Rostrum: Kochabbott Edition
The following article is very funny and is written by Ben Jenkins……
On Monday morning, David Koch discussed shopping-centre Santas with no fewer than five pundits, got annoyed with a plush cow wearing a Hawaiian shirt, read out a riddle about a stapler and obliterated the 28th Prime Minister of Australia in a six-minute interview.
This surprised many because David Koch is a serious journalist in the way that a picture of a horse is a viable Melbourne Cup champion.
Of course, adding to this was the fact that Tony Abbott, only one week previously, had been taken to task by Today Show host and bar tab enthusiast Karl Stefanovic in a short film titled Tired Man Is Uncomfortable In Front of Big Christmas Tree.
Being Frost/Nixoned by a man whose previous interviewees include a literal cat is not a great look, and these poor showings have only fuelled leadership speculation, with suggested candidates for the top job ranging from Julie Bishop to an ice sculpture of Bob Menzies chiselled from a block of frozen tears.
So what’s going on here?
Was the PM ambushed by two usually sympathetic interviewers?
To use the boxing parlance so often adopted when talking about the PM, did Abbott “let his guard down” only to be “question-punched” in by these two “featherweight word-boxers” in some kind of “interview ring”?
Not really. Neither man asked any particularly pointed questions. It’s actually just a case of the PM suffering from a phenomenon political scientists call “being extremely shithouse at interviews”.
While Abbott tries valiantly to smash the ship of state through the iceberg of public opinion, it’s easy to forget that our prime minister is, and always has been, a terrible interviewee.
His complete inability to change tack renders any interview a stilted exchange with a distressingly sinewy random word generator, in which an answer matching a question is purely a matter of chance.
True, it’s better than his previous strategy of “wordlessly stare into Mark Riley’s soul until he leaves you alone out of pure awkwardness”, but not by a huge margin.
Abbott is so unwilling to back down on any matter at all that when he calls David Koch “Chris” for a second time during the interview, the PM doesn’t even acknowledge it, let alone apologise.
In fairness, this takes an impressive amount of chutzpah. Imagine any other politician on either side of the house doing this. Anyone.
You can even envisage Scott Morrison – a man who gives off the aura of a malevolent entity forged in a volcano – pulling up and acknowledging his mistake. It wouldn’t be hard.
“Sorry, it’s that time of year, David!” or “Sorry, David. It’s early and some of us have been up all night drawing a pentagram of runes over the hellmouth.”
The issue is not that Stefanovic and Koch are having their Network moments.
Abbott’s strategy of remaining heroically disconnected from reality is what makes these interviews likely and magnificent trainwrecks.
The truly remarkable thing about these two exchanges is not that they happened on breakfast television, it’s that they haven’t happened more often elsewhere.
theguttertrash.com 
it’s better than his previous strategy of “wordlessly stare into Mark Riley’s soul until he leaves you alone out of pure awkwardness”, but not by a huge margin
That’s quite funny.
So is this…
“This surprised many because David Koch is a serious journalist in the way that a picture of a horse is a viable Melbourne Cup champion.”
“”Abbott’s strategy of remaining heroically disconnected from reality””
Laughter.
As well as being shit house at interviews he is shit house at being a human being. No wonder his every public appearance is micro managed and staged to endure he doesn’t accidentally reveal himself, he also has his own camera man and media entourage to ensure the right propaganda gets out.
Still he stuffs it up because as Russell Brand says, he’s a lunatic.
A bible thumping lunatic at that (the worst kind)
“”As well as being shit house at interviews he is shit house at being a human being. “”
LOL!
Russell Brand called someone else a lunatic???? Has he no self-awareness at all. In a category overflowing with contenders, Brand is one of the dumbest leftists of all time.
I’m sure bolt would agree with you sb
(Following on from Tony ‘we’re entitled, I’m entitled’ Abbott’s keepy-faithy rejection of any who would question his categorical commitment to truth in political advertising, up next, after the ad break, or even during the ad break, there’s more modest DIY surgery announcements from Joe ‘end of the age of entitlement’ Hockey, only on the ABC, your efficiency dividend channel: MYEFO: Treasurer Joe Hockey says more cuts will be announced in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook .)
Can anyone else smell further taxpayer funded, saturated advertising propaganda designed to manufacture consent for the government’s unheralded (prior to the election) and unwanted ideological slashing campaign?
Yeah, that will win them heaps more support, not. Stupid fucks take most of the population for idjits as they haphazardly try to appease their shrinking base.
I caught a whiff of that smell on Joe’s breath from IvIeta’s link above.
The self destruction is quite spectacular in recent times!
One can only hope they heed monocular polemicists like Herr Bolt, urging them to go in harder for the Right & Fight …because that’s certain to plunge them straight over the precipice of no return
It always amuses me that fuckwits of the Boltian flavour dangerously assume that their views are shared by a majority of the general populace. Ivory Tower detachment writ large.
Whoooooo, killed Koch-Abbooooott?!!!
Great find reb. 🙂 As Jenkins points-out, the `feather-weights` are easily wrangling mr-rabbit and his bullshit, which `also` highlights just how much teabag-media `actually` laid-down for the zombies in the pre-election period, and how poorly teabag-media served the voting public.
I’m sure bolt would agree with you sb
or vice-versa 😉
It’s actually just a case of the PM suffering from a phenomenon political scientists call “being extremely shithouse at interviews”.
😆
It’s actually just a case of the PM suffering from a phenomenon political scientists call “being extremely shithouse”.
That would have sufficed reb
Brand: “In this new book, I ask some people – who know a lot about how systems can work – wevva or not the systerm we currently have, global capitalism, is the best one for the majority of people. Them experts go: No! It’s a really bad one and it’s only good for a few people.”
Profound. Where do I sign?
‘Ivory Tower detachment writ large.’
There is a lot of it about.
Among other things…of which there is much less about than there used to be.
Yeah that Russell brand don’t ave cred like Lambie aye…?
‘Ivory Tower detachment writ large.’
Dog’s ambassador on earth believes our star is irrelevant.
“An effective fight against global warming will be possible only with a collective and responsible answer” that overcomes one-sided or special interests and is “free from political and economic influence,” the Pope said.
Yeah that Russell brand don’t ave cred like Lambie aye…?
or pyne, abbott, brandis, andrews, abetz
and he talks all funny and cockney like, can’t possibly make any contribution!
I’m sure bolt would agree with you sb
I certainly do, sb … can’t stand the Dickwit!
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As Jenkins points-out, the `feather-weights` are easily wrangling mr-rabbit and his bullshit
It may have been the strategy to avoid the heavy-weights and it backfired … poor judgement …again … I mean The Abbott has now got the Canberra Monastery in a state over his comments in calling the Acolytes sexist … who else can the man insult? He should be banned from school tours I reckon …
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the Pope said.
WGAF what the pope said … although this current pope (and the last according to Nostradamus’ Quatrains – as believable as the pope) … does seem to be reasonably intelligent and down to earth (‘scuse the pun) … 😉
I certainly do, sb … can’t stand the Dickwit!
Dismiss the power of celebrity over a young generation who are sick and tired of the way the world is run by wealthy elites acting for their own self interest at your peril TB!.
I agree with his call for change and revolution, I want it badly too!
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2014/12/13/how-the-pms-office-wrecking-his-government/14183892001351#.VIulX9KUeSo
Yep. We are about to hit an iceberg.
http://www.afr.com/p/national/reserve_bank_boss_warns_leadership_vzs90YwwWOqkEWXW5FV2gP
“Glenn Stevens has issued a blistering challenge to all federal politicians that they need to “get real” about fixing medium-term budget difficulties by having a serious discussion that avoids simplistic “slogans and name-calling.”
He indicated that failure to fix the budget within the next five years could result in Australia potentially losing its AAA credit rating – and see the nation forced into European-style austerity measures against its wishes.”
