blog owner. His history is to cheer on the labelling of Abbott as misogynist, based on flimsier evidence that the comments that he publishes here. What was the reaction of Ad Astra to the numerous examples of misogyny? • “Don’t talk to Tom” No chiding about the (in)appropriateness of the comments, no demand for an apology. Nothing like the type of rebuke he issues to (say) Marilyn. The stupid hypocrisy is yet again on display.

bob macalba

27/11/2012Lyn a quick thankyou your awesome, enjoy your break, merry xmas and LANG MAY YER LUM REEK, Robert Burns

Jason

27/11/2012ToM, And the sooner you stop behaving like a "princess" the better off you'll be!

bob macalba

27/11/2012ToM, i apologised because i had crossed a personal line, nothing to do with what you think of me, all to do with what i think of me, and as far as other comments on this site mostly i find yours the most offensive due to the large amount of ignorance you deliberately put out there to try and sow confusion, as Jason has already pointed out where is your moral outrage regarding Vince Sorrenti and his so called jokes, bah humbug ToM

Sir Ian Crisp

27/11/2012C'mon Ad, how 'bout one of your fire-side chats about being nice and courteous. You are always quick to upbraid me when I flay one of your pets. Let's hear from you Ad.

bob macalba

27/11/2012Kroger interviewing Blewett on sky

bob macalba

27/11/2012Did anyone else watch Mark Latham destroy George Brandis's cred and possible reputation, it was magic, it was on sky

Jason

27/11/2012bob, As Latham said "George not only do you have to be a question asker, you also have to be an answer giver! If a man (Michael Smith)who describes you as a close personal friend (He attended Smiths wedding) says on his bolg wtte you'd think the Taliban could at least find a sniper to shoot the PM the next time she's in Afghanistan! George done what most cowards eg sic tom do and started to shout and say look over there. Sorry bob I did see it!

Ad astra reply

27/11/2012Hi Lyn You are right, it has been a very busy week. You’ll be glad when the week is over and you can get some peace from the chaos created by the Coalition pulling out all the stops to knock JG down. They won’t succeed. I saw the Bruce Wilson interview on [i]7.30[/i]. He seemed to me to be quite straightforward in his answers, and confirmed that JG had no part in anything irregular. John Brumby’s account of the glowing reference he got from S&G puts paid to the story that JG was sacked, which the Coalition is peddling. The surprising piece was by Steve Lewis revealing that Kon Spyridis the builder confirmed that JG had paid for her own renovations. The other tweets you listed were positive. It seems to me that even the media is becoming tired of it all and the credibility of the Coalition’s attack is becoming more and more suspect. The Coalition and Bishop have over-reached and the media know it.

bob macalba

27/11/2012Jason, pleased you saw it, i kept waiting for Brandis to clutch his chest or blow a forehead vein, neither Kroger or Brandis can match Latham intellectually and it was fun to watchChurch

bob macalba

27/11/2012dont know how the word church ended up at end of my last comment, weird but stil learning, one finger at about 3 or 4 words a minute

Ad astra reply

27/11/2012N’ellie May Thank you for your kind remarks. I’m so glad you enjoy what we have to offer on [i]TPS[/i]. Next year should be an exciting one. jaycee I agree with this: [i]”We modern Humans are little different in that we demand to be insulated from social and physical discomfort and will consume all and everything to satisfy that demand. NOTHING shall stand in the way of absolute and complete comfort and a section of us (the deniers) will destroy any attempt to secure our future.”[/i] That will be the sad reality until we reach the ‘Great Awakening’, hopefully before it is not too late. Ken You make interesting points. Population explosion is a subject most recoil from as it seems all too difficult to contemplate. Yet we must take it as seriously as climate change. bob macalba Do you have links to the Kroger and Latham interviews? They sound interesting. Folks I’m calling it a day.

Jason

27/11/2012bob, "Mike Smith, has a blog said 'it's a pity the Taliban didn't have a sniper worth a shekel' re the PM visiting Afghanistan"

bob macalba

27/11/2012Lyn while im correcting my mistakes please ignore the name Rbert Burns as i didnt mean that he wrote the greeting, silly i know but i gotta keep to the facts, cheers

bob macalba

27/11/2012Ad, new at this not a clue how to put up links yet, hoping my very patient nephew can show me the way, sorry

bob macalba

27/11/2012Jason, i heard Latham say that, he also said state and federal police interested in mr Smiths comments, Libs cred, lower than zero and still fallingTeh

Lyn

27/11/2012Hi Bob I think you are doing great, you are just doing fine. We love your comments. :):):)

Jason

27/11/2012J Bishop "saved by the bells" presser this afternoon! http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-27/bishop-still-has-questions-for-pm/4395232

Shirley

27/11/2012Bob, Ad Astra and all There is a link to the Latham and Kruger interview on facebook.https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150981043473139 Certainly interesting times in Canberra. But good will prevail and there is more basic decency and ethics on the left then the right can ever aspire to. Lyn enjoy your break and thanks for your hard work. I will miss your links and twitter.

42 long

27/11/2012MWS I bow to your local knowledge. Also I am comparing him too a very low base in the eastern states. I don't believe any of them ( the libs)are any good but he seems the best of a bad lot. I thought he is the most likely to be re-elected. Is there a chance for labor in the west in the near future? I don't have that informaton.

TalkTurkey

27/11/2012Bitchop: You ain't got no question! That's why you don't ask it! Smart Credlin suggestion: All eggs in one basket!

42 long

27/11/2012Never been a plan"B". Bad strategy. Why in DOG's name Tony would you think that YOU had what it takes to lead this great country. Have you ever had an honest introspective look at yourself? Maybe you could have been a bit player. I loved your little interludes an bit's of spikey thought bubbles in the old days but as the supreme leader you scare the pants off me. All the people you have around you are "weird" and the ones you say are "saints" and joan of arc's and hero's have feet of clay and worship money or a false god ( or both) You use bad methods of dealing with people putting people against each other exploiting the worst fears and hates to get support for your aim of getting power. You HATE losing ( we know that) but you will sure hate losing to a woman We know that too, and to a woman you have used every dirty trick to vilify, used all your dirty mates to help you and your wife and kids and the cat. It's NOT working mate. we are not as stupid as you take us for. No plan "B" . Well at some stage it will be "Game over". Will anyone grieve for you . Hopefully in the interests of justice you will get as much as you gave Graig Thomson, who summed YOU up quite well. "unworthy".

Jason

27/11/201242 long, Isn't that what religion has done over the Milena?

TalkTurkey

28/11/2012Just for Fun Dave Allen on religion. Good to the very last second! What a very funny delightful man! http://teamoyeniyi.com/2012/11/27/dave-allen-on-religion/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Did anyone else check the pix of Sea Butterflies and Sea Anglels? What beautiful things! I have not yet seen video of them, I shall go looking. Molluscs eh. From tiny Snails to Glory of the Seas - and Sea Butterflies - and Giant Squid - and Garden Snails - Clever Octopus - and Cuttlefish, the most amazing of all! I wonder what they understand of us, because we sure don't understand much of them.

Truth Seeker

28/11/2012Jason, Bishop defamed the PM in her first presser, and then backpeddled lying all the way, what a piece of work, and as I said in my poem yesterday @ 7.48; While Abbott’s mute… the Bishop shows For a lawyer… how little… law she knows With questions… based on false premise Proving Bishop’s full of wind.. and piss Renowned for cats claws… and pussy calls Abbott sends her out… to take the falls And I am confident that the last verse will be the eventual outcome. Cheers :-)

Lyn

28/11/2012TODAY’S LINKS The AWU Scandal Unpacked, Ben Eltham, New Matilda so what? "Judgment and credibility" are simply media constructs: they have no legal or constitutional relevance. In a democracy, voters get to decide who they elect to parliament. They may decide that issues of character are important; equally, they may decide to vote according to which party embraces the policies they desire. Or they may vote for other reasons altogether: for reasons of personal loyalty to a popular local member, for instance. http://newmatilda.com/2012/11/27/awu-scandal-unpacked Gillard Puts The Press To Shame, Ben Eltham, New Matilda An interrupting Sid Maher was slapped down with a curt "don’t hector me, Sid". Michelle Grattan asked a nonsensical question, which got an appropriately brief response. The West Australian’s Andrew Probyn, who got bogged down with an increasingly threadbare line of questioning, found himself a particular target of the Prime Minister’s ire. http://newmatilda.com/2012/11/27/gillard-puts-press-shame What went wrong with the AWU? , Geoffrey Robinson, The Conversation Labour historians know this type. “Jock” Garden, NSW Labor Council secretary of the 1920s and 1930s and a leading Communist, was a classic example. More recently, the Jeff and Kathy Jackson partnership of the Health Services Union is another example. The Victorian AWU leadership of the early 1990s, and in particular the now notorious Bruce Wilson, also fit this description, which is bad luck for Julia Gillard. https://theconversation.edu.au/what-went-wrong-with-the-awu-11009 PM vs press gallery: anatomy of a tense encounter, Bernard Keane, Crikey But did you notice the goalpost-shifting in all that? Until yesterday, the Prime Minister had “questions to answer” about the issue. Yesterday she stood there and took question after question. For many members of the press gallery, that’s no longer sufficient. Now, the real test is whether the Prime Minister has “laid the issue to rest”. If the opposition are still asking questions about the issue at the end of the week, Gillard will thus, by that logic, have failed.For much of the press gallery, there’s always a new test for the Prime http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/11/27/pm-vs-press-gallery-anatomy-of-a-tense-encounter/ Jacksonville 31: Cleansweep wins HSU No 3 elections, Independent Australia That means that Jacksonville resident Fleur Behrens has been defeated in every position, and with that the hopes of the Jackson faction there.The Number 3 Branch, which has come close to bankruptcy whilst under the control of the darling of the shock-jocks Kathy Jackson, has now had her influence completely removed. http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/politics/jacksonville-31-cleansweep-wins-hsu-no-3-elections/ Bishop confirms meeting with bagman Blewitt , Simon Cullen, ABC Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop says she held a brief meeting with self-confessed union bagman Ralph Blewitt last week as part of her search for documents relating to Julia Gillard's work history. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-27/bishop-confirms-meeting-with-blewitt/4393720 BOWEN STANDS UP: Labor’s Immigration minister wins applause from across aisle, Nick Mack, Vex News The groupthink in the Canberra Press Gallery has concluded that the Gillard Government’s decision to withhold working rights on bridging visas for asylum seekers is worse than the Coalition’s policy to reintroduce Temporary Protection Visas.To prove the point, feel free to watch ABC’s Insiders as some of Canberra’s more notable Gallery types try http://www.vexnews.com/2012/11/bowen-stands-up-labors-immigration-minister-wins-applause-from-across-aisle/ Labor attacks Bishop over Gillard slush fund claim, Simon Cullen, ABC was because she and Wilson and Blewitt wanted to hide from the AWU the fact that an unauthorised entity was being set up to siphon funds through it for their benefit and not for the benefit of the AWU," she told reporters. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-27/labor-calls-for-bishops-head/4394850 Smear, Innuendo And A New Manuscript!Deknarf, The Australian Blog The continuing smear and innuendo campaign against Julia Gillard by the NO Coalition’s Julie Bishop based on material contained in the Binder of Smear so ably carried by Tony Abbott’s assistant Peta Credlin was subsumed by the presentation of a new manuscript today which quite possibly traces the whole issue of Julia Gillard and the AWU back to the 16th century http://deknarf.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/graphical-manipulations-14-smear-innuendo-and-a-new-manuscript/ Nope, copper network still rooted (and maybe worse than first thought), Nick Ross, ABC A somewhat noisy minority seems to think that a conspiracy is occurring in that our nameless source doesn't exist and that this site is mindlessly pushing government propaganda instead of criticizing government policy. On the contrary, as with every similar article on ABC Technology and Games, the purpose has been to further everyone's understanding of the National Broadband Network http://www.abc.net.au/technology/articles/2012/11/27/3642266.htm Julie Bishop was a solicitor for ASBESTOS MINERS, The Interpretor CSR was represented by Ms Julie Bishop (then Julie Gillon). (She) was rhetorically asking the court why workers should be entitled to jump court queues just because they were dying.”http://theinterpretor.wordpress.com/category/environment/ Today’s Front Pages Australia Newspaper Front Pages for 28 November 2012 http://www.frontpagestoday.co.uk/index.cfm?PaperCountry=Australia

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28/11/2012LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

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28/11/2012bob macalba To post a link, simply copy it from the 'address field' of your browser, and paste it into your comment. There is no need to add any tags. For example, the link to Lyn's Daily Links where links are collected in date order is: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

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28/11/2012Shirley Thank you for the link to the Facebook clip of the Kroger-Latham clash. I got to the promo, but couldn't get any further. It looks as if I have to join Facebook to see it. Do you have a link to the actual YouTube video?

nasking

28/11/2012 Murdoch empire crumbling. Just needs a push. So many know their modus operandi. No better than shock jocks. How do you deal with a bully? :D N'

nasking

28/11/2012 Strength in numbers. "History is a great teacher. Now everyone knows that the labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it. By raising the living standards of millions, labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed of levels of production. Those who attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them." Martin Luther King Jr.

jaycee

28/11/2012Mark latham on Fran kelly's breakfast....Bloody good stuff!...Always liked that bloke..I just wish he took the oportunity when he had JWH. in that shirt-fronted hand-grip to give the little sh*t a liverpool kiss!..Lost opportunity. You know, I hear EVEN Labor people berate Latham as too agressive, yet with JWH. we have the image of the "Fatherly figure" looking after us all when in truth he was, with J dubberya, just another warmongering murderer. Give me the taxidriver-thumper anyday!

2353

28/11/2012Nas - you fight a bully with facts. You also have to influence enough people so that they realise that the bully is just that. It seems to be working (finally) with Abbott. The nice thing is that bullies tend to take those that have been associated with them down in the last final flaying before they "die". Hopefully Abbott will take NewsCorp down with him when it is demonstrated that they were both "players" in the destabilisation campaign. It would help if the Government formed a "Leverson" style enquiry here as well. Lyn - have a good relaxing break as next year will be just as busy as this one way. I hope you spend a lot of time with your family and friends and enjoy the Christmas Season without cyclones or flooding. AA - thank you for this blog. It's reputation reflects favourably on your efforts. I also hope you have a enjoyable Christmas Season surrounded by your family and friends.

2353

28/11/2012D'oh - 2nd paragraph first line should read "Lyn - have a good relaxing break as next year will be just as busy as this one was.

jaycee

28/11/2012You know, you see the Murdoch/Liberal machine crank up and start to go after the PM. and it puts the wind up you somewhat because you think, well, they have the resources, the journos' the contacts..and you'd think the intelligence to do some real damage....and then you get this latest schmozzel!! With all the hoopla and trumpeting I thought they were going to deliver some sort of king-hit on the PM....?...Nothing...They got nothing.or as my old man would say..; "less than nothing"..What a collection of paper tigers the MSM. and the Liberals are...all puff and smell and nothing else..and last night on Lateline we saw that other bluffer Turnbull flogging his own dead-horse. What a bloody con they are!..What a bloody con.

nasking

28/11/2012 “Each of us is a book waiting to be written, and that book, if written, results in a person explained.” ― Thomas M. Cirignano, The Constant Outsider

nasking

28/11/2012 Abbott sitting is really Abbott knocked to the canvas. The punches have worked. He's struggling to get up. Afraid. Unsure. N'

jaycee

28/11/2012Sorry, AA..I did talk to ToM this morning...I do apologise, but I blame the curry I had last night!

nasking

28/11/2012 Bishop is struggling. Abbott has USED her. Now she pays the price. Bishop has got in with a nest of misogynists and bullies...naked ambition has led to naïveté. Another possible Liberal leader will bite the dust...whilst Abbott hides in the shadows. And didn't Turnbull show anxiety last nite...unconvincing...grumpy old man? N'

nasking

28/11/2012 Are they saying Israel is not a DIVIDED country? Yet it has been recognised. ------ Charging my iPad...back soon to reply. GO JULIA!!! N'

Michael

28/11/2012Peter Hartcher exposes himself as a so quick to stab he stumbles (hello Julie Bishop) Gillard-basher here, and in his own tortuous commentary reveals himself as small-minded and mathematically jejune. "Humiliating defeat forces Gillard to back down over Palestinian vote". http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/humiliating-defeat-forces-gillard-to-back-down-over-palestinian-vote-20121127-2a5vc.html "After Bob Carr got his way, he was the first to go public in defence of his leader. It was not a humiliation but a textbook case of a leader heeding the party, said Carr. Which is one way of putting it." Apparently leaders are best serving the country if they dictate to their party, their governing colleagues, and by logical extension, the nation. Peter Hartcher makes snide observation about leadership that responds to the Westminster principle that a Prime Minister is 'first amongst equals'. Has he even thought about what his apparent idea of an institutionalised 'unhumiliated Prime Ministership' would mean to this country? Malcolm Turnbull put his oar in as well, describing the abstention vote, and by extension, the PM, as "pathetic". He tossed in "weak" and "impotent" as well, but we should leave Malcolm alone with his bedroom metaphors, wherever they might leap from to the forefront of his mind when it comes to his equally jejune commentary on foreign affairs. Perhaps an answer might be that anyone consigned to 'following' Tony Abbott might find 'weak' and 'impotent' self-descriptive??? Returning to that other great political mind, Peter Hartcher, just to give you a sample of the depth of reasoning this senior journalist at the Fairfax Press is capable of, earlier in the same article he writes this: "Only seven countries [of the 190'ish in the UN General Assembly] are expected to vote against the move to upgrade Palestinian recognition - Israel, the US, Canada, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and the Marshall Islands. If Gillard had prevailed, Australia would have been the eighth." Did you follow the inspired logic of his cogency here, the sheer political insight, the inspiring arithmetical construct that substantiates and comprehensively manifests the erudition of his political expertise? If Australia had voted the same way as 7 other countries, there would have been 8 countries voting the same way. Oh genius, oh brilliance, oh wit and wisdom. Oh FFS, Hartcher, if anyone's "humiliated" by your article, it's... you work it out, Pete.