Witness, polemic desperation at its peak…palpable refusal to countenance that advice from those such as himself may be what’s gotten AbbottCorp so deep in the faeces to begin with.
Herr Bolt, the partisan arsehat with a knack for narrow spectrum interpretations.
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/no_more_mr_nice_guy1/
“I admire Abbott’s Christian spirit. But his enemies have no such spirit themselves. Time to be inspired not by the New Testament but the Old. Time for some smiting.
“And I will bring the sword on you to avenge the breaking of the covenant.”
G U F F A W ! ! !
The key message to take from Hauptmann Bolt’s dirges in recent times is that…
*everything would be ok if Abbott just listened to his advice
*it’s not punitive, ideological policy making which everyone hates (!) , it’s the lack of proper communication of said policy which is hurting AbbottCorp apparently…probably why they need to spend my tax on partisan advertising campaigns to brainwash the victims of their nasty policies into believing that they’re actually getting a favour & some nice sauce on their shitsandwich.
*after years of screeching the abbottabbottabbott meme (which seems to be daily debunked by the [lack of] popularity and performance of the man himself) sturmfuhrer now devotes screeds to laborlaborlabor! Apparently Abbott’s problems are all of their (and an obstructionist Senate) making!
*as tenuous as all of his shit is to begin with, it really falls apart when one casts one’s mind back to the behaviour & well documented statements of AbbottCorp in Opposition.
Pyne gave away the game the other week on the BoltReport, allegedly, when he came out & openly verbally confirmed that Obermenschen Bolt is “trying to get the government re-elected”. I can’t confirm this, coz I would never watch that Dutchman on TV…but the videos are out there.
Anyhow, it’s great to see his apologetics disintegrating into frustration & calls for a harder right ideological bludgeon to be administered. A recipe for
further poll plungingsuccess.I fell asleep half way down. But so what.
We are about to hit an iceberg and you do not care.
(Have you perused the full interview transcript, Neil?)
“I fell asleep half way down”
Somehow you imagined that I was writing that for your benefit, kneel?
Just so you know, I can predict your puerile contributions as soon as I see your name. Usually, that precludes reading them at all.
You are the very epitome of a Boltian gargoyle…but, admittedly, denser than most of them.
“Have you perused the full interview transcript, Neil?”
Highly doubtful, I’d suggest.
Kneel falls asleep when people start using big words he doesn’t comprehend.
We are about to hit an iceberg and you do not care.
So sack the fucking captain! And get someone who can actually command the ship! Instead of upsetting the crew, the passengers and the owners! And foreign owners …
And keep The Abbott out of SCHOOLS .. and away from CHILDREN!
Kneel falls asleep when people start using big words he doesn’t comprehend.
Knel, is not awake … The Walking Dead!
No. Abbott knows their is an iceberg ahead.
But the Labor Party and their supporters either do not know or do not care.
Kneel knows because Abbott and his polemicists told him so.
I wonder how long Abbott would have to be in government before the woes of the world wouldn’t be all the fault of the ALP? (I’m gonna take a punt and say there’s no statute of limitation on that in the minds of kneels everywhere).
Partisan arsehat.
No. I just look at history.
Hawke/Keating took govt debt from 6% of GDP to 18%. Cain/Kirner almost sent Victoria bankrupt. Beattie/Bligh exploded Queensland govt debt. Burke and WA Inc.
The only Labor Party govt i know of that does not destroy the budget is here in NSW for some strange reason.
Abbott is this countries only hope. If Labor gets back in under Shorten this country has no hope.
If Labor gets back in under Shorten this country has no hope.
I agree, Kneel, we’re all DOOMED!
You got it.
ALP supporters do not care about debt. They want to put everything on the Mastercard and eat, drink and be merry.
“No. I just look at history.”
Yeah, through a single eye.
And most everything you utter is requisitely tainted.
Do you really believe if Shorten gets back in things would change??
ALP supporters think money grows on trees. Debt is not a problem.
Stephen Koukoulas, the great false prophet, says that Australia does not have enough debt.
No. I look at history. And history says most ALP govts were failures.
I fell asleep half way down.
Yet the outcome is still the same. Or do you fall asleep everytime you read?
””””””””It doesn’t stop there. Abbott has flagged another rethink is under way on his “signature” paid parental leave scheme. Clive Palmer unkindly linked that policy to Credlin, only to apologise later. But some on the backbench are hoping it’s a better makeover than the co-payment. Liberal senator Ian Macdonald wants it shelved. “The PPL sends all the wrong messages and has to be postponed until the budget is in order,” he says.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2014/12/13/how-the-pms-office-wrecking-his-government/14183892001351#.VIulX9KUeSo
””””””””””””””
+
””””””””””””Hockey isn’t the only senior minister with PMO troubles. Liberal deputy leader and foreign minister Julie Bishop has reportedly decided she will no longer take orders from Credlin, and other cabinet members feel the same. Just as stories of the Rudd office’s dysfunction began seeping into the media for months before he was brought down as prime minister in 2010, persistent reports are beginning to appear about the Abbott office. One of the more colourful was in The Australian. The relationship between Bishop and Credlin is said to have irretrievably broken down. The paper quotes a frontbencher saying, “They are like two Siamese fighting fish stuck in the same tank.” There are on-the-record denials all round, but Bishop has been publicly flexing her muscles.””””””””””’#nice-find-armchair
# hey tomR, teabag bongiorno did a much better job than sweet Laurie on the credlin story
”””””It may have been the strategy to avoid the heavy-weights and it backfired”’
# yeah, that`s definitely a possibility TB, tho l suspect the feather-weights pretty-much stumbling blindly into their network-moments more likely, under the `broken-clock` rule (which manages to be correct twice a day)
__________________________
”””””””””’another rethink is under way on his “signature” paid parental leave scheme. Clive Palmer unkindly linked that policy to Credlin, only to apologise later.”””
# still value in clive TB, especially when he has dinner dates with disgruntled teabags 😉
Hokeynomics
http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/tony-abbott-risks-recession-as-his-infrastructure-pledge-falters-20141205-120oty.html
http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/joe-hockey-blowing-hundreds-of-millions-to-make-himself-look-good-20131029-2wcy3.html
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/treasury-backs-glenn-stevens-call-to-devalue-dollar/story-e6frg8zx-1227153593366
Hokeynomics should get interesting. Tomorrow is it, the MYEFO?
If this mythical “iceberg” is coming, the libs haven’t only shuffled the deckchairs, they’ve also bolted on a few gold leafed thrones to add to the weight.
Labor should have got rid of more if the “entitlements” when they had the opportunity. As it was, they barely got through tinkering with the edges (and some that they did the libs immediately re-instated)
As it was, they barely got through tinkering with the edges (and some that they did the libs immediately re-instated)
Can’t wait for the pollies pay rise reaction next year … 😉
Under Gillard, we had the Unhingement, is this now the Un-spooling (hat tip anonymous)
There’s a lot more, but it’s good to remember that the same truck that delivers the kool aid to the reptiles also stops at Fairfax …
http://loonpond.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/curiouser-and-curiouser-as-reptiles.html
Special awards to libtika and hatcheter
Can’t wait for the pollies pay rise reaction next year …
I get the feeling it will concentrate on Shorten’s pay packet for some reason
http://www.news.com.au/national/joe-hockey-says-budget-will-act-as-a-shock-absorber-to-protect-australia/story-fncynjr2-1227155513374
Bugger … I’d hate to be relying on negative gearing, or a family trust, or be a pollie whose retired from public
purse snatchingservice … 🙄http://loonpond.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/curiouser-and-curiouser-as-reptiles.html
Enjoyed that loonpond piece tomR!
Yeah, this will work, come and talk about your problem to the person who is causing them. Woudn’t they be better off going to an independent arbiter like the federal director, Mr Loughnane…oh wait , bit of a problem there too.
This is delicious too
http://loonpond.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/in-which-pond-cries-et-tu-akker-dakker.html#.VIz0VtKUeSo
…Yes, never mind the policy back flips and the policy fuck ups, here (with Jedi mind trick and hand wave), focus on this woman. It’s all the fault of this woman …
And so, in a breath-taking, gob-smacking way, all talk of the Poodle’s destruction of education, jolly Joe’s destructive, cruel and badly constructed budget, and the even worse sales pitch that followed, and big Mal’s destruction of the NBN and the introduction of a filter, and Morrison’s un-Christian crucifixion of refugees, to the point of using children for blackmail, and so on and on, is somehow transformed into Abbott being in a bubble …
It was always thus, that women had to wear the fuck ups of men, but this is so rich, this is so naked, that it finally makes obvious what went down in the Gillard years …
Oh for fucks sake, reptiles, harden the fuck up. If an on the nose government delivers on the nose policies in an inept, fumbling way, have the good grace to acknowledge that Tony Abbott’s not some pathetic little boy being herded to his doom by some Amazonian matriarch …
…Now the conversation has been transformed into one the krazed commentariat is komfortable with. They learned the lines long ago. You know, ditch the witch, kill the bitch, blame the witch, an endless monotonous chanting right out of Lord of the Flies, and led by Tony Abbott . Well credit where credit is due …
From the “loonpond” link above …
Well at least our Walri, is not all of the above … 🙂
http://loonpond.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/curiouser-and-curiouser-as-reptiles.html
I’m of for shitmas now, as of end of NS this morning…and Cpt Morgan is off the hook…
“and Cpt Morgan is off the hook…”
😯 😉
*off 😉
Anyone else seen The Fury?
Was blunt & impacting until it went all hero-wankathon in its death throes, I thought.
Still, my viewing was courtesy of North Korea (allegedly), so maybe the watermark fucked the whole (end of) show?
Anyone else seen The Fury?
My review is around here somewhere … bit like yours, Toillette …
Still, my viewing was courtesy of North Korea (allegedly), so maybe the watermark fucked the whole (end of) show?
BTW, don’t tell Willie, he gets all white charger and defender of the copyrights …
Just sayin’
Look forward to seeing ya here more often if you’re puttin’ yer feet up!
Unstoppable Infringement…
We haven’t really discussed the cricket much lately…
Fuck straya…emo-wankathon-to-the-MAX…
unfit to be pm because she has no children
chief of staff is obviously a different matter
#go-stick
Fcuk Loonpond for reinforcing my confirmation bias.
Fcuk Moondog too. 🙂
I see murdor is still spying on people it hates
I see hockey is still spinning a yarn
“The Government has decided to use the budget which is stronger than it was 12 months ago as a shock absorber for the biggest fall in our export prices in many years,” Mr Hockey said.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-14/budget-a-shock-absorber-for-falling-export-prices-hockey-says/5965814
I wonder if an intrepid microphone stand will ask him just “how” it is stronger?
I mean, pretty much everything we measure it by is tracking away from that conclusion.
It’s like yabot trotting out again and again the budget deterioration, Labors “black hole”, but nobody points out that deterioration came from the Independent PEFO and hockeys (even at the time maligned) MYEFO, not from anything Labor had done.
$8 Billion to the reserve bank ($300 million in interest aline in that) and all the lost revenue from Labors policies they scrapped.
Questions, will any ask them, that is the Question?
An extremely good explanation of some of the major flaws with the re-hashed GP co-payment
9 reasons why GPs are being screwed by government
http://doctorsbag.net/2014/12/12/9-reasons-why-gps-are-being-screwed-by-government/
To me, the money quote is the false premise this change is brought in under
#3
Medicare is not unsustainable. This is a false argument by the government. The increase in health expenditure in general practice has been slow, and in line with overall economic growth and GDP. Professor Jeff Richardson, Centre for Health Economics at Monash University said this:
“Public spending on health as a percentage of GDP is among the lowest in the OECD. Only Chile, Estonia, Hungary, Israel, Mexico, Poland and the Slovak Republic channel less of their GDP into health via the government.
TomR’s hero Craig Thomson is about to learn whether he goes to jail.
Verdict 10am
Walrus we must wait until the court process has finished before we rush to conclusions. Thomosn must be afforded the presumption of innocence. Even if you believe he is guilty you should know by now that the darndest things happen in courts in Unionland.
“”Walrus we must wait until the court process has finished before we rush to conclusions””
Yes……..of course………….how silly of me
Even if you believe he is guilty
Ahh, belief, I thought only climate scientists had that?
I now know why the left have been so fawning towards Russell Brand – from Nigel Farrage:
“Everyone fancied that Mr Brand and I might butt heads, but actually, as we entered the studio, and his personal make-up artist straightened his chest hair for him, I kid you not, I realised that perhaps he might be a bit lighter weight than expected.”
With credentials like that this man of the people stands a good chance of being fellated and felched from here to eternity by unctuous leftists the world over.
“Ahh, belief, I thought only climate scientists had that?”
As the Climategate emails showed, they long ago stopped believing. For them it is all about vanity, fame and fortune. They all know that climate change is entirely Mann-made.
As the Climategate emails showed stealing emails and posting snippets of conversations with no context and even less understanding means you can attribute anything to them
#justsayin’ 😉
Islamic State have taken the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place. Won’t someone please send in a teacher to educate ths guy?
http://www.news.com.au/national/a-man-is-holding-several-people-hostage-at-martin-place-cafe/story-fncynjr2-1227156241649
AN ARMED man is holding several people hostage at a cafe in Martin Place in Sydney.
There are hostages standing with their hands up at the windows in the popular Lindt chocolate shop, which has two or three entrances. There is also a black and white flag being held up in a window. It is believed to be the Black Standard, a jihadist flag.
This doesn’t look like it’s going to have a pleasant ending.
Nah, its some of the Chaser Lads mates from UTS putting their habds on the windows with a black banner. Network-7 cacked em`selves and unleashed a panic. #Teabag-Network
BDS are going to be pissed. The poor fool misread his instructions and went to the Lindt Cafe instead of Max Brenner.
Even if you believe he is guilty
The fucker is guilty … oh * …
(Another huge gelled-jointing win for the corroding, noisy, lossy, more-costly-to-repair-than-an-entirely-new-fibre-NBN, mixed-technology NBN: Federal Government strikes new deal with Telstra to deliver NBN.)
Reports that now the Opera House and Circular Quay being evacuated due to suspicious package.
I knew Brandis was overreacting with those Terrorism laws
Walrus, this is not even Brandis’ portfolio. Pyne is responsible for education – blame him.
Everything`s Fine. Nobody has recognized the Check-out and Hungry-Beast extras yet. #Teabag-Panic
“Religious nuts.”
You mean someone implementing the teachings of the Koran in the manner of the first three generations of Muslims!
(No money for books, only money for more bombs and Brandis’s bookcases, the kiddies have made their choice: MYEFO: Foreign aid slashed again, budget deficits to balloon in mid-year update.)
6 army Black Hawks reported heading to siege.
Complete over reaction.
These terrorists just need a big cuddle.
Nothing at all to worry about
Lucky it is not a court of morals – Thomson and his Unionland cronies must be very grateful as they have none.
These terrorists just need a big cuddle.
Give ’em a book!
TONY Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull have officially signed a deal to buy back Telstra’s $11 billion copper network. A network the Howard government sold to Telstra last century.
Oh, the irony … (coppery?)
However, the new arrangement will see the copper network now used in places where the government will be rolling out its fibre-to-the-node network. Included with the ownership of the copper network, NBN Co is now responsible for the ongoing maintenance and operation of the ageing technology.
And the Optus HFC network is mostly hanging around on power poles!
Oh, the stupid ignorance …
Adults in charge my arse … incompetent, overspending fools … the initial cost may be “cheaper” but the ongoing maintenance will far outstrip that!
Leaving a legacy for our children as The Abbott and Hockey are wont to prattle about …
Oh, the stupid ignorance …
I AGREE!