TalkTurkey

28/11/2012What shall we do with the tongue-tied Tony? Now at last folks know he's phony? Just a brokedown one-trick pony! Dog-Meat New Year's Morning! :)

nasking

28/11/2012 [b]Hopefully Abbott will take NewsCorp down with him when it is demonstrated that they were both "players" in the destabilisation campaign. It would help if the Government formed a "Leverson" style enquiry here as well.[/b] 2353, indeed. Muck-raking and scheming to bring down and/or control leaders is a habit of the Murdoch mafia-like empire. It has demonstrated time and time again a dangerous arrogance in its approach...an approach verging on criminality. N'

TalkTurkey

28/11/2012Nasking With your shorter posts I always agree almost entirely. I have to confess I don't always read all the longer ones tho'. I'm not such a flash reader I confess, and there is such a lot to read. But your thoughts always are full of sense and very distictively your own. You are as the young things say, awesome. Just so you know.

MWS

28/11/2012I loved the comment by "Talubar" @3.13PM on the second Ben Eltham article: [quote]Based on the evidence so far the PM is guilty of but two things. Firstly, not reporting a non existent crime of which she had no knowledge, and secondly not being either Kevin Rudd or Malcolm Turnbull, both of whom the press seem totally enamoured with, for reasons that escape me.[/quote] http://newmatilda.com/2012/11/27/gillard-puts-press-shame While Lyn is taking a very well-deserved break, perhaps some of the regular contributors can assist NormanK by posting a link and brief quote to one new article every day? That way we can spread the load that has been ably carried by Lyn.

TalkTurkey

28/11/2012One of Lyn's Links: [i]Julie Bishop was a solicitor for ASBESTOS MINERS, The Interpretor CSR was represented by Ms Julie Bishop (then Julie Gillon). (She) was rhetorically asking the court why workers should be entitled to jump court queues just because they were dying.[/i]”theinterpretor.wordpress.com/category/environment/ But I have never seen any documents with her actual statements at the time, I wonder why not.

nasking

28/11/2012 Jaycee, Turnbull did sound like a "bluffer" last night...I felt his figures and goals presented were "pie in the sky": [b]EMMA ALBERICI: No, how much is yours going to cost? MALCOLM TURNBULL: If you were starting from scratch it would cost around ... EMMA ALBERICI: But you're not going to be starting from scratch. MALCOLM TURNBULL: Let me just answer the question. If you were starting from scratch without any of their existing contracts we know it would cost about $15 billion to do the whole job. So a third or less of what the NBN Co is saying it will cost. What we don't know - is because the NBN Co has not been transparent about it - is how many contracts they've entered into which have locked in, wasteful commitments - over investment which we may well be stuck with. So what I can say, absolutely ... with full knowledge and a very good understanding of the rival technologies, what I can say is that we can complete the job much faster and much cheaper than the Government can if they continue with their existing strategy. EMMA ALBERICI: Stephen Conroy. STEPHEN CONROY: The big unknown is ... the big unknown is that Malcolm quotes this third figure from an Alcatel-Lucent study which said if you were the incumbent it would be the third of the cost. That's what the study says. Malcolm just chops the second half of the sentence. MALCOLM TURNBULL: That's not true. That is untrue. STEPHEN CONROY: So, Malcolm's claim about $15 billion dollars ... I'm happy to take $15 billion if that's the cost, Malcolm, but what you've got to tell us is how much you're going to spend and, Malcolm, how long is it going to take you to build your network? Just tell us: how long and how much? You said back in August you had a fully costed plan. Well Emma's asked you, I'm asking, the Australian public are asking you: how much is it going to cost, what price are you going to charge for your product? The cheapest NBN plan available in the market place today is $29.95. Are you saying you will charge cheaper than that, and how long is it going to take? MALCOLM TURNBULL: Well, if I can answer those questions. If you have less capital invested to deliver the result, obviously you don't need to charge as much. The NBN Co is going to result in Australians paying more for broadband whereas, in fact ... STEPHEN CONROY: That is just untrue, Malcolm. Untrue. $29.95 in a marketplace today. MALCOLM TURNBULL: ... over the last 10 years the ACCC showed telephone charges are down 34 per cent, OECD data shows broadband retail charges fell 69 per cent over the past five years. However, if you look at page 69 of the NBN Co's corporate plan, you will see that the average revenue per user triples from $22 in 2012 to $62 in 2021. That is a fact. That is their forecast. So broadband costs have been going down and under Stephen Conroy they will go up.[/b] http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3642412.htm Seems to me that Malcolm is ignoring the fact that the phone system was established ACROSS THIS COUNTRY over a long period of time... and some rural people still have problems...and the costs can vary. Private companies have SHAREHOLDERS...they want to see good RETURNS. That means if they can ignore a region...or take shortcuts...use less reliable but cheaper product they oft will. There needs to be CONSISTENCY here...this is about ENSURING ALL AUSTRALIANS GET ACCESS AND QUALITY OF PRODUCT AND SERVICE... If they eventually CHOOSE to opt for other down the road in order to save money...fair enuff...but we should not be treating some like SECOND CLASS CITIZENS by leaving them at the mercy of PROFIT-MOTIVATED COMPANIES. The NBN IS ESSENTIAL COMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURE. A LONG-TERM INVESTMENT FOR THE PEOPLE. FOR THE COUNTRY. Not just some network that can be picked apart by vulture capitalists. LAY THE RELIABLE FOUNDATIONS...AS YOU WOULD RAIL TRACKS...the competition battle related to who uses it can come later. N'

nasking

28/11/2012 Lyn put up: [b]David Kirkpatrick GoneHomer So Mike Smith the discredited 2UE host who lost his job over this has direct access to Julie Bishop ??? #auspol [/b] Crikey! The Libs really have gotten down in the mud. Pretty desperate when you are getting yer TACTICS from a hate-monger and slime-bag. But I guess they've relied on Alan Jones and Andrew Bolt and the Murdoch empire in the past...and present. And gawd knows how many other scumbags. Still...getting calls and setting up meetings via Mike Smith??? That would be like the Republican Party being advised by a combination of Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Malkin and Alex Jones. :D N'

Shirley

28/11/2012Ad Astra, no sorry nobody has posted a U-Tube video yet.

nasking

28/11/2012 This is something that has worried me since I first started reading about the causes of climate change: [quote]But it isn't the scenery that brought them to Alaska. What the scientists are searching for is invisible to the human eye – the haze of methane and CO2 that hovers low over the landscape in summer as the permafrost melts. "We fly like a rollercoaster, in a flight line that touches the 'boundary layer' [a layer where the air from the ground mingles with higher altitudes] and then we fly down, and come straight back up. We keep doing that repeatedly," Professor Miller said. The plane dips in and out of the methane plumes, sucking up data that hints at the extent and speed of the permafrost melt. "We're finding very, very interesting changes, particularly in terms of methane concentrations," he said. "When scientists say 'interesting', it usually means 'not what we expected'. We're seeing biological activity in various places in Alaska that's much more active than I would have expected, and also much more variable from place to place ... There are changes as much as 10 to 12 parts per million for CO2 – so that's telling us that the local biology is doing something like five or six years worth of change in the space of a few hundred metres." Methane is not present in the frozen soil, but is instead created as the earth thaws and organic matter is consumed by tiny organisms. "If the Arctic becomes warmer and drier, we will see it released as carbon dioxide, but if it is warmer and wetter it will be released as methane." The findings of the first year of the experiment are so complex that Professor Miller and his team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory are still trying to work out exactly what they have found. The results are being kept secret, which is standard practice while the numbers are crunched and the work is submitted to a peer-review process. "What we can say is that methane is significantly elevated in places – about 2000 parts per billion, against a normal background of about 1850 parts per billion," he said. "It's interesting because the models are predicting one thing and what we are observing is something fairly different." The rate of melt was "deeply concerning", said Andy Pitman, the director of Australia's Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, an adviser to the Climate Commission, and a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's reports. "It had been assumed that on the timescale of the 21st century, that the effects of methane release would be relatively small compared to other effects – that's why it has been largely left out of the climate models," Professor Pitman said. "I think it's fair to say that until recently climate scientists underrated the rate at which permafrost melt could release methane. I think we've been shown to be over-conservative. It's happening faster than we had thought ... This is not good news." The report presented to the UN said a tipping point could still be averted if the world moved to cut emissions from fossil fuels fast. "The target climate for the climate change treaty is not out of date," Professor Schaefer told Fairfax Media. "However, negotiation of anthropogenic emissions targets to meet the 2 degree warming target must account for emissions from thawing permafrost. Otherwise, we risk overshooting the target climate." The report pointed out that permafrost carbon feedback had not been included in the Fourth IPCC report, the most recent update from the UN's climate body, published in 2007. "Participating modelling teams have completed their climate projections in support of the Fifth Assessment Report, but these projections do not include the permafrost carbon feedback," the report said. "Consequently, the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, due for release in stages between September 2013 and October 2014, will not include the potential effects of the permafrost carbon feedback on global climate." The cost of this omission could be high if measured in financial terms, according to Pep Canadell, a CSIRO scientist and executive director of the Global Carbon Project, which tallies how much CO2 humans can release before the climate can be expected to warm to dangerous levels. "If you were to take the price of a tonne of carbon to be $23 like Australia does, you are looking at an extra cost of about $35 billion for the permafrost," Dr Canadell said. "That's on top of the hundreds of billions we already know it will cost to slow emissions to reach a 2degree level. It's a significant problem in the carbon budget." The evidence that major change is already happening is trickling in not just from the NASA measurements, but from ground-based tests. "There is compelling evidence, not just that permafrost will thaw, but that it is already rapidly thawing," said Ben Abbott, a researcher at the Institute of Arctic Biology at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. "Borehole measurements, where temperature readings are taken at multiple depths within the soil, show more than 2 degree soil warming in some areas of Alaska. While that may not sound like much, a lot of permafrost is at or just below freezing. The difference between minus 1degree and 1degree is the difference between a fresh frozen meal and a rotten mess." In a piece in the journal Nature, Mr Abbott and fellow researcher Edward Schuur from the University of Florida summarised recent findings from experts in the field. About 1700 billion tonnes of organic carbon is held in frozen northern soils, they said – about four times more than all the carbon emitted by human activity in modern times and twice as much as is present in the atmosphere now. The impact of thawing soil on the speed of climate change will be similar to the total rate of logging in all forests around the world, they calculated. "Our collective estimate is that carbon will be released more quickly than models suggest, and at levels that are cause for serious concern," they wrote. "We calculate that permafrost thaw will release the same order of magnitude of carbon as deforestation if current rates of deforestation continue."[/quote] http://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/where-even-the-earth-is-melting-20121127-2a5tp.html#poll We MUST rethink the way we go about living our lives. I believe we are on the verge of a CATASTROPHE. Certainly science engineered projects to deal quickly with the problem can help...but they are also risky. We don't know their long-term effects. Change our approach now...or find in the long we will spend so much on dealing with disasters we will have little left for anything else. Even capitalism will not survive that. You will have only CHAOS. Which seems to suit certain media moguls...thinking short-term...or possibly not worrying because they think Heaven awaits them. Gonna get a big surprise methinks. N'

nasking

28/11/2012 [b]Julie Bishop was a solicitor for ASBESTOS MINERS, The Interpretor CSR was represented by Ms Julie Bishop (then Julie Gillon). (She) was rhetorically asking the court why workers should be entitled to jump court queues just because they were dying.”theinterpretor.wordpress.com/category/environment/[/b] Yep, everyone has done dopey, occasionally morally bankrupt (based on present day judgements) things as they've made their way thru the younger years trying to establish themselves...survive...pay rent, mortgage...etc. The actions of partners, family, friends...all has an effect on your life...and how you deal with the present...and future...lessons learnt. Some punch walls and over-compensate with their kids...some have kids on heroin and weep for them wondering what they did wrong and try to see less myopically...some screw around under pressure and allow themselves to be wedged and distracted initially but courage and wisdom then drives them on to bigger things...some make bad deals and learn to focus on less accumulating and more helping the many...some make poor judgement calls when it comes to partners but then learn that cleaning house and having the guts to expose abuse and provide opportunities for the struggling can help build a positive partnership with the people. We're all scarred...that doesn't mean we can't achieve great things. But ya have to get outa the mud first. Some like Bishop and Abbott seem to forget that. N'

MWS

28/11/2012Greg Jericho has a piece in The Drum today. Highlights are: [quote]This year neither Anthony Albanese, Craig Emerson, Tanya Plibersek, Jenny Macklin, Peter Garrett, Kate Ellis, Simon Crean, nor Mark Butler has had to answer a question from the Coalition [during Question Time]. ...This highlights how Question Time operates. For the most part it is not a vehicle for policy debate but for political play - and it's usually played badly with little wit and less intelligence.[/quote] Greg's article also has a pie chart which breakdowns the questions asked by topic. Carbon pricing tops the list, with 41% of questions asked. http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4395012.html

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28/11/2012Hi Lyn Thanks again for a great set of links. Ben Eltham’s pieces are of great relevance of the AWU matter. His summary is as good as it gets. His two pieces will feed into my final piece for 2012: [i]The media still has questions to answer[/i]. The Front Pages are diagnostic of the media’s obsessive-compulsive disorder: the removal of Julia Gillard and her Government. Having realized that the so-called ‘AWU scandal’ is running out of puff and beginning to turn on the Coalition, the headlines today focus on the caucus decision that Australia abstain from voting on the Palestine issue, which it variously describes as the PM being rolled, losing authority, ‘ditching’ Israel to save herself, embellished with descriptors such as ‘backbench revolt’ and ‘rebellion in the ranks’. As far as I can see, only [i]The Australian[/i] has any mention of the AWU matter. [b]Although our media gives big coverage to these lesser matters, the most important article by far is the frightening one by Ben Cubby, Environment Editor, that leads in [i]The Age: At the edge of disaster[/i], which is highly relevant to this piece: [i]So the globe is warming after all[/i][/b]. Cubby begins: [i]”The world is on the cusp of a "tipping point" into dangerous climate change, according to new data gathered by scientists measuring methane leaking from the Arctic permafrost and a report presented to the United Nations on Tuesday. "The permafrost carbon feedback is irreversible on human time scales," says the report, Policy Implications of Warming Permafrost. "Overall, these observations indicate that large-scale thawing of permafrost may already have started." While countries the size of Australia tally up their greenhouse emissions in hundreds of millions of tonnes, the Arctic's stores are measured in tens of billions.”[/i] He concludes: [i]"I think it's easy for people to feel that the Arctic is just a far away place that will never have any direct effect on their life," he said. "[But] the last time a majority of permafrost carbon was thawed and lost to the atmosphere, temperatures increased by 6degrees. That's a different world. Too often climate change is depicted as a story of drowning polar bears and third world countries. Human-caused climate change has the potential to change our way of life. Mix in the potent feedbacks from the permafrost system and it becomes clear that we need to act now."[/i] At the end is an online poll. Even allowing for the sampling error of these polls, it is worth noting that of the almost 19,000 who have voted so far on the question: [i]Are you scared by permafrost melting and emitting methane?[/i], 69% say ‘Yes’. That is significant. Two-thirds of respondents are scared, but skeptics dilly-dally, deniers refute the problem, and the Coalition comes up with an expensive and palpably ineffective ‘Direct Action Plan’, a sandpit solution to a raging firestorm that threatens life on earth. Anyone who reads Cubby’s piece will be repaid, but they should be warned, it is scary stuff. Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/at-the-edge-of-disaster-20121127-2a5xe.html#poll

DMW

28/11/2012Hello All, been busy with 12 - 16 hour days trawling the traps. Just hate it when other lives interfere with the real thing :) So the killing season is drawing to a close and it seems Mr Abbott has put paid to the possibility of a fall on his part. As I watched a small part of the launch of what did he call ' momentous' book? I wondered how long before we start finding it in remainder bins. Thanks Lyn for your links through the course of the year and hope that the festive season gives you all that a 'Tweetie' deserves :) NormanK wherever you are hiding I now understand that you are resting up in anticipation of the task you are taking on. Good luck you have my empathy and if needed some extra support. :)