Speaking of stupid ignorance
WATCHERS of the Bureau of Meteorology’s satellite feeds will have noticed a curious phenomenon in recent weeks. Enormous amounts of rain have fallen on NSW, but the vast majority of that rain has been concentrated on urban coastal areas.
It is almost as though nature is toying with the state’s inland rural areas, which are desperate for water while Sydney’s dams remain close to capacity. Three years of drought have pushed farmers and their families to their limits.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/farmers-drought-ravaged-and-in-desperate-need/story-fni0cwl5-1227155856300
Funnily enough, Climate Scientists have a “belief” for this.
“Funnily enough, Climate Scientists have a “belief” for this.”
Yes. The belief that weather is climate when it suits them.
Now reports upto 50 hostages have been taken.
Yeo…………..nothing to worry about……………………there is no terrorism threat on our soil.
Nah………………….nothing like this would ever happen
Julian and Craig want to know if anybody has seen Bruno, he has Chas`s `Osama-Costume` #poor-planning
Funnily enough, Climate Scientists have a “belief” for this.
Pipelines and pumps are a good idea … 🙄
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Nah………………….nothing like this would ever happen
What are you on, Willie, whoever said that?
CHOCOLATE SHOP JIHAD MAYHEM!
but the ongoing maintenance will far outstrip that
Got a link to prove that? There is routinely analysis of repair/maintain vs construct/replace. You’ll need to demonstrate that this hasn’t been done.
Convenient that this so-called “terrorist threat” coincides with Hockey’s budget update.
#someonehadtosayit
If Abbott wasn’t so Islamophobic this never would have happened!
Nah………………….nothing like this would ever happen
On the contrary, we suspected that it is more likely to happen.
Preventing bee-sting is easy. Just whack the hive with a bat until the bees fly away.
You’ll need to demonstrate that this hasn’t been done.
NEED TO? LOL!
We are talking COPPER … s-l-o-w copper … Australia is now 40th in internet speed …
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
50 hostages according to TV …!
The Abbott is about to re-assure us everything is being done that can be done … wonder why it took so long? 🙄
“On the contrary, we suspected that it is more likely to happen.”
Yeah. We just didn’t want to pass any laws to try to stop it. We were too busy scoring political points.
I blame Asutralia’s foreign policy and getting involved in the fight against IS. It only encourages recruitment.
/sarc.
You’ll need to demonstrate that this hasn’t been done.
Actually, since turnbull made so much noise about transparency, I think the case can easily be made that he’ll need to demonstrate that this has been done.
(A luxuriant walk down memory-aid lane, for benefit of the Sydney (Bush) Telegraph: “GRAFFITI vandals have targeted the Subiaco electorate office of Federal Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop. Ms Bishop’s Rokeby Road office was sprayed with graffiti in an apparent political protest. Scrawled on a wall outside the office is the number 0.7% and the words: “Dear Julie, please don’t forget 0.7%, foreign aid needs you, sincerely yours.” Ms Bishop said: “This is clearly an expression of frustration that the Labor Government has broken its commitment to increase the foreign aid budget to meet a particular target. The Coalition remains committed to a foreign aid budget equivalent to 0.5% of Gross National Income.” Ms Bishop has been the Federal member for Curtin since 1998 and the Federal Deputy Opposition Leader since 2007.”)
Yeah. We just didn’t want to pass any laws to try to stop it. We were too busy scoring political points.
The laws to deal with hostage siege are adequate to deal with Martin Place … the surveillance laws that ASIO and AFP and State Police operated under were also sufficient …
Tories have always accused the left of curtailing rights and freedoms of individuals when in fact the opposite is true …
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A speshul report for, ToM …
http://www.zdnet.com/article/nbn-to-save-up-to-au700m-in-copper-maintenance-costs/
Add to the above $11 billion to Telstra an $11 billion to Optus …
I thought you NEEDED* that …
(For Certain; Teabag E.L.D.E.R [Everybody`s-Loyal-Deputy-Except-Rudd`s] JooLIE had her office vandalized with graffiti. JooLIE still wants to know; Who gave that bitch Credlin the spray-paint.?)
The leftist twittersphere is visciously vituperative except, it seems, when discussing Islamic terrorism.
Nah, not surprised with the odds armchair, the Teabags struggle to toss a leader, crap or otherwise, and will run the rabbit. Since the alp kept knifing their leaders, l think the teabags resistance to leader changing would become more entrenched, not less.
That’s a relief. Nothing to worry about given those flags.
———-
So Craig is only a convicted thief now! That’s also a relief.
What a tool Mike Carlton is. If anyone wrote out a biblical quote, that would be christian writing.
“So Craig is only a convicted thief now! That’s also a relief.”
A true son of Unionland. He took the shame and ignomy and toughed it out to prop up the Gillard government until they could find a more virtuous lackey, Slipper.
TB, perhaps note – BIS Shrapnel deduced the costs mainly through a survey of contractors.
That sounds reliable
BIS Shrapnel deduced the costs mainly through a survey of contractors.
More reliable that shite weve just bought (back) … and as you should know being an economics grad extrapolation of costings from surveys ain’t unique in the business world …
And yes I did notice … I’m sure people far more knowledgeable than this little duck will demonstrate what a fuck up this will be … copper should be avoided at all costs in the 21st Century – its 19th Century technology!
Does anyone know if the Martin Place hostage-taker is a Tewwawist?
(Not sure if the spelling is correct, I’ve never written that word before. Perhaps Tewwowist?)
Yes TB , having dealt with some of those contractors, I have no doubt about their integrity and transparency when it comes to telling Telstra and the public about the cost of telecommunications maintenance
It has taken over front page tosy, so definitely a tewawist
Meanwhile, hockey is ploughing ahead
“So Craig is only a convicted thief now! That’s also a relief.”
I wonder what the theft charges were for? Was the icecream on that list?
It’s an outrage I say!
So … now we have the new Victorian Premiere burbling on TV … expect all the others … this really is fkn silly …
I hope the hostages all send the bloody governments and TV stations a bill!
Grandstanding of the worst kind …
I have no doubt about their integrity and transparency when it comes to telling Telstra and the public about the cost of telecommunications maintenance
Do I detect a modicum of sarcasm there? Not everyone is a LNP supporter … don’t judge others as you judge yourselves …
If anyone wrote out a biblical quote, that would be christian writing.
What is the Islamist quote?
I have no doubt about their integrity and transparency when it comes to telling Telstra and the public about the cost of telecommunications maintenance
I’m looking forward to NBNCo having to deal with Asbestos problems, which the media used to try and put onto them
Now it looks like it really will be their problem.
It wasn’t a political comment TB, but ALL the maintenance contractors to Telstra were also wanting to get a huge lump of work over the next 8 years in building the NBN. It was seen as the juciest contract in years.
It was in the interests of those contractors to overstate the benefits and savings of the NBN. The higher the savings, the greater the momentum to build it faster.
Or do you think contractors just cough up commercial information without any agenda?
This story was interesting a few days ago … I wonder?
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/you-let-my-girl-fly-off-to-die-jihadi-amira-karroums-father-blames-australian-government-for-daughters-death/story-fni0cx12-1227154629432
Or do you think contractors just cough up commercial information without any agenda?
Y’know ToM, I really don’t care … you should know (if you are as knowledgeable as you claim) that NBN (taxpayers) have been sold a double headed pup …
… slower speeds and higher maintenance … Malcolm is just pissing other people’s money up against a wall to prove political ego BS …
Australia now 40th on the list for internet speed …
http://www.news.com.au/technology/state-of-the-internet-australia-web-speeds-ranking-dwindles-to-40th-place-globally/story-e6frfro0-1226560992748
Speaking of infrastructure, it looks like the vics dodged a doosey
Toll revenue from the cancelled East West Link project would have been so minimal compared to the huge construction costs that it would have taken 56 years to pay for it, the business case reveals.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/east-west-link-business-case-revealed-56-years-to-pay-off-20141215-127dyq.html
I really don’t care …
Then why bother to raise the issue and rely on the assurances of contractors as “evidence”?
http://www.afr.com/p/technology/nbn_co_advised_against_buying_telstra_GaZ1juQhhRtnJQ4WvTGyrJ
And now the horse has bolted … read this from the horses mouth! (note the dates)
http://www.abc.net.au/technology/articles/2013/09/19/3851924.htm
words fail (but not for them unfortunately)
I recall the libs screaming when Labor didn’t increase the foreign aid by as much as planned
So has Martin Place been blown up yet….?
So has Martin Place been blown up yet….?
Nup … just the Budget …
the LNP is like a fkn yo-yo, hey, the Siege would give them a surge in the polls and the Mid Year Budget will bring it back down again … where it will end nobody knows!
You obviously live in Melbourne …
Anywhere between a dozen and 50 hostages, and not a gun between them. How do you think this guy would fare in, say, Texas?
http://www.theage.com.au/nsw/ray-hadley-spoke-to-a-hostage-inside-lindt-chocolat-cafe-in-martin-place-20141215-127ghi.html
How do you think this guy would fare in, say, Texas?
Mmmmm … thank you Mr Howard …
“…Anywhere between a dozen and 50 hostages, and not a gun between them. How do you think this guy would fare in, say, Texas?…”
He would have walked in and started blasting away with his semi automatic. Most dead in the first minutes.
(It has graphs! SBS: Get the data: foreign aid takes a massive hit – again.)
I really don’t care …
Then why bother to raise the issue and rely on the assurances of contractors as “evidence”?
Because its the closest to the costs we have available … wonder why … Telstra wanted to sell it …
Even Telstra were talking about the issues in 2003 … see above …
I have no idea why I bother discussing anything logically with you these days ToM … if you really think that buying decaying copper to stick on the end of glass fibre is a viable solution to the future communication infrastructure of the country … then I can’t convince you … and won’t bother …
For an educated person with such a lot of work experience you certainly argue points based on emotion … rather than the logically bleedin’ obvious …
So, I really don’t care … the NBN will be a crock of shit until its built properly … FTTH … the best thing that could happen is that as the copper deteriorates it is replaced with fibre …
As Australia drops past the 40th world place in internet speed … y’know the infrastructure that most business is conducted on.
Its a bit like a state building a four lane concrete highway and buying up all the gravel roads to properties off the local councils … and maintaining the gravel roads instead laying a decent road surface … as the roads deteriorate and it becomes more difficult to use the gravel roads the costs go up … and there is really no benefit from the new highway ’cause people have trouble accessing it … especially when the gravel roads are being constantly maintained … you could buy a horse … make sure it complies and buy some blinkers …
(And loop de loop: “Mr Hockey and Mr Robb said the $4.5 billion saved from reducing foreign aid growth would go towards infrastructure projects such as Melbourne’s East West link ($1.5 billion), Sydney’s WestConnex ($1.5 billion) and the Brisbane Gateway Motorway upgrade ($1 billion).”)
ROFL Meta
They certainly have their finger on the pulse 😉
Melbourne’s East West link ($1.5 billion), Sydney’s WestConnex ($1.5 billion) and the Brisbane Gateway Motorway upgrade ($1 billion).”)
$500,000 PROFIT! Chuckle … adults in charge my arse …
BTW what happened to “loop de loop”
The Victorian Government’s analysis of the East West Link (EWL) business case shows the project would increase traffic congestion on existing freeways and has a $2 billion funding black hole.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-15/east-west-link-victorian-goverment-business-case/5966938
OK, so the vic libs can’t count (or don’t want to)
But considering yabot practically held the state to ransom over this project, shouldn’t some intrepid microphone stand waddle over to him to find out just what he knew, and why, now we all know, he pushed/threatened so hard for it?
Abbott is deeply unpopular, dysfunctional, ineffective and incompetent…
(BTW what happened to “loop de loop”
Dunno, but with a view to correction, the proper link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-27/reducing-foreign-aid-growth-promise-check/5430060 .)
adults locked into ideology. They believed their own spin
Joe Hockey’s budget update in the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook encapsulates a policy agenda entrenched in the deficit reduction obsession, with little regard for economic growth and a lower unemployment rate
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/dec/15/coalition-addiction-cuts-ignores-australia-growing-economic-problems
Laura Tingle isn’t convinced of the grubmints adulthood either
And the very decisions the government has made in this budget review do not give great confidence that they have a clear strategy for dealing with these problems.
It has been a truism of Australian politics for decades that the Coalition has traditionally been blessed with good economic luck, while Labor has tended to be voted into office just as things have turned sour: the OPEC oil crisis in the early 1970s in the case of Whitlam; the “banana republic’” fall in the terms of trade, and subsequent sharp reversal, for Hawke and Keating; the global financial crisis for Rudd.
But the mid-year review of the budget confirms that the decades-long run of economic good luck for the Coalition has finally come to an end.
http://www.afr.com/p/national/voters_vulnerable_as_luck_deserts_s5w5lvkjlghVebL9QWRDDP
(But, but, but, Neil says ‘Cassandra’ Abbott is the only one with a pamphlet to avoid a collision with (an) unforeseen iceberg(s), and nobody else but Tony in a nation of 23 million people is capable of an adult conversation about priorities, revenue, expenditure, governance structures, or the complexion of the commonwealth except the prayerful one who sometimes embellishes his dot points more than he ought in the heat of (im)mature argument.)
I’m hoping this gets some legs
“Anywhere between a dozen and 50 hostages, and not a gun between them. How do you think this guy would fare in, say, Texas?”
He would have been far ‘better’ armed, far more easily, and far more innocents would have potentially been killed & injured.
I can’t believe that such an event would be rationalised as an argument for less gun control! unfknblvbl
An excellent summation of the state of Aus Politics…
read it – go on READ IT!!
http://pbxmastragics.com/2014/11/24/that-was-then-this-is-now/
(It doesn’t have any pictures, but.
Anyways, David Pope, of the Canberra Times, reckons Team Australia’s making a pretty good show of it, no matter what the soporophic essay-scribblers say.)
(For Certain; Playing in the shallow end.
And after NSW have had to put out recent `siege`-fire and previous `cronulla`-fire, one wonders how many more possible, probable, other-fires NSW will be prepared to put out; without having to speak out about canberra-teabags and their possible, probable, over-use of their phobic-racist-based free-hate-speech; which may or may not over-stimulate cranks, crazies, jihadies, non-jihadies and mentally-ill with their continual pouring of petrol-like, gasoline-like, Limited-News-like substances on fires canberra-teabags also ignite.?)
The hits just keep on cumin
Tony Abbott now has a perfect record of breaking his promise of “no cuts to health” by cutting health funding in all three of the economic statements his government has handed down since he came to power.
In the 2013/14 MYEFO he announced a preliminary cut of over $200 million, before the 2014 Budget ripped over $50 billion from public hospitals.
The 2014 Budget included a cut of $1.9 billion over the forward estimates, a figure now added to by a further $940 million cut today.
Today’s Mini-Budget also exposes Tony Abbott’s claims to have abandoned his GP Tax as another lie.
The GP Tax is still budgeted to raise $3.5 billion over the next four years, barely unchanged from the $3.6 billion forecast on Budget night.
It shows the only change Tony Abbott has made to the GP Tax is to sneak it in by the back door, through regulation, instead of doing it up front, through legislation.
It’s still a GP Tax hitting the sick and the poor at their most vulnerable.
http://www.catherineking.com.au/media/abbott-government-rips-another-$940-million-from-h/
But what about all that tough talk at the G20 joe? lifters and leaners and all that?
As our deficit explodes beyond anything even rwdb’s projected under Labor, hockey is set to send more of our money overseas.
Treasurer Joe Hockey has broken a pledge to impose tough new tax avoidance rules on multinational companies that shift billions of dollars in profits between Australia and their international subsidiaries.