Lyn

28/11/2012Good Morning Ad and Everybody, Glad you enjoyed Ben Eltham, he is a worthwhile read, I admire Ben. The media is lost and unhinged this morning but not as much as Julia Bishop and the Liberal party. Abbott released a book of his speeches, no that's true his speeches, in a book with a cover and all. I think just for people who can't operate a computer therefore can't read the Liberal Parties web site. Simon Cullen's tweets below demonstrate how one lie leads to another, read in between hilarious laughter:- Bushfire Bill Posted Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 10:33 am Speaking of groupthink, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth this morning on 2GB. They and their callers are in meltdown. The tantrum is full tummy-up and comes complete with I was chuckling to myself that so many people could get so unhinged. Talk about sore losers! 2GB is now in uncharted waters. It is beyond a parody of itself. It is a parody of a parody, something The Onion News Network would put on for a joke. It’s its own Daily Show, its own Hamster Wheel. Fascinating, in a creepy sort of way. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger/2012/11/25/newspoll-51-49-to-coalition-3/?comment_page=65/#comment-1485030 Bushfire Bill Posted Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 10:55 am http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger/2012/11/25/newspoll-51-49-to-coalition-3/?comment_page=66/#comment-1485059 http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger/2012/11/25/newspoll-51-49-to-coalition-3/?comment_page=66/#comment-1485059 Simon Cullen ‏ Julie Bishop statement: "I have never telephoned Ralph Blewett and he has never telephoned me" Simon_Cullen: Bishop: Earlier last week Michael Smith called me while I was driving… and said he was at dinner with someone who wanted to speak to me”” Simon_Cullen: Bishop: “That person did not identify themselves and said he was pleased that the AWU fraud was being raised in Parliament”” Simon_Cullen: Bishop: “I said that would continue to be the case and my mobile phone dropped out at that point.”” Simon_Cullen: Bishop: “Michael Smith did not call back and I do not know to whom I spoke.”” Ruling on Craig Thomson articles, Editorial http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/the-australian-press-councils-ruling-on-craig-thomson-articles/story-e6frf7kx-1226525181679 Geoff Pearson ‏ J Bishop has just issued the following statement. I spoke to someone, but I'm not sure who I spoke to Holly cow how dumb do you think we are Bishop lied regarding Blewitt meeting-MP, Sky News Labor is again calling for deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop to resign or be sacked over her handling of the on-going AWU scandal. Gillard law firm claims AWU case presented conflict, Mark Baker http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/gillard-law-firm-claims-awu-case-presented-conflict-20121127-2a5ug.html#ixzz2DT0cCSRx Lucky country also blessed with skilful management, Ross Gittins http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/lucky-country-also-blessed-with-skilful-management-20121127-2a5ph.html Political 'scandal' just business as usual at QT, Greg Jericho Ministers can mostly put their feet up. This year neither Anthony Albanese, Craig Emerson, Tanya Plibersek, Jenny Macklin, Peter Garrett, Kate Ellis, Simon Crean, nor Mark Butler has had to answer a question from the Coalition.This is not because Question Time is a head-to-head affair with Tony Abbott going against Julia Gillard - Abbott only asks 18 per cent. http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4395012.html Abbott’s ineffectiveness speaks volumes, Geoff Kitney, PAYWALLED The invisible man sat in his place in Parliament yesterday and stood out like a shag on a rock. For two days of the final four days of sitting for the year, Tony Abbott has sat in a silence, which speaks loudly about the problem he now has in dealing with Julia Gillard http://www.afr.com/p/national/abbott_ineffectiveness_speaks_volumes_BCQmc25hZUTHDUtutuCTJN Bishop backtracks on Gillard allegation, Channel 7 The prime minister on Tuesday accused the coalition of taking the word of a confessed fraudster and a former One Nation strategist as she faced a second question time almost entirely devoted to the establishment of the Australian Workers' Union Workplace Reform Association http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/national/15487101/bishop-backtracks-on-gillard-allegation/ Bishop backs down over fraud claims, Phillip Coorey Ms Bishop claims the meeting on Friday was coincidental and unplanned. Fairfax Media understands Ms Bishop and Mr Blewitt spoke by phone on Wednesday while she was in Perth http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/bishop-backs-down-over-fraud-claims-20121127-2a5va.html#ixzz2DSKUuAfI Bishop bluster loses wind in an obvious absence of evidence, Lenore Taylor But by day's end the deputy Liberal leader was trying to make her own get-away from her defamatory and unproven allegations. No, she was not alleging that the Prime Minister had benefited personally from the fraud perpetrated by her then boyfriend. No, she was not even suggesting the Prime Minister had been a ''knowing party'' to it http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/bishop-bluster-loses-wind-in-an-obvious-absence-of-evidence-20121127-2a5ud.html#ixzz2DSKfwPpN Mr Denmore ‏ That AWU thingy finally has a name - 'Improper Incorporation of an Association Gate'. Nice analysis by @lenoretaylor Bishop's lawyer work a source of shame, Channel 9 Senator Sterle said Ms Bishop played a key role in CSR moves to deny compensation to dying victims, forcing them to go to trial. "She and CSR caused extra suffering for people already dying with painful diseases, causing extra trauma for families of victims as well," she said. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2012/11/28/01/01/bishop-s-lawyer-work-a-source-of-shame Ross Bowler ‏@BowlerBarrister Asbestos Defence Lawyer Work of Julie Bishop a Source of Shame: Sr Glenn Sterle http://buff.ly/V4ADY5 Shadow Minister For Smear Campaigns scarystate ‏ Federal Coalition counterparts blast Newman's "amateur hour" as LNP implodes #qldpol #LNPimplosion |http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/federal-coalition-counterparts-blast-queensland-premier-campbell-newmans-amateur-hour-as-l John Pratt ‏ Abbott pledges million jobs over first five years. And pigs might fly. #auspol http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/-2a5ui.html … :):):):):)

Michael

28/11/2012Does anyone here know if Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash suffers from some form of Tourette Syndrome. In her 'the Prime Minister must act' Press conference this morning about a Labor backbencher being so cruel as to label Julie Bishop "a narcissistic bimbo", until more accurate judgment occurred to him and he switched 'fool' for 'bimbo', Ms Cash seemed to have difficulty controlling her facial muscles, especially those around her mouth. In retrospect, she may have been trying to resist the urge to laugh out loud about the travails of her fellow Western Australian Coalition 'helmethead' hairstyle politician, but that couldn't possibly be true, could it? I mean, the sisterhood of shellac couldn't have the knives out for each other, could they?

Jason

28/11/2012Bushfire‏@BushfireBill @craigemersonmp Sneak preview of cover art for Abbott's new book... http://img14.picoodle.com/i5br/aussiebob/da6l_65d_u6ow7.jpg …

Lyn

28/11/2012Hi Michael That interview by Michaelia Cash was so ridiculous, maybe her teeth are wobbly or half swallowed. Fancy comparing Bimbo insult to Abbott's marathon of insults. Fake Chris Pyne ‏ I feel for Michaelia Cash. I hate doing a press conference with peanut butter stuck on the roof of my mouth Kieran Is it just me or does Michaelia Cash look like she's about to cry with joy that she gets to be in front of a camera for once? psynubs ‏ Michaelia Cash & Bronny....Queens of the back comb and hairspray set. :):):)

nasking

28/11/2012 EXCERPTS FROM GREG JERICHO'S ARTICLE: [b]It says something that Tony Burke as Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities has answered eight questions from Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and Bob Katter and only two from the entire National Party...[/b] [b]Ministers can mostly put their feet up. This year neither Anthony Albanese, Craig Emerson, Tanya Plibersek, Jenny Macklin, Peter Garrett, Kate Ellis, Simon Crean, nor Mark Butler has had to answer a question from the Coalition.[/b] This is not because Question Time is a head-to-head affair with Tony Abbott going against Julia Gillard - Abbott only asks 18 per cent. The result of Julie Bishop asking all the questions this week means her quota has increased to just below his number. But many times back benchers are given a go. This allows them to tell their constituents that they are "fighting on their behalf" and that they even asked the Prime Minister about an issue... One of the few non-financial Shadow Ministers to ask her counterpart a question was Julie Bishop back in February when she asked Kevin Rudd four questions. Of course none of them really had anything to do with foreign affairs but were mere opportunities to talk about Rudd's leadership ambitions. For example on February 14 she asked Rudd about a coup in the Maldives: I refer the minister to last week’s coup d'etat in the Maldives, where the democratically elected head of government was ousted by rival forces and his deputy installed. While the new leader of the Maldives says he did not bring about the coup, reports have surfaced that he was involved in coup preparations that began weeks earlier. Does the foreign minister agree that the new leader should tell the full truth about his involvement in the coup? [b]Subtle. Later that month she asked Rudd about carbon pricing. The question was just an excuse for her to "mistakenly" refer to Rudd as "prime minister" so she could approach the dispatches box and say: Mr Speaker, it has been pointed out to me that I referred to the foreign minister as the Prime Minister, and I would not want that Freudian slip to remain on the Hansard. This highlights how Question Time operates. For the most part it is not a vehicle for policy debate but for political play - and it's usually played badly with little wit and less intelligence. Issues that people might care about are forgotten. Take aged care. It was a non-issue in Question Time this year - only rearing its head once with respect to the carbon tax. Similarly the Liberal Party asked about hospitals only three times - all within the context of the carbon tax.[/b] The National Disability Insurance Scheme was an issue only so far as how it would be paid for - important aspect yes, but surely one would hope there might be other aspects of the policy that the Opposition would think needs exploring - or even to test whether the relevant minster is up to the job. But no, all the questions were directed to Julia Gillard or Wayne Swan. http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4395012.html Pathetic really. One reason the Coalition will lose the next election. Voters more and more see them for the mud-slinging, politics before the public good, unimaginative, badly-led, uninspiring lot they are. N'

Michael

28/11/2012Thanks Lyn. And for not posting twice to rub it in!

nasking

28/11/2012 [quote]Does anyone here know if Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash suffers from some form of Tourette Syndrome.[/quote] Michael, as someone who suffers from Minor Tourettes I find it difficult to see the humour in this. I have seen patients with fullbore Tourettes...it is an awful thing to deal with...for myself it is like have electricity buzzing in my neck, face and limbs...and sometimes it builds up to a point that you feel you have to move or twitch in order to release it...and it comes back, time and time again...you feel like yer brain never turns off...racing...can feel like a volcano about to explode...that's partly why some feel compelled to yell out loud...scream out obscenities to deal with the energy, pain and frustration. Imagine if someone hooked you up to electricity and you felt a current buzzing in yer body...increasing in some areas now and then? And you couldn't turn it off. Just saying. N'

janice

28/11/2012Lyn, This place will not be the same without your delightful gravatar to brighten up the pages. Your hard work gathering and posting the daily links is much appreciated, as is your caring and helpful comments to one and all. I wish you a restful break away, a merry Xmas and a bright and happy 2013.

nasking

28/11/2012 Thankyou TT for the compliment. I don't know about you but I can't wait for some Christmas, holiday banter and music. It's been a long year...loooong. Exhausting. I'd like to see some BONHOMIE in parliament...something POSITIVE. Our organic food delivery fella said same yesterday...he's tired of the Coalition-led negativity. I can remember wonderful days in Canada and Austria as we built up to Christmas...lots of goodwill, parties, balls, drinks, cheer, shopping, exchanging cards, singers in the streets, lights, people merrily greeting one another, hanging up decorations, visiting each other's homes and eating goodies and drinking mulled wine, eggnog etc. Miss those days. We will be going to Stacey's brother's place this year...and then having our themed Christmas dinner on Boxing Day...last year was Carribean...the year before Scandinavian... this year Italian. We've been collecting recipes. N'

nasking

28/11/2012 Yes, have a good Christmas Lyn. Time for fun, family, friends, relaxation and reflection. You certainly have worked hard...provided many useful links and info. Cheers N'

Jason

28/11/2012Bushfire Bill Posted Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 1:26 pm | Permalink Abbott: the reviews are in! http://img15.picoodle.com/i5br/aussiebob/g6kp_13e_u6ow7.jpg

Michael

28/11/2012Nasking, hi. My apology if I upset you, being of course unaware of your struggles with Tourette Syndrome. I do, however, recommend you chase down a copy of the Press conference in question, as I was quite seriously requesting information upon Ms Cash's health. Her facial movements appear uncontrolled towards the end of the interview, her distress level is perceptibly rising, and she cuts the press conference short quite swiftly. If what she demonstrated is not a health issue, then my second suggestion comes into play. She's either dealing with a health condition in her everyday life, or today taking the piss out of the situation generally and Julie Bishop being called a 'bimbo' in particular. I asked a real question about the former, while I suspect the cause is more likely the latter.

nasking

28/11/2012 This is nice (provided link works): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g4lY8Y3eoo Judy Garland - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas We've ordered a few gifts from the QLD Museum for my overseas family...and CSIRO toys for the nephews...plus got some organic ginger chocs for my Dad in Canada...will add Macademia chocs and he luvs Aussie biscuits. Will have to wrap this weekend and get them off early next week. Give them three weeks to get to America, Canada...and trust me...gonna need it...their post is slow... by Pony Express we often say with a chuckle. N'

Lyn

28/11/2012Hi again Michael @ 12.56pm And for not posting twice to rub it in!Ummmm ?????? Tell me more. :):):):)

Tom of Melbourne

28/11/2012[i]”Does anyone here know if Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash suffers from some form of Tourette Syndrome.”[/i] The humour here is just so high brow. Misogyny is fine, and ridiculing people with depression and other conditions is all accepted here…as long as it is directed to anyone but the ALP. Great work as always by TPS contributors. Hilarious!

nasking

28/11/2012 No worries Michael. I guess I get touchy about it because I was ridiculed at school...particularly by one bully...and sadly, a girl I had a crush on. That didn't last long. I've learnt to live with it...but on bad days I tend to stay at home. It's agony trying to hide it from people. Thankfully mine is not too bad. But for some others it's a nightmare. It's one reason I can't take anti-depressives...or anti-anxiety pills...my twitching goes bonkers...and my brain explodes. I try to keep to the calm home and garden...lovely music...meditation now and then...soothing herbal teas. Positive chats with friends on the phone. I realise now you didn't mean to offend. BTW, I sure enjoy reading yet comments...most informative and unique. Yer a great asset to this blog. [b]She's either dealing with a health condition in her everyday life, or today taking the piss out of the situation generally and Julie Bishop being called a 'bimbo' in particular.[/b] You've got me eager to see this now. Anyone know if there is a link to that interview? N'

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28/11/2012Hi Lyn Great Twitterverse again. Michaelia Cash has the Coalition award for best repetitive head nodding behind Tony Abbott.

Tom of Melbourne

28/11/2012Any insult is fine here, any form of ridicule is accepted. There is no affliction that is off limits..as long as the target of the derision is a liberal woman.

Jason

28/11/2012ToM, That's a plain lie! yet another in the long list of lies that you repeat often. You forgot your good self! now I don't care that you might be a "Liberal woman" you derserve ridicule!

nasking

28/11/2012 [b]Bishop and her fierce battle with the English language[/b] BERNARD KEANE | NOV 28, 2012 [quote]For an experienced lawyer, Julie Bishop sure struggles with what should be the tools of her trade: words. She badly let down the Coalition yesterday. For a lawyer of 20 years’ standing, as she claimed yesterday, Julie Bishop has a real problem with what should be the basic tool of the lawyer’s trade, words. Never mind that one of the highlights of Bishop’s legal career was enthusiastic participation in what some have characterised as CSR’s “litigate until they die” asbestos strategy. That merely denotes the sort of cynicism and amorality that doesn’t exactly distinguish Bishop from many of her former colleagues in that profession. This is about her problem with how she uses words. Recall why Bishop is in her current role as shadow foreign minister: she lost the shadow treasurer’s role after just a few months in the job following two separate plagiarism incidents and a number of blunders on economic basics. Now, having been delegated the task of prosecuting the case against the Prime Minister by a leader too scared of accusations of negativity and s-xism to touch the issue, she’s shown once again that words are her enemy, on three separate matters. [/quote] Continues here: http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/11/28/julie-bishop-and-her-fierce-battle-with-the-english-language/ Kinda humiliating for Bishop eh? You could hear the BACKFIRE from yer iPad. :D See the CRASH on yer tele...or computer. OUCH N'

Lyn

28/11/2012Hi Ad and Everybody Here is the Cash interview, I can't get the Kroger Latham video for some reason message telling me to update my flash player. Cash slams ‘inappropriate, sexist’ Gibbons tweet http://australianpoliticstv.org/2012/11/28/abc-cash-slams-inappropriate-sexist-gibbons-tweet/ :):):)

nasking

28/11/2012 The Coalition are a RABBLE. And DISRESPECTFUL. Fancy Pyne not sitting and listening to Peter Garrett talking about the Australian Education Bill. Instead he was standing up yapping with Abbott. Brought to our attention by Albanese. Truly pathetic. Pyne seems to have no interest in his portfolio. -------- I larfed when the PM was scathing of Julie Bishop expecting her to remember every detail of events from twenty years ago when Bishop herself couldn't remember who she spoke to a week ago. Bishop looked uncomfortable as she tried to dismiss the comment. N'

Michael

28/11/2012Lyn, hi. Referring to... "Hi again Michael @ 12.56pm And for not posting twice to rub it in!Ummmm ?????? Tell me more. Lyn" I accidentally posted my Michaelia Cash-referring item twice, because I believed Firefox had failed to connect with the site. Safari's my fallback option, but it turns out Firefox was just slow off the mark. So two postings of my one piece. Your subsequent post of other witnesses to Ms Cash's performance could well mischievously have been posted twice 'to rub it in', if, of course, you were disposed to mischief and not common sense. Which rather sums up the political divide at the moment: Coalition all mischief, the Labor government about common sense.