The practice of global corporations loading up subsidiaries with debt and then claiming relief from the Australian tax man on the interest paid gives an “unfair competitive advantage” over local rivals, Treasury said in 2013.
……
The Gillard government announced the abolition of deductions under section 25-90 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 as part of a package to combat tax minimisation by global corporations, at a projected benefit to the taxpayer of $600 million.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/hockey-backflips-on-tax-laws-to-target-multinational-profit-shifters-20141216-128ebg.html
Add that to the list of things Labor did to try and stop/slow this bleeding of taxpayer dollars to multinational billionaires
yabots profligate grubmint
The reason for the deficit is plain enough: the Australian government spends more money than it raises in tax revenue. Receipts this fiscal year are estimated to be $379 billion. But payments are $417 billion. With spending at 25.9 per cent of GDP, the Abbott government is indeed spending more than Julia Gillard’s government – more, in fact, than every year of the Rudd-Gillard era, except the stimulus year of 2009-10.
….
Firstly, the Abbott government is not truly pursuing austerity. It has not cut spending in any appreciable terms. Spending is up in both real and nominal terms. Since taking office, the government has increased outlays across several different measures, such as fighting another foreign war and giving the Reserve Bank an unnecessary $8.8 billion. Back in 2013, Wayne Swan’s final budget forecast government payments this year to be around 24.4 per cent of GDP. Instead, they will be 25.9 per cent.
……
The truth of the Abbott government’s fiscal policies is not so much a cut in spending, as a redistribution of it – away from the world’s poor and from low- and middle-income families, and towards big business, big polluters and the top end of town.
https://newmatilda.com/2014/12/16/myefo-confirms-hockey-lost-economic-fog-sets
The whole article is well worth the read. Basically, hockey is discovering, as Swan did, that revenue is collapsing. The difference being, I guess, is that Labor had a plan. hockeys plan seems to be stick to cutting everything, and letting the ‘free market’ rule. Perhaps they should try to reinstate a smarter, greener economy?
Cause it’s not looking good at the moment with their path.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-16/koukoulas-myefo-warning-fails-to-curb-spending-spree/5969364
…To be sure, the Abbott Government has imposed a range of spending cuts, especially in pensions, education and health over the forward estimates. But rather than using the savings to feed into the bottom line of the budget, the money has been “recycled” into other areas of spending.
With budget deficits set to remain for the next five years, the level of net government debt is forecast to rise to 17.2 per cent of GDP, just below the post-war peak of 18.1 per cent of GDP in the aftermath of the early 1990s recession.
The good news is that this remains low on any historical comparison and is a level that confirms Australia’s still fundamentally excellent fiscal position. That said, the MYEFO is highlighting that there does in fact need to be some remedial fiscal policy changes and not what the Abbott Government has so far delivered, which is spending cuts in one corner of the economy and ramped up spending in the other corner.
While tax to GDP levels will be approaching all time highs under the current policy mix of the Abbott Government, there remains an urgent need for changes to tax policy, including tax expenditures for superannuants and the business sector…
The story of risk averse and lazy australian business.
Don’t blame the workers for poor productivity:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-10/jericho-dont-blame-the-workers-for-poor-productivity/5956380
…But as the data shows, it was not the workers who let the side down, but those in charge of making investment decisions…
…Whenever productivity issues gets a run from business executives, inevitably the finger is pointed at the workers. The picture however is rather more complex, and suggests that the executives might do better to look as much at their own decisions as they do those of the unions…
there does in fact need to be some remedial fiscal policy changes and not what the Abbott Government has so far delivered
This is what Labor needs to drive home.
Yes, they were stupid to match Howrds profligacy, but, slowly, they were unwinding other taxes to try and get things back.
This mob have just unwound all that, and then made it worse on top of that
This mob have just unwound all that, and then made it worse on top of that
yeah, dumb austerity, the zombie economics of neocon failure lives in the cold black hearts of the libs and their rent seeking overlords.
If anyone else is watching World Without End on ABC … you’ll quickly realise that nothing much has changed … the Robber Barons are still robbing … the church is still playing politics … and the peasants are being screwed by both of the above in as many ways as you can imagine …
Great show BTW …
And the Kiwi whodunnit Broadwood is equally a good watch …
Great show BTW …
Cheers TB, might have to watch it. I’d looked on youtube, but then forgotten about it.
Do you have alink where it can be purchased?
I’ll also take a look at Broadwood?
I’m in the midst of watching Orphan Black at the moment, which is mildly engaging 😦
Sack Hunt
I wonder if he will now start the defamation proceedings?
$3,500 was what they ended up charging him on, and that was probably a technicality.
Wow, what a fucken crook.
Really?
He’s a convicted criminal. He stole from lowly paid union members who had entrusted part of their earnings with him. He just behaved as if their money existed for his personal expenditure.
There is nothing in this that you or Wicks should take comfort from.
“”Wow, what a fucken crook.””
Clearly you are quite comfortable with that outcome being a rusted bolted on and all.
But I wonder how many Union members will feel secure about their Union dues now ?
My God !
Seems I’m channeling ToM
“He’s a convicted criminal. He stole from lowly paid union members who had entrusted part of their earnings with him. He just behaved as if their money existed for his personal expenditure. “
No doubt Troll R is happy that these traditional Unionland values have not resulted in gaol time for Comrade Thomson.
He’s a convicted criminal.
He’s been “convicted” of far more before this in the libs gutter trawl. I wonder if, if he was perhaps more cashed up, he’d go for getting this lot thrown out too.
Remember the hundreds of thousands of dollars he was accused of “duping” the lowly paid union members of (some here might recall their statements). turns out that was all bogus. After all the legal wrangling and infinitely fine toothcombing, they charged him with stealing, using his credit card. From what I have read, it is only transactions that used an ATM he has been charged over, nothing else, which is why I mentioned the “technicality”.
$3,500! That’s less than half yabot stole from taxpayer to promote his book. And it is over a period of 5 years
Anyone else would have either been offered the chance to repay, or ignored and told to go to the naughty corner
$3,500 is all they got, if they even got that.
Perhaps once he’s finished suing people, perhaps he can afford to go get that cleared out too.
What a fucken joke. hundreds of thousands of dollars, hours, days of journo’s time “investigating”, and a stream of “evidence” that all turned to a pile of crap.
The only thing more blatantly obvious and politically motivated than this was the persecution of Slipper and Gillard.
What a rancid time in politics those years with yabot as opposition leader were.
Spin, spin, spin little troll.
Tom R has moved a long way from-
* Where’s the evidence?
* Thom(p)son is proof that he didn’t do it
* Think of the baby! (though that might have been one of the self banned.
Is Wicks still talking about the ‘sharing an office conspiracy’, while seeking to continue debates via personal email that he bans on his blog? He’s sure got some credibility!
Talking of technicalities:
Obviously Unionland apparatchiks see no cause for regret but rather a cause for celebration that the prosecution stuffed up.
“What a rancid time in politics those years with yabot as opposition leader were.”
True enough. Not because Abbott was opposition leader but because Gillard’s incompetent government was propped up by a fraudster she had complete confidence in (until an imaginary line called Slipper was crossed.)
Tom R – ‘Perhaps once he’s finished suing people, perhaps he can afford to go get that cleared out too
Yeah, he has such a successful record in defamation! He’d probably “settle” again.
“”What a fucken joke. hundreds of thousands of dollars, hours, days of journo’s time “investigating”, and a stream of “evidence” that all turned to a pile of crap.””
A pile of crap?
My understanding is that he’s been found guilty of theft and fined.
And about time.
Let’s not forget that he changed his tune from “guilty of no wrongdoing” to not “contesting the charges” and then attempted to have the whole thing thrown out on a technicality.
And before that occurred he had his little heartfelt “save poor widdle old me from bankruptcy” fundraiser where people donated their hard earned after believing his proclamations of innocence…
The only surprise in this whole sorry saga is that there are still some poor deluded fools who still defend him.
I wonder how his defamation case against Fairfax is coming along?
He’d probably “settle” again.
LOL… 🙂
Nothing else matters because TomtRoll is a fully paid up member of
Team Thommo ………………………………………..!
“Perhaps once he’s finished suing people, ”
I think you will find the HSU has already commenced action against him
Do you have alink where it can be purchased?
I’m a pensioner, TR, so I watch it on free to air TV … Wally, probably knows where you can buy a copy …
You should be able to get them both on catch-up anyway … iView for ABC (on there for a month) and apologies its BROKENWOOD was on Gem (9jumpin) … just checked Ep01 and 02 are both there … need to watch E01 to get the “foundation” …
And WWE is a series so you’ll need to watch from Ep01 …
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There is nothing in this that you or Wicks should take comfort from.
Have to agree with that … steal a dollar or steal a million … still stealin’ … I wish more catliks thought like that …
The only thing more blatantly obvious and politically motivated than this was the persecution of Slipper and Gillard.
What a rancid time in politics those years with yabot as opposition leader were.
Have to agree with that too … wonder if The Abbott has a slush fund lined up in the Monastery for Pauline Hanson this time around …
… propped up by a fraudster she had complete confidence in (until an imaginary line called Slipper was crossed.)
…. and was setup by slippery Brough/Pyne/Ashby/Abbott … Mulberry Bush shite …
Russia Is So Screwed
Now the Russian economy is in the shitter the Gruen question arises: what would Putin do?
I suspect it will not involve peace, love or understanding.
Business Insider thinks it knows and is not very optimistic. (Check out the picture in the middle of the article).
“what would Putin do?”
Find someone to shirtfront I’d say
‘closer ties/integration with China’
This is the most likely outcome.
Speaking of Russia …
http://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/the-cold-war-is-back-and-colder/story-e6frflo9-1227159436375
Then have a look at the photo of the high school kid that wrote the article …
As I say history repeats itself … in the 1930’s Germany’s economy was screwed so tightly that a man named Hitler took control …
One story I recall …
A woman was standing in a line waiting to buy bread … because the inflation would double in a day the mark had virtually no value so they carried hundreds of notes in woven baskets … the woman had put her basket down and chatted to others in line … when she went to pick it up the basket was gone and a large pile of notes was left …
The basket had value …
People were paid twice a day at lunchtime and at the end of the day … because inflation rose so quickly …
China and Russia will tolerate the other’s territorial grabs and not inquire too much into human rights issues. The fun will start when they clash.
China and Russia are hoarding gold at a frenetic pace, now that the petrodollar is sliding.
Reading through the entrails it appears that the Yuan should soon become the dominant world currency and Russia will give the Lennists in Beijing his cooperation. Enlightened self interest.
What a rancid time in politics those years with yabot as opposition leader were.
sure were, we all got traumatised by him. It will go down in history as the 3 years of feral politics that disgusted an entire nation. Just as gillard never recovered from rudd’s coup, abbott will never recover from being the arsehole who broke our politics.
Great show BTW …
And the Kiwi whodunnit Broadwood is equally a good watch …
What day/time are they on TB?
I’ve been watching ‘the fall’ it’s into S2 now, not sure what I make of it, both killer and cop [gillian anderson] seem weird.
Luther is getting another repeat run, but I don’t mind, I could watch idris elba playing him all day!
Have to agree with that too … wonder if The Abbott has a slush fund lined up in the Monastery for Pauline Hanson this time around …
I reckon cutting into his voter support will appeal to her, I would think being imprisoned due to his nasty politics aimed at stopping a threat to his party would make her revengeful.
China and Russia will tolerate the other’s territorial grabs and not inquire too much into human rights issues. The fun will start when they clash.
Agree, Russia’s resources in Siberia must really cause the Chinese to salivate … and surprisingly to some the old USSR* and the People’s Chinese Republic were quite different in “religion” …
Nothing’s new … 😉
*Putin is a communist and like Abbott wants to go back to the future …
This hot off the press, but you’ll have read between the lines.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-12/17/content_19103506.htm
“””as the 3 years of feral politics””””
THREE? Keep counting!
TV shows … Brokenwood tonight at 9:30 …
World Without End Sunday 8:43 …
EGG! That is the most informative comment/link you’ve ever posted …
RussiaPutin is really in the shit! The only problem with that is that it’s generally frightened (modern) leaders who start wars …Putin is on the nose and the Ruble has fallen into disrepute, because of the fall in petrodollars and western countries placing sanctions.
China wants to bring Eastern Europe into its sphere of influence and build massive infrastructure, on the proviso that they allow Chinese citizens the opportunity to settle there.
An associate just came back from Taipei and said the locals can’t buy real estate because of the Chinese, and this is also the case in Colombo and Sydney.
With the US and Europe struggling its only a question of time before the Yuan becomes the dominant currency and displaces the US dollar.
It’s rotting down…this carcass Maggotropolis…
I see the AMA have come out kicking. Enjoy your holiday yabot, cos thousands of sick people won’t as they contemplate a deterioration in their conditions through financial concerns
“A lot of GPs felt very insulted by the fact that even though they’re experienced GPs and can be efficient … dealing sometimes with complex problems, the rebate they were going to be given for those was going to be slashed from $37 down to $11,” he said.
Doctors also reacted strongly to Government plans to introduce the new co-payment system by the middle of next month.
“That this should be instituted and ready to go by January 19 is, I think, absurd,” Associate Professor Owler said.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-17/gp-co-payment-opposed-by-australian-medical-association/5974342
‘Crossbench senator Nick Xenophon claimed the new plan was tantamount to declaring war on doctors.’
Only Australian doctors, imports won’t flinch.
Well, we know Labor stands up for workers, but just who does the libs stand up for?
Interesting to note that the UK has a public system even more comprehensive than ours, and the US … well, that’s where yabot wants us to go?
Really, how can they successfully run an argument with those sort of figures.
Maybe I’ll ask rupe if he knows?
btw reb, I’m stuck in mod on the other thread (I’m just assuming it’s by accident, but …. ) 😉
fixed Tom
So we’re spending about 6 times as much (adjusted for cost of living) as we were a generation ago, and that’s sustainable?
“”and that’s sustainable?””
Well we’re living longer than we did a generation ago.
If only people would die younger we wouldn’t have this “problem”.
So we’re spending about 6 times as much (adjusted for cost of living) as we were a generation ago
Does this figure include the cost of care for people who couldn’t get health care and subsequently became reliant on the system, at greater cost?
Perhaps a link to this figure would have been helpful to provide the proper “context”
and that’s sustainable?
Well, yes, those linky things have been put up for you before.
Australia’s ‘unsustainable’ health spending is a myth
https://theconversation.com/australias-unsustainable-health-spending-is-a-myth-26393
Well, I’ve read the ‘autobiography’, which makes the lawsuit & the subsequent Hollywoodisation all the more interesting.
Similar feelings about the movie monocularly outlining the ‘exploits’ of Marcus Luttrell, which I’d also read ‘first hand’ accounts of previously.
Personally, in Lone Survivor a handful of ‘heroic’ US special forces never missed & suffered debilitating injuries & still never missed…forgive me for smelling ‘artistic licence’ &/or ‘dramatisation’.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2014/07/30/jesse-ventura-vs-chris-kyle-a-case-where-no-one-won/
I’m no fan of Ventura, fwiw.
“‘Immoral’ aid cuts”
According to some people’s version of ‘morality’.
#moralisingmoralisers
We need (one) religious school chaplains!
Cut more aid.
Stupid, fucking, Americans & their fearsquirting, triggerhappy culture…
http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/first-cougar-seen-in-kentucky-since-before-1861-american-civil-war-killed/story-fnjwkt0b-1227164512968
Stupid, fucking, Americans & their fearsquirting, triggerhappy culture…
Fkn stupidity writ large!
We need (one) religious school chaplains!