Lyn

28/11/2012Hi Michael Thankyou for your reply, now I see what you meant. I thought I had posted twice. The Cash interview was atrocious. Here is a couple more for you just because you guessed, I do enjoy a piece of mischief. TheFinnigans Oh dear, it looks like Sen. Michaelia Cash is auditioning for a spot in my new production of the Kabuki Farce - http://twitpic.com/bh1rze/full Valentina ‏ Michaelia Cash erm? "The Prime MinSTA!!" is she serious? How many times is she going to say Prime MiniSTA lol Olivia Illyria ‏ Who thought it'd be a good idea to give Michaelia Cash some air time? SACK THEM NOW :):):):):):):):)

Janet (@j4gypsy)

28/11/2012 Ad and Lyn, it’s so nice to have a formal end-of-year moment to thank you for your extraordinary efforts in leading what TT has dubbed The Fighting Fifth into a resolute determination to ensure a future for Labor/left politics in Australia. Ad, having read your blog posts now for five months, and having read across others, I can only say your incisively intelligent and positive response to the efforts of this government has pulled me and all the peeps I could alert to those posts from the slough of despond to cheerful optimism. Reading you has had particular resonance for me as in those five months I’ve been on the road in four states and had my nose in chats in lots of communities of all different sizes, colours and shapes. Seems to me there’s real feeling on the ground that an LNP Govt next time round is NOT a given, and increasingly undesirable. Lyn’s warmth and sweetness just shines (tho I do love those moments when she gets a teensie bit cross and insists on us posters maintaining good manners!). The amount of work Lyn does online in a week in building an archive of commentary is phenomenal. (Have done a bit of researching in my time, but am absolutely awestruck at what she achieves and how broad her sweep across issues is!) Thank you too Ad, for your timely call to arms on the fact that while the DOHA talks on the climatic future of the globe are on, we talk smear and trivia in parliament, and we need to have politicians flick the switch to climate change more urgently than any other issue. Rest well both of you in the ‘silly season’. Come back refreshed. You are so badly needed for the road ahead. TT: November 28. 2012 10:00 AM You scan so impeccably. Je t’adore :-) DMW: November 28. 2012 12:02 PM Happy to help out in putting up a link or two along with NormanK and you. (Seems most TPSers have the habit one way or t’other –such a nice habit:-))

nasking

28/11/2012 Michaelia Cash's performance reminded me of an excitable student having drunk too many coffees. Thnx for the link to the vid. Greg Combet was effective and fiery in parliament...again. "Kicking a dying man in the guts"...referring to Abbott's criticism of Bernie Banton. Made Bishop look morally repugnant...in fact the entire Liberal establishment. Top job by Combet. I look forward to his passionate moments in parliament. Gets my blood rushing. N'

nasking

28/11/2012 Drank too many coffees. Speed like effect. N'

Sir Ian Crisp

28/11/2012[quote][i]ToM, That's a plain lie! yet another in the long list of lies that you repeat often. You forgot your good self! now I don't care that you might be a "Liberal woman" you derserve ridicule! Jason [/i][/quote] C’mon Father Jason, you sound very cantankerous. Are you worried that you’ll be swept up in the kiddie fiddling hunt? [quote][b]jane, Ignore Sir Breivik she's still looking for reason to well? who cares? Jason [/b][/quote] Touché!

Jason

28/11/2012Sir Ian, "C’mon Father Jason, you sound very cantankerous. Are you worried that you’ll be swept up in the kiddie fiddling hunt? " No you fucking moron I was a victim of the fucking catholic church back in the 1970's! Happily the priest was convicted and died in Gaol! What else do you want to know? or were you one the fuckers that sat back and pretended it didn't happen! In answer to your question No! I'm not worried at all about being caught up in it I welcome it!

TalkTurkey

28/11/2012I hope this transplanted animation works. Thanks to judith d bell‏@judith_bell Shows Tony taking cover RT @independentaus Operation smear Gillard - outstanding new GIF from Matt Bissett-Johnson. http://fb.me/2pvAdJDkS Retweeted by The Masked Crusader Expand Reply Retweeted Favorite More

Michael

28/11/2012In the light of that brave man Senator George Brandis using parliamentary privilege to accuse the Prime Minister of being a perpetrator of criminal acts, it's fascinating how another old Howard warhorse sees 'protection' offered to politicians speaking out loud. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/party-games-subtley-not-coalitions-business/story-e6frerc6-1226525240131 In Dennis Atkins amusing article, Bronwyn Bishop is quoted as saying in Parliament yesterday: '...frontbench veteran Bronwyn Bishop told Parliament "you can say anything you like to the media and it has no consequence" which is an interesting view of respecting the fourth estate.' Bugger "respecting the fourth estate", Dennis! It is also an interesting view on the laws of slander. Naturally, George Brandis knows all about the laws of slander, which is why he is hiding behind parliamentary privilege, and you can be sure will never publicly accuse the PM in the terms he used in the Senate. If he does, he knows he'll end up in another 'big house' with a name that starts in "S" - not the Senate, the slammer.

Sir Ian Crisp

28/11/2012You sound angry Father Jason. Are you angry enough to stop comparing me to Breivik or do you want me to continue to boot you up the freckle?

nasking

28/11/2012 BRING ON THE AUSTRALIAN MEDIA INQUIRY!!! In The Guardian today: [b]David Cameron is facing a public backlash if he fails to act to rein in the press when Lord Justice Leveson reports on Thursday, according to a poll which finds that 79% are in favour of an independent press regulator established by law. Some 60% believe the prime minister should implement Leveson's recommendations, and while 79% favour legislation to create an independent press regulator, only 9% are opposed. Just over 80% said national newspapers should be obliged to sign up to the new system by law. Support for the creation of an independent body established by law is uniform across the voting spectrum, including 81% support from readers of the Daily Mail, one of the papers most vociferous in its opposition to any state interference.[/b] http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/nov/27/leveson-inquiry-press-watchdog-law Wish they'd get a bloody move on in this country. Imagine if Turnbull took over the leadership again...and won...and then called for a media inquiry? Labor would be remembered for doing nothing...bar Paul Keating giving Murdoch more power...the present ALP handing money to free-to-air stations that went on to BASH them...and permitting Fox Sports to grab up heaps of sports, including The Olympics...and looking paralysed as the Murdoch empire bashed them into a loss the way they did Anna Bligh. Frankly, I'm at a loss as to why this government is paralysed. Makes it look weaker. Perhaps they are being threatened by the Murdoch lot eh? BOOO!!! At least the poms have the guts to take them on. N'

Ad astra reply

28/11/2012Janet What a lovely tribute you have made to Lyn and me. It is comments such as yours that make possible our task of keeping [i]TPS[/i] going along. Such encouragement lifts our spirits and energizes us to keep on keeping on. It is gratifying that you have found a congenial home here, and that the posts and comments here have helped you out of the slough of despond, created in many by poor poll after poor poll, and relentless negative media coverage. The tide is turning against the Coalition and its tactics, the polls are improving and the trend line moving the parties closer and closer together, and Tony Abbott is being seen for what he is, a destructive man bereft of a vision for our nation, and with no policies. It is encouraging to read your words: [i]”Reading you has had particular resonance for me as in those five months I’ve been on the road in four states and had my nose in chats in lots of communities of all different sizes, colours and shapes. Seems to me there’s real feeling on the ground that an LNP Govt next time round is NOT a given, and increasingly undesirable.”[/i] The people are waking up to what they would be in for with a Federal Coalition Government. Thank you again for your kind and generous words.

Jason

28/11/2012Sir Ian, No! I'm no longer a victim and fuckers like you can do nothing to me! Say what you like, you're to fucking gutless to face me anyway!

nasking

28/11/2012 Jason, sorry to hear about how you were treated in the past. I have two friends in Sydney who were abused whilst under religious teacher care. Disgraceful! This is one area the govt has shown courage...pushing for a Royal Commission. That and the carbon price. That's why I wish they'd stand up to the Murdoch empire and shock jocks. I hope the commission helps victims feel more empowered. I was sent to an institution to board when I was only six...for the summer due to my asthma problems...and problems at home...I was verbally abused and hit there because I would not eat the white sauce (not sure why they were so pushy about it...perhaps it contained sleeping pills or such?). I can still remember the staff coming to take boys away in the night...not sure where. One next to me never came back...no one would explain why. Was all so secretive...and authoritarian. I hated it. And the horrid grinning clown painting across from my bed. No wonder I found IT by Stephen King so scary...yet riveting. I still have nightmares...including lying in the dark and hearing footsteps in the corridor...or sensing a malevolent presence...and then not being able to turn any lights on...no bulbs working...it's quite terrifying...I oft wake in a panic and turn the bedside lamp on...leave it on for hours...hard to get back to sleep. Happens about ten times a year. Just know I think you brave...and a good person Jason Cheers, N'

Jason

28/11/2012Nasking, Thankyou! It would have been a horrible for you at a young age back in those days going to "any institution", If they didn't sexually abuse you, you also got flogged. I still have scars on my backside today from the floggings as well. These people were ment to proctect us they didn't! and some of us have to be strong enough to put with shitty barbs from the likes of Sir Ian so that those who couldn't cope with what happend to them and died by their own hand, that their family's know they didn't die in vain.

jaycee

28/11/2012Jason..Between yourself and "The Bookies Pal", It is of no challenge to pick the one who is courageous and the one who is the gutless coward!...."Sir", you cur.

nasking

28/11/2012 Jason, this weekend I will have a drink and say "cheers" to the likes of all of us who survived those ugly days...and to justice hopefully being done. As for the cocky hate-mongers...I reckon they are just afraid of what's coming. Cover-ups have been going on for too long. They think they can use the Coalition and media to push the PM into a corner...but she knows she has plenty of supporters out there willing to lift their swords for her as she does THE RIGHT THING. N'

Sir Ian Crisp

28/11/2012[quote][i]Sir Ian, No! I'm no longer a victim and fuckers like you can do nothing to me! Say what you like, you're to fucking gutless to face me anyway! Jason [/i][/quote] OK Father Jason, I'll continue to boot you up the quoit.

nasking

28/11/2012 Shows Tony taking cover RT @independentaus Operation smear Gillard - outstanding new GIF from Matt Bissett-Johnson. http://fb.me/2pvAdJDkS Talk Turkey, that is so apt. Gillard didn't use sexed-up info to get us into war...nor did she stop The Tampa...nor did she lie about children being thrown overboard...nor did she punch walls and try to intimidate others who beat her in elections...nor did she use a slush fund to attack Pauline Hanson...nor did she turn a blind eye and let others take the blame as bribes were handed to Saddam Hussein's regime...nor did she ignore warnings and watch paralysed as hijacked planes hit buildings...nor did she create a situation that allowed soldiers to abuse inmates in Abu Graib...nor did she send out private eyes and hackers to violate the privacy of others for profiteering reasons...nor did she cover-up sexual abuse and slavery...nor did she plagiarise the work of others...nor did she defend tobacco companies... yet...she, PM Gillard, is the one being vilified...attacked over and over again...being urged to stand down. What's wrong with this picture? N'

TalkTurkey

28/11/2012Vomit Alert BIMBO BIMBO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9Gu0dE2A60 Don't say you weren't warned! :)

jaycee

28/11/2012Now, I am well aware that Jason doesn't need myself to step into the "ring" for him..so, Sir Ian, I am doing this for myself, because I cannot stand stronzi like yourself. You see, "titchy", I am a good deal older than Jason and have 'knocked around" a bit more, so I know of people like yourself. I know your character, your personality..people like you, that use the same pattern of "conversation"...the same syntax...you're a "type"..A type that cannot keep their mouth shut when they think they are onto a winner..hence the horses..winning a gambling bet is "success" to people like you; a bragadoccio when they win, a snivelling bully when they lose. More often than not ; a snivelling bully. It is this irredeemable personality trait that has got you in difficult situations in the past. It will get you in trouble again one day...and this is the knowledge that I carry with my experience of your "type"...One day..I prognosticate, without even being aware of it, you will cross the line with a smart-mouth and you will be dealt with most severely..as you will deserve...there is nothing more certain on this earth! I don't even have to be there or see it happen...I just know it will....I enjoy the thought in advance! Oh yes!...Wishing you the...best...Titch!

Janet (@j4gypsy)

28/11/2012 TT: Have tweeted the YouTube. Hope u don't mind :-) (My Dad used to sing this!)

2353

28/11/2012Jason - my heartfelt sympathies (which while it may not be much, its about the best I can offer). Ian Crisp - you certainly are sic(k). GIve it a rest, we don't need your disgusting comments.

Jason

28/11/2012jaycee 2353 Nasking, Thanks for your support it means a lot! Sir Ian, Something wrong with you if you think you have to write about child sexual abuse to make a point! Perhaps Ad Astra should hand your email address over to the police and let them look at you!

nasking

29/11/2012 Jason and others, there is such a ferocity of attacks going on by the right-wing that I am convinced they are really worried about Julia Gillard remaining as PM...she obviously is pursuing policies and goals that have them...or at least some of their donors and bigtime supporters panicking. And why doesn't it surprise me that Tony Jones, via a Lateline interview with poodle transformed into rabid dog Christopher Pyne and Labor's Craig Emerson, has tried to keep the mud-slinging going? Jones has gone from serious, probing, reflective interviewer to wrestling match promoter...pushing certain buttons to get the participants foaming at the mouth and at each other's jugular...a slanging match...an unedifying event that demeans all involved bringing to mind an aristocrat of the Victorian era taking pleasure at the vicious and destructive pugilist matches...building his reputation on the bloody noses of others. Plus ce change...our technology evolves and becomes more sophisticated exponentially...whilst too many influential characters use it to stroke their own egos...and feed the Big Brother masses their daily diet of pap and carnage. A feeding frenzy. At a feast that does not serve the public good...rather, it undermines effectiveness of government...creates chaos...and a highly cynical public...making the host celebrity and primary definer of issues... a compulsive attention-seeker with narcissistic tendencies... is it any wonder the world is wobbling and little is transformed, achieved...when we permit these ego-maniacs to bring down leader after leader...gut program after program. No wonder "the centre cannot hold". It suits these ringleaders and promoters to perpetuate bi-polarism and agro partisanship...within the capricious seasons fight the contestants...the masses applauding or vomiting or throwing objects at the screen...or giving the thumbs down. Truly pathetic. And the planet's liveable environment diminishes...by the month. Action...virtually NIL. N'

nasking

29/11/2012 From that Lateline match: TONY JONES: ...[b]Are you going to bring Tony Abbott back into the fray [/b]on this issue tomorrow? [b]Will he be involved[/b], for example, in a matter of public importance or a no-confidence motion? I mean, will you go down that path, actually bring him in so he actually says something about this? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: [b]Look, Tony, what we do with Tony Abbott's really up to Tony Abbott and the tactics team.[/b] TONY JONES: [b]Well does he want to be involved? [/b]He seems to be distancing himself personally from this issue, perhaps because of the Godwin Grech affair [b]and the impact that that had on a previous leader.[/b] CHRISTOPHER PYNE: I think what - what Tony Abbott said last week was that he was prepared to give the Prime Minister the benefit of the doubt. Now, unfortunately, the Prime Minister has not yet dispelled the doubt because she won't answer the questions in the Parliament. Whether he asks a question tomorrow is something that we'll decide tomorrow. TONY JONES: And [b]Craig Emerson, what do you expect you're going to see tomorrow as we go into the final day [/b]of 2012 in Parliament? CRAIG EMERSON: [b]More mud and what a pity it is[/b]. Even in this interview tonight, I spent I reckon about 15 seconds enumerating a number of the policies and pieces of legislation that we are implementing, putting through the Parliament. [b]Christopher Pyne immediately interrupted to go back to the mud[/b]. http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3643332.htm I rest my case. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT Sigh. N'

nasking

29/11/2012 [b]The shadow culture secretary Harriet Harman said "we are recognising the current system of complaints against the press should be put on a proper footing because it has failed. It should be independent of government and parliament, but it has to be independent of newspaper editors."[/b] [quote]Prime minister set to reject PCC press regulation proposals David Cameron is rumoured to back a more independent system of press regulation than the one proposed by the Press Complaints Commission[/quote] Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 28 November 2012 http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/nov/28/prime-minister-press-regulation-proposals Can wolves and foxes be domesticated? N'

nasking

29/11/2012 [b]Louis Walsh settles with News Group Newspapers over false claim that he sexually assaulted man in nightclub toilets The music mogul sued The Sun over a story in the paper last year, that was based on a false allegation that he had sexually assaulted a man[/b] [quote]Rob Williams, The Independent The X-Factor judge and entertainment manager, Louis Walsh, has settled a £403,500 defamation action against News Group Newspapers in Ireland. The music mogul sued The Sun over a story in the paper last year, that was based on a false allegation that he had sexually assaulted a man in a Dublin night-spot. Leonard Watters, an unemployed dance teacher, was jailed for six months in July for wrongly accusing Walsh of groping him at a nightclub, following a Westlife concert in 2011. Walsh took legal action against the Murdoch-owned media group for damages over the article published in June 2011. The headline on the story was "Louis Probed Over 'Sex Attack' on Man in Loo". The paper had initially said it acted fairly, saying the story was based on police inquiries, though it accepted that the accusation was entirely false.[/quote] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/louis-walsh-settles-with-news-group-newspapers-over-false-claim-that-he-sexually-assaulted-man-in-nightclub-toilets-8363905.html Some beasts need to be eradicated from the face of the Earth...for the common good. Metaphorically speaking. N'

Patriciawa

29/11/2012[b][quote]And while the globe is burning, some politicians fiddle, filled with doubt as they are by the skeptics and deniers. It is criminal negligence on a monumental scale. [/quote][/b] Well said, Ad Astra. But how to get the skeptics and deniers to listen. In our own Parliament this week half the members have sat silent while their precious Question Time was wasted on a 'strategy' to smear the reputation of our Prime Minister and destroy our government. By the way, I appreciate the work which you and Lyn do here at The Political sword to counter all that sort of negativity throughout the year. Janet has expressed my feelings exactly and I would like to be an enthusiastic seconder to everything she said has said about both of you. Have a lovely break, Lyn. I shall certainly miss you. You have done so much to keep my spirits up over the past months.