I understand that each Centrelink office will be getting at least two chaplains next year …
… one at Medicare to advise people on how to avoid seeing a doctor … and to pray for forgiveness for being poorly …
… and the other to advise age pensioners to just go a way and die somewhere …
It seems that in this age of feminist assertiveness, and easy internet access, some men are taking matters into their own hands, particularly as regards the pursuit of their happiness:
There has even been a scientific paper examining the phenomenon titled Are Pornography and Marriage Substitutes for Young Men?. However, as any discerning gent knows, there are no substitutes for young men.
The men I know of marriageable age are gamers and presumably porn satisfies their basic instincts, while women grow fat waiting. Sensible really, waiting for the right girl to come along.
Part of the answer may be that most gamers have limited choices:
That is the situation in a nutshell, also the upwardly mobile young man has the best pick of the women on offer and no particular need of porn. His gaming habit might continue, although moderated.
And who could blame the girls when faced with the only ‘real boys’ on offer being [tony [abbott] macho, chauvinistic, dickhead, neanderthal, yobbo types opting for children via IVF and solo parenthood!
Haha…hilarious…the generation gap writ large.
Now go & check out what percentage of what age groups are ‘gamers’, and what a ‘gamer’ is defined as.
Far more widespread than you can imagine, below a certain threshold (which I come in under, I’d suggest).
I personally know innumerable ‘gamers’ who have families & jobs & didn’t ‘hook up’ with mudmonsters.
Very amusing to see generations of yesteryear shitting on gaming…methinks they’d have made similar arguments about the telegraph or electricity had they been born then.
TB is a ‘gamer’.
toiletboss 1 antigamerz 0
The whole porn thing, well that’s a different story, and largely unrelated…and would be MUCH more widespread than gaming & much less age specific.
‘The average age of players across the globe is mid to late 20s, and is increasing as older players grow in numbers.’
wiki
Then there’s those of us who had ‘pong’ & other Neanderthal ‘games’ as the tech developed, from a young age, and have followed the evolution along the way (along with the rest of our lives).
That’s why, Adult games are for adults , and games are never the problem (anymore than movies, books or music are the problem). Irresponsible parenting is the only issue.
Pong. Ah, sweet memories. Some of us also played Space Invaders in the bar of the pub after work.
Porn, as I said, is unrelated, apart from the ridiculous availability which the internet affords.
Honestly, you may think your horizons are ‘broad’, but they don’t cease to be astonished by unexpected gotcha links or sick fucks masquerading as ‘normal’ (whatevenisthat) people you may know or encounter.
Sad to see Joe Coker has departed permanently … one of the greats … I (can*) only sing one of his hits … RIP …
“Pong. Ah, sweet memories. Some of us also played Space Invaders in the bar of the pub after work.”
Me…except not after work, I’m guessing you have a decade plus on me, which is remarkable in itself when albatraoz’ are taken into account.
In a different world, we’d have had some fun (if I lived in Cesspitbourne 😉 ).
I mean the kind of going out & getting laid waste fun, not gaming (for the record).
“I’m guessing you have a decade plus on me”
Sounds about right. Pre pub-age and pre video games we were pool players and pinball addicts.
(I think we’d still have fun on the drink, despite ageism.)
(I think we’d still have fun on the drink, despite ageism.)
The universal panacea. Personally I think that’s the reason that so many religions and cults that distain alcohol don’t really get along with “us”
Me too.
I don’t do ageism.
Some of the best people I know are a decade younger than me, and also decades plus above.
Age isn’t a negator of good company.
I’m still a (reasonable) pool player, but never ‘got’ pinball.
Of course, I’d proudly paddle your arse off too YomM! 😉
I had a look at Bishop’s Rock while I was about.
In a safe interwebz world, we all catch up one day. 😉 Only problem would be, making sure one of you wasn’t the unhinged rockshifter, come to have an outburst & shiv me in the back. 🙂
I’m pretty sure I’d beat you at pool/snooker/billiards. I used to play local competition level for a while. Pinball, remember, was before any kind of video games, but still required hand-eye coordination, anticipation, multi-tasking, and so on. It was a precursor.
Well, paddling is not my limitation! That only needs some stamina, I’m limited only by some basic ability, co-ordination and athleticism.
—
hand-eye coordination, anticipation, multi-tasking
…and you’ve noted some of the other factors that limit me!
“I’m pretty sure I’d beat you at pool/snooker/billiards”
I love it when a libertarian (I think I’m at least a ‘soft’ one, certainly more than I am a ‘communist’, but I have a bit more of a ‘social conscience’ than a fundamentalist) pre(ASS)sumes that they’d ‘do’ me.
I may or may not have grown up with full to half size tables in pubs/at boarding school/ in the parents shed…
“I may or may not have grown up with full to half size tables in pubs/at boarding school/ in the parents shed…”
Heh. Me too. The gauntlet is thus thrown down!
I’ve always enjoyed YomM’s self deprecation (something which I find prescient in a person, when it’s genuine) .
Set the bar low, then vault over their heads, my friend!
I have always been able to tell the difference between your incursions, and when you are speaking from experience.
(BTW, did ya have table tennis at boarding school, ’cause I reckon I’d do ya at that, too.)
😯
Re snooker. I’ve tried several times to promote the idea of an “Old Blokes Triathlon”
• Snooker
• Bocce
• Wine tasting
But perhaps substitute table tennis for bocce.
Give ya 50 start Tony 🙂 (joking played comp, for years.. my brother is awesome
Love Snooker,
Love wine tasting… how do ya judge if your any good? Hint of Frankfurter with an air of armpit…and a waft of party pie?
Was at a party this year and the wheeled the table tennis table out….
No that is a game that shows peoples dark side… 🙂
Watching big wave wipeouts is quite addictive… even when interspersed with some old tv stuff…
The real enjoyment about 50 second in
In response, rapper Q-Tip replied to the Aussie star that hip-hop only exists because of its roots, which include race and politics.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/claudiakoerner/q-tip-teaches-iggy-azalea-some-hip-hop-history#.ctPz8WYOo
How to change a tyre
I happen to be very good at pinball – although I haven’t played for ages.
It’s all in the nudge and flippers.
Give ya 50 start Tony 🙂 (joking played comp, for years.. my brother is awesome
Love Snooker,””
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm………..Snooker.
Developed by an old English chappie called Neville Chamberlain (not the same one) whilst serving in the British Army.
I’m pretty good at it too.
Merry Christmas all.
After 4 days out at sea with a few mates fishing its now off to the fismongers to pick my orders up. Certainly don’t ned any fish after the last few days but prawns don’t swallow hooks unfortunately.
Anyways Merry Christmas all !
Merry Christmas to you and yours, Wally … 🙂
and to you and yours TB
Looking forward to throwing a few more insults back and forth after all this goodwill stuff is over LOL
… few more insults back and forth …
FMD have you only got a few left? 😉 Tsk tsk … *
What do people buy the
manwalrus with everything?Insults ?
Julia Gillard to join Board of beyondblue.
Insults ?
Chortle … took me a couple of seconds … 😆
nice one sb
and, in that vein
Mindless, murderous zealots.
It’ll be interesting to see whether newspapers here show similar principles and publish some “dangerous” cartoon, that are so offensive that cartoonists get slaughtered.
The satirical magazine Trash is expected to run a post, they despise dog botherers.
If this isn’t “true” Islam why aren’t “true” Islamists doing more to rid the world of IS?
Can’t have yer halal and eat it …
“It’ll be interesting to see whether newspapers here show similar principles and publish some “dangerous” cartoon, that are so offensive that cartoonists get slaughtered.”
They didn’t do it with the Danish cartoons (with the honourable exception of the Courier Mail). But this time around some European papers are republishing the cartoons. Even the Guardian published some of the less offensive ones.
CNN on the other hand has decided not to show Charlie Hebdo cartoons which are offensive to Muslims. Being principled leftists they have no trouble showing “Piss Christ” though.