TalkTurkey

29/11/2012Gypsy Gal, First, re Bimbo the song: Yes of course, we all love to be retweeted and reposted, as you point out, it's one of the greatest things about this medium. Sharing and passing on. Even greater are some things that relate most particularly to this magic site. One is Ad, one is Lyn, and one is the cameraderie which the lot of us together have created, by mutual disinterested goodwill and shared values, albeit to the discomfiture of the few sad Illwillians who keep coming here to get their noses twerped yet again. They serve only to remind us how civilized and reasonable, and agreeable, are We of the Left. Had Ad astra not already said so for himself in his reply to you, I would have spoken for him by saying that nothing could have pleased him better than your lovely post. You make us all proud because what you said is exactly what we would hope of the site. That together we can so lift your spirits, and of those around you, means that we all feel vindicated and encouraged - and this is a circle. We all feel it. And that is not merely an end in iself, for it best serves our common interest in supporting Labor - and defeating the threat of Abborttianism. [i]Nothing so helps our cause as feisty, upbeat esprit de corps.[/i] Lyn and Ad perform a most remarkable double act, I don't need to explain or demonstrate that I know but the extent of it which we tend to take for granted deserves recognition. With the site itself, immovable and assured as a sturdy lighthouse, as Lyn's haven and repository, her daily researches have built into a mighty archive, [i]the like of which could never have been anywhere.[/i] It is unbroken for as long as I have known it, well over two years, with acknowledgment and thanks to NormanK who has ably stepped up to the plate of covering for Lyn each time she has taken a rare break. The mind boggles in trying to encompass the extent of Lyn's Links over that time! For she goes all over the place, every day, she has probably created more possible connections than there are particles in the Universe! Lyn says that when she first started her activities, bloggers were more precious about their own sites; Lyn herself has been the best Liaison Officer of the whole Fighting 5th Estate, which I must say I think looks better and more confident every day. Hooray for Us. You yourself Jan are an adornment to this site, you do us proud and you make us proud. Lyn we all wish you a deeply relaxing break, I don't know what you're going to do with your time, watch Migaloo a lot? :) Ad I'm glad for you to be taking a rest too, hopefully Santa brings you a big new ride-on mower that will make your perennial job easier, it sounds like a pretty big effort and you have better things to do. Do take things easy Doctor Ad. Stay cool, literally. Last day of Parliament today. Usually this is a time for rather disingenuous pretences of cameraderie and mutual goodwill, but this time I sense there will be little love even of the ersatz kind. One side, and one only, is responsible for this. But I know this, Labor goes into the long break looking in better and better shape, while Abbortt and JBishop look very bedraggled indeed. There will be a lot of heartburn for the Right between now and February!

DMW

29/11/2012Are we seeing the first inklings of a slightly more independent foreign policy? While for many reasons I would have rather seen Australia vote in favour of Palestine at the UN the abstention is actually a step forward however hesitant. In a bit of a 'scattered' article by Daniel Fitton @TheSMAge this quote was noteworthy: [i]Izzat Abdulhadi, of the Palestinian delegation in Canberra, said he was satisfied with the decision not to reject the bid, despite not winning Australia’s support. ‘‘There is a huge pressure on Australia from the United States ... there is also a close relationship between Australia and Israel and a strong Jewish community here who also lobby the Australian government,’’ he said.[/i] http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/gillard-rolled-on-palestine-20121127-2a60x.html Now we (almost) have a seat at the big table at the UN there is an opportunity to play the game a bit differently and just maybe not be forever suckered by the religous lobby of Israel and also do the right thing by our mates in the US and tell them bluntly when the being douchebags. Or is that bimbos?

DMW

29/11/2012The long hours in other lives are having a toll Should read: and tell them bluntly when [i]yhey are [/i] being douchebags. Maybe for christmas someone could give me proof reading lessons

DMW

29/11/2012I give up good night

nasking

29/11/2012 We need a media inquiry: Selling Knowledge Nation — 22nd October 2001 — Cash for Comment at half a million dollars Corporate Opportunities in the Tertiary Education Export Market — 25th November 2003 — A Private Meeting to discuss outsourcing with Brendan Nelson's Minder News Limited 2004 Federal Election Marginal Seats Guide — Guided democracy http://www.limitednews.info/index.htm#CashForComment

nasking

29/11/2012 HUGH GRANT: TAKING ON THE TABLOIDS The film is an observational documentary following Hugh Grant and the 'Hacked Off' campaign in the run up to the publication of Lord Leveson's Report on his Inquiry. The film accompanies Grant as he meets key figures from different sides of the debate and those involved and interested in the Inquiry and explores the different views of what Lord Leveson's recommendations might be. Wednesday | 8pm | Channel 4 http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hugh-grant-taking-on-the-tabloids

nasking

29/11/2012 News Limited Influence in Australia Murdoch's desire for dominant cross-media ownership manifested in early 1961 when he bought an ailing Australian record label, Festival Records, and within a few years it had become the leading local recording company. He also bought a television station in Wollongong, New South Wales, hoping to use it to break into the Sydney television market, but found himself frustrated by Australia's cross-media ownership laws, which prevented him from owning both a major newspaper and television station in the same city. Since then he has consistently lobbied, both personally and through his papers, to have these laws changed in his favour. This occurred in 2006 when the Liberal-National Coalition Government, having gained control of both houses of the Australian Parliament, introduced reforms to cross-media ownership and foreign media ownership laws. The laws came into effect in early 2007. News Limited has nearly three-quarters of daily metropolitan newspaper circulation and so maintains great influence in Australia. Internal News Limited documents reveal a brazen offer during the 2001 Federal election campaign to promote the policies of a major party in its best-selling newspapers nation-wide for almost A$500,000. Other documents include a marginal seats guide written by a senior business manager for internal use. It evidences a corporate strategy to target marginal seats at the 2004 election. Some of the documents appeared on Media Watch but received very little coverage. Wikipedia

Lyn

29/11/2012TODAY’S LINKS When You Can’t Say Liar ..., Mike Seccombe, The Global Mail You can call a statement mendacious, you can say someone was guilty of mendacity, but you cannot call them personally mendacious.Remember that, people. It is unparliamentary to call Tony Abbott mendacious. But that does not go for what comes out of his mouth.Ditto his deputy. http://www.theglobalmail.org/blog/when-you-cant-say-liar/498/ AWU ‘scandal’ says more about the media’s ethics than the PM’s , Janine Little, The Conversation Julia Gillard had nothing more she could offer the AWU story than what she had already said or supplied, for her to be compelled to keep talking is at best odd and at worst damaging to whatever trust the public still places in its news media. Australia’s public should instead be concerned about who is really running this story and what’s really motivating its players. http://theconversation.edu.au/awu-scandal-says-more-about-the-medias-ethics-than-the-pms-11035 The coming political demise of Tony Abbott, Yose Falbric It is easy to tell when a dictator is going to fall. It begins slowly and the dictator seems to be in complete control but the seeds of dissent just will not go away. They begin to grow and for a while the dictator seems to be in the control of the situation. But when the end comes it comes quickly. http://yosefalbric.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/the-coming-political-demise-of-tony-abbott/ Tony Abbott’s Christmas Do, by Truth Seeker, Café Whispers A popular blogger here who goes by the name of Truth Seeker has kindly provided us one with his poem titled Tony Abbott’s Christmas Do.Let’s face it, the political environment has been fairly tense of late as has the political blogging environment, and we lefties are due for a bit of lightheartedness. http://cafewhispers.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/tony-abbotts-christmas-do/ And the winner is: Ms Gillard, Jennifer Wilson, No Place for Sheep The Opposition, led in this fight by an increasingly bedraggled and war-weary Julie Bishop loyally firing her beloved boss’s shots, have well and truly lost the battle. Having produced little more than exorbitant amounts of piss and wind, they will limp defeated from the chamber tomorrow to lick their Gillard-inflicted wounds over the break and good riddance to them, I say. http://noplaceforsheep.com/2012/11/28/and-the-winner-is-ms-gillard/ LNP votes to disendorse first-term MP, ABC Premier Campbell Newman is also meeting with another MP, Alex Douglas, to discuss his future in the party.Dr Douglas, the Member for Gaven, has been seeking to reverse his removal as chairman of State Parliament's ethics committee. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-28/lnp-votes-to-disendorse-first-term-mp/4397722 NO-NAME: Stat dec accusing PM of getting $5K cash was illegally sworn by anono-lawyer, Vex News The Australian, quick to judge the poor old PM in their repeated reporting on the embezzlement conspiracy theory tale to which they have dedicated enough space to land a jumbo jet, has some tricky issues of its own to face in relation to the unlawful swearing of the statutory declaration http://www.vexnews.com/2012/11/no-name-stat-dec-accusing-pm-of-getting-5k-cash-was-illegally-sworn-by-anono-lawyer/ Cop This! Australia At Centre Of Climate Spat, Sophie Trevitt, New Matilda The LCA is basically the cousin of the Kyoto Protocol, the only existing legal agreement to bind developed countries to their emission reduction targets. The LCA is the "everything else" group that focuses on long term cooperation to reduce emissions between developed and developing countries not signed up to Kyoto. http://newmatilda.com/2012/11/28/australia-climate-spat Bishop won't rule out conversation with Blewitt, Simon Cullen, ABC I have never telephoned Ralph Blewitt and he has never telephoned me," Ms Bishop said in the statement."Earlier last week Michael Smith called me while I was driving in Perth and said he was at dinner with someone who wanted to speak to me."That person did not identify themselves and said he was pleased that the AWU fraud was being raised in Parliament. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-28/bishop-wont-rule-out-conversation-with-blewitt/4396308?WT.svl=news0 Lib-Nats support Labor Murray-Darling plan, David Twomey, Eco News The support comes despite some within the coalition strongly opposing the plan.The minority Labor government’s Environment Minister Tony Burke earlier tabled the final version of the plan in the lower House of Representatives http://econews.com.au/news-to-sustain-our-world/lib-nats-support-labor-murray-darling-plan/ Straw man climate science, Michael JI Brown, Independent Australia STRAW MAN climate science is like real climate science, but with the science, awkward facts and complexity removed.It can be confusing. Straw man and actual climate science appear in the same articles and interviews. Editors drop the words “straw man” from articles. Some people even confuse straw man and actual climate science. http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/environment/straw-man-climate-science/ The Winner Takes All ,Peter Wicks, Wixxy Leaks Anyway, evidently Katrina’s bright idea of seeking right-wing, union hating, shock jock support for a union election didn’t appear to work. It would appear that the members are not as daft as Katrina and Kathy seemed to think. How anybody standing for the role of a union secretary could think the endorsement of well-known union haters would work in their favour is beyond me. http://wixxyleaks.com/ Sounds big, isn't that big. Abbott's new jobs target, Peter Martin Of course whole idea of such a target is silly (as Labor well knows, having missed its last few) but the target itself is far from out of the ordinary http://www.petermartin.com.au/ Today’s Front Pages Australia Newspaper Front Pages for 29 November 2012 http://www.frontpagestoday.co.uk/index.cfm?PaperCountry=Australia

Ad astra reply

29/11/2012LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

nasking

29/11/2012 Interesting: http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/documents/MW_to_News_Ltd_010904.pdf

Sir Ian Crisp

29/11/2012[quote][i]jaycee 2353 Nasking, Thanks for your support it means a lot! Sir Ian, Something wrong with you if you think you have to write about child sexual abuse to make a point! Perhaps Ad Astra should hand your email address over to the police and let them look at you! Jason [/i][/quote] There is something wrong with you when you link me with mass murderer Anders Breivik. Yeah by all means hand over my email but be prepared for me to go on the attack regarding your attempts to paint me as a mass murderer. So c'mon Father Jason, you're always big mouthing about put up or shut so let's see you put up. I know you're lurking Ad Astra so why not remove Father Jason's cute little post about me and Breivik? You've stepped in and removed some of my comments. And explain why you let his comment pass the offensive test.

2353

29/11/2012^^^^^ Actually there is something wrong when the clown above deliberately inflames a personal attack on someone else for no good reason. [b]AA - can we take some action on this lowlife NOW?[/b] In comparison the post about Breivik is justified. Both the clown above and Breivik are self obsessed irrational losers with warped values. And while we are talking about warped values - there are enough skeletons in Abbott, Credlin and Bishop the slightly younger's background to ensure a mud slide should the ALP go there. Hopefully they will rise above it.

jaycee

29/11/2012Siding with 2353 and Jason on this "problem" AA. I believe the "contributory test" should apply...: Examine the substance and number of rational, debating and contributing-to-the-discussion posts of both parties. On the one side (Jason),we see cheerful, bright and intellectually stimulating posts and links adding helpfully to the general pool of discussion. On the other side.......we have..what we have..basic slander from the beginning, no real contribution and no sympathy for the majority of the discussions. Let reason and fair-play decide.

Janet (@j4gypsy)

29/11/2012 [b]Ad at: November 28. 2012 06:06 PM:[/b] Thank you for your lovely words in return. I see in later posts that you are becoming the proud owner of a new ride-on! I hope you have lovely (cool!) summer days making 'lazy circles in the grass'. [b]nasking at November 29. 2012 01:20 AM[/b] You wrote: [i]Plus ce change...our technology evolves and becomes more sophisticated exponentially...whilst too many influential characters use it to stroke their own egos...and feed the Big Brother masses their daily diet of pap and carnage. A feeding frenzy.[/i] Agree with every word of your post. It's as if we are living in a vast drama, with #oldmedia having written the script. Can't have drama without 'conflict', protagonists, antagonists. No conflict? Let's stir some up! Yes, Her Maj's opposition are very afraid,and today is likely to the worst of our sitting days - not the best. [b]TT at November 29. 2012 03:15 AM:[/b] Thank you for your many words of lovely craft :-). You said: [i]Lyn says that when she first started her activities, bloggers were more precious about their own sites; Lyn herself has been the best Liaison Officer of the whole Fighting 5th Estate[/i] That seems to be so exactly it! What a role she is playing. And in my short time with you all and on Twitter I've watched Lyn's followers grow from 1000 plus to 2000 plus! If it isn't 'secret Ad and Lyn business' I'd love to know sometime how views of TPS have grown also in the last 5-6 months. I agree with all my being that Labor is looking better at end of year than its Opp. Every day of this week. It's to the shame of a disintegrating #oldmedia that this isn't readily discernible in the #msm. (Found myself muttering words like 'sue 'em' and 'treason' at the teev and radio lately. Bad for blood pressure!) TT: I should also alert you to the fact that I am at risk of developing a severe crush on anything you write that ... scans to perfection :-). And on to the day ...

Jason

29/11/2012Sir Ian, Never said you were as mass murderer! I said Brevick was a poster boy for the far right in his beliefs, which is no different to the far left being linked to Mao or starlin of which thousands also died. But don't threaten me! if you want to write about kiddie porn you write it. If you think it's going to hurt me write it. Do what ever it is you like I couldn't care less. I just wish you were strong enough to put your real name to it!

Tom of Melbourne

29/11/2012Fairfax continues to do its job in reporting on facts regarding the honesty and character of Gillard. She has a sleazy, unethical past, and reporting the past behaviour assists people make judgments about her character and fitness to remain Prime Minister. [i]PRIME Minister Julia Gillard enabled the incorporation of a union slush fund from which her boyfriend later stole hundreds of thousands of dollars by formally denying to authorities that it was a trade union organisation. A newly released document confirms that a letter Ms Gillard wrote to the WA Corporate Affairs Commission in mid-1992 rejected the commission's assertion that the Australian Workplace Reform Association was ineligible for incorporation because of its union links. The document also confirms that Ms Gillard, then a salaried partner with Slater & Gordon, drafted the rules for the association - without opening a formal file, without consulting the senior partners and without taking advice from expert lawyers within the firm. [b]The revelations contradict Ms Gillard's claims at media conferences and in Parliament[/b] that she played a limited role in the formation of the association, from which Mr Wilson and his crony, Ralph Blewitt, later misappropriated more than $400,000.[/i] Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/document-contradicts-gillard-fund-claims-20121128-2aep3.html#ixzz2DYZAKfXH

nasking

29/11/2012 [b]Agree with every word of your post. It's as if we are living in a vast drama, with #oldmedia having written the script. Can't have drama without 'conflict', protagonists, antagonists. No conflict? Let's stir some up! Yes, Her Maj's opposition are very afraid,and today is likely to the worst of our sitting days - not the best.[/b] Janet, sadly, we have an opposition leader and a number of his team whose ties to the Murdoch empire, shock jocks, the Catholic Church, certain mining magnates and various other entities and individuals are so intense... they are willing to derail the normal proceedings of parliament... undermine the discussion of policy essential to the disabled, the First People, students & parents/guardians & staff related to education...and many many other Australians... in order to protect the interests of those FEW. Tony Abbott has obviously been instructed...as have certain usual suspect media and others desperate to keep employment in that sector...to throw EVERYTHING at this sitting Prime Minister in order bring her down... and damage the government's ability to pass anymore legislation...and achieve certain goals...including winning the next election...keeping on top of the tobacco industry...establishing a media inquiry and making changes to rules and regulations related to that sector...dealing with obesity and the diabetes epidemic...Gonski...the Royal Commission into Child Abuse...investing in cleaner energy...the list goes on. BTW, I was impressed by Bill Shorten's skill in turning the tables on Ashleigh Gillon this morning on SLY NEWS AGENDA. Top job...he left her flailing around like a fish outa water. As for Sir Ian Crisp on this site...seems to me his intention is to derail the discussion. Cheers N'

nasking

29/11/2012 Great work Lyn. N'

nasking

29/11/2012 From the superb wixxyleaks.com: [b]Regular readers here would be all too familiar with the propaganda printed in the Herald Sun on the 22nd May 2012, in response to Craig Thomson’s address to the parliament... Yesterday the Australian Press Council released its adjudication after investigating the complaints from the public. The full adjudication can be found here, however it details how the related articles in the Herald Sun were anything but fair and balanced, and were extremely prejudicial. When the Australian Press Council states thing like those below, you know there are serious issues. “The Council has concluded, however, that the overall impact of the front page and page 7 was highly unfair to Mr Thomson by seeking to convey too close an analogy with a courtroom conviction on criminal charges” And “Publications should take reasonable steps to ensure reports are accurate, fair and balanced.” The Australian Press Council is made up of 23 representatives, 9 of which are from the mainstream media, and the Council itself is funded by the mainstream media such as News Ltd and Fairfax. So when a collection of peers that are funded partially by the publisher of the articles being looked at say that the articles are irresponsible, you would hope for more than just a small article printed in the original publication, I thought a front page apology would have been more appropriate. This adjudication is like the Melbourne Storm saying another teams breach of the salary cap is taking the piss, or Gina Rinehart saying people need to build businesses for themselves rather than rely on others, jeez, this is like Tony Abbott calling someone else sexist. These articles, now deemed irresponsible, set the tone for the whole debate on this subject. Not only that, much of Craigs speech holds water now. Trial by media? I hope Craig Thomson has a good defamation lawyer.[/b] Much more here: http://wixxyleaks.com/2012/11/29/guilt-parade/ Indeed. N'

nasking

29/11/2012 From VEX NEWS: [b]After witnessing the signing of a declaration, the person by whom it is witnessed must legibly write, type or stamp his or her name and address below his or her own signature. Penalty: 1 penalty unit. The Australian, quick to judge the poor old PM in their repeated reporting on the embezzlement conspiracy theory tale to which they have dedicated enough space to land a jumbo jet, has some tricky issues of its own to face in relation to the unlawful swearing of the statutory declaration. Did they know an offence had been committed in swearing the stat dec? If they did know, did they engage in a cover-up? Having been so informed of this rather worrying situation by their friends at VEXNEWS, will they immediately report the matter to Police for urgent investigation? If not, why not? The same breathless questions might well be put to the Deputy Opposition Leader, Julie Bishop. Bishop is certainly vulnerable after massively over-reaching on these issues and accusing the PM of criminal behaviour without evidence and while consorting with Ralph Blewitt, whose activities we have lavishly chronicled here. The only thing that might have saved here was one silly Labor MP calling her a “bimbo” – an act of stupidity that probably would have caused an international scandal had a Coalition MP so slagged the PM.[/b] http://www.vexnews.com/2012/11/no-name-stat-dec-accusing-pm-of-getting-5k-cash-was-illegally-sworn-by-anono-lawyer/ More and more evidence accumulates that this country desperately needs a media inquiry. N'

nasking

29/11/2012 From Phil Coorey: [b]Bishop attack misfires after phone gaffe[/b] [quote]Ms Bishop's claim robbed the Coalition of momentum in its pursuit of the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, with Labor saying she had no right to quiz Ms Gillard about her actions as a lawyer 20 years ago while ''lying'' about her own actions just last week.[/quote] http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/bishop-attack-misfires-after-phone-gaffe-20121128-2aegj.html Bishop can't remember events from last week...yet she expects the PM to remember specific details from nigh on two decades ago. N'

nasking

29/11/2012 From Mike Seccombe @ The Global Mail: [quote]Back in the days when Abbott was not scared to appear belligerent or negative, he spent months inside and outside the Parliament, predicting dire consequences which would flow if the government introduced a carbon tax. Then the tax came in, and nothing particularly disastrous happened. Well, on Monday Climate Change Minister Greg Combet arranged for himself to be asked a friendly question about this. In answering he noted that 150 days after the implementation of the carbon-pricing measure, unemployment was still low, business investment still strong, and interest rates still low. Combet went on to repeat a statistic cited earlier by Trade Minister Craig Emerson, that polling now shows the carbon tax with a higher approval rating than Abbott. And that was when he used the M word, saying the “Opposition Leader, after all that fear and all that mendacity, [is] less popular than the carbon price, which was supposed to destroy towns and regions ...” Malcolm Turnbull, of all people, given his qualified regard for Abbott, leapt to his feet to defend the leader. “The minister knows that to accuse the Leader of the Opposition of mendacity is to accuse him of lying, and he should withdraw it,” Turnbull said. The Speaker, Anna Burke, was unmoved. She said it was the word “lie” which the Parliament had long prohibited. And she let Combet proceed. But Turnbull wasn’t done. After Question Time, he took it up again. “…if I say that someone is mendacious, I am charging that they have uttered a deliberate falsehood. That is what mendacious means,” he complained. Of course, that was not exactly what Combet, cunning wordsmith, said. He suggested mendacity in Abbott’s claims; he did not call Abbott himself mendacious[/quote]. http://www.theglobalmail.org/blog/when-you-cant-say-liar/498/ [b]I noticed Mr. HOLIER THAN THOU smugly talking to SLY NEWS' Kieran Gilbert this morn...playing softly spoken scumbag as he tried to feed doubts about the PM's integrity into the public mind.[/b] N'

nasking

29/11/2012 Labor's David Bradbury this morn on AGENDA brought up Tony Abbott and a certain SLUSH FUND. Now, surely Abbott isn't being a HYPOCRITE on these matters? Surely he hasn't been involved in telling porkies or keeping important info from the public regarding his role in creating a SLUSH FUND?: [b]7:30 REPORT 26/08/2003[/b] [quote]A political furore has erupted over revelations that one of the Howard Government's most senior ministers, Tony Abbott, set up a slush fund to pay for legal challenges to Pauline Hanson and her party, One Nation. Despite repeated denials back in 1998, Mr Abbott last night acknowledged to the 'Sydney Morning Herald' newspaper he'd raised almost $100,000 in an attempt to fund actions against One Nation. While he and his colleagues were refusing to make any comment today, the admission is a setback for the Government. It clearly suggests Mr Abbott did not tell the truth in the affair at the time, and has provoked government fears of a backlash from voters responding angrily to Pauline Hanson's jailing. Then, today, Mr Abbott's stalking horse, One Nation dissident Terry Sharples, claimed that the PM was also aware of the machinations.[/quote] http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2003/s932651.htm Interesting that the PM gets so focused on...and Abbott seems to get another FREE RIDE... GET OUT OF STRIFE FREE card. N'

MWS

29/11/2012While following Lyn's Links (have I mentioned how much I enjoy them) I came across a more recent blog post by Mike Seccombe (Trappist Tony Breaks His Vow). [quote]The Leader of the Opposition is trying to rehabilitate his image. He has become defined in the public mind as negative and nasty and now, as we come into an election year, he’s got to shift that perception. He can no longer be his own attack dog. So his deputy, Julie Bishop, now has that role. But does anyone really think Bishop would have flown at the Prime Minister so energetically unless her master had said, “sic her”? Not that it’s unusual for a party leader to delegate the role of attack dog. What’s unusual in this case is how much bark there has been and how little bite.[/quote] http://www.theglobalmail.org/blog/trappist-tony-breaks-his-vow/502/

Tom of Melbourne

29/11/2012The loyal Nasking continues the 'look over there' campaign, while the PM continues to prove her dishonesty. A 'minor' role? What more was there to do to get the slush fund started?

Ad astra reply

29/11/2012[b]Folks I have just now added an update to this piece that highlights two recent reports on global warming. You will find the update at the end of the original piece.[/b]

Lyn

29/11/2012Good Morning Ad and Everybody. How come this Browne jocker has had this paperwork for 17years and only now has he released to his best mate Mark Baker. Tony Abbott is now calling for the Prime Minister to resign, is it a Fake Email he has, or a fake document who knows. To all my friends on TPS, thankyou for your lovely compliments, I will answer you all a bit later. Twitterverse for you: Bushfire Bill Posted Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 8:24 am I see Abbott is out today, shamed into making a public comment on Slatergate. He, above all people, must be made to realize that getting into power without policy is not going to happen.He’s already running scared. Gillard’s speech has left him cowering under the bed, shaking with fright, publicly, humiliatingly. It’s so bad he has to get his shills in the media to brag that this was his intention, his master plan all along. Bollocks! He’s just what he appears to be: a gutless bully, finally called on his bullying, and found wanting, with literally the whole world laughing at him. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger/2012/11/25/newspoll-51-49-to-coalition-3/?comment_page=92/#comment-1486347 Bushfire Bill Posted Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 9:21 am Stayamnt-Browne doesn’t even have permission to retain the documents. He nicked them from the office when he left, probably because he feared blowback from his own professional involvement in and managerial responsibility for the conveyancing of the house. He feeds stories to his best man, Mark Davis, who then writes it up. Then S-B mentions “reports in the media” as further justification for releasing more information. If I was one of Stayant-Browne’s clients I’d be very nervous about what confidential material he might reveal in 20 years’ time. The man’s a loose cannon. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger/2012/11/25/newspoll-51-49-to-coalition-3/?comment_page=93/#comment-1486415 George Bludger ‏ Jon Faine & Barrie Cassidy on ABC774 this morning discussing LNP smear campaign against PM http://soundcloud.com/bludger-sounds http://soundcloud.com/bludger-sounds/jon-faine-barrie-cassidy Coalition calls for PM to resign ,James Massola, AFR http://afr.com/p/national/coalition_calls_for_pm_to_resign_579zhEG0RW6K3a8oKp3rON Abbott ramps up AWU attacks, Simon Cullen, ABC Updated 8 minutes ago It reveals Ms Gillard wrote to the West Australian Corporate Affairs Commission to argue against a decision to bar the Australian Workers Union Workplace Reform Association because of its "trade union" status. The transcript of the interview was handed to the paper by former Slater & Gordon partner Nick Styant-Browne http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-29/live-blog-parliament-final-day/4398072 TAWNBPM ‏ Sky News: Windsor stands by PM over AWU scandal http://fb.me/2navzk1Am Olivia Illyria ‏ Jon Faine ripping into caller over the misinformation of the AWU. He ended "well if she had hindsight she wouldn't have done it" Ya think?! Letter contradicts PM, Mark Baker A newly released document confirms that Ms Gillard wrote to the WA Corporate Affairs Commission stating the fund, the Australian Workplace Reform Association, had no union links. Her assertion came in mid-1992, after the commission initially rejected the association's incorporation because ''it might be a trade union and therefore ineligible''. http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/letter-contradicts-pm-20121128-2aegm.html#ixzz2DYH2bbMM Witnesses quizzed over AWU scandal , Gemma Jones and Steve Lewis http://www.news.com.au/national/witnesses-quizzed-over-awu-scandal/story-fncynjr2-1226526127202 Bishop attack misfires after phone gaffe, Phillip Coorey http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/national/bishop-attack-misfires-after-phone-gaffe-20121128-2aegj.html Bishop an 'embarrassment' to Abbott, Big Pond News 'Really, I think the issue today is ... at what point will she apologise for making an absurd allegation against me yesterday, then denying the making of it, and then being forced into a humiliating retreat,' she said http://wap.news.bigpond.com/articles/TopStories/2012/11/28/Bishop_an_embarrassment_to_Abbott-PM_821124.html#commentWidget Mark Duckett ‏ Bishop's hypocrisy- represented her own partner when he was being investigated for corruption http://www.crikey.com.au/2002/11/14/peter-nattrass-under-pressure/ … #auspol Gillard's UN vote backdown to save her job, Simon Benson JULIA Gillard's leadership came close to collapse yesterday after cabinet refused to back her policy to vote against a UN resolution tomorrow to give greater recognition to a Palestinian state. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/gillards-un-vote-backdown-to-save-her-job/story-e6freuy9-1226525284024 ICAC to scrutinise payments to Liberals The Premier has made easy political mileage out of the many corruption scandals plaguing former Labor ministers Eddie Obeid, Ian Macdonald and Eric Roozendaal http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/icac-to-scrutinise-payments-to-liberals-20121128-2ae90.html#ixzz2DY8ZHeOE Meta Starostin ‏ 2003: Howard knew of Abbotts $100,000 slush fund to target Hanson http://bit.ly/V6KYTC #AusPol :):):):):):):)

42 long

29/11/2012How many avatars do you use TfM? Is it a trick to get some to accidently read more of your rubbish. Makes you appear as though you are two-faced. I wouldn't personally say that . It's just the appearance.

nasking

29/11/2012 Makes for interesting reading: [b]Tricks of the trade[/b] August 30, 2003 Mike Seccombe, SMH [quote]John Samuel, the bagman for Abbott's ironically named trust, Australians for Honest Politics, is one such name. Another is Harold Clough, the WA magnate who has admitted kicking in funds to help Abbott fund court cases against One Nation. You see, back in the early '90s, Samuel and Clough, along with a Perth stockbroker, John Poynton, were among a group who set out to hijack the WA Democrats. Samuel was the inside man, and for close to a decade managed to tie the Dems up in legal action over who was entitled to the party name. They tried, literally, to litigate the Democrats out of existence. Clough, one of WA's wealthiest businessmen, is a long-time backer of and activist within the Liberal Party and bankrolled much of the action against the Democrats. "He donated money to the splinter group - which was trying to implode the Dems - for the simple purpose of assisting their court case," says Murray. And now, as more details of the efforts of the Liberal Party to litigate One Nation out of existence appear, up pop Samuel and Clough again (Poynton denies having kicked in to the Abbott trust). "What's going on here?" asks Murray. "We appear to be talking here about something which has happened repeatedly over 15 or 16 years. If this is standard behaviour, where else is it going on? Who else is getting dirt dug on them, and court cases funded that we never know about? "This [One Nation] one has come to the surface, and the Dems one has come to the surface, then what about all the ones that haven't come to the surface? "That's why you need disclosure and transparency. That's why people need to drive the connections hard." But establishing the connections is made difficult by the Australian Electoral Commission, the body charged with overseeing political funding, which appears not to have done its job in this case. Abbott himself said, in the interview with this paper which kindled the current debate, that he wrote to the AEC "saying the entire purpose of Australians for Honest Politics was to fund legal actions against One Nation". "And they wrote back to me and said, 'Fine, under those circumstances there's no need for disclosure'," he said. Mind you, Abbott has not released the correspondence, and we only have his word for it. The AEC may have been more equivocal. In either case it was an extraordinary decision by the AEC, says Joo-Cheong Tham, associate lecturer in law at La Trobe University, co-author of a forthcoming book Realising Democracy and a specialist in electoral funding. He says Abbott should have had to reveal the identities of the donors to the trust under the existing electoral laws, had the AEC been doing its job. "He should have been caught. A trust fund whose activities were aimed solely at Hanson, for the clear benefit of the Liberal Party - as statements by Peter Coleman [another Liberal Party heavy and co-trustee of AHP] and others attest - in my view should have been caught. "I wonder about the commission's actions. They appear not to have chased it up. It's quite extraordinary. I think the commission made an error of judgement, not a loophole in the law." John Ure, political scientist at the Australian National University, agrees. "It looks very much like an associated entity to me," he says. "I would very much like to see the release of the legal advice the commission has obtained on this." The electoral act is clear. It says: "If a person makes a gift to any person with the intention of benefiting a particular registered political party or state branch of a registered political party the person is taken ... to have made that gift directly to that registered political party or branch." [/quote] Much more here: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/08/29/1062050672552.html Hmmm... N'

nasking

29/11/2012 Curiouser and curiouser: [b]Watchdog rethinks Liberal links to Abbott's slush fund[/b] By Mike Seccombe and Damien Murphy August 28, 2003 [quote]Evidence continues to mount that the trust was not a matter of Mr Abbott acting "entirely on my own" - as he has claimed - but a broad political operation aimed at denying $500,000 of public funding to One Nation before it could be used in the 1998 election campaign. Mr Abbott's co-trustees included the former state and federal Liberal politician Peter Coleman and the former Labor politician John Wheeldon. Mr Abbott refused to comment yesterday on suggestions that Harold Clough, a Perth magnate and Liberal Party donor and activist, was a major backer of the trust. Mr Clough, who is ill, could not be contacted. John Samuel, another West Australian figure with close links to the Liberal Party and Mr Clough, has admitted to a role in organising funding for Mr Abbott's attack on One Nation. Terry Sharples, a former One Nation candidate, yesterday named both Mr Clough and Mr Samuel as being involved. It was Mr Sharples's legal action that laid the basis for the successful prosecution of the One Nation founders Pauline Hanson and David Ettridge. Yesterday, Mr Sharples also claimed that another One Nation defector, its former treasurer Ted Briggs, had delivered two CDs concerning the party's finances and membership to the Sydney office of the Prime Minister, John Howard. Mr Sharples said Mr Briggs, who died in November 1998, had told him of flying to Melbourne and paying "at least $10,000" for copies of stolen computer records obtained from One Nation's headquarters in the Corso, Manly. "Ted said he paid the money, flew to Sydney and handed the CDs to a senior administrator at Howard's office," Mr Sharples said. "He then flew to Brisbane and dropped off some other copies at [National Party senator] Ron Boswell's office." Mr Sharples said he had no idea whether Mr Howard or Senator Boswell had seen the CDs. "Ted had no reason to lie. He was working with the Nationals to undermine One Nation. It was part of a pincer movement with Tony Abbott's Australians For Honest Politics." Last night Senator Boswell admitted giving money to Mr Briggs, but denied knowing anything about a $10,000 payment for the data. He said he gave a cheque for $266 to Briggs to cover the costs of a trip to "Sydney or Melbourne" in early 1998. Mr Abbott conceded yesterday that the political threat One Nation posed to the Coalition was "a very big factor" in his decision to pursue the legal attack, but he also claimed to be acting "in Australia's national interest".[/quote] http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/08/27/1061663855108.html ALSO: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/02/1062403506222.html Amazing ain't it what Howard, Abbott and co. got away with... APPLYING PRESSURE...UNDER PRESSURE N'

nasking

29/11/2012 Furthermore: [b]Sharples to sue Abbott for defamation[/b] September 1, 2003 Related: Focus: Targeting One Nation [quote]One Nation dissident Terry Sharples will this week sue government minister Tony Abbott for defamation and release documents he says proves the Liberal Party strongman is lying about his role in One Nation's demise. Mr Abbott in 1998 set up a slush fund, Australians for Honest Politics, to bankroll a legal case challenging the validity of One Nation's registration. Mr Abbott has admitted that in using Mr Sharples to help mount the case, the former One Nation member was not left out of pocket. But Mr Abbott denies paying him any money. Mr Sharples today said there were three slush funds set up. And he said he planned to sue Mr Abbott for defamation and release diary entries and tapes showing Mr Abbott was not telling the truth. "It is correct, whether it happens today or tomorrow or Wednesday I'm not sure," Mr Sharples told the Nine Network. "I've got documents that prove that Tony Abbott is not telling the truth." He said his records of conversations would show Mr Abbott was saying one thing privately and another publicly. "It will prove exactly what Tony Abbott was saying to me during this critical two months when we first joined forces, if you want to put it like that, and then he dumped me...," Mr Sharples said. "There was a lot of communication, luckily I recorded a reasonable amount of it and it's just totally contrary to what Tony's currently saying publicly." Mr Sharples said he could also prove the existence of three anti-Hanson slush funds involving Mr Abbott. "Yes I can certainly prove that, otherwise I wouldn't have made the statement and in fact the proof is to some degree already in the transcripts of the tape that was heard just recently before Justice (Patsy) Wolfe," he said. One identity involved in the third slush fund had been forced to admit the Perth-based John Samuel was behind his offer of money, Mr Sharples alleged. He said Mr Abbott's actions in relation to the demise of One Nation were questionable.[/quote] http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/01/1062268508678.html Strange days indeed. N'

nasking

29/11/2012 [b]The transcript:[/b] August 30, 2003 [quote]The Herald shows Mr Abbott his handwritten letter to Terry Sharples of July 11, 1998, promising Sharples will not be "further out of pocket" in pursuing the case against One Nation[/quote] http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/08/29/1062050667217.html N'

nasking

29/11/2012 HOLIER THAN THOU ABBOTT HAS ALOT OF QUESTIONS TO ANSWER I RECKON...IF THE PAST IS SOOO IMPORTANT: [b]Abbott defends himself by confusing the issue[/b] By Deborah Snow August 28, 2003 [quote]The Workplace Relations Minister, Tony Abbott, is relying on the sheer complexity of his part in the One Nation saga to tough out scrutiny of his truthfulness. His latest defence against claims of dishonesty, released on Tuesday night, muddies two separate issues. The first is a pledge he made to a disillusioned former One Nation candidate, Terry Sharples, in July 1998 to defray legal costs in a case Sharples was bringing against One Nation. The second is a trust that Abbott set up the next month to pursue One Nation through other legal channels. [b]At issue is whether Abbott lied to the ABC's Four Corners program in August 1998 when he denied offering funds from "any source" to Sharples and whether his statement to the Herald in March 2000 that "misleading the ABC is not quite the same as misleading the parliament as a political crime" was an acknowledgement that he lied. [/b] The sequence of events was this:[/quote] Much more here: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/08/27/1061663854618.html Not good...not good at all. N'

bob macalba

29/11/2012Jason, its just a tag team effort from sicO and KNOB, pissed off that the bad guys copping a flogging, as Nasking has already said its only a distraction to disrupt the rest of the site, so to sic and ToM please go away, go on shoo, git

nasking

29/11/2012 [b]These reports are scary. [/b] Ad, just read thru the UPDATE to yer post...they certainly are worrying. I put up the links on my Facebook site. Thnx...top job. ------ BTW, I noticed a number of ABC presenters seem to relish pushing Abbott and the Murdoch empire's view. N'

nasking

29/11/2012 [b]Paul Barry @ Crikey writes[/b]: [quote]One of the three main themes of the hearings was that Britain’s politicians have long feared Rupert Murdoch because his papers had so much power. His News International currently has around 40% of Britain’s newspaper sales. There is only one way for Leveson to deal with this and it involves suggesting limits on the share of the market that any proprietor is allowed to have. Hold your breath to see if his Lordship dares suggest stripping Rupert of some of his papers tomorrow. And hold your breath again for the reaction from the politicians if he does. And just remember that a young Australian media mogul once said: “The important thing is that there be plenty of newspapers with plenty of different people controlling them … Freedom of the press mustn’t just be one-sided for a proprietor to speak as he pleases, to bully the community.” You got it. That was Rupert talking to the BBC’s Panorama programme back in 1969, after he had bought the News of the World and was taking over The Sun. He said at the time the Brits would never let him have more newspapers in the future. But they did—thanks to Margaret Thatcher, whom Rupert’s Sun so avidly supported. [/quote] http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/11/29/leveson-d-day-for-red-tops-farewell-to-press-freedom/ Good recommendations. N'

Jason

29/11/2012Craig Pendlebury‏@BrigadierSlog PMs letter to Fairfax CEO http://images.nationaltimes.com.au/file/2012/11/29/3848605/PM-letter-to-Hywood.pdf?rand=1354152740399 …

jaycee

29/11/2012Thank you Jason...you are on the ball!..This evidence implicates the MSM. in egregious and slanderous reporting. We of the fifth estate already knew of this, but with this evidence goes any shred of decency sheltering even the most senior and reputable journalists of those rags. Laura Tingle, Phil Coorey, Laurie Oakes , George Megalogenis and all the others who have sheltered their reputations from the sh*t-storm that is about to hit their mast-heads now have no shelter, no innoccence, no excuse...guilty as charged!

2353

29/11/2012^^^^ Nice letter Julia. Wonder if there will be a retraction? Meanwhile - back in Newmania http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2012/11/29/1226526/182900-campbell-newman-circus-graphic.jpg

Ad astra reply

29/11/2012Jason Thanks for the link to the PM's letter. There seemed to be only one page. Do you have a link to the second page.

jaycee

29/11/2012AA. the update, while a worry..indeed, it could very well seal our fate, will be skimmed over by the dross politicians and public. Homo Sapiens has a flaw in his construct..I reported it in my rant against capitalism..in my rant on climate change..it is a type of 'Dunning-Kruger Effect' where when a problem becomes too complex or difficult to solve, we seem to throw caution to the winds and rather than listen to those with solutions, double up on the partying in the hope some sort of God-of-Fate will take pity on the majority and spare us a fate worse than death. One could say.:"Humanity thrives on a diet of wishful thinking and extravagant fullfilling".

Ad astra reply

29/11/2012Nasking The climate news is terrifying, but all we hear from our incompetent and malevolent media is more and more and more and more about the S&G matter. It's not just disgraceful, it is appalling that we can get no better.

Ad astra reply

29/11/2012jaycee Sadly, that seems to be the case. Problems such a global warming are too complex for many, so they grasp onto any denial, any skepticism, any excuse for doing nothing. Perhaps when the extreme weather events wreaks havoc on them personally, they will pay attention, but that may be too late. Even today, the last day of November, may be the hottest day on record for Mildura.

Jason

29/11/2012Aa, Try this one! http://images.nationaltimes.com.au/file/2012/11/29/3848605/PM-letter-to-Hywood.pdf?rand=1354152740399

Ad astra reply

29/11/2012Jason Thanks.

Casablanca

29/11/2012I guess that many Swordsters are wondering why the PM has not employed a Suspension of Standing Orders earlier in this Parliament. Phoney Tony seemed to have been caught off guard by the PM's call for the SSO to allow him to address the Parliament and to put up or apologise. He kept flailing his arms around and repeating himself, presumably for added emphasis, but instead just sounding un-prepared and indeed without substantive points to make. I particularly liked the PM's retort that Abbortt needs to use his brain rather than his political brawn. Good one. It has been a very strong performance from our PM.

jaycee

29/11/2012Julia Gillard slaughtered Tony Abbott as only a woman can slaughter a man...cut away his capacity, piece by piece..taking apart, slowly, with the victim hardly noticing that he is being scalpally emasculated.....Tony Abbott has been emasculated by a very, very skilled surgeon! He may like to go out with speedos on, but he is no longer "man enough" to fill them!

nasking

29/11/2012 Bluster. The Coalition have offered up nothing but BLUSTER. Abbott's tactics have backfired. He has made unsubstantiated allegations. He and his team have managed to WASTE an entire week of Question Time. Disgraceful! This is not unusual for this scheming, mud-racking, ranting weathervane of an opposition leader. He is a WASTE of time. No leader...more a tabloid sleaze-merchant. Tony Abbott is in the wrong career. N'

nasking

29/11/2012 That should be: This is not unusual for this scheming, muck-racking, mud throwing, ranting weathervane of an opposition leader. :D N'

Jason

29/11/2012Abbott in question time today! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhRUe-gz690

Tom of Melbourne

29/11/2012This week Our Prime Minister has proved again to be dishonest. She has demonstrated a willingnes to answer questions at a press conference that she won't in parliament. She has again redefined a word, this time 'minor' Hilarious.

nasking

29/11/2012 This needs to be reflected on here in Australia: [b]The phone-hacking scandal convulsed the Met, Britain's biggest police force, leading to accusations that Scotland Yard had failed to investigate the full extent of criminal practices at News International titles because it was too close or fearful of the media group controlled by Rupert Murdoch. Some went further and suggested the Met's allegedly botched inquiries were the result of impropriety.[/b] http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/nov/28/leveson-warns-met-police-media Frankly, I believe much of the mainstream media and various politicians have neglected their public duty...not just police. Here...and in the UK. Thank gawd for the courage and dogmatic approach of certain investigative reporters at The Guardian...and a few politicians such as Tom Watson. N'

2353

29/11/2012So Troll from Melbourne - what is the question that the Prime Minister should have answered in Parliament? You also might want to discuss why none of the 150 odd people entitled to sit in the House of Reps didn't think to ask this specific question that "requires" an answer. As you admit that all questions have been answered at press conferences, you need to also explain your claim that the Prime Minister is dishonest. Now remember a question is one sentence which requests someone to give a specific answer. You have no credibility is on the line here as you have previously admitted to not casting a formal vote in a number of elections including the 2010 one. A genuine attempt at meaningful discussion as requested here may earn you a shred of influence amongst some of the regular posters.

Ad astra reply

29/11/2012Casablanca, jaycee, Nasking You are right. Julia Gillard took Abbott by surprise, leaving him spluttering from what was a prepared speech that he was hoping to move as a SSO motion. Then she slaughtered him, leaving he and Julia Bishop and Christopher Pyne looking stunned and out of effective ammunition. Every question fizzed like a damp penny bunger. Julia has ended on a strong positive note. Abbott and Bishop are spent forces.

DoodlePoodle

29/11/2012I would like to add my thanks to the many others who have paid tribute to Lyn & AA. Some of us live very busy lives and to have Lyn's links and be able to read articles of interest is just fantastic. Most of us have turned away from the MSN and it is good to be kept updated with what's going on. While I only make the occasional comment I do read most of the posts. It is good to have the positive vibes of the contributors who are like minded folk. Seasons Greetings to all.

nasking

29/11/2012 Ad, couldn't agree more. 'Iron Man' Abbott (LOL) has indeed turned out to be a LEAD BALLOON. :D Yep, the Abbott and the Bishop of THE ORDER OF LEAD BALLOONS. N'

nasking

29/11/2012 2353 and Jason, I enjoyed those links...so apt. :D N'

2353

29/11/2012I wonder if this will get posted on The Drum in the current Jonathan Green article? "We all have something hidden away in out past that if dragged out through the media in all its gory detail and analysis - would look bad on the front page of a paper or website. Abbott has his slush fund to "fight" Pauline Hanson, he refusal to allow drugs onto the NHS due to his religious beliefs and the claims of bullying while involved in the Student Union. Bishop the (slightly) Younger has claims of stonewalling in court cases so that the Plantiff would die prior to resolution and payout by her corporate client or not remembering events last week while expecting perfect recall in others and apparently Gillard may have written a letter in the mid 90's that wasn't exactly 100% truthful. So what - it happens. How about the media in Australia get back to reporting facts. It could make a start by reporting the implementation of policy by the current Federal Government and the story on how the current Federal opposition would do it better, it could report on the fact that the Australian economy is still growing after 21 years, it could report on the real and present danger of the frozen forests in Alaska melting and releasing a deluge of CO2 into the atmosphere or a million other things that are really important. The medias coverage of a petty, spiteful and childish attempt to slime the Prime Minster of this country is disgusting. If you don't report it, will anyone be worse off?"

nasking

29/11/2012 I thought this an appropriate time to post a stanza and additional lines from Truth Seeker's poem: [b]With Little.. Johnny Howard… the man of the minute Feeling pumped up… and ever so proud He‘s been asked.. to be.. Tones guest of honour Although honour’s.. not really.. his strength As he once taught the Abbott.. that to win in this game You must be driven… and go…. to any length To lie… and cheat… are the tools of… the trade. To be used….. by a Liberal….. politician Using economic sleight of hand… to distract… from his stand On mad ideologies… like some manic.. magician[/b] Indeed. N'

42 long

29/11/2012The last day of the Parliament would have to be the most rancorous ever. Turdball was just as bad as Abbort, He called for KRudd to resign every second day. When you do it all the time it loses it's significance,(Like the little boy calling "WOLF").It's been their "modus operandi" all the way through. Its oft been stated that they are "both as bad as each other". Au contraire, I Think the Labor lot have shown remarkable restraint. The LieNp should have learned from the Godwin Grech affair. So much based on so little. I gues when you have the assistance of the shock jocks alan jones Hartcher and lewis the "Auwstralian" newspaper ( It's neither) a good ally at the abc. Gina Reinhart kathy (Joan of arc Jackson) Peter Reith on the abc more often than I have a good meal. Hel I could fill the page with what "free" assistance/advertising The most SUCK cess FULL opposition leader in his story, has recieved. HE,. who has spent the entire period of his tenure bagging the economy and wiping value from businesses, bagging climate science supporters, stuffing up a solution to boat migrants, generally being a "spoiler' rather than a "toiler' for the people of Australia. I'll muck it up if I have to and then be KING, and all my mates will get what I promised them amd we will all live happily ever after. We have all had a good chance to see what he is like. The quicker he is gotten rid of the better. I suppose he could continue to deliver votes to Labor but isn't CAN DOO doing that already.

nasking

29/11/2012 This is funny...and good spirited...thank gawd for FIRST DOG ON THE MOON this year that kept my wife and I chuckling throughout some exhausting, anxious and ordinary times: [b]First Dog on the Moon goes to the Walkleys![/b] http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/11/29/first-dog-on-the-moon-goes-to-the-walkleys/ Two thumbs up! N'

jaycee

29/11/2012That the Prime Minister wiped the floor with the entire opposition today will be noted with little merit by a skulking MSM. To give credit where it is due, to say that the better person won, or as the PM. called to the LOTO.; to be man enough to apologise and offer the hand of friendship....these were the niceties of a civilised society, these were the commonplace deeds of a "fair-go" nation. Sadly, that nation was demoralised and beaten down by the Howard tactics and years of empty, mean-spirited ingratitude. We now clutch our broken pride like some sort of tattered security blanket, where once we flew that same pride, that certainty of "giving everyone a fair go" as our national flag. Once, with a streak of "rat-bag" rebelliousness we would swap "God-save-the-Queen" for a preferred rousting "Waltzing Matilda".....Waltzing Matilda with me...Aussie, German, English, Italian..we all knew how to sing the chorus if nothing more..and what a chorus!..never sounded better than when sung full-throated and loud as loud can be!... Has it all gone?, I don't think so..While the peoples of nations change, the common aspirations of humankind do not...why else would so many refugees, economic or terrified or otherwise seek our shores? I thought the PM. wiped the floor with the opposition today and from the first moment when she called for a SSO. and challenged the LOTO to put up or shut up!..she showed true leadership..But I fear the MSM will reciprocate with its' usual cowardice..THEY don't know how to sing "Waltzing Matilda"!

Sir Ian Crisp

29/11/2012[quote][i]Abbortt remember Leigh Sales last September ?! Challenge in November Dead meat by December! What will happen in the LNP Party room next week, the last week of Parliament for the year? IS EVERYBODY CHORTLING? I am. Politics, yummmmm. TalkTurkey [/i][/quote] I don't know about chortling but a heap of us are wetting ourselves because we're laughing so much. What a rich vein of comedy flows from you pen.

Janet (@j4gypsy)

29/11/2012 A brilliant piece from David Donovan at Independent Australia: ' ... our media have shown themselves to be, quite clearly, compromised political players' http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/politics/groundhog-day-opposition-smears-and-media-misinforms/

Sir Ian Crisp

29/11/2012[quote][i]Sir Ian, Never said you were as mass murderer! I said Brevick was a poster boy for the far right in his beliefs, which is no different to the far left being linked to Mao or starlin of which thousands also died. But don't threaten me! if you want to write about kiddie porn you write it. If you think it's going to hurt me write it. Do what ever it is you like I couldn't care less. I just wish you were strong enough to put your real name to it! Jason [/i][/quote] [quote][b]jane, Ignore Sir Breivik she's still looking for reason to well? who cares? Jason [/b][/quote] Jason, does that read like you are nominating Breivik as a poster boy for the far right or is it a clever attempt to link Breivik and his vile crime with my moniker?

nasking

29/11/2012 Janet, I couldn't agree more with that article by David Donovan...for instance: [b]Then we had Adam Bandt stepping into the fray, keen to talk about the NDIS, a critical reform being discussed in Parliament today, but the appetite of the ABC – which gets it’s news agenda straight from the pages of The Australian these days – was purely about scandal, smear and muckraking of the lowest and most despicable order, and so it cut back to the studio almost immediately in mid-sentence. I turned off the news in disgust.[/b] I was furious with ABC Breakfast by this point...that particular cut back to the studio incensed me...it was rude and demonstrated how keen the likes of presenter Michael Rowland was to perpetuate this mud throwing at the PM and this half-cocked attempt to assassinate her. Frankly, the taxpayers of Australia deserve better than these ABC clowns acting like News Ltd clones. As for SLY NEWS...what a farce! The bias is so thick it could be cut with a knife. Thank crikey for the likes of Combet, Shorten and Bradbury today who showed them up for the Liberal propaganda hacks they are. As for some of those radio-based turkeys at the doorstops...they might want to think about the fact their future is like a ticking time bomb thnx to new media...and act a bit more rational and circumspect. Frankly, if I worked for some of these media barons I reckon I'd have to have a good purge each time I got home...and a very hot shower...and invest my money in future de-programming sessions...because working for that lot must be like giving over yer life to a cult. Lastly, my respect for Julia Gillard as PM has increased exponentially over the year...it just amazes me she can cop so much smear, parliament-based abuse, media muck-racking, policy and tactics pressure...and the tragic loss of her father whilst overseas...and remain steadfast, determined and motivated. Julia, the PM, is certainly a credit to this country...and deserves far better treatment than she gets by some who should know better...but allow themselves to be driven by naked ambition, thirst for power, a desire to please masters and for monetary reasons...or just out of plain misguided hate and misogyny. A few because of fear...of justice...and/or change. Well, we head towards COAG. Carry on. My sword and claws and energy await the next battle, event...keenly. N'

MWS

29/11/2012If Tony Abbott considers a "character test" necessary to be Prime Minister, then he has NO chance of becoming PM, and should immediately resign as LOTO. Perhaps the PM could reprise the "sexist and misogynist" speech with examples of Tony Abbott's behaviour over the past twenty years (eg the One Nation litigation fund and the associated lies he told about it), and how that compares with Julia Gillard's behaviour?

Jason

29/11/2012Sir Ian Jason Hand 24 Steen Crescent Pooraka SA 5095 Take me to court if you think your fucked out name has been besmirched! Time for you to put up or shut the fuck up!

bob macalba

29/11/2012Hi Ad, hi Lyn, another excellent selection of must know information, i too am so grateful for the efforts you both put into this site i wouldnt be a fraction aware of whats really going on in my own country without this help, MSM absolute shite how can they draw their pay each week? anyway to both of you over Xmas and Hogmanay, relax, chill and enjoy, cheers. ps Ad i think ive got this link thing worked out so for my very first attempt from several years ago the first funny clip i saw on youtube and i still think is funny, here goes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sJqROHxjDA hope this works

bob macalba

29/11/2012just a wee bit of light humour

MWS

29/11/2012In other news today, the Chairman of the WA Planning Commission has been sacked for improperly using his Government credit card. Gary Prattley was appointed to his position by the Liberal Government as soon as they came to power in 2008, having previously been working in NSW. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-29/head-of-planning-deparment-sacked/4398922?section=wa

MWS

29/11/2012Scrolling through the comments on Bernard Keane's piece at Crikey, I found this by "tonyfunnywalker": [quote]Julie Bishop the 2nd string strike bowler kept bowling full tosses and when she tried to bowl bouncers Gillard drove and cut them for boundaries on all sides of the wicket. But Captain Abbott persisted for the 4 sessions with a weak bowling attack but they kept bowling wides and no balls. He got a bit of coaching from some very dodgy sources and came into the attack itself given a free hit but was immediately no balled for overstepping. The extra ball went wide as Gillard stepped back to the crease and not even the keeper could save another boundary. Gillard played a straight bat till stumps and was still sledging when stumps were drawn. The match was drawn as neither Gillard or Abbott will gain in the polls as no one bloody cared - it was a dead rubber game and won’t decide the series...[/quote] For the rest, see here: http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/11/29/awu-scandal-this-ends-today-one-way-or-another/#comment-230211

2353

29/11/2012The other similarity between Breivik and sic(k) Ian Crisp is they both like John Howard's policies. By the way, the Sir in Ina Crisp's name is probably illegal unless he has changed is name by deed poll or was knighted prior to the introduction of the Australian Honours System. On the balance of probability that neither of these options have happened - someone who is regularly committing an illegal act has no basis to criticise or comment on what anyone else does!

bob macalba

29/11/2012and in the banana state http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/clive-palmer-claims-newman-government-is-working-to-have-him-jailed-and-stripped-of-assets/story-e6frg6n6-1226526566443 weirder and weirder

bob macalba

29/11/2012your tax dollars in action, always a question of is it money well spent? http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-national/former-pms-still-costing-taxpayer-money-20121129-2aiib.html

Ad astra reply

29/11/2012bob macalba The link worked perfectly. Thank you. MWS Nice analogy.

bob macalba

29/11/2012just followed your instructions Ad and fair pleased i know how to do it now, cheers

Lyn

29/11/2012Hi Bob Perfect you got it exactly right. Thankyou for the 2 links there is no stopping you now . George bush and tony blair- gay bar Enjoyable after today much needed. Some nice tweets about Julia and a factual tweet from Craig Emerson. Craig Emerson MP ‏ Abbott tried to slip into Lodge in a climate of fear. Then tried to slide into Lodge on a torrent of smear. Slip sliding away. Le Grace ‏ The PM's speech should be up for a Walkley. In 15 minutes, she called out Abbott more than the press gallery has done since 2010 Kevin Cooper ‏ looks great in the hot pink suit, great color when under attack. Love it with her hair. David ‏ emotion building up in Julia. She has withstood a tremendous amount last few weeks. Brave brave lady you have my utmost respect and loyalty :):):):):):)

Jason

29/11/2012Lyn, Can I say a big thankyou to you for all you doo! I wish you and John a Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Tom of Melbourne

29/11/2012It’s great that Gillard is Our Prime Minister! It is proof that even dishonest, unethical bogans can go places here.

jaycee

29/11/2012"...It is proof that even dishonest, unethical bogans can go places here." You know, traitor, self-flattery is so unbecoming!

bob macalba

29/11/2012COWARDLY HOONS YELLING LIES ABUSE AND INNUENDO FROM THE SAFETY OF A MOVING VEHICLE, yes its how i think of the Coalition, but it also describes a Wally like yourself ToM aka the KNOB, tell that to your masters you strawman

Jason

29/11/2012ToM, "It is proof that even dishonest, unethical bogans can go places here." You of all people would have to be happy about that ToM!

2353

29/11/2012The Troll from Melbourne again hasn't produced evidence for his claims @ 3.36 but gone of on another tangent, despite a request at 3.51. It seems that the real dishonest unethical bogan is the one that will not attempt to prove his claim, hasn't cast a legitimate vote in a number of elections and is so morally bankrupt all he can do is insult others intelligence. Its a play straight from the LNP playbook - look at Bishop the (slightly) Younger and Abetz's behaviour this week. You also might want to look at the Queensland LNP who seem to be so full of their own self importance, their support base is crumbling before their own eyes (even the Courier Mail is reporting the federal Libs telling the LNP to get their s*it together) and the reports from the other Liberal states of similar acts of sheer bastardry.

2353

29/11/2012Last night for the Queensland Parliament tonight - so what does Newman do to extract some revenge on those that left to join the Katter Party? This -> http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/partys-over-for-katter-crew-20121129-2aj0n.html What a bitter and twisted individual.

Truth Seeker

29/11/2012Ad, thanks for your kind remarks wrt my poem "Julie Bishop", I always appreciate your feedback. Cheers :-) :-) Nas, good to see you back and firing on all cylinders, and thanks for posting a snippet of my poem "the Abbots Christmas Do". As you have obviously seen, it's a bit of an epic, but I am hoping to post it in it's entirety on Ads next post, for those that haven't yet seen it, if that's OK. Cheers :-) :-)

Jason

29/11/20122353, Not that I expect you to be able to answer other than a layman as my self! but Cando's rush to strip Katter's party of party status is there talk of it blowing up in his face? and constitutional issues as well?

Trevor

30/11/2012For what it is worth I think the libs strategy this week is now pretty clear and it really is kindergarden stuff. I believe they have had the transcript from Steyn - Brown for at least a week. They then hatched a plot that J Bishop using her barrister skills would get the PM to to deny one her accusations along the lines "did Ms Gillard pressure the WA commission into changing their ruling" hoping the PM would just say "no I did not". Tony could then jump to the front & spring the trap. Ha Ha what do you say about this then PM? (Still would have been a weak case but they would have something to beat up and accusations of misleading the parliament would have been front page) Trouble is she was too smart for them and despite JB re phrasing the question through all sorts of contortions JG just kept saying "show us your evidence". So today in total frustration they tried to spring the trap anyway, even though there was no pray inside. So the only result is, by any reading the opposition has wasted most of the year trying to undermine the government and has not done their own homework. Tony has burnt Julie Bishop who is now so discredited she may as well resign. The sad truth is they are just lazy. Still think it is up to the public service to develop policy for them while they play politics. Without the public service at their command they are useless and bereft of ideas. That is if you dont count hatching inspector Clouseau type plots to bring down the government as ideas.

nasking

30/11/2012 Cheers Truth Seeker. I got busy with the American election on Facebook and considering I was juggling that, caring for my wife and preparing a garden for the summer I thought it best to take a break from here...besides, it was obvious to me that this blog needed some fresh blood which I'm pleased to see has materialised...and more room for the old guard TPS contributors...considering my habit of going full-bore and putting up lots of info in a rush. I enjoyed yer poem and something I enjoy doing is selecting a few lines of verse or a stanza or two and using them as a useful addition to a theme or running issue etc. hope ya don't mind. Keep well. Good to see you've been provided opportunities to post yer valuable poems and views. N'

Truth Seeker

30/11/2012Nas, I hope that your wife is feeling better,there is a lot of illness going around, as many here including myself can attest to, and may be a side issue of what this post is about. Just saying. It was a pleasant surprise when Migs offered to post my poem, and I am glad you enjoyed it. And I certainly don't mind bits being reposted, as I have noticed that different lines and verses stand out to people for varying reasons. Cheers :-)

Michael

30/11/2012Obviously Abbott considers 'Slater and Gordon' to be the new 'carbon tax' as his political strategy to destroy the Labor government. Obviously Abbott doesn't learn from his mistakes. Surprised? On another note, and bearing in mind how Julis Bishop was outed for not actually writing her article in a book of collected essays about Conservative politics a couple of years back... Isn't it interesting how Abbott claims it was his "intellectual toil" that delivered the content of the pamphlet that compiles nine speeches he gave over the last year, and yet nowhere in the publication does it actually display "written by Tony Abbott". Is he falsely claiming "intellectual" ownership of the content, or equally falsely asserting actual work, "toil", in personally creating the content? That Tony Abbott might claim 'intellectual' status of any nature is risible. That he asserts he 'toils' when crafting policy is beyond risible. Coalition policy accretes to the equivalent to his reckoning of the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere. In short, Tony Abbott's kudos-seeking 'intellectual toil' is "crap". A word he owns, and embodies.

bob macalba

30/11/2012Truth Seeker, i managed to catch your pome on another site, wonderful and funny, man how do you make something like that happen, really really good reading, two thumbs up

Lyn

30/11/2012TODAY’S LINKS Safety in Numbers , Mr Denmore, The Failed Estate One is tempted to draw the conclusion that this is a smear campaign orchestrated by a few fringe-dwellers on the far right and pushed along by a news organisation that long gave up any pretence of even-handedness. The public is not tuned into it. No-one cares; no-one, of course, except for the accusers and the journalists pushing the barrow. http://thefailedestate.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/safety-in-numbers.html To break a dealmaker, Andrew Elder, Politically Homeless They could prise a feeble Labor government from office but not a strong one. They overestimated their own strength, and those of their leaders, while underestimating the growing strength of Gillard Labor. Having changed leaders so often, the Liberals have come to rely on their deputy more profoundly than on the leader pro tem. You can put up an umbrella when it starts to rain but when the levee breaks ... http://andrewelder.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/to-break-dealmaker.html#comment-form Tony Abbott and his slushy character question, Independent Australia She could sue ― or, she could write to Abbott along the following lines.I will call an inquiry into my involvement in and public statements about in the AWU slush fund ― if you will consent to the same inquiry examining your involvement in and public statements about the Australians for Honest Politics slush fund. http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/politics/tony-abbott-and-his-slushy-question-of-character/ In Politics, Slush Happens, Mike Seccombe, The Global Mail There was more to the story. You get the drift, though. And the irony, too, given that Abbott — who set up his slush fund 14 years ago — is now leading the call for the removal of Prime Minister Julia Gillard for her role in setting up a slush fund 20 years ago. http://www.theglobalmail.org/blog/in-politics-slush-happens/505/ AWU scandal: this ends today, one way or another, Bernard Keane, Crikey What illegality or impropriety was committed in that letter sent in 1992, assuming Ms Gillard was the signatory, I can’t tell you; it takes minds more conspiratorial than mine to see exactly what scandal lurks in stating a non-trade union body wasn’t a trade union. More to the point, to the point that keeps being ignored by virtually everyone covering this saga, it has not a shred of relevance in 2012. http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/11/29/awu-scandal-this-ends-today-one-way-or-another/ No clear winners from the AWU scandal that won’t go away, Erdem Koç. , Upstart Abbott rose to his feet, speaking in a soft and somewhat timid voice throughout his 15-minute speech. He outlined the case the Coalition had been making for most of the week in question time – and the PM tore it to shreds in her response http://www.upstart.net.au/2012/11/30/gillard-stands-tall-as-the-canberra-year-ends/ MSM bottoms out, Massivespray, Spray of the Day With their bull-headed insistence on propagating the AWU non-troversy tirelessly and mindless despite even a subtle hint of anything approaching evidence of wrongdoing, even the most rigidly one-sided partisans are saying “dude, you’ve got nothing”. http://sprayoftheday.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/msm-bottoms-out/ Coalition's attack on Gillard escalates, Gary Sauer-Thompson, Public Opinion Why so? What is the argument? We sure need one because Gillard's letter says that the organisation to be registered was not a trade union and the association wasn't a trade union. How do we get to fraud and breaking the law from this? The problem with the Coalition is their assumption that Gillard is guilty---personally http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2012/11/coalition-attac.php#more Pointing the finger, Shouting at the Void Repeating “claims” and “allegations” is far more fun, and simply requires turning up at a Canberra doorstop before repeating the claim that the PM has ‘questions to answer’, without actually deciding what those questions are, and having had two discrete opportunities to put any and all questions to her. But that’s the minor reason. The big one? http://shoutingatthevoid.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/pointing-the-finger/ Pitfalls in the rush to define national character, Tim Dunlop, The Drum Anyway, we are going through a funny period. We have a hung parliament and a female prime minister and those two things alone are enough to upset serious centres of power in our society. Much of the alleged discontent being reported at the moment is nothing more than people within those structures throwing a tantrum. http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4397116.html Fear of being beaten to the shadow of a story, Jonathan Green, The Drum Despite the lack of evidence, journalists have fallen over each other to create an impression of guilt over the AWU affair, writes Jonathan Green. Is there nothing else of consequence that might occupy us? http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-29/green-fear-of-being-beaten-to-the-shadow-of-a-story/4398112 Conduct Unbecoming, Gabrielle Chan, The Hoopla He is handcuffed to an allegation against me that I committed a crime and he has no evidence.”“A decent man would recognise that he had made an error and apologise, but the Leader of the Opposition is not a decent man and he cannot be relied on to go to the facts of matter.”She said he was not a man who would use his “brain rather than political brawn http://thehoopla.com.au/conduct-unbecoming/ Gillard, the Transcript and Guilt Over the Slush Fund: How Your Money is Wasted, Moth, New Anthropocene If, as the opposition is now bantering on about, Gillard broke the law, it requires legal action, not a bunch of half-wits wasting the tax payers dollar on the last day of parliamentary sitting for the year.Does anyone actually think Abbott, Bishop and Pyne are really the best people to investigate criminal behaviour?Their favoured slam this morning is nonsense. http://newanthropocene.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/gillard-the-transcript-and-guilt-over-the-slush-fund- Coalition Salivates Over Lawyers Picnic But Doomed To Insatiation, Under The Milky Way So that was Abbott’s strategy. Hold the documentary proof as an Ace-in-the-hole, spend all week in the muck, try and force Gillard to mislead, then, come what may, call for a judicial inquiry. In short try to parlay the innuendo into a year of dirt, Abbott’s natural habitat. http://indifferencegivesyouafright.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/coalition-salivates-over-lawyers-picnic-bu/ Sugar mill to cut use of coal, dodge carbon tax , Vicky Validakis, Manufacturer’s Monthly Bundaberg Sugar’s Millaquin Mill has spent $40 million over the last few years installing new equipment in order to reduce the amount of moisture in the bagasse it will use for burning energy, News Mail reportedBagasse is the fibrous matter that remains after sugarcane stalks are crushed to extract their juice. Many companies are now using the by-product to produce bio-fuel or as an alternative means of energy. http://www.manmonthly.com.au/news/sugar-mill-to-cut-use-of-coal-dodge-carbon-tax Guilt Parade, Peter Wicks, Wixxy Leaks This shocking article was a clear example of what a witch hunt looks like, and a text-book case of trial by media. Complete with a trial by a readers jury, and a “Reader Verdict” of guilty this was an example of journalism gone off the rails. http://wixxyleaks.com/2012/11/29/guilt-parade/ The Murray Darling Basin: the end of an era, John Quiggin I think it’s time to declare an end to my work on the Murray. I think the work I put into this problem, along with many other natural and social scientists, led to a better outcome than we might have seen otherwise. And, sometime before too long, I really will take the family on the houseboat trip I’ve been planning since the beginning. http://johnquiggin.com/2012/11/29/the-murray-darling-basin-the-end-of-an-era/ First comments from the Prime Minister's office responding denying she misled the WA Commission, Latika Bourke Statement from a spokesperson for the Prime Minister:Tony Abbott this morning accused the Prime Minister of misleading the West Australian Corporate Affairs Commission, and of breaking the law. These assertions are completely unsupported by the evidence. The unredacted transcript says only that the Prime Minister stated that the Association was not a trade union – a fact that is clearly true. Tony Abbott needs to produce evidence to support his unsubstantiated claim, or follow his Deputy into a humiliating backdown. http://www.facebook.com/notes/latika-m-bourke/first-comments-from-the-prime-ministers-office-responding- Tony Abbott's Godwin Grech moment - Parliament of Australian 29 Nov 2012 , George Bludger Tony Abbott's Godwin Grech moment - no evidence, no smoking gun and no guts. Nothing but a smear campaign against the Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard. The PM, during Question Time in the Australian Parliament, gives Abbott the opportunity to produce the evidence, the smoking gun, anything, and Abbott fails spectacularly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVITXO_4500&feature=em-uploademail Today’s Front Pages Australia Newspaper Front Pages for 30 November 2012 http://www.frontpagestoday.co.uk/index.cfm?PaperCountry=Australia

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30/11/2012LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

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30/11/2012Hi Michael Your opinion is always correct in my opinion: Thankyou Michael. Be sure to read Under the Milky Way Michael you said: "Obviously Abbott considers 'Slater and Gordon' to be the new 'carbon tax' as his political strategy to destroy the La